Okay I’m about to make you go DEEP into those archives.
Who’s the first ever character you drew and how did they evolve as you started drawing more? 👀👀👀
First character was a Lock named Rippington. I eventually changed his name to Xahvin, because he was named after one of my fav smooth jazz bands at the time. Used to draw him frequently and he hasn't changed much. He is large for a lesser will and is a barely tempered, seething ball of outrage. He acts as diplomat to a particularly contentious empire that alternatively keeps trying to assassinate him and bury him in unnecessary paperwork. He's scarred up for reasons, half probably from the murder attempts and half because he's combative and has tussled with other Locks in the past. Riker (Archaeon) is one of his agents, the hate is mutual.
He also dislikes Scott, the Team, and all Traders. Kitra is still his Bonded Companion and about the only peaceful thing in his existence. Outside of her, he has a fairly agreeable relationship with Vel, a human that was lent to him by Movallo (diplomat to another empire) to help with diplomat duties. Vel earns his respect and they get along OK.
I'm not allowing myself to draw until EC is finished so you get character notes instead.
I've been thinking about Xahvin and Kitra quite a bit recently. I really want to dig in and figure out what goes on between bonding companions but nobody's let me in yet, and I figured Jeih and Kyrin would be the obvious choice given that they've dragged Aryian into their business and Ary is usually very communicative with me, but he's been pretty silent on that front. I actually have quite a few bonding pairs I could bother - Xahvin/Kitra, Vian/Emazrian, Daithrin/Rama, Riker/Trillian, Sinkarr/Cearian, Soloxis/Saekalo, in addition to Jeih/Kyrin... but man no one's been talking until recently.
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All pairs react differently to the bonding process, especially when they first discover they have personality overlap. Jeih and Kyrin are cautious and testing when they first start out, Vian and Em are in denial and put it off forever, Soloxis and Saekalo are pretty easy going and unfazed. In contrast, Xahvin and Kitra jump right into it.
Xahvin is the diplomat to Empire Eutharious. He can be a very difficult creature to deal with, even for other Locks. His rivalry with Riker is pretty well-known and he's generally a volatile, confrontational creature. He does a lot to disrupt the peace at North Cliff, but most the other Locks there are able to deal with him efficiently enough and his angry challenges tend to slide over them without hitting home. However, there are certainly times where he become insufferable, and he's had to be put in his place more than once by higher wills. Those scars he keeps.
Kitra was technically a civilian (or a 'task-less' Lock) for many centuries until she was called to be a guard. The manner of a calling can range from a barely perceptible tug or nudge on the inner self to full on intention-sending, and is usually attributed to Jarovin's will. So when she felt that tug she abandoned her roaming of the southern reaches of the continent and traveled to North Cliff. Once there she sought out Burmul, who brought her into the fold.
I'm not sure on the specifics yet of how or where they first encounter one another, but theirs is definitely one of those cases where the personality overlap was hugely and immediately apparent and they could not pretend to ignore each other. They might've made a half-hearted attempt at it, but that attempt would've been extremely short-lived. It's a sudden and jarring transition for both of them, and in many respects those around them, and theirs is one of the more intense bondings to have occured. Too, they're probably one of the only pairs where outside eyes could instantly recognize that 'woa, something's really going on here'.
Locks don't display much, if any affection towards each other in front of other races (the Team was an exception). As far as they're concerned it's not something outside eyes have any business seeing or knowing about. Xahvin and Kitra are probably guilty of breaking this unspoken rule on more than one occasion. They are both off-world a lot and it wouldn't be surprising if they had spawned some interesting speculation and rumors about Lockian relationships throughout Eutharious - a topic which is neigh untouched because no one knows about Locks, and many (or rather, those with good sense) are terrified of offending them for getting it wrong. Xahvin and Kitra certainly aren't lascivious creatures - being Locks, their expressions of affection are often soft, subtle things and/or highly ritualized - but the imagination would certainly run wild in those who wouldn't know what they were looking at.
