Bêavii was retired early to make room for Karî, something that I haven't done with any king before. In-Universe, this is because he died amongst all the chaos of the Heaven vs Hell war. Bêavii was not originally a bad person, but he was crowned at a very young age during the droughts. His rule was stalked by one misfortune after another - first the horrific droughts, then the locust plagues, then an outbreak of rabies, then a literal apocalyptic war. He felt helpless. How could he protect his lands, his lionesses, his cubs, from all these threats that loomed so large?

Every King before him had offered kindness to non-Pride lions, but Bêavii turned away from that path. Who could blame him, he thought, for making the selfish choice? For putting his own Pride above all other lions, when the world was coming down around their ears? Maybe his Pride would be safe if he joined with the darker forces. When the world is being ravaged by monsters, isn't it safest to be a monster? So he joined with the forces of Hell. He fought and he tortured and he desperately hoped it would be enough. And that choice doomed him.

The fires and demons of hell dogged his path. As Bêavii sought to bring misfortune to others, he brought misfortune wherever he walked. The lush jungle of his territory was already so weak from the droughts and the locusts. It's no surprise that the sparks caught. His world became choked with ash and smoke. He carried as many cubs as he could. He fought for so long to give his lionesses time to swim across the river. And when he could fight no longer, when he couldn't breathe past the ash, the demons came for him one last time. And his world became ash and fire forever.

As the Pride lionesses trembled in the wake, they found themselves leaderless. Their King was dead, their home destroyed. But as they picked their way through the burnt landscape, one lioness stepped up. Karî began organizing the Pride, checking on injuries, delegating tasks - she began leading, not because she wanted to, but because someone had to. She, too, was royalty, descended from the First King Sor by way of Bedengii's daughter.

The lionesses crowned her in the moonlight, at the top of the Temple of Ancestors, as was tradition. No past King came forward to offer her their pelt's colors, but every single one of their ghostly shades was there in the swirling mist. They knew Karî would need to make her own path. It was time to let these colors die with Bêavii.