Salamander
Writer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Following the dissolution of Project Warlock, many of its scientists went on to lend their research and discoveries to other scientific endeavors. But just as many worked to hide the results of the project, scattering the Force sensitive children bred in the laboratory on Kiva across the galaxy.
One of the children, Arrius Messala, became a Sith Lord... and something of a scientist himself. Seeking to learn the truth of his origins, he tracked down any of those involved that he could find. From them he learned the method of his making and gained the means of recreating it. Thus was an obsession born.
Using the project which created him as a foundation, Arrius Messala has sought to make Force sensitive beings artificially. Much to Messala's disappointment and/or fascination, making someone Force sensitive isn't as simple as just injecting midichlorians into their veins or soaking their cells with the little organelles. Doing that would only result in a temporary and unstable sensitivity. Instead, a particular enzyme which sustains the midichlorians and is produced naturally by Force sensitives is needed.
Thus, the goal of a scientist seeking to create permanent Force sensitivity through artificial means would be to make the cells of a living being capable of producing this enzyme on their own, thereby sustaining any midichlorians you put into them. To do that, you have to modify the being at the cellular level, granting them the means to produce the enzyme. Obviously, this process works best if you do it when they are still an embryo. Your next best bet is a child with a still-growing body and a "plastic" mind more capable of withstanding the sudden introduction of the Force, but the risk of an unstable connection and/or mental decline is far greater even then. And if you try this on an adult?... Best not to think about it.
- Intent: To sub those who have been experimented upon by Arrius Messala, specifically in an effort to create Force sensitive beings through artificial means.
- Image Credit: N/A
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Project Warlock, The Primyn Group, "This Ancient Autumn World", "Hush Please", "A Dream to Some, A Nightmare to Others"
- Organization Name: Messala's Children
- Classification: Non-profit group
- Affiliation: Arrius Messala
- Description: "Messala's Children" is a label given to anyone who has been taken in/created by the Sith Lord Arrius Messala and experimented upon in an attempt to make the subject Force sensitive. This involves a combination of science and Sith alchemy.
- Headquarters: Cophrigin V
- Domain: N/A
- Notable Assets: Tintagel
- Hierarchy: Arrius Messala, to whom the Children owe everything, is lord and master, mother and father. So long as they do not displease him, he will always take care of them.
- Membership: This group only includes those who have gained (at least) semi-stable Force sensitivity through the experiments of Arrius Messala. Currently, all members are underage, ranging from teenagers to infants. The group is primarily made up of children who were created in Messala's lab, but a few are orphans or children willingly given up to Messala by their families.
- Climate: The children's quarters at Messala's estate have no trace of uncanniness to them. Each child's room is well-stocked with toys, books, and electronics. The walls are painted in bright colors, and there are plenty of windows to let natural sunlight in. Likewise, the schoolroom incorporated into the grounds resembles a typical classroom, the same sort that might be found on any other Sith-Imperial planet, though the teachers are all droids. The kids are permitted to roam freely and have been outside Cophrigin V on "field trips" - they aren't kept cooped up inside all day.
- Reputation: Few people know about this group. Up until recently, it was an exclusive secret known only to Messala and his associates. The botched abduction and experimentation of Miri caused the group to become known to others, and the secret has been traveling in the form of rumors and hearsay ever since. Because no one likes the idea of experimenting on children, those who have heard of it tend to hold a negative view of Messala's Children and especially Messala himself.
- Curios: Most of the children have been given shield talismans and other such protective amulets, to the point where it could be considered standard issue equipment.
- Rules: Messala is raising the Children as Sith, but he intentionally creates an open-ended environment for them. He wants them to surprise him with creativity and individuality.
- Goals: Arrius Messala set out to replicate the circumstances of his own existence, albeit with improved methods and better results. He has been experimenting on children and embryos in an effort to create permanent artificial Force sensitivity. So far he has only been successful a handful of times, though he is still trying and still improving his methods.
- Vaslav Florescu - An unwanted child born to a wealthy and influential Sith-Imperial family, custody of Vaslav was given to Messala after the Sith Lord became interested in his case. Of all the Children, he is considered the strongest in the Force. Interestingly, he has developed a Light Side aura, which Messala has not attempted to discourage. Rather, he has successfully taught the boy how to use the Light with Sith methods, drawing inspiration from the Light Sith, an obscure sect defined by their hatred of the bloodlust and backstabbing among mainstream Sith.
- Maia - Currently the youngest of the Children, Maia was created in Messala's lab and grown in a Dvirat Motina. The Force flows freely through her, unaligned and unhindered, and she tends to use it to get her way in the form of telekinetic temper tantrums.
- Elric - Elric was a war orphan taken by the Sith during the conquest of Iego. An overseer mistakenly believed the boy was Force sensitive and selected him for training. When the error was discovered by the terrified overseer, Messala stepped in and offered to handle the situation before news of it reached the man's superiors. Messala then smuggled Elric to Cophrigin. He is now almost as strong in the Force as Vaslav.
- Nineveh - The daughter of a Sith Changeling employed in Messala's service. Her parents are not exactly active in her life, although her father habitually keeps watch from the shadows, disguised as a household servant at Tintagel.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Following the dissolution of Project Warlock, many of its scientists went on to lend their research and discoveries to other scientific endeavors. But just as many worked to hide the results of the project, scattering the Force sensitive children bred in the laboratory on Kiva across the galaxy.
One of the children, Arrius Messala, became a Sith Lord... and something of a scientist himself. Seeking to learn the truth of his origins, he tracked down any of those involved that he could find. From them he learned the method of his making and gained the means of recreating it. Thus was an obsession born.
Using the project which created him as a foundation, Arrius Messala has sought to make Force sensitive beings artificially. Much to Messala's disappointment and/or fascination, making someone Force sensitive isn't as simple as just injecting midichlorians into their veins or soaking their cells with the little organelles. Doing that would only result in a temporary and unstable sensitivity. Instead, a particular enzyme which sustains the midichlorians and is produced naturally by Force sensitives is needed.
Thus, the goal of a scientist seeking to create permanent Force sensitivity through artificial means would be to make the cells of a living being capable of producing this enzyme on their own, thereby sustaining any midichlorians you put into them. To do that, you have to modify the being at the cellular level, granting them the means to produce the enzyme. Obviously, this process works best if you do it when they are still an embryo. Your next best bet is a child with a still-growing body and a "plastic" mind more capable of withstanding the sudden introduction of the Force, but the risk of an unstable connection and/or mental decline is far greater even then. And if you try this on an adult?... Best not to think about it.
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