Jaleerian (Jah-leer-ee-an)
Interviewer: "So, TZ, I was reading about biophilic urban design and this picture jumped out at me. I thought that might be similar to how Jaleerian villages look."
TZ: "Our villages are not quite like that, but there is a similarity. You were right when you said earlier that what we have is more modern than just a bunch of tree houses strung together with rope bridges. Our buildings are high up in the whistler trees but they do have a more modern construction as well as all the modern amenities. They do blend into the trees more than the ones in that picture though. And, by the way, only a flightless species like yours would need rope bridges to connect their buildings. We have wings, remember?"
Interviewer: "True. That was silly of me."
TZ: "It's okay."
Interviewer: "So Jaleerians stay up in their tree villages and the Snatchers stay down on ground level. I'm assuming they have modern cities as well?"
TZ: "Yes. Their population is much larger so they occupy more of our world. We live in small communities in remote areas where the whistler trees grow."
Interviewer: "Do Jaleerians and Snatchers ever interact with one another?"
TZ: "I'm assuming that you mean other than Snatchers making a meal out of us?"
Interviewer: "Yes, but when you put it that way, maybe that was a stupid question."
TZ: "No, not at all. Given the hostile way we're treated by the Snatchers, we find that it's best to keep our distance, but every now and then you hear rumors of an unlikely alliance or even a friendship. Maybe it's just wishful thinking. Something we tell ourselves to keep hope alive that one day we might achieve a more equal status. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. If Lu and Ket can learn to like each other, I suppose anything is possible. But, seriously, there have been stories. Like the one about a Jaleerian with an injured wing being hidden and cared for by a Snatcher until she was able to fly home again. I like to think it might be true."
HISTORY
In the beginning, there were several groups of humanoids native to the lush forrests of Jaleeria who had symbiotic relationships with the trees. Many of them were vicious and aggressive, constantly waging war with one another, but the winged Jaleerians were more peaceful and intellectually inclined. The Jaleerians took advantage of their ability to fly and made their homes in treetop villages high up in the whistler trees to escape the violence taking place on the ground below. For more than an age, the other groups battled one another until the Snatchers, who resemble a slightly less hairy version of sasquatch with the temperment of a hungry bear, wiped out all of the other groups and took over the world. Then they turned their attention to the Jaleerians, who they decided were quite tasty. The Snatchers raided the Jaleerians' treetop villages and hunted them for sport, bringing them to the brink of extinction. All of this mayhem was also destroying the sacred forrests of Jaleeria. Several species of trees were already lost when the humanoid groups that they shared a symbiotic relationship with perished. Then, as the number of Jaleerians dwindled, so did the number of whistler trees which caused many of the smaller more plentiful zsa-zsa trees, sacred to the Snatchers, growing in and around the whistler groves to wither and die too. Even the Snatchers had to admit that the ecological balance of their world was in danger of collapse, so they grudgingly entered into an accord with the Jaleerians. The Snatchers agreed to stay on the ground and stop hunting the Jaleerians as long as they agreed to stay up in the whistler trees and not venture close to the ground. In time the ecology stabilized, new species of plant life emerged and the forrests of Jaleeria began to thrive again, but the Jaleerians never really recovered. They are no longer in danger of extinction, but they are vastly out numbered by the Snatchers whose parliament has become the official global government. Because of this, the Jaleerians are not even recognized as people on their home world, so they have no legal rights or representation. Today, the Jaleerians live in their own separate societies in their treetop villages soothed by the lullaby of the gently swaying whistler trees that only go silent to warn of danger. They form close knit communities where everyone is considered an integral part of the village, and entire generations lead deeply connected lives through the bonds of podship.
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