Mind trick
You begin expounding on the trials of being doctor to a Hutt, Ren as the human female stares at you with an incredulous look on her face. But suddenly she seems to go slightly slack-jawed and says "This is Darga's doctor. We don't want this trouble. Let's ride." The other swoop bikers look at her funny, but she gives them such a menacing look that they shrug and start their bikes up, flying off to bother someone else.
The Cantina, the Federation's Folly, is half-full with mainly Neimoideans, all chattering loudly amongst themselves. Several people look up as you walk in, but conversation goes back to a roar shortly. The bartender, a Neimoidean in a filthy apron, nods at you. "Welcome to the Folly. What will it be?"
Quen will give his Master a wink and a nod.
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Ren will nod his head in kind to Quen, showing him a smile of gratitude before they head into the cantina. The good doctor takes an empty spot up at the bar proper, saying to the alien manning it, "I'm in the mood for a Black Martini, good sir." He wasn't sure if the phrase was still used, since his Underworld lingo was rusty given he had had direct contact with a Hutt for so long. But, he hoped it at least got him pointed in the right direction without having to flash too many credits.
The bartender's eyes widen at the phrase and he bends down behind the bar to fetch a bottle. As he does, his head lowers close to the bar and he whispers to Ren, "The Devaronian in the corner. Works for the Hutt. Skittish, but reliable." He straightens up and pours the doctor a milky liquid that turns black as it settles in the glass.
Mahath looks for a place to sit, somewhere that he can keep an eye on the good doctor. He'll order a drink but hardly touch it. Even though doc had diffused the earlier situation with the bikers, Mahath is concerned they may have drawn other unwanted attention.
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Nodding, Ren places a few credits on the counter for the drink and the info, dowing the inky substance with a grimace and a sigh. "Never could improve on perfection." He comments dryly to himself about the drink as he makes his way to the indicated Devaronian. He slides in to sit across from him. "I heard that you happen to work for the Hutt. Myself and my friends are looking for work. Don't try to pick them out, they're in this cantina, just know that. I'm a doctor by trade, as well as fluent in Binary and Huttese. I'm sure your boss has some use for myself and my protection."
The Devaronian smiles and twitches slightly. "Hey hey hey! What do I, an honest fellow, know of Hutts? I am but a poor man, trying to make his way in a hostile galaxy." He smiles, the very picture of feigned innocence.
Perception Check to keep an eye out for trouble.
The Devaronian's smile fades and is replaced with a scowl. "Hey! I don't advertise who I work for, friend, because my boss has a tendency to murder those who bother him without cause. And as I don't want to die, you need to move along. Or I get upset." You feel a nudge under the table: a blaster is being pointed at you by the Devaronian.
Chel nods in appreciation as Ren manages to scare the bikers away with the mere suggestion of Hutt influence.
Entering the Folly, he immediately disengages from the others and finds a nice comfortable corner booth, arms flung out along the top of the rails.
He gazes out into bar, after ordering a Correlian Ale....
Perception
but the crowd of Neimoidean all lookd the same to him.
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"You may end up dying regardless." Ren says casually as he holds up a remote detonator. "As it so happens, while you were busy trying not to be who you claim to be, I slipped some Detonite under the table. And this is the remote for it. So, either you give me what I want, or I die happy knowing I took scum like you along with me, when I simply wanted to sell my expertise as a doctor to someone with a lot of money."
Deception:
The Devaronian suddenly sits up straighter as the blaster is slowly removed from the Doctor's leg. He raises both hands slowly above the table and lays them atop it. "Now, now, now. Let's not get hasty here. Clearly I was mistaken about you. I'm sure you're someone the boss would like to get to know. Now, without killing anyone, I'm gonna stand up. I have a speeder not far from here, a warehouse I own. I'll take you there and we can go see Darga, eh?"
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"Excellent." Ren replies with a smile as he watched the alien slowly stand up and begin to leave. He pocketed the detonator, tapping Quen, Maharth, and Chel on the shoulder and motioning for them to follow. He comments, once they're out and following their contact from a distance, "I convinced him to take us to Darga. Without spending a credit, too."
Perception
The Devaronian, who introduces himself as Warrick Raden, leads you out of the cantina and down a winding alley to a ruined part of town. Most of the buildings on this street look half destroyed or collapsed, and none of the damage is recent. Dominating one side of the street is a crumbling warehouse, which has the half-buried wreckage of a landspeeder jutting from its front. The walls of the warehouse have large chunks taken out of them, exposing the building’s interior to the street.
Raden moves up to the warehouse and taps a code into the keypad there. The door next to the keypad opens onto a shadowy warehouse. "In here," Raden gestures and steps in.
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Perception
Looking at what happened, and noticing no one else saw what happened, the padawan will approach the Devarion (I always think of Willy from the Quinlan Vos stories) and say with the power of the Force behind his words. Why don't you resend your alarm and deactivate it?
The Devaronian's eyes go slightly unfocused. "Can't unsend it. Notified the thugs and robots to attack you soon as you go in."
The padawan will look to his Master as the Devaronian reveals this bit of information.
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Ren grimaced deeply, more upset with himself that he didn't keep a closer eye on their contact. He was considering using the skid mark as a hostage, but he doubted his boss would care too much about this particular life lost. "Well," Ren began aloud. "THey know we're coming, we can't change that. And I rarely favor the 'Guns Blazing' strategy. I say we try to find a rear entrance, a back door of some kind. If none can be found," He gives a shrug. "Then let's simply come back later. They'll treat this alarm as a false one, things will calm down, and we can spend that time finding a less backstabby contact."
The Devaronian seems to come to himself. "Hey hey! No hard feelings, right? A man's gotta watch out in this world, lots of people aren't stand up fellows like youse guys, eh?" He calls out to the warehouse. "Situation normal! Stand down!" You hear grumbling from inside and the sound of large droids moving away from the door. "How bout I take you to the Hutt, eh? For real this time?"
That sounds like a good idea but no tricks this time. We are good and honest guys.
Mahath restrains himself, wanting nothing more than an excuse to draw his saber and deal with the Devaronian and his gang. He stops himself though, and with a deep breath seeks the calm of the Force.
Given the brutal situations the clever man has seen them through, Mahath keeps his hands at his sides and confirms his confidence in him. "Your call, Doc."
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Ren shoots their contact a glare and looks to his teammates, muttering to them, "He does that again, put him down. Knock out, if possible. If not... then it can't be helped." With that said, he approaches the Devaronian and motions inside. "After you." He says with his best fake smile and friendly inflection.
Raden gulps loudly, whistles and a speeder driven by a small astromech hovers out of the building. He loads you inside and the speeder takes off through the city toward a series of small buildings that look old, if well-kept.
Raden walks timidly up to one door, which has a small communications panel. He presses a button, sputters some phrases in Huttese (“This is Raden. I’ve come to deliver news to the mighty Darga. With all due respect, I require an audience.”), and steps back, fidgeting nervously. A long, quiet moment passes before two Nikto with hunting blaster rifles appear on battlements above the doors, weapons at the ready and pointed down at the visitors. A metal panel in the blast door scrapes as it is pulled aside, and a pair of glowing red eyes appear in the slit. A gravelly voice echoes from within the doors, again in Huttese (“You’re in for it now, Raden. Darga is expecting visitors, all right, but those creatures are not them.”), and the panel slams closed. A moment later, there is a heavy clank of metal on metal, and the blast doors part palace, and Raden motions the heroes to follow him inside.
Entering the palace, there is no sign of who or what might have owned the glowing red eyes seen through the door panel. You follow Raden down a long dark hallway, where you have the sense you're being watched. Unmarked metal doors are set into the walls at various points, and the air is thick with the smell of dust and rotting wood.
Finally you hear the sound of music coming from ahead. Darga’s throne room is both opulent and repulsive. A thick layer of oddly scented smoke drifts through the air, rising out of braziers in the corners of the room. Once-beautiful tapestries line the walls, though most of them have been torn, burned, or stained to the point that they are almost unrecognizable. A raised dais in the center of the room supports the massive bulk of Darga the Hutt, and behind his dais a large, open balcony seems to extend into darkness.
Darga's eyes go wide and he hisses in Huttess ("What is the meaning of bringing outsiders here?!?") while Raden falls to the ground, grovelling. Darga cuts him off with a word ("Silence!"), then gestures to a protocol droid to step forward.
The protocol droid tilts his head to one side and turns to you. "The Illustrious Darga wishes to know why you have come to his palace unannounced."
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Ren made sure to motion to his Jedi comrades to keep their sabers sheathed for the moment. He wanted to keep that as a trump card should this go badly. He steps forward and clears his throat, speaking back in Huttese. ("I go by the streetname Doctor R. I was the personal medic for Jutta the Hutt. I provided care and healing for his men, and he offered me protection, and information, in kind. After paying my debt to him, I left with my small personal guard of mercenaries to seek better work. I knew of the name Darga in my time with Jutta, and decided I would trade up, to a more powerful individual. I wish to offer my services in healing, robot repair, and information dealing to you, Darga the Hutt.")
The Hutt laughs and speaks in Huttese to the droid. ("I have no business with Jutta, but it is good you have recognized improvement among your employers. Tell me, what information do you have that I would be interested in?")
"The Esteemed Darga acknowledges your taste in employers and wishes to know what information you possess that he would be interested in." The protocol droid chirps after the Hutt stops speaking. You notice now several people at the edges of the room, including Gammoreans with vibro-axes as well as others dressed in less martial attire. Raden cowers on the floor.
Neither is anything I am good at and Hutts are resistant to Jedi mindtricks :(
Persuasion
"Does the ask for knowledge mean we are taken on as retainers? If so, it may take a little time for the good doctor to puzzle out what he's learned in his years of service that might be relevant to the mighty hutt's business."
As the Quen discovered Raden's attempt at subterfuge, Chel clenched his fists, restraining his urge to end the villains life right there and then.
Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that these two ,especially Ren were used to dealing with these underworld types. So Chel walks along , staying alert.
Upon entering and meeting the Hutt, Chel had to admit he wasn't too impressed with the immense slug-like creature. How did these creatures obtain such a reputation?
As Ren speaks and the Hutt responds through the interpreter droid, Chel gets the impression that the Hutt wasn't warming up to the medic.
Reaching deep, touching his connection to the Force, Chel begins to talk , allowing his intution to guide the direciton of his speech..
"Be assured , O Great Darga, our information is of high value, we wouldn't dare provoke your mighty indignation , coming here unannounced without good reason. "
It's incredibly hard to read the mood of a Hutt, but the lack of sudden blaster fire raining on you is a good sign, right?
The Hutt seems to study you for a long time, so long that the translator droid starts to look nervous. Finally he lets out a loud laugh and speaks in Huttese. ("Very well. Let us see what use these 'guests' are. Prepare a feast!") The translator droid chirps "The Mighty Darga calls for a feast in your honor, and requests your attendance."
Darga suddenly waves one fat hand toward Raden's cowering form, who has started to stand after being seemingly ignored. ("But first remove this filth from my sight and place him in chains! No one brings uninvited guests to Darga's palace lightly!") The protocol droid is pushed aside by two heavily armed Gammoreans who drag Warrick away, while he kicks and screams pleas to Darga.
The feast that follows is indeed opulent. The food and wine is rare and well prepared, and you get to know some of Darga's hangers-on. The main major domo seems to be a fawning Neimoidean named Igren Demos, though there are also several bounty hunters as well as a trio of silent Quarren assassins. Darga toasts you several times, his translator droid adding, "The Illustrious Darga wishes to welcome you and will see how profitable you are in the coming days." and "The mighty Darga wonders what you have to offer him - and what he may offer in return!" You get the distinct impression that Darga seems to be feeling you out.
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(Whew! Good saves guys!)
Ren could only accept the offer of Durga to stay for a feast. While the good doctor didn't recognize what everything was, he knew what came from which beast and made it appear he was eating one of everything at least. Despite his stomach revolting severely against such food.
At the mention of what their merry band could offer, he went around the group, giving just a glancing of their talents. "The grizzled gentleman and the figure in the hood, cleverly named Scar and Hood respectively, were trained to hunt and capture Jedi. And this beside me, is my assistant in medicine, Shen. Respectable with a vibroblade, actually. And I am knowledgeable of many facets of alien biology, Droid systems, and cybernetics. So, with us four now in your service, Darga, I'm sure we have plenty to offer."
Darga laughs at your descriptions, but his eyes are narrowed with clever appraisal. He seems to be taking all this in. But then he suddenly throws his fat hands wide, nearly knocking the protocol droid over. ("Let us have some entertainment to accompany our meal! Bring out the worm Raden!")
"The Illustrious Darga wishes to entertain his guests." the protocol droid chirps.
Two Gammoreans drag the bound and gagged Devaronian out and force him to his knees in front of the banquet table. Darga huffs a laugh and says in Huttese, ("Raden you scum! You bring outsiders to my private home and think you can simply beg and squeal and I will forgive you? Darga forgives nothing! Darga forgets nothing! Now bleed! Bleed and die for your treachery! And let us have our new guests perform the deed. Let us see if they are indeed skilled with weapons!")
"The mighty Darga sentences Warrick Raden to death for his crimes. And he wishes you to be the executioner. Oh my." The protocol droid chirps as one of the Gammoreans thrusts a vibroaxe toward "Scar" and "Hood".
Chel can't help but smirk at Warrick's predicatment, watching with satisfaction as the lackey was dragged away.
He enjoys the feast, trying many different foods that were new to him, asking Ren's advice at times if something looked abit too strange.
At his 'introduction' as Scar, he stands and sketches a bow to the Hutt, then returns to his seat, pulling a serving wench onto his lap.
When the 'executioner's weapon is offered, 'Scar' shrugs, puts the serving girl back on her feet and takes the vibroax.
He stops infront of the kneeling wretch, looking back at Ren from under his hood, eyebrow raised ...
Well, Ren. Does this slug expect me to kill this wretch? or just frighten him?"