Tewen

About
Tewen is one of the largest settlements in the People's lands. It lies to the north of the Yoscurn Woods, and is considered the main town in the western part of the lands after the destruction of Manak in the Lizard War.

Tribe
One of the few non-nomadic tribes, the Tewen settled properly in about 1500 BU, and built a rambling community around their grand Sun Temple. The early building made much of their land unsuitable for farming, but they numbered many talented mages within the tribe. They would often trade magical services for crops with other tribes, particularly the Akram and Bewein. A peaceful tribe, they often had trouble with the warlike Manak, who would march their armies across the plains and set up camp on the Tewen’s boundaries.

In 482 BU, the Chief of Tewen became tired of watching the Manak warriors marshal at the edge of her tribe’s lands, and sent her finest squadron out to meet them, accompanied by a hundred highly skilled mages. The Manak were quickly sent home, though the mages and soldiers of Tewen were under strict orders not to cause major harm anybody. Records of what actually happened vary wildly, having been embellished over the years, but there are a few common facts. It seems that the Tewen soldiers first lined up outside the Manak camp, putting on a fierce display of chanting and stamping, clattering their swords against shields and generally making a lot of noise. The mages waited behind the line of soldiers, until the Manak troops emerged from their tents and began attacking. The Tewen soldiers scattered, apparently terrified of the approaching warriors, leaving the field clear for the mages to cast a great wall of fire that stretched across the plains for miles. The soldiers of Manak, many of them having never encountered such powerful magic before, turned tail and ran back to their own lands. The people of Tewen still like to remind those from Manak of their embarrassment at times, much to the irritation of Manak’s elders.

The Tewen chose the land they settled on for two main reasons; proximity to their closest allies, the Bewein tribe, and a naturally occurring phenomenon that strengthened magical abilities. They initially attributed the magic to the work of the gods, but soon realised that other, more earthbound factors were at play. The legend of the Firsts suggested that the gateway they had used to travel from their homeland to Slokos was, in part, an artefact that would enhance the magical abilities of anyone nearby. After years of searching, mages from both Tewen and Bewein discovered a concealed and heavily warded building hidden in a small copse. Although nobody would gain entry to the building for many decades, they suspected it contained either the gateway of legend, or at least some object that boosted magical energy. A library and school was built around it, which would eventually become the Inner Library of Talri-Pekra.