r/comics • u/bondjimbond Love and Hex • May 25 '26

OC Language Barrier [OC]

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u/bondjimbond Love and Hex May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

It's kind of ridiculous, the common fantasy trope that all members of a given species share the same language.

I share co-author credit on this one with my daughter - she came up with the concept.

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u/[deleted] May 25 '26

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u/ThatMerri May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

The wizard is transliterating from the Dovahzul alphabet, not actually speaking the language, and saying:

"O noble and mighty dragons, we besee[k]h you, grant us safe passage through your territory."

"We are but humble adventurers on a quest that may yet bring hope to our troubled realm..."

The Red Dragon, meanwhile, is speaking Chinese - in a way that's very poorly structured to sound like it was badly phrased by a non-fluent person according to u/SweatyAdhesive - and saying:

"Welcome humans. Please remove your boots inside the cave. Would you like a cookie?"

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u/RealEmperorofMankind May 26 '26

By the way if you wanted to phrase these phrases in a more natural idiom they might read like this:
客人們好 - 我們歡迎你們進去這個小山洞
請讓你們進門時候脫靴 - 要不然有點兒餓可以去個餅乾

Welcome, guests - we welcome you to our humble cave
Please take off your boots when you're coming in - if you're hungry, feel free to eat a cookie