Annwfyn

Five Facts about the Annwfyn Peoples

• They are not Irish/Scots/Welsh stereotypes. Though the Annwfyn share a cultural history with the Celtic peoples of the British Isles and they are a distinct people and should never be portrayed as parodies of those root cultures not do they wear any form of similar cultural dress with the exception of woad.

• They were first. It is verifiable from historic records that the Annwfyn (alongside the Ruwwad) represent the earliest human settlers of what is now called the Prosperitas Sector - while they are treated as an underclass by the Imperium they have a longer and more ancient understanding of the sector of which their space was once known as the 'Annwfyn Freeholds'.

• They have a distinct culture. The Annwfyn culture has had thousands of years even prior to the rise of the Imperium to evolve into a distinct branch humanity with its own cultural traditions, spiritual beliefs and mythic history. Though the majority of Annwfyn also speak Low Gothic, their native language is the neo-celtic tongue known as Gair.

• They have a history of resistance against occupation. Under the Regency, and now the Imperium, the Annwfyn have been treated as underclasses in that they view as 'their' space for thousands of years, there is a Annwfyn stereotype of stubbornness that is drawn from the fact despite continual occupation, their people have never truly broken and 'accepted' their place.

• They are an oppressed people. Because of a history of resistance the Annwfyn have experienced oppression from the Imperium, which has attempted to largely illegalise Annwfyn cultural practices and suppresses their ability to learn and converse in their native language of Gair. This is the legal position of the Imperium, but most Prosperitas-sector Imperial authorities are a softer touch on worlds where the Annwfyn population represent a sizable majority.

The Annwfyn People

The Annwfyn predate Imperial colonisation of the Prosperitas Sector by several millennia; they have been present since at least M.25, according to the earliest records.

When Imperial Forces under the Prosperitas Crusade first arrived in the Sector they drove back the Archenemy forces of the Regency from the worlds they slowly conquered. But on many worlds in what would become Subsector Primus and Secundus they found an ethnic underclass oppressed by the Regency elite. These were the Annwfyn, and they are the original inhabitants of much of the sector.

Historical records place the Annwfyn population as originally being spread across most of the spinward regions of the sector. But with the advent of colonisation of Subsector Primus by both the Archenemy and since M.41 the Imperium, the Annwfyn people have been forced rimward and spinward of Primus with Annwfyn majority populations being largely found now in Subsector Secundus with them largely existing as minority populations on other worlds in the Prosperitas Sector where they have either migrated or where the population has been driven out and reduced by Colonists.

Annwfyn Culture

The Annwfyn population is physically diverse, but stereotypes - often reflected in art and depictions of culture heroes - include light or bright-coloured hair, musical talent (especially singing), and a temperament towards not allowing a challenge to go unanswered. As one might expect of a multiplanetary culture many Annwfyn do not reflect these stereotypes in the slightest.

Key Anfywnn traditions include generational storytelling, with the oldest present reciting myths and fairytales; singing, particularly around hearths and campfires; unarmed contests of strength and skill such as wrestling, competitive fording of streams and rivers; and a hundred variants of follis played with short sticks on turf pitches.

Gair - The Language of the Annwfyn

The language group of the Annwfyn , called Gair, is outlawed by the Imperium; Low and High Gothic are the official Imperial language on all colonised Annwfyn planets. Speaking any variant of Gair publicly, or teaching it to children, can attract heavy legal penalties. On some worlds, particularly those like Lerwick which suffer from perennial counter-Colonial insurgencies, a few words or a line of graffiti is enough for a death sentence. Despite this risk, local populations on many planets have been reluctant to abandon their cultures and the language which goes with them, and view keeping Gair alive as a form of resistance against Imperial oppression.

Gair names draw from Celtic populations including Irish, Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Manx and Breton. Common surnames might refer to a clan or tribal federation (for example Mac Aibhne or O Ceallaigh), or may include matronym’s or patronyms indicating the individual’s parentage (such as ‘ap Daffydd’); these are often Gothicised by local Imperial administrations, rendering variants like McEviny and O'Kelly common.