![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau, a Chipmunk tribe
Amongst the race of intelligent chipmunks, there are many tribes. The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau are visually indistinguishable from the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamius striatus); other tribes may appear to be other species. All intelligent chipmunks (Chip'tichiti in their own language) have life spans somewhat longer than their wild and unintelligent cousins (an average of 10-20 years, depending upon species, with full maturity reached in five seasons in almost all species), and although they could feasibly interbreed, such an action would be looked down upon in Chip'tichiti society.*
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau, like most Chip'tichiti, are a rambunctious group, tending toward rowdiness and competition amongst themselves. Generally, they will steal anything that's not tied down (with two exceptions provided in the "Chipmunk Code of Honor"), but since everyone is constantly stealing from everyone else, it is not considered a serious crime. Infighting is common, and whenever two or more adults meet, fur is likely to fly over some imagined slight (or an attempt to steal). However, again, this is done almost good-naturedly; it's rare for a Chip'tichiti to bear a grudge.
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau tribal society is anarchic. There is no government and no class system. Even wealth is more or less equal due to the rampant theft. Posse justice is applied when necessary, in the rare case of a murder or an infraction of the Code.
There are few restrictions on appropriate mates; one does not mate with one's littermates - the siblings who were birthed in the same litter and raised in the same nest - nor with any chipmunk who is not intelligent, but nearly anyone else is fair game. Long-term romantic relationships are rare and the society has no concept of marriage, although if mating results in a litter, both parents share the same den until the offspring reach their 4th season. Females are only fertile in the spring, thus restricting them naturally to one litter per year, but mating for non-procreative purposes is biologically possible and physically fun, and therefore happens quite as often as it tends to amongst Humans.
As natural prey animals, they have developed some forms of weaponry to protect themselves. War between tribes is nearly unheard of; defense is generally against predators. Slings and arrows (often coated with poison for great efficacy) are common, and nearly all youths learn proficiency in one or both during their "green summer," their fifth season. They are also naturally gifted in stealth - not solely due to their small size, as they can also successfully conceal themselves from each other and other creatures of similar size; both nature and culture make them adept thieves, and their tiny hands are very dexterous despite the lack of opposable thumbs.
They are hunter-gatherers, eating nuts, berries, seeds, fallen fruit, mushrooms, some insects, eggs, and almost anything else they can find; they bury multiple caches of nonperishable food, and regularly rob from each other's caches as well. Their homes, or dens, are generally underground structures, although some prefer to live in hollow trees or fallen logs to save themselves the work of digging out a tunnel structure. Dens may be inhabited by an individual or by a group; as noted above, a litter is raised by both parents in the mother's den, after which the young and their father may move out or continue to live in separate nests inside the same den, depending on how close the family feel to each other. Unrelated individuals who are close friends may share a den, but maintain separate nests. (Note the distinction between one's den and one's nest, which is morally important in their society; it could be likened to the difference between the house and the bedroom.) The Chip'tichiti term "ki'chiwe" refers to the group of family and friends to which one feels close enough to share a den, whether one actually does share a den with them or not.
The material culture is relatively inadvanced, due in part to their forest-living nature and in part to their short attention spans. Most trade is done on the barter system, although amongst those who live near Human settlements often accept minted coins that they can use in that town's market. Woodworking is very common, with most carving roughed in with the teeth and finished with knives. Production of plant-derived substances, including poisons, medicines, paints and dyes, recreational drugs (the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau are noted amongst Chip'tichiti tribes for their production of a popular stimulant from a plant native to their territory; a neighboring tribe trades for it with their own specialty, a euphorigenic sedative. Drug use is common and accepted amongst the Chip'tichiti, and their trade with Humans is generally for procuring alcohol), and some easily-produced chemicals such as saltpeter, charcoal, and their product of black powder (used in explosive traps to protect tribal settlements from predators) is done on a small scale. All industry is run out of the den, with training done via a sort of ad-hoc apprenticeship.
The arts known to them include painting (artists are often hired to paint abstract murals on den walls, although representational art is rare, perhaps because one chipmunk looks pretty much like another chipmunk), woodcarving, and music - generally vocal, without lyrics and more or less similar to birdsong, with some percussion and a sort of whistle made from woody grass stalks, called 'ee. Written literature is almost unknown; writing is used only for recordkeeping or communication. The closest thing to poetry is a sort of 'flyting,' an insult battle between two or more participants in which each attempts to top the other, with rhyme taking a backseat to alliteration and assonance.
The Chip'tichiti in general, and the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau in particular, are very proud of their status as intelligent chipmunks, considering themselves to be a very large step higher and more important than their regular woodland cousins. As such they have tended to adopt as much of Human culture as can comfortably fit their lifestyle. Knowledge of Human Common speech is ubiquitous, and they often use it even amongst themselves (their own language being closely related to the chittering of common chipmunks, though more complex and expressive; all Chip'tichiti can understand everything a common chipmunk says, but the reverse is not necessarily true.). They make and use furniture and install doors and locks on their dens and caches. They do not wear much in the way of clothes, but they gather or trade for wool and make fabric to use for the production of pouches, sacks, bags and backpacks in order to carry more things around (a Chip'tichiti generally has a great deal of food on his person, along with everything he wouldn't want stolen from his den and anything he finds along his way that's small enough to carry), and in winter months (or year-round according to personal taste) they will wear scarves and hats.
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau have a special sort of friendship/ally relationship with woodpeckers. In fact, the name of the tribe means "Woodpecker People" - the ekki'ekki'ekki' part is an onomatopoeic representation of the sound of a woodpecker knocking on a tree. They often live in logs or tree-trunks that have been hollowed out by the birds. They also share information and sometimes food, with the chipmunks telling the woodpeckers of the locations of good termite nests and the birds in turn reporting any particularly rich stores of seeds and nuts. An Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau will often catch a beetle or grub that's not considered palatable food to a chipmunk and keep it in a pocket specifically to share with any woodpecker he might come across.
Personalities tend to be hyperactive and antagonistic; even a venerable elder of the tribe is unlikely to have much more maturity than a Human frat boy. However, almost paradoxically given the amount of theft and fighting going on, they value loyalty very highly. A band of ki'chiwe will stick together through thick and thin, even while they're raiding each other's caches, and one of the worst insults that can be levelled at an Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau is that of being a backstabber - "he fouls his friends' nests."
What writing the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau do is in Common. Written representations of the Chip'tichiti tongue use the apostrophe to represent two different sounds, a click or a glottal stop, depending upon whether it's being used as a consonant or a vowel.
Names can generally be translated into a word, phrase, or full sentence in Common; amongst the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau the name takes the form of (in order) the den in which the individual was born, the birth order in the litter, and a final syllable indicating gender ('k for males, t' for females). Chikkawuk'k'klichukkawichi'i'k means "the den in the roots of the elm near the creek, third, male." Names are often abbreviated (in this case, to Chikka), and those who become involved with non-chipmunk society either use the abbreviated form of their name or (especially if their names are particularly hard for a non-chipmunk to pronounce) take a nickname that fits the society they're interacting with.
THE CHIPMUNK CODE
No stealing from nests.
No stealing from those raising litters.
No raping your littermates.
Protect your ki'chiwe.
Respect the woodpecker.
* Specifically, they'd all make fun of the one who did it and say "you fucked a retard."
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau, like most Chip'tichiti, are a rambunctious group, tending toward rowdiness and competition amongst themselves. Generally, they will steal anything that's not tied down (with two exceptions provided in the "Chipmunk Code of Honor"), but since everyone is constantly stealing from everyone else, it is not considered a serious crime. Infighting is common, and whenever two or more adults meet, fur is likely to fly over some imagined slight (or an attempt to steal). However, again, this is done almost good-naturedly; it's rare for a Chip'tichiti to bear a grudge.
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau tribal society is anarchic. There is no government and no class system. Even wealth is more or less equal due to the rampant theft. Posse justice is applied when necessary, in the rare case of a murder or an infraction of the Code.
There are few restrictions on appropriate mates; one does not mate with one's littermates - the siblings who were birthed in the same litter and raised in the same nest - nor with any chipmunk who is not intelligent, but nearly anyone else is fair game. Long-term romantic relationships are rare and the society has no concept of marriage, although if mating results in a litter, both parents share the same den until the offspring reach their 4th season. Females are only fertile in the spring, thus restricting them naturally to one litter per year, but mating for non-procreative purposes is biologically possible and physically fun, and therefore happens quite as often as it tends to amongst Humans.
As natural prey animals, they have developed some forms of weaponry to protect themselves. War between tribes is nearly unheard of; defense is generally against predators. Slings and arrows (often coated with poison for great efficacy) are common, and nearly all youths learn proficiency in one or both during their "green summer," their fifth season. They are also naturally gifted in stealth - not solely due to their small size, as they can also successfully conceal themselves from each other and other creatures of similar size; both nature and culture make them adept thieves, and their tiny hands are very dexterous despite the lack of opposable thumbs.
They are hunter-gatherers, eating nuts, berries, seeds, fallen fruit, mushrooms, some insects, eggs, and almost anything else they can find; they bury multiple caches of nonperishable food, and regularly rob from each other's caches as well. Their homes, or dens, are generally underground structures, although some prefer to live in hollow trees or fallen logs to save themselves the work of digging out a tunnel structure. Dens may be inhabited by an individual or by a group; as noted above, a litter is raised by both parents in the mother's den, after which the young and their father may move out or continue to live in separate nests inside the same den, depending on how close the family feel to each other. Unrelated individuals who are close friends may share a den, but maintain separate nests. (Note the distinction between one's den and one's nest, which is morally important in their society; it could be likened to the difference between the house and the bedroom.) The Chip'tichiti term "ki'chiwe" refers to the group of family and friends to which one feels close enough to share a den, whether one actually does share a den with them or not.
The material culture is relatively inadvanced, due in part to their forest-living nature and in part to their short attention spans. Most trade is done on the barter system, although amongst those who live near Human settlements often accept minted coins that they can use in that town's market. Woodworking is very common, with most carving roughed in with the teeth and finished with knives. Production of plant-derived substances, including poisons, medicines, paints and dyes, recreational drugs (the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau are noted amongst Chip'tichiti tribes for their production of a popular stimulant from a plant native to their territory; a neighboring tribe trades for it with their own specialty, a euphorigenic sedative. Drug use is common and accepted amongst the Chip'tichiti, and their trade with Humans is generally for procuring alcohol), and some easily-produced chemicals such as saltpeter, charcoal, and their product of black powder (used in explosive traps to protect tribal settlements from predators) is done on a small scale. All industry is run out of the den, with training done via a sort of ad-hoc apprenticeship.
The arts known to them include painting (artists are often hired to paint abstract murals on den walls, although representational art is rare, perhaps because one chipmunk looks pretty much like another chipmunk), woodcarving, and music - generally vocal, without lyrics and more or less similar to birdsong, with some percussion and a sort of whistle made from woody grass stalks, called 'ee. Written literature is almost unknown; writing is used only for recordkeeping or communication. The closest thing to poetry is a sort of 'flyting,' an insult battle between two or more participants in which each attempts to top the other, with rhyme taking a backseat to alliteration and assonance.
The Chip'tichiti in general, and the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau in particular, are very proud of their status as intelligent chipmunks, considering themselves to be a very large step higher and more important than their regular woodland cousins. As such they have tended to adopt as much of Human culture as can comfortably fit their lifestyle. Knowledge of Human Common speech is ubiquitous, and they often use it even amongst themselves (their own language being closely related to the chittering of common chipmunks, though more complex and expressive; all Chip'tichiti can understand everything a common chipmunk says, but the reverse is not necessarily true.). They make and use furniture and install doors and locks on their dens and caches. They do not wear much in the way of clothes, but they gather or trade for wool and make fabric to use for the production of pouches, sacks, bags and backpacks in order to carry more things around (a Chip'tichiti generally has a great deal of food on his person, along with everything he wouldn't want stolen from his den and anything he finds along his way that's small enough to carry), and in winter months (or year-round according to personal taste) they will wear scarves and hats.
The Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau have a special sort of friendship/ally relationship with woodpeckers. In fact, the name of the tribe means "Woodpecker People" - the ekki'ekki'ekki' part is an onomatopoeic representation of the sound of a woodpecker knocking on a tree. They often live in logs or tree-trunks that have been hollowed out by the birds. They also share information and sometimes food, with the chipmunks telling the woodpeckers of the locations of good termite nests and the birds in turn reporting any particularly rich stores of seeds and nuts. An Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau will often catch a beetle or grub that's not considered palatable food to a chipmunk and keep it in a pocket specifically to share with any woodpecker he might come across.
Personalities tend to be hyperactive and antagonistic; even a venerable elder of the tribe is unlikely to have much more maturity than a Human frat boy. However, almost paradoxically given the amount of theft and fighting going on, they value loyalty very highly. A band of ki'chiwe will stick together through thick and thin, even while they're raiding each other's caches, and one of the worst insults that can be levelled at an Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau is that of being a backstabber - "he fouls his friends' nests."
What writing the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau do is in Common. Written representations of the Chip'tichiti tongue use the apostrophe to represent two different sounds, a click or a glottal stop, depending upon whether it's being used as a consonant or a vowel.
Names can generally be translated into a word, phrase, or full sentence in Common; amongst the Ekki'ekki'ekki'k'pau the name takes the form of (in order) the den in which the individual was born, the birth order in the litter, and a final syllable indicating gender ('k for males, t' for females). Chikkawuk'k'klichukkawichi'i'k means "the den in the roots of the elm near the creek, third, male." Names are often abbreviated (in this case, to Chikka), and those who become involved with non-chipmunk society either use the abbreviated form of their name or (especially if their names are particularly hard for a non-chipmunk to pronounce) take a nickname that fits the society they're interacting with.
THE CHIPMUNK CODE
No stealing from nests.
No stealing from those raising litters.
No raping your littermates.
Protect your ki'chiwe.
Respect the woodpecker.
* Specifically, they'd all make fun of the one who did it and say "you fucked a retard."
no subject
I love the drawing's little statement, there, especially in light of the "frat boy" line. XD
no subject
Upon being told that you COULD, I promptly decided I MUST, and then of course if I'm going to play a character he needs a backstory, and so on and so forth. I suppose there's something to be said for being able to write massive pieces of fluff at the drop of a hat, but I'm not really sure what that something is.