Lantern Keepers

OOC

This is a closed species.
This information is only for entertainment purposes.
Please do not take/copy it...... /crawls
Anyone who buys a lantern keeper design is not restricted to using this story.
But I would prefer if those who agree to use this story to use it in its entirety.
Because the keepers aren't supposed to be a cutesy race..... u vu
I also understand that this is a lot of info. I suppose I am alright with people taking bits and pieces of it if they acquire one, but I just wanted to make mention of my wishes as the artist too. * U*//
Feel free to ask others to RP here[?]-- and to ask questions!

General

Keepers are guardians of a sort-- When they find a mortal that they wish to bond with, they become caretakers of the human's soul [To keep it pure]. That soul is transferred into their lanterns for safekeeping. Upon their mortal partner's death, lantern keepers act as guides and protectors to safely deliver that soul through the chaos of the other world, onto the human's next reincarnation. Once that's complete, they are absolved of their pact and are free to find new partners.

Birth

Lantern keepers are born when a mortal's death meets two criterias.

Firstly, the mortal must have a strong personality. Having a stronger personality means a stronger 'signal' is given out upon death and increases chances of binding together a block of sentient energy within the life stream (for lack of a more accurate description).

A mortal's death will disperse a flash of energy into the life stream that weaker personalities will meld into rather than bind together.

Secondly, the dying must have a strong desire to protect something. This can be anything as long as the feeling is incredibly strong. For example, it could be a desire to protect the self (Which is not the same as a simple desire to live, but rather a mix of great regret or a suffering of great injustice that would invoke a feeling of obligation to stay in the mortal life) or to protect others.

Some have also been successful operating on the desire to right a wrong.

This desire to protect solidifies the ball of sentient energy previously mentioned. It forms the immortal body of the lantern keeper. How weak/strong the keeper is in terms of being able to sustain wounds etc. depends on the mortal's original strength of desire.

Keepers and Temperament

It's important to note that lantern keepers do not share the same memories and emotions as the mortals they are born from. The keeper is a separate entity, born by drawing on the energy of a mortal's death and that human's desire to protect. It might be easier to think of the mortal's death and desire as metal that is melted down and remade into the keeper.

However, keepers do often display characteristics of their birth mortal's personality. At times, they may also be the ideal (Although still somewhat flawed) of what the birth mortal had wished to be.

Basically speaking, the keeper is a haphazard and somewhat random match of the strongest character traits and/or desires of the mortal they are born from.  

For example, a narcissistic mortal who is usually quick to start fights, arrogant, and yet can be quite affectionate may give birth to a keeper who is haughty and violent, but not necessarily affectionate. Another example in terms of 'desire' may be a mortal who is personally soft spoken and shy, but has always harboured a strong desire to be outgoing and sly. The resulting keeper may be overly friendly and chatty, with little regard for personal space.

Gender & Powers

Keepers are all born genderless in their immortal form (That is, their tiny form-- Think Keroberos from Cardcaptor). When interacting with humans in the mortal realm, it is customary for the keeper to take on a form that matches humans in terms of size and features. For these encounters, most keepers will identify with one gender and model themselves accordingly thereafter.

In terms of power, all keepers have basic holy abilities in order to purify the souls in which they agree to 'save'.

The most general way a keeper can gain more power is by upholding their contracts. Internalizing the energy released by a mortal's death (before it enters the grand stream) will give a small boost in power. Here, it's important to note that the energy released is not the same as the soul in which a keeper must protect. When a human is reincarnated, they will release another bout of energy that will further bolster a keeper's ability.

A quicker but more strenuous way to achieve high rank is by defeating and absorbing another keeper.

Lastly, keepers may absorb purified souls belonging to other keepers, but doing so is a great way to piss off the greater community. Such acts can potentially ruin one's immortal body when/if the burst of power is too much for the keeper to handle. Alternatively, those who are able to handle it can go from the lowest tier to the highest tier after absorbing less than five souls. In comparison, it may take hundreds of victories over other keepers before one can achieve the highest rank.

Needless to say, the taking of human souls is more or less taboo. The same is said for violation of contracts-- that is, making contracts with mortals and taking their souls rather than guarding them.

Those who have taken mortal souls are easily recognizable by the dark auras that follow them. Most pure keepers will be hostile to them, as they are seen as traitors and liars.

Status and Ranks

Lantern keepers are more or less divided into four categories:

1st Tier:
At the bottom ranks are the ones with the least powers-- they are new spirits, baby spirits, or  'apprentice' spirits. Their ability to purify is very weak and they're often overworked as a result of needing on-the-clock surveillance of their mortal. They can be recognized by having upward horns and a single pair of wings.

First tier keepers tend to carry lanterns that are cute or brightly coloured. Due to their low powers, they are attracted to the prospect of maintaning contracts with children. It is rare for new keepers to make contracts with adults, as the power needed to absolve the sins of an adult mortal requires more power than what new keepers tend to have.

2nd Tier:
Second tier keepers are more powerful (And much older) than the first. They have enough power to keep their lanterns lit and purified for two weeks at a time. These are marked by backwards curved horns and two sets of wings.

These middle class keepers have the widest variations within their demographic. Some may still cater to contracts with children, while others exclusively seek out adult or senior mortals. Their lanterns and methods of dress come in all types.

3rd Tier:
The most powerful tier usually end up the laziest (but not necessarily), since they have so much power that it doesn't cost anything for them to disappear for months at a time. They are able to purify any level of corruption that happens to their humans in their absence. They can be told apart by their forward curving horns and triple seraph-like wings.

The elite often carry more than one lantern because they are able to maintain multiple souls at a time. These tend to become guardians of early adults, as they are attracted to the vitality of mortals in their prime. Needless to say, mortals who die in their twenties tend to give off the most energy.

Spellbreakers/Spellbinders:
Even rarer than the elite keepers are the spellbreakers and binders. They are divided into two subclasses depending on their particular skill set.

These keepers are able to disguise their wings and horns as any class or status they desire. They are effectively a non-class and tend to be lone wolves. However, their native status indicators are curled, ram-like horns.

Although these are also called 'lantern keepers', some may not carry lanterns at all. They are a warrior class with highly variable reasons for being what they are. Some are born into this class, others achieve this through intense corruption or some other form of trial. Their personalities are just as variable, as are their reasons for helping/hindering mortals and the other classes.

Spellbreakers are called so because they have the ability to absorb power (And also sins, if we're still talking about the ability to purify). One can think of them as a vortex of energy-- They can take, but they can't use. Spellbreakers largely keep to themselves, although some who seek greater power will use a third tier keeper to act as their 'sword'.

Spellbinders are the opposite. As their name implies, they take energy and 'attach' it to places-- or things, or people. They have the gift of energy implementation, although they cannot perform such procedures on themselves. Their only power is to 'bind' abilities onto others. In a sense, they are teachers. Keepers who wish to gain additional powers must seek out the acceptance and approval of this subclass.

To clarify with an example, a spellbinder may concentrate the energy of a blazing wildfire. They can then implement this element into-- for example-- another lantern keeper (As long as that keeper is not another spellbinder). In turn, that keeper will be able to utilize spells both with the fire element (gained) and the holy element (inherent).

Transition

Unfortunately, transcending statuses is not a warm, glowy feeling.
It is a painful process that requires several weeks of solitary confinement. Wings do not magically appear with warm glows and fuzzy feelings. The bone structure and immortal body will go through immense pain as it can no longer sustain the power and experience that a keeper has achieved. The keeper will have a period (1 week or so) where they feel as though they have been set on fire as their body is remade part by part into a stronger vessel.

Also there's gonna be a lot of blood.


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Not sure if there's anything more but that's all for now
/crawlsawaywithmyterribleideascries

Oh.. I'll update the individual rankings with picture examples of each if/when/once I get permission from the new owners.

WowIhopeIdidn'tscareeveryoneoff

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