Pronunciation Guide

I. Introduction

The setting of Seven Heirs is vast, filled with a broad cast of characters, cultures, and locations. As a low-fantasy world, the names of people and places are unique and unfamiliar, which can make them appear difficult to pronounce.

This is a reference guide on how to pronounce everything you need to.

At the moment, it includes both characters and places with which the reader should be familiar and characters and places yet to be introduced. Some, but not all, will be explained in the footnotes at the end of the page. However, everything will eventually be touched on within the Seven Heirs story.

While all the pronunciations provided below are the official, canonical pronunciations, feel free to ignore them in favor of however you wish to pronounce them. This resource is merely for those who want it.

II. The Rules

The pronunciation of Ophaesian names is straightforward once you understand its rules. This pronunciation guide uses phonetic spellings to explain how names are pronounced. Syllables which are in ALL CAPS are stressed syllables, where the greatest emphasis of the word is.

Phonetics Guide

The table below explains how the phonetic spellings themselves are pronounced. It lists vowels and distinct vowel-consonant combinations, such as “air” or “ith”. Combining these vowel sounds with consonant sounds is uncomplicated and works exactly how one would expect.

All sounds are based on American English.

Ophaesian Pronunciation

The Ophaesian pronunciation of consonants is, like with the phonetic spellings, fairly uncomplicated, with no variation depending on the spelling. The first three of the following rules are the only rules one must really know, while rules four and five are optional (but canonical):

1. C and K are pronounced the same, with a hard “k” sound, like in “cat” or “kind”.
2. Ph is always pronounced as “f”, like in “fire” or “full”.
3. At the start of a name or word, Rh and R are pronounced as a simple English “r”, like in “run” or “right”.
4. In the middle of a name or word, Rr and R are pronounced the same, with the alveolar tap [ɾ] used in Spanish, like with the words “pero” or “caro”.
5. Th is pronounced with a soft “th” sound, such as in “think” or “both”.

Vowels are where Ophaesian names/words become more complex. For the most part, vowels are pronounced in a manner similar to Romance languages, with the short A, E, I, and U, while O is typically a long O. How a vowel is pronounced can change depending on how its paired with consonants or where in a name/word it is used.

The below table covers all vowel pronunciations, including those which depend on consonants.

*These are the less common pronunciations. Examples of each:

• The “-ar” in Alapharen and Varena is pronounced “air”.
• The “-e” in Senetha is pronounced “uh”.
• The “-ia” in Ysonia is pronounced “yuh”.
• The “-i” in Nethica is pronounced “ih”.
• The “-on” in Orapheron is pronounced “en”.
• The “-sia” in Pytensia is pronounced “see•uh”.

If something above has two pronunciations but neither has an *, then both pronunciations are equally common. However, there does tend to be a pattern on which pronunciation is used:

• Generally speaking, a will be pronounced “ah” when it’s at the beginning of a word and “uh” when it’s in the middle or at the end.
• Similarly, y is usually pronounced “ee” at the start of a word, while “ih” is used for most other cases.
• When used on its own following a consonant, us is pronounced “ihs”, but it becomes “uhs” when following an e.

III. Characters

House Dahlas

House Dahlas is the House to which the Player Character of Seven Heirs belongs. It is the House of their father, King Eraven Dahlas, and has been the ruling House of Ophaesia since its founding by Rithalus Dahlas. This list goes far back enough to include the Player Character’s paternal grandparents — King Pherian and Queen Seriah — as well as including King Eraven’s siblings and child-bearing wives.

Keralith and Ilythis both have married foreign royals — the Crown Prince of Sayelle and the King of Carthenium respectively — and are referred to by localized versions of their names in their husbands’ countries:

To see how everyone is related, view the House Dahlas family tree.

Romance Options

There are a total of ten romance options in Seven Heirs. Most are Ophaesians themselves, but two, Elor and Sebriel, are foreign — from Carthenium and Verey respectively — and as such their names do not follow the style of Ophaesian names or pronunciation.

Ophaesians

Ophaesia is the primary setting for Seven Heirs; it’s the home country of the Player Character and their family. A wealthy and luxurious nation along the coast of Southern Selanes, it was founded approximately 500 years ago by Rithalus Dahlas after he freed the Merathene city-states from the Serene Empire. In that time, it has grown into the dominant power within the South.

Ophaesian names follow a set of rules which the Name Guide explains in detail.

Foreigners

There are several countries outside Ophaesia that are home to many notable characters within Seven Heirs.

The Player Character’s eldest sister Keralith was wed to Marsion Sephien, the Crown Prince of Sayelle, and bore him an heir with her son Alestien. Ilythis, the Player Character’s second eldest sister, was wed to Haphus Garethesius, the King of Carthenium. In addition to his daughters from his previous married to Thellonia Eramisia, Proseria and Sothella, Haphus goes on to have three children with Ilythis: Auphosius, Amethisia, and Vassenia.

Beyond Sayelle and Carthenium is the country of Verey, ruled by House Ionthesi, with whom Ophaesia has the most tenuous relationship of all their neighbors. House Ionthesi is led by Luperiel Ionthesi, the King of Verey, and he has an heir in Crown Prince Zevya Ionthesi.

For the most part, Carthenian and Vereyan names are pronounced in a similar manner to Ophaesian names. The greatest difference in pronunciation comes with Sayellese names, where the pronunciation closely resembles French rules.

Default Names

While the player can create their own name, there are a total of ten default names for the Player Character: five for male characters and five for female characters.

IV. Places

Countries

The South is made up of five countries: Ophaesia, Carthenium, Sayelle, Serentia, and Verey. In recent history, Ophaesia has been the predominant power within the continent, with the greatest wealth and influence. Before that it was the Serene Empire, which at its height stretched across Serentia, Carthenium, and the Merathene city-states. Before even that, Carthenium dominated, ruling over dozens of smaller city-states to form an empire of its own.

Across the Ahuramene strait, dominating its own continent, is the Empire of Dharsan — also known as the Dharsani Empire or simply Dharsan — which is ruled by the Dead Empress. It is the oldest and largest known political entity in existence.

For the most part, the adjectival and demonymic forms for the countries are one and the same. The exception comes with Carthenium: Carthenian is its adjectival form, while Carthenite is its demonym. For example, one would say “Carthenian food” and “Carthenite men.”

Additionally, Serentia possesses two separate adjectival forms. Serene is used exclusively for the Serene Empire and earlier, while Serentine is used as the adjectival — as well as the demonymic — form from the Empire’s fall to present day.

Before Ophaesia, there were the Merathene city-states. Merathene refers to an archaic culture, language, and ethnicity, rather than any particular political entity. “Merathene” itself has its roots in the ancient city of Merathia, which was an epicenter of knowledge and culture before it fell to ruin.

While a continent rather than a country, Southern Selanes — or simply “the South” — is pronounced in a similar manner to Ophaesian names/words.

Provinces

Ophaesia is comprised of seven provinces, each named for their capital. They follow a naming scheme of appending the Merathene suffix “-ene” to the city’s name. This suffix is generally adjectival, so the names of the provinces are typically used as adjectives, such as “the Pytensene Province,” though they can be used as nouns, such as simply “Pytensene.”

Due to their adjectival nature, they’re also used to refer to people, things, or qualities from the province, such as “the Pytensene man” or “Elenthene architecture.”

Cities

Cities in Ophaesia are pronounced as one would pronounced names; in fact, there’s typically very little difference between names for people and names for places in Ophaesia. Cities in other countries, however, follow their own rules of pronunciation, which are not quite so clear, particularly with Sayelle and Verey.

The capitals of each country come first in their respective lists.

Ophaesia

Carthenium

Dharsan

Sayelle

Serentia

Verey

Religion

While there are many religions across the South and even within Ophaesia itself, the predominant one within Seven Heirs is Monathalism. It centers on three gods, referred to as the Triad, who were born from the One God Monathalen: Tepharon, Myteus, and Naphenia.

Things relating to and people who follow Monathalism are called Monathalist.

Other Resources

As stated in the Introduction, this guide is currently not comprehensive. Some characters and locations have been purposefully withheld to prevent spoilers. As the game is updated and more is revealed, this guide will be updated. If you’re interested in better understanding how Ophaesian names work or creating your own, there are a couple resources to help you out with that:

Ophaesian Name Guide
Ophaesian Name Generator

For more information about The Seven Heirs of Ophaesia, please visit its thread on the Choice of Games forum or check out my blog or Patreon.

Seven Heirs Thread
Seven Heirs Demo
My Blog
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Thank you for your support and interest in the Seven Heirs universe! It means so, so much to me!

e. s. fawkes