Nelids

A race with 4 biological sexes: Male, Female, Protector Drone and Incubator where the Male and Female have 1-4 clones at birth. They are Manafretes, which means they are reliant on Mana to some extent.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Males and Females

Males and Females both resemble male Elves, with slight differences in physical appearances between males and females. However, there are some notable differences to the elves:

• Their ears are longer and have several tips, with a serrated appearance. Each ear can have 2-6 tips depending on the number of clones they were born with.
• They are shorter on average than elves.
• They have bigger, longer skulls than Elves, but not big enough to avoid being confused by other races as being "weird Elves"

Biological Traits

Males and Females

Males and Females tend to have a life expectancy reminiscent of Elves.

Incubators

The Incubators are much larger than the other sexes. They can also technically live the longest, but their life span shortens with each gestation they take upon themselves.

Protector Drones

They are not that long lived, and can be killed off when resources are scarce.

Genetics and Reproduction

The species have four biological sexes: Male and female (the Reproductive sexes), Incubator (the gestational sex), and Protector Drone (in charge of guarding the Incubators).

Reproductive Process

In order to produces a viable embryo, a male "Prime" and female "Prime" must procreate during one of their mating periods, while concurrently each of them need to have a clone nearby. That clone will be sacrificed in order to use its life force to ensure the embryo survives the trip to an Incubator and the next stage.

Embryo Transferal

Once a viable embryo is produced, an Incubator must be found and the embryo transferred into its body in the next 4 days (approximately) or the embryo dies.

Gestation Period

After a successful embryo transplant, the Incubator gestates it in one of its wombs. It will first split the embryo into 2-5 copies depending on her energy stores and environmental factors. depending on the Incubator's needs, they might force the embryo copies to become Protector Drones, which they can do by changing the conditions of that womb. Otherwise, the embryo's biological sex is determined by the genetic material it received from its parents, outside factors and the Incubator's health. The gestation period depends on the number of clones per batch, the number of batches currently incubated, and the amount of food and mana available to the incubator. It can take anywhere between ~300 days, to ~6.5 years.

Growth Rate & Stages

Males and Females

The Males and Females are born with 2-5 clones of the same individual. These clones will fight each other until one will emerge victorious and will become the "Prime" copy. The "Prime" copy will be the only one to be able to reproduce later on. That also means that if by the age of puberty no "Prime" has emerged, all the clones of that individual will become Asexual, losing their Psychic connection to each other, and searching an Incubator to protect. Otherwise, the clones have a permanent Psychic connection, where the "Prime" has the ability to affect the flow of information between all clones.

Incubators

Incubators are born to give birth to offspring of mated pairs. In their larval stages, they will feed and grow, and once they reach their maximal size, they will find a place to root down and will become immobile, becoming adults and being able to incubate embryos. Mature Incubators will be protected by many Protector Drones.

Protector Drones

Whether they were born as Protector Drones, or became ones when no "Prime" emerged, the Protector Drones' sole duty is to protect and take care of the Incubator. It doesn't undergo significant changes, apart from growing in size and muscle mass to be able to better to its tasks.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Non mature individuals are Omnivorous, and need both food and Mana to grow. Once mature, however, only gestating Incubators consume big amounts of food. The rest can live mostly off of Mana, requiring only very small amounts of sustenance.

Biological Cycle

As mentioned, in order to produce a viable embryo, a male and a female need to procreate and then sacrifice one of their clones. If they sacrifice all their other clones, they lose their reproductive organs and become Protector Drones, immediately driven to search an Incubator to protect. This, and the lose of clones in reproduction may explain the species' current low reproduction rate.
If a Prime clone is eliminated, the remaining clones lose touch with reality, dying several days later from some form of Organ Failure.

Additional Information

Social Structure

While the Incubators are held with high regard, the Nelids don't really have a robust social structure at large. Males and Females tend to be solitary when not in mating season, and Incubators have a retinue of Protector Drones, but they're not really controlled by her like actual drones.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Males and Females have a Psychic connection between all of their clones. The way it is arranged can be adjusted by the "Prime". Information can be transferred between the clones, making the learning of many things at once possible. However, it also comes with drawbacks: the more clones you have, the harder it is for you to focus. With age, this becomes more and more severe. Additionally, they are extremely vulnerable to mind and soul targeting spells, mental illness, and other mental disorders.
Each clone can "back up" their knowledge and experience to the network. It is up to "Prime" to choose whether or not it happens. The risk is that losing a clone may mean losing their knowledge and memories if they were not backed up, or if not properly backed up, it can cause bits and pieces to remain, causing confusion, and accelerating any mental deterioration.

Telepathic range

They have a limited range for their telepathy, so the primes also need to evaluate the locations of all clones in a way that there won't be disconnections on the network.

Optimal range

There are two factors to take into account here:

• Having the clones too close to each other created a feedback loop, which becomes worse as more clones come closer together. This feedback loop makes it harder for the Nelid to concentrate, and in extreme cases it can cause a mental dissociation from reality.
• The second factor to take into account is the maximal range which was already mentioned. A clone that loses its connection to the network will lose touch with reality and die after several days, and while it's possible to reestablish communication, it's not easy, and there is permanent mental damage to the clone, which ends affecting the whole clone network. Of course, the loss of the clone will affect the network as well, so it is best not to reach this impasse.

There's a way around the range restriction with soul magic. Therefore magi can bypass the restriction and can also produce an enchanted object that will bypass it. The reason it works, is that even if in the physical world they are far apart, in the soul plane they are all connected to the same spot. And so, transmitting through the soul plane cuts down the distance. There are several risks in using this workaround: One risk is that they become used to it, and if for some reason the connection is cut, they can lose the connection, which will lead to their demise. Another risk is getting feedback loops. For those reasons, this workaround should be used with care.

Civilization and Culture

Relationship Ideals

Nelids are strictly non monogamous, and will try to avoid the previous mates in each consecutive mating attempt.