About verdan names
Squashed sounds like "Lulk" and "Wroq" dominate, with the odd sprawling mutation such as "Wreathineet" breaking the pattern the way verdan bodies do. The wr clusters and clipped endings give them a half-formed quality that suits D&D goblinoids still growing into themselves. Let a character outgrow a short name mid-campaign and adopt a longer result as they change.
How verdan names are built
A single expandable letter-build template: it starts at three slots (opening, vowel, close) and grows by inserting middle slots, reaching seven, with each slot a small consonant or vowel bank. Short pulls land in three slots, long ones in seven. Bank outputs include Shinn (sh + i + nn), Greg (gr + e + g), and Delselk (d + e + ls + e + lk).
Shinn
sh (opening) + i (vowel) + nn (close)
Croinn
cr (opening) + oi (vowel) + nn (close)
Delselk
d (opening) + e (vowel) + ls (middle insert) + e (second vowel) + lk (close)
Naming notes
The defining sound is the clustered, mutable consonant slots, the closing bank yields chunky endings like -lk, -nn, and -rm, while the opening slot can start on clusters like cr- or str-. Because the same template just adds or drops middle inserts, a name can be as terse as Greg or as sprawling as Creelereels, fitting a young, unstable, mutation-prone people. These are construction-only coinages with no invented meaning.
Questions about verdan names
- How does the Verdan name length vary so much?
- One expandable template inserts optional middle slots, so a name runs from three slots like Greg up to seven like Creelereels.
- What gives them their chunky sound?
- The closing slot supplies consonant-cluster endings like -lk, -nn, and -rm, and the opener can start on clusters like cr- or str-, so the words feel dense and abrupt.
- What feel do these suit?
- Their unstable, mutable construction fits a young or mutation-prone people, so mix very short and very long pulls to suggest an unsettled naming culture.