tekstien

Tekstien are a fictional ethnolinguistic group created for speculative fiction and world-building. In most renderings, they inhabit a network of coastal city-states and are defined by a long-standing tradition of textual craftsmanship, record-keeping, and scholarly exchange.

Etymology and language: The name Tekstien stems from the word tekst, reflecting their culture’s emphasis on written artifacts. Their language is described as agglutinative with elaborate affixes, and their script, known as glyph-text, blends calligraphic strokes with carved glyphs. Glyph-text is used in codices, inscriptions, and formal documents, and it plays a central role in education and ritual.

History and society: The Tekstien are said to have formed from maritime traders and priestly scribes who established centralized scriptoriums centuries ago. Their society is organized around guilds of scribes, librarians, and copyists, with literacy and training serving as pathways to social prestige. Both men and women participate in scholarly and administrative roles, creating a relatively inclusive intellectual culture within their setting.

Culture and economy: Texts are central to politics, religion, and identity. Copying, annotation, and translation are valued crafts, and the preservation of historical records is a primary communal goal. The economy centers on manuscript production, the trade of rare texts, and scholarly services offered to neighboring regions.

Contemporary usage: In fiction and world-building discourse, Tekstien are used to explore themes of information control, authorship, and cultural memory. They are often depicted in tensions between the urge to preserve knowledge and pressures to digitize, modernize, or censor content.