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The Tenjkuk, also known by the specienym kapi, are a people centered on the island of Kapo, although significant minorities inhabit the adjacent coasts. It is difficult to write the specifics of what defines the Tenjkuk as a people, as they are most known for a strong, independent spirit, alongside a capricious nature. This has led to their culture producing many famous settlers and explorers, in addition to more than its fair share of pirates and conquerors.

While a majority of the Tenjkuk live as nomadic pastoralists on Kapo’s steppes, some instead settle and cultivate small patches of farmland, while many others live and work in the island’s port cities. It is not uncommon for a Tenjkuk who has left home to end up following a completely different path than that of their ancestors.

Both horsemanship and sailing play important roles in Tenjkuk culture, and serves as a unifying factor across the diaspora. Images of horses and ships are frequently seen on Tenjkuk weavings and carvings, and it is rare to find a Tenjkuk who does not have some competency in at least one of those areas. A Tenjkuk who has mastered both is to be respected and feared, for their free reign extends across land and sea.

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Although their history stretches back much further, the Tenjkuk consider the true origin of their people to be the fracturing of Duryilgar (the combined landmass of both Kurgal and Kapo). The period prior to this fracturing was marked by escalating violence between the Tenjkuk and the native Yilgez, violence that had turned increasingly against the Tenjkuk. Their faith holds that the goddess Kapo intervened, leading the Tenjkuk to the Northern-tip of Duryilgar, which she then split off from the rest of the island. This new landmass was named in her honor soon after.

Despite not being written, much of Tenjkuk history has been maintained orally, and has later been corroborated by archaeological finds, leading many of Aegeroth’s scholars to credit the Tenjkuk with several early innovations. Most notable among these is the creation of the first ships capable of traversing Aegeroth’s seas. Some even go as far as to credit the Tenjkuk with horse-riding itself, which would make them foundational to the ways of life of millions of Aegeroth’s people.

[https://aegeroth.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Composite-Bow-1.jpg]The Tenjkuk are also generally considered to have invented the composite bow, initially creating them from bison horn.

Although small, the island of Kapo has never fallen under imperial control, even as its neighbors have. The island remains as independent as its people, unwilling to compromise themselves for others and hesitant to bow to any power, save for that of the goddess Kapo.