Avishraa Reloaded

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====== Takma behaviors ======
===== Aestivation =====
When faced with unusually dry conditions, [[takma:|takmar]] are capable of entering a period of dormancy called **[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestivation|aestivation]]**.

Under such environmental conditions, the affected takma, if no shelter is available, may feel an urge to attempt to remove most of its body from contact with the outdoor air. Prehistoric takmar fulfilled this need by burrowing into the ground and covering themselves - leaving only the end of their muzzle exposed - but in modern times, travelers in arid regions may carry a roll of water-resistant material to spread out over themselves. Once covered, their metabolism will slow to reduce the rate of breathing and the water that would be lost with it, and the nostrils will seal as when swimming and diving, opening only when required to take a breath. While aestivating, the takma is essentially asleep, and cannot respond to stimuli except by leaving that state; the process of entering or leaving dormancy takes ten to fifteen minutes.

The instinct for aestivation is triggered by low humidity and lack of water to drink. While an adaptive trait for hot, dry environments, takmar in environments that are //cold// and dry, such as some high-altitude environments, may also feel the same urge. In such a case, proceeding with aestivation can prove detrimental or even fatal, since the lower body temperature a takma experiences in this state makes hypothermia far more likely.

===== Apaternalism =====
The takma [[takma:reproduction|reproductive strategy]] is based around the species' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry_in_nature#Paternity_sharing|polyandrous tendencies]] and the [[takma:reproduction#breeding_and_conception|ability of females]] to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_female_choice#Sperm_bias_in_storage_or_transportation|select the sperm of particular males]] to conceive children. One effect of this strategy is to **minimize the likelihood of a male knowing whether a given child is biologically his own** and thereby prevent favoritism in providing for it.

Whether or not particular takmar are consciously aware of this effect, it has strongly impacted the psychology of the species. Sperm choice is at least partly a conscious process among females and they are therefore aware of which male or males could have sired children in a particular clutch of eggs, but the idea of the males in question discovering this information is usually deeply uncomfortable. As a result, the vast majority of takma cultures have some form of taboo or restrictions regarding biological paternity. Some merely fail to disclose it; many of them either fail to discuss or even deny the very concept of biological paternity at all, since the most complete way of avoiding the answer is to ensure that the question is never asked.

It is partly for this reason that, in most societies, males may have a very good idea of //how// to have sex but only very muddled ideas about what it's for, connecting it with children only loosely or not at all. In cultures where there is no officially sanctioned, or at least widely believed, explanation for reproduction, its place is usually taken by speculation from among the males themselves.

As with any taboo, there would be no reason for it to exist if there were not those who would break it. There are some pairings in which the shared secret of the male's paternity is found to be incredibly kinky.

===== Courtship =====


===== Empathic shielding =====
The [[concept:empathic sense]] is one that the takmar possess in addition to the other, more physical senses, and allows them to detect the subjective feelings of other minds. It is possible to **mask or shield one's own empathic output**, but not to shut out that of others.

In prehistoric societies with low densities - and sometimes in sparsely-settled societies in the present day - this posed no great problems except in terms of intraspecific competition, where revealing one's presence or intentions might put one at a disadvantage. However, the appearance of more densely settled societies resulted in a proliferation of empathic sources within detection range, with all the attending implications for privacy and sensory overload. Most societies, therefore, place an emphasis on maintaining empathic shielding in public or in the presence of those with whom one is not on very close terms.

In many respects, the requirement for empathic shielding bears a strong resemblance to human feelings about clothes: to walk around without it in one's own home in front of one's own family is one thing, but to do so in public in front of strangers is quite another: uncivilized, exhibitionist, juvenile.

Along with [[#territoriality]], size, and caloric requirements, the need for empathic privacy in one's own home has much to do with why takma settlements tend to be less dense than those of humans of an equivalent technological level.

===== Grooming =====
Though not always as intensive a process as it would be for species with hair or feathers, takmar do have mutual **grooming** behaviors that reinforce social bonds.

The most universal component of grooming is bathing; aside from allowing dirt and other foreign substance to be removed, takma scales are at their healthiest when kept relatively moist. At its most basic this can be done by licking, but is most often done (mostly) with the forepaws with clean plain water, as directly from a lake or stream or from a bathing pool. Soap or oils are not often used directly and must be applied minimally and washed off thoroughly, as they can have detrimental effects on scale health if allowed to be absorbed. Water scented with flowers or herbs, however, may be employed, especially by the wealthy, purely for their smell.

For those with healthy [[takma:scales_and_coloration|spongiform or massive scales]] who are not currently molting, this may be all that is strictly required for hygeine. However, shedding scales - done periodically with the aforementioned scale types and constantly with stratified scales - as well as the presence of pests or parasites, may oblige the bathing partner to remove them, either by careful scraping actions of claws or teeth or by scrubbing with a brush or other object with stiff hairs. Extended grooming may go so far to tend to small cuts and abrasions with salves.

The use of the mouth in grooming - licking or nibbling - is, depending on where and how it is used, reserved for a particular level of intimacy; grooming between anyone more distant than casual friends or immediate household members will consist mostly or entirely of grooming by hand.

Grooming for the sole purpose of strengthening personal bonds is usually done in a private or at least informal setting. Purely among males, grooming is often a group activity of no fixed precedence, mixed with swimming or water-based games; when females are involved there is usually a grooming order tied to group composition, situation, and [[takma:social status]], with senior females being groomed by males or by subordinate females.

Grooming may also be performed between females for political purposes, as a public demonstration of affiliation, though usually in a perfunctory way. In many cultures, oaths of fealty or allegiance or treaties of alliance are sealed by a brief ritual grooming.

===== Half sleep =====
//See [[takma:start#cyclicity|takma cyclicity]].//

Because of the length of [[universe:mikurmiya:avishraa]]'s day - to the extent that such seasons that it has are tied to its day/night cycle rather than any motion around the [[universe:mikurmiya:|sun]] - few organisms can tie their sleep to a particular phase of it, and must be able to find sleep in a variety of light conditions. Takmar, like many other species on their world, do not necessarily sleep in a regular frequency, and as social creatures must adapt to the fact that many of their compatriots will not be awake at the same time: for group defense, for coordination of activities, and so on.

One of the ways in which they deal with this is through **half-sleep**, a state during which parts of the brain sleep while others remain active. A takma in half-sleep is able to walk quadrupedally across easy terrain, to fly, to keep an eye on their surroundings, to perform some extremely simple tasks from muscle memory and even to engage in some very basic communication, all while providing some rest for the brain. While it cannot replace full sleep, it can delay the need for it to an extent. Aside from being a convenient aid to uninterrupted travel, it allows takmar with differing sleep periods to alter them to match with minimal difficulty.

===== Male bands =====


===== Territoriality =====


===== Thalassophobia =====
An apparent relic of a much earlier stage of evolution, the majority of takmar have an instinctive and intense **[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassophobia|fear of deep water]]**, particularly the sea.

Takmar are good swimmers and divers, and on the whole have no concern when they can see the bottom of a body of water or have the impression that it is only just out of sight. If they are unable to perceive or guess at the bottom, however, they will feel an unreasoning terror of the depths, tinged with a feeling that some unspecified threat awaits them there. (A similar effect can be induced by very cloudy or murky water). As a result, while few takmar have any issues being in or on the water near seashores, rivers, small lakes, or similar, they frequently experience psychological difficulty in crossing oceans or going out into the middle of large lakes or inland seas.

Cultural and religious attempts to explain thalassophobia are often expressed in terms of sea monsters, dark, aquatic gods, and abyssal hells. The [[ethnicity:Abethine:]] city-states, by contrast, have developed a cultural toolkit for dealing with thalassophobia, a necessity for their relatively maritime-focused existence.

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