Portail

Portail is an ability of fine tail manipulation, which is used by every Homelander.

As one of the perks that advanced Homelanders to sapience, it is commonly called a 'portail', although this isn't correct, because it doesn't create any portals.

Origins
At the dawn of sapience, the Homelanders were forced to fight for survival and dominance, like the rest of their challengers. Unlike the others, though, the Homelanders were quadrupedal which would've prevented them from winning an evolutionary race at its early stage.

Even unusually lenient conditions of the planet and plant food that rivaled meat by its nutritional properties could not provide a win.

But with portails the Homelanders finally achieved that supremacy which ensured their victory. Unlike bipedal creatures, the quadrupedal had an advantage in running over a short distance, and equine-like physiology ensured the Homelanders' competitivness in longer marches as well, compared to certain animals.

Because of portails, they were able to grab and manipulate objects just as good as any bipedal creatures. Another advantage of portails when it came to skirmishes was longer striking distance and much more flexible combat technique. While a bipedal creature was limited by the length of their arms and skeleton structure, a 'portailed' weapon, held by much longer tail string, could hit from any direction and even from behind, regardless of the Homelander's position. With portails in their possession, the Homelanders easily outmatched their competitors in natural selection and were able to become sapient creatures.

Principle of operation
To use a portail, a Homelander focuses on the obstacle that requires a solution. Once this is done, a certain number of the tail's hairs, (or tail strings) are moving towards the required direction, bending and going around obstacles, if needed.

Flexible and easily controllable, the tail's hair is operated as an extra limb. Homelanders usually split the tail in two, moving these parts right next to each of their shoulders. This allows them to manipulate objects in a comfortable and manageable way.

The maximum pre-alloying distance at which a portail could be used varies, typically up to two yards at best.

Post-alloying upgrades
The ability to use portails after alloying was strengthened dramatically.

Replacement of their tails ensured another huge boost of this innate ability. Not only were the individual tail segments able to lift up to 221 pounds, expand and manipulate objects to even finer degree, but the amount of tail strings used simultaneously had also risen to the astonishing fundamental limit of 6,000.

As an addition, the maximum distance at which a portail could be used had risen to a half-mile, which required new observational means to control them.

Complex portails
Complex portails are portails that are able to transfer force to a desired direction, assuming that tail strings are tough enough. It allows the Homelanders to freely redirect the pressure of a heavy object so its force would be redirected into the ground instead of a portail operator.

Aside from that, the other application of complex portails is to anchor a Homelander in place. In this scenario, tails strings function as a peculiar support system which prevents an operator from falling down or even from being thrown backwards.