I was hoping people could help me out. I have been working on a culture for a sci-fi novel that I have plotted out. I have put in bold the important information in case you don’t care to read everything, but still wish to share your ideas. Any ideas will help me. Often people’s ideas lead me to other concepts. Any ideas you might have to help me further develop my culture would be helpful. I don’t want to share too much about them, though. Anyways, they live high up in the trees. Huge trees like in the Amazon Rain Forest. They are somewhat primitive but not ignorant of technology. Think of the Fremen in Dune. Their houses are built high up in the trees, and the trees are connected by suspension bridges. Think about the home world of Chewbaca in the video game Knights of the Old Republic. Large beast, some are several stories tall, roam the surface. They are fierce meat eaters. I was thinking I could study monkey’s that mostly live in the trees to get ideas about society. Their mythology will most likely consist of surface dwelling gods. Just like we surface dwellers invented a lot of sky gods, these sky dwellers invented a lot of surface gods. They practically worship the trees for a very specific reason. I will briefly go into that reason. The trees produce these large fruits, but they are not fruits. They are not editable. I just didn’t know what to call them. They are about six feet long and about the width of a soda can. They have the wild winding shape of an oak branch. The main color is that of pearl, sort of pinkish. They have cracks going through them that look like crystals, of the colors teal, violet, and orange. These fruit contain some of the genetic information of my alien species. I will call this species Treehoppers for now. The Treehoppers bodies decompose and the trees absorb their genetic information, which is how the fruit contains it. Once a Treehopper comes of age, he/she decides to merge with a fruit stick. When they merge with the fruit stick they gain genetic memories and instincts that are necessary for survival in their society. They have contraptions that gather rain water. The scouts are trained to go close to the surface and gather food. Okay I think that is enough information for you to get an idea. Thanks in advance. Once they merge with a fruit stick, their skin changes to the color of the fruit stick, with the cracks and all. It also changes some of their structure, sort of like the comic character Witchblade.
wow what a great imagination. Only thing would be if the meat eaters are dangerous would the Treehoppers look at them as Gods (of death) possibly? And as danger comes from the ground would they perhaps look to the sky or the trees for their salvation? Monkeys have (I used to study biology but you should of course research this) a highly social society. Chimpanzees, (which aren't if I recall correctly, really classed as monkeys, but are closest to humans) usually have an adult male dominating the troop. Within chimp troops there is political scheming to seize power and even revolts against a brutal or cowardly leader (who takes food and doesn't share or who fails to defend the troop against other predators). Some monkeys have "elders" who literally keep the peace amongst the lower social ranks of the "tribe".
Fatorc that is true about the chimps. I was thinking more about studying them to see how they live in the trees. Little things they do that make living in the trees different. For example like do they go to the ground to go to the bathroom. I am thinking about how my species goes to the bathroom. Most likely they have a bathroom and the toilet doesn't need pipes, instead their waist drops to the ground. Little details like that is what I have been thinking about. I am trying to imagine a society of advanced humanoids that live in the trees.
Well, since your society live in the trees. I would think that they would respect nature above everything else. This would lead their technology to be powered by what we call 'renewable' energy. So, since they live so high up, the solar enery of the sun(s) would probably be used... unless the tree canopy covers the sky over the village. Or the devices could be powered by something more original to your world. Up to you
