Old Omban

Old Omban (also known formally as Helombesh) was a language spoken from around 1,400 to 800 years ago in and around the Gusu Sea, including parts of modern Omba, Sharai, southern Hasmala, and eastern Khutu. It is the immediate ancestor of Ombesh spoken in the Omban monarchy and Omban Empire. It may have been spoken by as many as a million people at its peak. There is no ready divide between Old Omban and Ombesh, but rather, a gradual transition. It is clear that by the beginning of the Empire, the language was firmly Ombesh, based on the language of extant Ancestors from the period.

Some of the features that were characteristic of Old Omban include a mood system (indicative / imperative / optative / subjunctive), a much less well-developed set of aspect morphemes, and a wider range of diphthongs in vowel phonology. There are still a small number of Ancestors who speak Old Omban, although, since it was extinct by the time the Corps developed, these are ancestors whose bodies happen to have survived at a time when burial in the earth was the custom. Modern knowledge of Old Omban comes mainly from these Ancestors, since, although it was a written language, very few inscriptions from this period have survived.