Dragon’s Dogma 2 might be a high fantasy setting replete with goblins, magic, dragons, undead, and elves, but despite these fantastical elements you may find your efforts to navigate the elvish city of 
Sacred Arbor frustrating due to a rather mundane impediment - a language barrier. The elves of Vermund are a reclusive lot, and in their isolation their language hasn’t spread beyond the borders of Sacred Arbor, nor has the common tongue been mastered by many elves. When you talk to the residents of Sacred Arbor you’ll be met with incomprehensible gibberish - even the wares at shops aren’t translated! Needless to say this makes performing basic functions like shopping, resting at the inn or picking up new side quests difficult. This page will help you break through the language barrier in Sacred Arbor by finding a pawn with the Woodland Wordsmith specialization, or by teaching your own pawn the specialization with the 
Woodland Wordsmith’s Tome!
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How to Learn Elvish in Dragon’s Dogma 2: You need a pawn with the Woodland Wordsmith specialization. You can hire one from the rift (using the
Arborheart Riftstone in Sacred Arbor might make such a pawn more likely to appear) or you can give Bunches of Flowers to the Innkeeper until she gives you the Woodland Wordsmith Tome, which will teach the specialization to your main pawn.
(1 of 2) Without a translator, you won’t be able to decipher the elven language spoken at Sacred Arbor.
Without a translator, you won’t be able to decipher the elven language spoken at Sacred Arbor. (left), To remedy this, at least in the short-term, you can recruit a pawn with the Woodland Wordsmith specialization. (right)
How to Find Sacred Arbor - Dragon’s Dogma 2¶
Blind exploration aside, you’ll probably reach Sacred Arbor via Glyndwr’s questline, namely the quest [
A Trial of Archery], which will see Glyndwr escort you to Sacred Arbor. Otherwise the elusive elven town can be found along the northwestern edge of Vermund - west of 
Melve as the crow flies. That said, the only easily accessible route is via roads running northwest from 
Vernworth, which will eventually lead you near the 
Forgotten Tunnel - ruins you’ll visit during Glyndwr’s first quest Gift of the Bow. If you arrive alongside Glyndwr or not, it doesn’t matter too much - Glyndwr will serve as your translator while you’re with him, but the quest he’s on will see you leaving Sacred Arbor before long, and afterward Glyndwr will spend time doddering outside of the Forgotten Tunnel, being of little use to anybody. It’s only after Glyndwr’s quests that you’ll really have a serious need for a translator, and of course, during this time you won’t have one.
How to Find a Pawn with the Woodland Wordsmith Specialization¶
Your only long-term solution to the language barrier is to find a pawn with the Woodland Wordsmith specialization, and the easiest way to do so is to visit the Arborheart Riftstone along the southeastern edge of Sacred Arbor. Once there, you’ll need to talk to the pawns that appear and look for the “Woodland Wordsmith” specialization. Some will announce they have it when you talk to them, but not all. Talking to pawns wandering around Sacred Arbor can work as well. Unfortunately, you can’t search for this specialization - or any specialization, for that matter - so you’ll just need to interview pawns until you find one with the specialization you need.
(1 of 3) You can find Sunbloom (yellow) flowers outside of The Arborheart,
How to Get the Woodland Wordsmith Tome¶
Failing that, you can always just teach your own pawn how to understand the elven tongue. Doing so requires a bit of work and money, though, but it’s a long-term solution to the problem that also contributes to the greater community. Most importantly, it allows you to keep a translator on-hand without having to swap out pawns, which removes a potential hassle. In order to teach your pawn the Woodland Wordsmith specialization, you’ll need to speak to the elven innkeeper in Sacred Arbor, Kough. You won’t be able to understand what she says (or even see her name), but the inn icon on the map should be familiar enough - Kough is on the ground floor standing in a pavilion surrounded by columns.
She’s the character who will give you the Woodland Wordsmith Tome, but you’ll need to butter her up in order to get it. You can do this by giving her a 
Bunch of Flowers as a gift. Just initiate conversation with her and press 
or 
, to open up the gift inventory menu, whereupon you’ll need to select a Bunch of Flowers and give them to her. Her positive reaction shouldn’t need translation, and you’ll need to give her several (three-to-five) Bunches of Flowers to get her affinity up enough for her to reciprocate with a gift. This gift, naturally, will be the Woodland Wordsmith’s Tome, and she should hand it over once you talk to her when her affection is high enough.
(1 of 3) Give Bunch of Flowers items to the innekeeper in Sacred Arbor until she gives you the Woodland Wordsmith Tome,
If you don’t have any Bunches of Flowers to give Kough, never fear - you can craft them, and the resources are nearby. On the ground outside of 
The Arborheart, you’ll find 
Sunblooms (yellow flowers) growing, and on the road outside of town you’ll find 
Moonglow (blue flowers - they glow at night). Pick them and combine them - one of each will make a Bunch of Flowers. If you give Kough too many flowers at once she seems less receptive, and it can be somewhat hard to gauge how much her affection is rising. To be absolutely safe you might want to give her a Bunch of Flowers, rest at her inn (3,000G), and repeat the process until you get the Woodland Wordsmith’s Tome. This can get expensive, however, as it could take 3-4 rests (9,000G - 12,000G) to get the Woodland Wordsmith’s Tome. Of course, nothing says you need to do this all at once - you could give Kough some Bunches of Flowers, then return to a campsite (or your private abode in Vernworth if you don’t mind the hike), rest, return, and repeat.
So, to reiterate, you can get a Woodland Wordsmith’s Tome by:
- Picking Sunbloom and Moonglow flowers.
- Combining them into Bunch of Flowers items.
- Talk to the innkeeper in Sacred Arbor (Kough).
- Gift her a Bunch of Flowers.
- Rest (3,000G at the inn in Sacred Arbor)
- Repeat
Once you have done this enough, she’ll give you the Woodland Wordsmith’s Tome, which can be used right from your inventory to teach your main pawn the Woodland Wordsmith specialization. As long as you don’t overwrite this specialization and have your main pawn with you, you’ll be able to understand the elven language!
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