View source for Breizh

{{Info culture
|image = BreizhCrest.png
|pronunciation = Bray-tz
|classification = Pre-Empire natives of [[Kintyr]]
|origins = Kintyr
|majorcities = 
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The Breizh, are a military people hailing from the landmass of [[Kintyr]] in the [[Regalian Archipelago]]. Having a history spanning back centuries of folklore and superstition, rooted in being one of the first nations of people in the Archipelago and indeed one of the first Ailor people to form established centralized Kingdoms, the Breizh have had a major impact on [[Regalian]] history even if in more modern times they have become largely antiquated and reduced to the Kintyr landmass. With a knack for storytelling and cultural expressions, the Breizh are some of the more restrained in public yet colorful in private [[Ailor]] peoples, who take a distinct pride in their cultural festivals and traditionalism from their isolationist attitude in their homeland. Together with the Highland Ceardian and [[Anglian]] cultures, the Breizh form part of the core Hinterfeld Cultures that make up the large population basins of the Archipelago and the Empire’s capital lands.
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==History of Kintyr==
In order to understand Breizh Culture, one must understand the history of Kintyr, which was once much larger. The map below shows Kintyr and the surrounding lands around the time of 500 BC. It is however important to note that the boundaries of the individual petty Kingdoms shifted frequently due to in-fighting, and in the modern era, all these countries no longer exist due to 800 years having passed. Many of these Kingdoms inform the time in which Breizh culture was formed, and so each land will provide context. It is important to also keep in mind that while theoretically these Kingdoms still exist, nobody owns the crown or the title to them in deference to the Emperor. When the text refers to "Petty Kingdoms", it actually means the equivalent of a Duke in modern day terms. Many of the larger Kingdoms have also since splintered into much smaller fiefs and Counts battling for control, though the legendary names of the Kingdoms still draws on the imagination, and still invokes nostalgia and nationalism among the Breizh people. 
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* '''Tirddwr''' or the "land of watchers", is an extant Breizh borderland that faced the brunt of the Skagger raids on Kintyr lands. Tirddwr is most famous for having the largest amount of surviving Breizh bastion forts and fortifications, even being spared by the anti-castle legislation of recent Imperial decrees. 
* '''Ynysdraig''' or "isle of Dragons", is an extant Breizh borderland that holds some connection to Dragons and featured some Dragon Temples, though the connections remain unclear to this day. This island was frequently depopulated by Skagger raids, only for the Breizh to return and rebuild mere months later.
* '''Penfyngryff''' or "headland of the gryphon", is an extant Breizh borderland where the Kintyr Gryphon supposedly roamed. While there is historical evidence to suggest the gryphon was real, and recent archeology has found skeletons, the animal is presumed extinct after over-hunting and use in warfare.
* '''Eisteddfaen''' or "Stone Seat" is one of the oldest Kintyr Kingdoms, and a still extant Breizh heartland with one of the largest populations. Infighting among the Breizh Dukes and Petty Kings was particularly harsh in this region, with constant fratricide and patricide among the Princes.
* '''Tir Gynnes''' or "Warm Land" is a still extant Kintyr Kingdom that was unusually peaceful for most of Kintyr history. The name is owed to the fact that winters tend to be very mild here, sheltered by the Tirddwr and Deheuol Mountains, with a mild climate suitable for farming and cattle.
* '''Tiraddol''' or "Land of Worship" is a very interesting Breizh Kingdom that has since fallen to Anglian expansion, bordering the so called "Tempelmuur", or "Wall of the Temple". This massive wall structure shows signs of extreme aging, with several outer layers having worn away from weathering for millennia. All manner of religious sites and structures were built inside the walls which were taller than the tallest mountains in the area, hence the name. Rumored to have been built by giants or the gods, a more modern assessment by Meraic scholars has confirmed it was a feemble attempt from one of the Meraic hive cities to build walls to outlast the demons. The walls were never finished, hence their incomplete locations. The walls kept Tiraddol safe from Breizh infighting for a very long time, but as time passed, trapped the Kingdom with their backs against the walls when the Anglian tribes came knocking. 
* '''Tirglochog''' or "Silvery Land", is a now destroyed Kintyr Kingdom that was once the wealthiest of the Breizh lands due to the silver mines that have long since been exhausted. As opossed to falling to foreign invasion, Tirglochog was destroyed by Breizh infighting over silver, and a subsequent swamp-plague that wiped out the population.
* '''Gwlad Caled''' or "Tough Land" was a barely populated Breizh region bordering the Strormenn Lands. When the Stormenn advanced south, this Kingdom quickly toppled due to lack of support from the other Breizh Kingdoms. The Stormenn would mix with the Breizh from Gwlad Caled and eventually form the Clannadh branch of Gallovian culture Ailor. 
* '''Arianrhodwyn''' or "Blessed Arianrhod" is the extant land from which the ancient interpretation of Eirlys governed religious matters among the Breizh. Eirlys' old name is Arianrhod in old the old Breizh language, and the many islands of Arianrhodwyn were filled with Temples, Graveyards, and silent hamlets protected from Skagger raids. 
*  '''Canolbarth''' or "Middle Part" is an extant Kintyr Kingdom that has more or less remained the same. Legend has it that the Great King of Kings Arthur or Arthair hailed from, who unified the Breizh Kingdoms in his lifetime, only for them all to split after his death as Petty Kings declared independence. Canolbarth is sometimes also called Camulon, the legendary capital of Arthair, though there is no historical evidence that this city exists. 
* '''Rhan Ballach''' of the "Far Part" was the most isolated of the now destroyed Kintyr Kingdoms, though it survived well into the 1st century BC until it was finally absorbed by the Mannadh Alba Gallovian Ailor who had already conquered Tirglochog and Gwlad Caled. 
* '''Rhan Deheuol''' or "Southern Part" is a peacefully abdorbed Kingdom of Kintyr that following mass immigration from Anglian tribes, would eventually become the Dorinn Dukelands. The Breizh population here was either absorbed into the Anglian population, or moved east to Tir Gynnes. 
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===Other Lands===
* '''Tir Clustig Hir''' or "Long-Eared-Land", despite its name, was in fact not a Breizh Kingdom, though held association with the larger Kintyr lands. Tir Clustig Hir was inhabited by both Breizh and Solvaan Elves who had created an outpost close to Kintyr so as to trade and facilitate early diplomatic relations. The Anglian Tribelands proved too dangerous to cross on foot, and so Tir Clustig Hir allowed for peaceful sea-side trade with the faraway Solleria.
* '''Aml Tribelands''' or "The Anglian Tribelands", were the forefathers of the Anglian people. A far cry from the peaceful simpletons that live in Anglia now, the Aml Tribes were war-like and constantly assailed the Breizh from the south in their expansionist fervor. It is perhaps with a stroke of irony that the Anglian culture was largely informed and influenced exactly by the Breizh artifacts and aspects of culture that the Aml Tribes absorbed after they conquered the Kintyr borderlands. Tiraddol was destroyed around 230 BC, while Rhan Deheuol was peacefully absorbed in 140 BC when the Anglians had largely "Anglicized" and formed a settled agrarian society, as they could not go beyond the Templemuur and had reached the extent of their expansion hemmed in by mountains and the more powerful southern Ciird Tribes. Tir Clustig Hir remained fairly independent, up until the Five Family Rebellion, when its sovereignty was officially dissolved, the last of the Solvaan departing the shores back to Solleria (as this trade hub had become redundant with the Anglian pacification and inclusion into the Regalian Empire). 
* '''Fjellmenn Lands''' or "Lands of the Mountain-Men", was an isolationist Velheim Kingdom that avoided contact with the Breizh as much as possible, in contrast to the Stormenn and Skagger Velheim. The Fjellmenn Kingdom mysteriously disappeared around 70 BC when the whole population up and vanished. Select Anglian merchants arrived to empty shores and towns, often with food still on the tables. Legend has it that the people of the Fjellmenn Lands were Rand worshipers, and re-entered the Vaarda gate on these lands. After the Fjellmenn disappeared, these islands were uninhabited for hundreds of years, until the Anglian Ailor and Eronidas settled them, creating the Eronidas Pol Counties.
* '''Stormenn Lands''' or "Tough Men Lands" was rumored to be a land of giants, though the meaning of this term was more metaphorical given that the Stormenn Velheim were just tall and broad-shouldered. The Stormenn Tribes were similar to the Skaggers in that they warred with the Breizh people, but did so in a far less seasonal and organized manner. The Stormenn lived in hill forts and constructed Dolmen to bury their aristocrats as they expanded, leaving behind many monoliths and menhirs across the lands of Gwlad Caled. The Stormenn Velheim population eventually became the Gallovian Ailor Mannadh Alba and Clannadh Alba population, though it is important to note here that Gallovian culture is not a monolith, and did not form lineally. Gallovia and Mannadh and Clannadh Alba both had a vibrant cultural exchange, explaining the various Breizh aspects about their culture.
* '''Amelore''' was an Elven Kingdom with a minority Elven population and a majority Ailor slave population and civilian population. Very little information remains on this state, both by the secretive nature of the Methenwyäal Elves Teledden Elves who ruled it, but also because the historical narrative becomes quite murky. Some of the Breizh folk tales imply that Amelore is one and the same as the Regalian Kingdom, which would imply that the Five Family Rebellion was actually more of an invasion of opportunists than a rebellion against an oppressive King, who might have actually been an Arch-mage Elf. There are no primary sources, or even Elven records indicating that Amelore and the Regalian Kingdom are one and the same, though since nearly all historical records from the Five Family Rebellion are heavily edited, it is impossible to say what the truth of the matter is.
* '''Ciird Tribelands''' is a more general term for a collection of pre-Empire tribes most closely associated with Ceardian tribal peoples, though not necessarily. The Ciird tribes were made up of at least a dozen indigenous tribes of Ailor, as well as at least six Ceardian Tribes who were either brought over by Elven slavery, or traveled to the Archipelago by boat, it is very unclear as they did not have a form of writing. The Ciird Tribelands were constantly in conflict with the Aml Tribes and the Skaggers, and some would argue were the cause of why the relatively peaceful Skagger Velheim militarized so rapidly and would eventually become the war-like scourge of the Regalian Archipelago. The Ciird Tribelands, just like the Aml Tribelands, eventually had an explosion of population growth following the introduction of wide-scale agriculture, and would very quickly fold into the Regalian Empire after their Kingdoms subjected themselves under Theomar. 
* '''Skagger Lands''' or the Lands of Drixagh Velheim Ailor, is a bit of a misnomer. The term "Skagger" refers to a semi-religious form of Velheim Knighthood that would form as a response to Regalian invasions of their lands and their counter invasions, which occurred almost 500 years after the setting of this map. The lands were actually a loose connection of Velheim tribes who had inhabited the lands for over a thousand years since they traveled from their homeland close to Ceardia, and settled. History is unclear who started the initial conflict, but the eternal animosity between the Breizh and Velheim started over the small strait between Tirddwr and Billund across the narrow sea. The Velheim would frequently raid the Breizh lands all along the shoreline, for hundreds of years largely unpunished (as the Breizh were not a ship-building people). The final raids ended in 160 AC, close to the final defeat of the "Skagger Horde", and the subjugation of Drixagh into Regalia following the last Skagger War in which the Regalian Empire was victorious. Even if the last raid happened over a hundred years ago, the animosity between the two people is ever enduring, meaning that despite the lack of distance between them, there is extremely little cultural mixing between the two on the islands.