Living like Animals in Paradise

LIVING LIKE ANIMALS

The tribes of Paradise Valley follow traditions whose origins are lost in the haze of history. The most important task of the tribe elders is to make sure that the traditions are passed on to younger generations. The traditions may vary somewhat between the different tribes but the principal features are the same in every habitat. Lately, as mistrust of the Watchers has grown, more and more young animals ignore or even openly defy the traditions. This dismays many elders, and offenders may well be expelled from the tribe.

THE TRIBE & THE PACK

The tribe is the most important aspect of life to the animals of Paradise Valley. According to the ancient traditions, the needs of the individual are always subordinate to those of the tribe. What the needs of the tribe are is decided by a tribe council, made up of the tribe elders, usually a group of 10–20 individuals. The meetings of the council can be heated affairs and sometimes lead to physical confrontations, but once a decision has been made it is followed to the letter by all the members of the tribe. At least this is what the traditions decree – in reality, things are not always so simple.

Packs: There are no traditional families in the tribes, no set units of mother, father and children. Individuals who are related or friends can form a communal pack, a subunit of the tribe of about twenty individuals. The pack often lives together and is led by an alpha or an elder, who usually represents the pack on the tribe council. The structures of packs vary a lot between the tribes. The Rat Tribe and the Rabbit Tribe have large packs with complicated hierarchies, while the Bear Tribe has no packs at all – bears tend to want to live alone.

Exiles: Individuals who refuse to conform to the rules of their tribe are eventually cast out from the community and are forced into exile. Most exiles are killed quickly by monsters or other calamities, but some live for years in solitude, usually in inaccessible parts of the valley.

Tainted animals: Especially those with very obvious mutations, are often cast out simply because of their defects.

Habitats: The tribe’s territory in Paradise Valley, its habitat, is defended ferociously. Each habitat is enclosed by old metal fences, but in many places these internal fences have decayed and rusted apart, leaving gaps for monsters and members of other tribes to slip through. It mostly falls to the Warriors to secure the borders of the habitat, but if needed all members of the tribe join the fight.

The Watchers are traditionally not seen as a threat – they are allowed into the habitat without resistance, as the metallic creatures are seen as holy beings. However, more and more animals in the tribes want to change that

Each habitat has a central settlement, called an outpost. The outposts of eight tribes are described in detail below. Conflict: On occasion, the tribes quarrel, despite the old concords between them. Sometimes these quarrels escalate to open hostility. Common reasons are disputes over hunting grounds or some valuable artifact. Throughout history, such conflicts have grown into outright tribe wars a few times. It has been many years since this happened last, but many fear war is now about to break out between the Cat Tribe and the Rat Tribe.

HUNTING & FOOD

Most of the tribes subsist primarily on hunting. There is fish in the creeks and plenty of prey in the woods – the problem is that many of these wild beasts are deadly predators themselves. A few tribes – particularly the Ape Tribe and Rabbit Tribe – only eat vegetables. They mostly live on plants and herbs in nature, but they also keep orchards of fruit and vegetable patches in their outposts Food is always in short supply among the animal mutants, with the exception of the Dog Tribe, which has a great advantage because of its privileged standing with the Watchers. The quest for food and hunting grounds is a constant source of conflict in Paradise Valley.

There is no fixed currency, trading items is the primary form of commerce.

TRAVEL IN THE VALLEY

Hunting, looking for edible plants and trade forces the animal mutants to roam Paradise Valley. But these excursions are not risk-free – quite the opposite. The valley is home to lethal beasts that can tear careless wanderers limb from limb, and the electronic eyes of the Watchers are everywhere.


Hiking: Assume that you can walk about two miles per hour in wild terrain. Your speed is doubled to four miles per hour along an old road or a hiking trail, but that also increases the risk of passing a Watcher checkpoint.

Fences: Each habitat is enclosed by tall razor fences. However, these fences have fallen into disrepair and there are places where animals can easily slip through – you just need to know where these places are. Also, close to the fences there is a higher risk of running into Watchers or members of other tribes.

Taboos: Traditions dictate that there are areas in the valley where the animal mutants should never travel. This applies to the all areas close to the Outer Fence, the two Forbidden Zones and the Peak Cabin. Of course, this does not deter courageous (or reckless) animals from visiting these areas anyway. The risk of running into murderous Watchers in these forbidden areas is very high.