Unkindled

The Unkindled are old Humanity, or what's left of it after they made a deal to survive with a god-like being as the Empire committed genocide against Humanity.

Origin
The Empire, in its unbridled hatred for humans that they considered demonic monsters, forced Humanity to flee in terror as they crushed family after family, kingdom after kingdom. The remaining Humans fled to the edges of the known world, where a god-like being offered them a deal that would enable Humanity's continued survival, provided they hand over their free will. Humanity graciously accepted, and were turned into Unkindled, mindless beings with dark powers imbued into their very souls.

Appearance
Their appearance is strange, a mixture of that charming human body but plagued with a slow-oozing black mixture that seems to sprout from every pore, their eyes glowing either a pure white or pure red. Occasionally, patches of hair or skin can appear, even an entire face in their odd perfection, as if the body is well-maintained underneath the eternal void that seems to consume their very beings.

Behavior & Capabilities
They are not, unfortunately, entirely mindless. They do shamble about, seeming to gain sustenance from the magic that exists around them, seeking out living beings. If you have the unfortunate quality of being Human, they will instantly attack you, smothering you in the black goop and making you one of them. If you are Satomi, the main race of the Empire that murdered their families, they will mutilate your body slowly and leave you to die. Other races are largely left alone, and so they can sometimes be used as defenses or deterrents against Satomi or Humans.

An Unkindled is capable of trapping enemies in its muck, easily smothering them alive if it chooses to, and can control the black goop around it almost as if it were a part of its body. This puts them each on the level of a current Human king/queen, which is to say incredibly powerful and probably able to devastate entire cities by themselves if they so chose to.

Reproduction
They have been known to reproduce, just as Humans do.

Kindling
All hope is not lost for these monsters, though. An Unkindled may become a Kindled, a seemingly normal Human with just a bit of dark power. The difference is, however, that their minds are now given direction and will not by themself, but by someone else. In other words, they are 'rescued' by controlling their minds and enslaving them. Kindled will be perfectly functioning and normal Humans, excluding the fact that they have the utmost loyalty to their master and understand them on a different level, a level that is almost instinctual, if not more. To make an Unkindled a Kindled, one must simply tap their forehead to that of the Unkindled. This is easier said than done.

A Kindled may appear just as an ordinary human might, excluding bright, glowing lines or runes running along their body. The purpose, if any, of these strange symbols are unknown, but they differ from individual to individual and consistently glow between a light pinkish red to an orange or yellow.