Languages

The only written languages are Orcish, Hobgoblin, Dwarven and Human.
All the player class races have their own spoken language.
Each tribe, clan and large town also has a spoken 'dialect' that extends the prevalent racial language(s).

A character can automatically speak its own racial language at no cost. Learning another spoken language, or a dialect or written language (except dwarven) costs the character a skill point.

Orcish is the most widely spoken interracial language and serves the region as a de-facto "common" language. Hobgoblin has been adopted as a more "civilised" language by many merchants, tribal scholars and any sufficiently organised ruling class.

As spoken languages, Goblin and Hobgoblin are sufficiently similar for basic inter-language communication ("get back to work", "give me your axe", "I'm hungry") but not for more advanced communication such as tactics, trade or negotiating, or any serious attempt at persuading or diplomacy.

Character from a race without a written language that need one, often learn another written language they have come in contact with. Typical occurrences are orges that read/write orcish and some goblins and kobolds that read/write hobgoblin. Some tribes of isolated/primitive kobolds, gnolls, lizardmen and troglodytes have adopted small parts of the dwarven written language that they use as a form of hieroglyphics.

The written dwarven language is a skill in its own right, useful in penetrating the defenses of dwarven strongholds and unravelling the mystery of things found within them. Characters who wish to start the game with the ability to read and write dwarven may have no more then one point in the skill, and can only increase it as a result of in game opportunities.

There is no unique written language for 'magic'. Spells and scrolls are written in the other languages, but are always incomprehensible to those without spell casting abilities. For this reason wizards and artificers in particular often learn a few different written languages.