Fiction:The Spore Lucid Dreaming Experiment/The Pink Tribe/Mountain Clans

The mountain clans are subdivisions of The Pink Tribe that exist planetside. They live in the mountains, hence the name.

Culture
The mountain clans are seen as savage by others, but to themselves they have a rich culture. They are excellent weavers and create richly colored garments. They train often and are very strong warriors. Crime is a rare thing and may result in being killed or exiled from the clan. They mainly eat meat from hunting, and some fruit. The clans have wild festivals with singing and dancing to celebrate all special occasions. They are also very religious, believing in many gods and spirits who they call upon in mysterious ceremonies.

Birth
They are born in caves, overlooking the sea. Their birth is a joyful time for the clan, and they will have a celebration in honor. Mountain mothers receive dreams from spirits that tell them what to name the baby. Families are very close and the whole clan will help to take care of the baby.

Childhood
Young creatures grow up, always looking forward to the day that they will become a warrior. They play games that help them to learn fighting skills, and friendly brawls are always breaking out. Their family keeps a close eye on them for it is a dangerous place to grow up.

Training
When they reach a certain age, usually around 12, mountain clan children will begin training. They are taught by advanced instructors how to fight with spears, knifes, and sometimes the more modern laser guns. They get up at sunrise every morning to climb, and then learn about their weapons and have practice fights. Sometimes they have practice hunts. They also learn sneaking, tracking, climbing, running, and spying. By the time they reach 25 they are finished and they are great warriors.

Rite of passage into adulthood
To become an adult, they must tame a Okapa. They will battle it, and if they manage to mount it and stay on for a while without being thrown off, the creature will submit and allow itself to be ridden. This Okapa will remain it's companion for life, helping the warrior to hunt and battle.

Adulthood
As an adult, the warrior will be able to participate in clan activities of all kinds, from hunts to battles to ceremonies and more. After a while they are expected to take a young clan member so they can take a turn being a mentor and training youngsters to be warriors. If they do well they may become a H'maor (spiritual leader, shaman), a Lamoild (deputy, second in command) or J'win (clan leader.

Love
No creatures in the mountain clans (or any in the The Pink Tribe or The Three in general) have any sort of dating or more than one love. In fact, it is called a sin to be in love more than once in a lifetime. They do not select their mate, nature does it for them. When they are old enough, a male creature and a female creature will begin to fall in love for no apparent reason. They never fall in love with someone who is already in love, or someone who does not love them. Nobody knows whether the female or the male is the first to love the other, it seems to happen simultaneously. This seems impossible but it is all achieved by an exchange of chemicals in the air, chemicals that lovestruck creatures give off strongly. It prevents jealousy and makes the other creature fall in love with them too. Most if not all creatures in the galaxy possess this reaction, excluding humans who it does not seem to work very well for. Anyway, once two creatures fall in love, the two become a mated pair. There is no asking, no proposal. It just happens one day as one creature looks at another and realizes that they are in love, and the chemicals assure that this will never be a one-sided feeling, so from that moment they go out to face the world together as a couple. They form a strong bond, and creatures have been known to go away to live in solitude in a secluded place or even commit suicide after their mate dies. If it is not death by natural cause, they will seek revenge on the killer until they themselves die.

Death
Mountain warriors do not fear death, they view it as just another stage of life. Once they realize that they are dying, they will go to a special spot to die alone. This could be a favorite spot on the mountaintops, a childhood hangout place, or the spot where they realized that they were in love. Their Okapa mount will go with them and die by their side.