Paque

A paque (pronounced /ˈpɑːki/ or /pɑːk/) is a type of conjunct aneka of Gomara, with the size and general body shape of one kind of organism, as well as its basic level of intelligence, but some prominent features of another. The type of creature a paque takes its shape and size from is called its gelf, and the other creature its julay. Many paques, though by no means all, have human gelves; such a paque is often called a half-man, and is more specifically described, by humans at least, by its julay. A paque with a human gelf and a rat julay, for example, resembles a human covered with fur and with a ratlike head and paws, and is called a "half-rat". Many types of paque also have other, more unique names, however; half-rats, for instance, are on many worlds called carmungis.

Paques may be called by different terms on different worlds; on Dadauar, for instance, they are called gnulus (pronounced /ˈnuːluː/).

Sogas

The words "gelf" and "julay" come originally from words meaning "slave" and "master", and for good reason. When enough paques with the same gelf are gathered together, they exercise a thelctic power over their gelf creature, compelling such creatures to do their bidding. The number of paques necessary is not fixed; it depends to some degree upon the strength of mind of the gelf creature. The more paques involved, the harder to resist the compulsion, though as a rule of thumb at least three must be present for any effect at all. With their julay creatures, however, paques have the converse relationship, with sufficient such creatures able to exercise control over the paques just as the paques can exercise control over their gelves. The paque's thelctic powers and susceptibilities are called its sogas; it's normal to speak of a paque exercising its soga over its gelves, for example.

Sogal powers function even when the creature exercising them is innoetic; it still has control over the subject creature's actions even if it's not at a conscious level. It is, however, generally the case that the more intelligent the subject of the soga, relative to the creature exercising it, the more such creatures are necessary. A half-rat paque, for instance, is susceptible to control by a sufficient number of rats; certainly those rats are not consciously aware they have control over the paque, and make no intentional decisions as to what to do, but it is still bound by their desires. If the rats want food, for instance, then the paque will be forced to get it for them, and if the rats are attacked the paque will be required to defend them. Conversely, a paque with a rat gelf and human julay may not be much more intelligent than the average rat, but a group of such paques will be able to compel ordinary rats to do what they want, again even without necessarily being conscious that they are exerting such control.

Jins

Every paque has two numbers associated with it, known as jins: the jin lachi, or fair jin, and the jin fane, or foul jin, also known respectively as its boon and bane. These numbers are not chosen by the paque, but are apparently fixed from its birth. They are by no means identical for all paques in a species, but differ between individuals, though the distributions may vary by species, and some numbers may be particularly common among individuals of certain species of paque.

Whenever a paque is near anything in a quantity that exactly matches its fair jin, it enjoys a number of benefits: it is healthier and more resistant to damage and disease; it is full of energy and can move and think more freely; it overall just feels better, happier and refreshed. If multiple such quantities are in its proximity, the effects accumulate. On the other hand, quantities matching a paque's foul jin have the opposite effect—they make it moody and uncomfortable, slow its mind and movement, make it weak and vulnerable. Only quantities, not measurements, apply, since the latter depend on units; a paque with a fair jin of two hundred and seventy-nine would benefit if there were exactly two hundred and seventy-nine stones on a table near it, but would derive no benefit from the table being exactly two hundred and seventy-nine centimeters wide.

Naturally, paques tend to try to surround themselves with quantities equal to their fair jin. A paque whose fair jin is twenty-two, for instance, might dye its body with twenty-two spots, wear a necklace with twenty-two pendants, or even remove some of its teeth to leave itself with exactly twenty-two of them... or all of the above. Conversely, those who seek to harm or drive away paque may confront them with quantities equal to their foul jin, if they know what that number is—which, of course, provides paques with a strong motivation to keep their foul jins secret. In any case, since it's easier to arrange for quantities of relatively small numbers, and such quantities are also more likely to be met with by chance, paques with small fair jins are generally at an advantage; a paque with a jin of eighteen will find it much easier to arrange to be surrounded by eighteen things of various sorts than a paque with a jin of ten thousand will be able to arrange for exactly that quantity. For similar reasons, paques with small foul jins are generally at a disadvantage. Both fair and foul jins, however, seem to average around forty, and to seldom drop below twenty, and almost never below ten.

Types of paque

In addition to the half-rat carmungi mentioned above, other types of paque common and widespread in Charos include the half-fly machelabel and the half-seal quafesi. The total number of types is much larger, however, with many types of paque being found only in one world, or a handful of worlds—few populated worlddisks of Charos are without some endemic variety of paque found nowhere, or almost nowhere, else.

Paques with human julays also exist, though they are less common than half-men. Such paques are called leedlings, and are referred to as "leedly" versions of their gelves. The paque referenced above with the rat gelf and human julay, for instance, would be a leedly rat. Leedlings with innoetic gelves tend to be slightly more intelligent than the gelf by itself, though not approaching the intelligence of a man. For whatever reason, however, the occasional specimen of leedly beast is born that is of human intelligence.

Of course, not all paques need have human connection at all, as either their gelves or their julays. Paques may combine virtually any two organisms. Even part-plant paques have been seen, which respond to sogal commands by growing in certain ways. Whether or not paques with plant gelves can actually be influenced by the plant to do anything, given the plant's apparent lack of consciousness, has not been determined.

Reproduction

Paques of the same type can reproduce normally, and breed true. Most varieties of paque can also mate with creatures of their gelf type, though this rarely happens. When it does, any offspring are also paques of the same type as the paque parent. It's generally also possible for two paques of the same gelf type but different julay to mate, in which case the offspring seems to have an equal chance of taking after either parent.

Paques have other means of replenishing their numbers aside from sexual reproduction, however. They are able to turn creatures of their gelf type into more paques like themselves, in a process known as encalome. This requires the paque-to-be to be under the sogal control of a group of existing paques; in essence, they just will the individual to become a paque, and he is compelled to comply. It's also possible for a creature to become a paque by its own initiative, through a process called chibande. This procedure involves the prospective paque seeking out creatures of what will become its julay type, enough to exert soga over it if it were already a paque, and voluntarily submitting to them and placing itself under their control.

Society

The societal structure of paques tends to mostly resemble that of their gelf creature, but incorporating some elements of that of their julay creature as well. However, many paque communities develop their own cultures unlike that of either component creature. Paques may join communities of their gelf creature, but they're not always accepted there, in the case of innoetic creatures because they can sense the paque's difference from them and don't know what to make of it, and in the case of noetic creatures often because they're aware of the paque's sogal powers and don't want to be subject to them.