Gépis

Gépis refers to a fictional ethnolinguistic group and their language, developed for worldbuilding and speculative fiction contexts. The term describes a community living in the Gépis Archipelago, a chain of tropical islands in a hypothetical southern sea. The population is estimated at about 120,000, distributed across coastal towns and river valleys in 28 major settlements. The Gépis speak the Gépis language, which is commonly described in sources as an agglutinative language with varying word order tendencies and strong interconnectedness with maritime life; bilingualism with neighboring tongues is widespread.

Social structure is organized around hereditary lineages and a council of elders who oversee maritime affairs, resource management, and cultural rites. Economic life centers on fishing, seaweed farming, craft production, and inter-island trade. The archipelago has a long tradition of sailing and canoe building, enabling connections with neighboring cultures and markets.

Cultural practices emphasize reverence for the sea and ancestral memory, with seasonal festivals, oral storytelling, music, and dance playing central roles. Notable elements include a lineage-based naming system, a youth rite of passage, and distinctive woven textiles and woodwork. Language plays a central role in education, local media, and governance within the regional federation that recognizes autonomous communities.

Historically, the Gépis are described as having settled the islands in waves beginning in antiquity and later integrating into a regional federation that grants regional autonomy. In fiction and game settings, Gépis is used to explore themes of maritime sustainability, intercultural exchange, and linguistic diversity. As a fictional construct, there are no real-world populations or official sources.