Pirate Prince
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Taranis Kuhl - founder and lead scientist
Dr. Raehith Daanruano - scientist
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Around 810 ABY, Taranis Kuhl, a brilliant young scientist and recent graduate from the Chandrilan Academy of Sciences, became obsessed with answering a question. The Jedi and the Sith had been around for eons, and yet so little was understood about the Force and why some people were able to channel its power while others could not. Eight centuries had passed since the prophesied Chosen One had brought balance to the Force. So why hadn't anyone since then ripped away the veil and exposed the mystical web, uncovering its true nature by way of the scientific method?
Taranis was eager to find the answer, but he found his peers and colleagues were not as motivated to pursue such an endeavor. It fell to him to organize a group of young and ambitious scientists, pushing them to commit to a common goal, put in the effort, and work together. Taranis' own drives and obsessions would color the series of experiments that followed, which would come to be known as Project Warlock.
He chose the barren, forgotten world of Kiva, which had been destroyed by the Galactic Empire and never recovered, as the site for his project. The scientists considered themselves pioneers in a yet-unexplored field—in the past, a handful of scientists had attempted to inject midi-chlorians into people in order to make them Force sensitive, or they had employed the use of Sith alchemy, which Taranis and his colleagues viewed as psuedoscientific. Project Warlock was the first serious "strictly science" (or perhaps "strictly biological" would be a better term) attempt at unlocking the secrets of Force sensitivity undertaken since the Gulag Plague.
Young, reckless, and unchecked by any higher authorities, the scientists' actions quickly became unethical. Their methods of procuring resources were sketchy and not always legal. Embryos from various species were obtained through the black market, and willing subjects for testing were found among the destitute and desperate. The results of the experiments were unpredictable—sometimes there would be no change, or just the tiniest bit of sensitivity to the Force. Other times it would be overwhelming. Some of the subjects were driven insane by the sensory overload. The scientists knew what they were doing was dangerous, risky, and harmful—Taranis knew—but they continued with their work anyway.
As the experiments were technically successful, financial backers started to arrive, hoping to benefit from this new research. Among them were Dark Side Adepts who sought to take charge of the project. With his control threatened, another side of Taranis' psyche was awoken: the ugliness of a buried jealousy. Wanting to possess the Force sensitivity which had always fascinated and eluded him, one night he snuck into the lab alone and secretly turned the experiments on himself.
It was as if a window had been opened. Light flooded in, illuminating the shadows within him. He realized he knew nothing of what he was doing. The Force was not just midi-chlorians writhing in a petri dish. It was a living thing, feeling, reacting. He had caused pain and suffering by his actions, by imposing his demands on the Force. He was no better than those Sith who had sought to bend the Force to their will, creating and ending life to serve their own purposes. The only difference was his terrible, unfeeling ignorance.
He was lucky. The injections he needled into his body granted him only a slight Force sensitivity, enough to leave him forever changed, but not enough to drive him mad. With it came a kind of second sight that allowed him to see what was really going on around him—and he was able to sense the Dark Side and evil intent in those who sought to "fund" the project. But it was too late. The contracts had already been signed, the deals made. Project Warlock had been infiltrated by the Sith.
Taranis left not long after. The experiments continued on without him, but as time passed the scientists involved scattered, taking what they had learned from the project with them. Some went on to participate in attempts at creating Force sensitive supersoldiers, while others joined the ranks of the Sith and other organizations to create fearsome bioweapons.
In the present day, Project Warlock exists only as a memory. The work conducted under the project's banner has been renewed by one of the results of the experiments, Messala, who was created while Taranis was still in charge. Messala, who used his artificially bestowed Force sensitivity to attain the title of Sith Lord, is currently a member of the Primyn Group, a sub of the Sith Empire devoted to the free and unhindered pursuit of science. Also among their employees is Dr. Raehith Daanruano, who had been in charge of creating the embryos for Project Warlock some fifty years earlier. So far Dr. Daanruano has refused to participate in the efforts to revive the project, though he was forced to divulge his knowledge of the experiments by way of the Force.
- Intent: To clarify what exactly Project Warlock's purpose was and what it accomplished.
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: Permission to use the Primyn Group.
- Links: Midi-chlorians
- Organization Name: Project Warlock
- Classification: Non-Profit Group
- Affiliation: This project technically no longer exists, but the data it gathered is currently in use by Messala, a member of the Primyn Group.
- Organization Symbol: N/A
- Description: This was a series of experiments conducted largely in secret, although they began to draw the attention of outsiders as they progressed. The scientists involved were trying to create Force sensitives artificially by manipulating midi-chlorians. They experimented on zygotes, children, and adults of various species, with a wide range of results. Eventually the group's leader experimented on himself, experienced a moral awakening, and left the project, which was then picked up by the Sith. Project Warlock no longer exists, but its work has had far reaching consequences.
- Headquarters: A hidden laboratory on Kiva which has since been abandoned.
- Domain: N/A
- Notable Assets: None anymore.
- Hierarchy: Taranis Kuhl was the semi-official leader of the group, but they were fairly democratic when it came to making decisions. Over time, the financiers subsumed power and they came to hold the most influence.
- Membership: A small but dedicated group of scientists was the initial number, but they were soon joined by various financial backers and lobbyists.
- Climate: The banality of evil and the all-consuming obsession that drives mad scientists to break taboos and cast ethics to the wind. What it must've felt like to work for Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz, or to play assistant to Victor Frankenstein, or to scrape the mud off Saruman's latest Uruk-hai spawn.
- Reputation: Depends on who you ask. Their methods were highly unethical by the standards of most decent people, but the progress they achieved cannot be denied. Outsiders will judge them based on their own personal values.
- Curios: N/A, unless you want to argue that the test subjects were left forever marked by the effects of the experiments.
- Rules: “The field of genetics lies open to us. Forget the mysticism of the Jedi and Sith. Their powers are only the manifestation of a science which has lain unexplored for too long.”
- Goals: The goal of Project Warlock was to artificially create Force sensitives by manipulating midichlorians using medical machinery and other scientific means—not by using alchemy or the Force itself. To this end, they were only partially successful; those subjects who were granted sensitivity suffered from serious side effects, most notably mental deterioration.
Taranis Kuhl - founder and lead scientist
Dr. Raehith Daanruano - scientist
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Around 810 ABY, Taranis Kuhl, a brilliant young scientist and recent graduate from the Chandrilan Academy of Sciences, became obsessed with answering a question. The Jedi and the Sith had been around for eons, and yet so little was understood about the Force and why some people were able to channel its power while others could not. Eight centuries had passed since the prophesied Chosen One had brought balance to the Force. So why hadn't anyone since then ripped away the veil and exposed the mystical web, uncovering its true nature by way of the scientific method?
Taranis was eager to find the answer, but he found his peers and colleagues were not as motivated to pursue such an endeavor. It fell to him to organize a group of young and ambitious scientists, pushing them to commit to a common goal, put in the effort, and work together. Taranis' own drives and obsessions would color the series of experiments that followed, which would come to be known as Project Warlock.
He chose the barren, forgotten world of Kiva, which had been destroyed by the Galactic Empire and never recovered, as the site for his project. The scientists considered themselves pioneers in a yet-unexplored field—in the past, a handful of scientists had attempted to inject midi-chlorians into people in order to make them Force sensitive, or they had employed the use of Sith alchemy, which Taranis and his colleagues viewed as psuedoscientific. Project Warlock was the first serious "strictly science" (or perhaps "strictly biological" would be a better term) attempt at unlocking the secrets of Force sensitivity undertaken since the Gulag Plague.
Young, reckless, and unchecked by any higher authorities, the scientists' actions quickly became unethical. Their methods of procuring resources were sketchy and not always legal. Embryos from various species were obtained through the black market, and willing subjects for testing were found among the destitute and desperate. The results of the experiments were unpredictable—sometimes there would be no change, or just the tiniest bit of sensitivity to the Force. Other times it would be overwhelming. Some of the subjects were driven insane by the sensory overload. The scientists knew what they were doing was dangerous, risky, and harmful—Taranis knew—but they continued with their work anyway.
As the experiments were technically successful, financial backers started to arrive, hoping to benefit from this new research. Among them were Dark Side Adepts who sought to take charge of the project. With his control threatened, another side of Taranis' psyche was awoken: the ugliness of a buried jealousy. Wanting to possess the Force sensitivity which had always fascinated and eluded him, one night he snuck into the lab alone and secretly turned the experiments on himself.
It was as if a window had been opened. Light flooded in, illuminating the shadows within him. He realized he knew nothing of what he was doing. The Force was not just midi-chlorians writhing in a petri dish. It was a living thing, feeling, reacting. He had caused pain and suffering by his actions, by imposing his demands on the Force. He was no better than those Sith who had sought to bend the Force to their will, creating and ending life to serve their own purposes. The only difference was his terrible, unfeeling ignorance.
He was lucky. The injections he needled into his body granted him only a slight Force sensitivity, enough to leave him forever changed, but not enough to drive him mad. With it came a kind of second sight that allowed him to see what was really going on around him—and he was able to sense the Dark Side and evil intent in those who sought to "fund" the project. But it was too late. The contracts had already been signed, the deals made. Project Warlock had been infiltrated by the Sith.
Taranis left not long after. The experiments continued on without him, but as time passed the scientists involved scattered, taking what they had learned from the project with them. Some went on to participate in attempts at creating Force sensitive supersoldiers, while others joined the ranks of the Sith and other organizations to create fearsome bioweapons.
In the present day, Project Warlock exists only as a memory. The work conducted under the project's banner has been renewed by one of the results of the experiments, Messala, who was created while Taranis was still in charge. Messala, who used his artificially bestowed Force sensitivity to attain the title of Sith Lord, is currently a member of the Primyn Group, a sub of the Sith Empire devoted to the free and unhindered pursuit of science. Also among their employees is Dr. Raehith Daanruano, who had been in charge of creating the embryos for Project Warlock some fifty years earlier. So far Dr. Daanruano has refused to participate in the efforts to revive the project, though he was forced to divulge his knowledge of the experiments by way of the Force.
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