Qreen
Large hamsters with group minds
The dominant race of Qree is a vastly degenerate form of Avethellan. The Qreen are small burrowing mammaloids, about 60-80 cm in length and individually about as intelligent as larger dogs. (The Qreen look very much like large hamsters.) The Qreen brain is far more convoluted than its size would indicate; it is equipped with all major forebrain functions; and the brain volume given over to sensory functions is proportionately about 25% greater than in the Human brain.
The Qreen are so nearsighted that Humans would consider them almost blind. In compensation, they have several different forms of vibrational senses (including a complete tectonic awareness and high-frequency doppler sonar), a sense of magnetic fields, an electrical sense, highly-sophisticated biochemical detection surpassing even the Terran bloodhound, touch pads with hindredth-millimeter sensitivity, a gravity-balance sense accurate to one part in a billion . . . Qreen perception approaches clairvoyance.
The Qreen have one additional advantage: their society. Multiplexing on all sensory channels, they are capable of communication that approaches telepathic rapport. Qreen intelligence increases as a power of the number of individuals involved. Qreen individuals in rapport take on specific roles: communicator, sensor, manipulator, memorizer. Three Qreen are about as intelligent as a smart Human -- this is the minimum number of Qreen that can achieve self-awareness.
A Qreen "clan," containing between three and 729 individuals, is called a chaio. The chaio, corresponding in many ways to the Human family, is the basic unit of Qreen society. The traditional maximum number for a chaio is 729 (three-to-the-sixth) -- above that number, a chaio will naturally divide into two or more smaller groups.
A group of chaios is called a riako, and can involve up to hudnreds of thousands or even millions -- and reach the mental ability (although not quite the speed) of a supercomputer.
The most notable example of a riako is the ruling riako, called the Miethara, which gave its name to the Qreen empire.
Qreen philosophy has a keen awareness of the individual and individuality -- but it is only within a chaio that the individual is able to apprehend its own existence.
Typically a Qreen individual reaches sexual maturity at 4-7 Terran years, and at that time decides to ally with a particular chaio. This is often a mutual decision. Thereafter, individuals frequently move from chaio to chaio at the whim of the chaio.
Reproduction: The Qreen come in three different genders: female(XX), male (XY), and kemale(XZ). All three must be present for intercourse. The kemale and male both impregnate the female, and hormones in the spermatic fluid of both combine to make the ovum receptive to conception. The ovum is impregnated by either a sperm from the male, or a sperm from the kemale, so only two of the three "parents" actually contribute genetic material to each offspring -- but since the Qreen give birth to litters of 3-8 pups, the mix is usually fairly good. Births average 50% female, 25% male, and 25% kemale.
Qreen females bear their litters live and in the context of the chaio. All intercourse is carried on freely among all eligible male/kemale/female triplets -- in fact, intercourse for the Qreen is a social matter, most closely resembling the orgies of ancient Rome.