Arc I - Trade Summit on Ruusan

[Doctor Who]

Standing before the group is a tall Ithorian, burly and wearing a sleeveless top with loose slacks. On its neck hump is a metal box, with some wires connecting it to coverings on each side of the Ithorian's throat. Behind him stand several other Ithorians, none as burly as he.

"Hhhhrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm"/"I am Elder Bylo Habat, I greet you Jedi and welcome you to my Herdship, although I am not a delegate."

the Ithorian pauses, giving you all a moment to understand the discordant sounds caused by the overlay of an electronic vocodor on his natural voice.

"Hhhhrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm"/"Wanna the Hutt awaits your retinue in the dining hall. Come, follow."

Habat waits for you to begin moving, before turning and directing you all through several winding hallways into a large open room. A table sits in the center, circular and large enough to fit possibly forty to fifty people. On the walls hang a thick carpet of vines and flowers, and the ceiling is open to the dome of the ship, and thus affords a beautiful view of the sky.

Nearest the door sits a large Hutt, flocked by a retinue of guards of several species. Directly between you and the Hutt stands a protocal droid.

"Greet-ings. I am B-4-3-2, pro-to-col droid for the great Wan-na the Hutt. He bids you wel-come, Mas-ter Cur-vi-an and oth-er Je-di."

Curvian says nothing, leaving the conversation once more open to you.

[DeepSpacer]

"Greetings B432. I am Trixie Ulan'Jani. Please tell The Great Wanna the Hutt that we are honored to be here and we will be at your service during these negotiations."

[Vergence]

ST-3R continues to scan past the other Ithorians monitoring the domain as Habat introduces himself. The security operator proceeds to position itself at the most protective angle which Master Curvian is vulnerable between the shuttle ramp and herdship. The droid patiently waits in its whereabouts to be of service until the Jedi begin to advance to the dining hall.

[Doctor Who]

Wanna belts out several phrases in Huttese, and when finished, B432 translates.

"The Great Wan-na is glad the Re-pub-lic saw fit to send Je-di, and so man-y of them, to o-pen this most mo-men-tous of trade deals. He adds he would like each o-ther mem-ber of your re-tin-ue to in-tro-duce them-selves. Then, he says, those that wish can join him for a hunt. The Great Wan-na would like to ob-serve the vaunt-ed Je-di com-bat prow-ess."

At the last statement, Zyla's face brightens. "I am Zyla, and I would love to give a demonstration of my skill with the blade."

[ThreeBFour]

Greetings Great Wanna. It is a great honor to be in your magnificent presence. I am Waz'aru." He says to the Hutt, inclining his head as a sleight bow. But thinking about whether or not it was going to kill him to continue sucking up to a bunch of Hutts.

[kanila]

"Great Wanna I am Varc and I would also like to participate in the hunt." He wasn't sure what the hunt would be about but he felt more comfortable with a lightsaber than diplomacy. He would need to devote more time to the latter if he hoped to be a great Jedi knight some day, but for now he would prefer to keep within his comfort zone.

[ShadoWarrior]

After his companions have spoken, the Arkanian Padawan states confidently, "I am Healer-in-training Arca Gavalun. I will be observing the hunt, and I am prepared to defend myself or whomever may require my assistance."

[Doctor Who]

"And I am Master Curvian, although I already know you know that, Great Wanna," Curvian says smoothly.

Wanna smiles, then, surprisingly given his use of a translator droid, replies in broken Basic.

"Ho, ho, ho, it is good to see you again Curvian. Now, esteemed padawans, the hunt will begin in 3 hours, meet my retinue in the lower levels docking bay. I have heard that the Kanak cats are excellent for showing martial prowess."

He smirks at you all.

"I am not what one might call a 'normal' Hutt, I have spent too much time with outsiders, they say. That's probably why I was sent early."

He turns and slithers out, his guards forming ranks around him, then B234 following after.

[ThreeBFour]

Waz'aru looks around at the others in confusion. "Does someone want to explain this whole hunt thing to me? Also what is a Kanak cat? Because I have absolutely no idea.

[Doctor Who]

Hrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm/"They are a type of large cat, native to some of the worlds in Hutt space. They are known as excellent ambush predators. There is a growing population here thanks to a crashed poaching vessel," Habat answers.

Hrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm/"I do not condone the Hutt's decisions, but I am not here to control what he does on this world, merely here to facilitate peaceful communication."

[DeepSpacer]

"Crashed poaching vessel?" asks Trixie. "So is part of the negotiations recouping these Kanak cats? Is it the desire of the Ithorians to not have the Kanak cats running amok?"

[Doctor Who]

Hrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm/"No, the cats have been here for at least a year. We chose this world simply because it was an excellent spot to study ecosystems without naturally occurring large predatory species."

[ShadoWarrior]

Arca subtly edges closer to the Ithorian (to within a couple of meters, close enough to employ "engaged range" powers) whereupon he gently probes the liar's mind in search of his surface thoughts. Following which he makes the classic Jedi hand wave and says, "You should tell us the truth, it will make everything much better."

Spoiler:

Arca Gavalun; Tales of the Old Republic; Force power check:
, 4 Light Side



Arca Gavalun; Tales of the Old Republic; Discipline check (for Influence aka the Jedi Mind Trick):
4 Successes, 0 Advantage

[Doctor Who]

Spoiler:

Habat; TotOR; Opposed Discipline:
0 Success, 1 Threat

Habat shakes his head and looks at Arca. There is a bit of strain on his face, clearly he doesn't want to say. But, Arca's will is sufficiently strong enough to worm its way into Habat's head

Hrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmm/"I am at fault for the release of the creatures, we were seeking to study their ability to spread quickly, but our specimens were hijacked and the ship that stole them crashed on its attempt to escape. I do not like what Wanna does to them, but I see no other way to save the ecosystem from my mistake"

[Vergence]

ST-3R turns to observe Master Curvian once it realized Habat was lying. Unsure how to respond properly, the droid was happy Arca took charge of the situation. Impressed by the Padawan’s force ability, ST-3R begins to study the crowds reactions. The droid scans for rash and new threaten behaviors.

[Doctor Who]

ST-3R notes that Curvian raises an eyebrow. As the other Ithorians that greeted you all didn't follow you and Habat, and the Hutt's retinue left, there are just the padawans, ST-3R, Habat, and Curvian in the room.

Spoiler:

If you wanna try to judge emotional state more, give me an average perception check with one setback

[DeepSpacer]

"I understand." says the Twi'lek to Elder Bylo Habat. "You should not be so hard on yourself. You could not have foreseen the hijacking nor the crashing of that ship. You were engaged in an honorable endeavor. I promise to do my best to help rectify the situation." she says as she moves slightly closer to the Ithorian.

Spoiler:

Charm check. Build good rapport.
Using Force Power: Influence with Control. Each LS Pip counts as a Success (yielding 4 total successes). Each additional Success implies the target will help me for an additional scene.
Apply difficulty (vs Cool) to gain net successes (if any).

Trixie; TotOR; Compassion check:
2 Successes, 0 Advantage, 2 Light Side , 1 Dark Side

[kanila]

Varc just slowly shakes his head from side to side while softly clucking his tongue. Did he really think lying to a Jedi and her padawans would pay off for him?

[Vergence]

Realizing Habat was still under the Jedi’s influence, it simply continued monitor the Ithorian’s behavior. The droid stood by Master Curvian awaiting further orders. “This scenario is most usual” it thought.

[Doctor Who]

Curvian waves her hand, although she clearly isn't using the Force, and says, "We'll be on our way, Elder Habat, carry on with your duties."

She pushes you all along with her and leaves the room, heading deeper into the vessel.

"Arca, tell me what decisions led to your choice to use the Force to pressure Habat into talking. This is not to say your choice was wrong, nor to say it was right. I merely wish the others to know your thoughts behind the matter." Her voice is calm, although there is a bit of an undercurrent of an emotion you all can't quite place.

[ShadoWarrior]

Arca explains, "It was obvious that Elder Habat was lying. Given that the Ithorians are brokering this summit, and that Ithorians are known for their fairness and impartiality, it seemed quite odd that he would lie to us, and do so before negotiations even started. Since our task is to keep the peace, any secret he was keeping that required him to lie to Jedi might have been dangerous to ourselves or to the Republic representatives. I wished to evaluate the degree and scope of possible danger. It appears that his lie was to protect from embarrassment, rather than to hide malicious or devious intent. Our being fully informed will permit us to carry out our duties more safely and effectively."

[ThreeBFour]

"Nice catch Arca. It could have been much worse." Waz'aru interjects from his position at the edge of the group. While thinking to himself,
'Was this another test from the Master or did she miss it as well?'

[Doctor Who]

"Good, you're thinking through your actions. However, your actions may very well sour relations with this Herdship. It was the most direct action, yes, but not the most diplomatic action. As Jedi Knights, you will need to know both the direct course of action and the diplomatic course of action. Next time such a situation arises, I want you to try finding out what is hidden without using the Force to compel the truth. Split into groups of three and begin your first security sweep of the shops."

She gestures over toward a panel on the wall.

"These screens are all over the Herdship, you can access a map of the ship from here, to allow you to navigate. Using that, I want you to interview any non-Ithorian shopkeepers, traders, or travelers in the ship. It does not all need to be done now, given I have not been informed when the full delegations will arrive," she sighs.

"ST-3R, you will accompany one of the groups so it will be too even groups. Dismissed," she says, and turns to head back in to the room where you all left Habat.

[ThreeBFour]

Waz'aru walks over to the screen to access the map Master Curvian indicated would be there. 'She's obviously been here before, if she knows the ship's layout so well.' he thought trying to activate the controls.

[Doctor Who]

Waz'aru notes the options are in a language he doesn't know, but at the bottom right there is an option with letters from at least three different languages. Waz'aru makes the logical deduction that that must be a language selector. He easily finds Basic on the list, taps the option, and is greeted with a readable menu.

The ship's layout is massive, but quite simple for navigating.