From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Origin

The Lombardians, named for the 'pet name' they give their hosts, are a species of symbiotic energy beings much like Kheldians. They originally come from an earth-like planet in an unknown solar system, which was destroyed when that star went supernova. Due to an inability to survive long periods of time without a physical host, all of the Lombardians entered a state of hibernation and drifted about the universe, drifting towards psychic emanations from populated planets. The majority of the species died during their trip through space, and those that managed to survive took hosts on the planets they encountered. There are currently only two known Lombardians on Earth, though the possibility remains that more may exist, especially among aliens from other worlds.

Physical Description

As beings composed of psychic energy, the Lombardians have no physical traits. However, they all share an ability to shape their host body as they see fit, tending towards insectile traits such as exoskeletons and increased tolerance to pain. One thing that is common among all Lombardian hosts is a trio of orange sensory spikes arranged vertically between the eyes, or in the case of multiple-eyed or eyeless hosts, near the primary sensory organ. These spikes act as a sort of psychic lightning rod, absorbing psionic energies.

Behavior and Beliefs

Despite being nearly extinct, the Lombardians have a very firm stance against taking live hosts. They would rather die than inhabit an already-living body, even accidentally. In the event that a Lombardian accidentally takes a live host which tries to resume control, they are compelled to retreat into the subconscious and suspend any attempts to direct or influence said host. Once their host dies, and has been dead for an hour at the minimum, the Lombardian is free to do with the corpse as they please. Lombardians are unable to leave a host until their body is completely incinerated. So long as at least five percent of its main biomatter exists, a corpse is still considered a viable host. Those that knowingly and willingly take an unwilling live host are looked upon as the worst kind of evil, though if the host is accepting and is able to make a knowledgeable decision, a Kheldian-like merging of the Lombardian and host will take place.

An artificial body is also an acceptable host, so long as it is completely organic and lacks any sort of sapience. Lombardians have a strong belief that inorganic additions to a body are profane and even go so far as to disregard an otherwise perfect host if it has a tattoo or body piercing. Hair dyes are acceptable, so long as the product had no chemicals in it.

Lombardians typically choose the surname Lambardier or Lombardia (E.G. Aliya Lambardier, Leuko Lambardier). This will immediately let them identify each other as Lombardians upon identification. However, this can lead to confusion if one happens to come across a human who shares that surname. The Praetorian version of this species is more or less exactly the same, though less choosy about their hosts and typically choose the surname "Jiamara" in honor of the first Praetorian Earth hosts.