Meteor at the border. 

There was a big meteor that crashed into Tenril right on the border of the forest and central deserts. The fiery and booming impact of the meteor created a crater and destroyed the nearby forest, making it unable for things to grow there even now. 

The Lunaegans and Xipilians have fought over the meteor for hundreds of years, and the war is rumored to have started when both parties laid claim to the area.

Once the Xipilians figured out that the materials from the meteor could help them create even stronger weapons, they sent a battalion to get as much of the meteor as they could during the day while the Lunaegans were weakened by the sun. They managed to get a large amount of material. These resources are used in the weapons of the strongest and most talented Xipilians. Having the meteor metal integrated into your weapon is a sign of strength, and leads to them being revered and respected.

The connections the Lunaegans feel to the meteor and its religious meanings lead them to ward off predators and Xipilians from the area in order to protect it. The Xipilians keep trying to get to it and use the metals in the meteor for their own adornments. The Lunaegans see this as a big show of disrespect to them and as another sign of the greed Sotechli instilled into them. The war is speculated to have been influenced by this, with the Xipilians one day coming and taking a big chunk of the meteor during the day and destroying the regrowing plants. 

Xipilian Perspective

The meteor crashed in a ball of fire, hence why the Xipilians perceive it as a gift from the Solar deity Sotechli. The meteor is seen as the soul of a Xipilian that successfully penetrated Lunnadian’s defenses and managed to get through to Tenril intact. The meteor brought rare metals and soil to Tenril and the Xipilians think themselves entitled to the meteor and all it brought. The Xipilians use the special metal they could harvest to create stronger weapons, as well as jewelry that signifies the highest ranking and royal family. The metal is stronger and sharper than any other metal that the Xipilians have discovered. They await the time when another soul is able to do the same, for that would mean that the defenses that Lunnadian set up were faltering and Sotechli would start being able to be closer to Tenril once more. The Xipilians see the fact that the Lunaegans claim the meteor as theirs as a sign of Lunnadians' greed, trying to keep them from taking the gift of Sotechli and keeping it for themselves.

Lunaegan Perspective

The Lunaegans believe that the meteor is a fallen star, and stars are religious symbols of those who help Lunnadian protect Tenril from Sotechli’s flames. The meteor being on fire and destroying the edge of the forest is seen as Sotechli trying to get through Lunnadian’s defenses and destroying the forests in the process. However, the spirit of the Lunaegan inhabiting that star was strong enough to have the crater be at the border but wasn't able to fully make it not hit the forest.

The fact that they see the stars as reincarnated bodies of their dead makes them feel like the Xipilians harvesting from it is disrespectful, and so they try to protect the meteor and the crash site like it would be grave. The Lunaegans, therefore, don’t use anything from the meteor and just try to regrow the remaining bits of nature that have started reclaiming the area since the impact. The only rock the Lunaegans take from the meteor is a rock that naturally crumbles off and falls to the ground, which means that it is being given to them by the soul of the Lunaegan that was reincarnated as the star that fell.