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 History of 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 into the uncivilised reaches of the Rimward Marches and Nemean Gulf. 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.

Pre-History

What is recorded here exists as a matter of Annwfyn mythic traditions and is not "historical fact" though there may be some grain of truth to it all - most Annwfyn groups have a version of this myth cycle but it is by no means universal and what is presented here is the most 'common' version of that cycle.

According to the Annwfyn Myth Cycle the original colonists of the Sector arrived to a region of space, known to them as 'Annwn' in what scribes have suggested is likely to have been just prior to the 'Dark Age of Technology' where humanities golden age of technological achievements turned upon it. The Annwfyn speak of Annwn as a distinct place separate to where they now live. In Annwn, according to Annwfyn myth, the people who dwelled there lived forever enjoying eternal life in the lap of luxury served by tireless servants with metal hearts. The exact cause of the 'expulsion' from Annwn that caused the Annwfyn's ancestors to spread to other worlds varies in different tellings of their myth cycle, varying from a poisonous jealousy forming in the metal hearts of the servants causing them to tear down civilisation on Annwn to a trespass upon the secrets of the rulers of the world causing them to be cast out.

For whatever reason the Annwfyn's ancestors spread to the regions of what is now known as the Prosperitas Sector. The worlds which the Annwfyn first colonised are known historically to them as the 'Freeholds' or, more formally, 'The Annwfyn Freeholds'. At this point most Annwfyn myth cycles become decidedly localised to the histories of their worlds, recounting various planetary and regional rulers, famous Kings [Gair: Rí] and Queens [Gair: Banríon] and the historical deeds of folk heroes.

Where most Annwfyn myth cycles re-converge is at the emergence of the Ard-Rhiannon [Low Gothic: 'High Queen'] a fabled female figure who 'tall as a young oak, towering above her peers' with flame-red hair, this figure, sometimes given the name Gwenhwyfar or Gwenhyfach, exists in most Annwfyn myth cycles as a uniter figure who with her 'Silver Host' travelled the worlds of the 'Freeholds' uniting them under her banner. The cause for her quest is at times uncertain, some refer to the sector falling into darkness and the rule of foul 'Haegtes' [translation unclear]. The myth cycles are confused about this figure some referring to her as both an outsider to the Annwfyn and one raised amongst them, some say she arose on a world under the rule of 'Cruel Banríon' and one of these 'Haegtes' and rebelled against them, only to fail but escape with the promise to return to save her people.

The myth cycles of the Ard-Rhiannon are varied and immense, this ancient ruler is a popular enough figure for the bardic traditions of the Annwfyn to have thousands of stories about her deeds, most peak with her uniting the Annwfyn people, and end with her either finding Annwn and retiring there with the promise to return, or being betrayed by an ally, or a brother and being sent into exile. All promise her return at some time of immense need. Indeed the Annwfyn put such great stock in these myths that these are the ones that the Ordo Hereticus has done the most to try to exterminate as they represent the most universal rallying points for disparate Annwfyn populations against Imperial occupation.

'Once-and-future' rulers are not uncommon themes found in cultures under Imperial rule, the same myths exist around the God-Emperor themself on many worlds. It was indeed the initial approach of Imperial Missionaries attempting to convert Annwfyn populations to attempt to encourage them to equivalate the Ard-Rhiannon with the God-Emperor and in many Annwfyn populations more successfully assimilated by the Imperium this was successful. But others have had far more trouble accepting this attempt to adjust their mythology to centralise the God-Emperor, not least because the traditional depictions of the Emperor (a benevolent dark haired and olive skinned figure in golden armour) clash significantly with the myth-cycles of the Ard-Rhiannon (invariably described as pale skinned, crimson haired, and of a fairly foul temprement even if this is fondly recounted in the myths about her).

How much of these myth cycles are true is not clearly understood, when Jacinta Durovera first found charts suggesting of the existence of the Prosperitas Sector beyond the borders of the Gothic Sector they implied that at some point during the Great Crusade the Sector's existence had been know to the Imperium, but for whatever reason, sometime in the years of the heresy contact with it, and it's history, was lost, along with all charts making much of the years of Annwfn life entirely recorded by themselves in these myth cycles.

To the Annwfyn the departure and the end of the Ard-Rhiannon Myth Cycles mark the beginning of the 'Cycles of Occupation' and the beginning of Regency rule over the Prosperitas Sector.

Regency occupation

The history of the Annwfyn during the ten thousand years that the Prosperitas Sector was ruled by the Regency which venerated the Arch Traitor Horus and worshipped foul gods is a bit less intact and clear. Largely due to the Annwfyn facing similar suppression to which they face now by the Imperium making it hard for disparate populations to communicate with each other and thus providing a reliable 'joined up' record of the occupation of the Prosperitas Sector.

This is not helped by the fact by both the Regency in retreat, and the Ordo Hereticus seeking to suppress knowledge of the sectors dark past, systematically destroyed records and narratives of this time meaning that those Annwfyn who have maintained those particular cycles are either dead or too afraid to share their peoples narratives.

What little is known is that the upper classes of the Regency were not Annwfyn, though they occupied what was under them known as the Prosperitas Sector the Annwfyn found themselves ruled by a distant

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.