Ranger Archive
Thread: Garindan The Full Story
The "darkly clad figure" the revamp doc talks about is a spy called Garindan (aka Long Snoot). So I thought it might be interesting to find some more information about him. This came directly from The Official Star Wars Fact File
GARINDAN
ON TATOOINE, DURING THE REIGN OF JABBA THE HUTT, ONLY TWO THINGS MATTERED: CURRENCY AND INFORMATION. IF YOU HAD ONE, YOU COULD GET THE OTHER - GARINDAN HAD BOTH
Long before Darth Vader's brief visit to the Tatooine system, there was a black-cloaked figure who stirred mistrust in the hearts of the denizens of Mos Eisley spaceport. His black-masked visage could kill conversation and make even a Jawa sweat.
Even in the oppressive heat of Tatooine's twin suns, Garindan always dressed the same way. He was completely enshrouded in his thick black cloak, beneath which he wore shapeless black clothes and gloves. Garindan also wore a goggled mask with a long-nosed breath filter. All of this led to a great deal of speculation as to his true species.
Garindan was actually a Kubaz, from the arid world of Kubindi in the Ku'Bakai system. Of rodent origins, the Kubaz have large orb-like eyes that are capable of seeing in the infrared spectrum. Their skin is a greenish black colour, and is very rough and leathery. Their heads are covered with hair so bristly that it resembles short spikes. Of course. no one in Mos Eisley could ever claim to have seen what Garindan actually looked like, and he worked hard to keep it that way.
MUTUAL RESPECT
Garindan worked the streets of Mos Eisley during the time Jabba the Hutt used Tatooine as his main base of operations, and even the mighty crime lord was wary of him. Jabba would go great lengths to feed Garindan 'misinformation', which the experienced spy saw through, and a little useful material that would keep the Kubaz occupied while Jabba's henchmen carried out their assigned tasks.
This was not to say that there was any enmity between Jabba and the information broker. Garindan sold his information to the highest bidder, and Jabba was a regular customer. The two simply had a healthy respect for each other's abilities.
The Imperial prefect of Tatooine was another frequent purchaser of Garindan's wares, as was the Whiphid (and minor crime lord), Lady Valarian. This demonstrated just how far Garindan was in a class by himself. It was one this to trade information on the dusty, deadly streets of Mos Eisley. It was another thing entirely to stay alive. Many who piled the spy trade ended up face down in an alley, victims of a close-range blaster shot or a well-placed vibroblade, having annoyed the wrong person while trying to please another. Despite the risks, Garindan was an expert at remaining neutral. If he sold information on Lady Valarian to Jabba at the rising of the suns, chances are he'd sold information on the Hutt to the Whiphid by the second sunset.
DEADLY INFORMATION
AN IMPERIAL MANHUNT PROVIDED GARINDAN WITH THE IDEAL OPPORTUNITY TO TURN A PROFIT - IF ANYTHING WAS HAPPENING ON THE STREETS, IT WAS CERTAIN THAT HE WOULD KNOW ABOUT IT
One thing that kept Mos Eisley's best spy alive was that no one ever quite knew what Garindan knew about them and where that information might turn up if anything ever happened to him.
It was rumoured that Garindan was very rich; information was a lucrative commodity. This was never confirmed, but he was certainly able to produce necessary credits to obtain information for later re-sale - at a handsome profit, of course. The Kubaz was very occasionally seen at the gambling tables, though he was no one's easy mark, and he also imported his favourite insect delicacies from his home world, though no one ever knew they were for him.
The sneaky Kubaz was never without a degree of personal protection. Not one for hiring bodyguards (who could, presumably, have been bribed to turn on him), Garindan carried a very small hold-out blaster and a larger blaster pistol secreted in his robes at all times. He was occasionally, and deliberately, seen practicing with them. However, Garindan had learned, perhaps from the cowardly Jawas who were a regular source of information, that it was better to avoid conflict, even to run if necessary. A smart, still breathing spy could then exact a terrible vengeance, as some unlucky, uninformed individuals found out from time to time.
While for many on Tatooine it was simply an unconfirmed rumour, Garindan knew for certain that an Imperial Star Destroyer had come to Tatooine in pursuit of a Corellian corvette. The streets of Mos Eisley were awash with newly arrived Imperial stormtroopers, and both the planetary governor and Talmont, the prefect of the police, were bending over backwards to accommodate somebody.
Garindan was employed by the prefect to keep his long nose to the ground and find information on the movement of droids. As the pursuit continued, amidst ugly rumours from the desert of Imperial heavy-handedness, Garindan was one of the few who kept up to date. Eventually, he was assigned to search for a young farmer, an old man with a lightsabre, and two droids.
Garindan successfully tracked them down, though the Imperials let the fugitives escape. Garindan was well paid (the prefect knew better than to argue with someone so well informed), but the good times were not to last.
TIME TO MOVE ON
A few years later, the political situation on Tatooine suddenly changed. Jabba, who seemed unassailable, was killed on his own sail barge. The ensuing power vacuum and chaos became too dangerous and unpredictable for Garindan's liking. Almost overnight, the Kubaz vanished. Where he went, no one knows. Some say he retired, but others guessed that the wily Kubaz simply dropped one cloaked guise and adopted another. After all, information will always be the most valuable commodity in the galaxy, and gathering it will always be a lucrative trade for the true expert.
Message Edited by YT-2000 on 09-27-2005 12:54 PM
Calculus_Entropy wrote:
I still say he used /areatrack to find them.
meh!
He conned them into adding him to his friends list (said he had some prem pearls on another toon and would give them a tell to let them know when he could deliver) then /findfriend for a big glowing waypoint, or gonzo light, to lead everyone to the mark.