Hervoken
The Hervoken were an ancient species.
Biology
The Hervoken were approximately ten feet tall, with an extremely thin, black body but a colossal, wide head that somewhat resembled a Halloween jack-o'-lantern. Their hands were about as long from the wrist to the fingertips as a human arm, and their fingers had several joints and a talon at the end. Their heads were pale and fleshy, with sharp teeth within a wide, jagged, lip-less mouth and black, deep-set, beady eyes. (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"]) The pumpkin-head could lose its healthy orange colouration if the Hervoken was injured, taking on a deep purple tinge. A Hervoken's head could survive decapitation, and the Hervoken would eventually regrow a body if it found a source of psychic energy on which to feed. (PROSE: Hervoken Halloween [+]Loading...["Hervoken Halloween (short story)"])
Hervoken had high-pitched, almost childish voices, (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"], Hervoken Halloween [+]Loading...["Hervoken Halloween (short story)"]) which conveyed psychic images through song rather than being made up of conventional words and sentences. (PROSE: Hervoken Halloween [+]Loading...["Hervoken Halloween (short story)"]) Their laughter was made up of clacking their teeth together to produce green sparks. They always appeared to hover slightly above the ground (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"]) and had broader telekinetic abilities. (PROSE: Hervoken Halloween [+]Loading...["Hervoken Halloween (short story)"])
Culture
Hervoken were insular by nature and tried not to deal with others if they could. They had little of the curiosity that humans had and were content in simply keeping to themselves. Because of this, they seemed remarkably callous in their nature.
The Hervoken language was complex and consisted of words, body language, thoughts, incantation and pauses. As such, simple acts like chanting, resting or praying were actually methods of communication.
Hervoken clothed themselves in a rotting patchwork of black, tattered rags. (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"])
Technology
Their technology was very much like magic in appearance and effect. It was activated by drawing sigils in the air or chanting. It would be weakened by the use of salt and iron.
Hervoken relied on agents, which were created by animating inanimate matter and modifying existing beings. These agents would be able to do new things, but they would not change in basic structure (a plastic bat may be able to fly and attack, but it would still be plastic).
Hervoken ships were known as sky-hearts. (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"])
History
Early history
The Hervoken were an ancient species, though they kept to themselves for most of the time. At some point, millions of years ago, they got into a war with the Carrionites. Their war threatened to destroy the universe, prompting the Eternals to step in and banish both races to the Deep Darkness before the universe was destroyed. (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"])
Attack on Blackwood Falls
One Hervoken ship, which had been on Earth at the time, had escaped the notice of the Eternals. The ship lay dormant for many years, attracting people to the area to maintain it. They soon passed into the myths of the Niantics, being known as the Hee-oko. Eventually, the town of Blackwood Falls was built on top of the Hervoken ship. The Hervoken were able to psychically influence the inhabitants, making them create cellars into the Hervoken ship so they could be used for fuel. The side-effect of this was that Etta Helligan's family developed psychic powers.
Eventually, the ship repaired itself completely. When the Hervoken were reawakened in the early 21st century, they planned to repower their ship with energy from the town's inhabitants during the upcoming Halloween celebration. The launch of the ship would have devastated the town and most of the surrounding area, but the Hervoken were defeated by the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"])
SIGNET versus Hervy
At some point, the severed head of a Hervoken wound up in 21st century York. Being heavily injured and stranded away from its kin, the Hervoken arranged to have itself mailed to the house of Harvey and Aoife Fitzgerald close to Halloween, coming across as an innocuous seasonal present. It then made psychic contact with their young daughter Norah, who nicknamed it "Hervy", and began to feed off her life-force to heal itself. Aoife, however, noticed Norah's change in behaviour.
Unfortunately for the Hervoken, she worked for SIGNET, an organisation devoted to investigating otherworldly threats. She called in her boss Charles and colleague Xana, who recognised the purple pumpkin as alien and realised what it was doing to Norah. Realising that it had been found out, Hervy rushed through sprouting a complete body, and attempted to explain its injury and loneliness to the humans. Charles was interested in helping it rejoin its people, but Aoife did not trust it, believing that it would not be satisfied until it had drained her daughter completely; sensing her hostility, the Hervoken attacked, and to Charles's regret, they had to fight back and ultimately kill Hervy using salt and a carving knife. (PROSE: Hervoken Halloween [+]Loading...["Hervoken Halloween (short story)"])
Legacy
When Vida Clatterly expressed the belief that magic was not real, the Eleventh Doctor told her about the Hervoken, among others, who used science disguised as magic and explained that belief is a very powerful thing. (PROSE: The Dreaming)
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