The Bek’eni
🔈 (BEHK-en-ee)
The Bek’eni are one of the major Deno’qai tribes based in the Elderwood. Historically, they were largely hunters, foresters, and trappers, extensively trading and intermarrying with the Baz’aku, but under the sway of Mezzar they became deeply isolationist and mistrusting. Since the unmasking of Mezzar as the green dragon Grimbaskal, and his death at the hands of the Dunmar Fellowship, the Bek’eni have struggled to recover.
Territory and Settlements
The Bek’eni occupy numerous small villages and family hamlets scattered across the interior of the Elderwood, with the densest settlements north and east of the Kayan. The core of Bek’eni territory is composed of fifteen or so small villages, most between fifty and one hundred people, stretching east along small, unmarked streams flowing into the Kayan.
During the days of Mezzar’s rule, the Bek’eni paid a high price in tribute, sending the bulk of their wealth and even a fair portion of their food to the dragon’s hoard. Since Grimbaskal’s death, some villages have recovered, but the Bek’eni remain poor, with few luxuries, problems with hunger, and dwellings in poor repair.
Local Culture
The Bek’eni preserve a proud oral tradition that holds that their tribe long stood closest to the elves of Ainumarya, that in the ancient days they dwelt in friendship and commerce with the great elven cities of the forest. Their myths and tales speak of hidden elven ruins and old scars in the land where the forest does not return. These tales are old, predating Mezzar, and many are recorded by Gnaeus in On the Lost People of the Forests.
Under Mezzar’s rule, the Bek’eni grew deeply isolationist and distrustful of outsiders. Bek’eni rumor would cast the Baz’aku as collaborators who have turned away from tradition, and the deep-forest Te’kula as a people under a malign influence.
Though many Bek’eni are still traditionalists with a deep appreciation for ancient culture, the upheavals of Mezzar’s betrayal have caused much doubt and angst among some in the tribe.
Recent History
For decades, the Bek’eni followed the green dragon Grimbaskal, who posed as an elf under the name Mezzar. In 1748 DR, the elf called Mezzar was unmasked at a Deno’qai god tree as the green dragon Grimbaskal by the actions of the Dunmar Fellowship. Grimbaskal was slain soon after, and the corruption that had spread through the southern Elderwood began to recede. The Bek’eni now reckon with the losses and divisions left behind by Mezzar’s rule, including the disappearance of warriors taken into his service and the collapse of village authority built around him.