Short Stories: Fantasy I

The trinarians got their start a long time ago. Their ancestors, the onminarians, were omnivorous creatures that lived in the canopies of ancient forests. The dense canopies made hunting and foraging difficult but not impossible. These canopies let up near the water's edge. To take advantage of the sea, many onminarians would glide down to the water to hunt. Upon catching pray, they would climb back to the canopy.


The onminarians had three limbs, much like modern trinarians. Their upper limbs contained webbing, allowing the species to glide in their preferred habitat. They possessed a single lower limb, essentially a foot for walking and swimming.

There is no consensus on the cause of division, but their homeland was shattered into three islands. The onminarian population was spread out among these islands. Each island had unique traits that influenced the evolution of the trinarians.

One theory proposed regarding the onminarian divisions was an impact from a meteor. The largest island was littered with a glass-like substance. A portion of the canopy remained near the center of the island. Although some species thrived the ground was unsuitable for the onminarians' feet. The sea became distant from the forest. It became rare for these omninarians to leave the canopy. To improve their mobility, they eventually developed flight. They evolved into the trinarian species now known as aviarians.

The small island provided very little food for omninarians to survive. The sea became their exclusive source of food. As they evolved, their arms and legs became more like fins. Their descendents, the aquanarians, now spend most of their lives in the water. They are still capable of spending time on land and even climbing, but they are clumsy when they leave the sea

The remaining island was stripped of all vegetation. Some vegetation, particularly smaller plants, returned fairly quickly. The animals on the island adapted. Many of these animals thrived by the water. The competition for sea life drove these omninarians towards more inland food sources. Over time, their aerial and swimming capabilities were diminished. These groups became the geonarians.

The omninarians could do a lot decently, but it was the specialization that fueled the advancement of modern trinarians. The three trinarian species evolved separately, but advanced at similar rates. Eventually, these three species would emerge as the dominant life forms of the planet Trinaria.