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II Mythos Races
Family
Gnorri are confused by many things that surface
dwellers take for granted, but the concept of family
may well be the most alien to their kind. While gnorri
value companionship and engage in something akin to
sexual intercourse with favored partners, such actions
are not linked to the act of perpetuating the species
(see Life Cycle below for details). In any event, as a
result of their unusual “childhoods,” no gnorri knows
or much cares about the identity of its parents or
how many siblings it might have, and a gnorri never
really desires to know its children. Gnorri are capable
of forming friendships, and these can last for entire
lifetimes in some cases, yet the concept of familial love
is a curiosity at best to the gnorri.

Life Cycle

Upon reaching maturity, a gnorri plankton achieves
the size and rough shape of something akin to a humansized eel. It sheds its skin one final time and emerges
a gnorri, growing to full size after another three or so
years spent in constant hunger. Since gnorri are fully
capable of laying and fertilizing eggs immediately
upon emerging from this eel-like shape, they can be
biologically considered mature adults, but in most
cases they wait until they are full grown to seek roles
in gnorri society.
Once a gnorri reaches its full size, its metabolism
slows dramatically. Whereas it takes only a few years
for a gnorri to go from freshly-hatched plankton to fullsized member of its race, an adult gnorri can live for

centuries unless killed through violence, misadventure,
or illness. A gnorri becomes middle aged at 150 years,
old at 250 years, and venerable at 500 years. Once

Once or twice a month, a female gnorri expels a mass

venerable age is reached, though, a gnorri’s body swiftly

of eggs from her body, abandoning them to drift on

begins to degrade, and the fluidity of its flesh and bones

the currents. These eggs can drift for days or even

rapidly vanishes. Upon becoming venerable, a gnorri

weeks before losing viability. When in the presence of

loses their ability to adjust the number of their arms

gnorri eggs, a male gnorri exudes sperm in an almost

and the protective features of their amorphous entrails.

unconscious reaction more akin to sweating than

They live every moment of their life in increasing pain,

sexual release. Once fertilized, gnorri eggs hatch within

causing most venerable gnorri to take their own lives

24 hours into microscopic plankton-like creatures that

or to seek death via the great walk. For a gnorri that is

drift and churn among others in their myriad numbers.

not killed prior to the natural expiration of life, death

Since it is traditional among gnorri to exude their

comes painfully as a rigor mortis-like condition sets

eggs in certain designated areas, and numerous gnorri

in within months, resulting first in general paralysis,

use the same areas to store their eggs, there’s really no

followed shortly thereafter by heart failure and death.

way to keep track of how many hundreds or thousands
of children might arise each generation or to identify
the parents. Most newborn gnorri are consumed
by predators, but the sheer volume of young ensures
enough survive the two to four months it takes to grow
to adulthood. During this time, the gnorri shed their
outer skin multiple times to make way for their rapidly
expanding bodies.

Society
Family ties are only one surface-creature “tradition”
that is lost upon the gnorri. As they have no concept of
heredity or birthright, no true aristocracy exists among
the gnorri. In a gnorri settlement, accomplishments are
what determine merit, rather than bloodline or pedigree.
As gnorri age, they seek greater accomplishments, and
as a result, leaders among the gnorri tend to be older.

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