BENGHI

Continent:  Nupoanqa
Capital:   Mina’Wai, on Nupoanqa’s northernmost isle
Location:  North-east Nupoanqa

The Benghi did not come from the jungle but hail from the southern deserts of Qadaroth. A nomadic group, they came in search of a better, stable life, and at first they found it. But the Benghi soul is filled with fire and yearning and war, and once more they fell to wandering. Only in the wake of the Apocalypse have they settled, in their island fastness, unbowed and unbeaten. Now, once more the Benghi are restless, and hungry to be abroad again.

More Info

• Designing Nupoanqa

Stories

• The Coming of a Warlord
• The Spear of the Dal - Part 1

The People

Fierce independence defines the Benghi. They take to themselves the strong and ruthless and discount all else. They are a people to be feared, for they in turn have learned to fear nothing, have forged a home against the will of the spirits and the gods and now they thrive. Fear is anathema to them; they will not suffer it within their folk. Fear is a weakness to be purged and is seen as treason of the self. They are insular and hostile and view outsiders with suspicion.

From their origins in the swamps of northern Qadaroth, long years of wandering and warfare have given the Benghi thick and leathery skin. Almost as tall as the Onakawa but darker and heavier by far, the men are muscular and their womenfolk curvaceous but strong, as both male and female children are trained in the art of war from a very early age. You will never see an overweight Benghi. They are the only tribe on Nupoanqa that encourage the growing of facial hair for their men, who then dress their beards in braids and bone. Their hair is only shorn as a mark of bereavement or shame. Benghi attire is crafted from the hides of the swamp and jungle creatures they hunt, close-fitting and without adornment.

Culture

Arriving in Nupoanqa, the Benghi eventually came to live among the Senoka, and even the reclusive Onakawa met them with open arms and hearts in the beginning. Although the Benghi could accept the teachings of the spirits through the voice of the shamans, most could not open their hearts to them without question, could not accept the weak and ineffectual as easily as the strong and tenacious, could not accept that each was of equal merit. This refusal to accept weakness drove them out and still defines the Benghi to this day.

The spirits did not look upon the Benghi with the kindness they showed the other tribes. Their journey was long and perilous and, with each misadventure, each illness that blighted them, each death, the Benghi grew to distrust the spirits more. Worship and witchcraft alike became forbidden. For many years they lived as they once had, a nomadic folk moving from one hunting camp to the next, until the Sundering (as they call the Apocalypse). Once the world had ceased its turmoil, the dust and debris settled, they turned from the cities and sought a new home for themselves. They found it on a rocky island, where they built their stronghold city of Mina'Wai. The walled city stands defiantly apart from the mainland, physically and culturally, proudly declaring its independence.

These are the virtues the Benghi hold dear, and they have made theirs a name to be feared throughout Nupoanqa. Warriors without compare, brave and unflinching. Fiercely independent, proud and unbowed. Forthright and honorable, trustworthy and true. In these virtues the Benghi have found strength, have shaken off the worst the heavens have to offer, and laughed in the faces of the gods. Now they stand ready to take the world by the throat and grip it with fearless intent. The question is not whether the Benghi will succeed. The question is whether the world is ready for them.

Religion

Religion is anathema to the Benghi. What manner of man is he that kneels before any but the Dal? What manner of being is this that claims to stand above the Dal? Worship is weakness in the eyes of the Benghi, and the great temples and faiths of other lands are unknown in Mina’Wai. It is much the same with the multitudinous spirits of Nupoanqa. The Benghi feel, in their hearts, that the spirits have treated them unkindly and bear little love in return. The spirit marks are so weak as to not show in the Benghi and therefore it is very rare that a child will display the same band of rosettes that the children of the other tribes display.

Government

The Dal rules the Benghi alone; there is only the Dal's word. The Benghi rely only on the self, on one’s own judgment and actions, with the Dal being the embodiment of all they hold to be strong: tenacious; ruthless yet honorable; a paragon of their virtues. He may seek advice from trusted friends or respected members of the tribe but all decisions are his alone. There is no council. There are no lords other than him. His rule is final. The Dal is schooled from infancy how to fight and never allow the self to be infected by fear, to be feared, to be honest and straight-talking and to conduct himself with the pride that rages through his veins.