HUSBAND. FATHER. INSTITUTE MAN.

The esteemed Doctor Tajo R. Vallar

HUSBAND 

Married to his work at the Institute, Tajo Vallar was neither expecting -- or looking -- to fall in love. And then he met her, two children in tow, while examining artifacts she possessed during an adjudication hearing at Therran Immigration. 

While the Institute exerts complete control over Therra, it has much less over the system’s remaining worlds and moons. 

However, most people immigrating to Therra are eager to surrender any items or trinkets the Institute confiscates as ‘Chaos’ because they have no leverage and are eager to gain access to their new homeworld. But she refused and so, Tajo was called in as an expert to examine her assets more closely to look for any latent ‘magical’ properties. 

He suspected a few. Inspected them. But could not prove they were ‘magic’ because ‘magic’ does not exist, and let her keep them. 

She saw through the ruse -- saw through the man -- to see something something else. As did he. 

She came from FAYRII. 

---

FATHER 

In addition to her two children from a previous marriage, Tajo and his new wife had three children of their own. Five in all.

A gambler. A pilot. A politician. A knight. And a woman of the Institute. 

And there’s a robot. Two robots. 

---

INSTITUTE MAN 

Based on ORDO, the INSTITUTE is the scientific body tasked with uncovering, disproving, and covering up the existence of ‘magic’ during the current ‘science’ ascension cycle. 

Formed in the anarchy of the last great change, the Institute began as a way to contain the controlled descent -- and sudden absence -- of the great mages of the last age. Containment of minor practitioners turned to capture of all mystics, along with any devices, tomes, or familiars. 

As KHOR the conduit became KHOR the source -- and the Institute possessed every ‘magical’ thing in existence -- ‘magic’ disappeared, and the Institute required a new mission: 

Hunting down and discrediting anyone or anything that might support the existence of ‘magic.’

And so, over the next several hundred years, the Institute became the clenched fist that crushed legend, myth, and apocrypha, and the skilled hand that built great machines of industry and discovery. 

At the height of the Institute’s power, the only place in the universe that you could find common occurrence of the strange and the weird was on KAOSO -- the quarantine planet to which only the Institute had access.

Among the ruins of the chaos moon -- during the thousands of Institute explorations and excavations -- there were no overt examples of actual ‘magic,’ just incidents of ‘science’ breaking down. Failing in ways it should not. 

This continued for hundreds more years, and in that time what were legends, myths, and apocrypha, becomes fables, stories and tall tales that children adored. No one believed in ‘magic’ but they loved the idea of it. No one except the men and women who controlled the Institute. They knew better. 

And then one day KAOSO woke up. 

Okay, that’s the dad. Mike and Jonathan will be in the comments if you want to talk about it.

More soon!

---