Gorthaur

"Gorthaur realizes his mistake in condemning all humans and, using the Arma, sacrifices himself to atone for his actions and prevent further harm."
-- Booklet 053, "The Alien's Sanctuary"

Gorthaur (also known as Xaxone Gorthaur) is a Xaxon astronaut and psionic being who plays a pivotal role in the political upheaval of Earth in late 2501 and early 2502. The last conscious survivor of his species after the destruction of his homeworld Xaxon by the side effects of humanity's Kaiser Force technology, Gorthaur infiltrates Earth disguised as Kormolan Jilith, a Servis from a lost colony ship. Acting on behalf of the Varen Navtem -- the galactic community of interstellar civilizations -- and driven by grief-fueled rage against the species responsible for his world's annihilation, Gorthaur launches a devastating PSI-assault on Earth, possesses the body of Anlyka terCrupp and other corporate managers, manipulates the planet's computer networks to downgrade millions of Relax citizens to Noman status, and attempts to assassinate Max von Valdec.

His campaign of revenge, known as the Gorthaur Crisis, is one of the most consequential events in the saga's middle arc: it destabilizes Earth's political order, provides Valdec with the pretext to dissolve the Council of Corporations and declare emergency rule, and ultimately convinces the Council to abandon Kaiser Force in favor of a return to Driver space travel. Yet Gorthaur's arc is not merely one of vengeance. Confronted by the Terranauts in Geneva and recognizing the injustice of condemning an entire species for the crimes of its rulers, Gorthaur uses the Arma -- the meditative discipline of his people -- to sacrifice himself in atonement, making him one of the saga's most complex and tragic figures.

Nature and Species

The Xaxon

Gorthaur is a member of the Xaxon race, natives of the planet Xaxon, a world located on the edge of the galaxy near its companion planet Ylian. The Xaxon are a reptilian or semi-reptilian species: when Gorthaur moves among humans, he wears a body mask to conceal his true form. His actual appearance is alien enough that discovery would immediately expose him.

The Xaxon possessed significant psionic abilities, particularly in telepathy and mind control. They maintained symbiotic relationships with creatures called Koppelpartner -- described as "wonderfully supple creatures" whose images Gorthaur later sent to a human psychologist. Their homeworld featured swamp-like environments populated by creatures called Sumpfsegler (Swamp Gliders) from a region called Liweuten -- the place Gorthaur dreamed of during his long isolation. The Xaxon civilization was sufficiently advanced to engage in interstellar space exploration and ice-sleep technology.

Psionic Classification

The Mushni (Star Riders) -- members of a post-technological civilization that has renounced material technology in favor of PSI -- classify Gorthaur as a Nichtmushni (non-Mushni), acknowledging his psionic abilities while distinguishing him from their own order. This designation places Gorthaur as a being of considerable psionic power, but not of threshold-civilization level. His abilities include:

• Telepathy and mind control: Gorthaur can take complete control of human hosts, suppressing the original consciousness and operating through the possessed body.
• Multiple simultaneous possession: He takes control of Anlyka terCrupp and "several other ASK managers" simultaneously, suggesting he can project his consciousness across multiple hosts.
• Computer network manipulation: Using either direct psionic interface or the resources of his possessed hosts, Gorthaur accesses and manipulates Earth's planetary computer network on a massive scale.
• PSI projection: During the Berlin attack, Gorthaur uses his psionic abilities to transform the physical environment, reshaping Berlin into a swamp-like landscape reflecting his destroyed homeworld.
• Carrier of ego-fragments: Gorthaur carries within his skull six surviving ego-fragments of his species -- the Xaxonen-Banshees (also called Xaxonenegos) -- the last remnants of the Xaxon race, desperately requiring host bodies to survive.

The Arma

The Arma is a meditative discipline used by the Xaxon to achieve extreme psychic focus. Described as "meditative sentences used by Gorthaur to focus," the Arma represents a spiritual practice native to his culture. In his final moments, Gorthaur employs the Arma to channel his remaining psionic energy into a deliberate act of self-sacrifice, suggesting the practice enables feats of extraordinary psychic concentration -- including the controlled dissolution of one's own consciousness.

Biography

Life on Xaxon

Little is known of Gorthaur's life before the catastrophe. He was an astronaut, skilled enough to undertake a solo deep-space mission to study a cosmic cloud on the fringes of the galaxy. He was placed in ice sleep -- a form of suspended animation -- for the duration of this mission. His dreams during ice sleep were of Liweuten, his home region on Xaxon, with its swamps and gliding creatures, suggesting deep emotional attachment to his world.

After an unspecified period in ice sleep, Gorthaur was restored following ten hours in a Simulation Cube (Simulationskubus), a Xaxon technology used for the gradual reawakening of consciousness.

The Destruction of Xaxon (December 2501)

Gorthaur awakens from ice sleep to discover a catastrophe beyond comprehension. Chomeuze, the sun of Xaxon, is undergoing a catastrophic event -- creating "cracks in space" that are tearing apart both Xaxon and its sister planet Ylian. The destruction is not natural: it is the result of technical manipulations related to Kaiser Force, the entropy-accelerating space drive developed by humanity's Kaiser Corporation. The side effects of Kaiser Force technology, deployed across human space without regard for its cosmic consequences, have destabilized Chomeuze and destroyed the Xaxon star system.

Gorthaur experiences this destruction telepathically, sensing the death of his people across the void. The agony of billions of dying Xaxon consciousnesses floods his mind. When the destruction is complete, Gorthaur is the last conscious Xaxon alive -- carrying within his skull the six surviving ego-fragments of his race, the Xaxonen-Banshees, who desperately need host bodies before they fade into oblivion.

The Pilots -- representatives of post-technological supercivilizations -- reveal to the Mushni observer Zsa-non that the destruction of Xaxon was "caused by technical manipulations related to Kaiser Force" and is "not an isolated incident." The galactic Entities are planning a multicultural counter-action against humanity, and Gorthaur is part of a separate Entity's plan -- an instrument of alien retaliation sent to bring humanity to account for its reckless technology (Booklet 050).

Infiltration of Earth: The Kormolan Jilith Deception

Gorthaur travels to Earth under the false identity of Kormolan Jilith, a Servis who claims to be a descendant of colonists from a lost ship, the ALMA MATER. He arrives in an archaic spacecraft called the Ringo, emerging from Space II near Pluto. His cover story is carefully crafted to exploit Max von Valdec's obsessions: Jilith claims to possess a functioning Triadic Monochord -- a transmitter capable of interstellar travel without the catastrophic side effects of Kaiser Force.

This claim is a deliberate deception. Valdec has spent years trying to perfect an artificial Triadic Monochord, and the prospect of a working side-effect-free version is irresistible to him. Valdec orders "Jilith" to be brought to Berlin and personally interrogates him, suspecting a trap but unable to resist the technological bait. Valdec asks Jilith to demonstrate the transmitter, playing directly into Gorthaur's plan (Booklet 050).

The Attack on Berlin (December 2501)

As Valdec and "Jilith" prepare for the transmitter demonstration in Berlin, Gorthaur reveals his true nature. Using his psionic abilities, he initiates the alien attack on Earth, unleashing a massive PSI-field that envelops the planet. The attack's most dramatic manifestation occurs in Berlin itself: Gorthaur transforms the capital of the Terran Star Empire into a swamp-like landscape reflecting the ecology of his destroyed homeworld, Xaxon. The city's buildings warp, the environment shifts, and the inhabitants -- including Valdec himself -- are transformed into reptilian creatures resembling Gorthaur's own species.

The transformation is not limited to Berlin. Llewellyn 709 and Cantos, elsewhere on Earth, are transformed into giant bird-like creatures. The PSI-field disrupts normal reality across the planet, creating a nightmarish fusion of Xaxon ecology and Terran civilization.

The alien attack is accompanied by a ship in orbit -- an alien vessel carrying Gray Guards under some form of control. David terGorden, who has fled to Geneva during the attack, discovers Bolter's Hausfreund -- a sentient computer with a mistletoe growing from it. Using the mistletoe to amplify his PSI powers, David projects his consciousness to the alien ship and influences Queen Yazmin to activate the self-destruct system. The ship is destroyed, the PSI-field collapses, and Earth returns to normal (Booklet 050).

Gorthaur survives the collapse of the attack. In the aftermath, Asen-Ger, Llewellyn 709, Narda, and Mandorla remain on Earth to track down Kormolan Jilith -- though they do not yet fully understand the nature of the being they are pursuing.

On the Run (January 2502)

After the failed Berlin attack, Gorthaur's true identity as an alien infiltrator becomes known to Valdec's intelligence apparatus. Vilosh Moran, a secondary interrogation technician for the Kaiser Corporation, is subjected to a psycho-hood interrogation to ensure he has not leaked information about "Servis Kormolan Jilith." Valdec learns that Gorthaur has escaped and orders Fay Gray to locate and eliminate the alien, while also monitoring and eliminating the Terranauts if possible.

Gorthaur, on the run and desperate, faces a dual imperative: revenge against the species that destroyed his world, and the need to find host bodies for the six surviving Xaxonenegos -- the Xaxon ego-fragments carried in his skull -- before they fade. He uses his psionic abilities for further information gathering through the six Xaxonenegos, who participate in reconnaissance. He travels first to Madrid and then to Geneva, seeking a powerful human host through whom he can strike at the heart of humanity's power structure (Booklet 053).

The Gorthaur Crisis (January 2502)

Possession of Anlyka terCrupp

In Geneva, Gorthaur identifies his target: Anlyka terCrupp, the GeneralManag of the Allwelten-Stahl-Konsortium (ASK) and one of the most powerful corporate leaders on Earth. He takes control of terCrupp's body and several other ASK managers at the corporation's Geneva headquarters. Operating through terCrupp as his primary vessel -- referred to in some sources as "the Technician" -- Gorthaur gains access to ASK's corporate infrastructure, its communication networks, and its political connections.

The Xaxon egos are placed into the bodies of the other ASK managers, giving them temporary physical existence -- though this existence is fragile and the egos grow progressively weaker.

Manipulation of Earth's Computer Network

Using his position within ASK's infrastructure and his psionic abilities, Gorthaur launches a devastating attack on Earth's planetary computer network. The manipulation causes:

• Mass demotion of citizens: Millions of Relax -- the pacified middle caste of Terran society -- are administratively downgraded to Noman status, the lowest caste with no legal rights, no identity, and no social protection. Named characters affected include Andras Mulin, Lyla Fertochen, and Miliim Gramis, ordinary Relax who were "watching TV" when their entire social existence was erased by a keystroke.
• Widespread chaos: The computer disruptions cascade through Terran society, disrupting supply chains, communications, transportation, and the bureaucratic systems on which the caste hierarchy depends.
• Political destabilization: The chaos provides Max von Valdec with a pretext to consolidate power. Valdec frames the unrest as the work of his political opposition, particularly Anlyka terCrupp and the Council members who had been plotting against him.

The mass demotion represents one of the most devastating acts of social violence in the saga. With a single manipulation of the digital infrastructure, Gorthaur strips millions of people of their identity and rights -- demonstrating both the fragility of the caste system and the catastrophic vulnerability of a society that has encoded its entire social hierarchy in computer databases.

The Assassination Attempt on Valdec

Gorthaur, operating through Anlyka terCrupp's body, travels to New Berlin and attempts to assassinate Max von Valdec at the Kaiser Corporation headquarters. The attempt uses Vyria Vram, a young woman, to infiltrate Valdec's quarters. Valdec is nearly killed but is saved by the Gray Guards. The failure of the assassination forces Gorthaur to retreat (Booklet 053).

Valdec's Exploitation of the Crisis

Valdec proves as ruthless in exploiting the crisis as Gorthaur is in creating it. The dictator uses the chaos to:

• Frame his opposition: Valdec blames terCrupp and the Council opposition for the computer disruptions and the unrest, even though terCrupp's body is under alien control.
• Order the assassination of Ignazius Tyll: The Lord Inspector's investigation of Valdec's financial corruption has become a serious threat. Valdec orders Fay Gray to eliminate Tyll and frame terCrupp for the killing. Despite multiple attempts, Tyll survives.
• Dissolve the Council: Valdec declares a state of emergency and dissolves the Council of Corporations, consolidating dictatorial power.

The Gorthaur Crisis thus serves Valdec's purposes as much as Gorthaur's: the alien's attack provides the political cover for Valdec's final seizure of absolute power.

Confrontation and Sacrifice (January 2502)

The Terranauts -- Narda, Llewellyn 709, and Asen-Ger -- along with Chan de Nouille's Gray Drivers, pursue Gorthaur across Europe. They follow leads through Paris, Sofia, and Perth, encountering various dangers and unrest caused by the Brak Shakram Command and the general collapse of order. In Perth, the Terranauts are captured but are rescued by Chan de Nouille.

The Terranauts realize that the computer network disruptions are Gorthaur's doing and trace him to the Kaiser Corporation headquarters in New Berlin, where he is attempting to reach Valdec. After the failed assassination, Gorthaur retreats to the ASK headquarters in Geneva.

It is here, in Geneva, that the final confrontation occurs. The Terranauts confront Gorthaur at the ASK headquarters. Through the psionic encounter -- particularly through Narda's telepathic abilities, which prove instrumental in understanding the alien -- Gorthaur is forced to confront the reality of his actions. He has not merely struck at the rulers who destroyed his world; he has inflicted suffering on millions of innocent people -- the Relax demoted to Noman status, the ordinary humans caught in the crossfire of his revenge.

In a moment of moral reckoning, Gorthaur realizes his mistake in condemning all humans for the crimes of their rulers. Using the Arma -- the meditative discipline of the Xaxon -- he sacrifices himself to atone for his actions and prevent further harm. The self-sacrifice is a deliberate, focused act of psionic dissolution: Gorthaur channels his remaining life force through the Arma, ending his existence and releasing the Xaxon egos he carried.

The six Xaxon ego-fragments, ripped from their stolen bodies, are cast into Space II, where they become new Banshees -- the disembodied souls trapped in the counter-universe. The saga notes: "Lights glowed in the midst of the all-encompassing gray. Banshees. New Banshees." The last remnants of the Xaxon race join the countless other lost souls drifting through Space II (Booklet 053).

Aftermath and Legacy

A Mushni observer in a post-technological ship, monitoring the situation on Earth from orbit, reports back to her superiors that the danger on Earth has not been eliminated -- a judgment that extends beyond Gorthaur's personal threat to the broader menace of humanity's Kaiser Force technology.

Gorthaur's crisis has lasting consequences for the saga:

• The Council abolishes Kaiser Force: In the aftermath of the combined alien attack and Gorthaur crisis, the Council formally agrees to abandon Kaiser Force and return to Driver space travel (confirmed in Booklet 056). This is one of the most significant policy shifts in the saga's political arc.
• Valdec consolidates power: Paradoxically, the crisis that should have weakened Valdec instead strengthens him. He uses the chaos to dissolve the Council, declare emergency rule, and frame his opposition -- events that lead directly to the political struggles of Booklets 054-056.
• terCrupp returns to politics: Anlyka terCrupp, freed from Gorthaur's possession, eventually returns to political activity. The extent to which she retains memory of or is psychologically affected by the Xaxon possession is not addressed in the narrative. She goes on to play a central role in the War of the Castes, engineering Ignazius Tyll's removal from power and plotting a nuclear strike on Geneva.
• The Xaxon race is extinct: With Gorthaur's death and the transformation of the Xaxonenegos into Banshees, the Xaxon civilization ceases to exist in any meaningful form. They join the roster of species destroyed or displaced by Kaiser Force's entropic effects.

The Kormolan Jilith Identity

The false identity of Kormolan Jilith is one of the saga's most effective deceptions, constructed to exploit Valdec's specific psychological vulnerabilities:

The deception is brilliant in its psychological targeting. Valdec has spent years and vast resources attempting to build an artificial Triadic Monochord that works without catastrophic entropic side effects. Every version has failed. The claim that an isolated colony has independently achieved this goal is precisely the kind of news Valdec cannot ignore -- and cannot resist. Gorthaur weaponizes Valdec's own technological ambition against him.

Key Actions (Chronological)

1. Awakens from ice sleep and discovers the destruction of Xaxon and Ylian by Kaiser Force side effects (Booklet 050)
2. Experiences the death of his people telepathically; becomes the carrier of six surviving Xaxonenegos (Booklet 050)
3. Travels to Earth under the identity of Servis Kormolan Jilith, claiming to possess a functioning Triadic Monochord (Booklet 050)
4. Is brought to Berlin and interrogated by Max von Valdec (Booklet 050)
5. Initiates the alien attack on Earth, transforming Berlin into a swamp-like landscape and enveloping Earth in a PSI-field (Booklet 050)
6. Escapes after the alien ship is destroyed by Queen Yazmin's self-destruct activation (Booklet 050)
7. Flees to Madrid and then to Geneva while pursued by the Terranauts and Fay Gray (Booklet 053)
8. Takes control of Anlyka terCrupp and other ASK managers in Geneva (Booklet 053)
9. Manipulates Earth's computer network, downgrading millions of Relax to Noman status (Booklet 053)
10. Attempts to assassinate Max von Valdec in New Berlin using Vyria Vram; fails and is saved by Gray Guards (Booklet 053)
11. Retreats to ASK headquarters in Geneva (Booklet 053)
12. Is confronted by the Terranauts (Narda, Llewellyn 709, Asen-Ger) in Geneva (Booklet 053)
13. Recognizes his error in condemning all humans; uses the Arma to sacrifice himself in atonement (Booklet 053)

Relationships

Significance in the Saga

The Cost of Kaiser Force

Gorthaur is the living proof of Kaiser Force's cosmic consequences. While the saga's human characters debate the technology's dangers in abstract terms -- entropy acceleration, spatial rifts, the displeasure of the Entities -- Gorthaur embodies the concrete, immediate, and irreversible cost: an entire civilization annihilated, a species rendered extinct, a lone survivor driven to madness and revenge. He transforms the Kaiser Force debate from a question of policy into a question of moral accountability.

Vengeance and Its Limits

Gorthaur's arc traces the trajectory of righteous anger corrupted by its own excess. His rage against the species that destroyed his world is entirely justified -- humanity's reckless deployment of Kaiser Force has, by any standard, committed an act of cosmic genocide against the Xaxon. Yet Gorthaur's response -- possessing innocent people, disrupting the lives of millions of Relax who have no connection to Kaiser Force, attempting political assassination -- replicates the very indiscriminate cruelty he seeks to avenge. The moment of his self-sacrifice represents his recognition of this moral paradox: that vengeance against "humanity" is as unjust as the destruction of "Xaxon," because both abstract categories contain millions of individuals who bear no personal responsibility for the crimes committed in their name.

The Parallel with Cantos

Gorthaur and Cantos represent two alien responses to humanity's destructive potential. Both are driven to Earth by the cosmic damage caused by Kaiser Force. Both possess formidable psionic abilities. Both seek to change humanity's behavior. But where Cantos chooses diplomacy, patience, and alliance -- spending years warning, persuading, and ultimately sacrificing himself in cooperation with humans -- Gorthaur chooses infiltration, revenge, and violence. That both paths ultimately lead to self-sacrifice (Cantos merges with the Genessan Entity in Booklet 092; Gorthaur uses the Arma in Geneva) underscores the saga's argument that aliens who engage with humanity are consumed by the encounter, regardless of the method they choose.

The Instrument of Valdec's Power

The deepest irony of the Gorthaur Crisis is that Gorthaur's attack on Earth strengthens the very tyrant he sought to destroy. Valdec uses the crisis to dissolve the Council, declare emergency rule, frame his political opposition, and consolidate absolute power. The alien's revenge, rather than punishing the man responsible for Kaiser Force, provides him with the political cover to become even more powerful. This pattern -- in which resistance to tyranny inadvertently reinforces it -- is a recurring theme of the saga.

The Mass Demotion

Gorthaur's manipulation of Earth's computer network, which downgrades millions of Relax to Noman status, exposes the terrifying fragility of the caste system. If millions of people can be stripped of their identity, their rights, and their social existence by altering entries in a database, then those rights were never real to begin with. The mass demotion is not merely an act of sabotage; it is an inadvertent revelation of the truth that the Council of Corporations' entire social order rests on nothing more substantial than a computer record.

Appearances

Related Species and Concepts

See Also

• Kaiser Force -- The technology whose side effects destroyed Gorthaur's homeworld
• Xaxon -- Gorthaur's destroyed planet
• Anlyka terCrupp -- The GeneralManag whose body Gorthaur possesses
• Max von Valdec -- The dictator Gorthaur seeks to destroy and who exploits the crisis
• Ignazius Tyll -- The Lord Inspector whose investigation is complicated by the crisis
• Council of Corporations -- The governing body that dissolves during the crisis
• Terranauts -- The group that ultimately confronts and defeats Gorthaur
• Narda -- The young telepath instrumental in understanding Gorthaur
• Cantos -- The Genessaner who represents the diplomatic alternative to Gorthaur's vengeance
• Banshee -- The fate of the Xaxon egos after Gorthaur's death
• Noman -- The caste to which millions are demoted by Gorthaur's computer manipulation
• Relax -- The caste most affected by the mass demotion
• Geneva -- The city where Gorthaur makes his final stand and sacrifices himself
• Triadic Monochord -- The technology Gorthaur falsely claims to possess
• Kormolan Jilith -- Gorthaur's false human identity
• Varen Navtem -- The galactic community on whose behalf Gorthaur acted
• Zsa-non -- The Mushni observer who witnesses and reports on the crisis
• Bolter's Hausfreund -- The sentient computer David uses to counter the Berlin attack
• Queen Yazmin -- The Gray Guard Queen influenced to destroy the alien ship

Gorthaur appears as a central character in Booklets 050 and 053 of Die Terranauten, with his legacy referenced in Booklet 056 and beyond. He is the last of the Xaxon, a species destroyed by humanity's Kaiser Force technology -- and the embodiment of the saga's argument that the cosmic consequences of reckless power cannot be avoided, only answered for.