SKULL DIVISION: LORE — V
PART 5 OF 7
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
As reports of conflict escalation swept Solaria like wildfire, the Grims made an overture to their longtime friends, the Penguins and Aurorians.
Up in the North, the Penguin Officials, Ancient Grims and Aurorians Superior held a secret council, where their concerns were given air.
“We can’t go into battle alone,” cried the Ancient Grim. “Our magic may be powerful, but the size of our population is no match for theirs.”
“We do not wish to fight,” responded Icarus of the Penguins. “But we see the Birdz and they are preparing for war.”
After sitting in silence for almost the entire length of the summit, Yann, the Aurorian Most Superior, stood up and declared forcefully: “War is inevitable. If we can’t fight on our own, we must fight together.”
And so a pact was reached.
The Aurorians would contribute their scientific capabilities and the Grims the magic inherited from their Ancients. The Penguins, frequently underestimated, lent the perfect subterfuge for their leaders to gather and plot. Together, they made a promise: none of them would instigate war, but if it came knocking on their doors, they would respond with collective strength.
The alliance extended their offer to the Solstead Owners. But the Solstead Owners had no desire to possess the skulls, and refused to insert themselves into disagreements with which they thought they had nothing to do. They shut their doors firmly, content to carry on uninterrupted in their little corner of Solaria.
***
In the land of the Apes, the chieftains held an assembly of their own. After some deliberation, they had reconsidered their position and thought it wise to arrive at an amicable arrangement with the Monkes.
The Apes extended an olive branch in the form of a proposition: could both tribes, practically related, share the skulls to their collective benefit? With the power of the skulls, the island they shared could be rebuilt and enhanced and industralised. No longer would either tribe need to forage the rainforests by hand — perhaps, in time, they could be the first fully self-sufficient region of Solaria, reliant on nobody else but themselves.
The elder Monkes invited the chieftains to discuss the collaboration. The meeting kicked off agreeably, until the Monkes raised their one condition: “Since the skulls are ours to share, would it not be fair for us to tax you in return for the magnanimity that we have shown?”
The Apes bristled.
Before long, the optimistic promises that had opened the meeting were replaced by a torrent of invective and abuse.
Looking back, nobody can quite recall the specific sequence of events, although the point of no return is memorialised indubitably in the historical vaults of Solaria.
It seemed an elder Monke had found a comment from one of the chieftain Apes impertinent, and had savagely lashed him across the left cheek. In an instant, the lead chieftain had vaulted across the table, his hefty paws aiming for the elder Monke’s throat; they were eventually separated with considerable force.
As both tribes stared each other down from across the room, they knew it was no longer consequential how prepared any of them were for war — it had already begun.
—
This is Part 5 of 7 of the lore of Skull Division, a Solana NFT minting on 18 November 2021.
