Ecological Memory Partners

Ecological memory partners are organisms other than Airawa and Sa’auei’a that remember past interactions and change how they cooperate in response. Their history with a family or group can affect the help they provide later.

Possible examples include:

• Migratory herds that are more likely to guide families that have been generous to them.
• Medicinal root systems that respond to tending sustained over time.
• Carrion guilds that clean routes for groups that feed them well.
• Pollinator swarms that carry warnings between breeding grounds.
• Reef-like structures that grant or deny access to shelter.

Diplomacy therefore extends beyond negotiations between people. Cooperation can involve feeding, tending, carrying warnings, or providing shelter. A treaty may take a form that can be chewed or flower, may be withheld, or may be inherited.