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“You feel like playing the hero today, Cuss? Remember that bar brawl in Mos Eisley? I’ll be the bunker if you want to play outrider.” Quietly, Cuss responds, "Reckon so, pard'ner." Cuss slowly edges towards the door, his hands half raised & kept in full view for the Troopers. Though his supply of pistols is rather conspicuous, Cuss does his best to look like someone who isn't eager to fight.
Cuss accepts the second round of drinks in the same distracted manner as the first. "A man only feels the eyeballs on him if he got somethin' to hide. But me, who I am is plain as day. "O'course, complications often is a fine way to make a credit or two." Cuss sips his drink, pausing to consider his options.
"Check out Mr. Mysterious that just walked in — with an Imperial interrogation droid, no less," she says in a low voice. "Wonder what that splash of white paint means." Cuss throws back the rest of his drink, enjoying the burn sliding down the back of his throat. "Wonderin's a good thing, so long as we don't git hold of th'hind-end foremost." Cuss turns his head to peek at the newcomers, arching his eyebrows in a display of provincial and unrefined amusement. Turning back to Veeta, Cuss says in a quiet but casual manner, "I reckon I ain't gonna whisper in case they a'lookin' for suspicious types. 'Course, I can't figure 'em for Imperial tin badges, an' who knows? Trouble might just cross our trail on account of them anyway." He sniffs the remnants of his drink in the bottom of his glass, holding it near his face with his left hand. Cuss rests his right elbow on the bar, his hand near the guns at his waist - an instinctive posture from many years of nursing drinks in many cantinas across the galaxy. For Cuss, being ready to fight is as natural as breathing.
"It's been what, a year since we worked together on Ord Mantell. Been staying out of trouble? Got a job lined up here or just passing through? Maybe we can find someone willing to pay decent credits for some quality shooters." "Well, I'll be... Veeta, who'd turn loose a good hand like yuh? The good Maker only knows how few folks is trustworthy these days. "And much obliged for the drink. I'd insist t'pay yuh now, but yuh know I'm good fer it. My hist'ry and contrary nature might keep me driftin', but there's always work for th'willin' and able." Cuss sets himself near his old friend and pardner, and waits for his drink without a care in the world (by Cuss' standards, in any case). "Can't never be too distracted when yuh's about t'have a drink. Seldom's enough of pleasures in a lifetime, an' I ain't believin' those who say we git another turn on the Wheel o'Life."
Cuss steps around the gardened area cautiously. His caution is more a matter of habit & practicality rather than a sense of fear or unease, although the green of his environment was nothing like the dusty coarseness of Tatooine. Not being the only armed sentient in the area made Cuss walk softly. Acting tough or dangerous wasn't the same as being those same things. The Rodian music wasn't pleasing to his tone-deaf ears. What music Cuss knew was Human music - reflective of his love of his heritage, and not a hatred of others. In spite of the past that drove him out here, Cuss was uncomplicated, although there was still a depth to him. Cuss touches the brim of his hat as he walks past the Rodian, headed towards the first cantina he sees along his path.
Cuss steps off the last ship, having traveled coach from one hind-end of the galaxy to the other. It wasn't easy living with a price on his head, just as it wasn't easy knowing that the pathway vengeance was only partly complete. Having his once-friend and now-enemy scarred for life was small comfort, but it was something. Her kin had asked him to forswear vengeance, and maybe if the blood of outlaws weren't in him, Cuss might have taken that path. Perhaps it's open to him yet. In any case, even his skills at flying starships and keeping them flying usually wasn't enough to keep him in the stars for long. The long reach of his enemy was enough to get Cuss left behind from many less reputable jobs, and the lack of formal training kept him out of corporate or Imperial employment. It didn't matter. One more step into freedom was one more step forward down the path that might finally shed him of his past.
Great. Any changes I make will be background tweaks, but nothing substantial. Looking forward to it.
Another Q: are we rolling Knowledge - Bureaucracy checks for restricted item licenses? Or do we pay the fee and assume a success? I'm at the point with Cuss' gear where I'm picking options to round out his cash. I'd like to slap a Cloaked mod (Scum & Villainy) onto a Blaster Pistol or Sporting Blaster in lieu of a Hold-Out Blaster, but obtaining licenses & passing appropriate rolls can eat up the remainder of Cuss' credits.
You could always pay a tech specialist, like myself, to upgrade your pistol. We know how to fine tune them to provide you the most bang for your buck. Sounds good. I totally ignored that part of the Starships book, but it's not a feat I'd put on my gunslinger. I will probably mod a Blaster Pistol via Scum & Villainy, but think Cuss would probably want a +1 to hit on the Heavy Blaster Pistol. What's reasonable pay for the labor?
Heavy Blaster Pistols are one piece of Military gear that is available. Great :) I hadn't noticed how Saga Edition had killed the rules on item quality until after I started messing around with it. But Jedi still get a bonus for building their own lightsabers. Not one of the better changes to the system, IMO...
So is Heavy Blaster Pistol okay? It's the only Military availability item I'm looking at, and it's in keeping with Cuss' character. I'd also like a Hold-Out Blaster to stick in one of Cuss' boots, but it is technically Illegal as far as availability goes... It looks like we have 2 potential Bounty Hunters in the midst, which will be interesting as well.I see Veeta heading more towards Elite Trooper, kind of a no-nonsense professional type, so I think there's plenty to distinguish her from Cuss (who sounds like fun - maybe they know each other from Veeta's time marooned on Tattooine?). Honestly, I built her as kind of a Duracell (takes a licking, keeps on ticking). I'm interested to see how much punishment she can take with her talents (Evasion, Indomitable) and feats (Improved Damage Threshold, Improved Defenses, Shake It Off). Cuss is going towards Gunslinger, with the potential to also take Bounty Hunter levels... and for Cuss, I look at Bounty Hunter more in the Wild West manner, like Clint Eastwood's character in "For a Few Dollars More", rather than Boba Fett. All Cuss' feats are built towards the way of the gun, and just a single gun. No John Woo stuff.
Didn't get time to wrap up Cuss last night because the kids were both having trouble getting to sleep. I've moved what I needed off to google docs and I'll work on Cuss' info later today.
*touches his hat* Thank'ie kindly, ma'am.
Ha, I filled up the text box in the Profile & it won't take any more. This is problematic since Cuss currently has no inventory, no physical description, etc. I'll probably just bullet point a lot of the background & move a full story onto a wiki or Google doc. As for being on the road to becoming a Bounty Hunter or similar... Yep. It was either this or a Jedi. Cuss is a shootist and pistolero in the tradition & spirit of the American West. Hopefully there isn't too much overlap between Cuss and the other, though the Western isn't quite as popular a genre as it used to be.
I'm interested in playing... Okay, I have a character half-written up... Human Scout 3/Soldier 3. The background is getting overly long for this time of night, so I will stop for now & get back to it tomorrow. The tone is Western, and the character is mostly inspired by gunfighters and cowboys of that era. He's not out of place in polite company, and he's studied philosophy & psychology (somewhere, but that's not in the backstory yet)... but as the gunmen of the West often were, Cuss Wilvern is a wolf amongst civilized men. Here's the background so far...
Spoiler: Clement "Cuss" Wilvern grew up on a moisture farm on Tatooine, the youngest of three sons. His parents were long-time descendants of Human outlaws, driven out to the fringes of space to scrape out a humble agrarian existence. While Cuss' parents were well-meaning and gentle folk, Cuss always had the outlaw streak in him (like his ancestors)... but it was tempered by the kindness and devotion that his parents gave to him as their youngest child. Tatooine wasn't a kind or gentle place for a Human boy, however. Their closest neighbors (discounting the Tusken Raiders) were a band of spice-smuggling gangsters who owed allegiance to the local Hutts. Two other moisture farmers also had spreads within speeder distance of the Wilvern homestead. His closest friends were Maslow Wren (the bastard son of a spice smuggler) and Ruth Turner (the pretty daughter of one of the nearby moisture farmers). Maslow, Ruth, and the young Cuss were all equally adept at "borrowing" their family speeder in order to spend time together as friends in the harsh outlands of Tatooine. Friendship with someone from a gang of bandits and smugglers would not end well for Cuss. When childhood ended and young adulthood began, Cuss and Maslow soon developed a rivalry for their friend Ruth's blossoming womanly charms. While Cuss was a clever and daring boy, born of outlaw stock, Maslow was raised amongst outlaws & had little moral guidance in his upbringing to moderate his wanton and criminal urges. When Ruth declared her preference for the young Cuss instead of Maslow, that began the final ending for Cuss' childhood innocence. Maslow set a plan in motion, planting rumors of hidden wealth at the Wilvern homestead. These rumors did not fall on deaf ears in the company of smugglers and bandits, the people whom Maslow had grown up with for all of his life. A group of murderous outlaws fell upon the Wilvern homestead and killed Cuss' entire family. As fate would have it, Cuss was out in the wilderness at the time, looking up at the stars in the company of Ruth Turner. Cuss and Ruth dreamed of escaping the hardscrabble life on Tatooine, and making it to a big important planet like Coruscant... but it was not to be. Maslow knew the place where Cuss and Ruth were stargazing, having spent much of their childhood there together as a trio. Maslow, armed with a pistol, confronted Cuss - whose blaster rifle lay nearby. At close range, the man with the pistol always wins. Maslow shot Cuss and watched him fall off the rock where they were standing. Believing Cuss to be dead, Maslow turned his brutish intentions towards the object of his desires - Ruth Turner. When she again denied Maslow's advances, and vowed never to speak with him again, Maslow threatened her with violence... and his pistol accidentally went off, killing young Ruth where she stood. Cursing Cuss Wilvern for spoiling his would-be romance with Ruth Turner & believing Cuss to be dead, Maslow returned to the gang of smugglers & bandits. Cuss was not dead, however. While seriously injured, Cuss survived the pistol shot and the fall. Ruth Turner's kin found him and the dead Ruth, and nursed Cuss back to health. ?To be continued*******
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