West Keylic Native Peoples (Pacfica)
West Keylic Native Peoples | |
|---|---|
 Map of the West Keylic Peoples Pre-colonisation Territories. | |
| Location | West Keyli |
| Official languages | Aputian, Keyan, Ilutian, Ka’ah, Ma’kaui , Ra’kauan, M’anian, Antarchan, Pilshian, Ish’akian (Extinct) |
| Demonym(s) | Keylic |
| Legislature | West Keylic Native Congress |
| Establishment | |
• First Migration | 10,000-15,000ya |
| Population | |
• 2020 census | 15,000,000 |
The Western Keylic Native Peoples, are a collection of native peoples in the West Keyli temperate lands. They share a the West Keylic language group, and were isolated from Cordilia for around 10,000 years between the Ice Age and first contact.
A the time of first contact there were 12 distinct west Keylic groups, some of these groups have since become extinct. Due to the long period of isolation, being surrounded by impassable seas since the ice age, the West Keylic Peoples developed a unique culture that is distinct from those of neighbouring Crabry and Cordilia.
Since first contact with outside people, the West Keylic Native People have been victim to a civilisation collapse, and become largely governed by non-native peoples. As of 2020 there are 15 million people who identify as one of the 12 West Keylic Native Peoples.
Etymology
Keyli, Keylic, Keylian and Keya’Iluti are all derived from the first contact with Ateemaran fishermen who first “discovered” Keyli in the late 13th century. They landed in the territory of the Keya tribe, who border the lands of the Iluti, these words became the root of the continental name of Keyli.
In their native languages Keya means land by the sea, and Iluti means land by the river. In modern parlance the term Keya’Iluti is considered politically incorrect except in Izaakia where it is the generally accepted term for native peoples. Specific tribal names are preferred.
History
Prehistory
Antiquity
Pre-Colonisation
When the first Ateemaran contact was made with the Keya in the late 13th century, the Ka’atrii were considered the premier military and political power in the West Keyli region. They took tribute from the Ochoa, Ja’ah, Lo’unai, Iluti and Ra’kau tribes, and often engaged in a highly ceremonial form of warfare with the Keya and Aput peoples.
Ateemaran sources from the first contact describe a highly developed culture, social structure and religion, with stone buildings and agriculture. However, advanced metalwork was not present in west Keyli. Although the Ateemaran first contact was largely peaceful, they did leave the Black Plague, which in the much more highly urbanised western peninsula was devastating, killing around 70-80% of the population, and leading to the collapse of the Ka’atrii empire, and other peninsula tribes the Ochoa, Keya, Lo’unai and Iluti. In the east the plains and mountain tribes who lived in smaller less urban communities suffered a much lower death rate of around 15-20%.
The Ateemarans returned to establish a trading and fishing settlement 5 years later, and by that time the civilisations they met on their first journey had been devastated and collapsed. The Ateemarans established settlements on the coast and for around 300 years were the only outside power to establish any presence in the region, they largely focused on the strategic peninsula area.
Over the next 300 years until 1607 the Ateemaran settlements remained largely self-contained, and had little influence on the wider West Keylic Native Peoples, culturally, politically or technologically. Native oral tradition recorded by Izaakian chroniclers in the late 17th century state that the Native West Keylic people saw the Ateemarans as evil spirits who brought bad fortune. To avoid the Ateemarans skull markers would be set around 5 miles in circumference of Ateemaran settlements, so Keylic people would know not to venture there, and if Ateemarans were seen outside this zone they would find any Native Keylic people would run away, and eventually they would be ambushed and killed.
In the east on the plains of what would later become Izaakia, various Keylic Nations competed against each other for supremacy, initially the Aput had the upper hand however by around 1400 it’s clear that the Ma’Kaui, a people who had previously been on the periphery of the Keylic native world had gained absolute supremacy, and extracted tributes from all the native peoples of west Keyli.
According to oral tradition the Ma’Kaui in the early 14th century were vassals of the Aput people, and were often victims to raids from the nomadic Antarchii and Pilski tribes to the east. Then around the middle of the century King Tolok’ani came to power in Ma’Kaui and led a campaign against the eastern tribes of the Antarchii and Pilski peoples and after years of campaigning subdued the tribes and began to extract tribute. On his return he then broke allegiance with the Aputian Queen, and invaded the eastern half of the Aputian nation. What followed was 2 generations of sporadic warfare, the scale of which had not been seen in tribal memory at the time. Eventually by the turn of the 14th century the Ma’kaui people finally gained the allegiance of all the tribes of Keyli against the Aput, and crushed them at their capital Ig’alooi. The Ma’Kaui empire became the centre of the West Keylic world for the next 2 centuries, taking tribute from all the Keylic tribes and developing their capital Oloch’ana (Modern Day Olicana).
By the time the Montacian people first arrived in Keyli from Hai Men the Ma’kaui capital was one of the largest cities in the world. Estimated at the time to be home to over a million people, however modern estimates put the cities population at around 200,000-450,000 with another 1-2 million people living in the surrounding areas.
Colonisation
In 1604 during a major winter storm the first Montacian people landed in Keyli, on the island of New Mako. They were part of a whaling fleet in the Southern Seas that were blown off course during the storm. They were on ships much larger than anything the native Keylic people had seen, either in native ships, or those of the Ateemarans. According to the Keylic oral tradition the “Sea People” that arrived were unusual in having Gold and Copper hair, an ominous sign as in Keylic tradition gods of metal were a sign of the end of times.
Initial relations between the Keylic people and the Montacians were cordial, and they traded Keyli furs and crafts for spices and trinkets.