Garo, Lepi Spy

[DarkisNotEvil]

 

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Garo

Biographical Information

Current Residence Outer Rim (Varies) Homeworld Coachelle Prime

Descriptive Information

Species Lepi (Lepus carnivorus brevis) Gender Male Height 1.51m Age/Age category 18/Young adult Hair color Blue steel (fur) Eye color Amber

Chronological and political information

Affiliation Separatist Remnant (Current) Previous Imperial Security Bureau/ISB (Compelled, under cover as "Fiver")

 

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Backstory

Garo's official age was ten and actual age was six when he was pressed into becoming a political laborer for the Empire. The Lepi, his parents, and his four siblings were dragged onto a freighter and moved to Geonosis after the Empire performed a 'pacification' campaign on Coachelle Prime. He and his family began resolving themselves for a lifetime of servitude when the group was freed by an unusual savior- a recently minted Imperial Security Bureau officer. One of the commanding officers in the transporting ship attempted to sell the rabbit-like aliens into slavery to line his own pockets. When Junior Lieutenant Baize reported his Captain's undisclosed source of income and the price negotiations to prove it, he was transferred from Surveillance to Investigations and his superior was executedThe reason why he was executed was that he knew too much about the Death Star in progress to be left alive if he betrayed the Empire in this way.. High on success and seeing that the small family was stranded far from home, Baize made an unusual request- contract the Lepi as agents of espionage.

Moved around the Outer Rim as his family sought ways to get along in the world, Garo would see the Empire restore order... and crush its foes with terrifying ruthlessness. More than once, the people he reported ended up being cut down by Stormtrooper fire- or rarely, even a squadron of Purge Troopers. Despite his employment in monitoring Imperial political prisoners, Baize abhorred chattel slavery or undue cruelty to prisoners, viewing the political labor system as an expression of justice and a superior alternative to imprisonment. The Lepi was in no position to disagree. Slavers caught with their victims were shipped off to labor on the Death Star's construction- excellent fodder for public relations, if one could wade through the irony. Despite posing for the cameras as an example of Imperial benevolence, Garo knew the ISB too well to trust them.

Still, it was under Lieutenant Baize's crusade to find and catch slavers that the Lepi learned to observe, study, move within crowds, collect information, talk quickly, and run even faster. Employed from the age he could reason and knowing nothing else, Garo earned for his family through janitor work, food service, and package delivery while keeping an eye out for any activity that could indicate illicit trafficking. By the time he was sixteen, he was long past Lepi puberty and a seasoned operator. His quiet demeanor and servile attitude made him look more like a prop than a person to those who weren't paying attention. Slowly moving from system to system in the process of providing for his family and collecting for his employer gave him a wide variety of experiences and exposure. Eventually, it also gave him hope.

Despite the xenophobic propaganda that dominated the ISB, Garo's motivation to protect his family and interest in the field itself led Baize to mentor him with an increasingly familial relationship. Being at least twice his recruit's age, the human was effectively an uncle to him, and had no family of his own. His usual cover was as a proprietor or owner of whatever contracting company the Lepi family worked for, giving them a reason to be in contact and for him to grant their salary or orders. With an officer's salary, discretionary funds, and the deflated prices of the Outer Rim, he was able to provide emergency funds to Garo's family and sometimes treat the Lepi to tickets for performances or local attractions. At first, these were only used for information drops or meet-ups, but soon they would enjoy views like Tatooine's binary sunset on rented speeder bikes alongside fellow employees who knew nothing about the true nature of their company.

Garo eventually began to thaw towards the undercover Imperial as he saw that the gifts he was given were slowly being given with more sincerity and his advice with more concern. Increasingly going to Baize for advice that he didn't feel comfortable asking his parents about, Garo received that support and a kind of education through the Imperial's access to a wide datapad library. In return, the drift from the original military duties Baize had been charged with began to become obvious. When Garo defended himself against a belligerent human customer, Baize supported his charge both in at the food truck with his fists and again in court as justified in his reaction, in direct opposition to COMPNOR's narrative. When the trial ended, it was clear that the Lieutenant had become his cover story. The transcript of this case, unfortunately, was the final factor that led to an investigation.

Out of the blue, Garo was notified that he and his family would serve as witnesses in Baize's treason trial. He didn't even wait for the date to be announced before fleeing, using the reserve funds the Lieutenant had stashed away to buy his family a new life before breaking in the opposite direction he sent them. As the member who most answered to the ISB, his plan was to draw out the Empire's focus, and reduce interest in his family. To do that, he would need to trust that they were able to make their own way. Unable to contact them without giving away their position, he would need to have faith that his efforts were not in vain. Moving from spaceport to spaceport as a migrant doing the odd jobs he always had, he relied on the deliberately lax identification systems in the Outer Rim that smugglers and other criminals employed to underpay employees.

Those efforts appeared to pay dividends when he became aware of a Near-Human male stalking him across the Outer Rim- one equipped as a bounty hunter might be. Those initial fears were put to rest when his own observation skills indicated the man was only looking for him opportunistically- whenever they happened to be nearby to each other. Eventually judging that the Evereni wanted to talk, he stopped into a local cantina and waited, pistol drawn under the table and pointed to where the man might sit. Rather than another Imperial, this was Cen Rach, a holdout from the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He was an outlaw, political author, and agitator who gave firebrand speeches and public demonstrations. Hailed as the ideological successor to Count Dooku of Serenno, his manifesto The Economics of Justice was contraband under Imperial law. It was also one of the books that Baize possessed, as he was in communication with the author- a fact that got him killed.

Reaching out to Garo as both a favor to the late Baize and as an opportunity to recruit a skilled spy, he brought Garo into his cell of Separatists. Mostly from the Outer Rim, the remaining holdouts were shattered, separate, and undersupplied. Their tendency towards independent action and hesitation to cede to authority served to reduce as well as bolster their ranks, with ill discipline and few experts. Knowing that due to their limited scope, they would need the cooperation of Core Worlds in order to overturn the Empire, he tasked Garo with what the Lepi did best- blend in, pay attention, and overturn oppression wherever it was found. Any rebel group, no matter how small, needed to coordinate and share information, so that they could gather enough momentum to foment a proper Rebellion.

 

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What Kind of Character do You Want to Play?

Personality

Garo has a bit of a 'streetwise urchin' dynamic going on, even though he is functionally an independent adult. In contrast to the stereotype of streetwise as meaning somewhat disheveled, he's focused, diligent, and persistent. He's got a deep well of patience and a seen-it-all attitude from doing everything from delivering pizza to drug lords to being threatened at vibrablade point.

He is not, however, particularly idealistic. He fights for idealistic causes, he serves idealists, he wants to do good things, but he is practical, and will lie, cut corners or cheat if he thinks he can get away with it- he's found he has to. If he has to suck up to an Imperial to get what he needs to do done, he'll do it. He won't be proud of it, but if he decides he gets more value out of caving than putting up a united front, he will.

The contrast between his plush exterior and his professional interior might be worth a couple of yuks to a gadfly. An intense anger or goofy moment might be suitable- breaking the shell and trying to get across that he isn't just a droid wearing a fur coat.

Abilities

Strong legs are a literal natural strength of Lepi, so he's intended to be fast, strong, and agile, with an equally agile mind. Physically, he's unassuming but stronger than he looks. His skills are mostly general skills, but he has good perception, good composure, an eye for details, and a good memory. Nothing particularly outstanding when it comes to traditional combat, but he can hold his own if need be. He's clever, eloquent but not especially educated, and streetwise, with an appropriately razor wit.

Mechanically Speaking

Cool, Brains, and Coordination are going to be his focus abilities (3+). He's probably going to get a wiggle die in Sense and the audio equivalent of Darkvision, but might not get the direct focus on Sense he might otherwise.

Bluff, Investigation, Lie, and Run are required skills for him.

No Force powers, but considered picking up Normal Damage Unarmed to make him reliable at all times.

Relationships

Cen Rach (Contact, current employer): Evereni near-human agitator, whose skills with logistics and economic planning allow him to keep his branch of the long-hollowed-out Separatist cause on life support. A genuine idealist who has no idea about Dooku's true nature- he would assume anything that paints the late Duke in a bad light was Republic propaganda. Seeks to expand the rebel cause to overturn the Empire. Wrote a book about how the Core Worlds enforced an inherently exploitative economic system for their own gain. A skilled sharpshooter in addition to a great orator, generally able to back up his ego, which is of awesome size.

Senior Lieutenant Baize (Deceased, former employer): A human ISB Investigations officer who was executed for treason (functionally for fraternization/corruption). Garo has some mixed feelings about the Imperial, but saw him as a near-parental figure due to his investment in the Lepi's life. If nothing else, he saved Garo's family.

Family (Out of reach, blood relation): A mother and father, and four siblings from which he got the name Fiver. Somewhere in the Outer Rim, though his association with them is strained due to his anti-Imperial action making them targets if he contacts them.

Tyr (Contact, fellow employee): Force-Sensitive human male slicer, former Republic military, fled to the Outer Rim to escape the rise of the Empire after reading Cen's The Economics of Justice. Tyr is his nickname, not his proper name.

Slyssk (Contact, fellow employee): Female Trandoshan hunter, who likes to play on Garo's prey atavistic instinct to wind him up despite the Lepi currently being omnivorous.

Ecklani Laga (Contact, fellow employee): Human female sniper of middle-to-old-age who claims she's Tyr's grandmother and knew Dooku personally. Those two facts seem to be connected, but she refuses to elaborate further.

Ryewen (Contact, fellow employee): Male Genosian engineer, who is absolutely paranoid about being found out and refuses to leave the Separatist base on anything less than mortal peril due to how threatened his species is outside of their enslavement on the development of the Death Star. Not any more empathetic than average, either.

Outer Rim Delivery/Cleaning/Food Service (ambiguous support, former coworkers): Garo could possibly call on or be recognized by food delivery or cleaning services.

Goals

Overturn the Empire: Collect enough support to form a proper rebellion- or die trying.

Bring Slavers to Justice: Almost enslaved himself and an expert in catching them, Garo has no interest in the perpetration of the atrocity.

Revenge for Baize: If nothing else, Baize saved his life, and the Imperial who threw him under the bus must be an awful person... right?

Find His Family: Make sure it's safe to return before meeting back up with his siblings. Tyr claims they're alive ("Trust me bro"), but Garo is not so sure.

 

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Tone and Goals

In terms of my goals, I'm mostly just here to enjoy a unique take on the Star Wars setting, and hone my writing chops in the process. If he's not accepted, I figure this is a decent template for future characters and good writing practice.

An ideal tone for Garo is intermittent focus on the more grounded aspects of the galaxy, and how these dramatic events affect the lives of real people. Instead of being the larger-than-life hero, he's more like R2-D2: Someone who watches, and listens, and participates, and is definitely important, but not the Chosen One.

Given the opportunity, one of the important aspects I wanted to touch on is how the Separatist movement served as a basis for dissatisfaction with the Republic- Garo has not received a positive image of the Republic from either the Empire, who wants to push narratives justifying its replacement, or the Outer Rim, which is where a lot of the dissidents originally came from. Completing his incomplete picture of the galaxy will be useful.

 

Notes for the DM

According to his species' development*, he is a biological adult at 18 and has been since age 10Seriously!, but his somewhat fluffy appearance gives him an artificial youthfulness. I had originally slated him to be 201cm, as the average official height for male Lepi runs at about 1.9m, but I figured that might grind gears with any Wookies or other traditional 'big guys'. As a result and because the current best-known Lepi is Lop (absolutely tiny, but no notes I can find on her explicit height- I rated her as about 138cm/4'6"), I based his height on hers, using a Japanese male height with -2.8 Standard Deviation to scale him. I can retool him to be a big fluffy spy if need be, say, if we need muscle.

This little guy went through four or five revisions, including one version where he was connected to Tao due to seeing other Lepi on the planet in Visions, and another where a Sith clone adopted him as a brother, and one of the themes was about Garo's trauma-suppressed emotions versus the Sith's unleashed set, and how they helped each other develop as people.

Edited October 27, 2023 by DarkisNotEvil (see edit history)

[AdellRazh]

I appreciate the deep ties to villainous-but-complicated characters (and also that an otherwise-upstanding Imperial soldier gets killed as a proxy for not precisely toeing the party line; very in keeping with the Empire's Nazi inspiration, that). There is a lot of material here. Possibly too much; I hope you do not mind that, if you are accepted, there may be a bit of a trimming of the tree regarding his supporting cast as part of his introduction into the party.

But first I need to make my own problem worse: Do you have any predefined ideas about which Imperial officer in particular threw your mentor under the bus?

[DarkisNotEvil]

5 hours ago, AdellRazh said:

I appreciate the deep ties to villainous-but-complicated characters (and also that an otherwise-upstanding Imperial soldier gets killed as a proxy for not precisely toeing the party line; very in keeping with the Empire's Nazi inspiration, that). There is a lot of material here. Possibly too much; I hope you do not mind that, if you are accepted, there may be a bit of a trimming of the tree regarding his supporting cast as part of his introduction into the party.

But first I need to make my own problem worse: Do you have any predefined ideas about which Imperial officer in particular threw your mentor under the bus?

I wanted to leave the officer ambiguous because it gives you more flexibility and also because Garo doesn't actually know himself. There are a lot of high ranks in the Imperial military, so I couldn't give you a specific individual as a candidate, because most likely this would be some Lieutenant or at highest a Rear Admiral. The two main options I see for the backstabber are:

1. An ambitious up-and-comer from the Outer Rim who saw an opportunity to rise beyond his low status
2. A true believer in the New Order who didn't understand why Baize cared so much

Baize is not intended to be a saintly figure, either- I imagine he came from a bit of a spoiled background and had a bit of self-righteousness which was smoothed out by age. Being the know-it-all fixated on rules doesn't get you many friends. In D&D terms, he was LN with Evil leanings initially, drawn closer to Good as time went on.

The 'supporting cast' can shrink as much as you like. His family has been deliberately sidelined because that would be too many balls up in the air. I actually spun up most of the Separatist Cell from thin air, mostly because just making up a cell with two people is a bit of a stretch, but also because if there are a sufficient amount of cell members, the leader is justified in sending Garo away because they can spare people. His entire group could be destroyed/shattered at your discretion- it wouldn't be the first time he's had to pick up and run. I can also carve large parts of this narrative out if there's something another player needs to pull away, but basically I made the Separatist Cell a grab bag of 'pick your favorite minor character idea'.

Edited October 27, 2023 by DarkisNotEvil (see edit history)