Ask It runs in the family.

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Location: Palace of Nor’baal the Hutt, Teth.

Since taking over as Majordomo to the ‘illustrious’ Nor’baal, Gannik, a Sullustan of weak stature, had been run off of his feet. The Hutt quite simply never stopped, moving from planet to planet, deal to deal, and expecting to be maintained in the decadent level of extravagance he desired no matter where he was. Gannik half-wished he hadn’t pushed the previous Majordomo down the stairs!

“Have you ever tried to manage the process of moving a Hutt, their guard and their entire entourage, as well as - for some reason - an art collection, from Teth to Tatooine, in a week? And the same service is expected in flight on his yacht as well? Plus -” Gannik lamented to one of the Hutts more pig-headed guards as he made his way to the throne room “- his meals, his security, his collections, his menagerie, all need to come with him!” he shook his head as he wound his way off from the guard and into the throne room, snaking up to stand behind his master.

Once again the Hutt was holding court, taking tribute from the local businesses and criminals under his thrall, and hearing petitions, mediating disputes and more. He did all of this with his hookah pipe in hand, idle supping on tabac as the good people of Teth came and went. In the background some gentle jizz music played, accompanying the Hutts thoughts, as he checked the schedule, and turned slighty to enquire with Gannik as to who the next guest was.

“A petitioner, your Exalted Majesty - their parents where once in your employ.” he gestured to the entry on the datapad for the Hutt to read, as he waved the man in to approach.

 

[Irvan Yskel]

Teth was a jungle planet located in Wild Space. Ages ago, the world was inhabited by the B'omarr Order, but now it fell under the control of the Hutts. For many, it was a backwater place, a heaven for the scum and villainy of the Galaxy. The type of place that made Irvan feel at home.

When his parents still worked for the Hutt Cartel, he used to travel there with them. He even went with them on some visits to the castle of Nor’baal Desilijic, who was their most constant employer. While they talked with their boss, a young Irvan would stay exploring the gardens of the castle, always being careful to not piss off other criminals and the Hutt.

Now, he was back at Nor’baal’s castle, this time without his parents. Since Irvan was 18 years old, the man had made small jobs, but now a more stable one could be good. This way, he had decided to seek an audience with the Hutt and see if he was interested in hiring him, perhaps even to the position of Majordomo and even bodyguard. His parents always said that Nor’baal was a good employer.

Beyond having experience and recommendations of his older employers, Irvan hoped that Nor’baal would also remember the works that the man’s parents did to him. They were always good at what they did, being well paid because of it.

After he was called by a Sullustan, which Irvan suspected was Nor’baal’s majordomo, the man walked inside the room. He stopped in front of the Hutt’s throne and bowed. In respect to the Hutt, he had decided to speak in Huttese. “<My Lord, it’s a pleasure to see you again after so many years. I'm the son of Argus and Thalia Yskel. They worked for Your Magnificence for many years.>”he decided to mention their names, maybe the Hutt would remember how his father was an efficient assassin and his mother a good smuggler.

“<Now I came before you humbly offering my services.>” with the Sullustan being there, Irvan decided to not say for now the position that he was seeking. After all, he wanted his position as Majordomo. The best course of action was to see if Nor’baal was interested in talking with him about a job first.

“<I have recommendations of my older employers and a catalogue with my skills, both physical and intellectual that you could annalyze to see if I’m worth of working to you, my Lord.>” some of his older bosses liked to know what he could do and with who he worked before, so he decided to bring this information in well organized archives in his datapad there.

The Hutt could want to see it before deciding to talk about giving him a job and it also gave Irvan the opportunity to show how he was organized. Looking at the Sullustan”s appearance, the human doubted that the Majordomo was this way. He was even underdressed for this type of audience.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Argus and Thalia, both of the names, rang a bell for the Hutt. He was sure he had heard of the two of them - but over the course of his 108 year life, it was easy to forget the names of those once in his employ. Motioning for the man to give him the references, Nor’baal flicked through them and smiled, he did recall them both correctly.

“<Now I came before you humbly offering my services.>”

Interesting, Nor’baal chuckled to himself, realising that employing the young man presented him with quite the opportunity. Ivran was a young man by human standards, offering Hutt what effectively amounted to a lifetime of service - or servitude. He considered what positions he could place the man into. Irvan was too...well, intelligent to serve as a guard, perhaps something more entertaining?

<Tanee jot fa doth sey Nor'baal doth tee wa kouoioy Yih. Uba gee dan bauiba, mee cokha becei; bahia mi tee.> he replied, supping on his pipe as an idea formed <In ting uba caiot gautot sabilinh mee gusha peee wa ponka, mo-> he leered at the young man <-wa sonla in ting?>

With a shrieking cackle, his Kowakian Monkey Lizard, nestled in the cushions of his throne, screeched with mirth at his master's suggestion. Nor’baal, meanwhile, was interested to hear if the man had more to offer him than amusement.

 

[Irvan Yskel]

Irvan didn’t expect that the Hutt would offer him the positions of singer or dancer. He wasn’t terrible at singing, but dance wasn’t his thing. However, these weren’t the jobs that he wanted. The man knew that he could be more useful if he worked as a Majordomo or as a bodyguard.

Being hired to these positions would also allow him to have more opportunities and a better salary. Both were important things in his opinion. “<You are very generous, my Lord. However, I hoped that I would be able to work with you in another way. As you can see from my references, I did many jobs as a bodyguard. Perhaps I could serve Your Magnificence this way.>”

“<Or perhaps I could work as your Majordomo.>” he looked at the Sullustan, who seemed to be very tired. While he waited for his audience with the Hutt, Irvan looked around the castle a little bit. He had noticed how some things around the place seemed to be disorganized. There were no guards in some key areas and many objects in the castle were out of place.

Irvan had made a list with all these observations and put it together with the references that Nor’baal was reading. There were also some suggestions on how to correct it. He didn’t want the Hutt to think that the man was trying to say that these cases of disorganization were his fault. No, it was the Majordomo’s fault.

The man was only wanting to show how he was more competent for this position. These observations that he made were very obvious. For example, anyone that wanted to eliminate Nor’baal would be able to notice that there weren’t any guards at the large windows in the left side of the room.

Even if the Hutt didn’t give him this job, Irvan would willingly leave these suggestions with him. After all, he only had a good childhood because Nor’baal was a good employer to his parents. Growing up with them praising the alien made the man develop some type of respect and duty to the Hutt.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

“<Or perhaps I could work as your Majordomo.>”

Majordomo, but I already have one of those! the Hutt reminded himself, but not nearly as quickly as Gannik, his current Majordomo arrived at the same conclusion. “Most entertaining Irvan, perhaps my Lorda could employ you as his jester?” the Sullustan sneered, a nervous look in his eyes “His Serene Emmincency is most content with his Majordomo, I assure you.” he continued, mostly trying to convince himself of his master's pleasure.

Truth be told, standards had slipped around the Palace, and Nor’baal had begun to notice. His food was not as ample in portion as it once was, and he had - of course - noticed the small percent that Gannik had been whisking off the top of the Palace budget. He had not minded, Majordomos where so hard to come by - yet, here one was, a possible replacement!

If nothing else, making Gannik panic was worth the entertainment <Toupee mi, wonkee lwaa uba doth cahcateke bai bantkokobaa webai Gannik wata? Goo gee doth cay mi che duba roy- catke cohka mah bankop bahietka-en boonowa ben kae ban wa kloonkee.>

 

[Irvan Yskel]

The Sullustan comment didn’t affect Irvan, who merely looked at him with a smile at his lips. With the security errors that he had noticed around the castle, the man thought that Gannick was very lucky to still be alive. Nor’baal was really very benevolent, or only desperate to have a servant that ended up hiring the only other that was available.

“<My Lord, I don’t doubt that your Majordono isn’t loyal to you. However, he seems to be very tired.>” the Hutt probably never watched his servant long enough to notice how the Sullustan had dark cycles and seemed to be nearly sleeping in his place besides Nor’baal. “<I think that this job is being too much for him alone to do, because he is doing some very noticeable errors that can put your life in danger.>”

Then, he pointed to a large open window located behind Nor’baal. “<I can only blame his tiredness and lack of attention to justify leaving this window without any guard, because the other reason would be terrible to say. I don’t believe that Gannick would have done it on purpose>.” with this comment, Irvan implied that the Sullustan had left this place unprotected with the intention of allowing the Hutt to be assassinated.

“<Your Magnificence, while I waited outside the room for our audience, I also noticed several others of these errors. Hoping to help you, I made a list with them and the possible solutions. They are together with my references that you are seeing now.>” now he presented to Hutt an example of his organization and competence. Even a crime lord needs to have their business well organized or everything would go to hell.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nor’baal was rather warming to this human.

Not only was he already annoying Gannik no end, he had already started proving his effectiveness by identifying a series of Ganniks mistakes. The Hutt was beginning to warm to the idea of a new and somewhat less useless Majordomo - and, if the new hire turned out to be a mistake, well; he could always have the new boy killed.

Pleased with his own political prowess, the Hutt couldn’t not allow himself a slight smile at Irvans suggestion Gannik was ‘loyal’. Very few of Nor’baals servants were possessed of what the civilised galaxy would call ‘loyalty’ - bar his Gamorreans, who lacked the mental capacity to formulate complex schemes. Perhaps Irvan was ignorant, or perhaps it was part of a carefully manufactured facade, to reduce the Hutts' violent impulses, and lure him into a trap!

Nor’baals tail lashed with frustration.

Curse these schemers! he grumbled audibly as his mind raced. But no. Work out what he wants and then we can decide what to do with him!

Yes - that was the correct course of action. No doubt the man was capable, moreso that trusty Gannik, perhaps? Without question he was ambitious, and almost certainly he was as treacherous as the rest of Nor’baals double crossing underlings - but, what was his motivation? The hook Nor’baal could hold him on!

Credits?

Love?

Power?

<Sey, yemakapa, Gannik gee nem doi bo bokeuala.> Gannik visibly paled as his master spoke <Haku woy uba bahva peee wa uyat che mee bpuoiag?> Nor’baal enquired, keen to extract some hint as to Irvans price.

 

[Irvan Yskel]

Irvan watched Nor’baal’s reaction to what he had said. All these years working for crime lords and other individuals, the man had learned how to understand the body language of other individuals. He knew that what he said had pleased the Hutt, but the tail lashing was a bit unnerving. This species was always unpredictable.

When Nor’baal finally spoke, Irvan smiled. The look at Gannick’s face was very funny. The Sullustan was probably afraid that the Hutt would kill him. He should have been more careful, when working to one of this species, being incompetent could bring pushiments that went beyond being simply fired.

“<My Lord, I only want to have the salary that is designed for a Majordomo. My greatest reward is being able to serve Your Magnificence.>” Irvan said to Nor’baal. He knew that by starting to work to the Hutt, he could make several important connections. Perhaps in the end even making his own criminal organization.

After all, he didn’t expect to work for Nor’baal for the rest of his life. Irvan wanted to show that he could become a partner of the Hutt rather than a simple servant.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

His mind never stopped running through the large number of possible outcomes that could stem from this move, and Nor’baal showed his consternation by glowing at Irvan. A salary designed for a Majordomo? the Hutt pontificated as to the amount, before settling on a sum that would keep the man content with his posting, but also not too much to allow him to get any funny ideas. Truth be told, Gannik was getting rather dull to keep around, and this Irvan could prove to be a useful addition to his retinue, as well as an entertaining challenge should he be as duplicitous as the Hutt suspected.

Calling over his protocol droid, the Hutt mumbled something in Huttese, before returning to his glowering.

With the characteristic tittering gait of its model, the droid nearly tumbled off of its masters dias as it address Irvan directly. “His most imminent majesty, the great Nor’baal, is intrigued by your offer, and accepts your pos -” the droid was cut off by a blustering shout from Gannik, who turned to Nor’baal with a flash of anger in his eyes as he went to speak.

The Hutt was having none of it, and with a tired action, drew a small blaster from a concealed position in the arm of his throne, and blasted a shot clean through Ganniks left leg, sending him collapsing to the ground, yelping in pain. Once again, the Hutt mumbled to his droid who quickly continue speaking “-accepts your proposal to become his new Majordomo. His majesty suggests that you deal with your predecessor, in the correct manner, as your first order of business.”

It fell silent, as Nor’baal smiled, and with a gentle gesture of his hand, indicated that Irvan, should make the Hutts displeasure to his former Majordomo known.

 

[Irvan Yskel]

Irvan was sure that Nor’baal didn’t expect that he would ask for a simple salary. The man was ambitious, but he knew that he couldn’t pressure the Hutt by asking for more. Perhaps, if he does everything right, the money that he receives will increase with time.

When the Hutt called his protocol droid, the Scoundrel knew that a decision had already been made. He didn’t understand why Nor’baal didn’t want to talk directly with him. Irvan understands and speaks Huttese very well. During all this time, they were talking with each other using it. Probably it was some habit.

He smiled, even after Nor’baal had shot Gannick. The job was his now, and he would do it perfectly. “Yes, my Lord.” Irvan walked toward the Sullustan. He held the ex-Majordomo’s vest and started to pull him toward the large window that was located behind the Hutt’s throne. Gannick struggled like an animal, but he knew that there was no escape from what was going to happen.

Stopping in front of the window, Irvan held the Sullustan and showed him the landscape. “Do you see this window? This is why I think that there should be some guards near it.” saying it, Irvan would throw the struggling Gannick from it. “You never know when someone will try to throw another through it!” The ex-Majordomo would scream while falling, but it would soon be silenced by his body hitting the ground. The fall killed him instantly.

Then he turned to Nor’ball “<My Lord, is there anything else that you need?>” Irvan smiled. He was calm, as if he hadn’t killed another being some seconds before.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

<Ho! Ho! Ho!> Nor’baal bellowed as Gannik was shunted out of the window behind his throne, and sent plunging to his demise. As if on cue the entire throne room burst into cacophonous laughter, sycophantically echoing their master's own mirth.

“<My Lord, is there anything else that you need?>”

Laugher waned as the Hutt revelled in the impressive merciless nature of his new Majordomo, Irvan. With Gannik out of the way, a party was in order, and Nor’baals new household member could prove himself in doing what he would need to do best. <Gee yocola koose bai mah vocdy, jeejee gee kiuke bai setpika, Majordomo>

/endthread