Heritronian

Heritronians are a human-like race from the world of Heritron. They appeared in the 1998 Look and Read series "Legend of the Lost Keys".

Information
Heritron is another world, seperate from Earth, but whose people are similar to Earth humans - being genetically compatible with them. Their world is described as been 'beautiful but menacing', with the stories stating that Heritron's rulers (known as 'The Takers') used to live in luxury in great castles with fine clothes and servants. However, their world is now in decline with decay and ruin everywhere. To support the way they live, they need a constant supply of slaves to operate their machines - plundering other worlds to get those slaves. Among these worlds was Earth in the past. To access the other worlds, Heritron must be within a suitable range before a Heritronian device known as 'The Box of Destiny' would be used to open a doorway to that world and allow Heritronians known as 'The Catchers' to infiltrate that world and steal their inhabitants to be taken back to Heritron for slavery.



Throughout the series, it is revealed that the Heritronians have a 'class' system:


 * At the top are the Takers, who are the equivalent of high ranking/aristocratic families. They are led by a Supreme Taker (referred to as 'The Supreme One'), who acts as Emperor/Empress of Heritron.


 * Below the Takers are the Catchers, who are the equivalent of a military and are sent to pillage other worlds to bring back people to be used as slaves.


 * Next are the normal families, although very little is revealed about them in the series.


 * Finally, there are the slaves, who have little to no rights and are forced to work Heritron's machines until they are too weak to carry on.

All Heritronians are shown to possess something they call 'The Power' - an umbrella term for a number of abilities they have, with the most notable been Telekinesis. Humans of Heritronian heritage have also shown themselves capable of using 'The Power' themselves. Examples of 'the power' in use include levitating objects, unlocking doors/locks, disabling technology (such as cameras and vehicles), enhancing a person's senses, slowing down time, creating storms, etc. Everyone is shown to have varying amounts of ability when using 'the power' - some only having basic ability while others been able to use it in more advanced ways.

As well as their powers, Heritronians have access to a variety of different technologies which use crystals for various purposes. Examples include the following: Other less notable devices include a 'Crystal Wand' used by the Supreme Taker to create a soundproof crystal prison. It's also believed that - due to prisoners who are brought to Heritron quickly forgetting where they came from - the crystals or Heritronian powers are used to wipe the captives memories in preparation for their lifetime of slavery.
 * Dowsing Crystal: A device that is used for locating objects and/or people. Upon holding it, the person may get an image flash in their mind of where the object is. Depending on the device, it will either flash when close to the object the holder is searching for or will glow brighter when nearing whatever or whoever you're searching for.
 * Crystal Communicator: A device that acts like a holographic projector, with two people been able to talk to each other across large distances - including between worlds. It has been shown that Crystal Communicators can be altered to trace 'calls' between other communicators. However, the call must run for at least 30 seconds before a trace can be made.
 * Disarming Amulet: When attached to a Heritronian or anyone of Heritronian descent, the amulet neutralises that person's power - preventing them from using it while the amulet is attached. It can be removed, however, by anyone else who has 'The Power' as long as they have control over it.
 * The Crystal Capsule: A one-off creation used to escape to Earth from Heritron. Like with the Box of Destiny, however, the Crystal Capsule can onnly be used when the worlds are within suitable range of each other. The full size of the inside of the capsule is not revealed, but it is hidden in a closed down book shop and has a large library within it - containing information from Earth and Heritron.

For the Heritronians, however, their most important piece of technology is 'The Box of Destiny'. Opened using three keys, the box materalises a doorway to one end of a tunnel/portal between Heritron and any world they plan to pillage. However, almost 2000 years ago, one of the Takers - presumably having seen vsions of the future and/or having grown disallusioned with Heritron's reliance on slavery - rebelled and stole the box before fleeing to Earth with it. The rebel Taker ended up in Britain, during the time when the Romans were ruling. Determined to stop the rebel, several catchers followed him through but the rebel went into hiding - closing the box and stranding the catchers who had followed him from Heritron on Earth.



These stranded catchers became known as 'The Watchers' - with their task been to find the box and the keys and open the doorway back to Heritron when the time was right. The Watchers would all have children with Earth women (as all the catchers were men) and their children would have children and so on, with all been charged with the same task of finding what had been stolen and returning home. They will use anyone or anything to accomplish their task.

The rebel taker, meanwhile, became 'The First Guardian', and he too would have children with Earth women, with each descendant been charged with guarding the box and preventing the Watchers from stealing it. The First Guardian hid all three keys in seperate locations before writing up a book of poems/riddles - based on the prophecy he had forseen - so that when the time came, those who opposed the watchers would be able to find the three keys and - with the aid of the 'Two Children of Heritron' - would be able to decide Heritron's fate. The first part of the prophecy reads as follows:

"If the Box of Destiny is ever found, then whoever finds the three keys, can lock the doorway open, or lock the doorway shut. But above all, they must have the two children of Heritron, then the fate of Heritron will be sealed, for ever."

Appearances
Legend of the Lost Keys (1998)