Veikans

The Veikan peoples (Veikan: "Veikejandi") are the primary inhabitants of modern day Veikaia or more broadly anyone of Veikan descent or a native speaker of the Veikan language. Veikans are not originally native to the territories of modern day Veikaia, migrating into the area in the late 10th century. The Veikan people originate from _, where they had lived for centuries prior to their migration. Veikans are a generally homogeneous group, with the main differences between the Veikan people being dialect and other language-based differences. The majority of Veikans live within Veikaia, but several Veikan minority groups can be found across Anterra in small numbers.

Historically, Veikans were forced to migrate from their original homeland by the _ peoples of Modrovia, which had recently begun expanding into Veikan territory in the early 10th century. The emigration by Veikan tribes from northern Modrovia happened in waves and took over a century, with most experts believing the main bulk of Veikan migration ended in the 11th century. Not much is known of the pre-migration Veikan peoples, with most of their history being lost to the invading _ forces, but several ancient Veikan settlements and pieces of artwork have been found through the years across northern Modrovia. The Veikan tribes migrated into the north-eastern territories of what now compose modern day Veikaia, where they seized the land from local Veigeudic tribes which were also forced to migrate westwards. Shortly after their migration, the tribes of Veikaia were quickly and swiftly unified under the Kingdom of Vipusk which through the centuries expanded into Veigeudic territory and overran the many tribes and petty kingdom in the area, eventually forming the Kingdom of All Veikans (Known for short as the Kingdom of Veikaia) with the ascension of Veisland I to the throne in 1283 AD and the conversion of the country to Alitheian christianity. The Veikans eventually also annexed a large number of Litanian duchies in the south-west of the country, and adopted many facets of Veigeudic and Litanian culture as their own. By the 15th century the Kingdom of Veikaia incorporated the majority of the modern day territories of Veikaia and united the Veikan peoples under a single unified state.

The Veikan language is one of the few languages in West Artemia that isn't related in any way to most other languages in the region, being related instead to now long lost ancient Artemian language families. It is believed Veikan has some relation to the by some experts, but no solid connection has been made yet between the two languages. The Veikan language uses its own Veikan alphabet, but romanization is also common in some areas of the country and abroad. Language is the main differentiating factor within the Veikan people, as they are a mostly homogeneous group. Several dialects exist within the country, most of them influenced by the Veigeudic and Litano-Veikan languages, and have led to regional identities forming.

Pre-Migration
Details on the history of the Veikan people pre-migration are scarce, with most historical records being lost due to the advancing _ people's destruction of many historical sites. Sources from the era describe Veikan civilization as mostly pastoral, with some level of agricultural development. The Veikan peoples were sedentary, relying on livestock as their primary source of sustenance with farming to supplement it. They relied primarily on trade to acquire bronze and later on iron tools, but had some level of local production of bronze and iron. Veikan tribes were aggressive and warfare erupted between them consistently, war became an important facet of ancient Veikan culture and Veikan warriors were renowned for their prowess in combat. They remained a mostly insular group, being aggressive towards foreigners except for a select group of nearby tribes with which they traded for raw resources, which were later alloyed to produce bronze tools and weapons.

Ancient Veikan structures were primarily made of stone, with the ruins of many large scale fortifications from the mid and late bronze age called "Gatexas" surviving in modern day Modrovia. These fortifications are also believed to have served a religious purpose, with many altars and other suspected religious items being found within them. A number of people are believed to have lived within these fortifications, probably nobility-like figures of the bronze age. Suspected barns and silos were also found within them. Large settlements were built around these fortifications, with a number of ruins of homes and stores being found around them.

Not much else is known about ancient Veikan civilization up until the 9th century AD, where local historical records mention the aggressive expansion of the _ people into historical Veikan territory. While ferocious, the Veikan people were not a proper match against the _ advance, and were forced to hastily migrate northwards and westwards towards modern day Veikaia, a long migration that took over a century and came in many separate waves.

Migration and expansion
The Veikan people emigrated from the ancient homeland around the 9th century AD, being forced out by the encroaching _ people from modern day Modrovia. This migration came in waves and took over a century to complete (Although it's believed several minor migration waves came afterwards too, but they are less notable). The arrival of the Veikan people in modern day Veikaia displaced a large number of Veigeudic tribes, which were not used to conflict and had until then lived a mostly peaceful pastoral and agricultural lifestyle. Veikan tribes quickly settled the new land and established new permanent settlements and trade routes across the land. In the coming years, violence between the tribes became less common and a common ruler was elected from the largest tribe, the Vipuski, to form the Kingdom of Vipuski in most of the tribal territory of Veikaia. This Kingdom of Vipuski is generally believed to be the proto-Veikan State, from which the later Kingdom of All Veikans was formed. The Kingdom of Vipuski was decentralized, with tribes within it still retaining a large amount of authority within their territories and with tensions flaring up from time to time between them. A form of Proto-Feudalism slowly started to form within Veikaia, but the government of the Kingdom was still mostly tribal.

The newly unified Kingdom of Vipuski aggressively expanded into Veigeudic territory in the coming decades, absorbing many tribes and petty kingdoms into it and awarding the new lands to loyal subjects of the High King. Veigoths were treated with some amount of respect but still mostly repressed by the government, with their lands being settled by Veikan people and being forced to either accept the new status quo or emigrate towards other territories outside of the kingdom's reach. The expansion was swift and brutal, and the Veigeudic minority was left without control of their original lands, being relegated to a second-class citizen status within their old lands.

The 11th century saw the arrival of Alitheian missionaries from northern Kesh into the region. They arrived through the territories of modern day Mero-Curgovina and attempted to evangelize those living within modern Veikan territories. These missionaries targeted both the Veigeudic and Veikan peoples in the region, finding the most success with the later. Veikan Paganism had long been very metaphysical, believing in the existence of two separate worlds ruled by two entities in constant struggle with eachother called Partun and Merun. Alitheianism, as a Gnostic faith originating within North Keshi Messianic circles, had many parallels with the local Veikan religions which allowed it to more easily find listeners within the Veikan people. The conversion was slow in the start, but Alitheianism quickly gained followers within Veikaia, leading to the eventual conversion of the entire country in 1283 AD alongside the ascension of the Alitheian king Veislado I.

Into the late 13th century, the newly ascended Veisland I saw most of the Veigeudic territory annexed into the Kingdom of Vipuski and its territory almost tripled. With all Veikan people under the rule of the Kingdom of Vipuski, the decision was made to declare the Kingdom of All Veikans in the same year he ascended to the throne, 1283 AD. The Kingdom of All Veikans, later on shortened to the title of Kingdom of Veikaia (Although the title "Kingdom of All Veikans" was still officially accepted as a state title until the fall of the Veikan monarchy in 1979) saw itself a strong regional power, being one of the largest kingdoms in Eastern West Artemia. It quickly proceeded to absorb many of the Litanian duchies to its west through warfare and skillful diplomacy, leading to the existence of a large Litano-Veikan minority within the country alongside the already existing Veigeudic minority. The Litanian duchies were rich and highly bolstered the power of the Veikan Kingdom, turning the nation into a relatively rich regional player.

The old endonym for the Veikan people used to be Sara Kejandi, or "Old Peoples" in Anglic. Through the centuries, this endonym became more unpopular as the Veikan people became more familiar and felt more at home within their new lands, being instead replaced by the term Vei Kejandi, or People of the Vei (river). Vei Kejandi was eventually modified through the years and the space between the words dropped, with the final native title for the Veikan people becoming Veikejandi. The name of the nation of Veikaia also became "Veikejandeka" or "Nation of the People of the Vei". Neighboring nations settled for the title "Veikan" as the exonym for the Veikan people, probably a simplification of the title Veikejandi.

Medieval era and renaissance
The Veikan people experienced a population explosion in the mid and late middle ages. With a large amount of recently conquered territory to be settled, long-lasting peace from all of the nearby enemies of Veikaia being vanquished and a lack of large scale plague or disasters, Veikan people flourished for centuries under the rule of the Kingdom of All Veikans. This was the period where contact between the now conquered Veigeudic and Litanian peoples intensified, leading to the adoption of lexicon from both cultures into the Veikan language and the assimilation of some cultural traditions such as many dishes originally of Gothic and Litanian origin.

A warrior nobility dominated the politics of the era, while the vast majority of the population was composed of peasants with little to no special rights. The nobility, however, was weaker than in other states of the era. Veikan nobility lacked the cohesion and political strength to successfully oppose the rule of the monarch, who generally had the support of most of the population (which in several occasions revolted against the nobility in favor of the ruling of the royal family). This weakened nobility was easily reined in and controlled from the center, leading to a heavily centralized government and very limited feudalism. The Veikan monarch was essentially a despot that ruled over the entire country, an early form of absolutism.

Into the renaissance Veikans became a heavily mercantile people. International trade had begun to flourish and Veikan merchants fiercely competed with traders from modern day Ostboland, Tiperyn and Litania, importing luxury goods in exchange of the country's plentiful agricultural and mineral resources. This competition was protected by the royal family, which had a tight control over trade in the country but nevertheless allowed a relatively high level of free trade to happen. The renaissance saw the peak of the centralization of power by the Veikan royal family, which essentially left the nobility as nothing more than land owners with some special rights over the general population and titles with little actual value.

The Veikan population boom continued, overshadowing the local Veigeudic and Litano-Veikan populations by a large margin and leaving them as a small minority within their own lands.

Society and Culture
Veikan society is highly homogeneous, with little difference between each individual Veikan beyond language differences in the form of dialect. Still, dialects have caused some level of regional identity to form within the Veikan provinces, particularly between the north and south of the country where dialect differences are the most obvious. Originally a very warlike society, Veikans became disinterested in warfare after the peak of their expansion in the early middle ages. Through the middle ages Veikaia became a highly mercantile society, trading in furs and quakaliq slaves from Gardarike and Keshi luxury goods such as spices through Merandy and Curgovy. Veikan society became enamored with trade, becoming a free trading nation, if still somewhat isolationist. The full flourishing of Veikan culture however did not arrive until the age of enlightenment and the romantic era, when some of Veikaia's most popular and critically acclaimed art and literature was created. Historically, prior to the rise of communism, the monarchist government had followed a traditional ideology of "Inwards Culture" (Veikan: "Baraldea Kultura"), which mirrors somewhat the teachings of the local Alitheian church. Inwards Culture demands that the government do not get tangled in foreign matters, instead focusing in internal issues and trade. Inwards Culture is believed to have led to the country's mostly isolationist positioning in world politics and their peaceful demeanor for most of the country's history.

Veikan culture changed significantly after the end of the Veikan Civil War, it being the most destructive conflict in Veikan history and causing much pain and suffering to the population. The rise of the local communist government and fall of the monarchy also caused the historically mercantile society to become more conservative on the topics of trade. In the modern day Veikans are generally stereotyped as somewhat somber and philosophically nihilistic in nature.

Religion
The modern Veikan people are majority Messianic, with the vast majority of Veikans describing themselves as Triuvist. This majority has however shrunk slightly in recent years, with the number of irreligious Veikans growing with the years, probably linked to the communist government of the Council Republic of Veikaia. Veikans have historically been highly religious and esoteric, with esoteric practices and rituals being highly important for Veikan culture. To the modern day many personal rituals are practiced within Veikan homes for various purposes, depending on the personal religious inclinations of the believer. Triuvist churches can be found across the country's many cities and towns and practice the Triuvist mass daily.

In the past Veikans have put a heavy emphasis on esoteric pursuits such as alchemy, which was practiced widely across the country. Many rituals were also created around the idea of reaching a connection with the metaphysical world, some of them involving the use of hallucinogenic substances which are grown locally in gardens near Triuvist churches. The tending and care of these plants is highly important to Triuvist believers and is done with great care by priests. The recreational and non-religious use of these plants as drugs is frowned upon and prohibited by the church, as it's seen as disrespectful towards their holy nature.

Prior to the arrival of Triuvism to the territories of the Veikan people, Old Akiemism was widely practiced. Akiemism is a pagan religion followed by the Veikan tribes and later on Kingdom of Vipusk for most of the people's history up until the 16th century when it went extinct. The religion was later revived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Veikan nationalist groups and caught on as growing but small minority religion.

Spear Culture
A notable aspect of Veikan culture through history, specially in the middle ages and pre-migration period, is the Veikan peoples' affinity towards the use of spears both in combat and ritual. Spears saw widespread use both by the peasantry, tribal rulers and later on, even medieval nobility. Nobles wielded gilded or engraved spears, with decorated poles featuring furs gathered from bears and other fearsome animals from past hunts. Many past religious and cultural rituals common among Veikans involve spears in some way, specially those related to hunting. Ritual spear hunting was a common way to prove one's prowess and skill or a rite of passage for teens. This ritual however lost popularity as the country left its tribal origins with the arrival of feudalism to the region and the formation of the Veikan Kingdom.

Another aspect of Veikan spear culture which was very common through the middle ages, renaissance and even early modernity was ritual spear duels as a conflict resolution method. Two combatants would fight until first blood was drawn or sometimes, rarely, to death. Ritualized combat has been an aspect of Veikan culture through most of the peoples' history, with highly decorated but combat-damaged spears suspected to have been used for said rituals being found in old, pre-migraton Veikan archeological sites. Through the middle ages the nobility and wealthy professional warriors and soldiers were known to collect spears for combat, ritual and display. The more wealthy members of society would use their ritual spears in combat, but this was uncommon as repairing or replacing them could be extremely expensive for the time. Commoners also sometimes had a ritual spear, generally passed down through the family tree every generation to the first born son of the family.

In the modern day Spear Culture has been relegated to cultural motifs and minor traditions. Many military organizations have spear motifs in their insignia, as they are seen as a important symbol of the Veikan people's identity. Spear duels were cracked down on in the 18th and 19th century due to the large number of deaths or permanent severe injury caused by them. They were ultimately outright outlawed in the mid 19th century to much complaint by the country's more traditionalist nobility sector. Still, spear duels survive in the form of sport, with Mari (Anglic: "Duel") being somewhat popular in wealthier sectors of the population. Mari is a sport similar in many ways to traditional fencing and is considered a part of the Historical Artemian Martial Arts family.

Language
The Veikan language is an integral part of the Veikan peoples' identity, being one of the main factors that define someone as Veikan traditionally. The Veikan language is known locally as the Veikejanboro or "Language of the Vei People" and its speakers are known as "Boriki di Kejandi" (Sometimes shortened to Borikejandi) or "Speaker from the People". Veikan is mostly agreed to be a in contrast to most other West Artemian languages, which are instead descended from a common proto-Indo-Artemian ancestor. Veikan is instead believed to be descended from a long lost language family which has left very little trace after the migration of the Indi-Artemian people into West Artemia.

Identity
The identity of the Veikan peoples as a separate ethnic group has existed for as long as the historical records go. There are no major regional identities within the country other than minor linguistic and dialect differences between ethnic Veikans. A strong central grip of the Veikan Royal Family over the country for most of its history is believed to have been the main reason for the lack of strong regional identities within the country. The main dividing factor in Veikan culture is dialect, specially between northern and southern provinces of the country. The north is generally believed to be more influenced by the Veigeudic language while the south-western parts of the country have been affected by interaction with local Litano-Veikan minorities for centuries.

Veikan nationalism never became truly popular within the country when it first arrived in the country in the mid 19th century, mostly due to the fact the people of Veikaia had been already unified into a single state centuries prior and had no desire for unification or further expansion of the Veikan sphere of influence. Veikan identity has generally been attributed to language and a shared "Veikaness". The relatively new communist government has pushed for the idea of a reinvented Veikan identity shaped by the ideals of and Najiluvism, where "Veikaness" is not defined by ethnic lines but by a devotion to the Najiluvist Communist cause. This push for a reinvented Veikan identity has generally been received poorly.