About

Latchkey Kingdom is a comedic fantasy comic about the kingdom of Hilla, which is on the island of Hilla on the planet Lagend.

Known Sapient Species

Yumans/Yanines
Terrestrial Animals
Lagend’s dominant species, broadly speaking they’re intelligent, social, use tools and are covered in fur. Yumans walk on two legs while Yanine walk on four.
A note on race/ethnicity: While there is are a wide variety of distinct yuman and yanine subspecies the differences between them are only skin deep. No yuman subspecies is more or less smart, strong, agile, or moral than the others.

Yuman Examples: Yumans; Willa Dragonfly, Zander Hilla, Donovan Dragon-puncher
Yanine Examples: Rex Vunderdog, Ami
Hybrid Examples: The Embalmer, Avery Platter
Werecats
Condition (Yuman)
Werecatism is a disease that infects yumans and causes their bodies to take on feline characteristics. This change varies with the phases of the moon. They become completely feline during a full moon and completely yuman during a new moon. The mineral, new moon stone, can also cause werecats to take on yuman form but it’s also known to cause nausea.

Werecat Examples: Charlie/Charlotte Montegew, Miara Devlin
Fairies
Nature Unknown
Visitors to Lagend from another world. Fairies may be immortal and have the ability to change their shape (although they’re always marked by a distinct pattern of subtly shifting blocky stripes appearing on some part or parts of their body). They seem to have a strange agenda for the people of Lagend but they’re going about it in a very strange half-assed manner.

Fairy Examples: Bridget, Noel
Bird Flocks
Terrestrial Animal Hivemind
Many species of birds on Lagend have been known to form collective intelligences when they flock together. These hive minds are effectively immortal. Mortal creatures who honor them may gain their favor.

Bird Flock Examples: Murder
Dungeon Rats
Terrestrial Animals
The most populous species inhabiting Hilla’s dungeons. The rats have demonstrated group behavior with the semblance of intelligence. However, experts have so far failed to agree whether this is the result of actual sentience or mere mimicry.

Werecat Examples: Charlie/Charlotte Montegew, Miara Devlin
Oyuun’s Yomunculi
Constructs
A line of yomunculi created in ancient times by the great natural philosophy Oyuun. They have been tasked with creating wonders in order to restore Hilla to ‘greatness’. These creatures can vary widely in capabilities and intelligence. Oyuun’s yomunculi are programmed to be incapable of wielding yuman weapons, although this does not stop them from being extremely dangerous.

Oyuun’s Yomunculi Examples: Rose, Kyle, Hood
Modern Yomunculi
Constructs
Creatures created from jellyflesh using modern technology. Each one is a bespoke creation of a jellyflesh artisan and thus entirely unique.

Modern Yomunculi Examples: Roger, Moxie, Mr. Inktail
Steel Clan (Yomunculi)
Constructs
A group of Oyuun’s yomunculi who split off from the main group when they decided not to fulfill Oyuun’s purpose. They wear suits of armor to hide their yomunculi nature and to protect themselves from the yomunculi who still follow Oyuun’s order.

Oyuun’s Yomunculi Examples: Cecili
Deep Things
Aquatic Animals
Lagend’s deep harbors many mysteries there is some evidence that this includes intelligences that are distinctly alien from what is known on the surface. Little is known about these beings on account of their ability to distort the perceptions of surface dwellers.

Unique Technologies

Magic
Magic doesn’t exist on Lagend but several of its more advanced technologies could be mistaken for magic by the naive observer.
Jellyflesh
Neuro-muscular fibers harvested from jelly fish and woven into a fabric. This material can sense neural activity and respond with movement. It is commonly used for prosthetic limbs but it is also possible to make entirely synthetic creatures out of this material. These creatures are called yomunculi.
Wave Stone
A mineral that when struck in a precise rhythmic fashion creates sympathetic movement in nearby liquids. Most ocean going vessels on Lagend are lined with wave stone that is activated by dozens to hundreds of small hammers controlled by a clockwork mechanism. Much simpler and smaller versions of this technology are used in homes for refrigeration.
Quick Mold
Liquids or gels that expand quickly upon impact. Quick mold coated weapons are often used for sparring as the expanding reaction turns what would be lethal wounds into mere laundry stains.
Guffins
Metal objects that are linked despite no actual physical connection between them. There are few known practical applications for this technology so it’s used mostly for jewelry.
Glow Butter
A paste made out of bioluminescent microorganisms, commonly used for indoor lighting.
Wonders
A plethora of technological artifacts created by the oyuun’s yomunculi as part of their great purpose. Wonders vary in rarity presumably by how difficult they are to produce. Here are several common types that have been confirmed to exist; underwater breathing devices, music boxes that cause nausea, hi-jump hi-tops, toast bottom butterers, flying machines, bottles that turn water into wine, and at least one sword that heals as it stabs.
The island of Hilla is the only known place on Lagend where wonders can be found and are its chief export.
The Falling Tower
A structure that has been under continuous construction in The Olde City for centuries. It employs many mystifying architectural techniques and is usually the tallest structure on Lagend by several orders of magnitude. However, the boundless ambition of its creators ensures that the tower is continuously developed to a point of complete instability and collapse about 12 to 19 years into construction.
Fairy Tablets
Fairies possess technology far surpassing what Lagend’s other civilizations are capable of generating. All of which is bound up in a small portable device that most fairies are always carrying on their person. This device can do many things including; allowing the user to talk with other tablet users over long distances, creating physical objects (including living things) out of thin air, creating elaborate illusions of light and sound, changing the fairies shape into that of other creatures, and solving difficult math equations in mere moments. Non-fairies cannot use fairy tablets unless the fairy who owns it picked a really obvious passcode.
Fairy tablets can only be found in the possession of a fairy. Although there are tales of such devices being woven into the wonders of oyuun’s yomunculi.

Additional Resources

History of Hilla
Hilla Visitor’s Guide