Ayt Mannae
Biography
Early life and training
Ayt Mannae had a fairly typical life for a Keeper, bar her years with Ferrash. She was born to two Keepers – a Mannae mother and a Saeryn father. (Surnames among descendants of empyrric bloodlines in The Protectorate come from the strongest blood first, then reverts to the mother's, as that is where empyrric awareness was originally believed to be passed down from.) As with most new empyrrics, she was trained first under the tutelage of several logicators, then under one or two ordinators, then under a justicar. All through this process, her behaviour was monitored and controlled. She was incredibly adept at suppressing her own emotions, but this was coupled with the ability to detect and manipulate emotions in others more accurately than many peers. The Judiciary trusted her and valued her contributions to Keeper military doctrine. She worked hard to lower barriers between The Keepers and the Protectorate military, as she saw that collaboration would serve them better.Birth of Ferrash
This collaboration is how she met Ellit. At the time, Ellit was only a section assistant, the second-in-command of a Sentinel. They were both fighting in defence of Chivla during the Rythian war and they ended up working closer than expected through the swamps. They had an incredibly low-key affair that was probably the only thing keeping Ayt's sanity in check at the time before the war ended and they went their separate ways. Before they did so, however, Ayt mentioned that she would probably be called up for the breeding programme soon. Ellit promised she wouldn't have to go through it with a stranger and faked his data so she would be paired with him as Ellit Progaeryon. So they slept together (not for the first time, admittedly) and that was the last they ever saw of each other. Ayt struggled with her emotions during her pregnancy – as they don't use drugs for fear of blocking empyrric growth – but not to the extent that anyone noticed anything amiss. She wasn't looking forwards to the child being taken from her, so she was relieved when he turned out not to be empyrric and given back to her. The Keepers gave him back so Ayt would be able to try prompting empyrric shock in him and inducing The Empyrean (an experiment the Keepers kept coming back to). They decided he would be trained as a Keeper anyway and subjected to the Empyrean as often as possible. Due to the nature of these experiments, they needed somewhere away from prying eyes. So Ayt chose Munab. She knew Ellit was stationed there. She was never going to reveal herself, but she took some comfort from the fact that he was nearby.Life on Munab
In any case, nothing she threw at Ferrash worked. He never developed empyrric awareness, and she could see all the pain she was putting him through. The Judiciary expected results and reports, though, so she couldn't stop. The heartbreak and guilt made her bitter. She began to blame him for being a prog, rather than blaming her own indiscretions, and that made hurting him a little easier. Some of her lessons were really her lashing out, but she often regretted those. Most concealed lessons that she felt would help him survive within the Protectorate. Many times she considered killing him as a kindness, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She longed for the day when the Judiciary would grow bored of him and let her send him away – perhaps even to his father – but that day never came. So she was beyond relieved when a free agent offered to take him away after his failed escape attempt. It was a way out that the Protectorate would approve of – the Protectorate would get a highly trained new agent and The Judiciary would get a Justicar back.Return to Hesperex
In the years since, she was promoted to Head Justicar. One of these exists for each colony in the Protectorate, making twelve overall. As Hesperex's Head Justicar, she is responsible for the training regime of all new Keepers and much of the Keepers' military movements. The Grand Justicar made it her task to eliminate the Kept on Hesperex. Spoilers for Bile and BloodDuring the Hesperex uprising
When her son returned to Hesperex after killing The Hegemony's magister, one of his actions was to capture his mother. To her surprise, he then asked for her help. As the Keepers' representative in the Primary Committee, she would be capable of detecting him when disguised as the Proctor (as part of his plan to reform the Protectorate in a bloodless revolution). He wanted her to help keep up his disguise. Although skeptical of his aims, she agreed. She proved her loyalty by rescuing Ferrash and a mixed group of Technocracy and Observers, including Ducat and Son, from the Keepers when they purged the lower levels. Then, when Palia came to Hesperex, Ayt pointed her in the direction of a group of Kept hiding out in the lower levels so she could collect intelligence for Ferrash. She then went to rescue Bek from the vat he had been imprisoned in after Ferrash was able to do so himself. She successfully freed him and brought him to the surface, but by this point fighting had broken out on the streets. At the moment Ferrash and Palia destroyed the Empyrean, she lost the ability to defend herself and was beaten to death by angry vatters.Personality and traits
Ayt is haughty and harsh, and doesn't tolerate fools. Whatever her softer side may have looked like, it is long gone.Skills and abilities
Ayt is an empyrric, and a particularly skilled one at that.Appearances
Full name
Ayt Mannae
Ayt Mannae
Current Location
Age
65
Children
Sex
Female
Eyes
Amber
Hair
What hair hasn't fallen off is straggly and white, with one streak obstinately refusing to turn from black.
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Face marked by the scarring of the pain mesh, which extends over some of her scalp.
Height
5'9"
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Comments