Utterly Mad

As per the IRC chat, here's how I see basic having come into existence and widespread use. The Rastal really don't like the implications that would seem logical here, but I think I've left it clear enough as to what those might be.

While this being official lore might seem to indicate a pretty Rastal-centric universe, this is just written from the perspective of a Rastal historian, and is really only one interpretation. Besides that, it was deemed in the IRC that the Rastal have been capable of inter-stellar travel for quite a bit longer than most of the other accepted and suggested species, and because they are expansionist enough to have contact with most other races, and also currently have a larger population* than all other presently suggested and approved races combined, it seems logical that basic would use more than a few Rastal words.

If I wasn't too clear on the implications, the idea here is that most species in the immediate area have at least one local language that is based on ancient. Much like the Roman empire, the Ancients controlled enough of an empire to have a significant impact on the linguistic development of developing local populations. Yeah, it's a little unrealistic as they maybe existed before many of these species evolved, but as a concept for why Basic even exists, it makes more sense than other things I could think of. Accordingly, the languages spoken by many of these races have some commonality, though much like English vs. Latin, it might be hard to detect due to corruption by other, naturally developed local tongues.

And yes, it would have made more sense to have the Terran equivalent be Sanskrit or some indo-based language, since they're apparently the oldest, but I went with a slavic tongue because actually CREATING a language based around it is much easier, and because SPACE COMMUNISTS and stuff. Also, cyrillic looks much cooler on the side of spaceships than sanskrit, and to me looks more "pictographic" even if it isn't.

Terra's also notable in that humans don't, for the most part, speak their version of ancient, unlike the Rastal and maybe other races. I'd expect that any culture that has experienced something like the Roman empire would also speak something different, as languages based local language would be much more prevalent than the ancient-based one. The Rastal didn't really have that. Similarly, species such as the Hellerite, who originate outside of space controlled by the Ancients, don't have any commonality in language at all. Beyond this, there are likely races which simply can't physically make the sounds required for basic.

This also isn't intended to OOC imply that all sentient races are somehow related to the Ancients, be it through actual genetic similarity, "ancient alien" engineering, or whatever. While the Rastali author is implied to draw that conclusion, it doesn't mean it's true, and I think should be left that way. A talking dog living in the Roman empire might speak latin, but it doesn't mean it's physical existence has anything to do with a human living in the same place and speaking the same language.

*For the record, that wasn't intentional and as I've mentioned to Vulnus at least, I'm very aware of the problems that creates (for example, why don't they rule everyone as they can literally crush someone like the Terrans through sheer numbers, an issue which Vulnus and I are working to address via GALACTIC POLITICS). You guys did approve it though, and I think the onus is on ya'll to simply make bigger populations and get them approved if you don't like it. Not to be a dick, but hey.