Gungans and McMansions (Ajira)

[Ugohr Poof]

The Naboo office of IGR Brokerage was established in Moenia so that the Gungans and humans alike could use the brokerage service. For once that he was rotated away from the battlefield in a month or so, he could wear his Jedi robes instead of his general's uniform. It appears that, for some reason, Lady [member="Ajira Cardei"] of Theed Hangar fame, who was the single largest stockholder that wasn't a governmental entity (Eshan and Naboo governments respectively own 20% apiece), decided that only one realtor was fit for the task of helping her purchase a house somewhere else on the planet. As if she didn't already own enough property already! Ugohr thought that she could instead have Theed Hangar expand on Kalee around the old IAI headquarters, which is also Theed Hangar property. The Gungan Jedi had temporary office space to his own usage, as the intended user of that space, Gungan or human, has not been hired yet. The Gungan receptionist had Ugohr on the comm.

"Lady Ajira Cardei has arrived; shesa want to visit properties"

"Mesa Ugohr Poof, at yoursa service. What can mesa do for yousa?"

Dealing with Theed Hangar may prove more complicated than dealing with Ajira in a personal capacity. Because Ugohr was a little inexperienced as a realtor, he has a lot of questions for his first client. It's as though only special requests could be given to Ugohr to deal with and the more mundane clients were left to the regular realtors. He may have been the owner but the day-to-day leadership of operations of IGR Brokerage were entrusted to Privago, a Dug on Malastare.

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

"Please, call me Ajira. May I call you Ugohr?" Like feth was she going to call him Mister Poof. She took a seat, one knee folded over the other, not like you could tell under a formal Naboo dress. "Ugohr, I'm an executive with Theed Hangar, as you know. I effectively live at work. I keep a townhouse in Theed, and a small estate in the Lake Country, but honestly my official guests spend as much time in those places as I do. They aren't home, you see, and that's what I'm looking for on a personal level. I'm not overly specific about my needs: HoloNet connectivity, and privacy. It must be inside the Naboo system for commuting purposes, or at least within the Chommell Sector. Otherwise, qnything from, oh, an apartment in Moenia to a Lake Country villa to a monastery in Deeja Peak to a bubble house in Otoh Gunga -- anything goes, if it feels right.

"Theed Hangar has some needs as well, but we can discuss professional listings separately. Let's get the personal side of things out of the way, I think."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"There-sa lots of possible houses for yousa, Ajira; do yousa feel more comfortable living among Gungans or among non-Gungans? Yousa probably know that liven in Gungan cities not da best choice if yousa no liken to live among Gungans outside of work; Otoh Gunga may not be for yousa if yousa no liken life underwater. Or do yousa feel like livin among Gungans would do more for yoursa privacy than living among non-Gungans?"

Plus many Gungan cities were underwater; overland Gungan cities were usually smaller and more intimate. But the most limitative is privacy, which meant it would be better to avoid apartments and condos entirely. Gungans (and many non-Gungans) knew that apartment blocks had a lot of people in them and it was more difficult to respect privacy. And big cities like Harte Secur or Spinnaker may prove a little expensive compared to smaller towns like Vis, Parrlay or New Centrif. But Gungans were known to charge hefty premiums to non-Gungans in underwater cities, especially the Gungan metropolis of Otoh Gunga, which was not to be as hefty in the surface cities. Privacy was the big thing: wireless HoloNet connectivity could be had virtually everywhere on the planet. Gungan overland towns like Otoh Sancture, Otoh Jahai, Otoh Urs, Otoh Langua or Otoh Raban were a little less expensive but inside the Lianorn marshlands.

"Budget. Mesa must assume that budget issa no problem for yousa, unlike many of da other clients, so mesa have to ask about whether yousa feel dat a larger or, alternatively, smaller home would be better for yoursa privacy. Yoursa line of work probably require frequent travel off-world, but do yousa want space to build yoursa own hangar for a personal skeebeetle (ship) or issa easy spaceport access otherwise important to yousa?"

That would be a little hypocritical to give a restricted range and even cite the reason for that restriction without either a personal landing pad, free space for one, or spaceport access even though Ugohr felt that Ajira's specifications can be met on Naboo proper.

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

"Personal landing space or convenient spaceport access would be necessary, yes, now that you mention it. As for your people, Ugohr, I've known and served with many Gungans. I'd be quite comfortable in Otoh Gunga or on Ohma-D'un; I've visited both many times. Underwater starships, with bubble shields perhaps, should take care of my commuting requirements. Yes, a remote bubble house would be ideal, I think.

"You're quite right that price is no object. I'm aware of the tax differential for non-Gungans in Gungan communities and I'm comfortable with it. I do quite a lot of business with the Otoh Gunga Bongameken Cooperative -- we make the Mantaris-class amphibious colony ships together. Something convenient to the Cooperative would be very helpful, I think. Amphibious, collaboratively built ships are the future."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Otoh Gunga was by no means the only underwater Gungan-built city on Naboo proper... surely there was some Gungan underwater city that was less expensive than Otoh Gunga that was still on Naboo proper? To non-Gungans, Ohma-d'un and Otoh Gunga were the two locations they most readily associated with Gungans and their underwater cities. But Otoh Mandassa, Oxon City and Umberbool City were still charging similar tax premiums on non-Gungans, albeit it wasn't as high in absolute terms.

"Perhaps da suburbs of Spinnaker or Harte Secur would allow yousa to be close enough to da Gungans upriver (or downriver) for Theed Hangar, with waterfront property that allow yousa to dock yoursa amphibious skeebeetle on da water, for less than equivalent properties in Otoh Gunga or even Otoh Mandassa; outer suburbs would allow yousa more intimacy than inner suburbs. Perhaps Rellias would prove a better choice in Gungan territory if yousa want proximity to da Gungans and still be on Naboo proper, or Moenia if yousa not want to pay da welcome tax differential on non-Gungans. In which case mesa have dee or foosa properties for yousa to visit, within una or duey hours, wesa should be able to visit all of them-sa"

The entry point of the Rellias Channel... that would make Rellias almost an outer suburb of Otoh Gunga. Or Moenia. Moenia's population being heavily centralized, the suburbs only formed about 4-5 kilometers around the city limits. And, in addition, Moenia was, by and large, a college town where artists abound, Gungan or not. And Moenia had a vast array of local and unique decoration shops so that should make decorating that new home easy.

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

"Rellias...yes, Rellias would be convenient. It's got enough surface landing facilities, it's in the forest and not terribly large, it's not far from Otoh Gunga and my business with the Bongamekers, it has a Theed aesthetic -- yes, I think you have a point. Rellias might be ideal." She pulled out her datapad; evening was coming. "Time is short, so let's get to it, Ugohr. With Her Majesty's recent death, I have a more compacted schedule than I normally do. I'm afraid I have to head back to Theed, but my aide, [member="Lady Shambleau"], will view the properties with you."

Shambleau, secretly a Mikan, couldn't go out in broad daylight. With afternoon turning into early evening, though, Shambleau would be fine - no risk of blowing her cover as a humanoid. Ajira stood and extended her hand.

"Thank you for your time, Ugohr. I appreciate your expertise; it's been most helpful. Shambleau will be with you shortly."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Ugohr remained in Moenia after business hours, since the Moenia office of the was almost closing as Lady Ajira left the premises of IGR on Naboo. He duly noted Ajira's strong interest in Rellias, and, as with Moenia, he had to tour three or four properties, depending on whether Ajira was willing to build a brand-new house with her own contractors, rather than to buy an existing house, sending out notices of visit to all the concerned before the office closes. The notices of visit were sent in rather short order, only about an hour or two. And Ugohr wrote down notes about the three properties:

Property 1: 450 Golf Lane, 531,000 credits, 3,500 sq. meters land area, 1,147 sq. meters internal area over 4 wings and 4 levels, five bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 61 meters river frontage
Property 2: 514 Golf Lane, 406,000 credits, 2,100 sq. meters land area, 818 sq. meters internal area over 4 levels, four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 48 meters river frontage
Property 3: 570 Golf Lane, 790,000 credits, 5,100 sq. meters land area, 1,530 sq. meters internal area over 4 levels, seven bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 85 meters river frontage

[member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Her Force presences disguised as ever, Shambleau arrived at the offices of [member="Ugohr Poof"] quite shortly. A Mikan, and thus allergic to daylight, she was slightly late (to maximize evening time) and wore a tasteful hooded cloak. She was secretly a Mikan, though: most people took her for an Omwati, Zeltron, or Umbaran. She arrived just as the offices were closing. The door was locked, but she buzzed up.

"Lady Shambleau from Theed Hangar, here to see Ugohr Poof?"

She glanced around the Moenia street. This place was an artist's community, and known for its night life -- even, or especially, in the business district. White-collar professionals were abandoning their office buildings en masse, bound for chic, classy, upscale cantinas and recreational intoxicants. Shambleau's eyes tracked the professionals. Her stomach growled furiously.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

The Gungan Jedi brought his datapad along with the notes he could take on the trip to Rellias as he left the office. It was nightfall in Moenia and Rellias was about a hundred kilometers upriver or so from Moenia. Rellias was regarded by many Gungans as the surface outermost suburb of Otoh Gunga; the Otoh Gunga metropolitan area was just a sprawling complex of hydrostatic bubbles with the city limits comprising over a million people, and the inner-ring suburbs comprising millions more. But Rellias has a population of about 65,000, with 97% of it being Gungan.

"Lady Shambleau, yoursa master went to disen office earlier today. Shesa interested in Rellias properties but mesa feel dat theirsa current owners Gungan speculators: theysa show no sign of living in thesa mansions long-term. Yousa interested in visiten disen waterfront properties? Mesa have a list of dee or foosa properties: the foosath property issa option if yoursa master issa interested in a vacant lot to build on issa as shesa wish. Mesa trust that yousa know about Gungans and theirsa real estate practices"

Ugohr knew that Muuns and Neimoidians often were known to engage in real estate speculation, and Toydarians to a lesser extent, but Gungans? That was relatively new to him, and there was no place for real estate speculators on Aquilaris, Dagobah or Ringo Vinda, the main other locations where one could find Gungan settlements in the galaxy (despite Ringo Vinda being mostly a desert planet) because these planets weren't nearly as populated. Dagobah's estimated Gungan population is in the 70-120 million range, and there are no other sentient species with significant populations, nor would most sentients even want to live on that planet, Aquilaris was mostly populated by aquatic species and few non-aquatic species were interested in underwater hydrostatic bubbles. Finally, five million Gungans live in a mountain region of Ringo Vinda: Jawas are not interested in Gungan properties in the mountains.

[member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

"I'll take a look at all four, thank you. Lady Cardei has a few different sorts of possibilities in mind. I think she'd be quite happy to build her own house."

In the back of her mind, Shambleau found herself wondering if Gungan tasted anything like humanoid. Rubbery, perhaps. Were Gungans mammals? Mammal-like reptiles? Amphibians? Coldblooded, warmblooded? She made a note to find out and consider broadening her palate. One had to be cosmopolitan about such things.

Shambleau gestured in the general direction of out. "Please, by all means, Mister Poof, lead on. Thank you for accommodating me this evening; it's been terribly busy recently, what with Her Majesty's passing."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Ugohr was not quite the kind of Jedi to even want to own fast vehicles: he was more of a "scenic-road" kind of Gungan. Even so, all that the real estate company had at its disposal at the Moenia office that wasn't already owned by its employees was a Queen Mason airspeeder. It turns out that the first property in order was the vacant land. He'd rather drive a Math 25000 or a Bluth stair truck, as he had done on Sullust and Dulvoyinn respectively.

"Wesa visit da properties in da order theysa appear on da road, understood? Then wesa back in Moenia"

He could tell in the Force that Lady Shambleau knew little about the Gungans, while she sat in the forward passenger's seat of the airspeeder. Clearly she did little business with the Gungans; maybe her business role for Theed Hangar brought her off-world more often than dealing with Gungans. As if she wanted to eat Gungan meat; Anzati records showed that Gungans were rubbery but otherwise tasted like crab or lobster, depending on how aged they are: younger Gungans tasted like crab, older Gungans were more like lobster. Upon arriving at the sign that read Welcome to Rellias in all three of Gungan script, High Galactic and Aurebesh, from top to bottom, half an hour later...

"On da left-hand side issa Rellias' Maxibig Golf Club, da Gungans' contribution to da Galactic Golf League: theysa have dee eighteen-hole, GGL-caliber courses. Issa reason why there-sa no odd-numbered addresses along dat area of Golf Lane"

Correction: no odd-numbered addresses other than 1, which is the address of the clubhouse. A GGL-caliber golf course is easily 6,000+ meters between 18 holes. Ugohr wasn't a golf player by any stretch, but he knew that Gungans with any professional golf aspirations dreamed of playing - and winning - the Naboo Open held on that very golf course. They arrived at 620 Golf Lane, which was the vacant land plot, 4,100 square meters with 70 meters waterfront.

[member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

The issue, Shambleau reflected as the Gungan blathered, was that she hadn't expected a realtor to be Force-sensitive, even if he also ran a small army on the side. Clearly she'd let her otherwise excellent mental defenses lapse a bit, radiated surface thoughts, made a little mistake. Hunger, perhaps, or the Gungan might just have been some kind of prodigy that he could read a Ke'dem Knight's mind when her whole life on Naboo was about actively concealing her rare and carnivorous species. But there was no mistaking the timing and nature of the resonance she got from his mind, in relation to her own thoughts.

He'd felt something. Sensed something. And that made Ugohr Poof, Galactic Alliance officer and would-be real estate tycoon, a serious liability.

Various things had crossed her mind, which she'd assumed to be private based on her experience in mental defense. She had no idea what the Force had told him, how much her defenses had been actively or passively breached before she realized what was going on. Thinking back, it was possible she'd thought of her own secret Force-sensitivity and Dark Side alignment -- of Lady Cardei's comparable secrets -- of Shambleau's position within Ke'dem, the private-sector Dark Jedi army -- and Lady Cardei's original identity as Grand Admiral Ashin Varanin, once Empress Desmius the First of the Sith Empire. Shambleau knew far, far too many secrets. A leak, any leak, required action -- but the right kind of action.

On the plus side, she'd locked down her mental defenses and surface thoughts pretty rapidly after she realized what was going on. It was possible he didn't know that she knew that he knew, and that would mean quite a lot.

She listened with every indication of interest as he described the neighbourhood. As they reached the vacant plot, a solid one-acre waterfront property in a desirable spot, Shambleau admitted that -- for all his telepathic prying -- the Gungan knew his trade. The property was exactly what Lady Cardei would want.

"This is interesting," she said blandly. "I believe Lady Cardei may well find it ideal."

She could, of course, kill the Gungan, probably with ease, but questions would be asked. She could have Lady Cardei explore and wipe his memories, but Lady Cardei's specialties lay in other directions. Shambleau could try it herself, but her thought-affecting abilities boiled down to basic mind tricks and one vicious old Pius Dea spell for the infliction of pain. While that might be satisfying, it wouldn't solve the problem.

He certainly knew she wasn't what she pretended to be, that she was a predator. There was a very small chance, even infinitesimal, that he'd caught a whiff of her other secrets, starting with her Force-sensitivity. The dominoes could all fall down with stunning speed, no matter how slim the chance that any genuinely serious secret had been leaked.

She excused herself down by the water's edge, called Lady Cardei, and spoke quietly into a comlink.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Yousa realize dat most waterfront properties around Rellias' golf course have more or less una acre of land to issa. Da next dee properties either built using Gungan surface architecture or Naboo"

Gungan surface architecture mostly meant domes made of hydrostatic bubbles built around wooden ribs. But Ugohr swore to himself that he wouldn't need to pry Lady Shambleau through the Force any longer. Just that Ugohr only looked for information that may have been relevant to his immediate security or that of the sellers. The Gungan owners of the last three properties would not like to be eaten by a prospective buyer after all. Plus he didn't want to leave a bad impression of Zeltrons (or Omwati, or Umbarans) to the Gungans: the Gungans around here may have been lucky to meet one of each of those species in person since they even started doing real estate speculation. Would Ajira prefer the more ovoid shapes of Gungan-built houses, with a large hydrostatic bubble borne by flying buttresses, and the internal layout of the bubble borne by vaults? Or would she prefer the Naboo architecture, complete with green domes and colonnades? Because, while both 514 and 570 Golf Lane are obviously Gungan-built, 450 Golf Lane is built by Naboo architects (Ms. Volzhin could build faux-Naboo housing on Malastare, Lanteeb or Dulvoyinn for all that Ugohr cared).

"If yousa Zeltron and yoursa master have yousa live under da same roof as hersa, wesa need to check for a minibar and a game room: Zeltrons known for asken for a game room. If yoursa master choose to build hersa new home on disa plot, shesa need to spend about 100-150 credits per square meter, depending on hersa specifications"

[member="Lady Shambleau"]