Pequims

The Pequims are an ethnolinguistic community native to the high valleys of the Verdant Range in the fictional nation of Lendra. The name Pequim is their exonym; their endonym is not consistently attested in external sources.

They inhabit terraced upland valleys along the Pequ River. The 2010s census records roughly 70,000 Pequims; communities are concentrated in twenty towns, with smaller hamlets in high slopes.

The Pequim language is part of the Mountain Language Family and has several dialects. It is spoken in homes and local markets, taught in primary schools in the region as a subject, and is the focus of ongoing preservation.

Social life is organized around kinship clans and a council of elders; seasonal agricultural cycles govern ritual life. Traditional crafts include woven textiles from cotton and reed, basketry, and bronzework. The economy combines subsistence farming with cash crops, fishing, and small commerce; tourism centers on crafts and mountain festivals.

The Pequims established a semi-autonomous confederation before the colonial era, resisted assimilation attempts, and joined the modern state in the mid-20th century. They maintain cultural festivals and land rights movements; education and health services have expanded through state programs, with a growing urban diaspora.