• Signtist@bookwyr.me
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    1 day ago

    One time my friends and I needed an NPC to empty his bag of holding, since it was magically locked so only he could open it, so we told him “Did you know the word ‘squanch’ means ‘empty your bag of holding?’ No, well, now you do.” and then used Command and said “Squanch!”

    • Archpawn@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Kenkus can only use words they’ve heard before. This implies that other races aren’t limited like that, and automatically know all the words in their language. So you can’t just make up words.

      • Signtist@bookwyr.me
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        1 day ago

        But the entirety of language is just words that someone made up. If you recognize a set of syllables as a word that has a specific meaning, then it’s a word you understand, even if it was just made up and taught to you seconds ago.

      • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        No, it’s because kenkus can’t make up words. The entire race was robbed of all creativity by Tharizdun’s Curse of Oblivion, so they can only imitate what they’ve already seen and heard. But other races don’t have that curse, which means they can make up new words. If a kenku heard that freshly made up word, they’d be able to use it.