Reading/​Writing

In ancient times, being able to read and write even one's own language was unusual; written material was scarce before the printing press and most people were illiterate. Only spell casters of every profession, alchemists and scholars are literate automatically. Aristocrats may be, and city dwellers and aristocrats can pick the skill as a background choice.

A character without it must save vs INT whenever trying to make out a sign, bill, letter or the like, even when it is written in a language he or she speaks. Learning it costs 500 XP.