Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

Kellen had a serious expression on his face as he stepped off the transport. He looked back at Yil and nodded. "Alright Yil, let's see if we can find out what this is really all about." He was wearing his smart armoured jacket and Sap gloves, just in case. Delaya was rougher than Alderaan after all.

Delaya had a skyline of urban sprawl, with many spires thousands of meters tall. A waiting luxury air-speeder was hovering quietly by the landing pad. The driver, a twi’lek, smiled and said, “Doctor Kellen Rist?”

Padawan Kumos followed along quietly.

"The one and only." He tried to be cheery but it come off a touch jaded. "I heard there was terrorist incident here, terrible business." He tended to stay away from Delaya. Once you had lived on Coruscant for a while there was little good to be said for cityscapes other than: At least its not Coruscant.

"Shall we?" he said gesturing for them to enter the open door.

"Let's." He looked at Yil. "Unless you have a bad feeling about this?"

Kellen reflected that he probably should have told Gil about this one. Hopefully he and Omandri weren't giving Gil too many ulcers today.

Yil nodded semi-confidently, “Let’s do it, Professor.” She was a Jedi after all maybe this craziness was just going to be her new normal. Force protect her.


Inside the luxurious vehicle they find sitting on one side, Verash Organa looking fresh from the pleasure cruise in a flower themed pink-crème dress. Next to her a security agent from her company.

She gestured and said, “Professor, please tell me you brought my newest acquisition?”

With a grin he waved Yil in first. Verash received a polite nod. "Good evening, and what a lovely dress!"

His brow furrowed a little at the comment. "Before we get to that piece I was rather hoping that you could give me some context for how you came to find out about the set in the first place. Ideally I would like to have your permission to inspect the two pieces you already..." He managed not to Grit his teeth. "...own."

“Thank you, it’s a Digonzi original,” she said confidently.

She responded, “Purely by happenstance, actually. My ex-husband had poor habits, and I needed to find a way to protect my wealth so I decided to invest in antiquities. When I divorced the man-child, I continued and found about this particular set through Ghoun Rist and I endeavored to collect them first. And now… I have.”

“At great expense, mind you.”

She gestured as she spoke, “I don’t see any reason to not have them examined after I complete my collection.”

"Oh." He had expected her to put up a fight. "So... you are happy for me to continue to examine them? Well." Kellen chuckled. "You know, I've gotten so used to private collectors locking history away that I wasn't expecting you to agree."

“It’s not like you are planning to steal it from me, Professor,” she joked. “What is your interest in my relic?”

"Hah, true!" He smirked and looked at Yil. "Well Padawan Yil and I discovered that it was part of of a set of three that date back to Alderaan's early history. From a time when Killiks and Humans interacted peacefully. Possibly before 'Joiners' were a thing."

He spread his hands. "So you can see why it is of archaeological interest. What I want to know is whether there is something more that can be learned by bringing the three pieces together. I'm also rather curious about how at least one of the three ended up off-world."

“Speak with your cousin, he probably knows. He’s a bit obsessed and my successes only incense him further… and sometimes have caused me to use means that were in the grey area of legality but I assure you this matter is purely legal. When in doubt, brute force through means of wealth tends to work,” she responded.

“You think these relics have some kind of significance?”

Kellen nodded. "Yes I think my cousin has rather more information than he was willing to share with me a few days ago. As for the relics." He looked out the window.

"They certainly have historical significance for Alderaan. Whether they can tell us more than that? I honestly have no idea. That is why I would like to have a closer look at the set."

“Maybe he will be forthcoming with family,” she said not really concerned.

"Maybe." He gave her a curious look. "Do any of your other relics have a killik connection, or just these vases?"

Kellen Rist wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:40 pm

"Maybe." He gave her a curious look. "Do any of your other relics have a killik connection, or just these vases?"

"It's possible, I have over three hundred pieces in my collection, most are from Alderaan," she said proudly. "Estimated value and two-hundred-eighty million credits or so."

Kellen nodded. "So for you these vases are just another acquisition then? And an opportunity to put one over on Ghoun?" He smiled. "No judgement I assure you, academia has its own battles and competitions in a similar vein."

"Yes, though it sounds a bit more petty when stated that way," she admitted.

He chuckled. "I've read entire manuscripts that could be boiled down to Dr So and so didn't cite me so here's an article I wrote to rubbish their favourite hypothesis. Good to know though. I really do need to have a face-to-face chat with my cousin it seems."

"I do not envy you, so is your stake in all of this purely academic, Professor?" she asked.