Daeya

The Daeya (or Daeyu) people are a human ethnic group or tribal family which makes up the majority of the population in Enyrion and Khadoa, and a substantial part of the population of Um-Gerat as well. They are predominantly dusky-skinned and dark-haired like the Rhynn people who inhabit the Western Isles, and in fact the two groups share common roots; the Daeya are mostly descended from ancient Rhynn settlers who returned to the mainland and colonized northwestern Orithea after spreading throughout the Western Isles and reaching the archipelago's northernmost reaches. For this reason, the Rhynn and the Daeya are sometimes grouped together into a single broad tribal family referred to as the "Rhyndaeyu".
Etymology: The name of the Daeya people stems from the ancient Tuvai root "aiyu," meaning "the gods" (cf. Aiyu-Atma, Aiyu-Thani, etc.). The nature of the derivation is uncertain but it probably originates with the Rhynnish ancestors of the present-day Daeya referring to themselves as the "Urnudaiyu" ("favored of the gods") or "Vanir-marudaiyu" ("adherents of the true gods") when they first emigrated into Enyrion and Khadoa. At this time, these proto-Daeya people (who were worshippers of the Thaedonu-Vaati) came into contact, and conflict, with the Kulvaric and/or Bozur peoples who already inhabited the region. These groups were not Vanir-Vaati and were regarded as heathen barbarians by the new arrivals, who began describing themselves using various terms which emphasized their devotion to Utara-Vaati and its superiority over the cults of the natives. Today, nearly three thousand years later, such conflicts are mostly forgotten by the common people of the Daeya race, along with the origin of their now-shortened name.