"Once upon a time, there was a forest where animals lived together. Some went along peacefully, some fought or hunted others, but one day, a humans came to the forest to cut trees for lumber and burn the shrubs to turn them into fertile fields. The animals felt that the forest will never be the same again, but did not know what to do - humans had sharp tools and weapons that could kill at a distance.
Fox was most courageous and crept toward the human settlement to find out more about their new neigbor. The humans were digging the shrubs out of the ground, and one of them hit the fox hiding in a nearby bush, breaking her leg. "I am sorry," said the human, "but I did not see you. However, you have no business here now, because this will be our field where we will grow crops. If you promise that you never come here again, we can live alongside each other peacefully, for the forest is large enough for both of us."
But the fox was furious, spat at the human and bit him, swearing vengeance. The human saw that his words were wasted, so he took his axe and slew the fox. Then he burnt every fox lair he could find, and that was the end of foxes in the forest.
Next came the monkey - clever and resourceful, he crept towards the village. But when he saw that humans are chopping his beloved trees, rage overcame him and challenged the chieftain of the village to a duel. The monkey was crafty and nimble, but the human was tall and strong, and his axe chopped the monkey in half. When other monkeys learned about the death of their king, they marched to war in anger. The war was short but brutal, the monkeys killed many men, but could not hurt their chieftain who scattered, their enemies and killed so many that the fields turned red.
The monkeys knew fear for the first time, but the chieftain told them he has no interest in a pointless war. He asked for more land for his growing villages and when monkeys agreed to peace, both nations traded and lived alongside each other.
The last came the proud eagle, who flew into the village from the mountains on the west. He demanded that humans give back the land they built on, but the chieftain refused and said: "Not only I won't leave the most fertile fields for your eagles to hunt on, I demand a tribute from you. I know your kind likes shiny things, and I know you steal pearls from the clams in the Lake of Vastness. You will send me ten pearls, and there can be peace among us."
"How dare you!", spat the furious eagle, "how dare you treat me like I am inferior to you?"
Of course you are inferior, thought the chieftain, you have only wings and beak, and know only the freedom of the winds, while us humans can build thousand things and wield weapons you haven't even dreamt of. But he did not say anything, because he did not want to waste his breath.
Next morning, humans came to the western part of the forest and shot every eagle they saw, because their bows were mighty and their eyes sharp. The surviving eagles withdrew to their mountain nests, flinging insults at humans, but the chieftain called his friends monkeys. The monkeys could climb even the highest mountain peaks, and so they burned and broke every single eagle nest. One thousand eagles died that day - a hundred for each pearl their proud king refused to pay for the peace with humans. And that was the end of the eagles in the forest.
So that's how it goes - in this world, there are those who adapt, and those who die. But no matter how proudly you die, and no matter how horrible a spirit you become after your death, wailing about the wrongdoings you suffered from those who adapted and survived, no amount of pride is never worth the lives of those who trust your leadership and who put their lives in your hands."
-- Hinnom fairy tale that started circulating the city of Gehenna after the war with Ermor.
