Vejlinier

Vejlinier is a fictional ethnolinguistic group commonly used in fantasy literature and role-playing settings to describe a coastal people known for seafaring and trade. The term usually encompasses both the people and their language, Vejlinian.

They are described as inhabiting the Vejlin Coast and the Veil Archipelago, a string of isles separated from inland kingdoms by a busy sea lane.

In core lore, the Vejlinier trace their origins to a coastal migration in the late Bronze Age, later building maritime trade networks that linked distant ports. Chronicles describe alliances and occasional conflicts with neighboring realms, as well as exchanges of timber, resin, and textiles.

Social life centers on maritime clans and guilds. Elders oversee customary law, while guilds regulate shipbuilding, ropework, and weaving. Knotwork designs and sea rituals feature prominently in textiles and architecture. Religion often centers on sea deities and ancestral spirits.

The Vejlinian language is described as agglutinative with a rich system of suffixes; its script is a trade-runic or syllabic system used on carved poles and ship figureheads.

Vejlinier appear in various works as archetypes of seafaring culture, sometimes used to explore themes of trade, cultural exchange, and adaptation to coastal environments.