Shifters

one of the two non-heartbeat species

Shifters are rare creatures that can change their form. Their true mass is a lump of goo, and they change forms by shaping that goo into skin, hair, stone, bone, muscle, scales--any substance on the land as long as the creature has touched it before. They can also change the coloring of their goo.
Shifters do not have a heartbeat, so they cannot spirit bind or be bound. They are considered an abomination and not worthy of animation and so are hunted down. Because of this, they hate humans and spirits.
They are immortal but can be killed if all of their goo is damaged enough (burned, torn to tiny bits and scattered).
They can lose mass (e.g. limb chopped off) and gain mass (typically through eating). If severed, a chunk of their goo is still part of them and can be regained, but the greater the distance between the pieces of goo the harder it is to form back into a single shape.
They're cousins to tricksters.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Shifters can become any shape of any substance, as long as they have touched it before.

Genetics and Reproduction

Humans are uncertain how shifters reproduce or if they even can. Some say they can't and there is a limited number of them, some say they are created by evil deeds, some say if you chop off a portion it can grow into a new creature.

Growth Rate & Stages

They "heal" much faster than normal as they're just goo. The longer a portion of their goo has been severed from them, the longer it takes to regain it. They can absorb a fellow shifter's goo--some have a second stomach that acts as a pouch to hold goo until it can be used as their own.

Ecology and Habitats

They can live anywhere, on land or in sea or in the air. It is believed they like to hide in the western mountains, as more sightings of them are reported in the western grasslands.

Dietary Needs and Habits

They gain mass by turning substances into goo. They can eat anything. Most have a stomach that does just that, dissolve food into goo, but others have also learned how to absorb substances through their skin. Get dirt on your elbow, absorb it into goo. That is a slow process that can be done only in small amounts.

Additional Information

Social Structure

There is no known social structure among them. They are almost always found solitary and believed to live as loners.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

They would be valuable spies.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

More are seen in the western grasslands and are believed to hide in the western mountain range.

Average Intelligence

They have intelligence similar to a human's, and a long, old memory.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

They can create any sensory body part and give it extrasensory capabilities if they want. They can have echolocation, heat vision.
They cannot spirit bind.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

They are considered a parasite by humans. They consider humans as the parasite.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

They name themselves. Some use animal sounds, others a pattern they beat on a stone or whatever (in imitation of a heartbeat, kinda). These sounds can be translated into the human tongue, if a shifter were to speak to a human.

Beauty Ideals

The more mass the better, generally.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

They can make any sound (e.g. horse neigh, bird chip) and can learn human speech.

Common Taboos

Absorbing other's goo.

Common Myths and Legends

They have a different version of the creation than what humans tell.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

They hate humans and humans hate them.
They see themselves as superior to tricksters because their minds aren't broken, but they recognize that tricksters are the only other things that survived the Creation and so feel obligated to treat them fairly. But typically they ignore them and tricksters ignore them.
They don't care much about other heartbeat creatures. Potential food is all, maybe a new substance they've never experienced.

Lifespan

Immortal

Conservation Status

Their numbers are unknown but they are rarely seen. If they are seen and confirmed as a shifter, Spirit Binders try to destroy them.