Bitumine

Beginning
From the Neihern came the first sign of bitumine, It was a goo like substance spawned from failed experiments inside the body of a neihern man named Tomas. His body was writhing with them, he tried to control and subdue then inside him but they feasted on his internal organs until all that was left was skin and bones and goo ....the original goo. he reluctantly accepted his fate, with the help of biuh the vampire and equipment used to controlled and stabilised himself although, he had to hid himself under a clanky metal mask to keep his form intact.

Spread
tommy was feeling... feeling hunger. A hunger to spread, spread his genes and spread like wildfire he tried and he tried to control it but eventually. It came out it reared its head at a duck named Ike and then it dug itself into his skin feasting on his flesh like it did to tom. tommy had infecting him with goo but oh, oh ike welcomed it with open arms as ike, ike was a scientist and a very intrigued one, at that.

mutation
Ike saw that the helmet was not controlling him but limiting him, and he desired his goo to spread and spread so badly (just as tommy once had desired) through this world and one day, he eventually got is wish and he got rid of his helmet curcumin to his instincts, instead he enhanced himself with chemicals and there he stirred in his basement for days not a human but a something. but eventually.....

evolution
eventually he arose different, better with a new body, one that better contained his madness and with that, he syphoned of a piece of that goo (the founding goo) and he sent it to the new world to be the beginning of the Bitumine race in it finest form.

anatomy
well it is simple really, just goo, harder goo on the outside to keep form and softer goo on the inside to allow movement a good balance has to be achieved for a bitumine to be at its strongest.

bitumines can photosynthesis however this power is barely enough to sustain them and they have to consume whatever they can to thrive the more they eat and the more complex and powerful the thing they ate was the more power they derive from it.

however, bitumines are limited on the power they can get from objects based on the bitumine in questions "potential" this is determined in 2 ways:

1. you are high up in the tree (see the paragraph on family tree for more info)

2. you preform rituals or obtain magical items and abilities to enhance your "potential"

bitumines can heal themselves. however, it takes time and effort and when they heal they lose concentration (you will see why that is important).

bitumines with there entirely foreign anatomy are immune to most diseases of the human world or any other race to be precise, but they have there own unique disease called "the stoning". when they have been exposed to lava or fire directly on the skin especially when using there powers (as that is when the slime is at its most vulnerable TO DISEASE), they may obtain this disease which if not treated early it will cause the bitumine to slowly have all its slime harden to stone and they shall be stuck in a forever statue-like state until they eventually starve and die (at late stages it is possible to treat by cutting of infected parts or removing the only good parts left and transferring too a new body with the remaining part(s)).

abilities
bitumines have a variety of abilities that only get stronger as they gain power and potential.

-they can telepathically communicate with all other bitumines (this is true for all bitumines).

-they can secrete and launch acid projectiles (as they become stronger the acid will become more potent).

-they can change shape into practically what they want only limited by the power and imagination of the individual.

-if they absorb something enough, they can gain its power however the extent of which they gain this new power is still decided based of current power of this individual (e.g. if someone strong absorbs a lot of lightning they may obtain an ability to control it while a weaker person may only be able to obtain the ability to summon it).

other abilities may be added in future.

weaknesses
they have a few weaknesses while there aren't many they work well and new weaknesses Mabey be added to balance the bitumines out but they are as follows:

-high temperature and humidity causes them to lose form and there powers may be stunted or completely nullified for a certain period of time (not permanent).

-they are allergic to blood as it is a foreign entity and if ingested it may result in temporary loss of power.

-if burnt in lava or fire they may obtain "the stoning" this is much more common when they are actively fighting or using there powers and the disease is explained in anatomy.

family tree (updated spreading)
this is a revised and updated version of how the race deals with spreading.

This race spreads to its host by firstly diffusing into the hosts skin (you can think of it as the host absorbing the slime involuntarily). then the goo will feast on the body of the host starting inside and working its way out which is actually relatively painless as the goo excretes natural painkillers to be kind to the host. it will then connect its growing consciousness to the hosts and they will combine to become one (mainly the host)

this may result in changes to the new bitumines emotions and character (you can decide what these changes are).

now for the fun (but complicated) part:

FAMILY TREE

all bitumines are connect through both a telepathic link and the fact they are all (in a way) a family.

your standing in this "family tree" affects your power. however, the standing is not decided by the family, (mostly) and is not arbitrary. your power can be measured (in a way) and this way decides your standing. your power is your standing, which is measured and shown via 2 ways.

1-how high up you began. (example: if you are turned by the founder (Ike) you are gen 1 unless you create your own variant then you are a sub-founder, sub-founders can also create gen 1s. if you are turned by gen one you are gen 2 and so on and so on, until gen 5 where they can't turn anyone anymore because as the generations go down they become less powerful because the slime they get is less "concentrated" for each generation)

2-the amount of people you turn.

as you turn more people you can absorb a little bit of their power as you both go along with your life. so the more people you turn the more powerful you become, and the power goes up through the family tree meaning the higher up your are the more power you get.

people are capped at how many people they can turn (infinite for founders and sub-founders (but be reasonable please for god sake) 7 for gen 1, 5 for gen 2-3 and 3 for the gen 4s)

additional information (still quite important especially for people lower down)
A founder or sub-founder can knight lower generations this will give the knighted bitumine more power. This usually means the knighted bitumine will go up a generation as and when they are knighted (so, every time they get knighted (mostly)) until they get to gen 1 when they can choose to stay or become a sub-founder (but you have to establish your own group of variants it choose to become a founder) and yes you can be knighted more than once even by the same person but they cant knight you more than twice (except the founder) and everyone has to give a good reason especially if its not the first time.

you can also increase in generation if you become more powerful by other means. although, people have the power to bring your generational shift into questioning if you try to abuse this cause. so again, have a good reason especially if you are going into higher generations or have done this more than once (will be more lenient for lower generations) and the higher you go up the more power you would have had to obtained this is as it is also exponential.

3 more things:
please comment if something needs to be changed or added (even if it is just suggestion) my discord is ike_the_duck

don't abuse the power system and try not to give yourself or your friends god powers (unless you have worked hard for year(s) then I may allow a little bit).

don't be a dick in general this is supposed to be fun don't ruin it for others or I will smite you.

and (second) most importantly (after the above) HAVE FUN and try and be creative :).