Schulfen people

The Schulfens are an ethnic group native to Apfeldonia. They make up roughly around 25% of the total population of Apfeldonia, and roughly around 34% of the mainland Apfeldonian population.

Terms and Eytomology
The term Schulfen is a name that was given to the people by the Lerz Empire, within Lerz documentation is the first occurance of the name. The Schulfens refered to themselves simply as the "snow dwellers". The root of Schulf stands for "rock" or "stone" in both traditional Apfeldite and Schulfen and thus was given to them because Lerz expeditions into Schulfen territory would find themselves constantly harrassed by the Schulfens who would toss boulders over cliffsides ontop of them or pelt them with slingers.

Ancient History
The Schulfen peoples are considered to be the originial inhabitants of Apfeldonia, evidence suggests that they were inhabiting it in prehistoric times. They are the creators of the cave paintings  at Ombergard, one of the oldest and largest set in the nation, and the ones found across the country. The early Schulfens quickly developed agricultural technology and as a result settled down in small settlements scattered throughout the land. At some point(*) the mountain passes of the Schulfsrums melted enough to be walked through, this lead to the invasion of the Apfeldites from the sea of grass. The Schulfens like the Apfeldites had bronze working technology, however they prefered to use stone tools and even weapons, a habit that would give them their name. The Apfeldites did however have chariots and horses, both things the Schulfens had not developed, thus they were quickly over ran and pushed into northern Apfeldonia. In the north the Schulfens thrived, they had already settled large portions of it and thus were accustomed to the conditions, or atleast quickly adapted to such. Due to the north's terrain and the Schulfens brutal tatics, the Apfeldites failed to drive them out even further or destroy them, and therefor the Schulfens make up Apfeldonia's second largest ethnic group.

Early History
The Schulfens were constantly assaulted by the Lerz Empire, but they won victory after victory against the Lerz and continued to thrive in the north, after enough time, Schulfens became more accepted by the Lerz, even to the point of Schulfens becoming Lerz citizens and holding seats of power within the empire.

Like the Apfeldites, the Schulfens stayed broken up into warring states after the fall of the great empires, they had the same technology the Apfeldites had and thus helped usher the Apfeldonian middle ages. Despite Rutgar's vision for a "united Apfeldite empire", several Schulfen states were conquered by him, which was the start of the Schulfens becoming on equal terms to the Apfeldites.

Imperial History
Within the empire, Schulfens enjoyed equal status to that of the Apfeldites, several rising to the most important positions within the empire. Once colonies developed, certain groups migrated to these, thus people around the world can trace their ancestry or are ethnicly Schulfen. Schulfens played a key part in the founding of colonies, as they were often the group that signed up to be settlers or frontiersmen.

The Apfeltskian army during the civil war was command and made up almost completely of Schulfen peoples.

During the Beagelton wars, the Schulfen mountainmen made up a considerable amount of the resistance to Beagelton, he noted "They (Schulfens) are the only thing who's bite is worse than that of the cold"

Modern History
Like the Apfeldites, the Schulfens have played a significant part in world history, and due to their status within The Empire of Apfeldonia, they have influenced countries world-round. Due to colonialism people across the world can trace their ancestry back to them.

Culture
The Schulfens are an ancient and large culture, they trace their heritage to being the first inhabitants of Apfeldonia and much of Schulfen culture has been intergrated into that overall culture of Apfeldonia, the northern part of the country still holds strong Schulfen cultural ties.

Names
Though some Schulfen have adopted the standardized names, they are more prone to use traditional names than the Apfeldites, and thus many modern Schulfen can be seen bearing traditional names. A list of some traditional names is below. Note that in Schulfen tradition, names that end in a "T" are associated with nobility or power.

Rotluck

Darholt

Genhart

Gorivard

Gorivad

Aurther

Cee

Gorttrot

Dress
Most Schulfen wear modern clothing, however during ceremonial occasions they have developed wearing an older style of classical attire. Traditional clothing includes kelts and fashioned animal skins, especially for the lower classes.

Food
Agricultural life is not a prominant part in Schulfen cuisine, due to the extreme conditions the people live in. Potatoes and fish are a major part in Schulfen cuisine. Meat also play a part in Schulfen cuisine, especially game meat like venezin, bear, and otter.

Religion
Though most Schulfen today follow more modern wide spread religion. The Schulfen held a traditional religion, Schulfen paganism is very closely attached to celestial bodies, the sun, moon, and stars played a major part in the religion, as the location of these tended to mark life or death. The religion was commonly refered to as the "Vortgeiht" meaning "life giver" according to elder oral legend.

Symbols
The Schulfen culture is an ancient and important one, and thus has developed known symbolism to represent their people.

The snow flake is often seen as an Schulfen cultural symbol. In the cave dwellings and paintings, one can see many primitive snowflakes sketches along the walls. Though primitive, each snow flake is different, showing that the Schulfen had a basic understanding of how snowflakes looked like on a tiny level.

Fire is also accosiated with the Schulfen people, fire was seen as essential source of life. Fire symbols were sometimes engraved on Schulfen shields or weapons to grant the user protection from death, as fire does on a cold night.

Notable People
Several famous or notable people belong or have ancestry of the Schulfen ethnicity, a list of some is below

Prime Minister Aurther der Schwartz

Gorivad der Schwartz

Genhart der Schwartz

Cee, queen of Apfeldonia

Rotluck Donter -second in command of Beagelton's army