Traits

Most charms found among Lockettes take simple and easily identifiable shapes.  These range from shapes such as hearts and crescent moons to squares, circles, triangles, and hexagons.  These charms are always a singular shape - a circle flanked by crescent moons would not count as a geometric shaped charm.

Sometimes, Lockettes are found sporting more complex charms than the typical geometric ones.  These can take an incredible variety of shapes - bones, anatomical hearts, skulls, shells, flowers, pinecones…  These charms can also appear to be broken.

Most Lockette collars take the form of a simple banded collar.  This collar may appear with some accessories - typically, frills or spikes are seen, but occasionally other embellishments are seen that do not alter the basic shape of the collar.

Some Lockette collars take more complicated forms.  These can appear to be all kinds of things - a necklace, a gorget, bandages, a harness, or even a stack of multiple band collars.

Infrequently, a Lockette is seen who did not form anything that registers as a collar.  Instead, only their charm manifested in that area.  This can appear as a charm simply embedded in the neck, or even a “collar” composed solely of different iterations of the charm.

A keyholes purpose is the regulation of internal saura, and for most Lockettes, one is sufficient for the task.  A singular keyhole is generally enough to let out excess saura that might lead to fragmentation of their shell, without leaking so much saura as to be excessive or endanger the wellbeing of the Lockette.

A keyholes purpose is the regulation of internal saura, and some Lockettes find themselves with many of those.  While this is commonly believed to be related to larger sizes of saura taking shells that are not large enough for them, there’s no conclusive evidence of that.  Lockettes with multiple keyholes often have to spend more effort on ensuring they keep their saura replenished than those with only one.

All Lockettes possess a keyhole of some sort to regulate their internal saura.  For most Lockettes, this takes the shape for which this trait is named, a simple hole as if for a key.

On occasion, Lockettes have a different shape of keyhole.  This can range from simple pawprints to a cracked open spot or a crown shape.  Lockettes do not always manifest with these types of keyholes - sometimes, a standard keyhole may experience enough damage that its shape breaks, or be lost entirely if it was on a limb that was fragmented completely away.  This is unusual, as the space around a keyhole is typically stronger than normal, but it is not unheard of…

All Lockettes possess at least one summon, but it’s quite common to see Lockettes who have two summons.  The quantity of summons are set at manifestation, and always emblazoned with the Lockette’s charm in some fashion.  They are summoned from the collar.

All Lockettes possess at least one summon, but some Lockettes go far beyond that.  The quantity of summons are set at manifestation, and always emblazoned with the Lockette’s charm in some fashion.  They are summoned from the collar.

Most Lockettes manifest with a summon that takes the form of a weapon.  A weapon is something that is either originally intended for the harm of others, such as a sword or gun, or has entered the popular consciousness as such, such as a broken bottle or a baseball bat covered in nails.  While these summons can cause harm in the expected ways, they may also be able to manifest magical effects, though that is not always the case.

Some Lockettes manifest with a summon that takes a non-weapon form, such as a treadmill, a set of cutlery, or a vase.  These summons may be able to manifest magical effects, including ones useful in combat, and the Lockette may still be able to use them in a combative fashion physically, but that is not always the case either.

Occasionally, a Lockette manifests with a summon that is alive.  Sometimes, this is obvious, such as a Lockette with a dog summon.  Other times, this is less obvious, such as a Lockette with a pair of scissors that happen to be capable of speech.  These summons may be able to manifest magical effects, including ones useful in combat, and the Lockette may still be able to use them in a combative fashion physically, but that is not always the case either.  These summons cannot be killed (unless the Lockette they are a part of dies, of course), and are seen more often in Lockettes who manifest near the Festival of Nights.

An intact shell is one that has seen no damage that has penetrated the exterior of the shell, however, sometimes shells are made missing pieces of limbs, these are always smooth and clean lines where the piece is missing. In some cases these shells may sometimes have scars that appear similar to those seen on humans, but these injuries have not broken through the surface of the shell and do not represent meaningful damage.  (Sometimes they’re just aesthetic ‘tattoos’ or markings and not even actual scars). 

A BJD shell is one of the commonly made types of shells. These shells are distinguished by the use of ball joints, and are less stiff when uninhabited. Ball Jointed prosthetics are commonly used as well; In some cases shells may be made with missing pieces, so prosthetics are fairly easy to come by and easy to install. Ball Jointed shells and prosthetics are typically believed to be easier for saura to control, and in particular to be easier for smaller sauras to inhabit, as the hollow spaces within the shell are smaller, and fragmentation of the body typically causes less loss of saura.

An articulated shell is one of the commonly made types of shells.  These shells are distinguished by being formed to resemble the exterior of a humanoid body that would possess interior joints.  Articulated prosthetics are commonly used as well.  They are believed to be somewhat more difficult for saura to control, as they typically are more rigid before becoming inhabited by saura, but are a popular choice for shellmakers as they are often simpler to make than a BJD shell.

A fragmented shell is one that has experienced damage that broke the exterior of the shell to reveal the hollow area where the Lockette’s saura resides.  The fragmentation can take differing forms, from lost limbs to cracks to missing sections of shell, and even to aesthetic things such as having a series of hearts punched into the shell.  Saura connects pieces of the shell even after fragmentation, so it is not unusual to see a fragmented Lockette with a hand floating but their forearm missing.  Fragmentation can represent a dangerous risk to a Lockette’s quantity of saura and ability to regularly replenish it, and it is typical for Lockettes to seek prosthetics after an injury to prevent this, or to use some material to cover smaller holes or cracks.  Of course, for their own reasons, some Lockettes will not seek prosthetics or covers, or will choose ones that do not fully prevent the loss of saura from their fragmentation.  It is generally impossible for a Lockette to survive having more than 50% of their original shell fragmented, as the shell just no longer possesses the capacity to retain the saura.

Traditionally, Lockettes manifest with humanoid legs and arms as their shells are typically made with these.  On occasion, however, a saura will drastically alter the shell it chooses to inhabit.  These shells may exhibit paws, clawed feet, hooves, and/or the growth of fur or feathers on the body.  These animalistic traits typically come from mammals, but on occasion may resemble other animals.  They never change the overall shell from being that of a bipedal, however.

Some Dextroluma possess an unnerving ability to survive things that should  have killed them.  From eye sockets that don’t need support to prevent collapse to surviving decapitation to being skinned to having limbs they can attach and reattach at will or not having their organs…  Some Dextroluma are simply built different!