Lore Chapter 2: The Toucan Blaze anno 1979

4 min readMay 28, 2022

Preface

Before you read Chapter 2 of Ape Gang’s lore, we recommend you revisit Chapter 1: The Origins anno 1953 for a quick recap.

The Toucan Blaze anno 1979

Over the years, more of the tree killing machines appeared, with more of these humans, and more and more of our home faded away. We learned that humans craved ganganite more than anything and were using it to build their own currency.

We decided enough was enough; something had to be done. So, we put our brightest ape minds into a deep state of thought to come up with a plan of attack. Natural leaders emerged, and the core team was formed from Ape Lincoln, Jo, Ri, and Kong.

Jo, Ri, and Kong plan the attack while Ape Lincoln was on a banana break

Their master plan was to overthrow the humans by any means necessary. So, with the apes began a wave of espionage and acquisition of “human items’’ using the very same $GANG they so desperately craved. Initially, these items allowed the apes to slip in and amongst the humans and take their form for enough time to learn their ways. After a few weeks of studying these tree-killing bastards, Ri had a great idea to use our dear Toucan companions to lure the humans away from their equipment, long enough for the apes to jump in and take control.

As you know, since ancient times, we’ve been connected to Toucans in so many ways. But many of them had since been enslaved by our enemies and forced to do their ill-bidding. We had previously tried to free the caged toucans but were unsuccessful.

In a rare moment of clarity, Jo had recalled an ancient proverb by the great Toucan elder that reads:

By burning the toucans, they would be released from their mortal shell, and reborn to once again fly free.

So, on January 24th 1979, we decided to put words to action. Sheltered from the darkness, Jo, Ri, and Kong snuck into the human encampment, located one of our enslaved Toucans and set it ablaze. The Toucan screeched “Thank you” and, in a blaze of glory, turned into a flame so bright the whole jungle was lit up. The soul of the Toucan was once again able to fly free and be at peace away from the Humans.

As the Toucan flew away, it shed its scorched shell, which turned to ganganite in its purest form as it hit the jungle floor. We use this blessing to further our development as an evolved species of apes, protecting our jungle from the encroaching onslaught of human intervention.

This explosion of light terrified the humans, scaring them off, incapacitating their tree-eating beastly machines and allowing us to once more return to our homes. But not for long! It was only a few moons before they were back. And this time, they were here for us!

They came in the night, taking the weakest of our species. Thankfully, some of us escaped and disappeared into the jungle on the backs of our Jaguars, where we were forced to sit and watch as the last remaining pieces of our civilization crumbled at the hands of the humans. All we had left were our remaining ganganite bags, Jaguars, a squadron of Toucans, and each other.

Oh, and a weight of human clothing, weapons, and even a strange thing the humans referred to as “music”.

So, we tooled up and decided to encroach on the space the humans called their own. We decided to regroup and prepare for taking over their city and making it our own.