NOTE: His name is almost always mispronounced by humans as Garth and becasue that is easier to type that is how it is written.
Character Name: Ghhah'tth aka Garth
Race: Hchni'I
Gender: Male Elder (Over the life cycle of the Hchni'i they go from Hatchling (androgynous) to Male hatchling to Breeder female to Mature Male to Elder female to Elder male. Garth is in the twilight of his life. Females lay eggs, but males fertilize and 'hatch' them).
Light Side/Dark Side Ratio: 4/1
Description: Like all of his race, Garth is small (just over 1 meter tall) and has horns on his head that are very worn with age. He also has a nose spike that is unusual and marked him at a very young age as a Shaman. His coloration varies in color from dusky grey to brownish depending on his temperature. When agitated he can get reddish. (note this isn't voluntary).
Homeworld: Vorgrell is his homeworld. Vahgyl'l is how he would say it, but the gods understand human, it seems, so he has stopped correcting the error. His culture is one of the "good native" tribes that squat in the caverns near Plateau City. His tribe does a brisk trade in crafted items and the occasional illicit herbal tea in exchange for power cells for cook-stoves, vibro-knives, heaters, coolers, and other devices that his people have become dependant on since the humans have arrived.
Garth lives in a tunnel underneath the Council chambers where he "assists" the cleaning staff by skuttling through the small nooks and crannies after vermin (like F'fagagh (or Fags as the humans call them)...mmm, good eating) and handling some various routing of cables and things. His position is very un-official.
History: Garth is over 30 years old. That makes him an Elder Male in his tribe where the average life expectancy is 19 (So few of the hatchlings make it to Elder Female these days...tsk). He credits this remarkable life span to being close to his ancestors and a chance meeting with a very strange woman 15 years ago when he was just a Mature Male.
Back then, there was a lot of hullabaloo about the Trade Federation being overthrown, discredited, or whatever the Human term for out of favor with the ancestors is. A woman from the Jedi Council representing the Republic (Garth says it 'Zhedi' which is as close as he can get) came here and made a really pretty speech which calmed down all the humans.
Afterwards, he was sitting in a corner eating a fresh F'fagagh when the Woman came over and offered a meal bar in trade. Now Garth knew that meal bars gave him gas, but she was so friendly and good-looking (for a non-Hchni'I) he agreed.
They spoke for a while and he told her about his tribe and his people. She told him about the Zhedi and the Force. Now Garth knew a lot about the Ancestors because they whispered to him in his dreams and told him secrets of the future. It seemed this Zhedi believed that some sort of ghosts bound everything together. Ancestors, of course. Garth agreed.
The woman stayed a few days and taught him a few ways to call upon the ancestors and promised to return. But she never has.
Items: Garth has a Jedi communicator that the woman left with him. He doesn't understand how it operates, but he knows that if it ever makes a noise, he is to carry it to the highest peak and unfold it. It will be a communication just for him.
Garth also has a small knife he keeps very hidden for killing F'fagagh. Most of the custodians beleive he just wrings thier necks. Garth thinks that is silly because it puts all sorts of bone meal into the neck which makes it taste funny. So he just uses his knife and doesn't say anything about it.
Abilites:: Garth knows every inch of the Council Chambers and the Catacombs beneath Plateau City. He also knows a lot of secrets he has heard while crawling through these hidden conduits, although he talks in roundabout way so it might take a while for him to get to it.
Hunting, Survival, basic operation of simple devices (comms, heaters, cookstoves, etc), He also is a tracker and very knowledgeable in local tribes and customs.
Force Powers: Garth is a Shaman to his people. He can sense things like injury and disease. He can 'feel' danger, and he has been known to predict the future. To him, this is the Ancestors talking to him. He has been trained to clear his mind and let the force fill him (by the woman) and he can sense a presence nearby when his eyes are closed.
Played by: A Muppet
Role: At some point, someone is going to need to know their way around the hidden ways of the Council chambers. Or want a secret way into the Imperial Garrison. Or need to talk to some natives. Someone might need a Force sensitive. Here he is - Unassuming and unlikely a hero as you might meet.
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Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
very cool. Could see how he could be dangerous to people seeing all the things he 'overhears'
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
I like it too, if not just because its so different and original, but because Corin (and i imagine others, too) would be very interested to learn of all these catacombs and tunnels :P
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
Ghhah'tth sat in his favorite corner and gnawed the F'fagagh he had saved from yesterday. He watched the humans walking across the polished floor and mumbled to himself under his breath between bites.
"Oh how have you been?" "So good to see you?" "Have you lost weight?"
Questions, questions questions, the humans were full of them. They were always asking questions.
"Did you steal my lunch, Garth?' "What are you up to now, you lazy horny?" "Have you seen my toolbox, old-timer?"
Every once in a while he'd hear an an answer whispered in his ear. "His lunch was stolen by Jufrek since Jufrek didn't want his." or "The toolbox is still in his flitter." and he'd tell them.
"Jufrek forgot lunch. Seek trade with you. You he not find. Ancestors say he-"
About this time, the humans would gesture to the heavens and wander off. Gareth would shrug and wander back to his corner. He wanted to eat lunch too, and all of these questions all added up to the same thing. Humans asked questions because they weren't listening to the answers that were all around them.
One uniformed human walked past him and slipped on a damp patch of floor. His shiny shoes had no purchase on the slick surface and in Ghhah'tth's mind he saw the human cracking his skull open as he landed on the hard marble.
Grabbing the F'fagagh carcass he slid it out into the center of the floor. The man's head hit the dead vermin with a sickening sound, but the impact had been cushioned just enough to stop him from dying.
Jufrek ran out from the other room where he had been going through Klobe's lunch. He had mopped the floor and even though there was a sign, this was a Deputy Sherrif. When he regained his wits he wasn't going to be happy.
Garth slipped into the other room and picked up the sack lunch. He skuttled down a connecting crawlspace to the monitoring room. He had to muscle past a droid to get to the chair where Pettury sat. He tugged on Petturry's pocket and waved the sack.
"Found Klobe's lunch. Tell him I run to Hamert's flyer, he meet me there."
Pettury didn't acknowledge his presence, but keyed the comm system, "Klobe, your lunch is down at Hamert's flyer."
Kobe commed back, "What? How did you know?"
Pettury shook his head. How did he know? "None of your business, Klobe. I'm security, it's my job to know these things."
Garth had to scoot, he only had a narrow window to make the ancestor's plan fall into place. He popped the flitter's truck with his knife and removed the toolbox. He carefully left the lunch sitting on the hood of the flyer. Then he labored to carry the heavy thing back up from the parking area.
As he got to the entrance he set the box on the floor and carefully adjusted its position before ducking into another passage and ran to get to the far end where he waited with open hands near a small hole.
Klobe was at the flyer and he had retrieved his lunch. Hamert was coming outside to get his toolbox which he remembered he had left in the trunk. Hamert found his toolbox sitting in a corridor. He was sure it had been in his car, but shrugged and picked it up. He turned and bumped into Klobe who was looking through his lunch sack rather than paying attention to where he was going.
The toolbox flew through the air and landed on the floor. Spanners and probes scattered every which way including into a small hole. There it startled a F'fagagh which ran the opposite way. At the opposite end of the hole Garth caught the F'fagagh and quickly slit its throat.
He trotted back down the conduit to his favorite corner and sat down and prepared to enjoy his lunch. "Garth!" Jufrek was yelling at him, "There you are you lazy lizard!" Go out there and clean up that dead animal on the floor while I eat my lunch."
Garth stared at him and said something rude in his native tongue. Jurek waved his hand, he knew what it meant, "Don't give me any lip about it. Just do it. And when you finish that, Hamert has lost a probe in a fag warren, help him get it out."
Garth put his new lunch in the bag the old one had come from. Thank you Ancestors for making me miss my lunch - again.
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
I have just one question: how the hell would we accurately pronounce his name? :)
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
Gh (a gargling sound in the back of the throat)
Hah (a short exhale)
't (a gutteral stop with a t)
Th
gghaht-tith is about as close as we can get.
The Humans gave up and call him Garath (which has been shortened to Garth) which is close enough
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
Poor Garth. :)
Nice introduction.
You know my favorite part, though? It's not what you'd expect. It's who you chose to play your character. When I got to the "played by" part and read the word "muppet," I laughed. Of course, a muppet is wonderfuly Star Wars, the perfect choice. It just struck me as hilarious, unexpected.
I like how this character has a clear function, listed under "role."
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
I instantly thought of Kermet the Frog and chuckled :)
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
Dave, are you going to work up a theological system for this race ("Hchni'i")? I'd like to know names of the ancestor gods, for instance. And their take on life, death, afterlife, etc.
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
I can if you like. The "Ancestor Gods" aren't Gods so much as the spirits of his dead ancestors. He might refer to them by name (like Grandfather or Uncle) but I doubt that they have names.
Think of Luke seeing the 'spirit' of Obi-Wan on Hoth or hearing him while buzzing the Death Star and that might give you a better idea of how it works for Garth.
The Hchni'I (An aside: you used a capital I after the apostrophe...I liked that so I am adopting it) will be deatiled in a seperate post at some point. Ill try to put in a lot about their culture and motivations.
Also someone else mentioned that the Hchni'I were 'pacified' and while that is certainly true around Shipwreck and Plateau City it isn't the case in the mining settlements. The Hchni'I have been roughly treated by the Trade Feds, Republic, and Empire...so they are pretty angry about it.
They attack towns and burn them down. They steal children in the night and they brutally murder miners who are unwary. They collapse mining tunnels and sabotage equipment. They are viscious and mean for the most part.
But that is in the wilderness. Hense the idea of "Good Hchni'I" and "Bad Hchni'I". Subtitute the word Indian for Hchni'I and you might get a better idea of whats going on.
Oh and don't forget that if one family sabototages another's mining settlement the first thing they will blame is the Hchni'I.
Proposal: Ghhah'tth [ACCEPTED]
This is hilarious. I liked the capital "I," too. But I think it came about because I copy-pasted your original redering of the word. So, if we go ahead with the capital "I," it's because of a mistake of your left pinkie. Hey, I'm good with it. Let's do it!
There's no need to build a theological system, if it sounds too daunting a task. I just like having such information to reference when I write. During a collab, I don't want to have to try and find you on-line to ask a question.
If it isn't getting annoying to hear, "Great job!" Digging your work and everyone else's.