Neneki (3.5e Race)

Neneki
oozes.]]

Personality
Often derogatorily called slime-people by those who know of them, a Neneki's mentality is as flexible as their body, capable of adapting to almost any situation, and just as difficult to confine. Neneki are free spirits, and have a strong sense of community and moral compass. On the other hand, they often shy away from direct confrontation, preferring to endure the aggressions of others, or simply evade responsibility altogether when they and their loved ones aren't in any direct danger.

Physical Description
To say Neneki are 'descended' from humans and elves is somewhat of a misnomer. The first Neneki were created when an archmage bent on discovering a way to achieve physical immortality experimented on discovered Noo biomass. Born from this research are humans, elves and half-elves that have been given the traits of oozes. Their bodies are generally sleek and faintly translucent, with body colors that can pretty much range throughout the entire visual spectrum, from green, blue and purple to orange and red. Many scientists have speculated that a Neneki's color depends on his or her subconscious mindset, but this is false. A Neneki's natural colour is influenced somewhat by their ancestry, and largely by the environmental circumstances in which they grow up. Many Neneki are capable of changing their colour at will over a long period of time, leading most to assume a colour that they find to their personal liking. Few Neneki choose to be yellow, however, as that colour is seen as somewhat of a social faux-pas largely for its similarity to certain bodily wastes.

Neneki in physical form are roughly equal in size to humans, and weigh about the same as a human of their height and build.

Physiology
The experimentation that resulted in the birth of the first Neneki drastically altered their internal physiology. Using the interconnectivity and cohesion observable in many species of oozes, Neneki have decentralized cellular function. Each physical cell has the necessary organelles to sustain itself, and Neneki cells naturally group and array themselves when congregated into physical form, creating substructures that emulate the muscle, digestion and respiratory systems present in other organic species. Neneki cells can create these internal structures within seconds of being brought together, allowing them extensive control over their own cohesion and enabling them such feats as changing shape and colour, and squeezing themselves through the tiniest of cracks and reconstituting themselves into humanoid form afterwards. The cellular structure of Neneki is incredibly flexible yet robust, capable of at one time exceeding the resilience of ordinary flesh and at the other time approaching the viscosity of jello.

Neneki do not physically age and remain in their physical prime for most of their lifetime, and sufficiently large clusters of Neneki cells can live for indeterminate periods of time, though not necessarily containing conscience. When Neneki regress and die, it is because the link between their physical selves and their spiritual selves - the mind and soul - weakens over time. This manifests itself in their loss of control over their physical bodies as they grow 'venerable', and eventually they lose cohesion completely, at which point the link between body and spirit is broken and 'death' sets in. The remains of a dead Neneki has no mind to guide its cells, and will eventually physically die as well if not surrounded by sufficient nutrients.

Sexuality and Reproduction
Neneki have no mammalean reproductive organs, though they still emulate male and female forms due to the imprinted genetic memory of being humanoid and the practicality of the humanoid form in day to day tasks. Neneki naturally lean towards one 'gender' over the other, though it is not unheard of for Neneki to alter their gender appearance depending on mood or personal preference. Biologically however, Neneki are unisex.

Neneki reproduce through a process called mitochondrial conception. During intercourse, two Neneki intermix their physical bodies and force a portion of their cells to draw together, causing synkariotic cell fusion, a process during which two cells - one from each parent - and their respective nuclei merge together into a single cell, creating new genetic information. The resulting new entity remains within the cellular matter of the mother parent, where it consumes a portion its parent's cells for nutrition. During this state, the mother parent works to maintain the cellular cohesion of the fetus until its mind develops enough to maintain itself. At this point birth occurs, where the new child is expelled from the mother parent's physiology. Because of the Neneki's organic flexibility, a full pregnancy usually lasts between 3 to 6 weeks.

Growth Rate
There is a vast variety within Neneki growth and development patterns, as the Neneki physical body is essentially an expression of its conscious and subconscious mind. As such, Neneki that grow fast mentally tend to grow fast physically as well, and vice versa. Regardless of this, all Neneki have an extremely quick maturation rate, and most are effectively adolescent by their third year.

Relations
Many races consider Neneki a little too strange for their liking, due to their alien appearance, lack of practical experience and ability to manipulate their bodies in ways impossible to creatures of flesh and blood. That said, they are unlikely to cause a lot of trouble and are generally accepted by most human settlements that see them often. As a result of their inherent strangeness, Neneki are often shunned in parts of the world where they are rarely seen, and discriminated against and ostracized openly by certain elven societies for being a wizard's perversion of their race. Underground societies feature Neneki more often, and they tend to relate best to (deep) gnomes and dwarves.

Alignment
Neneki lean slightly towards the chaotic alignments, and moderately towards good, but they can be of any alignment.

Lands
Neneki are most comfortable in temperate, humid climates or underground environments. High humidity enhances their ability to change their physical shape, whereas arid environments and extreme climates in general inhibit that ability.

Religion
Since Neneki have little history or religion belonging to themselves, they often adopt the religious views of the more populous races that they live amongst, or decide to follow the religions that best match their own points of view. Rare Neneki however have a lingering connection to the Noosphere due to the nature of the experiments that birthed their race.

Language
All Neneki speak Common.

Names
To be done.