Soma is an essential part of natural reproduction for all animal and plant species in Tzeco. All species produce their own specific soma.
Soma is a moss-like substance, a collection of tiny organisms working together. If gathered in enough quantity and in the right condition, it will grow new babies or sprouts of its source species.
The word “soma” literally means “life moss” and was first used to designate the moss-like substance found in soma chambers, but was later generalized to include every living species’ soma.
While animals often build nests and aliment them regularly with soma, plants have soma pockets that will hold their own and nearby same-species specimens’ soma.
Animals typically build some form of nest to hold their soma. A lot of species function with heat cycles and gather at a specific time of year into small groups to build a nest and aliment it with soma, allowing their genetic material to mix in the nest.
The start of a heat period is caused by different triggers depending on the species - the bloom of a particular plant species, water level, temperature, etc. Animals will mate by rubbing their groins together, stimulating the soma producing organ located in that area.
While Somatei do not produce their own soma, they do have a similar organ.
Most plants have a way to exchange soma essence, a natural substance that is used as a nutritional base for soma production and holds a plant’s genetic information. This exchange can be done through roots, mechanical projection, animal ingestion or even the whole plant migrating.
A plant will then use gathered soma essence with its own to produce soma. New plant sprouts will form in that soma and then be spread using a method usually similar to the plant’s soma essence exchange method.