The Princess and the Artifact Merchant

[Klesta]

Having been disappointed in one Darth Ferox, whose relationship with her is terminated almost as soon as it even began, she found it hard to find a new trainer, especially since she has lost favor with the Sith Order after what transpired on Yutan. It appears that, on her first sortie as a ground commander, she was there to clean up the mess they left. They decided that, to burn some tree infused with the light side of the Force, a full-scale assault had to be launched, and anti-aircraft was the one thing they forgot. By now she had an entire cache of Jedi artifacts, two lightsabers, and that's pretty much all that she has going for her. She made no progress with the Force and only have some nominal lightsaber skill. The Sith Order never realized that she stole an entire vault of Jedi artifacts on Yutan right under their noses, and that she did it just to prevent these monsters from destroying them. She drafted up a message for a potential client but she decided to omit any military title or any mention of the origin of the items she could potentially sell to the client. She might have caches of those, but she'd rather not sell too big a chunk of the collection at any given time.

"General, what do you intend to do with the stolen Jedi artifacts? Surely you won't destroy them yourself, will you?"

"I've had a crew plant some miniature tracking devices on those I intend to sell off"

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ATTN: [member="Ameli Trahir"]

Greetings,

I have a selection of rare Jedi artifacts for sale that cannot be found anywhere else on the market. If you're interested in the most arcane knowledge of the light side of the Force, please, let me know what works for you, either on the HoloNet or in-person, and we can discuss these matters in greater detail.

Yula Knezevic

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[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

Ameli was a big believed in getting as much done as possible without actually lifting a finger herself. Through contacts made, manipulation and intimidation, she had established herself a minor network working for her in the shadows. It was all in pursuit of greater knowledge of the Force, and specifically alchemy. Even if the items themselves had no connection to the craft, they served a purpose as toys to experiment with, altering shape and function. When a message arrived to one of her aliases, the blonde girl did not delay in replying. It was the start of their negotiations, and Ameli was eager to arrange a meeting. However, she would take care in keeping her identity secret and her connection to the Sith unmentioned. For all her business partners knew, she could be another eccentric, with a fascination of all things occult and rumoured to be linked to the Force and its many cults.

------------------------------------------------

Greetings Yula Knezevic,

I may be interested. Naturally, I will need to examine the items more closely to confirm their authenticity. When can we meet? You can find me on Nar Shaddaa. Unless of course you have a better place in mind.

- A

 

[Klesta]

That was quick, she thought. She would realize that there are holocrons for several things: Force-healing, Force-light, Instinctive Astrogation (and Instinctive Astrogation Control, although there is no reason to get a stolen holocron just to learn that since the book written by the two most famous users in the galaxy makes the mathematics of IAC clear to even NFUs) Psychometry, Sever Force, Wall of Light, and also lightsabers belonging to other Jedi Councillors (like Yaddle's lightsaber, holocron and robes, Echuu Shen-Jon's lightsaber, holocron and robes, the Reaths' lightsabers and robes, Obi-Wan Kenobi's armor, alongside a few more relics from the Clone Wars). Because Nar Shaddaa was dangerous, she still needed her two lightsabers safely holstered within her clothes, which look nothing like Sith robes. But it was known only to Sith that she was the one that stole the contents of the vault: to the general public, the crime is only attributed to the Sith Order with a number of perpetrators, of which she is just one. Nevertheless she could still be welcomed among the Nar Shaddaa underworld if word got out on Nar Shaddaa that she stole the contents of the vault on Yutan. Yet her army is still stationed on Maramere.

------------------------------------

Dear [member="Ameli Trahir"],

Nar Shaddaa would work. In about a day or two I will arrive laden with the inventory of Jedi artifacts. Of course, once the authenticity is confirmed, you will probably realize why these things are worth so many credits and why here are artifact collectors across the galaxy willing to pay through the noses for such things.

Yula

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If lightsaber crystals could themselves be worth squadrons of attack craft or of main battle tanks, and sometimes even more, depending on the crystal, they are far and away the most expensive components of lightsabers, and she knew it, especially for those who wanted different colors from the traditional red, blue, purple and green.

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

And that was that. The meeting was set up and would take place in a day or two. Then she would be able to judge the merits of this business transaction herself in person. Ameli was already on her way to Nar Shaddaa so the travel wouldn't take her long at all. The coffee wasn't great, so she didn't intend to stay longer than she had to. The galaxy was too big of a place to linger anywhere. A moment spent idle one place was a discovery wasted elsewhere.

Of course, when Jedi artefacts were on the menu they would need privacy. Ameli made that her first priority once she arrived on the planet. It would not do to be unprepared. There were many people living on Nar Shaddaa, though it was not short of discrete locations. Abandoned warehouses, apartments, etc. These frequently became occupied by the unfortunate, but it was a non-issue. To someone like Ameli, forceful eviction was always an option.

She would have her location sent to Yula so that she could find her. Following the instructions would lead her to a run-down bar in the lower regions of the city. The windows were barred, the door said quite clearly that it had been shut down. In truth, the place had been doing just fine before Ameli came along. But she did value her privacy over their business. And the apartments above the bar were suitable to her needs.

Ameli waited for her contact inside. Yula would find her playing the role of bartender for no one, chilling behind the desk, inspecting the various goods it had to offer. There was already a bottle of whiskey and wine on the table, two examples of the finer brands she could find here. Whether they truly were considered high quality she did not know, she was no expert. She merely recognised the brands and the fact that she liked them. Ameli was as usual stylishly dressed, at least according to herself. Her pants were wide, classy, black and seemed appropriate to wear with a suit. The rest of her outfit was black as well, the top low cut and tied together by her stomach with a belt that went with it. She wore black gloves that reached to her elbows. Underneath she wore her very own personally crafted ring that masked her presence in the Force.

 

[Klesta]

Yula was a little young to be running around the galaxy doing Sithy things but she betrayed the Sith Order in order to steal (or salvage) Jedi artifacts from the Sith on Yutan, to prevent them from being destroyed. Will [member="Ameli Trahir"] prove to be as brainless as the Sith she betrayed on Yutan? She received the coordinates and she would arrive with a Lambda-class shuttle, much like the one used by Darth Maladon when he lived. As usual, she would need to be discreet, and dressed rather elegantly but with it still allowing for the possibility of concealing her two black lightsabers. Her shuttle landed on Nar Shaddaa at the designated coordinates, with as much of the vault's contents as was possible to store in the cargo hold, which was pretty much the whole content of the vault. She enters the location indicated at these coordinates and would find a barmaid with no clients to serve. And a bottle apiece of whisky and wine. Man, I'm so tempted by alcohol right now; I have to sample each of these things, but wine is not as potent as whisky so I'd sample the wine first, she thought, upon arriving at one of the apartments above the run-down bar in the lower regions of the city. She turns her eyes on Ameli, even though she couldn't spot her in the Force.

"[member="Ameli Trahir"], I presume? Before the business begins, may I have a glass of wine please?"

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Ah! Guests.” Ameli said with a wide grin, much like she was the actual owner of the establishment and pleased that finally she was getting some business. All a charade of course, and it was obvious that she did not truly mean to sell the lie. “Ah” Ameli said again a little less enthusiastic once the other girl spoke. Apparently they lived in a galaxy where everyone knew each other’s names now. So much for keeping up appearances. That was unfortunate, but of no greater consequence. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“And you must be my contact.” Ameli said, as soon the smile was back where it belonged. She fetched both glass and bottle and poured Yula a glass, just below half of the glass. “I won’t even ask how you got the stuff. And I imagine you don’t want to say. It’s all good. I just want to see for myself. You did bring it with you, didn’t you?” she asked as she slid the glass over towards Yula across the bar counter.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Then she turned to observe the grand display of bottle on the wall. Eventually, she reached up for one. She had to stand on her toes but she managed to pull a bottle down, almost falling as she came back. “What do you think?” she said, holding it up for Yula to see. The blonde didn’t really wait for an answer. “I think yes” For a brief moment she looked for something to open it with. There had to be plenty of appropriate equipment available. But it sounded like effort. Oh well. With a loud crack she slammed the tip of the bottle against the side of the table. Its precious liquid poured down to the floor as well as on the table. While waiting for Yula to start talking she poured herself a glass out of the bottle with a now broken top. [/SIZE]

 

[Klesta]

"Ah yes, you may want to visit the cargo hold of the shuttle on the landing pad"

[member="Ameli Trahir"] gave Yula a break: she didn't want to reveal her dark secret, unless confronted to. Because of said secret, she placed tracking devices on them. Still, she drank that glass of wine, while knowing what kind of client she was dealing with. Yet, upon drinking the alcohol, she might be a little... red, but that probably could be chalked up to the wine also being red. It was the first time she could ever get get her hands on alcohol, but she was on Nar Shaddaa, where such poodoo was available pretty much regardless of age. In that event, she would be able to flavor the moment until the wine ran out. She was reminded to be back in business. Might want to wait a little bit before drinking something else, she thought; she'd rather let the client have a look at the artifacts in the shuttle's cargo hold. Also, for the commercial loan she wants to take out, she would need a down payment. She may get it now, she may have to rely on other means to get it.

"I'm grateful for that glass of wine, I would like you to come see these artifacts for yourself, so that you can confirm their authenticity, as agreed earlier"

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

"I may indeed" Ameli agreed with a knowing smile. Certainly she would want to expect the wares before making any sort of decision. "Why not just have it brought here? The bar is empty, no one will swing by. I've acquired temporary accommodations upstairs too, it would do for storage." she suggested. It seemed the simplest way to do it to her, saving them from a lot of back and forwards.

"Don't mention it. It's on the house" Ameli said with a smirk. She didn't own the place. Yula could drink the entire place dry and she wouldn't care. It was easy to be generous when it came at no cost to yourself.

 

[Klesta]

"All right, here's the list of what's going to be in the cart once the cart arrives here: holocrons for several things, like Force-healing, Force-light, Instinctive Astrogation, Psychometry, Sever Force, Force Valor, Battle Meditation, Wall of Light, and also items belonging to other Jedi Councillors, like Yaddle's lightsaber, holocron and robes, Echuu Shen-Jon's lightsaber, holocron and robes, the Reaths' lightsabers and robes (Stam, and Naath), Obi-Wan Kenobi's armor, alongside a few more relics from the Clone Wars. Oh and there's also the holocron of Jaesa Wilsaam, which is considered the most definitive historical account of the Light Sith in existence, alongside Darth Gravid's holocron"

As [member="Ameli Trahir"] asked of her, Ameli would remain in the bar while Yula returned to the shuttle to fetch a cart-shaped hoversled and fill it with the goods she just mentioned: the holocrons, robes and lightsabers. Weird to think of that as the most valuable of what she could salvage: then again the various Jedi that left the Yutan temple in the wake of the Third Republic collapse took many artifacts with them to various locations, most of which are on Voss or Sullust. These goods are heavy, she thought, upon loading the armor of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is the heaviest of the items. And of course, four lightsabers, four robes, and about a dozen holocrons; Darth Gravid's and Jaesa Wilsaam's holocrons were somehow stored inside the Jedi artifact vault, rather than the secret Sith artifact vault, probably because the custodians of the temple at the time deemed knowledge of Light Sith as belonging to the light side and hence freely available to Jedi.

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

"That's a long list of very specific stuff" Ameli's eyebrow rose as the girl in front of her described the contents of her finds. No doubt it was all a hoax to drive up the price. She expected to find a varied assortment of Light Side artefacts. For example, while there might be an armour in there, she doubted it would've belonged to this Obi-Wan Kenobi, whoever that might've been. "Did the Jedi train you? You seem too well informed for someone just stumbling across Force artefacts at random." Ameli inquired. The trust in this saleswoman suffered a reduction, and whatever Ameli decided to keep she imagined she would have to conduct investigations of her own if she wanted to truthfully discover their origin.

Impressive as it sounded, Ameli was mostly interested in artefacts of the dark. Force-imbued items worthwhile to examine in pursuit of her own ambitions. Perhaps she might find that within these items. Toying with items touched by the Light and corrupting them to the Dark could be both entertaining and rewarding. Worst case scenario these items would still be quite valuable and she could use them to fund her projects for a long time going forward.

"Great" Ameli said as Yula made her way back into the bar. "So, what is it you do normally? Do you have a base of operations? You know, in case I want to contact you for future jobs" Ameli asked as she casually inquired into this woman's persona. After the cart was pushed well within the establishment, the blonde walked over to take a glance at the contents. Everything seemed to be in place, she thought as she leaned against the cart. "Well that's that then, right? You can just leave this here and I'll have the credits wired to your account." Ameli said with a friendly smile.

OOC Note: I'm not sure if you're aware of site rules regarding canon items, but I'm pretty sure this won't fly without substantial dev! I've linked to the official post on this topic in case you want to proceed with having these items recognised as canon items (though since you're selling them I imagine that's not a priority). I'm having Ameli treat it as a varied, unspecified assortment of Light Side artefacts.

1. Each writer may possess no more than a total of 5 canon items across all their characters. Factions, companies, and other organizations are unable to claim canon items.
2. Each claim for a canon item must have their own development thread. Depending on the canon item, dev thread requirements may fluctuate.
3. Each Canon item must have their own Factory submission appropriate to its class. I.E. Technology, Vehicles, Starships.
4. Once approved, you may now request to claim it on the Known Owners of Unique Items and link your approved submission.

Source: Regulations of Unique Canon Items

 

[Klesta]

OOC: Pick one among the list in my previous post that had a known canon owner, that one will be yours to purchase, and sub. The holocrons with a specified content but no canon owner can still be a "varied assortment of light side artifacts", however.

IC: "I'm afraid several of the items in the cart are classified as historical artifacts by law. According to galactic regulations, these are, for personal ownership... restricted items. You may choose to purchase one of the items with a known historically significant owner, on the top basket" she told Ameli, pointing at the top basket while separating the restricted items and putting them on the top basket, and the unrestricted items on the bottom shelf. "As for Jedi training, let's say that you sensed that through me in the Force"

Yula was a little skeptical: to [member="Ameli Trahir"], she was... a Jedi? Among the Sith Order she was called many names, heretical, traitor and Light Sith being the main ones, and what few people who were still supportive of her after what transpired on Yutan all seemed to desire to earmark her for missions involving the impersonation of Jedi. But to outside observers of the Sith, her reception was much more mixed. To some, salvaging these artifacts from the attack on the Yutan Jedi temple was the mark of treason, to others, it showed that she had a brain and that the other participants in the attack didn't. Plus she didn't seem to be showing signs of dark side corruption. So she may as well remain under the cover: telling Ameli the truth would mean blowing the cover. She quickly sorted these artifacts between the restricted and unrestricted goods. Once the goods were completely sorted out on the cart...

"The holocrons that had no specified historically significant owner, on the bottom shelf, can still all be yours, since they are unrestricted"

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

"Ah, I see." Ameli said, looking over the various artefacts. Well this deal was getting worse and worse by the second! Now she was going from getting everything to a small portion. No good indeed. No matter. These things had their way of resolving themselves to the devoted believes, such was the dutiful Ember that was Ameli. She was riddled with great purpose, the priestess had told her herself.

While she did not believe for a second that Yula was a Jedi presently, many of those who took to the role of Dark Jedi had once been just that, a Jedi. It didn't really matter though, her attempts to dig into Yula's personal life had not really revealed anything of note. Oh well. Such things could be investigated at a later date if deemed necessary. Now she focused on the present. This deal, this little business transaction of theirs. Oh how Ameli enjoyed doing business. Though of course she had her very own brand of doing so, this establishment being a symbol of that by itself.

"Hmm... Yeah..." Ameli said absent-mindlessly. Her eyes were on the artefacts, but her mind seemed to be on something further ahead. Laid-back, relaxed, considering. "No, I really do think I'll have it all." she didn't see why not. It was her right, was it not? Her head turned back again to face Yula, again with that same endearing, pleasant smile.

 

[Klesta]

"You seem to think that I am a Dark Jedi. You will soon realize that there are Dark Jedi of many varieties: there are those who use the dark side of the Force for the greater good, there are those who fell to the dark side because of destructive impulse, but there are also Light Sith. Now, as far as I'm aware, there are very, very few Light Sith compared to Dark Jedi. Perhaps if you opened a museum with these items as the main items in the collection..."

Surely [member="Ameli Trahir"] wouldn't think of bribing the regulatory authorities or some other such thing! She didn't endure fire and hell on Yutan to face someone that flouts regulations, even though, of the artifacts being sold, only one belonged to anything remotely resembling a household name: Obi-Wan's armor. And clearly she haven't seen Darth Vectivus or Orielle Kitai's holocrons: no, she didn't bring over all that she actually salvaged from the Yutan temple: after what transpired on Yutan, it would be irresponsible for her to sell the entire collection to one individual. It seemed that the Yutan temple had tons of resources pertaining to Light Sith, more than anywhere else in the galaxy... and somehow left open to Jedi to consult? No wonder the other Thieves of Yutan didn't want to steal those items: capturing these holocrons without destroying them would be encouraging heresy. End result: she needs to ensure their safety.

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

How is she reading my mind? Clearly the individual in front of her was a trained Force User, perhaps a Master even considering how effortlessly she had peered into Ameli's thoughts without even alerting her to her notice. Or perhaps she was simply getting ahead of herself. Regardless that would stop now as Ameli threw up mental shields to guard against any such intrusion. The blonde did not take kindly to such encroachments in the slightest. Not cool. In short, Ameli was shutting down and throwing up walls.

"Perhaps" Ameli said absent-minded. She felt sufficiently informed on the various cults of the Force, herself belonging to one of the perhaps more obscure ones, and paid little attention. Beyond that she didn't really have much of a clue on how else to respond to what was said. Her thoughts were on what would come next.

"I'll be sure to give you a discount entrance if I ever do set up a museum." though the thought was entertaining for about four seconds, she found it unlikely that she ever would. "Well, I believe that's everything right? You can just leave everything here. I'll be in touch about payment"

 

[Klesta]

"I understand that you just got ahead of yourself. Then again, sometimes the Force can play some tricks on me"

That's a few million credits for the items on the cart: Obi-Wan's armor is already worth a seven-figure price, she thought. Yet Nar Shaddaa was not exactly a heaven for a museum dedicated to Force-artifacts: hopefully [member="Ameli Trahir"] knew how much risk she took on Nar Shaddaa: burglars could be there along any moment. Yula suddenly realized that she couldn't use Drain Knowledge again for a while. And that she couldn't keep her charade of pretending that she is more powerful in the Force than she actually is. That was one draining use of the Force. She could foresee that, at best the resulting museum would be the target of robbery attempts and, at worst, such a museum would be, as they call it in the underworld, a shell entity. But, if safeguard of historically important artifacts requires the goods to be sold to a shell entity that serves a purpose other than to be used at the leisure of the entity's owner, so be it, better than to be destroyed at the hands of the Sith Order.

"Now that we agree on the terms, I'll stay and drink the whisky" she told Ameli, while yawning, getting increasingly tired.

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

Ahead of herself? When had Ameli ever gotten… Oh, well, there was that time… And… Okay fair enough. Her focus shifted back to the few million worth of credits that was in front of her. Expensive purchase. Fortunately for Ameli she had her ways of getting what she wanted. There was risk, but there were always risks. No pain no gain, and all that stuff. Also, playing it safe often got dreadfully boring.

“Sure thing” Ameli said with a smile. She hadn’t expected to her to stick around, but it made sense. It felt only proper to celebrate with a drink or seven after a successful deal. Perhaps they had different ways of celebrating, or perhaps… The blonde turned and reached for the whiskey bottle on the bar counter, got a clean glass and poured Yula one. Then she eyed the other girl thoughtfully. “How much of a kick were you looking for?” reaching inside of one of her pockets, she pulled out a small, golden-hued bottle. “Just a little mix I like using.” she poured into the glass, though only four drops. She didn’t want to kill her guest. “You can even sleep here if you want. No pressure though.” she understood it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. “If you don’t want it just pour yourself another one and I'll take that one later. I won't take offense” she assured Yula.

“I’ll go drop this off so we don’t forget.” Ameli started putting all the stuff Yula had brought in a cart of her own. Soon enough she’d have her very own drink to join in the celebrations however. She gave Yula a nod and a smile as she finished up. Then she started pushing the cart out through the backdoor while pondering about Yula’s suggestion. The museum idea wasn’t bad. She wouldn’t run it herself, but she could provide the resources for someone else to run things in her name. It could be a facility that performed research for her too, put the fakes on display and sent the real worthwhile stuff her way.

 

[Ameli Trahir]

The blonde girl pushed the cart with all of her new Force toys ahead. It was covered with a wide, dark brown blanket to mask its contents. She said she'd be back once she'd dropped things off at a safe location, but she wouldn't be returning to that place anytime soon. Fortunately for Ameli she had her ways of getting what she wanted. And she had this pretty much in the bag. It had almost been too easy. She wondered what state she had left [member="Yula Knezevic"] in. Had she tasted the drink Ameli had prepared for her, she would certainly get knocked out properly. It wasn't lethal by any means, but it'd put her to sleep. Even if she didn't drink it, the other girl didn't seem to suspect a thing and seemed very comfortable staying right there in the bar. Ameli wouldn't mind. It wasn't her bar. Even though she was more or less out of this with a win, the blonde girl picked up the pace considerably to get to her ship.

That's a few million credits for the items on the cart. Ameli didn't have that kind of money. Of course she didn't. Going into this Ameli had been completely prepared for a fight, yet it had never come to that. The quick and easy scam worked just fine. Trust was a fickle thing, and while Ameli had made many promises of credits to be paid, she had never actually intended to make the transaction. Luckily for her, at no point during their negotiation had such a thing been demanded either. All she had to do was pick up the items, put them in the cart, and be off. The other girl was young, and so she didn't blame her too much for her mistakes. Perhaps in time she would even come to thank Ameli. It's through situations such as these that we learn and we grow.

Making the final stretch and nearly working up a sweat doing so, Ameli came upon the small landing pad not too far away. With the ship's ramp lowering down to welcome her, blondie was more than happy to push it up and into the ship. Time to be off. Whether she'd keep the artefacts, study them, sell them, she didn't know. Probably mostly the latter with a little bit of the second. In any case, with this move she'd be well enough off to fund her business and operations for a long time to come. All it had cost her was time and a little bit of planning. What a bargain.