Pride and Prejudice?

[mattrious]

I've recently been wondering how other players react to "accents"? For example, let's say someone is born and raised in the 'rinth but they want to get out and overcome their poverty stricken life. How hard would it be for them to get a job as a nobles aid? Or hired onto one of the more prominent houses as a guard, etc? Is this possible? I would have to say no. For one simple fact when hiring PC's observe someone speaking in 'rinthi accented sirihish and this causes them to be leery - even if their current PC has never even met anyone from the 'rinth. The same goes if someone was from the north, and moved to 'Nak for the simple fact they would make more sid and their practiced art would be better appreciated and compensated in 'Nak or other southern villages. Would everyone constantly treat them as a spy? How does someone who has lived their entire lives in 'Nak and the south, even know what a northern accent sounds like etc? I don't know if this subject has been brought up before, but I was just curious how others feel about it. Thanks for any input in advance.

- Matt.

[Marauder Moe]

I think anyone who speaks differently than you do would be looked down upon.  

If a 'rinther could crawl out of the 'rinth, get some nice clothes, and ditch the accent I don't think there's any reason they couldn't get a nice job as long as no one knows where they were from.

People travel enough that unless your character lived a VERY sheltered life, they would have heard tribals and people from the other city speak.  The only exception would be that the average Northerner may not have ever met a 'rinther.  I think you should RP that as though your character hears an especially scummy southern accent.

[mattrious]

I think anyone who speaks differently than you do would be looked down upon.

So you're saying that if one of your characters met a PC who spoke northern accented sirihish your PC would automatically look down upon them? Even if that current character had never been to the north nor met anyone from there?

People travel enough that unless your character lived a VERY sheltered life, they would have heard tribals and people from the other city speak.

I am sure there are dozens of characters currently living in 'Nak with a background of - born and raised in 'Nak, and they've never even been outside the city walls. It is just an assumption so we'll move on from that. Tribals are different due to the fact that plenty of tribes come through the gates to conduct trade daily, etc. I think ICly it is very plausible that there are plenty of VNPCs, NPCs, and PCs that have never left either of the city-states. So by that logic you one would be lead to believe it is very unlikely that they've heard an accent from their opposite end of the world.

**Please do not interpret this as a flame. I am just trying to understand other peoples thinking when it comes to this subject.

- Matt.

[Marauder Moe]

I think anyone who speaks differently than you do would be looked down upon.

So you're saying that if one of your characters met a PC who spoke northern accented sirihish your PC would automatically look down upon them? Even if that current character had never been to the north nor met anyone from there?

Correct.  Zalanthans in general are xenophobic.

People travel enough that unless your character lived a VERY sheltered life, they would have heard tribals and people from the other city speak.

I am sure there are dozens of characters currently living in 'Nak with a background of - born and raised in 'Nak, and they've never even been outside the city walls. It is just an assumption so we'll move on from that. Tribals are different due to the fact that plenty of tribes come through the gates to conduct trade daily, etc. I think ICly it is very plausible that there are plenty of VNPCs, NPCs, and PCs that have never left either of the city-states. So by that logic you one would be lead to believe it is very unlikely that they've heard an accent from their opposite end of the world.

I don't mean most Allanakis have travelled, but enough Tribals and Northerners have visited or live in the city that almost all commoners would have been exposed to them.

[Medena]

I think ICly it is very plausible that there are plenty of VNPCs, NPCs, and PCs that have never left either of the city-states. So by that logic you one would be lead to believe it is very unlikely that they've heard an accent from their opposite end of the world.

I agree. But you don't need to be able to identify an accent in order to feel contempt/prejudice/suspicion for the speaker.  I'd suggest that the majority of 'nakis, especially those that have never left the gates, are probably at least a bit xenophobic.  

Tulukis are probably much less xenophobic because of all the tribal influences but again, I don't think they need to have actually heard a 'naki accent in order to feel distrustful of it. They'd probably hear an unfamiliar accent, know it's not one of the Tribal accents (if not by actual recognition by judging on dress and other clues) and therefore conclude it must be a 'naki accent.

[Yokunama]

If you have in your background that you are from one region, but are
starting in another location, you may be able to get an immortal to change
your accent after entering the game by changing your objective to indicate
that you would like your accent changed, and what region to change it to.

Note:
  Knowing how to convincingly speak with a foreign accent (i.e. an accent
different from your character's regional accent) is a special ability which
can only be learned by listening to those who speak with the accent better
than your character.  Similar to learning a language, the learning curve is
extremely steep at first, so that one will require a very long time to
finally understand the basics of an accent.

Here is a little extra.

Change accent takes as an argument the new accent with which you wish
your character to begin speaking. If no argument is provided, the list of
accents your character is familiar with enough to actually convincingly
speak with that accent will be displayed.

[Rindan]

I don't think that in either the north or south,  you could get a job with a Noble house with the wrong accent.  Certainly there might be some rare exceptions, but for the most part, Zalanthians are very xenophobic.  All northerners in the Allanak would automatically be distrusted at least to some extent.

Relations between Allanak and Tuluk are not good.  The two are constantly at war, or on the verge of war.  This rubs off on the citizens of the two states.  To a Tuluki, there is no greater threat in the world then Allanak, the city state that conquered them once before.  To an Allanaki, there is no greater threat then Tuluk, the city state that some how managed to defeat their glorious army.  Now throw in a little garden variety xenophobia and you have citizens that are deeply distrustful of those who speak differently.

Now, could a northerner learn a southern accent, pretend to be a southerner, and get a job for a noble house?  Sure.  Would he be instantly dead if it was ever learned that he was a northerner by birth and not a southerner?  You betchya.  There might be a little more tolerance for a 'rinther who pretends to be from Allanak proper, but probably not much more.

For the most part, Zalanthians are not tolerant people who judge others on merit.  They are racist, superstitious, ill educated, xenophobic people.

As far as who has heard what accents, I think it is safe to assume from all of the travelers that come to Allanak that most Allanaki citizens have heard northern, 'rinth, and tribal accents, and know what they mean.  The same goes for Tuluk where they have probably heard southern and tribal accents, though probably can't tell the difference between a 'rinth accent and a southern accent.

[My 2 sids]

I think Ancient Rome or Egypt would make a good analogy to the city-states.  The cities are hubs of tons of different cultures; one not even leave the gates to be able to interact with the traveling cultures that come to trade and do business with in the city.  But, there would be a HUGE difference between how people view actual citizens and those who simply do business or live in the city-state.   I don't think anyone who isn't considered a full citizen would be hired to such a prestigious job like working for the templarate or nobility... not even to muck out kank stalls.  

As far as those who are coming from the Labyrinth, I'm not sure about their actual legal status as far as if they are actually citizens or not.  If we assume they are citizens then I suppose it would be possible for them to acquire those jobs; however, much harder.

[bloodfromstone]

The only exception would be that the average Northerner may not have ever met a 'rinther. I think you should RP that as though your character hears an especially scummy southern accent.

I think this is a good point. I talked with someone a while back who played a 'rinther who moved up north, and it was said that nearly everyone he talked to knew where he was from and the various stigmas associated with it. That seems way off to me. THey should, imo, interpret it as a especially bad southern acccent (as the poster said) or a Red Storm dialect or something similar.

[LoD]

I don't think that in either the north or south,  you could get a job with a Noble house with the wrong accent.  Certainly there might be some rare exceptions, but for the most part, Zalanthians are very xenophobic.  All northerners in the Allanak would automatically be distrusted at least to some extent.

Having played through one of these rare exceptions, I agree whole heartedly that it is very unlikely most individuals would find any manner of association with the Noble House of a rival city.  The advantage of having you working for them would have to far outweigh any possible disadvantages of bringing you into the folkd, which may very well include theft, murder and espionage.

It is, however, possible in rare exceptions as Rindan mentions.

-LoD

[Naiona]

Rindan does a pretty good job of 'splaining things here.

I would simply add that even if you have never been outside of the city state you live in, there is a very good chance that your parents, grandparents or other relatives/older people you know still remember the last war or the people they lost in it.

The wounds between Allanak and Tuluk are still fresh and raw.  Even the lowest of commoners in either city would be very aware of those 'awful people' living in the opposite city and treat foreigners with appropriate suspicion under almost all circumstance.

As to the 'rinthi accent, most commoners in Allanak would see those who have it as being literally below themselves, in much the way that nobility see commoners as below themselves.  Unlike our modern society where someone can easily rise in status with hard work, in Zalanthas every person has a station in society and even if they resent that place, they are very aware of it and how others perceive them.  It can be done, but is extroidinarily rare and difficult to fit in somewhere other then your 'natural' place in the world.

[mattrious]

Thank you to everyone for all the input, and information. It seems to me that "espionage" type characters IG: Spying on the opposite city-state, etc. Performing assassinations or anything you can possibly imagine is very unlikely due to accents? Though as someone stated earlier it does mention in the help files that accents can be learned, and changed over time? Is this something that is very rare? Or is it possible to have a group of Rich Little's unleash their fury and mayhem on the city-states with impersonations, and stand-up comedy routines?

- Matt.

[Cuusardo]

People tend not to like anybody that's different, much less trust them.

[Nusku]

It seems to me that "espionage" type characters IG: Spying on the opposite city-state, etc. Performing assassinations or anything you can possibly imagine is very unlikely due to accents? Though as someone stated earlier it does mention in the help files that accents can be learned, and changed over time?

Accents, like languages, can indeed be learned.

[Tarx]

A little-known character with a plethora of languages/accents to use would be le ultimate spy.