Jamaa

Taken from the original Google Doc of Jamaa information:

so society. the government is basically the alphas, who are 100+ years old, are completely immortal, and can't be voted out. the only person allowed to pick alphas is mira, who never shows her face in jamaa and stays in the sky, only coming out to just…..share her knowledge about alphas. basically, the government is a dictatorship.

economy? well, capitalism. in some other areas (unsafe areas nobody should live in, aka, kimbara outback) there's communist societies, but the majority of jamaa is capitalism. thankfully it's pretty easy because school is easily accessible and completely free, things like guns are way too fucking expensive, most people make money off of selling things or taking art commissions, and if you don't live in a town or city, you don't even NEED money.

CITIZENS:

citizens are people that live in jamaa's large cities that are scattered all around the place. they live just like humans, but life is slightly different, see below:

JAMAA TOWNSHIP + OTHER INFO ABOUT JAMAA:

just as described in the last writing, it's a large country that is usually green, but changes each season unlike most other areas. it's the most popular living place for anyone in jamaa, and is rumored to be the place where the panda alpha, liza, was born. it has a large, broken down shrine made for mira many years ago, with a large statue of her in the center. most people set up small shops in the township, where they sell furniture and clothing, and sometimes art pieces. drawing is one of the most common ways to make income in the township. the township is the place where they give out, and create, the jamaa journal, which is where most citizens get their news from. they also include jammer central, which also just has news. the township has many small houses and schools packed in with the stores and malls, which are usually pretty cheap prices to own. the alpha headquarters, which recently was built in jamaa township, is where all of the alphas come to meet, and mira shows up in the night to elect new alphas. one thing that the township prides itself on, besides the alpha headquarters, are all the schools. the schools are incredibly safe and are for the most intelligent students possible. most students that aren't performing up to the standards of those schools have to travel hours to go to different ones, but that's just how the law is. if you aren't old enough to go to school, and your parents aren't there, there are tons of adoption centers that are packed with kids and good, trained caretakers alike. on the topic of caretakers, many hospitals are in the township, mostly being all-purpose hospitals (emergencies, simple things, and dentist related stuff at once), which usually puts lots of pressure on the college animals training to be doctors, but like mira says, that's just how life is, and you can't change it. if you're homeless and want to stay somewhere at all times, there are pillow rooms, which are just large huts full of pillows that are usually the size of all animals that you can hang out inside of whenever you want to. as for food in jamaa, eating animals is allowed, but not animals like the snow leopards and foxes that are sentient and walk around, there are other animals called "pets", which are just smaller animals, and they're perfectly okay to eat. there are also fish, bugs, birds that aren't animals or pets, mammals that aren't animals or pets, and mostly all plants in jamaa are edible. now, onto the not so fun part of jamaa township; the mountains and forests. surrounding jamaa is a large forest of bamboo, which is home to many small families of pandas and arctic wolves. around that large forest is a circle of mountains, called the "bird beak mountains", named after the shiny gray beak of mira. in those mountains are large caves that are shaped and cut exactly to be like homes, and inside those cave homes are large groups of animals of all kinds known as "cave-dwellers". if you're not a cave-dweller that lives in jamaa township, and you aren't a citizen, you could be a river-dweller, outskirts-dweller, or a royal. river-dwellers live in the heron river, a large river that cuts through all of jamaa and leads into the ocean. most river-dwellers live on large boats, but some swim in the river and dig homes in the soft dirt at the bottom of it. outskirts-dwellers live in the parts of jamaa township behind the mountains. small towns of very little people that mostly all know each other. being an outskirts-dweller is not recommended, as food is scarce and life is harder. unlike river-dwellers, outskirts-dwellers cannot go into the city to buy food, and must hunt like actual animals instead. if you're lucky, though, you could be a royal. royals are the highest beings in jamaa society, just below alphas and mira. they live in large castles on the sides of mountains, and usually get everything they want for free. most of their families are large, however being a royal isn't recommended by many in jamaa society after the execution of the snow leopard alpha's sister due to her corrupt judgement and bad choices as a queen. jade's descendants aren't considered royals any longer because of this case.

CAVE-DWELLERS:

if you live in the mountains of jamaa township, you're most likely the lowest member of jamaa society; cave-dwellers. these animals live in the large caves described in the jamaa township description. they fight like animals, go by "abnormal" names, and hunt for food, instead of farming like most food suppliers in the township do. they do farm, sometimes, it depends on the family. some go to school and some interact with the outside society, but not all do. not many people like cave-dwellers or respect them due to them being considered different and weird, but not many cave-dwellers care. some cave-dwellers do choose to move into the city, though.

BALLOOSH:

balloosh is one of the oldest places in jamaa. it's said to be where the first people lived when the world was created. many people lived there, but when all the people left, balloosh was left a mess. plants took over the rotting buildings and the place was forgotten. nobody wanted to visit balloosh, even when all the animals were evolved enough to go back. besides three alphas who knew what they were doing. when they visited, they found two pets that appeared to be what the people called "extinct animals". species who were dead, never to return. the alphas experimented on the pets, eventually turning them into actual animals that walk the streets of jamaa. this made balloosh infamous for the strange experiments, and, for some reason, a desirable place to live. many people moved there, living inside the broken buildings and eating the many wild birds that live inside of balloosh, there were tons of them, due to them having no natural predators and being left alone for centuries. those who live in balloosh usually refuse to interact with people that don't live there, and since nobody comes there as a tourist, this isn't a problem. they make their money by selling fossils, custom furniture, and also, for some reason, wood and shells, which seem to be very popular in balloosh, despite the fact nobody likes to buy them in other societies. balloosh citizens are treated like garbage or strange people that are against mira, when really, most heavily believe in mira.

CRYSTAL SANDS:

crystal sands is a huge beach that's very popular for vegetarians and vegans that live in jamaa. it has a wide arrange of plants, nuts, and natural food that don't have meat inside them. it has many places to adopt and take care of pets, and fruit there is incredibly cheap. it's seen as a great place to vacation to, and is usually full of tourists. because of this, it's more full of hotels and attractions than it is homes. tons of aquariums and zoos to see animals that aren't sentient, small festivals and parades, and lots of water parks. crystal sands is the only place in jamaa where getting retail jobs is a common thing. many people work at food stores or juice huts to pay for the ridiculously expensive homes, and because of how many tourists are there in crystal sands, this isn't hard. another easy way to get money in crystal sands is to be a celebrity. start a tv show, become a singer, it's how many people take off. being an actor or actress is also very popular.

LOST TEMPLE OF ZIOS:

the most expensive place to live is the lost temple of zios. a forest-y swamp area that is mostly a place to visit and think "oh that's cool" and not usually a place you'd want to live. think of it as living inside of a museum. the temple of zios is full of run down buildings from back when zios, the creator of the world, was still alive. when the phantoms took over, they killed him and tossed his mask into a large hole in the center of the temple. recently, after an eclipse went over jamaa, mira lifted the mask up, revealing the forgotten archives. a large set of archives zios had written over the years with information of his life and past. it's all written in the ancient language of jamaa, however, which is oddly, chinese. beyond the forgotten archives are the adventure base camp, a large camp area where warriors in training can go to fight phantoms. warriors are like jamaa police, they enforce the laws and also fight evil. because why not. most who live in the temple of zios are very rich and have good jobs, which are usually jamaa warriors. beyond that, the temple of zios isn't really important.

APPONDALE:

appondale isn't a popular place to live. usually it's where people are born, then they move out as soon as they're eighteen. those who do live there are usually those who want to live in crystal sands, but can't afford it, so they go there instead. it's full of places for pets, places to buy pets, and for whatever reason, an animal museum where you can donate to dying animals. the museum is a popular place to go to school if you live in appondale, and the exhibits change every few weeks. the museum also has a movie area, which isn't important. appondale is usually just a popular place for poor people that don't know what they're doing, or kids who want to learn. nobody really lives there.

MT SHIVEER:
mt shiveer is the largest mountain in jamaa. most of the people that live there are like those in appondale, except they actually have money and choose to live there. it's a very historical place, full of fossils and dinosaurs and many myths and legends. you can see creatures and strange things and everything you'd ever want to see. living there is surprisingly expensive due to this, and is considered a luxury, regardless of how annoying it is to live there. think of it as a cold version of crystal sands with cool paranormal stuff and cryptids in it. a good way that people make money in mt shiveer is by farming animals or mining.

SAREPIA FOREST:

sarepia forest is the second most popular place to live. many cave-dwellers quit living in caves to live in small groups in the forest, and some build large tree houses. there's plenty of animals to hunt and open space for gardens. gardening is how most sarepia citizens make money, as well. they grow plants, sell plants, grow fruit, sell it, everything. sarepia also has lots of random stores that nobody really needs to go to but everyone visits anyway, like their flag shop, where they display old people art from years upon years ago, or topiary shops, which sell large plants in the shape of animals, which are usually bought by royals. because of these random shops, lots of people work there, unlike in the township where robots work the things. the sarepia movie theater is a popular place to work due to how high it pays, and the free food. it also has a lot of books, because kids need to read, don't they?

CORAL CANYONS:

if you aren't an artist taking commissions or a flying animal, why the heck are you living here? home of the artists who draw constantly in the famous canyons art studio, created by the rabbit alpha, peck, coral canyons has a lot of beautiful animals you can use as art references. peck even sells her custom made painting canvases for diamonds, which is a very successful marketing strategy, because it's been increasing how many citizens make money off of art for a real long time. inside a waterfall is an exclusive store called "epic wonders" which sells expensive clothing that you may or may not need. if you're a flying animal, chance is you live there because it's high up and easy to be in, there's easy access to things you can do if you're a jamaa warrior, and because you can sell real estate. yeah, most flying animals are great business owners and will sell you houses. why? why not.

KIMBARA OUTBACK:

jamaa's hell. on a serious note, though, kimbara outback isn't a place where most people want to live. if you do live there, you're most likely a college student. there are tons of colleges in kimbara outback, most students there are studying to be doctors, but that's not all they have. in kimbara, luxury is the exact opposite way to describe everything there. the only places with air conditioning are the colleges, the water is hot enough to burn you if its not tap water, and a lot of the food is bad or poisonous. life is hard for the broke college students of kimbara, who usually make money off selling things in jamaa township.

BACKSTORY:

Zios created Mira, and together, they used their love to create the world, Jamaa. They created people and animals. The people were greedy, and abused the animals. One day, after getting a large spreading sickness, all the people died out. The animals, over time, developed their own civilization, and Zios and Mira were pleased. They gave each species of animal a gemstone to represent all the secrets of the species, to keep them in peace. But one day, one of them was shattered. The broken stone unleashed a black mass of demons known as phantoms. They killed Zios and vandalized his temple. The stone was put together and Mira banished all of the phantoms to a small island known as the Phantom Badlands. The release of the phantoms made the animals of Jamaa realize that life was not only peace. There was war. The animals began to fight, steal, and murder. Mira, heartbroken and panicking, found the purest of hearts of every species and gave them immortality, never to age physically again. They got amazing strengths and were blessed with higher IQs than any other animal. She called them the alphas. The alphas told Jamaa they needed to keep peace to not end the world. Some agreed with them, some didn't. Those who didn't went away and became royals. Life was peaceful since then, and while Jamaa still has its crime, it's not as high as it was back then.