Fantasy in the tropics

[Legal Rose]

My understanding is that societies in the Americas simply hadn't learned to smelt yet. With the exception of the Incas who knew how to smelt bronze.

I'm pretty sure that resources weren't a problem since I think I've heard of Native Americans using hematite. And I'm pretty sure climate wasn't a problem since other cultures from the same era, like Indonesia, which is tropical and exactly on the equator, knew how to smelt iron.

But I'm no expert, I could be wrong.

 

[Ireth]

I heartily recommend to you all the book Nation, by Terry Pratchett. It deals with an upside-down version of our world (literally, the map is just a flipped globe), and the protagonist is a boy from a "primitive" island tribe who loses his home and family to a flood. He ends up meeting a girl from colonial Britain (or the equivalent thereof), who is shipwrecked on the island, and they both must learn to utilize each other's knowledge and technology in order to survive as more and more lost souls find their way to the island, and begin building a nation of their own. Not really your typical "mighty whitey" story.

 

[SeverinR]

It has been said that the development of early human society in East Asia is and will remain much of a mystery because they didn't have much of Stone Age but had a Bamboo Age instead... and all their tools and structure have rotted away.

So is the lack of tropical fantasy a matter of lack physical evidence?
We can't go to museums and see the remnants of our local ancient histories....

That would make since.

Fortunately for you, pre-gunpower is pre1500s. There is always the dark ages where there wasn't much recording kept. That's why king arthur and dragon's take place during that time the most. You're just changing setting to Tropics in that time period. So you can pretty much do anything.

Armor was hardened leather, weak iron at best. Tropics would tend to be tempered wood. Hardened husks in fire and strapped to weak points - in tribes. But mostly no armor at all. They've had bows, swords, spears since the beginning of literature so those are safe to use.

I think your idea could be a refreshing take on the darkages, one in tribal lands.

It would depend on the area. If the tropics didn't trade, and they didn't have metals to smelt, they would have to limit themselves to what they had.

Created a backstory based on what I found for Hawaii's history.
Created a tropical elven society with ten islands to build a society around, with no trade, a forgotten society established by religious followers. They found an island to get fresh water and some food, to continue on to the islands, but they couldn't find it to return, and the ships couldn't hold enough provisions to go direct.
One island has a small extinct volcano, so they have most resources Hawaii would have.