What's new in The Necklace - Pucks!

Worked on the Pucks. The combination of the Losonta and Eleena that make up a Puck is fascinating for me. An Eleena is introduced to its future host, usually by the parents, when a Losonta is very young - before its head plates close. Losontas are born through the female's false penis, so Losonta heads must be very flexible at birth. After being introduced, the Eleena burrows its tentacles through the skin into the brain and nervous system of the infant Losonta. From this moment, they are a Puck. The Eleena begins both feeding on the Losonta, and stimulating hormonal production, making the Losonta sapient as it grows.

Losonta and Eleena births are not synchronized. Losonta are two sexed, male and female, while Eleena reproduce much more rarely, through asexual budding. Horizontal gene transfer with the Losonta makes the budding much more genetically variable than with most asexual reproduction. There are thus many Losonta on planet that are without Eleena, and in effect only intelligent animals. These are used by Pucks as unskilled labor.

The Elena is very visible, perched on the Losonta's head like a soft, fleshy, bouffant hairdo. The changes made by the Eleena are permanent, so if the Eleena dies, the Losonta stays sapient., though prone to irrationality and madness. The Eleena, through control of the Puck's hormonal system, serve as a super-ego for the pair. The Losonta half of the pair is the communicator as well as the mobile unit, while the Eleena sits back and controls the larger picture. Losonta and Eleena parts can communicate by thought, though more like an internal dialog than a conversation.