Vitana System

Part 2: Economics of the Starbonsai Forests

Encyclopaedia Spiralis Entry  Irn-8997  Binary

Common Name: Canopy World

Binary stars (~.8 mass of Sol) orbit each other every 10 days. This forms a binary system that creates a habitable zone:

http://www.astrobio.net/news-exclusive/habitable-binary-star-systems/

Here is an image that gives a very rough outline of the orbit based on a comparison to earth's habitable zone:

http://kepler.nasa.gov/images/K47system_diagram-full.jpg

IRN-8997c "Canopy World" is the third planet in the system and first in the habitable zone. It is roughly .8-.9 mass of Earth. A forest world where most of the water collects in rivers and lakes spread throughout a vast mountain-forest landscape. Giant forest of trees over 1000 feet tall dominate the landscape. Illogical horizontal growing Alpine trees connect the mountains. The largest forests measure hundreds of miles across and the canopies are diverse ecosystems. Multi-layered canopies form many tiers over hundreds or even a thousand feet.

Giant Deciduous forest and Rainforest biomes dominate an orbital view with Alpine mountain regions interrupting the green landscape. The white snow capped mountains and the horizontal trees connecting the mountains form a complex interlocking mosaic of green and white with blue river highlights embedded in the surface.

While life was born underwater in the giant deep sea lakes and volcanic marshes, life thrived in the diverse canopies of the forest world. In this world biosphere many unique animals evolved by the most intelligent arose from an ape mammal analog. No chimps, bonobos or humans evolved here. But  gibbons  thrived.

Gibbons Prime

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Described as the "the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, nonflying mammals" Gibbons evolved to dominate the canopy. Here is a loose genetic taxonomy:

http://i.imgur.com/qno7LRb.jpg

Gibbons are the masters of brachiation. This tree swinging locomotion granted them access to the breadth and reach of the full Canopy of IRN-8997c. Eventually the gibbons analog to earth evolved into a critical thinking self aware Gibbons Prime (different Gibbons Prime scholars debate the cause of this evolution from divine intervention to random chance to the effect of the hallucinogenic Mara fruit which is only found on Palmolive trees above 750 feet).

Whatever the cause the Gibbons Prime evolved out of the cute basic Gibbons:

http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/68214/gibbons.jpg?w=600

Around 4-5 tall at most the Gibbons Prime have less hair than their ancestors, but vary like cats from short haired to long haired. Their arms are still long, muscular and reach to the ground. They always maintained their mastery of brachiation. Cities grew in the canopies of the forests of IRN-8997c.

Gibbons Prime Cultures

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All Gibbons Prime have a fascination with brachiation. Speed and agility are prized over strength. Strategic thinking is prized over tactics due to the mindset it takes to traverse long distances in the forest canopy. It requires long term thinking and planning.

Several different canopy cultures developed based on the type of forest: rainforest clans, deciduous clans, alpine clans and the outcast low tree tribes (Gibbons Prime who live under 400 feet canopies). Low tree tribes are seen as lower class and incapable of living high in the canopy. While Alpine, Deciduous and Rainforest clans all have different outlooks on life and rivalries, they all look down on the low tree tribes of Gibbons Primes as 'sub-gibbons' or 'subbies'. Also intended to imply subservient to the high canopy Clans.

However the low tree tribes have one advantage. Historically they are the ones closest to the water sources. While this planet is very rain/snow heavy and all three High Clans have means of capturing  some  water from precipitation and the high peaks, the low tree tribes generally control the water. They are the ones who go down to the dark, devolved forest floor and harvest water to trade up to the high clans. This fact is often neglected by the High Clans. In later times technologies are developed that allow the different High Clans to be less water dependent (Alpine harvest glaciers and mountain snow, rainforest creates caches for rainfall, Deciduous develop conservation and recycling techs) but that happens slowly.

The dark cultural secret is how dependent the High Clans are on the Low Tribes but they still mistreat them socially.

Human tribes used communal hunting of large beasts like buffalo to fuel the tribe. Gibbons culture is not based on singular big hunts but rather spreading out (with a few exceptions). Humans are hunter-gatherers. Gibbons are an  explorer-collector  civilization. Their evolutionary pattern is based on not a dense population but rather spread out cultures.

IRL Gibbons are known for pair bonding and maintaining distinct territories for the families. This is carried over in Gibbons Prime civilization structures. Even the cultural centers are not population dense. People trade and socialize but then return to their homes to sleep. A light map of a 1999 equivalent Gibbons culture would be much more spread out than human cities and far less dense. Gibbons Prime naturally spread out relatively uniform over vast distances creating giant interlocking networks rather than population dense urban centers and massive rural gaps.

This is due to evolving from a more diverse and widespread nutrition base. The low tree Tribes cluster move like human cities but still maintain a more nomad tribal tone even into intra-system space faring.

Here are some brachiation videos to give an idea of Gibbons:

Adult:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3JhwjNfx_g

Baby:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiOd0RpqCQw

Psychology and Value Structures

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Because of the evolutionary paradigm that allowed them to evolve high in the canopy, every single aspect of culture is based on "Up is Good, Down is Bad" metaphorical structures. All religions value the sky and flying. All of the evil and underworld is "down below". The forest floor represents all the nasty reptile apex predators, all the nasty floor-locked insects that are not useful and the surface-locked poor souls.

Avians of all sorts are valued highly. All spiritual traditions incorporate birds and/or flying reptiles/insects as divine. Birds are the pinnacle of evolution even if the Gibbons Prime can't fly. They idolize the sky and the Above, even the low tribes since even though might not be quite the high canopy surfers, they are still elevated far above the lowly stupid orangutan, brutish thug like gorilla and sky forbid the retched  common monkey.

Also due to the binary system and the fact Gibbbons are natural pair bonders, the concept of duality is ever present in myths and many works of fiction and art. The most widespread religion (though only by a small margin) is based on duality of male-female god-goddess.

Base Economics

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No fossil fuel burning culture was ever developed. Fire was seen as source of warmth from the rain and to be kept under control. Wind and solar eventually dominated the High Clans energy infrastructure.

The High Clans traded the rare materials among themselves since most rare materials fell into the High Clans. The Alpine Clans were the miners eventually mining into the tall mountains many rare metals. The Rainforest Clans were masters of flora and fauna eventually developing masterful medical expertise. The Deciduous Clans had no uniform specialty being very diversified among different clans (Fruit tree clans like Apple specializing in food, Teak-equivalent clan might specialize in wood for airships).

The Low Tribes relied on their water monopoly.

Eventual sub-light intra-system era

Due to their history in brachiation, the Gibbons Prime have a certain outlook that shapes their aircraft and eventual spacecraft. They are obsessed with concepts like gliding and later gravity slingshotting. Their aircraft are designed with insane energy efficiency and try to maximize natural flight.

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/grav/primer.php

Later, when intra-system spaceflight becomes possible, all their ships are designed as "slingshot ships". The concept of using gravity of the binary star system to "slingshot" their ships minimizing energy use is an obsession to the gibbons prime engineers of any High Clan or Low Tribe.

This greatly inhibits their development of anything like Anti-Matter Wormhole technology though. They naturally aren't yet thinking about complex dimensional concepts like superstring theory and space folding and wormhole manipulation. Their initial interest was in trying to use gravity slingshotting to reach nearby stars (The Grand Canopy as its called in lore). Dark matter is a foreign concept. Dark is not "up in space". "dark" is "down below on the surface". Its almost as if the Gibbons Prime culture grants an ability to see every single little star pinpoint in the sky as a kaladeiscope of color dimension and imagination. But that also limits objective science research in some ways.

hile a valiant effort, it ended in many dead Canopynauts :(

Eventually the Next Star Projects ceased and gravity slingshotting became a sport hobby. Rich, poor, whoever, got into the fun of crafting the fastest gravity sling shot craft. The Stellar Brachiator Guild was formed. Adventurers, explorers, gamblers, dreamers, scientists, desperate people all are attracted to the  Grand Canopy but not understanding how to penetrate the final mystery of Stellar Brachiation.

EDITS:

Tools

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With their evolutionary background in brachiation Gibbons Prime tool use developed around having 4 manipulative "hands" rather than two like humans. Some Gibbons Prime are more prehensile with their feet than their hands while some vice versa.

This leads to a distinction of Feet-First or Arm-First orientations that is more extreme than 'left-handed' and 'right-handed'. Quadri-dextrous  individuals are highly prized historically in all cultures.

Animals

Animal husbandry is based on small flocks. Chicken and pig equivalents are widespread in the High Clans due to ease of breeding high in the canopy structure. Due to the widespread canopy and flying animals the Gibbons evolve a concept of "fishing the sky". They catch and trap different "lower" avian species. The same way humans view dolphins and seals as above 'fish', the Gibbons value a select two dozen flying species as divine and the lesser ones (like pigeons) as fish to eat with the inevitable hundreds of grey area species that allow for much debate.

Hooking

Hooking is a combination of rock climbing, martial arts, and skiing in a sense. It involves the use of 1-3 rare wood crafted staffs with hooks on each end to assist in brachiation for the Alpine clans on horizontal mountain trees and cliff faces. It has multiple uses and manifestations both historically and psychologically. Alpine clans mastered hooking as early tool use to assist their Alpine horizontal tree environment. Later it became refined as a martial art and also as a sport for the other two High Clans. Sometimes, showman Hookers often mix in juggling and use 4-5 Hookstaffs.

Snake Hunting

The most prestigious characters of the low tree Tribes are the snake hunters. Evolved snakes are apex predators on the surface. Both gigantic 50 foot long constrictors and poisonous 10 foot Marsh Cobras. Snake Hunting among the Tribes is one of the most valuled and respected skill sets historically. Snake Hunts combine buffalo hunts of the Native Americans with deadly big game hunting of Africa. The meat of a 50 foot constrictor can feet a tribe a week and can trade to the High Clans for a lot of value. Several offshoots exists for the Tribes as even more dangerous exotic hunting. Snake skin gear is one of the most valuable and depending on the snake might have special properties. Snake teeth are used in weapons and decoration and snake venom is prized both as a poison and as a (distilled) cooking/bartending ingredient. Unlike the High Clans, the Snake Hunters use a special naming convention. Once your second successful hunt is completed a name is chosen for you. These names are tribal like Silenty-Swings or Dancing-at-Night.

Notable Historic Gibbons Prime

Kalliopa the  Sage

Born an Alpine high clan princess. Pre-industrial colonial era. Joined the famed Syfer Expedition. Disappeared among the low tribe snake hunters. Reappeared to defeat powerful threat to home family 4 years later. Wrote two famous books. One fiction. One non-fiction.Both 1000 page books considered epochal in advancing overall Gibbon paradigms. First known work mixing high and low myths and values. A female mix of Pythagoras and Miyamoto Musashi for this world. Outside of 2 books more myth than known fact.

Gyian the Navigator

Founder of the Slingshot Club which was progenitor to the eventual space program and Stellar Brachiator Guild. First to fly/navigate around world in a created object. Considered the patron saint of the Stellar Brachiator Guild. A mix of Leonardo Da Vinci and Charles Lindbergh with conceptual inventions put into use.