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| - Grathix strolls into the dining room from the lobby. Grathix walks slowly into the dining room. He isn't too aware of where he's going. He is concentrating, immersed on a datapad he is holding and reading. Paul looks up at the entrance of Grathix, his eyes blurry from lack of sleep. He blinks a few times, as he remembers Grathix from the other night ... and wonder if Grathix ever got the name of the red head he was wondering about. Paul removes his glasse s and rubs his eyes. Grathix: Before you stands the figure of a 6'2" being. He wears a light brown, long-sleeved shirt tucked neatly into a loose fitting pair of black pants. On his feet, he wears a pair of well-kept and polished black boots. His attire is one of precision and neatness. His hair is combed back; his long, flowing black hair braided in the back. The braid rests on his right shoulder, reaching down towards his abdomen. He is dark skinned. His skin appears tough, as if conditioned by harsh climates. He is a handsome individual. His clothing does little to hide the well-toned and built physique that lays underneath. He has a pair of reptilian-looking crimson eyes that casually peruse his environment, each eye moving independently from the other, as he takes in the sights before him. He walks and stands with the grace, calmness and confidence of someone who is always in complete control of any situation. He speaks with a pleasant, deep tone, rich with sincerity and with a slight edge of authority. On his left hand, he holds a large black case which he carries with ease. In his right hand, he holds a black leather duster neatly folded and draped over his forearm. Carrying: Large Black Case (closed) Grathix brings down his pad and glances about the area. He looks around with a look that implies "How on earth did I end up here?" After glancing about, he spies an open table and begins to make his way towards it. Paul_Nighman stands up and stretches out the kinks in his body. He runs his hands through his hair and then catches the eye of a waiter. "More coffee," he intones in a gravelly voice. "Black, hot, and just bring the whole pot this time, eh?" The waiter nods obligingly and heads off to the kitchen. Paul yawns again and pokes at his terminal keys. The machine chirrups at him and he frowns. "No, no, I need the Corellian artifacts database, the one from a few months ago, not last year," he growls under his breath. He begins to type furiously, still standing up. As soon as Grathix seats himself, a waiter scurries over to his table and asks, "What may I get for you, Sir?" Grathix, after a brief perusal of the menu answer back, "A glass of spiced red wine and a blueberry muffin." The waiter nods, noting the order and replying, "Right away." as he scurries of to fill it. Grathix sits at the table that allows him optimum view of the entire dinning room. He spots the human and looks at with curiosity. Perhaps it was the word 'artifacts' that caught Grathix's attention. Nonetheless, he remains seated, but quite observant of the human before him. The waiter finally emerges with Grathix's order in tow. He scurries towards table 1 and sets the drink and the muffin before the tables occupant. "Here you go, sir....red spiced wine and a blueberry muffin...anything else I can get for you today?" Paul_Nighman stares at the screen again, then smiles as he toggles down the screen. He looks intently at the screen and then picks up the black and silver statue that is sitting in the middle of the table. His grin becomes larger. "Bingo baby!" he whispers. He turns back to the computer and hits another key. "Okay, now correlate image # 152 with all other known similar finds and objects. Run correlation now," and he hits the return key with a satisfied click. Grathix shakes his head, "No that will do for now." And with that answer, the waiter scurries of to tend the other tables. Grathix takes his wine glass in hand a smells its aroma before tasting it. He nods after the brief taste, apparently satisfied with the drink. Paul_Nighman's waiter returns with the pot of coffee, and Nighman sighs in relief. "Careful sir, it's quite hot," the waiter cautions. Nighman nods brusquely, filling a cup and taking a sip of it carefully. Staring at the screen he slowly sits down, moving papers and leather bound books aside carefully to make room for the pot. "Oh, and something food like would be nice too," he adds as the waiter begins to depart. Grathix, wine glass in hand, looks at the human male with quite a bit of interest. He thinks to himself, "What was it that he said, "Correlate this image with other finds?" What could he be possible analyzing?" Paul_Nighman cleans the lenses of his glasses absently. He returns his attention to the giant illuminated tome in front of him, carefully turning the hand painted pages. He stares at the text and begins to read it softly aloud ... it sounds like Corellian -almost- but somehow quite quite different. Almost like it was another language or a never before heard dialect. Grathix stands from his both, wine glass still in hand. He takes a sip of it before proceeding towards the ambushed table, now appropriated as someone's personal study. Paul_Nighman looks up distractedly, as he hears Grathix approach. Smiles at Grathix pleasantly enough, and turns a page. Grathix stops near the table and says, "Looks like you've had a busy night..." he then adds as he takes a closer look at the contents of the table, "...or week." Paul_Nighman grins widely at that and leans back in the chair, subtly dimming the screen on his computer terminal. "Well, about two days now I think. I forgot I had a room here I guess." He smiles again, his mind obviously somewhere else. "Yeah, this has got me pretty distracted." Grathix takes a slight slip of his wine, and adds, "that dialect you spoke a while ago...sounded slightly Corellian. Was it? I've never heard of it before." Paul_Nighman nods absently, removing his glasses to get a better look at his visitor. "Well, it's an ancient variation thereof ... probably hasn't been spoken in, oh, I don't know, couple of thousand years I would guess." He looks up again curiously. "You interested in history or languages?" Grathix smiles slightly, "You could say that...along with my fascination for ancient artifacts and cultures." Having said that he moves to peer over your shoulder to get a better glimpse of what it is you are working on. He asks, "Mind if I ask what it is you are currently working on?" Paul_Nighman eyes him a little suspiciously, but not with any malice. He does not turn the computer screen up, but instead shuts it closed. He points to the illuminated tome. "This was written by a Corellian monk," and he grins at that, looking at Grathix, "I know, I know, a bit of an oxymoron that ... anyway, it chronicles the events of the times, and here," he adds, turning a few pages, "is the mention of the True Ones, whom he claims created the heavens and the earth and have come to the pure of spirit over the years." Paul looks up to see if you are following him. "Now, as you can see here," and he turns the page, "the monk claims that he received a personal visitation and made a drawing of the True One." Paul then points to the statue. "And as you can see, the resemblance is striking, no?" Grathix looks with interest at all that he is shown. He squints his eyes slightly, focusing on the image shown and then on the statue, "Off hand, I'd say yes..the resemblance is strikingly obvious...is this the only physical representation of this 'True One' you have come across?" Paul_Nighman shakes his head, his eyes more oblique now. "Nothing else has turned up for the moment, but there are a few digs here and there that I am waiting on. We'll see what turns up." He smiles up blandly at Grathix. "The theory on the Corellian system is still fairly new, and has much opposition. It's probably going to take awhile ... archeology is not an exact science. It doesn't tend to run on schedules." "Ah, so then you are an archeologist?" Grathix inquires. Paul_Nighman frowns slightly, as if he hadn't intended to imply that. "Actually," he replies, "I'm in _shipping_ and _transportation_." There is a quality to his voice that suggests that perhaps _smuggling_ would have been a more appropriate definition. He nods the work before him. "I guess you could say that this is more like, my, uh, hobby." Paul_Nighman eyes Grathix curiously. "And what is it that _you_ do?" he inquires Grathix smiles as he reaches into the a pocket in his shirt and retrieves a small metallic card. He offers the card to you saying, "My business card."
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* -= MandalMotors =-
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* Grathix Stur'ttrakath - Vice President - Foreign Sales Representative Paul_Nighman stares at the card in surprise. You get the feeling he has suddenly realized that he has missed out on a major marketing opportunity. Paul examines the card carefully and then slips it into a breast pocket of his shirt. "Thank you. I'm afraid all I can offer in return is my name." He offers his hand saying, "Nighman, Paul Nighman." Grathix takes the offered hand and shakes it firmly. "Well met, Paul Nighman...although I believe I caught your name the other night in the lobby." Paul_Nighman nods. "Yes, I suppose you did." He eyes Grathix a little more warily, since he didn't think the man had paid him a whit of attention the other night. "So, is it that you sell foreign _things_" he says, for the lack of a better term, "or do you facilitate sales between foreign cultures?" Grathix grins slightly, "A little of both, actually." Grathix says, "Although MandalMotors doesn't deal in rare antiquities. They deal in the remanufacturing and designing of vessels." Paul_Nighman nods, and then remembers the conversation that had gone on the previous evening. "By the by, did you ever get the name of that red headed woman that you were inquiring about." He frowns slightly, "or was that someone else that was wondering about her name?" He shakes his head. "Well, whatever. What business brings you to Palahni? Or is it pleasure?" he adds with a smile. Grathix chuckles, "Which one...there were several red-haired ladies present that night if I recall correctly...but with me, business always includes pleasure." Paul_Nighman grins widely at the last comment. "Then you are indeed a fortunate man. I only occasionally get to combine the two. And in reference to the redhead," and Paul slightly twitches at that, as if it was somewhat distressing, "either you or someone else was asking about the one that was an imperial, the one that Luke had followed." Grathix nods, "Ah yes....indeed, I learned of her name later on." Paul_Nighman nods, and takes another sip from his coffee cup. "Hmmmm-mmm, well I wish I hadn't myself." He idly turns a page of the manuscript. Grathix adds as he eyes you with a bit of suspicion or perhaps curiosity as to why you would bring the topic up, "Took a fancy to her, did you?" Paul_Nighman looks up startled. "Gods no, what a nightmare she is!" He looks horrified at the idea, and also a little embarrassed. Grathix laughs. "I'm sorry...I mistook your interest in her for something else." Paul_Nighman nods again. "Well, she is very beautiful, but as I mentioned to another red head, so are Coral snakes." Grathix grins, "Another red-head...don't tell me you're swarming with red-haired women acquaintances." Paul_Nighman rolls his eyes at that comment. "My friend," he says, leaning forward towards you slightly, "my history with red heads is long, difficult, troublesome, and almost always involves pain of some type, usually physical." He shakes his head with a wry smirk. "If I had half a brain, I would never speak to another red head _ever_ again." Grathix chuckles, "Well, I've had my share of dealings with red-heads...they do seems to add 'spice' wherever they go." Paul_Nighman nods sarcastically. "Must be something about the hair - an obligatory reputation to live up to, or maybe it's in the gene's." He shrugs. "Who knows, all I know is that they tend to whomp the living daylights outta me." Grathix nods, "But back to the matter at hand...is Corellian lore your only archaeological interest?" Paul_Nighman looks up at that and smiles his best shit eating Corellian grin. "Hell no, I'm interested in all archeology. I try to keep a wide base of knowledge going on a regular basis." His enthusiasm is obvious, and seems to be getting the better of his normally reticent nature re: archeology. "I pick up stuff wherever I can, do research on the road, sometimes make side trips. I can almost always sell to Marcus. Corellia is of interest to me because I grew up there, and had access to the new sites." He grins reflectively. "Still, I'm at a bit of an impasse there at the moment, and with my ship gone, well, I'm itching for something new, but my contact here on Palahni doesn't seem to be around, so my research efforts here are kind of at a standstill." He blinks a few time and then grimaces slightly at all of the gushing he just did. Grathix listens and ponders all you said a while before asking, "What do you know about the period of the Clone wars?" Paul_Nighman cocks his head to one side. "Depends. Whatever I don't know off the top of my head I can find out easily enough." He looks at you curiously. "Why?" Grathix says, "Well, I have a slight fascination with that time period...off hand, what do you know of the period, of its lore?" Paul_Nighman frowns consideringly, and leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers. "Well," he drawls, "it was period where the Jedi religion flourished. However, technical advances were happening at an accelerated rate. The Dark Jedi's saw this as a chance to swing the balance in their favor. They convinced the Mandalorians to assist them in their struggle to suppress the Republic. In the meanwhile, they also threw all of their additional support into perfecting the cloning technology. There were many tools and constructs made, specifically by Jedi, both Dark and Light to this effect. No one has ever recovered any of the Jedi artifacts, while much of the destroyed purely mechanical cloning equipment has been found. Therefore, there is a great deal of suspicion in both directions. Some believe that the Jedi had nothing to do with the actual cloning technology, while others are convinced that the Jedi destroyed all evidence of their involvement when the effort finally failed. Some believe that part of the mission of the Light Jedi was tracking down and deliberately destroying all Force related artifacts so they could never be used or replicated again." He frowns slightly. "I know I'm skipping something important," he says reflectively. "Well, that's at least part of it." His eyes clear as he brings himself back to the present. Grathix nods, "You do know your history well...but perhaps I might be able to help you out a bit more than what the ancient scribes have written, for you see, I am a Mandalorian....but I'm sorry for taking up your time. Please, carry on with your work. Besides, I have an appointment to keep with one Luke Skywalker....A pleasure making your acquaintance, Paul Nighman." With that, he takes one last sip of the wine he was holding in his hand and sets it down on your table. He adds, "I left a blueberry muffin on my table. would be a shame to see it go to waste. Should you desire it, you are welcome to it." Grathix walks over to his table where, after reaching into his pocket, he sets down an appropriate amount of credits to more than cover his 'tab'. Paul_Nighman blinks a few times, his mouth opening to say something and then closing again. "Uh, sure, I'll take it. No trouble at all ..." You say, "Nice meeting you too, I'm sure we'll see one another around ..." Grathix turns and nods slightly to Paul before heading back out. Grathix leaves the Dining Room, headed for the Lobby. Grathix has left. Paul sits back in his chair and ponders Grathix, wishing the man hadn't rushed off so quickly. He wasn't sure if Grathix was just pulling his chain, but decided that perhaps it might be time to find out. Paul flips open his computer and begins to type. "Continue current data search. Side detail - bring up list of all historical information on Mandolore, and any recovered artifacts found thereon." The computer terminal buzzes and clicks and Paul leans back, steepling his fingers once again and looking from the computer to the door where Grathix just stepped through and back again. He takes a bite of the muffin and smiles to himself as the data begins to come through. "Not bad ... not bad at all."
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