CH 1.1-b: Shank's Pre-Owned

The bartender droid looks to Tajanna, replying with machine like efficiency. "There are many booths available, of varying sizes and seating capacities. Feel free to choose the one that suits you, although I would advise you that the far left corner of our 'privacy room' is often least desirable, as it is closest to the kitchen." The droid conveys another mechanical warm-glow smile, 'lips' unmoving. It seems 'pleased' with itself, having given out some good bartender advice, as it was programmed to do.

"Once you have chosen a booth, you may, of course, draw the curtains if you like, affording you privacy, a most desirable primary feature of this fine establishment. If you do so, upon leaving, please leave the curtains open as a courtesy to future patrons."

Please add placeholder rolls. The color-coded skill list should make it easier to do so. In this case, you'd check the Library as needed to determine what skill check goes with Seek.

Krosus officially has Seek now.

Sorry, when I looked at the list I saw it was a secret roll, so that's why I didn't roll for perception.

As Lexi sat down in the booth with Krosus, she pulled her com out to check if Lissewa had sent them any further information.

Lissewa's still missing. Hasn't responded to anything, and the Espos are likely swarming our ECUL. Why, in the name of the First Sith, did I leave the vessel. Damn it all Lexi, you know better. We need to establish a plan and that plan should get us up off the streets and out of the eyes of the Espos. she thought to herself quietly, not wanting to say anything until the curtains were drawn.

Closing her eyes, Lexi opened her mind to the Force, seeking out the Darkness she felt so strongly at home. Damn the Jedi for their useless emotionless ways. Damn the Sith High Command for not properly testing our equipment. Damn Flesh Walker for - well - for everything. It's his fault this current mess is plaguing us. She let the frustration, anger, and hatred from their mission's progress flood through her, over her. As she breathed in deeply, she focused on the single burning hatred at the core of it all. Damn you incompetence.

Tajanna draws from her experiences in the Akrultos underworld, and considers what are called 'information brokers'. These individuals generally weave webs of informants, who typically don't even know of one another. They are 'invisible', and you wouldn't know it if you met one.

Knowing that information can be extremely valuable, she wouldn't put it past the cantina's owner to establish means of collecting information, this type of cantina clearly being ideal for doing so, then selling it as an information broker. She also knows it would be pragmatic of such an individual to be completely unconnected to the cantina on record, or at least distanced from it by multiple degrees of separation, not to mention as 'invisible' as possible in general.

With the Advantage from your roll, Tajanna is also pretty sure that the droid won't try to give them up, but will likely be matter of fact and straightforward if it has to deal with the Espos.

Krosus reaches out to the dark side, and it answers, giving direction, orienting his mind toward Lissewa. Moments pass, eyes closed, searching, fueled by a subtle anger derived from a lack of knowing. The dark side opens his eyes.

Clarification on the information broker concept: I'm not saying Tajanna thinks they are being listened to, just that she understands an information broker would highly prize this establishment as a means of gathering secrets.

I'm assuming that the group has drawn the curtains, but correct me if I'm somehow mistaken.

CCL, as far as hearing the Espos talk to the barteneder, the curtains are thick and help block sound, not to mention the music is designed to obfuscate conversations, and the booths are contained (with ceilings), increasing the privacy level for all patrons. However, if things got loud, that would be different. The group's position in a booth, even if the closest to the bar, would preclude them from knowing if the Espos were even there, unless things got loud.

However, a lot of this would depend on Perception checks, which would be secret, but I'll tell you the difficulty would be 5 purple to try and pickup tidbits of conversation at the bar, and I'll allow that your booth is close enough to try and do so. Opening the curtain a hand's width would reduce the difficulty to 4 purple, but you all know it would increase your visibility, standing out as a beacon in the dark with the light spilling from your booth.

A note: These are estimates on difficulties. If, for example, the Espos were at the bar, and you opened the curtains a bit to listen, the difficulty might be two red, two purple, wherein the red dice represent the potential for a Despair result, from which I might simply interpret that the Espos spotted your booth as 'interesting.'

To help clarify the potential Espos presence: as of now, your characters just sat down in the booth less than a minute ago. To your knowledge, the Espos aren't here yet.

Difficulty dice for Tajanna's Knowledge: Underworld check

EDIT: Don't worry about the threat. Again, just using the dice to reflect the unlikelihood of your character's knowing much about this galaxy.

Tajanna fails her Underworld check.

Tajanna pushes the cantina out of her mind, turning her attention toward what might be. The force permeates her very being, helped along by her obsessive nature, drowning the sights and sounds of Charitable Charlatan's in the depths of the Dark Side.

Tajanna returns from her vision, eyes fluttering. The cantina seems to be undisturbed, a web of voices that can't be heard over music undoubtedly intended to make it so.

Tajanna has no idea how the Espos might act in response to the carnage outside of Charitable Charlatan's. More on Knowledge checks in the OOC.

Krosus opens the curtain just enough to look out toward the bar room. Everything seems the same as when they entered the booth minutes ago. The 'dark room' is still dark, and the main bar room is still bathed in pale blue light. There are no signs of an Espos presence. Just as he is about to let the curtain close, the server droid appears from his periphery, stopping at your booth.

"Welcome to Charitable Charlatan's! Haven't seen you here before. Welcome, welcome, welcome!" It has a woman's voice, and the 'personality' is clearly a more exuberant kind, likely intended to be the excitable contrast to the bartender droid's more laid back 'cool guy' program. 'She' leans down, and peeks through the curtain, addressing all of you. "Just so you know, you can call for service anytime by just leaving your curtain open. Even a little crack of blue coming from your booth will have me..." She looks down at her wheels. "Well, it will have me come rolling, to serve your beverage consumption needs!" It spun once, its mechanical yet female laugh contriving artificial amusement, showing some pizazz. "So what'll it be? Kraspen Death Wind? Bonadan Wrecker? Or maybe some Corellian brandy? You know," she shows you her left arm, a dispenser half full, "we've got deathsticks too, if that's your thing."

Her eyes light up a bit more in anticipation, accompanied by an orange glow smile, almost exactly like the bartender's.