On cold night on the planet Palantir, two individuals walked into a local cantina. One, a hulking fellow with bounty hunter armor and skin akin to feathers, removed his full helmet to reveal seven eyes and a large orange beak for a nose and mouth. This was a Sipsk'ud and he was the Duk'k the Bounty Hunter.
His companion was more interested in the contents behind the bar than the patrons inside, his stylish sweater afforded everyone else the opportunity to see he entered unarmed, and his demeanor told them that weapons were unnecessary. Tarrie Prolek, pilot under contract for Ne'vets Aharo, usually drank with different members of the crew of the Pretio, but upon landing on Palantir, both were given the night off while the others prepared for the next step in their journey. Still, Tarrie was no happy with his Sipsk'ud drinking buddy.
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| Tarrie Prolek - Pilot Under Contract |
"I don't need a babysitter. I'm perfectly fine to have a few drinks to unwind and make it back to the ship without any issues. I've done this for a long time."
Duk'k chuckled, "And I've only known you for a few weeks, and what you said has never happened. Ne'vets gave us the night off the relax. Have a few drinks, pick up some local gossip, make a connection if it happens, but we need to chill out for a night. After everything we've been through, we deserve it."
Tarrie rolled his eyes and nodded, "I know, I know. It's been all business since those stranded passengers tried to commandeer the Pretio, and those fuzzballs tried to blow it up. I mean, I'll do whatever Ne'vets wants because Frokaza and me are.."
"...under contract, I know," Duk'k interrupted him. "There's no orders or obligations tonight, try to enjoy it."
"You know that's not going to happen. Things... escalate, a bit faster for me. Hey, I did get to send a message to the Alderaan Little Theatre Company when we refueled in Bespin. Getting that cat from Devoran made me remember them. "
Duk'k squinted most of his eyes, "I'm a fan of human musical presentation as much as any other race, and by that I mean I'm not, but you need to find a time and a place for theatrics as an outlet. At least let us know when you get those urges, before you succumb to a song-and-dance number during a zoological presentation."
"Duk'k, I'm a free spirit, man, a rebel. I'll help out the crew anyway I know how."
Duk'k smirked and sipped his drink, "Good, you can start by cleaning off the residue in the cargo hold that those sneeze guards we installed on the Devaronian Snow Cat's cage didn't catch."
"Ew, again? For such a cute critter, that thing was disgusting."
"Didn't you listen to Ne'vets' briefing? If we didn't keep it in a cold temperature, it emitted that neon green goop out of it's neck as a cooling mechanism. It's kriffing gross."
"Wait, that's a briefing? I thought he was just going off on animal trivia, like he always does. He does like to hear himself speak."
It was Duk'k's turn to roll his eyes. "Luckily this planet is going through some sort of colder climate shift. The animal is perfect, goop-free hopefully."
Tarrie slowly took a sip in front of Duk'k's judging eyes, "Is that why we need a whole day, just to adjust the life support in the cargo hold to keep it chilled?"
"No, Tarrie, that took us a couple hours to set up the ship, twice that time to clean-up the slime mess when it didn't work, and all that time Ne'vets was working with...," the Sipsk'ud stopped himself and motioned to Tarrie to take up a booth in the corner of the cantina. Finally seated, he continued,
"..., there was a lot bureaucratic bantha poodoo to get through, between the Devaronian locals and the Imperial regs to get the critter off-world and acceptable on this planet." He hushed his tone a bit more, "The planet's under some sort of an Imperial embargo for debts, and no commercial product can come on or off planet without Imp approval. Ne'vets needed to set up the animal as some sort of Imperial-approved emotional support critter. He bribed doctors and everything."
Tarrie was puzzled "Aren't they going to question when we leave without the cat?"
Duk'k chuckled to himself, "That's where I've seen Ne'vets at his best. If they notice, I'm sure he can connive his way out of it. At that point, we'll all pretend to be 'under contract'"
They toasted each other, with a knowing nod.
A few minutes of quiet drinking later, a much-needed refill sparked the conversation back up.
"But Duk'k, did we really need an ice machine for the Pretio?"
"If we need a back-up system to keep animals happy so they don't puke green goop out their necks, yes! I know Ne'vets is happy we picked it up with a discount from that Devaronian family before you embarrassed us at their daughter's wedding. I think the mother was a Magistrate of some sort, pretty powerful, we have made a family feud."
"Hey, we all had a good time at the wedding," Tarrie protested. "You guys wouldn't have even been invited if I hadn't saved that guy from his five-horned snorgler."
"I don't think that was what that creature was called..."
"Yeah, yeah, five-horned snorgler, six-horned snorgler, the locals called it a Pikorn, or Pikachu, or some stupid name. Doesn't matter, I saved Rakh Culnul's life, and easily translated a life debt into a relaxing evening."
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| The alleged Five-Horned Snorgler |
Duk'k shrugged agreeably, "It was nice, I never knew what a Devaronian wedding was like. It was a lot of sashes for the guests."
"And a lot of sashays from this guy," Tarrie proclaimed a bit too loud, pointing two thumbs at himself. Duk'k pondered cutting the pilot off.
"And yet you immediately went from dancing all the traditional dances to crying in a corner, lamenting that damned Rosalyn, who you barely knew."
"Shut your hole, that woman was a saint.... I miss her."
"Whatever, you knew public signs of sadness are taboo at the wedding reception and bad omen for the marriage. That was the one thing they told us before the ceremony. We couldn't get your behind out of there fast enough. They were ready to feed you to some pit creature they were showing holo-pics of. "
Tarrie was still agitated, "Sorry, I knew I wasn't helping you guys get me out."
Duk'k gave out a audible guffaw, "Tarrie, I've helped out Kitonak gun runners. They're the slowest race in the galaxy, and they were a jump to hyperspace compared to you."
Tarrie's eyes watered. "I didn't mean to be a problem. You, you, you know what I think? I think it's that black pillar Ne'vets is carrying around from that stranded space liner. It's gotta be affecting my mojo!"
Duk'k motioned to the bartender to clear up the tab, "Ne'vets is obsessed with that thing, but sensors on the ship were only picking up very residual negative energy. It's some kind of potential energy source, but we don't have the parts to tap into it."
"Oh, that's nice," Tarrie was in a noticeable daze now.
Duk'k helped his crew member and friend to his feet. "C'mon buddy, let's get you back to the ship. Knowing Ne'vets, we're going to need you tomorrow, and your hungover best is still better than most people's normal best."
"Right back 'atcha, buddy."
And with that, the duo paid their tab, and headed back to the Pretio, unmolested.
GM Notes: With only two players available, we did a nearly 90% improv session, merely asking questions to both Duk'k and Tarrie's players and running with that. Getting the creature (an anomoly on an otherwise forest/jungle planet) was always a given. Expanding on that was my reward for handwaving the mission. In the end, I realized the players bounced back and forth like two guys sitting in the bar, so it made sense to advance the storyline at least enough for these two characters to reach their destination and get some much deserved R&R and get to know each other a little better.
Two more amusing notes about the session. I needed to take the dogs out and talk to my family for a bit. I left the recording on while I was gone, and I realized that Hoyce was describing to Jim how he formed a gaming group at his first real job in Boston. He had mentioned playing D&D in his job interview and upon hiring, his boss inquired with him about running a game for a few other employees, who were interested, but didn't know how to run a game.
Some guys get all the luck.
The difference of trying to play Star War now versus 20 years ago? Interpreting and adapting the canon to fit the campaign was easy when there were a handful of movies, the West End books, and the Extended Universe. Add twenty years of movies and the internet, and I'm highly amused that they've completed their mission mere months before the Devaronian Uprising in 5 BBY.
The uprising was put down by a Devaronian army led by the Kardue'sai'Malloc "The Butcher of Montellian Serat. " That character makes a cameo in a Mos Eisley cantina during the negotiations between a certain smuggler and a crazed old desert hermit.
Next: #50 - Double Feature
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