Social structure
Halinhi have a very complex and, admittedly, twisted social structure.
Number of Tails social ranking
The higher the number of tails, the higher ranking you are in Halinhi society. A hierarchy of different social classes or cliques forms from this, sorted by tail number. Though having 2 tails is very common, these are the Hali that are considered most inferior by others. The importance put on tails creates an admittedly twisted society by fueling hate and discrimination between the members of the species, and sometimes other outside species. Some reject any foreign species with 1 or 0 tails, while others are intrigued by or fair to the other species. Though its not typically physically aggressive, they harbor a lot prejudice and passive aggression towards each other. It causes unfriendly and unfair situations where the Hali with more tails discriminates against lower-ranking, less-tailed ones. Some Hali are more closed-minded than others, of course.
Because of this, Halinhi courting and breeding is dictated by number of tails in many cases. Halinhi tend to court others with the same number of tails as a social norm. As an example of the importance put on tail number, in elite Hali families (families with generations of many tails) if their offspring breeds with a lower amount of tails, they may be ostracized by their family and shamed. This in the past has encouraged inbreeding in elite families.
Hali with large amounts of tails may be recognized as holy individuals, like the Tail Giver. Sometimes, if the tails are super rare or special in shape/size/complexity, this overrides the tail number and the Hali are granted a high social status.
Because of this, Halinhi courting and breeding is dictated by number of tails in many cases. Halinhi tend to court others with the same number of tails as a social norm. As an example of the importance put on tail number, in elite Hali families (families with generations of many tails) if their offspring breeds with a lower amount of tails, they may be ostracized by their family and shamed. This in the past has encouraged inbreeding in elite families.
Hali with large amounts of tails may be recognized as holy individuals, like the Tail Giver. Sometimes, if the tails are super rare or special in shape/size/complexity, this overrides the tail number and the Hali are granted a high social status.