2008-10-21 - Desert Springs Eternal

The Main Hall of the Palace is a large space but, architecturally, feels incommodious. Most of the room is shrouded in haze and shadow except for the dais where the palace's owner holds court at the center of the room. There are numerous beings hiding in the shadows; criminal scum of the Galaxy who have been brought here for one reason or another. The walls are covered with a wide assortment of personal trophies belonging to the palace's owner. Here and there, some of them are illuminated revealing ancient weapons, precious artifacts, and the occasional preserved corpse of a favored slave concubine.
Yoruba the Hutt reclines against a padded rail set up along the back of his dais. There are certainly less scumbags here than usual. Maybe it's the droids the Hutt somehow managed to acquire. Maybe it's because Tatooine is under siege. Either way, the Hutt is open for business. In fact, the Hutt has arrived back at home just a few moments ago with a prize brought to him by one of his agents. Ho ho ho.
The Rodian agent approaches Yoruba's dais, the end of a thin chain wound tightly around his left hand. It leads to a collar worn around the neck of a woman, whose long and dark hair covers her shoulders -- rather more efficiently than the thin and sleek garb on her frame, leaving little to the imagination.
"I brought you this, your highness," barks the agent, bowing deeply to the Hutt. A tug of the chain sends the young human forward.
Yoruba's eyes open wider as the female comes into the light. "Mmmm! Bring her close. I want to see... everything! Ho ho ho."
The bloated Hutt pushes off from the rail and slides to the fore of the dais. "Hey you, what is your name? Where are you from? Do you speak Huttese?"
The agent pushes at the woman's back and she steps forward, to the edge of the dais. Her eyes flicker at Yoruba with uncertainty, but she answers the Hutt in a very low voice: "I'm Kavra. I'm here from Tatooine... but I don't speak your language." Then she falls silent, looking down and backwards at the entrance from where they came.
"I picked her up at the slaver's market," comes the agent's addition. "It's rare that they have such pretty ladies for sale. I thought you'd appreciate her!"
Yoruba reaches out and takes Kavra's chin between his fat thumb and index finger. Without much gentleness, he pushes her face right and then left and then up and down. Releasing her, he pulls back. "Droid! Get up here. Stop cowering and be useful. And don't complain about that beating I gave you or I'll have disolved in acid this very night. Come, tell this girl to turn around and dance. She has a pretty face. But there is much more she must prove if she is to remain in my employ. Ho ho ho."
A battered droid, its cheap chest plate battered in, limps forward. "Our master bids you welcome to your new home, Kavra of Tatooine. He asks that you turn around and then dance."
Kavra doesn't resist the Hutt's scrutiny, moving her face with Yoruba's touch. Her eyes, attentive as they are, still flicker from side to side; the dim light of the room reflecting in their surface. But to the droid's request she simply says: "As you wish!"
She then turns around, gracefully, and wraps her hand around the chain. It is given a tug, and the agent shrugs and gives the woman the cord.
And then she moves onto the floor and dances; something that she has clearly tried before. It is a graceful dance, but made rather revealing by her skimpy garb.
Her eyes do, however, flicker at the entrance as she dances.
The Hutt is entranced by this female. He licks his lips. "Mmmm! Rodian, you have brought me a good one. You have proved again you know my taste well. Stay, enjoy my hospitality and I will reward you with credits soon. KASHKAH! Bring this slave concubine a neck shackle and chain. Then put out an order. I want a custom gold shackle and chain produced for Kavra immediately."
His commands given, Yoruba turns his attention back to the female. "Aaaah. You are a beautiful one. You may stay until you no longer please me and I will strangle you with my own hands. Until then, you will entertain me and I will reward your submission with delights you cannot imagine. Droid, tell my Desert Spring I am changing her life for the better. Ho ho ho!"
The droid translates into Basic. "Desert Spring, once known as Kavra of Tatooine. Our master says you have pleased him and he rewards you with room and board in his harem. Compensation will be generous and you will be well taken care of as long as you regularly perform as our master bids."
The dark-haired woman stops her dancing, dust from the floor has brushed the light-brown skin on her ankles. She looks to Yoruba in incomprehension, and then to the droid with oddly dead eyes.
But when the battered protocol unit mentions generosity, and being taken care of, a light appears in her gaze. For the first time Kavra looks as if she is present in the same room as the others.
"Tell your master that if he gives me food and water to drink, I will be a dutiful slave." Her voice is soft - and spoken with the gratitude of one who knows what a lack of food and water really means. "And tell him my thanks as well, for taking me in."
"Ho ho ho! It have said before and I say again, there is a sucker born every minute! Ho ho ho. Droid, tell my Desert Spring that her submission heartens me. She can start being the dutiful slave she has promised to be by joining me on the dais while I nap. The heat of the suns is upon us and I grow weary."
Yoruba slides back on the dais, making room for Kavra. "Tell her to being me the cord... KASHKAH, I ordered a chain for this <Huttese expletive>. Do I as I say or I will forget the loyal service you gave me on Nar Shaddaa and Naphoon!"
The droid says to Kavra, "Desert Spring, our master commands you join him on the dais during the heat of the day."
Kavra tilts her head slightly at the protocol droid and steps forward to the dais. Kashkah, striding past the room with the new chain and neck schackle in his hands, intercepts the woman just as she is about to step up. The cheap, leather cord is removed and the Tusken cinches the metallic collar around her neck. The chain is attached to it, and the end of the chain is presented by the man to Yoruba with a deep bow.
The agent that brought Kavra begins to mutter something about economic compensation, even as he inhales deeply from a spice-infused pipe.
But all said and done, the newly turned Desert Spring steps willingly onto the platform and seats herself near the Hutt -- though in deference to the species' looks and nature, she does allow a silver of daylight between her own form and Yoruba's.
Kavra looks around the dim hall with an almost triumphant expression.
"Hroom! What are doing all the way over /there/, my Desert Spring?" Yoruba plants a large fat hand on Kavra's chest and pulls her against his body possessively. "Ho ho ho. Do not be shy, Desert Spring. You will learn to appreciate being close to me. Especially at night. The desert is cold at night. You will cuddle up next to me for warmth. And you will be warm, ho ho ho. I promise." The Hutt starts to relax, his grip on the girl relaxing as well.
The droid, seeing this intimate moment between his master and his fellow slave, shuffles away, not bothering to translate.
Kavra gasps when she is pulled close to the Hutt. A flicker of nausea passes her face, but she clenches her jaw and remains seated close to Yoruba.
"Yes, your Huttness," she says, meekly. "The desert /is/ cold at night, I know Tatooine well enough. May I ask how many slaves are in your harem?"
She flicks a look aside at the hutt, but quickly looks to the droid for a translation. With an effort of will she even leans back against the Hutt's fat belly, trying to seem comfortable.
"Yer Huttness," comes the agent's voice. He is clearly high on spice, now. "You don't think a little bit of compu... pump... compn'sation would be in order for the gal? She did cost me a fair bit."
Drowsy, the Hutt brings up a fat hand with only his index finger extended. "Desert Spring, the sound of your voice, it is intoxicating. I have but one concubine presently, you. Ho ho ho. How different it was only a few weeks ago. I had dozens of expendable females from everywhere in the Galaxy. Mmmm. I let my greed and lust get the better of me. First that Spitfire. Though eventually she did relent. Ho ho ho. Then that head case, Tusken. She was alright, if a little underdeveloped. Then that lying, double-crossing Core <Huttese expletive> Morrow. Those three cost me. But, I am home again. And you will be the first of my new harem."
Yoruba waves his droid over who translates what the Hutt just said into Basic. Then the Hutt says, "Kashkah, more spice for our guest."
A slight smile quivers at the edges of Kavra's lips, uncertain; as if feeling uneasy in such an unusual display of joy.
"Then I am your first concubine," she says sweetly. For the first time she looks to the side, meeting Yoruba's gaze with a soft one of her own. Seemingly soft, at least. Some shrewd thought plays beneath the surface of her eyes. "I will serve you in any way that I can. Of course, does this mean I will get some privileges within your harem, Huttness?"
The agent smiles happily at the new serving of spice and dives into it, smoking his brains out.
"Kashkah, not too much. The Rodian has a fine eye and I don't want to lose it." Turning his large yellow eyes at Kavra, the Huth chuckles. "Ho ho ho! You are my kind of scum, Desert Spring. Mmmm, you have already pledged to remain with me if you are kept fed and watered, like any other dog. Ho ho ho. Droid, tell Desert Spring I will grant her some privileges if she pleases me. She has but to name them. If you mention I called her a dog, I promise you will be 'naked' until I have you disintegrated."
The Tusken removes some of the spice from the Rodian's pipe, eliciting a faint protest from the agent. But he is too stoned to do anything properly about it, and slumps back with his pipe instead.
Kavra looks to the agent that bought her with hard eyes.
"The Rodian beat me on the way here, your Huttness," she murmurs, gently. With a clink of metal chain against metal collar her head tilts down, and she regards the floor in front of the dais. "And I am happy that my ways please you. You will not regret having me, that I promise."
The woman then flickers an attentive gaze between Hutt and Rodian.
Yoruba's hand returns to Kavra's chest as he clutches her, protectively this time. "The Rodian beat you? He should know better. I have said before my agents are not to lay hands on the females they bring me. Ho ho ho. The Rodian is clever. No wonder he had you covered. Enough to cover his crime but also enough to tease me. Ho ho ho."
Quietly, the droid translates for Kavra's benefit.
Kavra squeaks slightly at the sudden, clutching embrace. She flicks a vindictive look at the Rodian and manages to say: "Yes, your Huttness. I will wear these clothes if they please you, or none at all, as you wish. But at nighttime I would dearly like a blanket, against the cold."
Further down the room the Rodian slumps over, stoned beyond comprehension.
Yoruba continues to clutch his new prize. Watching the Rodian slip over, the Hutt starts to slip off to sleep as well. "Ho ho ho. Desert Spring, I picked a good name for you. Mmmmm. The Rodian won't leave without his credits. I will deal with him myself... later. I have not strangled anyone since that Karin-look alike concubine after I met with Aldog. Ho ho ho. I wonder if the Rodian will fight as hard."
The Hutt's eyelids flutter and then close for good as sleep takes him.
Category:October 2008 RP Logs