Pheonix

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Backstory

The pheonix is a creature created by Faun in the 1800s. It is realated to intelligent design, the nature of life and death, as well as the cyclical nature of the universe. Faun considers them her 'chosen people.' And is friends with many of them. She exerts no control over their fates or duties, demands no tribute, and sometimes leaves them alone for centuries at a time. Doing anything else would be akin to building a plane without flying it. They are designed to fly solo, and so she lets them be free and fly.

life cycle

The three stage life cycle of a pheonix lasts about 20 years.

First they hatch as a firey red bird. During this time they do not remember themselves and are driven to roam.

Within a month, they begin transforming into their later form, a human-like body that under general scrutiny would pass for human. During this time their MNA (Memnotic nucleic acid, one of five nucleic acids in their cells) transcribes their memories into their brain. They will be of the opposite gender that they were previously, and they will be of a similar race and build to the human they last mated with.

Over the course of the next 20 years, they transform more and more into a bird-like shape, eventually ending similarly to harpies. During this phase, they must mate with at least one human, gathering genetic information in the process which aids in the development of their immune system and their self-evolution. For the first decade of this process, they experience accelerated learning, similar to a human toddler.

At the end of this time, they lay a single egg and the body dies. Their memories are inscibed into the MNA of the egg, which hatches into a 'new' pheonix in stage one of its life. In this way, the pheonix 'lives' on forever. Though the actual body has died and this new creature is indeed young.'' It is the same with our own minds. If we are transcribed into a computer, is it really us? Our brain cells die and are replaced, therefore are we the same person we were 20 years ago? ''

In order to reproduce, a second pheonix is nessicary. The second egg is laid at the same time as the primary one, so gestation is anywhere from 6 months to 19 years. A maximum of one egg may be laid per 20 year period, though both parents (being technically hermaphroditic) may lay an egg.

features of the body

Pheonixes are hardy, light (with hollow bones), and immune to most diseases. They are capable of regeneration to a certain extent, and they have absolutely flawless memories (memories are stored as MNA, similar to how hard drives work, but on a genetic level). All pheonixes are hermaphroditic. Any close examination will reveal their inhuman nature. They are capable of digesting almost any biological matter, and a more than capable of living alone in almost any environment. They are land creatures.

personality

Pheonixes are highly individualistic. However, they are all condecending to humans. They truly believe (and indeed they are correct) that they are superior and seperate from the humans. The emotional connections they form with humans are distinct, but still can be strong. It is comperable to our relationships with our dogs. Indeed, the eventual demise of their human friends is always in the back of their mind, and they tend to see human life as less valuable and more transitory than humans do.