Yinnal canopy

The Yinnal canopy is a self-sufficient rainforest, populated mainly by Yinnal trees.

History:
The proposed, scientific origin of the Yinnal canopy is, via meteorite seeding. A small, heavily forested planet broke up or scattered itself into the void. Some of these 'life giving' rocks fell onto our soil. Fable has a far more romantic version. Mother Nature adapted this canopy to cope with the immense, environmental problems of the juvenile earth. The land would normally have rendered to desert, surrendering to the heat and lack of atmospheric rain. In one simple solution, the creative genius of mother nature produced an answer. A forest so thick at its canopy, so tall and interwoven, that the light, heat and ferocious winds, could barely penetrate.
The mythical fable, Saffeena Tabee'a goes even further and tells tales of gods and mother nature arising in earthly form. The fable also hints that the Yinnal canopy was the birth place of mankind.
Communities:
The Yinnal canopy provides, controlled light, insulation and that most important ingredient, water. Beneath the canopy, life thrives. A close association between the canopy and its people is evident . Most rainforest's are plagued by an over population of the upper leafy matter, causing dark and dank sub layers. Not so with the a Yinnal forest. The inhabitants (Ynemn) control and maintain the health of the under layers by moving the massive leaves of the Yinnal trees. This adjustment allows fine control on the amount of sunlight and heat that is allowed into and out of the inner space, beneath the canopy.
The roots of the Yinnal tree, tap into the unfathomable wells of underground water. Transporting it to the canopy of branches and leaves where it is released, just like rain. Like the Ynemn the Yinnal tree also cohabits with the Yinnal Vine vissewort. The vine helps provide structure and in return the tree provides the nutrients, water and support the vine needs to grow. Its the young vine tendrils that are often woven into pathways and hanging structures by the Ynemn folk.

Habitat:
There are three, pure, Yinnal forests on this planet and each are singular outcrops in the middle of a waste desert. They can be hard to see from a distance. The reflectivity and golden outer appearance made by the leaves, dances visually in the mind, like a heat hazed and induced mirage. Other Yinnal forests have melded with other trees and vegetation. They are older, thicker. It is said 'Emn' and time herself have waged war on these previously wasted lands, turning them fertile. Yinnal forests grow somewhat quicker than a normal rainforest. A Yinnal forest can increase its acreage by 25% per year. Rapid growth is noticeable early on in its dominant phase but trails off as it ages.

Life in the canopy:
Life in the canopy is in abundance. Hundreds of species of fauna and flora revolves around the Yinnal tree. The tree has some unique features.

Leaves of gold.
The large golden leaves of the Yinnal tree can grow up to 1 meter in diameter. They are the pinnacle on which the canopy and colony thrives. They protect the tree from the sun and are used to produce the inner rain. As a raw material (see Yinnal tree ) it is used in garments, dwellings and most uniquely, as a form of transportation. see sunglide

Woody thorns
They howl with ear splitting wrath, sharp as daggers with hollow tubes within that can dispense poison like a snakes bite. Used as daggers and whittled down to make excellent arrows.

Niffs
Niffs are an almost microscopic, parasitic, animal. They drift on the subtle air currents that twist and turn within the canopies trunks and branches.

Food Source
The Yinnal fruit...

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