Valenth

Leupaks are asexual parasites.
All leupaks, regardless of gender or lack thereof, produce eggs, pre-fertilized and kept undeveloped in stasis within a sac behind the stomach. With the help of nutrients from an occasional blood meal, these eggs are kept in supply and ready for use-- and by using the tongueclaw as an ovipositor, they are placed in hosts which provide the last piece of a leupak's genetic puzzle.

Only desperate or experimenting leupaks ever choose a nonsentient host creature. Since leupak eggs copy a piece of genetic information from their host, leupaks are usually particularly careful about the species, personality and mental capacity that they ultimately choose, if they have any care whatsoever as to the well-being and fate of their young.
Humanoids smaller than the leupak but large enough to bear eggs are the most popular choice; leupaks will never lay in a dragon, as a curious and unexplained fatal genetic glitch occurs when draconic DNA is introduced into a leupak.

An average leupak egg is kept at about the size of a grapefruit or small melon within the leupak's egg sac. Once inside a host's abdominal cavity, the egg (which has a soft, fleshy exterior covered in tiny hairs and hooks) connects itself to the inside of the host, gradually increasing in size as it saps the necessary genetic information and nutrients. The egg claims about half of the host's sustenance for itself, meanwhile secreting a chemical to stimulate hunger and induce a feeling of constant sluggishness. If the host does not have a steady supply of food, it will rapidly starve.

After the egg's development is complete-- anywhere from a few days to a few months depending upon the particular leupak, the host, and the host's diet-- the egg will have increased to two to three times its original size. At this stage, the eggshell splits, and the quaggy will shuffle around inside the host for a number of days before cutting its way out of the abdomen with its claws.
Leupologists and trained surgeons can usually determine the proper time to surgically remove a quaggy with the least amount of risk and damage to the host and the baby leupak.

While many leupaks choose a life companion of some sort, this is not necessarily in the interest of reproduction; leupaks rarely exchange eggs with other leupaks. Some pairs may hunt for potential hosts together, while others may present a suitable host to the partner as a gift.
It is not uncommon for a leupak to harbor feelings towards a host or even provide for their well-being, though some clever leupaks will capture humanoids and keep them alive and comfortable to serve as repeat hosts without any attachment whatsoever.

Some leupaks are able to cause several of their eggs to develop and hatch quickly, providing a shocking method of self-defense; the hatchlings die shortly after being born in such a way, but most would-be attackers swiftly retreat from a leupak that can spit miniature copies of itself.
They can also force their eggs to finish developing normally and hatch with their own genetic code, producing exact copies of the parent, albeit smaller. These leupaks have severely underdeveloped internal organs, however, and generally live shorter lives than a normal, properly-hatched leupak.

It is a common practice for leupaks to selectively choose hosts based on characteristics they want their offspring to inherit. This form of self-breeding is one of the leupak mindsets that led to the birth of Houses.