Once the Kingdom of the Apes had fallen, the King turned inward to domestic affairs. He became a tyrant who ruled with an iron fist, uniting the Empire only through fear of slavery or death. He sought complete control over the Empire’s flourishing economy. A fraudulent system was devised by the Royal Court in which all the Empire’s subjects were forced to store their wealth in state-controlled vaults. Once completed, King Tusk had absolute control of the Empire’s collected wealth, selfishly siphoning half of all deposits under the guise of taxation to maintain his now massive army. When questioned by his subjects, the King claimed that these ‘taxes’ were a necessary fee to ensure the peace and prosperity of the Empire. At the expense of the masses, the King and his Councilors’ fortune grew day by day. As the gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen, poverty became commonplace. The time for change was nigh however King Tusk resided safely behind the high walls of the Royal Palace, refusing to acknowledge the chaos erupting throughout the countryside.