OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on a Codex location and on the Shadow Knights.
Image Credit: Here. Here.
Canon: N/A.
Permissions: Can use Archangel stuff because I own the company (Enyo Typhos is one of my subaccounts).
Links: Eldorai, Qadiri, Sciiac Guardians, To Hell and Back, Kar'zun, Eldorai Exodus, Twin Exiles, Xioquo, Kaeshana, Eldorai Spirit Gems.
SETTING INFORMATION
Structure Name: Institute of Enlightenment
Classification: Research institute, think tank, laboratory.
Location: The Defiance.
Affiliation: Shadow Knights (lore sub), Shadow Knights, Court of the Shadows, Asuran Star Combine, Yohara Taenasi.
Accessibility: The Institute is located on the Defiance, a worldship that serves as the Shadow Knights' mobile 'capital'. This means it follows similar rules. The Defiance is mobile and never stays in the same place for long. The Shadow Knights are an isolationist society and not the trusting sort, especially where foreigners are concerned. The inhabitants of the Defiance subscribe to the belief that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Thus access to the ship is restricted and there are severe security checks.
As for the Institute itself, it is not unknown, but only a limited number of people outside of the Shadow Knights' society would know about it. Foreigners who come to the Institute would be scientists, engineers and academic types in general. The Institute's management actually invites non-elves onto the ship for the purpose of learning and designing new tech.
Thus access is not closed to foreigners. However, access to the facility is strictly monitored and controlled by the authorities, which means only individuals who have been specifically authorised are granted entrance. Broadly speaking, it is like being allowed into a government research facility. In this case, the government is a nomadic, oligarchic republic with rather militarist values. People are vetted and need security passes, a clearance level etc. Guards, security checks, cameras and so on are par for the course and particularly sensitive areas can only be accessed with a high enough security clearance. Sensitive areas are sealed behind various layers of biometric identification.
Description:
A somewhat pompously named research institution dedicated to researching and developing technology that will aid the Shadow Knights. The Institute combines scientific research with higher education. It is run by Yohara Taenasi. Funding is an issue, as the renegades do not have a lot of money. Sometimes Yohara tasks people with stealing tech or blueprints that she needs for her research, but cannot (or does not want to) acquire legally. Yohara is the inventor of the modern soul gems, a radical iconoclast and a passionate technophile dedicated to what she terms the cause of progress and the advancement of prosperity.
The Institute's work came to fruition with the creation of the Sciiac Guardians and the spirit gems, among other projects. Yohara also has more esoteric interests, such as study of the Force and the Netherworld, but she must allocate resources based on a budget set by the Archon and the Council, who are a lot less inquisitive than she is and prefer research that is bound to produce practical results. This can vex her quite a bit.
The Institute is part of the Court of the Mind, the official association of scholars, scientists and researchers. It has been set up in accordance with the Shadows' corporativist beliefs, based on which segments of society are organised into holistic bodies and integrated into the government. These Courts have a broad mandate to oversee day-to-day operations. One could call them a cross between a government department and a guild. All the members of a sphere elect a council who then choose the head of their specific court, who bears the title of Magister. This gives constituents a say in governance, but also makes things quite regimented. Yohara is the incumbent head of the Court of the Mind.
Her experiences in the Matriarchy have left her with a strong disdain for the ancien régime and conservative Eldorai forces. The time she spent in the Netherworld after being raptured by Akala has endowed her with a bit of an obsession for the realm. She is sensitive to the Force, but her affinity is too low to merit training. This frustrates her, but has also given her a superiority complex. Yohara is very good at her job and no coward, but pompous.
She has conceived the Institute as a place of intellectual discourse, research and innovation. As such, it actually allows non-elves onto the ship so that they can share their knowledge and further the cause of progress. This serves the purpose of learning, developing and selling technology. As a result one can find not only Eldorai, Xioquo or other elves, but also aliens such as Givin, Duros, Wookiees, Togorians and even the odd rogue Kaminoan and other non-elves. Naturally elves still outnumber them by far. There are even a couple Kar'zun.
Of course, any outside arrivals are strictly monitored in order to prevent infiltration, theft and the like. Sith, Imperials and the like are not welcome, but then they are not let aboard the Defiance in the first place. The Shadow Knights are a group of rogues, exiles and refugees. They are isolationist by nature and distrustful of outsiders. Still, this does not mean they are totally opposed to cooperation with them. At the same time, the nomad fleet is poor and they cannot acquire everything they need through raiding or produce it themselves. Autarky is simply not a realistic prospect for them.
The Shadows' philosophy is Asurans first. The Galaxy is a bleak, dangerous place, and the Eldorai and their cousins must do everything in their power to survive. Their dedication to elves above all is not based on notions of racial supremacy. Rather the elves must struggle to attain the best possible position, otherwise they will be consigned to extinction, enslavement or vassalage.
Not all Shadows are enthusiastic about the Institute and its liberal practices. Some are concerned about security, others believe foreigners have nothing good to offer to the elves, while others simply dislike Yohara. This is understandable since she is quite vocal when she considers someone to be an 'ignoramus'. Some also find aspects of its research problematic for religious reasons. This ties in with the fact that Yohara is close to the Blades of Reason, an areligious political faction among the Shadows...though many of the Blades find her pretentious. However, presently she has the support of the Archon, the elected leader of the Shadows.
Broadly speaking, the Institute is divided into learning facilities and laboratories. Its research focuses on the hard sciences. Yohara has many esoteric interests, but the Court must follow a budget set by the central leadership. For obvious reasons, the government is most interested in research bound to produce practical results. Thus while the Institute designs a lot of experimental technology, a good portion of their work focuses on solving practical matters. An example would be designing limb and organ replacements for soldiers who have been maimed in combat, discovering new agri-farming methods or more efficient ways to recycle and convert matter into fuel and building better engines. The technologies the Institute is most known for among the Shadows are the spirit gem and the Sciiac Guardian, but these are particularly exotic examples.
For obvious reasons, such designs are the ones Yohara likes to brag about the most, but many of the Institute's designs are of a more mundane, but practical nature. It is worth noting that this is not a mad scientist institute. Yohara is an extremely arrogant woman, but not cruel or a lunatic. She is in the business of saving lives and expanding knowledge, not inflicting pain. She does sometimes use illegal means to get the tech she wants, but draws the line at sadistic experiments. Research at the Institute must follow legal and ethical standards set by the Shadows. This means that, for instance, abducting and enslaving people to experiment on them is a no-no. In short, this is not the place for mad scientists who believe that their 'genius' should not be constrained by 'petty morals' and keep ranting about how their cruel and often pointless experiments are 'for science'. Neither the luddite nor the lunatic is welcome here.
Various facilities are dedicated to engineering, physics, biology, chemistry, medical technology, robotics and the like. Some of the experimental technology incorporated into the Ardent Duty has been designed at the Institute. Other locations include a cafeteria, a presentation hall and a large library. Of course, the labs where the really serious work takes place are only accessible for those who have the proper security clearance. Biometric security, cameras and guards are supposed to ensure that unsuitable people are not given access to these areas.
In terms of structure, the Institute is divided into various centres. This is where most of the work takes place. Each centre has laboratories and other facilities and is named after an important scientist or scholar. Most of them were persecuted by the Eldorai Matriarchy of old. Some of these names have been the cause of controversy though. The Shadows may be revolutionaries, but they also have senior members whose views are pretty authoritarian, nationalist and xenophobic. Regardless, each centre has a statue of its namesake. The Institute is run by a collegium of scientists chaired by Yohara. The body has a representative from the central leadership of the Shadows. Ashkala Jai Banaar, a Qadiri alchemist and astrogator allied with the Shadows, works at the Institute sometimes.
The Institute has a BRT Supercomputer. However, much to Yohara's disappointment, the machine is buggy and does not work properly. This frustrates her to no end because she cannot figure it out. She refuses to have it removed though. The machine is quite big, so some researchers joke about how one day it will 'get lost' when Yohara is far away. The smart ones never say this when she is within earshot.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Gate: The entry point to the Institute. It is monitored by cameras and guarded at all times. Explosive/weapons' detectors and military grade sensors are in place. The officer responsible for overseeing security here has an office. People entering the facility must submit to security checks. Outside visitors are given a security pass for the day.
Curia: This area is located on the upper level. It serves as a central hub, housing the administration of the Institute. Thus it is the first place any visitor would enter. The interior of the Curia is fairly utilitarian. This reflects the cultural values of the Shadows, as well as their limited budget. As a result, the building has been designed with practicality rather than beauty in mind. The offices of the Institute's staff can be found here. The Institute comes under the umbrella of the Court of the Mind, and so some of the latter's departments have set up shop here. This is the place where the bookeeping takes place. It also houses the communications gear. Because this place is mostly about management, it is among the most accessible, though private information is obviously not freely available. Yohara has an office in the Curia, but does not like to spend time in it. Other features include a cafeteria and a conference room.
Malya Helinden Centre of Sciiac Research: Named after one of the few Eldorai who became a Jedi Knight. Malya lived almost two centuries before the outbreak of the Gulag Virus. Malya is commonly held responsible for the disappearance of the Arithdae Codex, an important Eldorai artefact. The story goes that she returned to Kaeshana on an outsider ship, and sought an audience with Queen Maelys II. She claimed that she had found information elsewhere about the Eldorai which tied into something the Codex said.
The Queen's councillors were displeased but they agreed to let her see it the next day. Overnight there was a break in, the Codex was stolen from the vaults and several guards were killed. Suspicion fell on Malya and a large force attacked her. Malya was mortally wounded by the Queen's Champion, but in turn killed her opponent. Their ship took off, and the Eldorai could not stop them. Malya died, and it was assumed the Codex went with her into space and was lost.
The truth is quite different. Sciia is the Eldorai word for the Force as well as soul, and so the centre concentrates on studying the mysteries of the Force and related arcana. This includes alchemical research, though it must follow a set of legal and ethical guidelines. Several of the researchers who work here are skilled in imbuing items with the Force. Force arcana is contained in containers lined with Nullification Resin. A couple Ysalamiri are kept around. Olbio trees have been transplanted to provide miniature habitat modules. Some Force-Sensitive inhabitants of the Defiance earn extra credits by participating in tests related to Force use in one way or the other. The Eldorai are legalists and the Shadows are the most legalistic of rebels, so written agreement must be obtained in advance.
Galliena Gallia Centre of Astrophysics: Named after a renowned Eldorai scientist and scholar Galliena Gallia was imprisoned by the Eldorai Matriarchy'y secret police for proclaiming the heretical belief that planets other than Kaeshana held intelligent life. She ended up being burnt at the stake. The laboratories here focus on subjects like physics, astrophysics, astrocartography, and astronomy. This is of practical importance to the Shadows since they maintain a nomadic, spacefaring society. While they are new to spaceflight, Qadiri have inherent navigational talents. Thus a number of Qadiri astronomers and navigators work here.
Charae Darwai Centre of Life Science: Named after the renowned biologist Charae Darwai. She was locked up on the Island of Fallen Angels for claiming that Eldorai and humans shared common traits and origins. Charae is a very controversial choice. The Shadows are revolutionaries who honour dissidents who were persecuted by the Matriarchy, but many of them are also Eldorai nationalists who may hate the ancien régime, but still view the elves as a superior race. However, Yohara is a fan and likes a bit of controversy. The centre focuses on studying the various life science branches, such as biology, biotechnology, biochemistry and botany. It has been beneficial for, among other things, developing improved agri-farming methods. Studies of Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology are performed in a limited manner.
Var'Ranasa Centre of Engineering: Named after Var'Ranasa, a Xioquo engineer. Ranasa was heavily involved in building people's steam-powered trains and tanks prior to the fall of the Underealm. However, she was a deviant among her people and got little credit for her work due to being of low birth. This is what drew her to the Shadows.
Ranasa is technically still alive, but her essence has been transferred to a spirit gem to preserve her mind and intellect. She was already very old when she came aboard and put herself in great peril to solve a critical error aboard the worldship. The procedure saved her life - or unlife, as the case may be. She has the stone implanted into a droid body so that she can communicate with people and interact with the world. While her new form is unsettling for them, Ranasa is more approachable and modest than Yohara.
Caecilia Thalien Centre of Practical Sciences: Caecilia was a member of the Truth Bringers, an order of scholars, healers and learned women in the Matriarchy. However, the Truth Bringers disdained innovation. Acolytes were supposed to study the classics and praise the Goddess for having true knowledge The glorious Matriarchy had survived for thirty centuries without innovation, and did not need any innovation to last for thirty more.
But Caecilia was different. She was Yohara's mentor in the order and encouraged her to question things. She also experimented on new soul stones. However, she suffered near-fatal injuries in a terrorist bombing and the transfer of her essence into a soul stone failed, which was viewed as Ashira's judgement. Later Yohara came to believe that conservative Truth Bringers had deliberately sabotaged it. Thus she has named this centre after her mentor to honour her. As the name implies, it focuses on designing new technologies. Practical sciences are the sort of thing Yohara likes, namely electronics, robotics, spirit gems, cybernetics etc.
Azar'razak Centre for Advanced Mind and Body Health Research: This name is long-winded and usually shortened in actual conversation. Eldorai love to make things so damn long. Regardless, this centre is dedicated to medical research, ranging from basic to clinical research. The centre is named after a famous Kar'zun healer. Despite the centuries of enmity between both people, which culminated in the Kar'zun being driven to the brink of extinction and confined to reservations by the elves, she applied herself to Kar'zun and Eldorai alike on Kaeshana.
But Tirathana VI grew concerned about her popularity and unifying message, and there was a 'tragic accident'. Yohara is not racist and sympathised with Azar'razak. Moreover, she goes for maximum controversy. Most of the Shadows are elves, but they have accepted some Kar'zun in their ranks as fellow Asurans, so while very unpopular among nationalists, the move is not totally impolitic.
While some of their work is rather ambitious, a lot of it is focused on more practical issues that immediately impact the lives of the nomad fleet's inhabitants, such as creating and testing vaccination for diseases. Medical research on sentient beings has to follow ethical guidelines. It works with the Court of Healing, the body responsible for healers and medical practitioners. The Shadows do not clone sentient beings and, in any event, would lack the infrastructure and capital to do much with it, but medicinal cloning to create limb and organ replacements is another matter.
College of Wisdom: This is Yohara's somewhat pompously named personal laboratory. Access is restricted to those who are escorted here by Yohara. She has an HRD bodyguard called Marcella. When the HRD is not guarding the place because Yohara is somewhere else, a Sciiac Guardian tends to be in charge of security in her stead. Here Yohara works on her personal projects. She has a few lab assistants who help her out. Since she runs the Institute, she gets her pick of the cream of the crop. Yohara has a particular interest in cybernetics, robotics and medical science. All manners of technology is present. A lot of it has been designed by her, other stuff has been acquired legally or illegally. One can find exotic devices such as a Qanq Qahsa, an Archangel Processing Machine and an entechment rig. These are stored here for study. Yohara finds the science behind entechment intriguing, but sees the methodology as cruel.
Yohara designed the Eldorai Spirit Gems in this lab. Various compounds and resources have been stored for her to conduct tests with. A lot of the work is focused on the hard sciences, but Yohara has a strong personal interest in studying the Netherworld and the Force from a scientific perspective. To her, the Force is not an unknowable mystery, but a phenomenon that can be understood through use of the scientific method. The laboratory possesses a gigantic mainframe on which pertinent data is stored. Yohara is a workaholic and it is not uncommon for her to stay at the lab late almost every day.
Hall of Learning: An amphitheatre used for lectures, conventions, multimedia presentations and the like. The area is spacious and easily reconfigurable, allowing it to serve a multipurpose role.
Bibliotheca: A large library for the aspiring researcher. Aside from a digital archive, it also contains books, scrolls, records and so on. The Institute receives government funding, but the Shadow are poor, and thus do not have the means of an interstellar government or megacorp. Nonetheless, the amount of information stored here is still huge.
SECURITY
High
- A network of surveillance cameras has been set up. These keep close watch over the residents and visitors at all times. There are metal detectors and enclision grids at the entrance. Automated sensor beacons, ray shields, security scanners and weapon/explosive detection sensors are also security assets of note. Moreover, there are blaster neutralisers, which can be activated to reduce the effectiveness of blasters. The complex features a weapons' detection system.
- Security Locks restrict access to areas of importance.
- Concealed coma gas dispensers and automatic laser emplacements have been set up in certain areas.
- Doors to important areas are made of Turadium. This material is very difficult to cut through, even when one uses a lightsabre. Keycards are needed to access sensitive areas. Likewise retina scans are mandatory for access to very important locations, such as Yohara's lab, or rooms where sensitive technology is stored. Here it is pertinent to note that the retinal scanners can detect whether or not the retina they are scanning belongs to a live person.
- People entering the Institute must submit to security checks. The Institute has a contingent of guards and can call upon support from Shadow Knight troops and gendarms stationed on the Defiance if needed. Some of the guards are Force adepts of varying skill. Aside from organic guards, the security contingent on-site includes a number of armed KX-series Security Droids and a couple HRDs that have been stolen from Archangel. Moreover, there are a few Sciiac Guardians.
- Cybersecutiy measures include Rapid Repetition Defence Measures, Pyrowalls and Socketguards.
The history of the Institute of Enlightenment itself is a brief one, but closely tied to that of Yohara and the evolution of the Shadow Knights. Yohara used to be a member of the Truth Bringers, an order of scholars, healers and scientists in the Eldorai Matriarchy who belong to the Church of Ashira. Due to their scientific and intellectual pursuits, they are sometimes referred to as the "Angelii of the mind". They were supposed to be the foremost scholars of the realm, but they were better at explaining answers to questions than at coming up with them. Acolytes were supposed to study the classics and praise the Goddess for having true knowledge. Innovation was a dirty word. The glorious Matriarchy had survived for thirty centuries without innovation, and did not need any innovation to last for thirty more.
However, Yohara wanted to do more than regurgitate established orthodoxy. When foreign merchants and raiders came to Kaeshana, she wanted to know why the supposedly inferior humans and aliens possessed technology far superior to that of the Eldorai. However, the establishment disdained inquiry, for it could undermine the Matriarchy. Yohara's mentor Caecilia Thalien was a kindred spirit. She was particularly fascinated by the ancient spirit gems and sought to discover way to modernise them. However, Caecilia died under mysterious circumstances.
Yohara continued her mentor's work. When Kaeshana reluctantly opened up to the outside world, she used the chance to travel and progress and design new devices. However, the Truth Bringers' old guard considered her tainted, for they sensed Caecilia's defiance in her. She broke with the Matriarchy following the Exodus from Kaeshana, believing the Eldorai had become complacent and grown too reliant on their Firemane allies.
Yohara was headhunted by the Shadow Knights, one of the Eldorai renegade groups trying to protect the survivors of desolate Kaeshana. She agreed and used her knowledge of cybernetics, robotics and medicine to aid the cause. She helped maimed soldiers regain lost limbs by giving them mechanical ones salvaged from broken war droids. Later she was able to give them proper cybernetics. There was more freedom to pursue unconventional research, but resources were scarce.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Kaeshana, the Shadow Knights formed a nomad fleet. Yohara, who had divided her time between Kaeshana and being offworld, joined it. She was able to invent a new spirit gem thanks to technology salvaged from Archangel. At this point in time Yohara had gathered a small group of acolytes. The future Institute of Enlightenment started as a small private laboratory for her. She also joined the Blades of Reason, a largely atheistic faction that rejects the monarchy and mysticism in favour of republicanism and scientific development. However, her relationship with them was not a straightforward one. While they shared many beliefs, she found several Blades uncouth and ignorant of anything outside of intrigue and bomb-throwing.
When the Shadows reorganised their society along corporatist lines, Yohara was able to leverage her influence into being put in charge of the Court of the Mind, a body that would organise and represent scholars and scientists. With government funding, she was able to expand her small lab into a research institute and think tank. The institution was given a mandate to research and design technology that could be beneficial to the Asuran people. It received support from the Court of the Exchange, the organisation responsible for traders and other mercantile people. There was a practical reason for this, as the Exchange hoped it could market and sell some of the Institute's designs.
Naturally, the new Magister had to stir the pot. The fledgling institute was targeted by protesters when the head scientist named one of the research complexes after the controversial biologist Charae Darwai, who had claimed that humans and Eldorai shared common traits. This offended conservative Ashirans. Less civilised critics used grenades, slugthrowers and other tools of violence. Rabid nationalists took offence at the Institute honouring a Kar'zun healer. Indeed, a militant attacked Yohara, but was foiled by her bodyguard. Ironically, a number of Blades were critical of the institution as well.
However, the Institute also had its supporters, especially after it designed the first Sciiac Guardian and Yohara's arcane research helped the Shadows evacuate the survivors of the Kaeshana Conundrum. This success was marred by the revelation that a scientist who had worked on the project had secretly sold secrets to the highest bidder. She was arrested by the Vigiles and convicted for treason. The Institute of Enlightenment attracted a number of non-elves. The Shadows were isolationist, but not opposed to cooperating with outside parties that did not intend to vassalise their people. Yohara has very ambitious plans for the institute that probably go beyond what is realistically feasible, but cooperation and discourse has proved beneficial.
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