Open Tatooine A Very Merry Boonta To You Too!

[Kamo]

A Very Merry Boonta To You Too!

Mos Espa, Tatooine
T-minus two hours before Boonta Eve Classic's kick-off​

"Don't worry, Captain. I've got this one in the bag" Jaina said confidently. The Crimson Raiders' pilot extraordinaire had insisted that Kamo accept Durr the Hutt's personal invitation to attend the Boonta Eve celebrations this year. "You should make your way to the Grand Arena. If you hurry you might even have a little time to bet me!" she added winking before promptly disappearing off to make last minute adjustments on her racer.

The Boonta Eve Classic would be a welcome break from the many formal proclamations etiquette had dictated that Kamo should attend to protect his business interests. Of course, the pirate would never gamble away his hard-earned credits on someone else's aptitude, no matter how talented they may be. Besides, betting on one's own crewmates was a recipe for disaster and the Karkarodon had learned that lesson the hard way in the early days of his captaincy. He would be watching the race however, and if anyone gave Jaina too much trouble, Kamo would retaliate with an appropriate measure of bruises and broken bones.

He had known Jaina for almost fifteen years and after all this time he had come to regard her as the daughter he would never have, not that he would ever admit it.

As the cankerous heat beat down on the pale rectangular buildings that protruded from the desert sands, Kamo found himself making his way through the pompously decorated merchant stalls that crowded the marketplace. Sentient beings of various denominations greeted him with dazzling smiles, hoping he would buy their wares. Their stands were covered with magnificently bright cloth, recommissioned droid parts and cargo boxes full of exotic fruits from the four corners of the galaxy.

As he parted his jaws to respectfully decline their offers, he noticed that the dry air was clinging to his gums, a telltale sign of early dehydration. Despite the amphibious nature of his species, Kamo couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in arid climates such as Tatooine's. Perhaps he would have time to stop at a cantina for refreshments on his way to the stadium.

TL;DR & WHAT'S BOONTA EVE?

To commemorate the festive times ahead (American Thanksgiving and Christmas), I thought it would be a good idea to start a celebration thread/social gathering in RP as well - and I really want my character to meet people.

Boonta Eve is a celebration that pays tribute the rise to goodhood of Boonta Hestilic Shad'ruu. Although it is traditionally Hutt holiday, pretty much everyone could have a reason to be on Tatooine for the festival. Members of the Five Syndicates and the Sith Order should look forward to making new connections in the underworld, while Jedi and Rangers should not look down on this unique opportunity to observe the power dynamics between the galaxy's most notorious criminal organisations and to catalog up-and-coming miscreants.

And of course, everyone should feel free to enter the Boonta Eve Classic, the largest podrace in the galaxy!

- Abe​

 

[Newton]

Newton Arden isn't the one to celebrate holidays, especially Hutt ones, but alas Newton thought it would be a pretty good idea to set up shop in the the market place close to where the Boonta's Eve Classic is supposed to be. To that end, in the merchant stalls there would be a spot reserved for Blackwell Technologies. There would be a stall, nicely decorated, bearing the company's logo at the top. There would be a protocol droid manning the stall, there would be a display of blasters, small electronics and parts, and a D3-series droid on stand by to guard the place incase of any hooligans. There would also be a kiosk that any customers could place any orders via holonet connection.

As for Newton himself, he would be around the market place while the protocol droid mans the Blackwell stall. He would keep and eye on it every now and then, acting as the operator, but he's confident in the droids ability to running the stall smoothly, he can already see interested customers there. Newton's companion astromech droid M7 is at his side, as usual.

Only two hours until the race begins, what to do next? Get a drink from the cantina perhaps, for an alcoholic beverage? Curiously though, Newton did spot a rather large, shark-like man (@Aberforth) close-by in the market place. Newton doesn't think he saw one of them before, but he silently wonders how an aquatic alien is able to brave a desert planet such as this. Can't be taking it well too well, he guesses. Either way, something seems interesting about him, he sure stands out from everyone else here.

With a neutral expression "Hey there, care for some water?" he would nicely ask the shark-man as soon as he came with-in talking distance.

 

[Preef Callo]

The Jawa looked at him expectingly, prodding the decorative jug of Kri'lik-honey liquor against Preef's knee. "Hey ease up, alright? I'm counting-" the rodian had a handful of credits in his hand and seemed to count and shove them around in the palm of his hand trying perhaps to see if he had enough of them to pay the Jawa with. The jawa suddenly turned his back on the Rodian and started shuffling towards another customer that had stopped at his stall, "No, wait!" Preef grabbed the jawa, turned him around and shoved all of the credits into the Jawa's hand.

What followed was an anxious moment for the rodian as the Jawa started counting the small pile of misformed credits and then got agitated, shouting something in Jawese. Another customer seemed to laugh at Preef coming up short in the payment until someone else wisely reminded him what the visible tattoo on Preef's forearm meant and he stopped laughing. Meanwhile the Jawa took a tin cup, filled it with some of the Kri'lik-honey liquor from the jug and handed it to Preef. It seemed that was all his credits could afford.

"Really?" he asked as he took the cup and saw it was only half-full. "Scrouge MackJawa."

Not having any more to do in the market now that he spend all the credits he brought on a tiny bit of honey-flavoured liquor, Preef decided he might as well make his way to the race and see if there were any more Zaa Fenn around.

 

[Kamo]

As if he needed another confirmation of just how much his thirst-inflicted malady and his inadequacy in this most uncomfortable environment afflicted him, Kamo didn't notice the short human (@The Good Doctor) that approached him despite his usually keen senses.

"I'd be much obliged," the Karkarodon indicated in response to the kind offer, his most gentlemanly manner clashing with his rather intimidating outward appearance.

Upon first encountering the imposing sharp-thoothed pirate, people generally expected his ruthlessness to transpire in all his social interactions and, while Kamo was generally of a nature to accept charity from others, he would make an exception in the spirit of the holiday he was on Tatooine to observe. Afterall, the sort of people you would find on desert planet during Boonta Eve were known for their prideful predisposition and turning down a stranger's helping hand on this day might inadvertently sow the seeds of animosity.

"The name's Kamo. What might I call you, friend?" he added, the deep notes of his voice reverberating in a low thunderous harmony. Taking a step forward in the direction of the nearest cantina, he prompted his new companion to follow by his side. The Crimson Raiders' captain had not taken his second step however that a myriad of green speckles of light as the intense rays of twin suns reflected of a passing Rodian's (@Eccles) scales momentarily blinding him.

For a moment, time seemed to stop on itself as the obviousness of the sequence of events that was about to unfold became abundantly clear to all parties involved. Owing to his slightly diminished reflexes, it seemed unavoidable that Kamo would collide into the Rodian. Reaching to the human for support, the Karkarodon's gracelessness then threatened to bring them all down in his fall.

 

[Newton]

Ah, so he's receptive to his offer, from a stranger from another one. Maybe it's the holiday spirit. But still, he accepted and asked for a name from him. "Newton." he gave his name to the shark-man, whose gave his own name, Kamo. With that, they would head towards the cantina, following the shark-man's prompt, with Newton's astromech droid rolling along side. The droids manning the Blackwell stall should be fine.

When they stepped into the cantina, Newton started to look at his surroundings and get familiar, he's never been on Mos Espa before, but before he could, suddenly his newfound acquaintance looked like he was blindsighted and then started falling, on a collision course for a Rodian? There are a lot of people in this cantina and this is all happening very fast, Newton can't say he has killer reflexes, but he did try to help his shark-man acquaintance. But alas, his reflexes are too slow but he still tried to help, he tried reaching for Kamo, but with the massive weight/strength difference between the two it did not help at all, in fact it ensured that that Newton would fall too with everyone else.

"Kriff..." Newton muttered under his breath after colliding on the floor, rubbing his head as he tries to raise up, gritting his teeth. This would make a scene in the cantina, with looks and staring gazes turning towards them.

@Eccles @Aberforth

 

[Preef Callo]

Suddenly something large collided with Preef's right shoulder and pushed through, quickly unbalancing the Rodian whose only goal during the fall seemed to be to save his half-cup of his Kri'lik-honey drink. He made no effort to break his fall or push the Karkarodon aside, so inevitably all three landed in the sand and Preef, to his utter dread, watched how his drink slowly seeped into the sand just an inch too far for him to reach. "w-what?" he stammered, only now slowly beginning to realize what had happened and turning his head towards the gigantic shark that lay on top of him, "No, why!?"

He was of a mind to pull rank. To announce to everyone that he was a notable enforcer in the Five Syndicates! He was the chief lieutenant of Marissa Hesse, the boss of the Zaa Fenn Crime Family! On lesser days the rodian would even have resorted to blasting both the Karkarodon and the human right off the bat before they could apologize to him. One lesser days?? How much worse could... Preef tried to reach his blaster but couldn't really move his arm with the fat shark on top of him and ended up only wiggling his core left and right in an utterly futile attempt to move the blaster closer to the hand.

"Oi look at that!" a nearby human laughed, "The Karkarodon caught himself a frog!" he laughed even louder until Preef's wiggling allowed the human to see his face and suddenly he choked in his laugh and took a quick sip, turning away from the scene and looking whether or not there was a back exit. Sure, people on Tatooine knew Preef Callo. It was hard to forget the supposed 'Fastest Gunslinger in the Outer Rim' after he blasted those thugs in this very market not three months ago.



@Aberforth @The Good Doctor