Seluco-Cildanians

The Seluco-Celdanian (Celdanian: סהל ה- כּ ה ל ד אנר, Seleco-Celdanr) are a Celda ethnicity in Cildania. Their presence on the island dates back to the 13-14th Century Selucian occupations of western Akinawa and the subsequent Velieres Principality.

Today Seluco-Cildanians make up 10-12 percent of the population of Akinawa mostly centred around the Velieres and the north-west coast. Their two main centres being Velieres (Darlikaan) and Alicinium (Alak).

St. Silvius is their Patron Saint, an Selucian general who after converting to Departmental Hosianism returned as a missionary to Selucia only to be execution for treason and heresy. Their primary nationalist symbol is a setting sun and their animal the lesser climbing sea snake.

History
The earliest records of Selucian immigration into Cildanian can be traced to the 2nd century but the Selucian occupation and settlement of the western cantons of Akinawa and particularlly in 1243 the establishment of the Principality of Velieres are considered the start of the Seluco-Celdanian culture as they were the only times single migrations crossed into Cildania in great numbers as opposed to isolated individuals or families.

The intial colonists and army auxillarlies with the Exercitus were later, after the independence of Verlieres from the Selucian Empire, followed by refugees fleeing the religious conflicts between the Aurorians and Selucian faiths and the adventurous, disinherited or ambitous looking to make a new life for themselves.

By the mid 14th century, the Principality of Velieres had been accepted and intregrated into Cildanian politics, the majority of Seluco-Cildanians members of the Department and at the Council of St Origen following the Akilda-Selucian War of 1382 in which Prince of Velieres Jolanus II played a cruical role in the 11th hour Cildanian victory, Verlieres was given the Akinawan seat at the Council of Princes being recognised as the primary state of the region although following the union with the Belmonte Principality [Kapr] and the royal court shifting to Port Clellius [Keret] Seluco-Celdanian dominance in the Principality faded and by reign of Vivianus in 1452 Middle Akinawan had replaced Velieres Old Selucian as the offical court language.

The use of Seluco-Celdanian, like the Celdanian language, was banned in the early days of the Divine Empire under Gildas Kilian I as a result Seluco-Celdanians played a leadership role in akinawa during the Liberal Revolutions. St. Sascaria is still revered by Seluco-Celdanians and features in many family shrines as a consequence of her support of their re-recognition.

The majority of Seluco-Celdanians that rose to national promaince politically during the First Republic era did so as members of Departmental or Action Fascist parties.

Under the Qedarite Republic, like Celdanians, Seluco-Celdanians faced severe discrimination and being classified as foreign aliens, many were stripped of citizenship or had their land confiscated. During this time the Seleco-Celdanr Communistarum Fyddixus (SCCF) rose to promaince as the primary expression of nationalistic sentiment and violent opposition to the Qedarite government, establishing a political wing the SCCB after the fall of the Qedarite Republic which has held consistant majorities in local government in Seluco-Celdanian electorates for the last couple centuries although has had little representation nationally or outside of the Velieres strip.

Language
Seluco-Celdanians speak a dialect of the Selucian language, written in the Cildanian script. Some scholars consider the influence of Celdanian on the langauge great enough to consider it a dialect of Celdanian with Selucian influences rather than the other way around.

Outside of Velieres Seluco-Celdanians the language has fallen out of use with members of the Seluco-Celdanian community prefering to speak Celdanian.