Mycelliod

Mycelliods are a unique species within Athoria that do not have true bodies, but instead consist of spore like networks of fungal strands that possess the bodies of the deceased other species to walk among them. Not the most populace people, they often follow the same rules that Necromancy follows in each country they reside in, with the usual restrictions of consent with bodies they take over.
When a host body is slain, the mycelliod can extract itself from the body and find a new one to possess if quick enough. The process leaves behind some the the mycelliod's network however, so they can lose memories or have personality shifts when needing to take new bodies. As such, despite being functionally immortal, they view a body's death as a partial death of the self. A mycelliod who goes through several bodies in quick succession may seem like a different individual after only a short time.
Due to their ability to move between bodies and the shifts in personality when they do so, many Mycelliods fall on three sides of gender identity, either freely changing according to their current host and personality, maintaining a rigid identity regardless of the body they are in, or refuting the other species concept of gender (as Mycelliods have no sexual reproduction)

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Mycelliods can reproduce when meeting one or more other Mycelliods and exchanging part of their fungal network to bond together. This process takes away part of the parent's network which can mean memory loss or slight changes in personality, so where possible the more Mycelliods that can contribute to an offspring, the lower the price paid by the parents.

Growth Rate & Stages

The offspring takes time to cultivate its own 'mind' within the merged network it forms and is usually created in a body ready for it to take control of once it develops its sentience from the donated memories from its parents. As they are given memories as part of this reproduction, they reach a state of intellectual maturity only days after being 'born'. However, learning their place in the world still takes time and learning in person, so Mycelliod children are only deemed to "come of age" once they have spent enough time in the world, as dictated by their parents' blessing.

Biological Cycle

A Mycelliod's growth within a body helps prevent it from decaying at first, keeping the body at a state of decay at the same point it was claimed by the Mycelliod inside it. However, as they grow, their fungal network slowly consumes the body it lives within. Most bodies start to be replaced by fungal matter over the course of a few years and eventually needs to be replaced into a new body. As muscles are replaced and repaired by the mycelliod's own growth, they become slower and weaker, as if reaching old age in the original specieis body.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The Mycelliods make use of their host bodies to perceive the world. This means they do not have a set standard for sense and instead inherit the senses of the body they are in. This means possessing a creature such as an elf or dwarf would grant them darkvision using the creature's eyes.