Ask Tatooine The Rite

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Location: Desilijic Palace, Tatooine

It had been a busy few days for the Hutt, so busy that he decided to make a quick detour to his ancestral home on Tatooine. Here was a place of solitude and peace for the troubled Hutt. Sat in his throne room, Nor'baal had received a communique from a mercenary, asking to come to see him about joining a dormant unit he had not used in decades.

Given a Sith Lord's recent attempt on his life, Nor'baal was interested in hearing them out.

So here he sat. In his Throne, a line of Gamorreans in front of him, others dotted around the room, and enough scum, bounty hunters and other degenerates to fill a few prison ships, enjoying themselves at his expense. When they arrived, his guest would be shown in, to stand before him, atop a somewhat creaky-looking grate, before his throne, and make their case.

@Black Noise

 

[Ivarr Bone Breaker]

Ivarr Bone Breaker was not looking the greatest at this moment. It was not that she purposefully did little to her appearance in order to disrespect the Supreme Mogul, rather, another problem had cropped up very recently for her own people. Ivarr entered the palace main room alone and unarmed, her weapons checked at the door due to her people’s lack of communication with their Hutt Patrons for so many decades. The Ramund were not trusted yet. Her face was covered in fresh cuts and scraps, her knuckles bruised and battered, and her undergarments stained with blood.

Not twelve hours prior, Ivarr had participated in a Law of Iron.

The daughter of Hadvar Great-Axe was not universally loved nor universally respected in clan Ramund. Many disagreed with her leadership style and the direction she decided to take the clan into. One such man, Ymir Gore-Drinker, had decided he would not settle their disagreement with words, but with Iron. So Ivarr Bone Breaker participated in the Law of Iron and, regrettably, had beaten the man to death.

Now, standing before the Hutt Supreme Mogul, she felt immense shame at not only her less than immaculate appearance, but also in that she had not proper gifts to offer his station. Unlike many others, Ivarr held a great deal of respect for the Hutts. Despite not being physically powerful themselves, their influence extended far beyond the reach the Deucalians had ever held. Despite not being warriors, their empires had lasted millennia without bending or breaking. She envied them.

Kneeling, she introduced herself, “Honorable Supreme Mogul, most magnificent and illustrious Desilijic, I am called Ivarr Bone Breaker. I am humbled in your presence.” The words slipped forth truthfully and meaningfully, but they sounded strange. Not hollow, but almost as if they physically hard to say. Words such as these did not translate into the ancient tongue of Deucalic, therefore they were utterly foreign to the culture of the Deucalians. But respect must be given when it is due, as Ivarr would expect of her own people addressing her. Though they would not use the same words.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Finally! Nor'baal smiled to himself as the newcomer introduced themselves. Respect.. Flattery was one of the best ways to a Hutt's heart, failing that, gifts - ideally both. This newcomer had the former in spades. He knew quite a lot about the cultural group she was from, a warrior band who had fallen on increasingly hard times in recent times.

For Hutts of course, 'recent times' was longer than most people's life spans.

<Fa ah lhonu yanay che mee bai doth wata, Dobra gahke.> Nor'baal smiled as he spoke, pleased to finally have someone in his presence who wasn't trying to lop his head off. <Mah droida bleeu mi uba doth was Deucalian, nobata?> he asked, before adding <Toupee mi, uba gee nan dwana pacahlox'a? Mo da naga kaa doi bu Lanka?>

 

[Ivarr Bone Breaker]

Ivarr could see the Hutt smiling out of the corner of her eye. 'Good,' she thought, 'his grace is already in a good mood, this should put me on better footing.' Keeping her head down, she spoke up once more. "Yes, most illustrious one, I am Deucalian. From Clan Ramund, I hail. My Great Grandfather, Garsson The Great, served you and your family as Kougine Lohba. It was the foolishness of my grandfather and my father to separate from your greatness.

"Since that time, we have known naught but hardship and suffering. I am come before you to offer not only my life, but the lives of my clan once more as Kougine Lohba. Should you see fit to grant us patronage once more, we will serve your majesty."

Her Huttese was rough, that much was sure, but she felt that she understood Nor'baal Desilijic well enough. His sentences had come simply enough in their words, and Ivarr attempted to lay on as much flattery as her culture allowed in her own words. Of course, Ivarr saw fit to cut straight to the meat of what she wanted. Hopefully, their desires aligned.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

The Kougine Lohba? Nor'baal hadn't heard that term in years! It had been a neat idea at the time, but he had never really seen it through - a corp of offworlders from warrior cultures sworn to the family. It waxed and waned, as did the power of its benefactors, the Desilijic, but Nor'baal had never seen fit to get it up and running.

With the recent attempts on his life, maybe now was that time.

He nodded as she spoke. It was infrequent for chances to arrive of this nature, and you never looked a gift Fathier in the mouth, after all. <Jee chespo bahva bo bai coka don heee uia. Toupee mi, haku dolesa uba, bmalewee, che wa cachka see hee yanay, an cay bu caieu see hee uyat?> he enquired, reminding her that she needed to prove why he could trust her with such a task, one that would entrust to her care, his own kin.

 

[Ivarr Bone Breaker]

This was something he already wanted, a win, but he wanted to know what made her worthy. Did he call the job a reward of some sort? Ivarr paused as she deciphered the Hutt's response in her mind. Of course, Ivarr was requesting a coveted and intimate position within the Hutt's circle. He would be wise not to simply give it away to the first mercenary to bend the knee. Looking up at the Hutt, though not raising her head yet, Ivarr spoke.

"We Deucalians are not Mandalorians, we do not search for the strongest opponent to fight, we do not demand glory from hard-fought battles. We are plundering, stealing, thieving warriors. We seek wealth, powerful ships, and powerful patrons for our nomadic lifestyle. These are things the Hutts are provide us, and in return, we relish the chance to serve your immanence in battle. To spill blood for one such as you, there is no greater honor.

"But I know words alone cannot prove anything, so I offer you this gift. Covered in blood, I came to you with one hundred warriors of my clan. Should you give me your word alone of a place among you as Kougine Lohba, and the rank of Enforcer in your own organization, I will return in one week's time with twice as many warriors. Then, we shall gratefully swear allegiance to you, receiving the tattoos of old as physical evidence of our bond.

"The other clans will follow me to you, even if I must beat their leaders to death with my bare hands to convert their members."

Her accent almost seemed to thicken as she spoke, the violence she described let a smile creep across her face. Hopefully her words were enough to convince the Hutt, and if not that, then the actions she promised after.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Ivarr made a promising proposition. Mandalorians differed from the Deucalians in many ways; their lifestyle to static in some respects to be able to marry up to the demands of Hutt servitude. Deucalians, on the other hand, as Ivarr had reminded him, were born into a nomadic group, their way of life naturally aligned with the trials of the Kougine Lohba. Perhaps that was why, in his great genius, Nor'baal had tried to bring such a formation together in the first place.

Nor'baal liked to be reminded of his staggering foresight occasionally.

<Mevag an pankpa Meecooda moolee, che paupe. Sa, heee noa-a kiuke bai doth logna che ten bacdop biw tah ahbeu. Tee- dopemeke Kougine Lohba hatkocanh ata doth cua dan jahke bai bahia bu Desilijic catke cohka tytung.> the Hutt remarked. All in all she was promising him something he had desired for a while, protectors - and enforcers. For sure, he had Callo, he had men beyond counting - but he needed a group that was sworn, above all, to his family alone.

The Deucalians could provide that. Their oaths mattered - the same brutish simplicity as the Hutts found in the Gamorreans, but partnered with a keen intellect that would make them more useful, better versed in following more complex orders than their porcine counterparts.

<Uba woy wa saiesonke kanu, Ivarr.> Nor'baal nodded, decided to agree with her proposal. <Mee chamana doth baplamka. Uba lwaa kaza Kougine Lohba, cay tytung bu kiukanacdhe chaweka fa koose, an matmanbalaee doth oto ta, bai mah woceuea an see pacmhanaduee, mah kaba.> he rose a little in his throne as he made the proclamation, finishing with a flourish as he said <Moova mee wata du bo bacogna. Cha koupankankesa mi.>