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Wild Jade Harmony
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Keeping in mind that the setting runs on science fiction of about the same hardness as Star Wars, the kel (that being the name for this plant/fungus lifeform in its distinct form) exists in a scellor's body (its second life stage) in two forms. First, in a large system that is in place of the lymphatic system that humans have, with further outgrowths connecting it through the centers of the nervous system and brain and, in particular, the orel and the tail, with strong connections all the way down the spine. This is part of the powerful scellor immune system, as the animal and kel aspects of their biology each eliminate infections in the other. It also spreads the psychic emanations of the undermind throughout the body and acts as a secondary, psychic nervous system, allowing the scellor greater perception and control of psychic powers; in case of disturbance in the normal nervous system, it can even be used as a backup, though reaction time is slow. This can be thought of as the "roots" of the kel in the scellor body.
The second aspect is the kel "spores", which exist in every animal cell in place of mitochondria, performing the same service (though not with quite the same efficiency, which contributes to the high dietary requirements of the scellor). In addition to this function, these spores can be psychically influenced to manipulate macro- and micro-biology, facilitating the art of psychometabolism.
Kel is dependent on trace amounts of psykonium, and in absence of enough will start to grow in search of more. The animal half of the scellor, aided by their own psychic power, can keep this in check to a degree; at the age of about twenty, this begins to become harder to keep balanced and the scellor must depend on a higher intake of psykonium and a greater application of psychic power to keep the kel in check. Thus, a scellor who has greater psychic power and more regular access to psykonium can live longer. Those who do not have these face slow paralysis and eventual death. Upon death, both the "roots" and "spores" of the kel will grow into each other and mature into the kel's third life-stage, in which it takes root, consumes the flesh and grows into a tree.
I imagine the reproductive aspect of the kel could be considered a third aspect of the whole system. As I'm imagining it now, the fertilized egg implants itself into the lining of the uterus and releases hormones that attract the kel, which - either from the mother's body alone or in the first stage of a new organism that is also a mixture of father and mother - begins to grow around the zygote. As it matures into a fetus, the kel grows and hardens into a shell or seed around it, developing a yolk-like store of nutrients from the mother, from whom it gradually takes over the nutrition of the child. At this stage, after about a month of development, the fetus becomes dormant and the entire package, referred to as an ovum, is laid (usually). The ovum can keep the fetus safe and alive in its state of hibernation for a very long time before eventual implantation into a mother tree - a kel tree developed through use of psychometabolism for the job. With nutrients from the tree, the ovum can begin to grow and the infant to develop, over a matter of more than a year, through which the ovum itself extends the kel systems throughout the developing body. The "umbilical cord" extends through the tail, with the gland at the tail tip being the last development before the ovum hatches.
Now, a scellor female does have the option of "holding in" an ovum, and if she does so for more than about two months the ovum will reattach itself and its hard shell be reabsorbed, and the mother's vestigial placental functions will take over. A child can be brought to term in this way, but severe medical complications are certain.
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why the fuck am i typing all this in the penis thread
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