Overview[]
A male and female aershaa have two distinct types of ethra. Eira <ae-ruh> is the female ethra, and holds the core of the being together. This is where all the information is stored, sort of like a blank piece of paper waiting for ink. Ora is the male ethra, which is the binding matter of the being, and, using our paper metaphor, is like the ink that writes all the information down. Together they unify into ethermass, which is both the source of life and magic on Dreyrull (how it is tapped into for magic is another story altogether.) Once ethermass is formed by souldancing, in which the male and female aershaa release their ethra in their race's traditional dance and weave them together, it begins to age and grow. In this case, it's rapidly condensing. Now, to understand this, you have to understand that ethermass is in a class of its own in that it begins as neither solid, nor liquid, nor gas. Even ancient human science, with all of its technology and advances, was still far beyond the grasp of understanding this state of being when its civilization was destroyed and the research came to an abrupt halt. So during the souldancing process, it takes mere minutes before it transverses the state of non-material to the state of a solid, crystallizing in a spherical form. This stage is the equivalent to the fetus of an unborn human child. Within this crystallized sphere lays all the information from both parents. Colors begin to become apparent, and as the matter further intertwines, condenses, and works to "match the programming," it becomes less and less like a crystal and more like a living being, the first breath un-taken until the process is 100% complete. They say it's so loud that a parent can hear its pup's first breath from half a sun away.
Q: Do newborn aershaa suckle?[]
A: Surprisingly, no. They are more like dragons and birds in that the parents regurgitate food for a newborn's nutrition. In the first day or two, however, they typically do not eat, as they are still stabilizing from the ethermass' process. There is always more ethermass than necessary to form a pup, and it is with this they "feed" to survive. An interrupted souldance can cause an etherstarved <- a pup that either does not entirely breach crystallization, or does, and dies shortly after.
Q: Can an orb be abducted? How heavy is it?[]
A: An ethermass orb is painful to touch, and likewise very heavy. The rapidly condensing material could burn or tear the flesh from an invading hand.