The characters were on a scouting mission, to get a feel for some strong, rough-and-tumble characters - to see if they were potential Alliance material or sympathizers.
They were assigned to Tattoine, and I had sent them a communique (sort of like a flyer) via email which described a yearly event ran by Hutts. The Hutts were all in competition to see how much money they could amass during these often illegal hunts and/or tests. On the flyer I printed out a little excerpt about the previous year's "Rancor Round-Up."
Every year the Hutts would stake out an area in the SW galaxy where there were next-to-no authorities (government, gaming, fishing or what-have-you). Usually they would pick a planet that was either extremely dense with jungle, extremely hot, extremely cold, or some other way to be 'extremely' something. The test was either gruelling, deadly, ridiculously insane... or all three. But who cares when you are desperate for credits, fame or if you have a death-wish? Contest rules were very strict and were watched on holo-vid & vid-screens via satellite. If a Hutt somewhere wasn't pleased about how things were unfolding or if game rules were being broken, usually the players' lives were forfeit. Characters & NPCS were only allowed certain types of weapons and restricted numbers of said weapons: an obscene amount of gambling goes on, so of course the stakes have to be high.
In this particular "Great Krayt Dragon Hunt" adventure, teams were either registered in groups of five or less, or could be drawn randomly to form groups of five. I made sure other famous NPCs were there as well, so to give the impression that it wasn't just the Alliance scouting out potential allies: bounty hunters, Imps, and a few other unsavory characters met there, possibly with agendas other than just dragon-hunting.
My players' characters were hooked up with Aria as about 20 years old: she said she needed the money and her plan was to use the credits and fame to get off-planet, possibly take up her father's trade. This was after both her parents died. She was an accomplished guide, and already survived an encounter with a Tusken Raider (she had his gaderffii, or gaffi stick, to prove it). She was the one who knew about all the wildlife (check The Wildlife of STAR WARS: A Field Guide; by Terryl Whitlatch & Bob Carrau).
*************
On a separate adventure I ran: Aria's father was killed on a mission when his shipmates attacked a ship they didn't know was full of Imperials: their captain Rugar (Aqualish) just had a tip (from a supposedly reliable source) that there were some unusually large and rare crystals aboard. How were they to suspect it was one of several ships carrying crystals that were to be used in prototypes that used a very large and powerfully concentrated laser, originally planned for mining?
How were they to suspect that on this particular ship a kidnapped Mrlssi scientist was waiting to be rescued (the giant mining laser had been his brainchild) by the characters I was GMing for?
There was a lot of crossfire, and a certain Reissem Gunnir was gunned down shielding the life of his Honour-Sister, Charlebbekka (Wookiee). The characters I was running the game for witnessed this, but could do nothing about it. They had to save their own hides and the feathered tail of their scientist.
Charlebbekka was the one who had to break the news to Aria and her mother, Ariasha. Did I mention her mother had ties to the Mystril Shadowguards?
Aria's mother passed away from her mysterious debilitating illness soon after this incident (although, one would surmise that her broken heart complicated matters). Ariasha left a training jumpsuit that she had used when she was being trained as a young warrior-apprentice; some advice about running the other way if she ever heard the surname D'Asima; and some information (very little) about her past on Emberlene to her surviving daughter.
Incidentally, her mother had found someone (who called herself 'Shadow') to train her daughter since she was 12 in some of the combat skills of the Mystril Shadowguards (although Aria just thought they were generic skills, and had no clue about their significance). Now Aria wears replicas of her mother's clothing and, as a parting gift, Shadow ("If you ever need me, just ask for... Iyobhee" -pronounced /eye-yo-vee/) had given her a precious Zenji Needle.
The second Zenji Needle was found in a separate adventure, where she bought it from a young, inexperienced Jawa who mistook it for a pin-clasp for his robe. The third Needle was purchased in yet another adventure in an eclectic antique store. If you don't know the significance of Zenji Needles or Emberlene, check that out, as it's quite the storyline in itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment