I've noticed Lusternia has a few of these.
Examples are katanas and the guild names Ninjakari(combination of ninja and hunting) and Nekotai(combination of cat and performing), evidently of japanese origin.
There is also a NPC that says bonjour every once in a while.

I'm wondering what sort of content is acceptable within Lusternia in terms of using different cultural references IC.
Knowing conversational japanese, and being a bookbinder, is it acceptable for me to walk around speaking it?
I'm guessing probably not.

Are these references just drawn inspiration, or do they have founding in the realm?
Any solid clarification would be appreciated.

On a side note, it isn't completely unimaginable considering humans came from a 'different world'.
Discuss.

You certainly can't speak Japanese (which ninjakari and nekotai aren't, they're illithoid if anything. And nekotai is neko-te, nothing to do with performing.) Can't even get away with French - the Delportoise don't speak it, they just speak English with Franglais expressions and articles. Even older English is probably not well-advised.

Best not to actually reference cultures if you can help it, I'd think. Acting all pseudo-zen like one of the dracnari and making up shaky koans is one thing, foreign words that aren't really imported into English not so much.

The katanas I can understand, although they are vividly asian in origin and any player must at some point stopped and had a 'hmm' moment.
The bonjour definitely just gets to me.


The 'ninja' in Ninjakari sticks out like a sore thumb to me as well, and just screams NIHONJIN.

From the character's viewpoint, katanas just happen to be large, sleek swords. Nekotai is a Fae word, and Ninjakari is probably an Illithoid word. There's none of that 'other world' business here!

Thought so, suspension of disbelief continues to prevail.

Plenty of Monty Python references to shake a stick at.

When katanas came out, Estarra pointed delicately at Dairuchi as the source for all eastern-influenced cultural references.

Generally speaking, while almost everything in Lusternia is steeped in cultural references from one thing or another, it's always a tricky thing to introduce new ones. If you are introducing an element that's not actually already in the world but is really, really close to one that is, you can probably get away with it. For instance, on day one of the game there was nothing in the world to make "blessed be" a reasonable thing for Wiccans to say, but when a bunch of them went ahead and said it, no one blinked. After all, we already had wiccans doing spiral dances and drawing down the moon, so it was not a big leap.

But the further you get from what's already in the game, the more risky it gets. Quoting zen koans and claiming to have been inspired by the Venerable Whatshisname from Dairuchi is probably pushing it. Quoting the Four Noble Truths is certainly over the line.

Rules of Acquisition, by Bob the Trader.

1. Once you have their money, never give it back.
2. A contract is a contract is a contract, but only between Viscanti.
3. A Viscanti without profit is no Viscanti at all.
4. Never insult a Viscanti's mother... insult something he cares about instead.
5. PK is good for business.
6. Bashing is good for business.
7. She can touch your wings, but never your gold.
8. Expand or die.
9. Never bluff a Divine.
10.Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the Nil out of your enemies.

A lot of the monk moves (At least, as far as I know Tahtetso and Shofangi) are based on another language. The Shofangi guild ranks and positions are also Mongolian in nature.

Aside from really light references like that (They're only one word per rank, anyways), as long as it isn't really blatant and easy to see you probably won't get yelled at. As for Ninjakari, at this point both IC and OOC I've grown out of the 'Lmao Ninja Guild' phase and view them more as Illithoid than anything.

I think the main reason these other languages are used, is because it's a lot easier to take things from many different languages than to invent your own language.

I remember while in the clan one thing Estarra said was they can't have Ninja in the name. That quickly got flipfloped and she almost forced us into having that name.

And don't forget Mistress Yoshimi in the Mag bank. She's just there, workin' for the city...

And the 'I'm Choking on a Celtic (Gaelic?) Hairball' Spiritsinger titles.

(No offense, I actually like those!)

Oh yeah, those are great. Still not as Funny as Crow Tongue. I always wonder how they invented that.

Glomleader *typetypetypety-"oh crap my cat walked on my keyboard! Hey, wait a minute..." *sprinkle in apostrophes* Yay, new language!

Manx, actually.

Her name is Yoshimi. She's ranked Master in the Kata...

SO MUCH LATIN. I SEE LATIN EVERYWHERE.
THERE IS NO REASON FOR THE LATIN TO BE THERE. THERE AREN'T ANY REFERENCES TO IT IN THE BASIN.
IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK A DEAD LANGUAGE, LEARN THE ELDER LANGUAGES OR SOMETHING.
WHAT'S THAT? YOU CAN'T?
WELL, SUCKS FOR YOU.
STOP WITH THE LATIN.

There, I feel better now.

There are a bunch of references to Latin. Check rituals on the scrying pool.

... Okay, I'll give you that much. Should've realized that too, given how Kalnid's a nihilist.

My issue, though, is that I've seen people touting latin mottos and such. And has been argued already, a few words does not a language make. It's like what was mentioned previously: speaking japanese would be looked down upon, even though a few things are clearly from it. But meh, oh well.

Never use mottos as a basis for determining what is IC or OOC. Mottos are rarely ever used for their intended purpose and generally treated in an OOC manner. You can find a variety of people who use their motto to quote other people directly, and others that are complete jokes, like having "YOU MADE ME BREAK A NAIL" as a war cry, or "How do you know what my motto is?!"