Though there are millions of seemingly completely different species in Ishara, all species in Ishara are actually variations on a single one. This system, in it's most basic form, works thus:

Step 1: A spore takes root and grows into a plant form. It draws ambient nutrients and energy, then uses them to create an animal form.
Step 2: The animal form hatches and proceeds to gain greater energy (typically through feeding), which it uses to create spores.
Step 3: The animal releases the spores, which float through the air seeking other spores.
Step 4: Spores from different individuals meet up and randomly exchange genetic information.
Step 5: Once a certain percentage of a spore's genes have been replaced, it will take root into the earth and grow into a plant form again.

All species in Ishara reproduce using this system. While there are some wild variations on the theme (Queens, for example, which grow the "plant" forms within their bodies rather than in the ground) it remains consistant in principle across all species. What's more, all species use exactly the same spores, meaning they all form a regional genetic pool and are, in essence, different races of the same species (though the term species is used to distinguish them anyway).

All of the girls, naga, harpies, and even demonesses in Ishara grow from eggs (though these eggs come in many different varieties, and many creatures have wombs which act as eggs). They are constantly releasing spores into the air, which will take root and create more of their species. In truth, the difference between being born a naga or being born an angel could be just a few key genes. However, as spores get their genes from their creator and from the other spores in the area, new spores will tend to grow into the same types of creatures that are already prevalent in that area. (An area saturated with Karis and Centauresses has no place to get Naga genes from, unless there is a significant amount of dormant or recessive Naga genes in the local pool already.)

The narrower the geographical area, the more pronounced this effect appears to be. If an egg takes root in a village full of girls, it is almost certain to grow into a girl. An egg on the border between a girl village and a Kari nest, on the other hand, could concievably grow up to be either, regardless of which species it originally came from. A spore from a girl that comes into contact with enough Kari spores could grow up to be a Kari, and vice-versa.

Genes tend to operate as groups, triggered by the activation of a few "key" genes. For example, while mixing and matching the genes for skin color may produce a mix of skin hues, a girl could not, for example, mix the genes for human legs with the ones for kari legs and end up with both. There are exclusionary principles at work, with some key genes requiring that the spore activate only one of them. Other genes cannot be activated unless other genes are present, and some even require certain environmental factors before they will activate (For example, the genes for a mermaid's tail will not activate unless the egg is growing underwater). So, while the mixing of genes is haphazard and easily crosses species, creatures still maintain coherent, distinct and recognizable forms.

Spores meeting in mid-air is not the only way for them to get new genetic information, however. Creatures create their spores using banks of genetic information their body keeps specifically for this purpose. When the body itself encounters a floating spore, it will exchange data with it just as another spore would, adding to the bank of information the creature has. These banks are also updated by direct contact with other creatures, and from this concept emerges the need for--and purpose of--sex. Because these spore receptors are all over the body, sex is likewise a full-body activity (more detail is given on sex in another section).

Because reproduction itself is asexual, there are no proper genders in Ishara--everyone is female.

Not all genetics are derived from incoming spores. Some genes--particularly those in charge of building the pathways in the brain that determine the creature's staring memories and skills--are actively constructed and revised throughout the creature's life.

Children

Typically, a creature will remain in it's egg until it is fully grown and able to defend itself, though it's skills and knowledge will be limited to those which were genetically activated by it's spore. However, some eggs will only grow until the creature has the minimum size and strength necessary to function; this is as close as Ishara comes to having "children." The smallest "child" version of a creature is typically half that of it's normal size; with humans, this makes them equivalent in size a 6-8 year old girl. However, these girls are not necessarily any less capable mentally than their fully-grown counterparts; they are born with the same powers of speech, maturity and cultural knowledge as their "adult" counterparts. The only major difference lies in their reduced physical and magical power.

Such creatures grow to their full size according to how much energy (i.e. food) they take in and how their body distributes it. Typically there are one of two ways the body can store energy--it can build up it's tissues and make the person larger, or it can store the energy in the breasts as "honey." Both can happen when a "child" eats food, meaning some will grow quickly while others will not. The energy level of their diet is also a factor in this, but there is a limit to how fast the body can be changed (the spirit body must reconfigure itself to the new form). Thus, one or two high-energy meals will not be enough to turn a child into an adult--the excess will be turned into honey instead. (Most children store most of their honey in their bloodstream, however, so they will continue to grow for a certain period of time.)

Live Birth

While spores and eggs are the main way for creatures to reproduce, most creatures are also capable of laying eggs directly or even giving live birth. They do this by housing an egg inside a uterus-like organ inside their bodies. In this case their body acts as the egg, but in most other ways it is the same. The only major difference is that live birthed creatures are almost always born as "children" in order to limit the energy cost to the mother.

The means by which creatures become "pregnant" varies from species to species. Generally it is either random or linked to the creature's mating and/or food intake. Nagas, for example, automatically become pregnant at random intervals (generally between a few months and a year) whereas Girls become pregnant either when an egg or other living creature is inserted into their uterus or when certain mental conditions are met (essentially, if they want to have a child, they will).

Because Ishara is such a dangerous world, gestation time must be short. Unfortunately, animals are not nearly as good at making use of ambient energies as eggs. Most eggs take between one and four weeks to hatch, depending on the species, whereas a pregnant person is entirely dependant on how much energy they can take in. The initial development of a child is fairly rapid, taking only a day or two--it's the "fine-tuning" and creation of the child's spirit body that takes the most time and energy. Thus, a girl can go from flat-bellied to beachball in only a few days, but she may remain beachball-sized for weeks before giving birth, depending on how much energy (i.e. food) she can obtain.

There are two advantages to egg-laying and live birth: First, eggs which are laid are far larger than spores and thus need a lot less time to hatch. Second, egg-laying and live birth guarantee that a much larger portion of the mother's genetics will be dominant in the child, making it much more likely that they will be of the same species and faction. Beyond this, laying eggs and live birth are much more energy-intensive and costly than simply sending out spores, which is why it is the less common form of reproduction.

Because live births draw most of their genetics from their mother, the bond between mothers and children is usually very strong.

Live birth is one of the most consistant ways to intentionally make a hybrid; inserting an egg from one humanoid race (Demons, Angels, Fae etc.) into another will almost invariably result in a hybrid child with traits of both species. Under most other circumstances, true hybrids are rare.

Some inhuman species are capable of hijacking a girl's reproductive system to grow their own young. Some monsters (particularly space monsters) have been known implant their eggs or their living young into a girl's uterus. A uterus will generally nourish and grow any creature inside it, having no way to know what it's owner wants. Unfortunately, girls cannot voluntarily push things out of their uterus once they have started to grow; they can only be expelled once the birth process has been initiated. Thankfully, girls are saved from having lifelong parasites by the fact that their body will automatically initiate birth after a certain period of time, regardless of the creature inside. Technically, practically any creature could force another to bear one of it's children by laying an egg and forcing it into the prospective mother, but few sentient creatures do this as the newborn is fairly likely to side with that same mother once born. One notable exception is demonesses; demoness eggs tend to be genetically selfish and do their best to preserve the dominance of the demonic portions of their own genes. As such, the child born will tend to have a stronger genetic bond with the demoness mother than the birth mother, and the emotional bluntness of demonesses means that the newborn may not even care for either parent. Even this isn't a guarantee to the demoness, however--the demoness child will still inherit a fairly hefty chunk of genes from her birth mother and may still love her, even if it's only secretly.

Size is not immutable in this realm--in fact, it tends to be very mutable. Bodies can't usually change their own size (Though a few species are capable of this physically), but soul-bodies and spells can cause physical size change under myriad circumstances. The most prominent example is that when one soul is in direct contact with another, it can instinctively shrink it and the body attached to it. This is almost always to facilitate swallowing of large prey, and often, only part of the target is shrunk until all of it is in the belly. This is an energy-intensive process for the soul, however, and so they rarely do so outside of the bounds of eating, and spirits are rarely even aware that they have this ability--they just observe that even something larger than them can fit in their belly, though it requires quite a bit of stretching. Generally, eating is a combination of the two--making prey smaller and making your belly larger. This process is largely automated by the creature's spirit body and can't be used for much else.

Species Archtypes

There are six primary genetic archtypes in Ishara. These are generalized classifications at best, since they are all genetically compatible with one another, but they tend to remain at least somewhat consistant for one simple reason--as the universe is split into five major realms, those realms tend to develop their own genetic identity that is distinct from the others for purely geographical reasons. (The creatures from one realm interact with one another a lot more than they do with creatures from other realms, and their genetic pools tend to reflect this.)

A secondary means of propagating archtypes is in the tendency for certain genes to activate at the same time. The genes that trigger the abnormal Chroma Chakra development in Angels and Demonesses, for example, also tend to activate the genes responsible for creating wings. The genes that produce the light-weight bones in Angels and Faeries tend to activate at the same time as the genes that impart the ability to fly. Because of this, there is some consistancy in species even when they mix; nagas will tend to look and act like nagas even if they've been mixing with demonesses for a long period of time. However, those same Nagas may take on several minor demonic characteristics, such as tail spikes or horns. This illustrates another important point--archtypes that travel across realms will end up sharing their genes with other archtypes, and this will tend to cause them to become more and more like the natives.

While each of the archtypes are predominant in one particular realm, there is quite a bit of overlap. For example, while Demonesses are the dominant archtype in Faneglut, there are still a huge number of monster races living there, and one can also find Girls, Fae and even a few Angels. Most of the natives will have taken on a demonic slant, but they will still be recognizable as belonging to a different archtype.

Girls are the familiar "humanoid" races we know and love. The Girl genetic archtype places an emphasis on a few particular things: Energy efficiency, regenerative capability, and magical adaptability. They are smaller and weaker than some other races--particularly demonesses and monsters--but are very physically resilient and very talented magically. They reproduce slowly compared to monsters (a glaring exception being girls from the "Villager" birth class), but faster than Angels, Fae, or Demons. They vary from one another primarily in size; most girl races look fairly similar, but some are gigantic ("giantesses") and some are only inches tall ("tinies.") The most well-known are the standard, four-to-six-foot variety.

Girls are the most energy efficient of all races. Girls do not need to eat as much as other races to survive and they derive much better nutrition from non-living food. They are the only race that can actually live off of such food indefinately, though they will not be as healthy or vibrant. Their digestive capacity is largely wasted when they do this, aside from the occaisional "stuffing" session--their stomachs are as stretchy as any creature's, allowing them to eat a huge amount of conventional food. Girls from cultures that don't do a lot of stuffing often don't even know that it's possible for one girl to actually swallow another!

Girls tend to have the strongest social instincts, building intricate networks of relationships, and their genetic affection for one another is stronger than most others. Girls will defend one another much more readily than other species and are the second most likely to mate for life, just behind Angels.

As a result of their energy efficiency, Girls also have the strongest regenerative capacity of any race--they need so little energy to heal wounds that their spirits can usually replenish themselves faster than the damage can be inflicted. It is nearly impossible to kill a girl via conventional means. Severe bodily damage will make them weaker and weaker, causing minor injuries and eventually causing them to faint, but critical parts of their bodies will always remain intact. The only reliable way to kill a girl is to swallow them; when this is done, the stomach will drain enough spiritual energy from them that they cannot keep up with the damage their body is sustaining. Sudden, catastrophic damage to a girl's body can kill them, but inflicting such damage is extremely difficult and, even then, there is a significant chance they will survive if they have any energy to work with--their spirit will often pull tricks like teleporting them to safety or temporarily phasing their body.

Girls are primarily found in Prime, but there are pockets of them everywhere. The second largest population is in Beastspace. They are least common in Phaesili.

 

"Monster" is a catch-all term used to describe creatures with "non-human" characteristics, but it is also used to represent the genetic pools that are prevalent in Beastspace.

Monsters are split into two main types; lesser monsters, and greater monsters.

Lesser monsters, or "Beasts," are so-called because of their lesser intelligence and inability to use magic except for a few instinctual, innate abilities. Most snakes, frogs, worms, and other creatures fall under this category. While they can be clever and can often be trained, most possess only animal intelligence. While they can hunt alone or in packs, they do so as dictated by their instincts; if they are part of an army, it is because they have been bound and trained by another species.

While this makes lesser monsters considerably less versatile, they make up for it by having the quickest reproduction rate. Snakes, frogs, wyverns and other completely non-humanoid creatures reproduce very quickly and can rapidly infest an area, taking the "shotgun" approach to survival. And while they are weaker than other monsters, they can still make meals out of villagers, prey that has already been weakened in other battles, or anyone who lets their guard down. Conversely, more powerful prey can often be brought down by sheer force of numbers.

Greater monsters, such as Naga, Karis, Harpies, Catgirls, and the like, typically exhibit greater intelligence. They are also capable of using magic. Greater monsters are typically "Taurs" of some sort--the humanoid form that girls take is optimized for magic, intelligence and adaptability, which is why the more intelligent and magically-inclined monsters take similar forms. Another common variety are "Furries" or "Scalies," which are predominantly humanoid monsters who have beastlike surface features like fur, scales, reptilian skin, and so forth. These cosmetic changes often indicate that the internal genetics of the creature are different from those of a normal girl.

Greater monsters have their own languages and often cooperate with one another, sometimes even going so far as to form political entities and factions, just as girls do. These are typically looser and more tribal in nature, which is why monster families and factions are referred to as "Tribes." Lesser monsters, when instinctively grouping together, are instead called "Broods" or "Packs."

Greater monsters pay a price for their higher intelligence and capacity for magic; they take much longer to mature and hatch than lesser monsters. They still reproduce faster than girls or other species, but they pay for this with a lesser ability for magic.

Both types of monster are known for one specific weakness: Their souls' protective and regenerative capability. While most souls can divert enough energy from other functions to restore the physical body even when it's reserves are depleted (i.e. when their hit points run out), monsters' souls cannot do this--they do not generate as much energy and are not as efficient, meaning they will reach a point where the soul simply cannot heal injuries anymore. Typically, this triggers a self-destruct mechanism--the monster's soul is ejected and their body self-destructs. (Other races will typically just become extremely weak and unable to move when their energies are depleted, because their soul will redirect all it's energies into preserving the body.) This disadvantage is reduced somewhat by the large energy capacity a monster soul often has. Monsters are also the only archtype that commonly grows natural armor.

This is more pronounced in beasts than it is in greater monsters. Greater monsters can sometimes survive damage in excess of their capacity for a short time, and extremely strong ones can survive it indefinately in the same manner as a girl. (Souls, like bodies, get stronger with use.) Lesser monsters, on the other hand, will invariably die the moment they have recieved a certain amount of damage.

There are a few monsters that toe the line between greater and lesser. Dragons, for example, are easily as intelligent as a greater monster, but have the genetic characteristics of a lesser monster. It is primarily their size that allows them to have high intelligence. Small or young dragons are rarely much more intelligent than a lesser monster, and do not gain significant intelligence and language skills until they get older and larger. Dragon species that never get particularly large (such as Wyverns) never gain these abilities at all.

The largest concentration of monsters is in Beastspace. However, as monsters are the fastest breeders, they are also the most populous archtype overall and can be found in large numbers on every plane. The only realm that doesn't have a large saturation of monsters is Brightwind.

Angels are known for their magic, their healing abilities, and for their gentle and loving nature.

Angels are genetically unusual primarily in their chakras; Angels have extremely large and powerful pink and chroma chakras, and their chroma chakra is more specialized than most, specializing in mobility and teleportation. This gives angels the ability to travel to and from their home plane at will. Most cannot precisely control this teleportation, but it is safe at least (at worst it will teleport them into mid-air, which matters little as all angels can fly.)

Nearly all types of angels have wings of some sort, though they are sometimes very small. Many kinds of angels are capable of concealing their wings, phasing them into an invisible spirit form when not in use. (This is a function of their enlarged chroma chakra)

Angels regenerate their spiritual energies very quickly, giving them strong magical abilities. However, they are not particularly sturdy physically. They have extremely good eyesight and are said to appreciate color more than other species. Their sensitivity to temperature is higher than other races, and most of them hate being cold. (Angels of the Winter Season are a notable exception.) Angels have skin that is sensitive to light, causing most of them to prefer sunny areas.

Angels have a predisposition towards kindness and emotional sensitivity. The genetic bonds that most races possess are stronger and broader in Angels, causing them to possess at least some affection for all races. Many of them have an innate ability to sense dischord and distress and an uncanny knack for knowing how to fix it.

Though Angels are predatory, as all other creatures are, they strongly prefer prey that is willing. This is not hard to find in their native plane, but is slightly more problematic in other areas. They are typically willing to eat an enemy in self-defense, however, and this is where they derive much of their nutrition when adventuring outside of their home. Some have also been known to hunt down and eat villains and miscreants. Angels can survive for a long time on conventional food, but eventually they will grow weak and hungry. If deprived of living prey for too long, even the most kind-hearted angel will start to see the people around her as potential snacks. In most cases, this would cause them to return to Brightwind for long enough to find a decent meal.

Most angels make their home in Brightwind. They travel to Prime with great frequency, and sometimes travel to Beastspace, usually to feed themselves to one of the inhabitants for fun. They are rarely found in Faneglut. Trips to Phaesili are usually social calls, as angels and fae are often friends.

Like angels, Demonesses have enhanced chakras, though in their case it is only the chroma chakra. This is what gives Demonesses their exceptional skill at Dark magic, making it almost as easy as if it were a simpler type like Fire or Water magic. The price is that they are rarely good at Void magic, as they never have to learn the intricacies of their own chroma chakra. They are also capable of teleporting themselves to Faneglut any time they wish, though it must be to a place they know well.

Demonesses are strong and rugged, with thick, solid bones and dense muscles. Their muscles are the densest and strongest of any archetype. This emphasis on physical power comes with a price--they are considerably heavier than angels, which makes flight more difficult for them. Whereas all angels can fly, it requires practice and skill for a demoness.

Some demonesses exhibit characteristics of the monster archtype, growing serpentine tails, fur, and so on. These are still considered demonesses, but are essentially half-breeds; a demoness with a Naga tail will typically share naga characteristics and abilities but will still have the muscle mass, skin type, and magical predisposition of a demoness. Such a creature would typically be called a "Demon Naga."

Demonesses have a stronger sense of touch than most creatures and have a heightened need for (and response to) physical pleasure. Their favorite way of gaining this pleasure is by extracting it from--or inflicting it upon--a girl from Prime. For this reason they make frequent excursions there. While they are rarely welcomed, their powerful combat abilities often allow them to take what they want. Nine times out of ten, what they want is love slaves.

Like Angels, Demonesses have light-sensitive skin, but their reaction to it is reversed--demonesses dislike bright light and sunlight, preferring to lurk in shadows and darkened cooridors. Faneglut's lack of natural sunlight makes it a favored environment in this respect.

Demonesses originate from Faneglut. They are fairly common in Prime but are uncommon everywhere else.

Faeries are known for several things. First, they are physically fragile. Second, they are the only archtype that can change it's size at will--while just how far they can take it varies with the individual, most faeries can change size from little more than an inch tall all the way up to being six feet tall. Extremely gifted faeries have been known to grow to titanic sizes of fifty feet or more.

Likewise, most faeries excrete a form of honey that will grow or shrink the target to whatever size they were when they produced it. It is a favorite trick of faeries to drop their honey into a pond and wait for a hapless passerby to drink it, shrinking them down to a comfortably swallowable size.

Fae are playful and mischievous by nature. They are one of the most visually sensitive species, which is why they love precious metals, gemstones and even colored glass. They are typically fickle and extremely individualistic, making them a very disorganized group. Only a few fae species mate for life, most preferring to go wherever their heart takes them at the time.

Faeries are not built for combat, but when pressed by a predator, their main advantage is their speed. They are flighty and shy by nature and this is reflected in how they fight, darting in and out in a highly evasive fashion. They are very skilled at avoiding attacks, and this partially alleviates their physical frailty. If they do not succeed in dodging enemy attacks they are often easy prey--some say having a faerie for lunch is as simple as klunking her over the head. They are typically less vulnerable to magical attacks, however. Their magical abilities are typically more focused on enchantment and illusion than battle, but many fae can produce some very dangerous spells when angered.

Like the demonesses, there are fae versions of a few monster races. These are typically very recognizable--a mermaid with transparent scales and organs that light up in the water, a five-foot catgirl with pixie wings, a kari with a set of six human legs and a set of cute little antennae, and so forth. These halfbreeds are not nearly as common here as they are in the demoness realm, however; the vast majority of fae are humanoid.

Fae are concentrated in Phaesili, but are also commonly found in Prime.

While they share the realm of Prime with the girl archtype, Space Monsters are considered to be in a class of their own simply because they are so wildly different.

Space Monsters fill the void between the stars and planets in Prime and Beastspace. They are some of the largest creatures in the universe; Most space monsters dwarf even the mightiest of dragons, being easily capable of swallowing entire starships. In fact, this is their primary diet. Their secondary diet consists of other space monsters. Their stomach acids are hyper-concentrated and can not only eat through an armored hull, but can liquify a girl in minutes--or seconds.

Unlike most beasts, however, space monsters typically have a weakness in their digestive tracts. There is a small nerve cluster called the Pelvic Splanknic Ganglian inside each space monster. This nerve controls the bile blasts and other natural ranged weaponry most space monsters use. While tiny and obscured deep within their bodies, if this nerve bundle is irritated sufficiently by an outside source, it will cause them to violently expel all the contents of their digestive tract.

The ganglian is too small for another space monster to find or touch, but tiny creatures (such as normal-sized girls) can traverse the monster's innards to locate the ganglian and attack it. As this requires traversing their digestive tract, most do not survive it.

Space monsters cannot typically live on a planet. Eating is too much of a chore when your food is tiny and can hide in caves you're too big to reach into, and most space beasts are not adapted for moving on a planet's surface. Typically the only time a space monster lands is to drop eggs on a planet. These eggs burrow underground and take a long time and a lot of energy to gestate, so they send colonies of "mouths" up to the surface to feed--these mouths are the ubiquitous "Groundmaws" which are found on so many worlds. The specifics vary by species; some space monster eggs create an ever increasing number of small groundmaws as they grow, whereas others will simply expand a single groundmaw until it is large enough to swallow a dragon. Some send worm-like feeding tendrils to the surface to actively hunt prey, and others few sprout plant-like formations that mimic an infinite variety of carnivorous flora.

Most space monsters simply erupt from the ground and take to the sky when they have finished gestating, causing significant geological damage but little on a global scale. A very few of the more terrifying varieties of space monster will actually begin to devour the planet itself as it reaches it's final growth stages, sweeping all life into gigantic, kilometer-wide maws with it's gigantic tentacles and jaws. These, thankfully, are the exception rather than the rule.

Other Space monsters are born in enormous, space-borne "Lairs." Similar to a planetbound monster lair or queen, these gigantic organisms dwarf many planets and--in extreme cases--have been known to feed on such planets, engulfing them and raining digestive juice down upon the hapless inhabitants. More frequently, they feed on ambient energy and by occaisionally eating a space monster from another lair. (Many space monsters feel a loyalty to their home lair and will bring captured beasts to feed it.)

The intelligence of space monsters varies by species, but is typically fairly low. Those few with greater intelligence form factions that are either avoided at all costs or thoroughly capitulated with by the smaller races. The only races that can deal with these mammoths on their own terms are the mighty Giantesses, spacefaring versions of which are just as rare and just as deadly.

Space monsters do not give off spores, and thus do not frequently share genetics with other archtypes. Typically the only time they do so is when they are digesting one.

All creatures in Ishara share some of the same genetic base. Members of a given species who have very similar genes tend to have a natural kinship with one another, causing them to group together and form clans or families. This genetic distinction is a loose one, however, as factions can form based as much on kinship and common goals as just genetics; most girls are not even aware that their predisposition towards members of their clan is partially genetic in nature.

As this system has a genetic base, it applies to nearly all creatures, not just girls. Though many do not know it, monsters have their own family units and clans just as girls do; so do creatures such as demonesses and angels. Like girls, they naturally tend to split themselves and form groups according to their genetic bloodline.

These groups have different names when applied to different creatures. Girl families are called clans. Monster families are called tribes or broods (typically depending on the species). Demonesses and succubi split themselves into groups called Fanes, whereas families of Angelic beings call themselves Seasons. Fae families are called Chords. These generalized genetic families tend to be very large, and there are typically a few particular bloodlines that dominate any given race. Smaller bloodlines do frequently form, but they are often offshoots of a larger one and typically continue to use the name of the larger group. (This is where family names and sub-factions come from)

Species is often a fractious thing in Ishara. It is not impossible to find a Kari who shares more in common with a Naga than two girls share with each other. Species can often inadvertently create spores for other species, and all of them influence one another's genetics to some extent.

Because of this, factions often contain multiple races or sub-races. Monster tribes, for example, may well contain as many as a dozen different kinds of monsters in a single village. Likewise, Demon Fanes almost always contain several types of demoness. Even Girl clans often house several distinct species, some of which may even contain characteristics of another type (nagas, angels etc.)

Most creatures do not reproduce directly. They unconsciously give off spores that eventually grow into eggs, so by default nobody knows who gave birth to who. What's more, spores tend to mingle with one another, meaning anyone who is born will tend to consist of a mix of the genes of anyone who lives in the area.

All creatures have an instinctual emotional affinity for others based on how similar their genes are. This is the primary reason that clans, tribes and so forth exist, despite the fact that nobody really knows who is related to who. Creatures with similar genes like each other, so they tend to group together. This instinctual liking goes up fairly slowly until you start hitting certain levels of similarity, and then they abruptly spiral upwards at unusually high levels of similarity.

Normally, this predisposition is noticeable, but not particularly strong; even the most genetically similar of girls have many significant differences, and in some cases, clans with similar genes have ended up hating each other. However, when two girls form a strong relationship, the spores they emit will tend to reflect one another's genes much more closely than normal. Where a spore normally contains an aggregate of the genetics of all the people the individual regularly comes in contact with, two people in a very close relationship can override this genetic influence and cause one another's spores to be near-duplicates, almost half one and half the other. Once one of these spores hatches, it creates a creature that is much closer, genetically, to both partners than any other girl, causing them both to develop an extremely strong kinship with the newborn. Once the three come together, they typically recognize one another and assume a close, mother-daughter relationship. When multiple children result from such a union, the bond exists between all of those children, creating a strong union between "sisters."

Any amount of contact will cause a small amount of genetic information to be shared with another creature's "Spore Bank." Even living in the same area will tend to influence them somewhat. However, love and sex promote this to a much greater degree. Sometimes, when two girls love each other to a great enough extent, the spores they produce will be almost perfect 50-50 combos of the two of them--their spores will have been so saturated by their physical contact with each other that they will have basically drowned out all other genetic influences through shere volume. At this point, any eggs their spores create will have almost 50% of one mother's genes and 50% the other mother's genes. A genetic similarity that strong will cause a very powerful reaction in someone--enough that they will recognize any such eggs as "Theirs" and they will actually be able to sense them from a distance. The second such an egg takes root, the mothers will know, and will typically seek it out. Once they are born, the mothers and daughters will have a very strong affection for each other. Normally, even a 15% perfect correlation of genes would be considered very high, so 50% is off the charts--that's where it goes from "I kinda like you" to "I would die for you."

This is what "Mother," and "Daughter" means in this world--though they didn't give birth to them in the traditional sense, they are much closer to one another than they are to anyone else. While the term "Sister" is applied very loosely, multiple children created in this sense will likewise share a very strong bond.

Culturally, mother-daughter relationships are not emphasized because they simply do not occur that often. Most girls have three dozen main "mothers" in the genetic sense, and hundreds of minor ones. The only time a girl will recognize another as her mother is when they share a majority of genetic material, and this typically only happens when two girls (or a similar small group) either have much closer contact with each other than they do with all other people combined or when the partners have an exceptionally strong bond of love (spores are more receptive when such feelings are present).

Most social constructs come from this concept. It's why monsters from the same area won't usually eat each other, why girls from the same village usually get along, etc.

This effect spans across all species and does not discriminate by archetype. In fact, if a group of monsters and a group of girls remain in the same area with one another for long enough, those monsters and those girls will stop fighting and turn their attentions elsewhere. If isolated together for long enough, they'd form a tribe/clan that contains both. (Species is not an absolute thing in this universe--harpies can share genes with girls, who can share genes with nagas, who can share genes with demonesses...they're all compatible. That's why monster tribes can contain multiple species, for example. This also means a naga and an angel are perfectly capable of having a "daughter" together, too...and since it's 50/50, it may even end up being a winged naga or similar "hybrid...")

Each creature born in Ishara--from monsters to girls to demonesses--is born with certain instinctual skills, knowledge, and predispositions. These innate skills can be quite advanced, taking years for other girls to master to the same level. The set of instinctual skills that a creature is born with is determined by their "Birth Class," a set of genetically predetermined memories, skills and abilities.

Since the birth class is genetic, the skills it imparts to an individual are as complex and variable as those that make up her body. But just as creatures are split into distinct species, so too are there distinct birth classes.

There are dozens of major birth classes, hundreds of minor ones, and infinite small variations within each. However, most of them can be fit into one of four different categories: Warrior, Mage, Specialist, and Crafter.

Warriors are concerned primarily with skills involving the body, especially physical combat. They are strong, agile, and have a large amount of energy dedicated to preserving their physical body. Their chakras are weak and tend to focus more on strengthening the body and less on spellcasting ability. Amazons are the prime example of a Warrior-type birth class--a powerful warrior dedicated exclusively to combat, with virtually no ability with--nor affinity for--magic.

Mages take the opposite route and focus on magic use. Their physical bodies are neglected in favor of their spirit bodies. They have large reserves of mana but very little physical energy. They are also weaker and have much slower reflexes than a warrior. However, they have a strong affinity for magic and are able to cast devastating spells with relative ease. Sorcerers are the most extreme example of this type, being physically frail, weak, and slow, but magically very powerful.

Specialists focus on skills and knowledge that have nothing to do with their physical strength or their chakras. Both of these aspects are sidelined in favor of developing specific special abilities, which vary according to the specific class. While they are neither physically nor magically very powerful, they may nonetheless have very powerful physical or magical abilities that reflect their specialty. An example of a Specialist would be the Sage; a girl who has a huge amount of knowledge in many different fields, but is not a particularly powerful magic user or fighter. Another example might be a rogue, spy, or seductress.

Crafters focus on creation. These abilities are simultaneously physical, magical and mental, but are all dedicated to creating objects or constructs of some sort. Their magical abilities are weak except when it comes to enchantment, their physical abilities are weak except when it comes to creating armor or buildings, and most of their innate knowledge involves how to design and build things. The most extreme example of a crafter is the Architect; while they can raise entire buildings in days or even hours (depending on their mana supply), they have virtually no other abilities.

In practice, most birth classes have one of these as their focus but incorporate secondary abilities from at least one other. For example, a Huntress is primarily a Warrior, but has Specialist abilities that aid them in tracking and destroying monsters, along with surviving in the wild. An Enchantress, likewise, is part Mage, part Crafter.

 

Breasts

Breasts serve several functions in the body of a typical Isharan. Their primary function is energy storage; i.e. the production of honey. Honey has an incredibly high energy density, both spiritually and physically, and is used to fuel the person's body and spirit when food is unavailable. This is one of the primary reasons that the first thing that happens when a girl eats another girl is that her breasts get bigger. After a big meal, breasts will swell temporarily as they fill themselves with honey. While this swelling diminishes over time, sufficiently engorged breasts will permanently become larger as their storage capacity is increased. This process is largely responsible for the sensation of "becoming part of their breasts" that most creatures undergo during and after digestion.

Breasts both absorb and secrete honey into the bloodstream. Most honey is created in the breasts, but some is created in the flower and the digestive tract as well. Breasts regulate the amount of honey in the blood; when the supply is low, they secrete honey into the bloodstream. When the amount of honey in the blood is high (such as when the girl is digesting a big meal), the breasts reabsorb it for later use. Breasts can also secrete honey through the nipples, allowing it to aid not only the individual's survival, but that of her mates and other allies. (As both lips and nipples are dense in genetic information, this serves reproductive purposes as well.)

Honey is one of the body's primary energy sources; small amounts of it are carried through the blood and stored in the muscles. A person's stamina level often has a great deal to do with her muscle's honey stores; honey allows the body to perform extreme acts of speed and strength, but in doing so the honey is depleted. Once the muscles run out of honey, the girl must wait until they are replenished by her bloodstream.

Honey contains both physical and spiritual energies. As such, it requires a great deal of both to create. Meals that do not contain spiritual energy--such as conventional food and most plant matter--do not provide the energy necessary to make honey efficiently. This is the primary raeson that most species require living meals; they are the only kind that provide spirit energies. (That is also why humanoid races often have the smallest breasts; they can live the longest off of spiritless food.)

Small amounts of honey can be synthesized without spirit energy, but it is very expensive biologically. Though Isharans can eat just about anything, most matter takes more energy to convert into honey than the matter itself can provide. Only the richest nutrient sources (or those that contain spiritual energy of some sort) can turn enough of a profit to allow the creature to survive. Even then, most species cannot eat enough food to satisfy their honey requirements without constantly stuffing themselves, and this very rapidly depletes the local food supply. Only a few species--particularly the Girl archtype--can convert normal matter into spiritual energy efficiently enough to live indefinately off of a reasonable amount of food. Most species can, at best, replenish a small amount of mana or flowstar energy using normal food.

Fat

The incredibly high energy density of honey, along with it's primary role of energy storage, is also why it is rare for Isharans to become fat. A huge amount of food needs to be consumed before the girl's body will start storing honey in other places; while there are "fat" cells which can store honey, they store a lot less per volume than the breasts, owing to the need to maintain their own means of not only storing and protecting it, but dispensing it as well. (The breasts centralize these functions and thus are much more efficient at it.) Some species will become fat sooner than others, however, and some sub-species become fat naturally.

Fat also stores reserves of physical matter for the body's use; this is a more common way to become fat. Stuffing oneself with non-living food can cause the body to over-store materials and over-produce fat cells.

Digestive Tracts

The digestive tracts of Isharan creatures have a number of unusual features. They are actually integrated with the creature's spirit body, and some cultures even consider the stomach to be a chakra of it's own. It does generate magical effects, though they tend to be highly focused on the task of absorbing energy.

The stomach wall has several layers, and the stomach does play a large part in absorption. Spiritual energies in particular are absorbed much more in the stomach than they are in the intestines.

The outermost layer of the stomach wall is composed of a mucousal layer and a bile layer. The mucousal layer primarily protects the inner layers from the stomach's bile and serves as a lubricant, preventing living prey from gaining traction that it could use to escape. The bile layer is actually a simple circulatory system and pump; it contains microscopic bile ducts that actually siphon bile from the lower areas of the stomach to the upper areas, where they are re-secreted into the stomach. This allows a smaller amount of bile to continually coat the prey without needing to fill the entire stomach with it. (To the victim, it appears as though the stomach is constantly dripping but never fills up.)

The next layer is the exchange layer. The exchange layer contains millions of tiny organelles that siphon bile away from the bile ducts, siphon and absorb the nutrients from the bile, then pump it back into the system. These are also the organs that generate the bile. These organelles are integrated physical and chakral systems; bile is, in fact, as much a magical liquid as it is a physical one.

Bile

Isharan bile is a complex mix of life forms created by the body; it is, in a way, an ecosystem all it's own. It consists of traditional liquids such as acid, but also includes simple microbial cells that break down, absorb and store a variety of chemicals. These microbes also have basic chakra systems that allow them to drain away spiritual energy. When the bile is taken up by the bile ducts, it releases these nutrients into the exchange layer, where they are fed into the bloodstream and spirit body.

Most bile can draw and absorb raw, low-level spiritual energies (those which are close in level to physical matter), particularly the energies of the Flowstar chakra. They do not interact with the higher organizations of the spirit body, so the spirit itself is not normally damaged by digestion. The bile of some creatures, however, does break down higher levels of spirit matter; in these cases, the soul is literally digested right alongside the body. This is particularly true of creatures who are more dependant on their spirit bodies than normal, such as ghosts (who have no physical body to speak of).

Isharan bile is adept at breaking down physical matter; almost anything can be liquified, broken down and absorbed. In fact, most species are perfectly capable of deriving nutrition from metal, or even dirt. These materials do not provide any spirit-energy, however, and as such cannot sustain most races.

Muscles

The muscles in an Isharan's digestive tract are generally more aggressive than in Earth life. Rather than coaxing food and mixing it with bile, it actively pushes and squeezes it. The strength of this action varies drastically from species to species; some creatures gently knead their prey to encourage already-softened bits to break up, whereas others crush so hard it can break bones. One thing that all creatures have in common, however, is a strong set of sphincteral muscles.

The tightest muscle in the stomach is the vaginal sphincter. Most species with flowers (vaginas) actually have a thin canal that can open to allow food to enter it. This canal muscle is very strong and can be difficult to stretch without practice; in fact, most girls cannot use it to eat human-sized prey until they have allowed several smaller objects to enter their body in this fashion. Even after such practice, the sphincter will hold quite tight when it is not deliberately being opened, since any leakage would dribble down the girl's legs and be lost.

The second tightest is the esophagal sphincter. This is the opening between the throat and the stomach. This muscle is weaker than the vaginal sphincter but is still quite strong, as it often has to hold back food that is actively attempting to escape.

The weakest is the pyloric sphincter which leads to the intestines. It opens and closes to allow liquified food to pass into the intestines, but generally is not strong enough to resist being shoved open by living food. As a result, some people say the most reliable way to get out of someone's stomach is actually by prying open her pyloric sphincter and simply crawling through her intestines. The intestines are quite dangerous, however, and not everyone who attempts this tactic survives.

The Intestines

Isharan intestines are multilayered in the same fashion as the stomach, and the layers themselves are fairly similar. Though the intestines have a bile layer, the exchange layer plays a much greater part in the intestines than it does in the stomach. Small phillae in the intestines actively seek out pieces of matter and energy and absorb them into the girl's bloodstream and flowstar chakra.

Intestines can actually stretch in much the same way as stomachs, and have some ability to shrink what is placed inside them as well. They also have similarly strong muscles, though the muscles in the intestines focus more on forcing food down their length than on squeezing or crushing it. Once something has been placed in the intestines, it is shoved quite forcefully down their length until it reaches the end.

The Rectum

The rectum in the typical Isharan primarily only serves one function; it stores undigestible waste (though undigestible is a relative thing in Ishara--waste is simply whatever didn't happen to be absorbed during the food's time in the belly.) Like the intestines, it shrinks whatever mass is placed inside it, typically to 1/4th it's actual size. (This is how girls and monsters are able to store the huge amount of waste generated by their enormous meals.)

Microscopic Life

Bacteria and viruses are very unusual in Ishara. Quite simply, the cooperative macro-genetic path that evolution there has taken (the fact that all species share their genetic code with one another) has meant that undermining the survival of another creature--especially the one closest to you--is disadvantageous. What's more, as most creatures self-destruct when they die, there is very little for carrion-feeding bacteria to survive off of. Microscopic and cellular organisms do exist, but they fill drastically different places in the ecosystem. Most are symbiotic, aiding in the biological processes of other microbes or larger animals. Some fill a niche in the local ecosystem, and some serve a function on a planetary scale. While microbes will sometimes be hostile to particular creatures, it is typically only when it will give a greater benefit to another creature (by aiding in digestion, for example).

Slimes

Like most creatures, the size of a microbe is highly mutable. Even so, most remain microscopic even at their largest. However, like most other forms of life, microbes sometimes manifest in "Giantess" form, hundreds or even thousands of times their normal size. This often results in gelatinous lifeforms that are typically called "slimes." They range in size from a few feet across to the size of a house and are most commonly found in the digestive tracts of extremely large creatures such as Space Monsters. They are also found in areas that can support their growth and reproduction; slimy or wet areas, oceans, bogs, caves low-gravity environments and deep space are all easy places to find slimes.

Slimes feed by literally engulfing their prey and dissolving it. As they lack the elaborate digestive tracts of normal animals their digestive abilities are not as strong or flexible as most, often leaving bones, armor, or other undigestible debris. On the plus side, it is easier for them to catch and engulf a meal than just about any other creature; they literally just need to roll over it.

Slimes can sometimes be killed with conventional weapons, sometimes with magic, sometimes with chemicals or potions, or sometimes any of the above; unfortunately, it is difficult to predict what a slime will be vulnerable to; while one kind of slime may be boiled to death by a fireball, another may absorb it and grow stronger. Likewise, while one slime may simply coagulate back together when struck by a sword, another might spray ichor across the ground and die with a burble. Typically, the best way to kill slimes is with specific alchemical agents; barring that, magic works best, with normal weapons being the least effective. In any case, using melee weapons against a slime is generally suicidal because, whether the slime is damaged or not, it is likely to simply lurch forward to absorb the weapon AND it's wielder.

Though there is a "median" size which most races share, most species also have two drastic variants on this size: a giant form and a tiny form. Typically, these "tiers" are on the order of fifty times larger or smaller; thus, if a species' normal size is five feet high, it's tiny version will be an inch or two and it's giant version will be fifty feet. These sizes are not set in stone and instead are more dependant on the creature's "base" size; for example, a normal dragon can already grow to be fifty feet long, meaning it's "tiny" version is already the size of a normal human. (These "tiny" dragons are known as Drakes.) Likewise, naturally small creatures (birds, etc.) are often only human-sized in "giant" form.

An individual's size is set at birth (i.e. a giant will grow from a giant egg) and the ratios of these different sizes vary by species; for example, giant humans are fairly common, but giant harpies are not. Likewise, it is very common to find a tiny faerie or sprite, but very uncommon to find a tiny kari or naga. Generally, however, tinies are much, much more common than giants.

It is also worth noting that giant and tiny versions are not genetically identical to their cousins. For example, a giantesses' digestive tract does not need to stretch nearly as much as a normal girl's, but her intestines will work a lot harder. Likewise, almost all tiny versions will have bodies better suited to living off of a higher proportion of nuts and fruits, as a lot of living prey is likely to be out of their league. (They do still prey on others of their size, however.)

There is technically a fourth category, called Supergiant. These can be anywhere from a hundred to thousands of times the creature's normal size, and are generally extremely rare. Typically such creatures are only found in space, and many of them feed on planetoids or even full-blown planets.

Beyond these categories, there is obviously some natural difference in size between individuals--some species can vary up to three times from another individual in their same species.

 

Plants serve their own broad ecological role in Ishara, and are actually divided into a number of archetypes just as the "animal" life is. However, unlike the animal life, plants are unique in that each plant species often contains it's own unique manifestation of each of these archetypes. These archetypes are Carnivorous, Flowering, and Idle. These archetypes primarily describe the "food source" the plant uses to grow and thrive.

All plants metabolize ambient magical energy to some extent, along with heat and sunlight. They also draw raw materials up from the ground. Depending on the species and the climate, they use some combination of these four resources to grow and reproduce. Some use other means as well, which is what denotes their archetype.

Plants are far better at absorbing ambient spiritual (magical) energy than animals, but they are not nearly as good at converting it into other types. Animals are quite good at converting spiritual energy but cannot absorb it fast enough to keep up with their body's demand for it; as such, plants and animals have something to gain from one another. How they gain it depends on the species.

 

Carnivorous

The most notorious archetype is the Carnivorous plant. Though not the majority of plants by any means, there are enough carnivorous plants in a typical jungle or forest to make any girl wary. The means by which carnivorous plants capture and digest their prey is even more diverse than with animal species, but they follow the same concept--get her in your belly, then go to work. These range from things as simple as the Girlcrunch plant, which consists of two jaws that close around the girl and then start digesting her, to the Labyrinth Lilly, which actually burrows itself an underground maze filled with false treasures to lure girls into it's lethal stomach traps.

Most carnivorous plants hunt using stealth, mobility, ranged attacks, some sort of lure, or a combination of these.

The stealth plants obtain their prey by looking like any other mundane plant until a hapless meal walks by; it will then be snatched up, fall into a pit, or otherwise become the property of the hungry plant.

Plants with lures actually offer potential prey an incentive to risk approaching them. Some offer nuts or fruit; others go so far as to grow precious gems and other valuables (real and fake) and dangle them just out of reach. Sometimes a culture can actually make a living carefully snatching these treasures from the carnivores; meanwhile, the carnivore itself makes a healthy living off of the amateurs who are emboldened by their success.

Mobile plants hunt much like any other creature; by moving about and attempting to catch or incapacitate prey. Examples of this are the simple but infamous Slime Vines, which slither through the ground and wrap helpless girls up tight before they start secreting digestive enzymes. Mobility has a steep price for a plant, however; it severely limits the complexity of the root system it can use to gain nutrients, and full mobility can cost a lot of metabolic energy (plants are not as efficient at moving as animals).

Some plants, such as Bileweeds, actually attempt to incapacitate their prey before they ever get near it. Bileweeds shoot slippery globs of digestive acid at potential meals, which both weakens them and hinders their escape. Nurseneedles fire arrowlike thorns which contain a paralyzing poison, while the infamous Black Vertigoid actually uses a form of mental compulsion to force prey to insert itself into it's dripping maw!

In addition to these weapons, most forms of plant have simple tentacles that they can use to pull prey into them. These tentacles vary widely in strength and precision, ranging from the awkward, near-useless stalks of the Bulgeleaf to the lightning-fast, claw-like tendrils of the Mantis Bush.

 

Flowering

Flowering plants are plants that gain at least part of their energy through symbiotic (rather than predatory) interaction with animals. The term "Flowering" is used broadly; it applies primarily to fruit and nut-bearing plants, but there are many other ways that a plant can encourage interaction with an animal.

The most basic form of flowering plant is the fruit tree; no frills, it simply makes fruit for local animals to eat.

It does this for two reasons. First, the mere presence of animals in close proximity will lead to a more favorable balance of magical energies that the plant can then use. Second, fruit contains a huge amount of the plant's genetic material and spores, which will combine with those of the girl through her lips and digestive tract and thus increase the odds of her dropping the plant's spores somewhere else.

Some plants get greedier, requiring a "key" of sorts before a person can get at the fruit; for example, the Red Talonberry tree has hard husks that cover it's fruit and will not open up until a small amount of magical fire has touched it's bark. (It does this because magical fire contains energies it cannot synthesize)

Since plants often have an overabundance of one type of spirit energy or another, fruit does often contain a larger amount than other food. It is not generally enough to permanently sustain any non-human race, however (though there are a few exceptions).

Other plants encourage animal contact in other ways, from having a pleasant fragrance all the way up to the overtly perverse Mangus Tree which uses it's tendrils to sexually stimulate any humanoid who ventures near it. The simplest and easiest of these techniques--being visually attractive and smelling nice--is where the term "Flowering plant" comes from.

 

Idle

Idle plants do not interact with humans in any particular fashion; they typically account for their own energy needs either by metabolizing energy more efficiently or by ensuring they only need certain, easily-attainable energies to survive. The simpler forms of plant life--grass, bushes, and most trees--fall into this category. While most can be eaten, they provide very limited sustenance.

 

 

Plant Mutability

Like animals, plant spores are mutable and the spores from a single plant can end up sprouting as any number of things. In fact, this trait is even more pronounced in plants than it is in animals; a harmless flower may end up dropping a spore that sprouts into a girlcrunch plant!

Plant spores contain a wealth of genetic information, just as animal spores do. However, which genes are activated has less to do with what information is available and more to do with the environment the spore is in when it takes root. Spores in pleasant climes with ample, balanced energies will sprout as simple forms like flowers and grass; spores in harsher areas will sprout as harsher plants. Generally, the balance (or lack thereof) of energy in an area will serve as a rough indicator of it's population and what kind of plants would be able to survive there, and the spore acts accordingly, building itself into a benevolent fruit tree or a monstrous carnivore as suits it's need.

Even so, when a spore lands there are a lot of random factors that go into what might be on that particular inch of dirt, so most areas have a spectrum of plant life, and generally even the most benign glade could house one or two lurking dangers.