Ova

Ova come from the planet Mauses. They appear very snakelike. They have long, muscular bodies with no limbs, crushing jaws with pointed fangs, and they lack eyes. Ova reproduce in pairs by laying a single egg within a living host which hatches after about a month. The host can be any living organism, though is usually something similar to the child's parents.

When an Ova hatches it has already been interacting with its parents for quite some time and is already able to communicate. From there it takes about eight months for an Ova to become a full adult. During those eight months the Ova child slowly assimilates itself with it's host, creating a hybrid creature that shares physical similarities between the host and the Ova. When the assimilation is complete the Ova is considered an adult.

Ova are opportunistic feeders and will eat just about anything they can fit their mouths around.

Ova observe a very strict matriarchal society and take up different roles depending on their community. Between all Ova communities there is a great respect for their oldest females who generally make decisions for the community and interact with other communities. Some Ova communities are very strict about the hosts their offspring use, other communities will take any host they can find that is deemed as having some use once there is an adult Ova within it. Lacking eyes, Ova use a refined method of echolocation to "see" their environment. They have a special organ just below their jaw that creates a low tone which resonates throughout the environment and bounces back to their specialized eardrums.

Ova only have a basic understanding of structures, weapons and tools. Many inhabit species without thumbs and live a very animalistic lifestyle. Others who do have thumbs (or other manipulating appendages) have started getting a handle on wooden and stone tools and weapons but to the knowledge of human scientists have not progressed past that. Nearly every community of Ova have their own slightly different culture, most prominently shown in their hosts, but also in rudimentary art. Ova are known to apply body paint, make carvings in wood and stone, and even in some rare cases use piercings and tattoos.

The Ova were only a recently discovered sentient creature. Originally thought to just be another animal on Mauses, when settlers first arrived their sentience was discovered after a horrific attack on a settlement. The attack forced the rest of the settlers to take their homes onto the water. Since then the Ova have been left alone for generations. Occasionally a settlement that passes close to land will catch glimpses of Ova on the shores, but the creatures seem very averse to travelling in water.