Empty Gyre
The Empty Gyre was a name given to a secret research project originally founded by Seneschal Redemption Auduga-Canthor of the Gilded Tower with the support of the Queensknife, which existed from 1315AK to 1321AK. Its stated aim was to investigate esoteric methods by which the war against the Grand Jarldoms of Balthas - which at the time of the project's commencement was going poorly for Aldernord, the War of Fire and Salt raging in Kjelslund - could be rapidly brought to an Alderni victory. The group combined a number of independent streams of research ongoing within the Queensknife, the Gilded Tower and the Academy of Gildenschloss towards this single-minded goal ultimately of Redemption's design: the creation of psychic assassins known as Soulknives which could be turned against the Balthans and other enemies of Aldernord.
Methods
The Empty Gyre set about to investigate methods by which individuals could be trained to develop and intensify pre-existing telepathic talents, and to induce such abilities in those who were not naturally capable of such things. Natural Telepathy had been noted to be sufficiently rare that it was not long before the latter became the overwhelming priority of the Empty Gyre - and it was in service of this goal that the Gyre began to explore increasingly abhorrent methods. The Empty Gyre conducted much of its initial research in Gildenschloss, but from 1318AK began to relocate the centre of its operations to a number of smaller sites away from the tower, including Avenfort, the Queensknife Commandery at Schwannenholt, and supposedly at a location in Bos Grebur which has never been conclusively identified. The Gyre initially conducted experiments only on volunteers, mostly recruited from the Faculty Militant of the Gilded Tower; no detailed records remain of the identity of these volunteers or their fate, though it appears that there may have been perhaps three dozen over the six-year period whilst the project was active, of which three-quarters were rejected as unsuitable. Several of the early volunteers are understood to have died as a result of the experiments, prompting the Gyre to begin to look for other options. At first they turned to lowborn serfs, recruiting those displaced by the violence of the Long War who believed that they had little to lose; when these, too, proved insufficient for the project's needs, the office of the Queensknife began to use its powers to take custody of criminals in Valkenholt and several other cities, as well as prisoners taken in battle with the Grand Jarldoms of Balthas. The Gyre's initial experiments focussed on identifying individuals with latent telepathic abilities, and attempting to enhance these abilities through various means. Their first major breakthrough came in 1317AK, in the form of a student volunteer from the Faculty Militant referred to in the surviving records only as the "Geligeshti" (a Celestial word meaning "locust-child"), whose true identity, and eventual fate, remain unclear. The Geligeshti was one of several volunteers given training in certain meditative techniques derived from an obscure monastic tradition referred to as the "Way of the Astral Self", dosed with large doses of several vision-making narcotics, and enchanted with rituals designed to greatly empower their mental faculties; of the three who were subjected to this particular method, they were the only one to survive the process with their mind intact. The Geligeshti claimed to have "heard the song of the stars from beyond the Outermost Gate", and to have returned to the world with newfound telepathic abilities and unusual sorcerous powers. The Gyre was never able to directly replicate the success that they found with the creation of the Geligeshti, and soon abandoned attempts to do so: few were able to master the meditative techniques, and the handful of volunteers who did achieve some success inevitably died or suffered catastrophic psychological disintegrations without developing any sorcerous insight whatsoever. They did however discover one unusual phenomenon - that the Geligeshti was somehow able to alter the souls of other sorcerers to "uplift" them, transforming their former talents into ones similar to the Geligeshti themself. This ability appeared to be unique to the Geligeshti, and was not without its own dangers; the Gyre noted that whilst all those whom the Geligeshti "uplifted" survived the process, all of them showed evidence psychic trauma and a spiritual affliction that was referred to in the Gyre's reports as "astral contamination". This contamination appeared to manifest in a number of ways, the most dramatic of which was one individual who gradually "was overgrown by unnatural bark and foliage, dripping a sweet-smelling oil which spread the same contamination to any who were exposed to it... until his flesh was replaced with vines and branches, and at last he took root and moved no more." It was only in 1319AK that the next major breakthrough - the creation of the project's first "Soulknife" - was achieved, when an experiment unintentionally created a rupture in the soul of one of the test subjects by having the Geligeshti use their "uplifting" power on one with no sorcerous talents. The result was an individual with significant telepathic talents, who with sufficient training was able to manifest blades of psychic energy that they could throw with pinpoint accuracy. As with the "uplifting", this process proved imperfect and dangerous; the Gyre's records and the testimony of several of its members suggested that only one in ten of those who underwent the shattering of the soul survived. The Gyre explored many other areas of obscure and forbidden magical lore in an attempt to duplicate their success with the Geligeshti, but were never especially successful; this included the use of mutagenic alchemy, geomantic empowerment, surgical modification, and demonic possession. More mundane methods involved prolongued sleep deprivation, complete memory erasure, and physical and psychological torture, in an attempt to break the souls of the test subjects through sheer force. They were also able to acquire some limited assistance from the primordial deity Qi'eka'a - though in retrospect it appears that this ammounted to little more than a long series of suggestions of possible experiments that Qi'eka'a felt would produce "interesting" results. By the time that the project was shut down in 1321AK, the Gyre had produced sixteen "uplifted" sorcerors, and somewhere in the region of thirty-five soulknives.Downfall
The project was shut down in 1321AK, following the appointment of Lady Lyona Azan-Mettvergen as Mistress of the Tower; Lyona had by all accounts been systematically excluded from all discussions regarding the project as it had been assumed, rightly as it turned out, that she would object to the methods that they were employing. It is not entirely clear how Mistress Lyona discovered the existence of the project, but her reaction on doing so was swift and ruthless - the research group was shut down, and all those involved brought to trial on multiple charges of Arcane Malafice. When the crackdown began, several senior members of the Gyre set about systematically destroying all evidence of their misdeeds, burning research notes and destroying equipment; it is thus likely that the full extent of the Gyre's activities will never be known. Furthermore, in the few days following Mistress Lyona's order to shut down the Gyre, there was a deliberate attempt by a small-but-influential faction within the Queensknife to cover up their involvement in the project by killing the soulknives and "uplifted" sorcerers. Quite how many were killed and how many escaped during the chaos is unclear; of the fifty or so "successes" of the project, only two sorcerers, and three soulknives are known to have survived in the custody of the Tower Guard and elements of the Queensknife who disobeyed the kill-order and turned over what evidence they had of their comrades crimes to Lyona's investigation. These five survivors all testified at the trial of the Gyre's leaders; their identities were subsequently redacted, and it is unclear what became of them following the trials. Of the fate of the Geligeshti themself, nothing is certain; some believed that they had been killed in the cover-up, but others claimed that they may have escaped. If they did indeed survive, they have not surfaced in the twenty-three years since the fall of the Gyre. Mistress Lyona had initially intended to preside over the trial herself as holder of the Royal Charter of Gildenschloss which empowered her to stand in judgement over all such matters; however it appears that there was a significant amount of political meddling from several of the High Houses, which eventually resulted in the matter being handed over to a Royal Tribunal (presided over by judges from the Houses of Erastes, Mettvergen, and Sarren). Due to the nature of the research the Tribunal was held under the strictest of confidence, and most of its records were placed in a sealed archive; nonetheless, it appears that despite the theoretical independence of the Tribunal, the judges came under great pressure from as-yet-unidentified members of the High Nobility to limit the scope of their investigation. It is likely that this may have caused a significant rift between Mistress Lyona and the High Houses; several other senior members of the Gilded Tower and Academy of Gildenschloss were similarly aggrieved, with Vice-Scholarch of Abjuration Eida Leagallow going as far as to resigning her post in disgust. Several of those who were involved in the Empty Gyre would later go on to be involved in the Everstorm Covenant, though the precise connection between the two organisations is as yet unclear.Members
Among those known to have been involved in the Empty Gyre were the following individuals:- Redemption Auduga-Canthor, Seneschal of the Gilded Tower and lead researcher of the Project. Redemption's previous research had focussed on soul-splicing, and he appears to have been the mastermind behind the project. Initially sentenced to death by the Tribunal, Redemption received a reprieve on the orders of the Crown mere hours before his execution was due; it has been suggested that he almost certainly had a powerful backer within House Canthor who persuaded the Queen to intervene on his behalf. Redemption was stripped of his position within the Gilded Tower and placed under house arrest in Gildenschloss on the orders of the Queen, later vanishing in mysterious circumstances in 1328AK; whilst his death has never been confirmed, there are rumours that he was killed on the orders of Mistress Lyona - though others say that the Queensknife may have been involved in his disappearance, or that he may have defected to the League of Savura.
- Sigimundo Matassa-Ysern, Castellan-Regent of the Queensknife. Had authorised the use of the Queensknife's resources for the project, and confessed both to permitting the transfer of numerous prisoners to the project for experimentation, and for giving the order to execute the soulknives and "uplifted" sorcerers in the final days of the project's existence. He took full responsibility for what occurred, and was convicted and executed on charges of Arcane Malafice and treasonous abuse of his oath of office.
- Lothar Markwardt, Adept of the Gilded Tower, and right-hand of Redemption Auduga-Canthor. Confessed to performing many of the soul-splicing experiments under Redemption's direction. Convicted of Arcane Malafice and executed.
- Jurgen Bottenzaag, a chiurgeon and Adept of the Gilded Tower, who was likewise prominently involved in the soul-splicing experiments. Convicted of Arcane Malafice and executed.
- Grace Vargstein-Ysern, Vice-Scholarch of the Faculty of Conjuration. An expert conjurer and highly-decorated military commander, she had masterminded the opening of the Road of the Flame-Stealer in 1301AK; she was deeply involved in the project since its inception, but as her political connections made her virtually untouchable she was able to retain her position as Vice-Scholarch - though her reputation would forever be tarnished among those who knew of her involvement. She died in 1327AK, supposedly in a laboratory accident - though as with Redemption Auduga-Canthor, some have claimed that she was killed on the orders of Mistress Lyona.
- The demon Shemraksi has implied that she was responsible for Grace Vargstein-Ysern's death; she claimed that Grace had sought to achieve apotheosis, and was partially successful - but was then annihilated by the Tower's Interdiction Field, having been given a false password by Shemraksi.
- Theodorus Canthor, Vice-Scholarch of the Faculty of Enchantment. Was allegedly deeply involved in the project, however fled Aldernord before he could be apprehended and brought to trial. He was subsequently disowned by House Canthor, and in his absence became a convenient scapegoat for many of the charges that were raised against some of the others accused; he was convicted in absentio and sentenced to death. He is believed to have fled east, possibly defecting to the Grand Jarldoms of Balthas or to one of the states of the Gateway Alliance. His current whereabouts are unknown; a sizeable bounty remains on his head, if he is indeed still alive.
- The ghost of Guillaume Arthmael-Riddacci claimed that Theodorus Canthor was still active, and was working on behalf of House Canthor's operation in Nachtzahn.
- Osrand Maelgribh-Ysern, Provost-Lieutenant Without Portfolio of the Queensknife. Osrand had been working on research in the broad area of psychic combat and telepathic countermeasures since 1311AK, though had only had limited success due to the rarity of "natural" telepaths to study. That he was not only cleared of all charges, but also appointed to Vice-Scholarch of the Faculty of Enchantment mere weeks after the dissolution of the Empty Gyre suggest that he almost certainly sold out the project to the Tribunal in order to save his skin. He distanced himself from Redemption, claiming with apparent sincerity that he had not known anything about the soul-splicing; only in 1344AK would it finally become apparent that this was a ruse facilitated by strategically erasing certain of his memories to avoid incriminating himself. He would later become involved in the Everstorm Covenant, though apparently not entirely of his own volition.
- Sanctity Falcoferri-Riddacci, Adept Illusionist and Knight-Intelligencer of the Queensknife, working as an assistant to Osrand Maelgribh-Ysern. His research had focused on using elementals and illusory constructs as carriers for psychic energies, and had not been involved in experimentation on mortal subjects; the Tribunal ruled that his conduct fell short of what would be considered Arcane Malafice, and he was cleared of all charges.
- Gudrun Athelswicht-Zaal, Vice-Scholarch of the Faculty of Divination. Gudrun was invited to join the project by Redemption Auduga-Canthor, who had been a close friend of hers; however her involvement with the project was relatively peripheral, consulting on the analysis of souls, but mostly providing her expertise in metempsychotic divination to investigate the possibility that sorcerors retained this talent through incarnations. She was not aware of the full extent of the Gyre's research, though it does not appear that any particularly active attempt was made to keep it from her; she received some criticism for her apparent lack of curiosity in this regard, though her contrition, cooperation with the investigation, and lack of direct involvement with the experiments ultimately led to her acquittal on all charges, her retaining her position as Vice-Scholarch, and no particular barrier to the progression of her career.
- Taralash Knifemind, Adept of the Faculty of Divination. Taralash was involved in an extremely peripheral capacity with mapping networks of ley lines and mystical pylons for use in the project, and had no knowledge of the full extent of the research. When she learned of it in 1321AK, she disavowed the Empty Gyre, and worked with Gudrun Athelswicht-Zaal to try and undo the damage that the experiments had caused.
- Mariss Argenti-Canthor,Diviner of the Gilded Tower. A junior diviner in the Gilded Tower, Mariss had been assigned as personal secretary to Redemption Auduga-Canthor. Though not actively involved in the research itself, Mariss had a significant amount of knowledge about the workings of the Empty Gyre, and drew harsh criticism for not having come forward with what she knew; she maintained that she had only been following orders, and that it had not been her place to question the ethics of project. Officially she was cleared of the charges brought against her and received no punishment; she was however ostracized by those who knew of her involvement, and whilst she continued to work for the Gilded Tower she was consistently passed over for promotion after promotion for another three decades. She would later join the Everstorm Covenant, likely motivated by bitterness over the way that she was treated for what she maintained was her "loyalty to Aldernord", however misguided; she died in 1344AK in a failed assassination attempt against Princess Beatrix Bheuren van Crassen.
- Luciana Armati, Artificer-Adept and Reeve-Martial of the Queensknife. Had been responsible for creation of various pieces of specialised equipment for the project, but denied any knowledge of the true purpose that her creations were being put to. Convicted of Arcane Malafice and initially sentenced to death, her sentence was subsequently commuted to indefinite indenture in the service of Gilded Tower.
1315AK - 1321AK
Type
Research, Think Tank
Successor Organization
Leader
Parent Organization
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Manufactured Items
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