What is a ❝Lockette❞?
Quite simply, a Lockette is the name given to a shell that is consumed by an ethereal spirit known as a Saura (Sah-ooh-Rah or Soul aura).
A Saura is a vivid, bold matter that Manifests in the Lockettes home city - the Heartlands, once per year every Spring. This time of year is known as the Festival of light and Many Lockette gather from all over the world to witness this in motion. There are many theories as to what creates a Lockette, though the most commonly believed is that they are messengers manifested from the protectors of the natural earth to bring balance to the world of the living and protect the natural order of the Earth. These spirits often take on the form of various Mammals and chimera which is what causes the 'doll'; body to grow animalistic traits.
How a Lockette is ❝born❞?
Lockettes do not breed conventionally, or at all for that matter. Spirits appear in the heartlands on the last day of spring almost like a meteor shower, they fall from the sky over a large lake in the center of the heartlands where they begin to wander and roam until they find a host shell. Many Lockette attend the festival and create suitable and strong bodies for the souls to manifest in so that more Lockette can inhabit the Earth.
Not every Lockette is successful in this. Some may wander too far and their soul energy will deplete over time. Depending on the strength of the spirit, most can last without a shell for around 2-3 days, but once in a host they can last an almost indefinite amount of time as long as they look after themselves correctly.
Physical Traits
Every lockette has 5 charms across their body that help to maintain a balance of natural energy, these charms are all the same shape and are commonly also the same colour as well.
These Charms act as a bind to regulate the flow of life energy and each one is required for a Lockette to move and function.
The Charms on their inner ears allow them to think freely and maintain their sentience. The Charm on their tail is for mobility and stamina. The charm on their collar allows them to manifest their physical energy into a weapon of some kind which contains the final charm. A lockette may store this weapon within their collar charm by de-materialising it into spirit matter.
Over time a Lockette can begin to deteriorate and 'fall apart' - this process is known as fragmentation.
Fragmentation is irreversible and once a lockette takes on a physical form it is impossible for them to accept a new body.
The body will begin to fragment for a number of reasons, and the more fragmented they become the weaker a lockette will also be, this is because they are leaking too much life energy.
These are the things that can cause a body to fragment:
Combat exposure:
Strenuous physical activity and contact can sometimes break the shell of a lockette. This is incredibly uncommon as they are well rehearsed in combat and can often defend themselves when in danger, plus their skin is incredibly versatile. Their skin is a firm cartilage that they can bend at will in order to move, though once broken the skin becomes much more rigid in that area.
Excessive energy:
Some lockette are simply too powerful for their host shell, as a result they literally burst at the seams, more commonly their limbs burst as they are rather slender, but also they tend to fragment around their Keyhole as well because too much energy at once seeps out. The keyhole in a lockettes body is there to act as a counter for this as it lets excess energy seep out of the body, but this is not always effective.
Prolonged exposure to negative emotions:
Lockettes are highly impressionable creatures, and each one is typically very pure at heart. Some Lockettes can however fade into darkness, this happens when they are isolated from others for too long or have been severely neglected by those around them. After a while they simply stop caring about maintaining their physical form and 'shut down'. These extreme cases can cause the body after a long amount of time to forget how to preserve itself and slowly they begin to shatter. Once a lockette is in this severe state of loneliness / sadness it is almost impossible to bring them back to the light.
Relationships and mating
Although a lockette is unable to breed for reproduction, they still get pleasure from physical contact and form intense bonds with their life partners.
The most intimate thing a lockette can do is 'share' their life energy with a partner by donating some of it to them.
When a lockette donates its life energy to another it vastly cuts down their own life span, but the one receiving it becomes more powerful and lives much longer, so commonly two lockette will merge their life energy in the hopes that they will live an equal life.
Lockettes do often have human genitalia as well, same as in humans this is used to get rid of 'excess energy' from consuming food as well as pleasure as they still feel the same emotions physically than a human does.
Since Lockette do not reproduce, homosexual relationships are just as common as heterosexual ones, in fact is is common for a lockette to not have a specific gender role but they tend to take on the pronouns of the gender they physically represent for the sake of ease, particularly when interacting with humans.
Lockette can form relationships and bonds with humans and other species, but they commonly prefer to form bonds with other lockette, particularly due to their long life-span.
Outliving ones partner can often drive lockette into a state of loneliness which is why it is usually frowned upon in their society, for protection.
Some lockettes are known to give their life energy too easy, others can sometimes horde other peoples energy to make themselves more powerful, this is incredibly frowned upon and those caught manipulating others to do this are banished as exiles from the heartlands.
Combat
Combat training and physical development is crucial for Lockette. They need to maintain a strong physical physique, physical exertion strengthens their spiritual energy within their body as opposed to muscles though Lockette have developed the ability to 'show off' muscles in their shells if they want others to think they are incredibly powerful, a trait they mimic from humans though it serves little purpose other than vanity in the lockette community as even the tiniest, most feeble-looking lockette can be incredibly powerful.
Lockettes do not often need to use their weapons any more unless they are sparring or hunting, it is rare that they need weapons for self-defense ever since the last war.
❝The Last War❞
The Last War is the name given to a battle between the Lockettes and Humans. This war ended over 200 years ago but there are still conflicting feelings between humans and Lockette, though they are integrating more and more in society. Most lockette still live in the heartlands where Humans can only visit and not yet live on a permanent basis.
The first known manifestation of a Lockette happened many centuries ago, the legend tells of a Saura that inhabited a young child's doll, that child then grew up developing bodies and shells for the lockettes to inhabit which started their kingdom in the heartlands, but this is just a myth.
When Lockette first began to manifest it was apparent that they possessed a great amount of power and energy, this intrigued but also threatened humans.
For a time they lived mostly in confined areas where they were praised and even idolized, but after a while more spirits began to manifest - too many for these small segregated cities, so humans began to store their spirits into containers to control the overpopulation of the species, this of course angered the Lockettes.
Those in Jars were never able to manifest and lived eternally in containers, alone and afraid, nobody knows how they felt in this state as most began to self-destruct after a few years, the jars would break and the spirits would fade into nothing. This was kept secret for a long, long time, but once it was discovered this resulted in outrage and terror, the Lockettes began to lash back at those responsible which caused a war, the Last War.
Lockettes posses a great deal of energy, even a single lockette could take down a small town in a state of frenzy and this began to happen more and more frequently as news of the isolation of the species spread, it would drive them to the brink of insanity. In some ways, when the war ended there were no real winners.
The war ended around 100 years later, in some ways Lockettes had won, they got the right to form their own city from the ruins that were left in the heartlands, but they were forced to stay there and not disturb humankind for two whole centuries, it is only in recent years that Lockette have been able to freely interact with humans and vice-versa, though a lot of older lockette refuse to relate with humans at all as they still remember what happened all those years ago.
The ending was unpleasant for everyone, humans suffered severe casualties and for many years lockette stopped appearing altogether in the heartlands, slowly but surely as harmony began to spread, so too did the Saura that would manifest in the spring. Lockette suffered most of their losses after the war due to immense negative energy, to the point where they almost became extinct.
Diet
In order to survive and maintain their energy, Lockette need to consume food and water. They are unable to eat processed foods (they can for pleasure but it gives them no nourishment) this is because they draw the natural energy from foods such as fresh/cooked meat, vegetables and fruit. Lockette tend to prefer the taste of food that the animal they embody would eat, for example a lion Lockette tends to prefer meat, whereas a Bat would prefer fruits, though this is not always the case. They typically prefer to cook food and make stews and soups rather than eating the way animals do, this is for hygiene as well as flavors, they adore the human diet.
Lockette eat to replenish spiritual energy that they burn from exercise as well as generally existing, they break down the nutrients from these and replenish their own.
Mutations
A lockette will typically only have the ears and tail of a mammal, but some can undergo various mutations that cause them to also sprout horns, wings and even more animal features. This Mutation process cal also warp the keyhole that Lockettes have carved out of their shell, manipulating it into a different shape.
These mutations are incredibly rare and used to be shunned and considered a deformity - but are now regarded as incredible and those with these mutations are often held in high regard in society, particularly those with wings. Some may still tease others with this however as lockette do not actually need horns for combat like most mammals do and their wings are never functioning, though they can move they cannot fly.
Possession
While Lockette have a tough time existing alongside humans, the journey they must make to even become whole is not an easy one. Lockette are not born like other creatures, their souls - known as Saura - manifest each year and are sealed away into a host body. Not a living body, however, but one more like a doll or mannequin, they bring it life. Typically Saura resemble a mammal somewhat, and are a glowing, ethereal presence that moves at a great speed.
Not always are these spirits warm and loving, sometimes they can bring about a certain evil.
These Saura are unwanted, but lately they have been managing to make their way into the heartlands more and more.
There are two different kinds of Possessed Lockette. The Inked and the Myst. Read more about them here.
