The Glorious Jewel

[Cawn]

Nal Hutta smelled like usual, rotting plants and waste permeated the air creating what almost seemed like a cloud over the land. It’d be almost overpowering to most outsiders however Cawn was used to it. The hardened pads on his footpaws sunk into the soft earth of the alley as he exited the cantina. The short sword he carried was tucked neatly in it’s sheath where the hilt sometimes banged against his bandaged side causing him to wince.

Exiting the alley into the open street his senses got assaulted by the bright colored lights that lined the street, the smell of spice, alcohol, and the scents of a hundred different species intermingled into a clashing wave. Giving a sniff he frowned, a Hutt had passed through recently. This wasn’t reassuring, he needed to collect his pay and if Gordita hadn’t been pleased with his performance then it could be easily denied to him. Dueling paid far better then his work at the cantina but it had it’s risks.

Failure to please the Hutts could at worse result in his services not being needed anymore. So far he’d gotten off with just not being paid on occasion but if the Hutt had perhaps left early that could be a major issue. There had been a few combatants who’d been executed because they were accused of cheating however he couldn’t think of any reason why he should have been accused. His opponent had died somewhat quickly so it could be that he supposed. When Gordita was in a bad mood he tended to prefer more of a slower death when it came to-

The Armino turned drawing the blaster pistol with his left paw. The female Twi’lek who’d been behind him cursed in Ryl and broke off to the side. The street was crowded and he got pushed back by the crowd but there wasn’t anything obvious. Something was off though, his instincts rarely seemed to be wrong and right now there was alarm bells going off. Well whatever it was he’d deal with it later once he was payed. Glancing back over his shoulder as he walked the Armino’s tail swished and he stepped up his pace towards the Hutt Palace.

 

[Eugen Aker]

Nal Hutta. It lived up to its reputation reeking like sewage. The whole walk from her nondescript YT freighter to the front of the spaceport, she felt like she was being enveloped in a film of stink. Fortunately, she was in disguise, so she could just the peel off the masquer to completely rid herself of the sludge.

From the front of the spaceport, she was able to rent out a speeder bike for her travels. She used a physical credit chit to eliminate any paper trail. In case anyone did figure out who she was, Jyoti would just come up as Tori Vash, an arms dealer based out of Lianna.

She wasted no time using her new speeder bike for her rendezvous; the palace of Gordita the Hutt. She had business with the Hutt, or rather, business to intercept.

His palace was easy to pick out even without guidance. A massive opulent complex that rose high above the other buildings in the area.

She parked, then went through the process of intense scrutiny by a pair of Jilruan guards. Her invitation and false credentials checked out with no issue, then she was allowed to pass.

It would be a while before she would be able to see Gordta or his cohorts, though. They were indisposed at the moment, spectating gladiatorial games held right in the palace.

As she could only wait, she made her way to the games to watch.

[member="Cawn"]

 

[Cawn]

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

A speeder passed overhead pressing down an onslaught of air forcing Cawn to grab hold of his hat to prevent it from being blown off. “Ootmian kung” he cursed once it had gone pass and started back towards the palace trying to get the hat to be more secure on his head. What was really annoying though was that the large feather he normally wore would be all scuffed up now and he’d have to smooth it out. Letting out an angry chitter he picked up the pace. One or two duels then he’d get paid, not a bad way to get the evening rolling. Grinning he adjusted his hat one last time.

When he did get to the Hutt Palace the Armino began to work himself up a bit. Blood pumping he quickly skipped up the steps taking them two at a time. Nodding to the guards he entered and dodged past a few slaves who were pushing Gordita’s hover seat to go down a hallway that sloped downwards into the hill. That was a good sign, the Hutt was probably already on his throne and would be eating. With any luck this would be a short night and he’d be able to leave in two or three hours. Once he was paid he’d head home, get the blood out of his fur, and try to get some sleep.

Entering into a decently large sized room he made his way past the animal cages, the prisoners that were kept next to them along with various other combatants who would at some point be put into the arena to be bet on. The place stank of blood, sweat, fear, and excrement. It normally wasn’t this bad but the Rodian who had been in charge of keeping the pits tidy had been killed in an accident a few days ago. Passing them he made his way into the armory and where most of the primary duelists were passing the time. Taking the blaster out of his belt he checked the safety then tossed it into a crate. Vibroblade duelists were not supposed to have blasters with them in the arena. With that done he turned and took a seat at one of the tables were he sipped some highly watered down ale. On the holoscreens of the arena a large human, at least seven feet, swung a sword at what seemed to be a small rancor. Surprisingly he seemed to be winning.

Leaning over Cawn asked a Twi’lek in Huttese. “He the main one tonight?”

All he received in reply was a nod and a rather glum look. Well he wouldn’t have to wait long then. If this human was beating most comers then he’d be called up rather quickly, there wouldn’t be many more left to fight and crowd favorites usually only fought one or two non-sentients.

 

[Eugen Aker]

Jyoti thought she had smelled the worst of it riding from the spaceport to Gordita.

How very wrong she was.

Never frequenting a real gladiatorial ring before, she was taken off guard by the pungent odors of rotting flesh and rancid excrement. Just like a battlefield. She had to hold a gloved hand over her mouth to hide a disgusted expression, but she soon regained her composure.

She took her seat in the nosebleed section where there were fewer people, but with eagle eyes, she didn't suffer from the lack of clarity at such heights. She wished she could, though, spotting blood streaks and what looked like body parts strewn across the dusty field.

If such a gruesome scene was indicative of the nature the Hutt she had come to bust, then she certainly had her work cut out for her.

[member="Cawn"]

 

[Cawn]

‘Well that wasn’t good’ Cawn thought as he set down his ale and got up from his chair. The call had come and his opponent didn’t appear to be nearly tired out yet. Well this was bad, seven foot giants with large two handed vibroswords were rather out of his normal league. Someone must really not like him. He didn’t have much choice though, he was up and so was the current ring champion who’d been crushing opponents all afternoon.

Making his way up the stairs and into the small waiting room just outside the arena he eyed the gate that held him back from just entering. Across the arena in a similar room the human would be doing much the same. Most of the time the duels didn’t go to the death, all the gore left in the arena would be from executions usually done by various wild beasts, however he’d checked the last few matches the human had done. In all of them whoever or whatever he went against had died. This would be to the death. Pulling his vibrosword from it’s scabbard he activated it and felt the vibrations running through his paws. The door opened and he entered, footpaws sunk slightly into the sand and he grinned. Good the sand would be soft enough to use if he had to. Course it’d be a pain to clean out his long tunic later but that was somewhat low on his current worry list.

Dancing forwards as the human emerged with his giant of a cleaver the Armino swung his own sword around in a quick little figure eight showing off to the crowd. Paws scattering sand he moved neatly to the side already starting his flank on the human as he relaxed his body and showed off. “Who challenges death today tchakaka, who dares to dance with the master of the keen edge, who’s going to die today and be dragged off by the servant droids? What is that little claw clipper you carry? Blasters must be your main weapon furless scum of the earth only fit to be some poor merchants house slave.”

As he went off on his goading to get the shirtless, oiled up human who basically glistened under the lights of the arena. Dancing towards him the Armino made constant little darts left and right trying to gauge just how fast the human could turn to keep up with him. Soon he was just out of what he thought was range of the humans range and began a rapid dart in and out constantly jumping from footpaw to footpaw ready to push off at the moment the human made his strike.

 

[Eugen Aker]

For the first (and hopefully her only) match, she was presented with a battle of extremes.

At one end was a great mountain of a man, well over two meters. His great height and muscular physique reminded her of a Valkryi, especially with the greatsword in hand. On the other, was some small mammalian that looked like he barely came up to her waist in height, a delicate rapier-like blade in hand.

The little man put up a little show for the ground with a fancy display of blade work, then bellowed out taunts at his much larger opponent.

Cheeky little fellow, or perhaps he's just mad.

While she found the whole concept of the bloodsport grotesque, there was something intriguing about the small stranger so fearlessly challenging a much larger opponent that could easily end him with a single blow.

With great interest, the Echani watched the battle unfold, genuinely interested in seeing how long the smack talking critter would last.

[member="Cawn"]

 

[Cawn]

The wait was not long, the human brought his blade forwards in a swipe towards the smaller creature. Cawn’s black eyes watched the blade but before he even saw it move his instincts told him to strike. He was already moving forwards and bringing his blade to defend by the time the human attacked. Neatly deflecting the Human’s vibrosword it got directed upwards above the Armino’s head. Footpaws skipping across the sand he darted close to the human and inside the sword swing. As he darted past the large man the claws of the paw not holding his own sword raked into the man’s right leg. Ripping apart the flesh Cawn hamstrung the man who let out a scream of pain, dropped his blade, and started to collapse straight towards the much smaller Armino. Cawn had already started to move though, with a neat spin he dodged the falling giant and the human couldn’t do a thing though as the Armino slammed into bare flesh of his back. Darting up it and sinking it’s teeth into the neck the man thrashed and began to choke and cough on his own blood. Unable to escape the jaws clamped around it’s neck he thrashed on his fours and tried raising up to stand and escape. Cawn felt the flesh, bones, blood vessels being torn to pieces with each move of the man’s head. Releasing the death grip his jaws he pushed hard against the man’s back with his footpaws. Half tripping and half skipping away he got clear of the man.

Muzzle stained with blood he was grinning as the medical droids came out onto the field. Panting heavily he felt his heart beating in his chest. There was still a crowd to please however so he neatly danced through the medical droids that were coming from his exit Taking the long white feather with it’s small metal tip out he tossed it at an Echani woman he saw in the crowd before quickly ducking into the exit with a flourish of his hat and a bow.

In the tunnel that led away he made his way to the washing station and started scrubbing away to get his fur cleaned. He’d definitely made good money off that fight, most of the bets would have been on the human and with the showing he’d made there would probably be a bonus. He wouldn’t go out again tonight, no better to leave it with that rather showy and flashy victory. Skip the next day as well than make it a bit known among the off world cantinas he’d be fighting again the day after tomorrow. By then some word would have spread and while he wouldn’t get as much money it’d keep him popular. The more popular he was the more the Hutts would keep him to humanoids and the more chance they’d try to keep him alive. If, and it was a big if, he got popular enough they’d hire him on more permanently to keep for special events. That was where money was made. Finishing washing up his fur he started making for the exit.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

The duel was short and brutal, with the small mammalian coming out on top. From a purely objective standpoint, his performance has been impressive, but there was something else at play. She had been able to feel on him drawing upon the Force during combat, guiding his blade with preternatural speed. At the end of it, their eyes connected as if he could feel her.

Did that make him a Force User? She had her doubts; if he was then he certainly wouldn't be in this line of work.

New gladiators were being prepped for the next round of fighting, but she had seen enough. She exited the stands to follow up on the man as he left the stadium. It took her a few minutes to get down, and she feared she had missed him, but on the ground she found him washing blood out of his fur.

Close up, his form reminded her of a weasel common to her world. He came up just above her waist. Getting a better idea of his size, that just made his victory against the much larger musclehead all the more impressive.

"Hello," she started as he began to move away. "I watched your fight. You're quite deft with a blade."

[member="Cawn"]

 

[Cawn]

The Armino turned at the sound of her voice. His nose gave a few sniffs and his ears pricked up noticeably. Something about her smelled off, while she didn’t have the smell of Nal Hutta to her there was something else as well. Eyes going over her Cawn settled into leaning more heavily on one leg in preparation to bolt. “If you are wanting to sleep with me just to rob me in the morning it won’t work. Last time one of you humans tried that the Hutt security decided to make an example of her. Set up my safe to contact them if anyone aside from me touches it.”


[member="Jyoti Nooran"]