“So, when did you discover this place and how long have you both been working on this sector?” Litvir asked as everyone settled down a bit.
Introductions had been slightly bumpy, and as both sides had described their problem, it had been a bit tricky to keep things calm, but as Retvik walked through the problem, step by step in a more neutral manner, the Voidborns and Time Drakes did both slowly calm down.
However, they were now veering towards the tricky bit. The main issue was that this sector was mostly unclaimed, but had some Kronothrax territories close by, somewhat bordering the sector. On the other hand, the Silk Core, a collection of Voidborns that had been sharing with another Voidborn cult next door and were trying to claim their own space, had been working on clearing out this formerly utterly corrupted sector for a while. There were no official claims on this particular void, and current maps showed it as unnamed and either marked as empty or as Corruption-controlled. The argument was based around who had the rights to claim this now cleansed sector, the Silk Core or the Kronothrax.
“54.87 evs, according to the time scales of you Decayons!” Akronin immediately answered.
“About 50 evs,” Pretisiasa wasn’t as confident. The Time Drakes noticed this.
“You admit we discovered this place first!” Ammostos growled. “Finders keepers, yes?”
“Well, no, not really,” Retvik shrugged. “This place was originally discovered by Corruption, and there are the remains of a handful of small universes around here. The sector may be empty currently, but there was clearly life here in the past.”
“The past is gone, pointless, in this case!” Akronin snarled. “They are all dead and gone. We killed the Corruption. We want to expand, and we want these territories. These Voidborns can go back to the hole the came from.”
“You did not kill the Corruption completely on your own!” Kalaskotonon hissed. “We did far more purging than you did! You Time Drakes only did the smaller areas around the territories you already own! We worked hard to clear as much space as possible!”
Retvik turned back to the Time Drakes. “Did you clear any Corruption in areas not bordering your Kronothrax territories?”
Ammostos glanced at his fellow Time Drakes, lacking an answer.
“No,” Akronin answered in his companion’s place. “We worked from our territories and spread outwards from there. It was easier than just cleaning random rocks, like these Voidborns did.”
“That is not true. We worked similarly but more consistently, ballooning out from our initial starting location, then filling in the gaps as we travelled,” Pretisiasa was unamused by the Time Drakes’ comments. “When it comes to the volume of space that we purged, our area is greater than theirs.”
“But we got here first!”
“We already established that you did not!”
“We-”
Retvik raised his hand, suggesting that everyone calm down. Litvir made sure that they did calm down, and had been gently making sure no one got violent with some very small cantrips.
“I take it you both successfully purged similar amounts of formerly corrupted terrain. Did either of you come across a Corrupted Sentient Source?”
“What is a Corrupted Sentient Source?” Licyeneon cautiously asked.
“Basically, it’s an intelligent bit of Corruption that spreads itself more effectively, can communicate with you and tries to convince you to join it…” Arkay explained. “Basically, the really nasty, smart bits of Corruption.”
The Time Drakes all still seemed confused, but the Voidborns, not so much.
“We may have destroyed something like that…” Pretisiasa muttered. She pointed at one of the maps Arkay had laid out earlier, at a small area with a green tint to it. “There. A voice emanated from this area. Playing beautiful music, like sirens of old. We destroyed the Corruption there and stopped hearing the music.”
Arkay and Litvir both glanced at Retvik.
“Sounds like intelligent Corruption to me. Luring people in is a common Corruption thing to do.”
“I mean, Life Goddesses sometimes do that piss too, but I’m pretty convinced that they may have destroyed a smart Corruption.”
“That means nothing!” Akronin roared. “We have done more than they have to make this sector habitable. This sector should belong to us!”
“We have equal claims on this sector!” Kalaskotonon shouted back. “We both deserve this territory, but you already have your own!”
“So do you! On the other side of the sector! There is another cult there!”
“But not our cult! The Silk Core are not part of the Shadowed Veil!”
The Voidborns and the Time Drakes both started to feel violent as they got up from their seats. However, a weak telepathic force pushed everyone back onto their seats.
“Alright, calm down, children!” Litvir declared as he switched his fingers through the air, then inhaled weirdly deeply. “There is no need for anger or violence or any negative emotions currently! Although I do somewhat appreciate the snack, you are all going round and round in circles. However…” Litvir silently and telepathically checked his next few words with Arkay and Retvik, both of whom nodded in agreement. “I have a very nice, easy solution for all of you!”
Snapping his fingers, Litvir summoned a green pen, then drew several oddly accurate lines on the main map. The Voidborns and the Time Drakes all immediately worked out what Litvir was suggesting.
“So, you lovely Voidborns, you get this bit here, where you did your Corruption purges, and you nice Time Drakes, you get this bit here. I have included a small buffer zone, which you will share and maintain together, allowing non-Voidborns and non-Time Drakes to pass through without trouble. How does that sound?”
Pretisiasa glanced at her two companions, then rubbed her head. “We are not very smart. Splitting and sharing never occurred to us in any way.”
The Time Drakes all backed down too.
“It seems that we were both in the wrong…” Akronin sighed.
“Oh, you totally were being very silly!” Litvir smiled. “But I do think this solution is reasonable, yes?”
Everyone slowly nodded.
“Wonderful!” Retvik exclaimed. “So, friends, how do you wish to continue?”
Pretisiasa and Akronin looked at each other, then both sighed again.
“I think we can take these things from here, Decayons…” Akronin grunted. “We just need this all in writing, to take back to our leaders.”
“Do you need any help with that?”
“We would like assistance. Thank you, Decayons.”
“No worries!” Arkay beamed, summoning some sheets of paper. “Let’s get this agreement sorted, and then you can all head back to your new territories…”