Codex: Slimes

In-game description: Thought to have once been human, Slimes are aesexual and reproduce by mitosis, but strangely, manifest distinct male and female physical characteristics.  They live only in warm, wet environments with a ready supply of food, although their definition of 'food' is rather loose at best.

Average male height: 5'8" (173 cm)
Average male weight: 290 lbs (~132 kg)

Notable traits: Slimes are a very distinct race.  Their most obvious feature is that their bodies, rather than being flesh and blood, are composed entirely of a semi-transparent, viscous, gelatin material.  The exact viscosity and transparency are both directly linked, they vary even in the same slime, depending no when it last ate, the temperature, and so on.  They have a thicker, leather-like membrane on the outside of their bodies that serves as a skin, which is smooth and damp to the touch.  They have monochromatic skin, either green or blue.  As a rule, green slimes manifest male characteristics, while female slimes manifest female characteristics.  There are 'feral' slimes of other colors, but lack the intellect or sociability to be considered a civilized species.  They have pupil-less eyes, sometimes of a different shade than the rest of their bodies, but never an outright different color.  Slimes generally do not wear clothing, as they do not feel discomfort from heat or cold, only wearing armor for protection, or (when in groups, or in large cities) to differentiate themselves from one another.  Another unusual feature of slimes is their exceptional senses of hearing, smell, and taste.

Physical traits:  Slimes tend to strongly manifest whichever sexual characteristic they gravitate towards, with green slimes having wide shoulders and strong arms, and blue slimes having slim waists, large breasts, wide hips and plump butts.  It should be noted that slimes are deceptively heavy for their size; while not especially larger than humans, they tend to weigh a great deal more, which is simply a result of their composition.  Slimes can live close to 300 years, although most will die naturally after around 230.

Society: Slimes tend to be outsiders from most of society, rarely forming into groups of more than two or three.  They do, however, gravitate towards larger settlements; slimes are the closest to being wild of any of the civil races on Aven, with some some wild Slimes being unable to speak.  Still, settled areas are hubs for food and protection, both of which Slimes seek out.  Although generally characterized as being somewhat dim, it would be more accurate to say that they vastly different set of values relative to other species.  Having no real need for things like shelter and clothing, capable of eating almost any organic matter, Slimes are very placid, mellow creatures.  Still, this simple non-pretentiousness (and willingness to eat almost anything) means they get along very well with Plainsdwellers, which is fortunate, since Slimes tend to gravitate towards their farms.  It isn't uncommon to find a found slime entrusted to the care of a farmer, using them as a sort of walking garbage disposal for rotten or parasite-eaten produce.  The Highborn also have a curious love for Slimes, since their exceptionally sharp sense of taste makes them one of the few creatures capable of appreciating the full nuance of their cooking.

Physiology: Slimes have a unique biology.  While even the most exotic creatures on Aven are still composed of bones, cartilage, and muscle, with some sort of respiratory and circulatory system, the body of a Slime is composed of only five different types of tissue: skin, eye, digestive, reproductive, and muscle.
The outermost layer of a slime's body is skin tissue, an amorphous (or non-crystalline) solid that is soft to a gentle touch, but hardens proportionate to the force exacted on it.  Slimes do not exert conscious control over this tissue, instead relying on connecting muscle tissue to move and shape it.  Slimes are capable of converting muscle and skin tissue into one another, although this takes some time.  If left without a skin membrane on its outer body, Slimes lose the ability to control the shape of their body, leaving them as a lump or blob, similar to their feral cousins.
Eye tissue is the only part of Slimes that is sensitive to temperature or light.  Like their skin membrane it is formed from muscle tissue, and is the hardest part of a Slime, being a full-fledged solid, although as a result is also one of the most vulnerable parts, being rather brittle.  Most Slimes that come into contact with humanoids keep their eyes in their heads, although there's nothing that necessarily prevents them from forming more (or less) than two eyes, or placing at odd locations.
Muscle tissue composes the bulk of a Slimes body.  It is a viscous fluid capable of both expanding and contracting, as well as connecting to nearby tissues.  Combined with a rigid internal or external structure, it allows Slimes a good deal of control over their shape and overall appearance.
Digestive tissue is responsible for breaking down organic matter and converting it to muscle tissue.  It is the most liquid of all slime tissues, generally held near the center of the body or as several small 'pockets' throughout the body.  Slimes are capable of breaking down and digesting almost any organic material, including matter that other species would find indigestible or harmful, such as rotten food.  Since they lack many of the major organisms of other sentient species they are not susceptible to most viral and bacterial infections, hemotoxins, necrotoxins, and most damaging effects of paralytic neurotoxins.  While Slimes that ingest paralytic toxins do suffer their effects, since they lack a respiratory or circulatory system that can fail, this is not lethal.  Further, their exceptionally large body mass means that even the few poisons that can harm them generally result in minimal damage.
Reproductive tissue serves as  a sort of null-zone for the Slime's consciousness, being compatible with their biology, but not truly a part of it.  It serves as a 'buffer zone' inside of a Slime, allowing them to build a 'bud' of muscle and digestive tissue cut off from it's own sentience, which in turn allows this 'bud' to begin developing an intelligence of it's own, thereby reproducing.  In order to prevent direct cloning in this fashion, when Slimes reproduce they seek out others of their kind to contribute in the bud's formation (one male and one female slime), allowing the species as a whole to become more diverse.  This is one of the major differences between civil and feral slimes, as many feral slimes will reproduce through binary fission.

Young slimes take some time to learn how to properly control their body, remaining as small blobs for the first several years of their life.  During this time they can not reliably generate digestive tissue on their own, and are reliant on their parents.  Blue slimes produce a thin, sugary liquid colloquially known as 'slime nectar' designed specifically to feed them.  Socially acclimated slimes will generally store this in their breasts and engage in breast feeding as a sort of learned behavior, while wilder ones will store it in any limb, such as legs or arms.  By the time they're three or four years old, slimes can generally form their own digestive tissue reliably, and soon after learn how to form eye tissue and keep it separate to avoid accidentally re-digesting it.  Slimes grow at a fairly steady rate for around fifteen years after that, at which point they can form a bud large enough to generate it's own consciousness.