Squole

Physical Description: The first squoles all had the same form; that of a fit and muscular male human. Later, they adopted an additional form; a slender and well-proportioned female. Being ooze, they lacked a good eye for detail, and all squoles appear somewhat featureless. With the exception of color, all male forms look alike and all female forms look alike, as they are all born from the same mold. All male-appearing squoles are 6’2” and 220 pounds. All female-appearing squoles are 5’6” and 135 pounds. Many have compared the appearance of a squole to that of a mannequin or roughly hewn statue.

Diversity among the squoles is found mostly in the color of their “skin,” which can come in every color of the rainbow. The race actually consists of three subspecies, each affected by a different aspect of the nearest paraelemental planes, which is reflected in their color and the type of energy that they are at home with. Magma squoles are reddish or orange. Ice squoles are any shade of blue or violet . Ooze squoles, also known as purekin, are yellowish or green. The skin of all squoles is glossy, smooth, and hairless.

While their bodies mimic most of the features that would be found on a human, it is in shape only. No facial features are actually functional or moving; a squole’s eyes do not move or see, its nose and ears have no inlets, and its mouth does not open. They lack organs, and are somewhat translucent; light passes through them as it does through murk-tinted water.

When squoles move, they appear to bend in all the wrong places and are capable of motions that would pale even the most skilled contortionists. Their voices consist of androgynous muffled gurgles. Squoles exude odor reminiscent to their energy affinity; magma squoles smell smoky, ice squoles smell like fresh frost, and pure-kin squoles smell acrid.

A squole’s paraelemental affinity is likely the result of natural species migration and evolution. The non-humanoid ancestors of the original sub-race, or pure-kin, was able to thrive not only in the paraelemental plane of ooze, but also the elemental planes of earth and water. However, the race needed to evolve in order to survive near the planes of magma and ice, and the other subraces arose as a result. The species, however, was unable to adapt to migrate further throughout the inner planes. Rumors do exist of a black or grey colored “smoke squole,” but the validity of these claims is highly questionable.

Society: Despite their suggestive form, squole lack gender and reproductive facilities. In fact, squoles are made-up entirely of homogenous, multifunctional cells. Once per decade, any squole with a full hit point total can split into two squoles. The original takes damage equal to half its hit points. The other begins its life as a first level squole of the same favored class of the original. They often depart from each other after only a few days, as the new squole is a fully functional adult with rudimentary memories of its originator. Squoles live about as long as humans.

Squole are omnivorous, and can ingest any organic material simply by engulfing it into any section of their body. Food is digested in a matter of minutes, a process visible to observers through the squole’s transparent skin. They can choose what they wish to ingest, expelling unsavory materials at will. A squole’s sense of taste and smell is very discerning, and they can often tell one individual from another by its scent.

All squoles face the challenge of trying to behave and interact as if they were human, while having a mindset and biology vastly dissimilar from a human. They exist to emulate what is, to them, the most successful race in creation. Consequently, their behavior is highly exaggerated and stereotypical. For example, if a squole discovers that humans enjoy a particular food, that squole might eat that food above all else, all the while praising its taste (even if the squole actually dislikes it). For every squole, it is a struggle to understand human ways.

Emotion is likewise an act of mimicry. A squole loves because the object of their love has met a set of parameters that they believe humans require for love. Younger squoles have trouble with literal interpretation and seem lost at the nuances of figurative meaning. By the time the squole has reached venerable years, it may seem extremely human, having honed its mimicry act to perfection.

Relations: Obviously, squoles get along best with humans, whom they often idolize. Occasionally, they will model themselves after half-elves and half-orcs, or even more rarely, elves or dwarves. Gnomes and halflings find the squoles to be a curiosity, while squoles generally adopt whatever attitude the consensus of the human population has regarding these races. Most races see squoles as generally benevolent, but most assuredly a little disgusting.

Relations to Remarkable Races: Squoles generally adopt the same attitude towards strange races as the local humans; which can sometimes seem very illogical considering they are a fairly unusual race themselves.

Alignment and Religion: Aside from following in the footsteps of man, squoles also aspire to make a good name for ooze-kind. They typically model their personality and role after a popular human example. This human role model is studied extensively and incorporated into the squole’s mannerisms, outlook, and character alignment. Eventually, a squole builds his entire persona based on several human role models. This is an ongoing process, and a squole is constantly observing and changing, endeavoring to be benevolent by human standards.

Most squoles have rejected the gods of ooze in favor of human-worshipped deities. Occasionally, a squoles will take up a religion that relates to nature or the elemental planes. Generally, squoles are often nonreligious unless their role models are also religious.

Adventurers: Originating from primitive pools of mud, squoles generally gravitate towards less sophisticated means of combat. An overwhelming majority of squoles are barbarians , fighters, and monks. Melee combat is favored, as that is where a squole has the most advantage. They commonly avoid long range combat, as their senses do not permit it.

Names: Squoles idealize humans, and therefore have adopted their naming practices. Occasionally, squoles will also use names common to other humanoid races.