"Sylvari have... interesting textures. They can shapeshift to a certain extent; minor alterations they can do easily and at-will, major body modifications they can effect over the course of weeks or months. I'm told Canach spent a long time being very... cactus-y... a few years after he was born."

"Oh, that's cool. So they're not stuck with a shape they're not happy with. Unless they have to contend with the horrors of wrinkles and the like?"

"I am a year younger than their species as a whole, but they have not seemed to age in this period even though the firstborn emerged fully-formed out of the Pale Tree. You've met Caithe."

"That I have. Wow. All right. Well, I hope they avoid the horrors of sylvari-flavored old age, be it wrinkles or wilting." She considers asking why Canach became a cactus, then decides that this may be prying a bit too much into Canach's personal life, so she'll skip that unless Canach would like to explain it himself.

Instead: "So presumably there would be, um. Variety? With..." She waves a hand, vaguely. "Assorted parts."

"Yes. They're all bisexual, too, gender being purely cosmetic for them."

"... So no preferences for specific shapes at all on an individual basis? Or is that just painting broad strokes, and culturally they tend towards bisexuality because it's all cosmetic?"

"The latter. They still have cosmetic preferences, naturally, just like everyone else does, but gender is typically not a hardline one."

She nods. "Can they conceive children in certain cases, or is it just. Tree based reproduction, all the time, and genders really are completely cosmetic?"

"If they can conceive at all, it has not happened yet. It seems safe to assume they cannot."

She is suddenly very concerned for the future of the sylvari, if there's only one singular tree that they all come from. A single point of failure for an entire species seems... dangerous. "All right. Well, I hope they can, uh, get their tree to make a seedling or something, so they have more than one point of failure for the entire future of their species."

"Yes. Although the Pale Tree is more than just a tree. Larger, too."

She nods. "I apologize for being a bit flippant with the phrasing. The Pale Tree sounds like it'd be more important to the sylvari than the gods... were... to us. I'm concerned for them and want them to be all right. I liked Canach. Caithe too, a little, though she really needs to not sneak up on people with trauma."

"Caithe... is very herself, yes."

"Yep. She almost got hexed. I'm going to have to work on not flinch hexing things that sneak up on me. Or maybe put a bell on her or something."

He tries not to laugh and mostly succeeds. "That would be. Quite something."

"It is probably not very viable as a long term solution. Alas," she says, with mock gravity. "Anyway. We got sidetracked."

"Indeed. So next we have charr. I don't suppose you've ever owned a dog?"

"Nope! I've had a cat, though, if that's at all relevant."

"Was it a male cat?"

"He was! Lived a long and healthy life. Two, really, my dad brought him back as, uh, basically a lich cat. In his defense, I was seven and missed him and was worried he'd get lost all alone in the Underworld."

—he laughs. "Okay, anyway. Did you ever pay attention to his penis? The barbs, in particular."

Blink. "Uh? Oh. Oh. Does that... equate...?"

"It does not equate, but it's similar in principle. Barbs along the shaft, and a knot at the base. I don't know why they combine the canine and feline traits but they do."

She considers this. She raises her eyebrows.

"You are a brave man," she informs him, with a little laugh. "I'm glad you had fun."

He laughs. "Females are likewise more similar to other mammals, but this implies less courage on my part."