> I've often wondered about how the Aldryami manage to maintain both some
> kind of
> identification with "their" breed of tree (white oak, yellow pine,
> redwood, bristlecone) and a
> species-level dedication to the understanding of the welfare of the
> forest as a whole.
I think the answer to this apparent duality is that it's not really a duality. The collective is foremost--individuality is secondary. Note that broken elves, being totally rootless than the normal Aldryami, separated from the collective, may not feel this way.
> Because in much of the real world, pines forge new forest at the edges,
> encroaching
> rapidly on any ground that isn't disturbed by browsing, cutting, burning
> or tilling. Then
> once the pines are established, the hardwoods encroach on them,
> ultimately shading them
> out and killing them. Real world walnut trees are no more the friend of
> a lodgepole pine
> than a lumberjack is.
This is a part of the natural cycle.
> This is the easier part to imagine--how in the world do Aldryami
> societies deal with the
> presence of Strangler Fig Elves, for example? Or Bittersweet Vine
> Runners? Both are
> ultimately deadly to their tree-hosts.
WE see these are being parasitical, but in a collective mind, they are just another part of it. Is a light bulb jealous of the toaster?
> Perhaps finding a way to break this magical community is one of the ways
> to fight the
> Reforestation. Could it be that the Bristlecone Elves are much much less
> than enthusiastic
> about the White Pine Elves' aggressive forest expansion plans?
I don't think the Bristlecones would need to worry about much of anything. :)
--
Sincerely,
Greg Stafford
Issaries, Inc.
1942 Channing Way, #204
Berkeley, CA 94704
Powered by hypermail