Idea Background:

Well, I was reading the thread about an underwater world. Then, I recalled a fantasy plant that floats in the sky using a bubble of gas. Then I also remember the "City in the Sky" in Star Wars Episode Five. And I figured, why couldn't we have an entire floating civilization in a fantasy setting?

Basic Idea:

The gist of this idea is a planet inhabited by life, like Earth, but the atmosphere is made up of different gases, like Venus. Basically, these gasses would allow for a complicated eco-system that actually floats and drifts through the sky. The base (literally and biologically) of the system is vegetation, in the form of vines and mats, that feeds on the gases in the atmosphere. Hot air blasting up from the planet surface, combined with gasses that the plant produces, sustains the floating mats that everything else lives on. The eco-system is one huge set of symbiotic creatures that essentially live off each other. Most plants are actually parasitical and eat away the mats overtime, but not as fast as the mats grow back. These are consumed by the animals, and also decompose (good ol' kingdom Fungi at work) providing a layer of organic material for smaller plant-life to consume.

The mats (which can float a various heights) are all held together by huge vines which float in the wind, and latch on to new mats when they run into them. The mats also have a symbiotic reproductive relationship (like some mosses) that allows the mats to use the vines to spread to new locations.

The sentient race that become the characters of the story obviously can't be human. I'm thinking of either very bird-like humanoids, or flying reptiles.

Story Idea(s):

I have a vague idea about a war between several castes of society, and political intrigue, and all of that. The castes are sort of like business guilds, and they go to war with other guilds that they compete with. Some charismatic leader is trying convince all the guilds to submit to the leadership of a senate to which they will elect representatives, and the senate will settle business disputes and be the final authority on business policy. So, the entire society is ruled by bureaucrats, not politicians. There isn't a government, just business entities, some of which combine into conglomerates. That's the basic story idea.

Anybody interested in helping out?

That...is an awesome idea! I can help out some with developing the world farther, but I don't have time (at least right now) to help with the actual story =/

I'm intrigued by the vines connecting the mats. They would have to be quickly growing vines to keep the mats connected, and they'd have to be extremely strong. I'm also assuming there aren't many, if any structures or buildings on this planet, due to the ever-shifting mats?

Maybe these vines could be like those burrs in the woods, except on a much larger scale. Sort of like natural velcro which would allow a vine to latch on to a mat immediately when it touches it, and then grow around it/solidify that touch.

One more idea and then I'll get off: What if criminals were launched off of the main network of vines/mats into an unpopulated area with less vegetation - sort of like punishment by isolation?

OK, I lied. I have a question - what about rain? Does it rain here? How would that affect the floating *isn't good at that science stuff*

eru

Yes, the vines would grow pretty fast (you know, we have some fast growing vines right here on planet Earth).

I was thinking that the inhabitants of the mats might actually have some special plant that they can actually shape into structures, using guide wires and bending branches, stuff like that.

You've got the right idea about the vines. I'm envisioning the vines as another symbiotic parasite, use the mats as a source for moisture (that sort of vine would loose moisture fast) and exchanging chemicals gathered from the air.

Well, I was actually thinking that the punishment for criminals would be a bit harsher than that. If they're bad enough to be exiled, the most efficient way to get rid of them would be to just throw them off the edge of a mat. Capital punishment.

Yes, it rains. Most of the rain would soak right through the mats and leak out the bottom, but I think that the mats should have some way of holding water that allows the other plants to collect it before it literally runs off.

*fails at science stuff*

*nods* I'm intrigued by the structures. They would have to be pretty lightweight. Could these mats be used possibly one on top of the other, like stories in a building, thus the second becoming a sort of roof for the first? I thought of that because I'm assuming it would rain quite frequently on a planet which has mainly vegetation in the atmosphere (Then again, science is not my strong suit either, so I don't know)

Yipe. Wouldn't want to be a criminal. . . Maybe there could be both options or maybe different societies use different options...I don't know.

eru

Did this idea die? It sounds like it would make a cool book!


~ZA