The Paimara
The paimara are the native species of Leresphua. These intalli are as energetic as they are dynamic, always looking for something new and exciting to fill their attention. Drawn to new winds, the paimara can be seen soaring across the skies of nearly every region in the selvan.
Biology
The paimara are elegant, serpentine creatures. Their long bodies are extremely flexible, allowing them to twist and contort in the air with ease. They have small, dull scales on their heads and torsos, with large and much shinier scales on their necks and tails. They have large, pliant fins on their heads and tails. These fins may be splayed out or folded flat against the body. On land, paimara will typically slither, raising their flippers to their chests to keep them from dragging on the ground. If needed, a paimara may use their powerful flippers to galumph, allowing them greater speed at the cost of agility.
While rather fish-like, the paimara share very little similarities with them. They lack gills and are only capable of breathing air. Additionally, most paimara are highly averse to the concept of swimming and will typically avoid flying over large bodies of water.
As opposed to other species, paimara have incredible sexual dimorphism. Paimara have three sexes, with two of them known as bearers and the other known as a carrier. While bearers are anatomically identical, carriers are far larger than their egg-bearing counterparts and possess a typically unnoticeable egg pouch on their lower abdomen. Other notable differences include their fin placement, with bearers having large fins on their neck and chest, a single large fin on their rounded tails, and small, clasping flippers at the base of their tails.
Abilities
Gilded Flight
Instead of wings, the paimara are able to fly with magic. With a single flap of their flippers, they are able to soar and twist through the air with ease. While a paimara may fly for hundreds of miles at a time, flight still takes a physical toll on their body. Most paimara require short but deep power naps directly after flight.
If a paimara is exceedingly exhausted, in extreme pain, or violently struck, they will completely drop from the air. A paimara must be fully conscious in order to fly.
Ecology and Behavior
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Paimara have a very unique reproduction system which does not easily fall under the common holder-giver-gilder terminology. Paimara have three sexes, with two of them (known as bearers) fertilizing and producing eggs and the other (known as a carrier) carrying eggs in a specialized pouch on their abdomen. Mature paimara may reproduce at any point throughout the year but require the presence of at least two other paimara in order to successfully produce young.
Paimara courtship is a bright, flashy, and loud affair. Courtship season typically begins in the summer, when much of Leresphua is experiencing its monsoon season. During this time, paimara will dedicate much of their time to showing off to anyone, other intalli included, who is willing to watch them flaunt. The shinier their scales, the prettier their songs, and the more impressive their flights, the better.
Paimara partnerships are highly diverse and flexible. A paimara may have a dozen mates or just one, with courtship often being used as a way to find future co-parents alongside romantic partners. Paimara may have extremely large and complicated families, although they will typically only regard those that they have been raised with as being truly related. Any intalli involved in reproduction is generally expected to participate in child-rearing, leading to complications when other species that do not raise their young, such as optera or nyluru, are involved with paimara.
Reproduction is a two-step process, with bearers mating before immediately transferring the fertilized eggs into a carrier's pouch. A carrier may hold as many as three dozen eggs within their pouch. The first few larvae to hatch will go on to slowly consume its unhatched siblings inside the pouch, continuing to grow and develop until only a few larvae are left. After nine months of development, two to six pups are born. Under extreme stress, a carrier may eject the eggs and larvae from their pouch early. Premature larvae have high mortality rates but may still survive with extra care and attention.
Newborn paimara are able to fly the moment they leave the pouch. Paimara pups are well known for their energy and inability to sit still, requiring strict supervision at all times. A pup may be able to slip away from their parents in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, they lack the stamina needed to fully elope.
Paimara parents are expected to dutifully expose their children to new things every day, be it new foods, locations, or people. Pups are naturally skittish but will slowly become more outgoing as they grow. Adolescent paimara are allowed a great deal of freedom and are expected to achieve a certain level of independence in their teen years. By 16 years old, a paimara is assumed to be entirely self-reliant.
All adolescent paimara are obligated to participate in a tradition known only as the Grand Wander. The Grand Wander is the final trial that all young paimara must face before becoming adults. They must venture from their homes and explore both the world and themselves. It's not uncommon for paimara to never return from their wander, with the majority of paimara finding a new home in distant lands. Those that fail to leave or return home too early are considered cowards at best and social failures at worst.
Paimara are considered adults after they have gone on their Grand Wander which typically occurs when they are 16 years old. While their life expectancy sits just above 100 years, their lifespan peaks at 120.
Social Structure
Paimara are a very social species and are often drawn to large groups and communities. Paimara seek to interact with and greet as many other intalli as possible. Its common for a paimara to know almost every single person in their community, although deeper friendships are rarer.
Most relationships a paimara has are expected to be transient in nature. Its assumed that families will lose contact with their children after they've gone off on their Grand Wander. Some paimara may never be able to settle in one place, and its not an uncommon situation for friends and family to leave everything behind on a whim.
As a result, most paimara aren't particularly concerned with forging deeper bonds, and even less concerned with maintaining them. Its not uncommon for a paimara to conclude that a relationship, regardless of its history, just isn't worth it anymore. This has deemed them quite heartless in the eyes of some species, but this is rarely a malicious act. Most paimara simply know that new things are always on the horizon, so there is little need to be held back on the past.
Paimara traditionally live in large communal households with multiple families and other unrelated individuals. These households are constantly bustling and may have a cycling list of members as intalli come and go. Traveling paimara may or may not be accompanied by others but will often try to befriend any intalli they meet on their journey.
Diet and Cuisine
Paimara are largely carnivorous with birds traditionally making up the majority of their diet. Paimara are highly skilled hunters and can easily pursue and catch birds right out of the sky. Reptiles and especially fish are often spurned entirely due to the similarity of their scales to a paimara's.
The majority of paimara cuisine is made up of high calorie, lightly cooked snacks. Consuming a large amount of food right before flight leave an individual rather off balance. Food is often processed in large amounts and then prepared for storage, often through smoking or salting. Traditional paimara cuisine can be overwhelmingly dry to other species. Seeds and dried insects are often consumed alongside larger cuts of meat. While paimara can physically handle the consumption of plants, most individuals are highly put off by the flavor. Additionally, sweets and other sugary foods can be quite overwhelming and are rarely indulged in.
Hybrids
Due to the complexity of their reproduction, paimara hybrids are somewhat uncommon. Carriers are completely unable to reproduce with other species but will often participate as the third parent for hybrids with egg-creating bearers. Egg-fertilizing bearers have no issues with interspecies reproduction outside of hybrid-typical infertility.
Paimara hybrids are typically healthy and are expected to have some level of flight. However, paimara hybrids have extremely high rates of infertility and even complete sterility. Unlike other hybrids, the majority of infertility in paimara hybrids is caused by the incompatibility of paimara reproductive systems with the systems of other species.
Psychology and Culture
Ideals and Instincts
The paimara are an extremely curious and adaptable species. Paimara are always looking for new sights and experiences and are easily made restless. They are infamously known for being flighty and unpredictable. Its not exactly uncommon for a paimara to suddenly up and leave a stable life in search of greener pastures, but most individuals are satisfied with even the smallest of changes. Activities such as trying out new foods or exploring new hobbies are enough to keep a paimara happy.
Unsurprisingly, paimara typically have extremely fluid identities. Both adolescent and adult paimara are encouraged to explore themselves and find new ways to present. Its quite common for paimara to change their behavior and appearance on a whim.
To paimara, the greatest intalli are those who are bold, brash, and beautiful. The loudest, flashiest paimara are the ones who are listened to. Putting time and effort into your appearance is seen as the bare minimum for respect. Having the shiniest scales means dedication and refinement. Shy, stagnant, and reserved individuals are seen as bizarre and unusual in the eyes of paimara.
Customs and Traditions
Meeting a paimara for the "first" time multiple times is quite common. This is due to how often and how drastically paimara shed their old identities and selves. This is often to the bewilderment of other species who are quite confused when a paimara they have known for years feels a need to reintroduce themselves as if they were a new person entirely.
Paimara are fantastic singers and are able to produce incredibly complex and melodious rhythms on a whim. Music plays a key role in paimara social events and religious ceremonies. Individual, unique songs are often passed on from parent to child and can even allow unfamiliar but related individuals to find one another. Paimara have created a plethora of musical instruments but have a strong focus on woodwinds.
As a major part of their courtship rituals, sky dancing has become a rather spectacular art form for the paimara. Paimara will spend years refining their aerial displays and different regions boast unique local traditions. Performances may include banners, ribbons, sparklers, and other flashy decor. Some individuals may even coordinate their dances with other paimara. The use of magic in aerial displays has also become increasingly common throughout the Lersphuan south, albeit to strong criticism.
The Grand Wander is one of the most important tasks in a paimara's life. Spurred on by both instinct and tradition, adolescent paimara will leave their homes in search of adventure and discovery. The length of a paimara's wander depends on many factors, but traditionally, a paimara will consider their wander done once they have gone through a deeply emotional, intrapersonal experience.
Despite the importance of this trial, the Grand Wander can be greatly dangerous for adolescent paimara. With the majority of individuals leaving at only 16 years old, new wanderers are often killed through sheer inexperience. Dying on a Grand Wander is considered saddening but rarely shocking. Additionally, a majority of paimara families have little to no contact with their children after they have left home, and are thus rarely informed of their child's condition.
Death is a rather taboo topic among paimara. Discussions around death beyond simple acknowledgements often leave paimara deeply unsettled. Paimara find it rather crude to engage in end-of-life planning and strongly prefer to place the responsibility onto their loved ones. Paimara are typically cremated and their ashes are spread in one last flight over their home. Deceased wanderers are often burned where they fell, with the belief that their ashes will eventually be carried away by the wind to where they belong.
Trivia
Paimara have a unique vocal organ reminiscent of the syrinx in birds. Split into two parts, paimara are able to control both sides of their trachea independently. This allows some particularly skilled individuals to produce two notes at once while vocalizing. This is considered incredibly impressive and beautiful to paimara but can be incredibly unnerving and discordant to other species.
The shininess of one's scales is an easy way to determine a paimara's health. Dull, chipped scales are often a sign of vitamin deficiencies, a lack of self-care, or disease. For those with naturally duller scales, various beauty treatments are commonplace during courtship season in order to enhance their beauty. Glitter and various shimmering powders are seen as gorgeous, although some may see such advanced enhancement as false advertising.
Body modification in paimara is rather unusual and is often seen as a form of self mutilation. Despite this, tattoos, piercings, and scale carving has grown increasingly common among adolescent paimara in recent years.
The paimara were created in May 2025.