The Te’kula
The Te’kula are a Deno’qai tribe of the Elderwood. For many years, they lived hidden in a forest demi-plane, protected from Grimbaskal by the tanshi Aasimti and a Jade Piece of Rai’s Hand. Since the defeat of Grimbaskal by the Dunmar Fellowship, the Te’kula have emerged from hiding and taken a leading role in restoring the forest ecosystem and the Elderwood Tribes that suffered at Grimbaskal’s hand.
Territory and Settlements
The Te’kula live deep in the Elderwood, near the source of the Kayan. During their decades of magical isolation, they were a small tribe, consisting of only a single large village, surrounded by a few thousand homesteads and small family clusters. However, since Grimbaskal’s death the Te’kula have grown significantly through immigration from other Deno’qai Elderwood Tribes.
Local Culture
The Te’kula, alone among the northern Elderwood Tribes, resisted and fought Grimbaskal, at great cost, leaving them isolated in a magical demi-plane. This long history of isolation has colored the local culture of the tribe.
Unlike most Deno’qai, they have a particularly close relationship with a single tanshi, Aasimti, who they call the spirit of the Elderwood. Though the Te’kula do not deny the existence of other tanshi, most members of the tribe call on Aasimti far more than is typical in Tanshi Worship.
The Te’kula also preserve older Deno’qai traditions, maintained via years of isolation.
Recent history
For many years, the Te’kula lived quietly in the depths of the Elderwood. This all changed in DR 1721, when Jordo, the Godcaller of the Te’kula, found a fragment of Rai’s hand and united it with an ancient tree, a locus of Aasimti’s power in the Elderwood. The spirit of Rai and Aasimti became entangled, with Rai providing a focus on the material plane to amplify and channel Aasimti’s power.
In DR 1722, when Grimbaskal attacked the Te’kula seeking the Jade Piece of Rai’s Hand, Aasimti, channelling divine and arcane power through Rai, was able to shift the Te’kula village to a demiplane, protecting it from Grimbaskal.
In DR 1748, the Dunmar Fellowship killed Grimbaskal, and were gifted the Jade Piece of Rai’s Hand, disentangling Aasimti from Rai and returning the Te’kula village to the material plane.