Sootwomor - "Sporous Legion"

Sootwomor - "Sporous Legion"
CLASS: FECTOID
MACROFORM: A curious Fectoid, Sootwomor has two "Stages" to its growth as a Macroform. Its body is comprised of an amorphous, black, slime with any number of eyes dotting it's exterior & at least 1 boney protrusion shaped like an arm erupting from within, numerous veiny lines of slime coursing through it. Interestingly, instead of having one central consciousness like most organisms, it houses multiple minds located within numerous "Masks" dotting its body. These personalities spawn from a core sprouting from the roof of these masks, which resemble the skulls of other organisms with shocking accuracy. Even though these masks possess no lower jaw, they are able to speak through a presumably unseen vocal organ, flapping tongue made of slime around as if it were speaking with a proper mouth. They view these other personalities as if they were siblings, and fight over who has the "illustrious" right of being the eldest sibling. The number of minds a Sootwomor can possess vary wildly, but no less than 2 have been recorded to exist on a single Sootwomor. The sporous soot that they generate have extreme photo-synthetic properties and can induce a burning feeling wherever it lands. If desperate, it can slough off some of its own body to throw at an opponent, causing a near-maddening scorching sensation, along with visual & audial hallucinations, paresthesia, and "The idea that something smells like shit." It usually gains energy through photosynthesis, but if it is within an insufficiently lit location, it can consume living matter by gradually dissolving & assimilating it through it's slime. It considers cardiac muscle tissue a delicacy, but will refuse to eat it unless given irrefutable permission to do so.

While developing as a "Sprout", it is far less organized, with a number of odds and ends stewing within and without it, such as teeth, bones & eyes. It begins this stage as a splotch of slimy, scabrous mucus, usually located by the neck or wrist, but can manifest anywhere on the body.  Interestingly, the masks are always present, even in this juvenile stage. Though it has no lower jaw, it is able to speak in childish sentences, "attached" to their host as if it were a parental figure. They are still able to gain energy through photosynthesis in this stage, but it is wildly inefficient with its spores and will thus siphon energy directly from there host, causing them to feel much hungrier than before. It seems to have an innate proficiency at manipulation, as any host to a Sootwomor is also attached to them, treating them as if they were the host's own child. As it matures, it slowly balloons, and after it grows to a sufficient size, painlessly pops off of the host to explore the world on it's own.

MICROFORM: Before "Maturing" into its sprout stage, the symptoms of Sootwomor are seemingly random. Any veins present on the host while turn inky black, with photosynthetic cells merging with their skin, allowing them to sustain themselves with solar energy. Even if the host's species is an inherently isolationist one, while harboring the spores of a Sootwomor, it will seek out other lifeforms to socialize with. Dark grey, sooty dandruff grows on any hair present, and hosts have a tendency to simply sit in the sun, for hours on end, even if it is extremely photo sensitive.

REPRODUCTION: At the end of its lifespan, a Sootwomor will climb to the highest point within eyesight and release an explosion of 10 to 100 damp spores filled with genetic information. These spores float on the wind, waiting to land on a life form, so that they may repeat the cycle. When they do so, they sink inside the pores, flowing within the body as its own biological data mixes with that of the new host. Within 72-264 hours, a Sootwomor Sprout will emerge from the very same pores its spores seeped into.

PERSONALITY: A Sootwomor Sprout has an imaginative, energetic, and curious demeanor, constantly asking its "Parent" about the things it sees. It will think that even the humblest reptilian monster is comparable a mighty, draconic behemoth, and constantly concocts fantastical stories in its mind. In this stage, it possesses a fear of darkness, the slimy mass rippling in fear as it's mind fills the darkness with unimaginable horrors.

As it matures into an adult, it is able to wrangle its numerous stories into one singular tale, creating a game out of it that it plays with its siblings and is eager to invite others to join in on. While numerous facets of it may vary between them, there remains some parts that are always present, such as the "Players" being adventurers for hire, treading an odd alternative realm with beautiful organisms and hideous monstrosities. When 2 Sootwomor meet, they tend to share their own "Homebrews" in a desire to make their games more entertaining to others. However, very rarely, they might get into an argument over certain factors, and when this happens, it can lead to extreme violence, to the point where one might completely destroy the other as if their life depended on it.