Beggars and Choosers (ACP)

*Homebrew Reference Book: Living Force Adventures (Converted by Wikia user Chellewalker (formally Wikia user Lukewarner))*

*Main Page: A Cularin Presence*

*Preceded by Part 3: In Broad Daylight*

*Key ideas of this encounter: if necessary, give the heroes the final clues that will push them to go investigate the jungles outside the city; introduce Borus; provide rumors which may or may not be revisited in future events.*

Note that this encounter may not be necessary, if the heroes have picked up enough clues from other places to point them toward the jungle. It can also be inserted at any point in Part 2 (*The Hunt*), where the heroes are doing something relevant where they might run across Borus. But if you have to cut time, and they've already figured out where they're going, there's no reason to run this encounter. It's flavor, and introducing a potentially recurring NPC.

Therefore, if the heroes have exhausted all of their other avenues and still don't know where to go next, when they leave Renna's, read the following:

***You leave the mess at Renna's behind, although by the time you finish your meeting with Renna the cleanup has already begun. Renna follows you out, calling out orders and getting into the middle of things to assist with the effort.***

Whenever you decide to run this encounter, proceed with the following. (And if you're feeling sadistic, have the players put themselves in a marching order, the street is broad enough that five can easily walk abreast. It's not a fight, but hey, they're probably getting paranoid by this point anyway!)

***You turn the corner and a ragged cough from an alley to your right draws your attention. A figure in a tattered brown cloak, hood raised, stumbles out of the alleyway and leans uneasily against a half-full rain barrel. He seems to half-notice you, as he turns the shadowed cowl toward you and grunts something that might be a greeting- or might be a threat.***

This is Borus Ferthyn, madman of Gadrin. He possesses Force Sensitivity (if anyone bothers to check), but no good determination of his actual power level can be made. Oh, and he's nuts.

If the heroes attack Borus, he will cower. He's clearly not a threat. When the heroes speak with Borus, he will pull back his hood and reveal a familiar face.

***Gnarled and grizzled, with one good eye and one that seems to wander in every direction at once, a familiar face stares at you. Borus Ferthyn, one of the more colorful local figures, a Human of later years with a thick beard that completely obscures his mouth. Bits of food are stuck in the tangle of hairs around his chin. He grunts. Then he does something none of you can remember Borus having done before, for as long as any of you have been in Gadrin. Borus speaks.***

Borus has a reputation around Gadrin, most of it for being loony. He's been on the streets of Gadrin for 20 or more years, and is quite happy here. He doesn't bother anyone, nor do they bother him. He is not known to have spoken to anyone in over a decade, although he is usually present in crowds whenever anything interesting happens. When he speaks, it may help convey how difficult it is to understand Borus if you put your hand over your mouth to muffle the sound coming out.

***"Blasted Cartel," he mutters. He stares at you with his good eye, his wandering eye seeming to watch the street where you came from. "Trouble-makers."***

Borus has some interesting ideas about the Cartel, and he's heard quite a bit. He'll be happy to share things he's heard with the heroes, if they talk to him. Now, he can no longer distinguish fact from fiction (and has NO capacity to detect sarcasm), so not everything he has to tell the heroes will be accurate. Things that are definitely true or definitely false are marked as such. Then there are the things which aren't marked, since you, dear judge, may get to play future events, and we'd like you to keep wondering just how nuts Borus actually is.

Borus's tidbits (all things he's overheard, since people don't pay attention to him and say all sorts of things when he's around):

* The Cartel is in league with a Dark Jedi on Cularin.
* The Republic military is taking an interest in the Cularin system.
* There have been a lot of thefts of high-tech shipments lately. (True)
* Most of these have been perpetrated by Dugs. (False, the heroes have seen who's doing it, and there were no Dugs involved)
* There is a hidden base of operations in the jungle to the west of Gadrin. (True, but he doesn't know WHOSE base of operations it is, whether it's the Cartel or someone else)
* The Droids on Uffel are involved.
* There are creatures in the jungles of Cularin that negate The Force. (False, any Tarasin or native of the planet will know there are no such creatures here)
* There's been a lot of building going on in the jungle lately. (True)
* The Jedi Academy on Almas is working with the Cartel. (False, as any Light Side Force-user in the system knows, the academy remains neutral on matters of commerce)
* The other trading houses may be hit as well, if something isn't done about what's going on in the jungle. (True, but utterly unverifiable)

Feel free to make up anything else you want. If you come up with a particularly good rumor, make sure to record it on the event summary; you can never tell when Borus may hit on something without the campaign staff knowing about it...

Nothing Borus says will be acted upon by any security force, public or private. Why? Because he's nuts. He never talks to anyone but himself, and claims to the contrary will be dismissed. It's up to the heroes to do something. The natural inclination of people on Cularin is to let someone else take care of the problem; being heroic is something new- and necessary.

Walking into the jungle is not a good idea. Assuming the heroes assisted Renna, she'll lend them Speeders if they tell her that they're investigating the theft, or any other reasonable mechanism for obtaining Speeders (rentals for jungle excursions are 25 credits for a Speeder that will hold the entire party, and can be obtained with a Droid Pilot if no one possesses piloting skills for an additional 5 credits, plus a 50 credit security deposit). Once they've done everything they can in Gadrin, proceed to Part 5 (*Into the Woods*).

*Continued in Part 5: Into the Woods*