((The RP XP with MJ #28))
Yulel came awake after a short dream about floating on a cloud. It was then she realized she’d been moved, chair and all. She was still on Mannett Point but in a different room of the separatist base. A gruff-sounding man shouted, “And you…. You can untie her once we leave.”
A weak female voice responded, “Yes, master.”
Master?
The smuggler forced herself to remain calm. She held her breath and listened as the man left the room. Once he was gone, Yulel flinched at the sudden touch of gentle fingers around her head as the female who spoke removed her blindfold.
When she felt the cloth float away, Yulel gradually opened her eyes to a squint. The separatists had moved her to a small dark room made of bars with an electromagnetic lock. The cell was in a larger room filled with crates and supply canisters all marked for orbital transport.
Joining her in the room were several female Twi’leks, all of them bruised and dressed in tatters of former street clothes or uniforms, all huddled together in a corner. The one who removed Yulel’s blindfold and was now working on the knot at her ankles was dressed as a dancing girl. “Wait,” she said. The girl stopped working on the bonds and looked up at her. The young Twi’lek’s skin was the color of a clear winter sky, her eyes a brilliant green that should have been filled with the wonder of youth. Instead they looked dull and sullen.
Yulel spoke softly with a slight tremble in her throat. “W-What are they doing with us?”
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((The RP XP with MJ #27))
“How much further?” Jenla sneered as she stepped over a clump of something that could have been random Huttmuck or chemlizard scat.
Neither the Mandalorian nor his sister turned back, so Jenla trudged on in silence and tried to keep up.
Margis whispered to her brother, “Your mate is somethin’ of a complainer. I woulda thought the Empire raised less squeamish lieutenants.”
Boarsch raised his chin and squinted past his sister. “She’s a good officer, Margis. She’s smart and dedicated. Leave her alone already.”
Margis shrugged and gave up on the taunting. The Chiss Imp wasn’t really worth her time. Besides, they had reached the edge of the reservoir. “Here’s what I wanted you to see, Boar.”
Boarsch and Jenla stood on either of Margis and looked out at the stagnant rust-colored lake.
“What are we looking at?” The agent asked.
Margis looked up at her brother. “This is my village’s water supply.”
As Jenla wrinkled her nose in disgust, Boarsch said, “You drink this?”
Margis nodded solemnly. “Almost as-is. The water purifiers gave out some time ago.”
Jenla said, “You could die drinking this slime.” That’s when Margis finally turned to acknowledge her.
A tear formed in the hardened Hutta woman’s eye. “The doctor in our village says I have about two months to live.”
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((The RP XP with MJ #22))
Ord Mantell was generally no place for a crazy Twi’lek girl, especially with all the territorial squabbling between the Republic and the unpredictably superior separatists, but that’s where Yulel ended up.
She waved to the Gand pilot and ducked out from under the hot vents of his ship’s repulsors just as the small vessel lifted off and banked up into the clouds.
“Hey! Idiot! You almost took my head off!” She called up to the receding dot of a ship as it vanished. She pulled the straps of her pack so that it rested snugly against her shoulder blades and muttered, “I know you were in a hurry to leave, but that’s no reason to–“
The blaster bolt whizzed by Yulel’s head and stung her tchun as she twisted and dove behind a large rock nestled in an overgrowth of brush. Bolts continued to thump into the ground around her, crack at her stone cover and blaze through the air as she rolled off her back and scrambled to dig the blaster out of her pack.
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((The RP XP with MJ #21))
Aaaahh! What happened to my RP XP? Where’s the witty picture? Where’s the ongoing fiction about the smuggler who stole the rock? They’ll be back, my friends. But this week I thought I’d address an aspect of the game few RPers even consider.
This edition of the RP XP is all about in-game preferences for RolePlayers. Early last month, swtor-life’s own Mr. Warlock gave some great advice for preference settings to make your life easier in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The first of his two-part series can be found here. While those prefs were awesome suggestions for gaming, they don’t necessarily meet the oddball needs of those of us who fly the crazy RPer’s banner.
That got me to thinking about what preferences I use and how I pick them to suit my RP needs.
Keep in mind that these are my own choices. Yours may be different. I just thought I’d share what I found and maybe give you some ideas for tweaking your own SWTOR setup….
Continue Reading » ((The RP XP with MJ #18))
We here at the staff of ((The RP XP with MJ)), in recognition of the holiday weekend, would like to take a moment to thank you all for your continued comments, questions and support.
The RP community, even in a massive game like SWTOR, is a relatively small group. But we are family. We are the ones who embrace the “Fourth Pillar” and create a fifth: Our Own Epic Stories. So, it is with great honor and humility that I thank you all for keeping the art of RolePlay alive and well, for fostering it in others, and for being the greatest, closest most dedicated community in gaming.
May your holidays be filled with joy and swtor this weekend! Happy Life Day!
And now, some words from the staff….
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((The RP XP with MJ #17))
“Hutta is wonderful this time of year if you don’t inhale too deeply,” the bounty hunter chuckled as he escorted the imperial agent past the palace of Nem’ro the Hutt.
Jenla smirked. “Why the hell did you bring me here, Boarsch? You know how much the Hutts nauseate me.”
Boarsch hid his amusement by pretending to look away from her, concentrating on some activity at the end of a side street. Since the attack against the Jedi and Sith two days ago, Jenla Ruf and Boarsch had been on the run, skirting the outer rim systems and playing hopscotch with the main merchant runs where the Empire and Republic often traded blows. They just arrived on Hutta to re-supply and get work done on the ship. Distant blaster fire marred an otherwise quiet day.
As they turned down a particularly putrid alley rank with the smell of waste, Jenla stopped and held up her hand. “I am not going down there.”
The bounty hunter kept walking as the agent unsteadily glanced back down the main road.
“Did you hear me, Boarsch? I’m not going down there.”
The bulky Mandalorian shrugged under his armored shoulders. “Suit yourself, darling. I’m sure a Chiss woman by herself wearing an Imperial uniform will be just fine standing on the corner all alone.”
Jenla scowled and glanced from side to side, then watched as Boarsch continued down the alley. In a few paces he’d have to turn at the end and vanish from her sight. Looking back toward the spaceport, she saw two Gamorreans with heavy weapons waddling toward them. “Wait. …Boarsch, wait!”
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((The RP XP With MJ #16))
Yulel sat on the floor of the cabin aboard the Regail and nervously stroked her lekku. She brought her head tails over the front of each shoulder so she could hold them as she sat on the floor and rocked like a pouting child.
“This ain’t fair, ya know.”
The armored trooper stood in the open doorway of the cabin. He stood alert, his rifle held at port-arms. He wore his helmet so Yulel didn’t know if he was looking at her, at the wall, at the floor….
“You got a name, flatfoot?”
The helmet moved slightly. The electronically-augmented voice came out. “The name’s Wex. Not that it’s any of your business, thief.”
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((The RP XP with MJ #14))
I hope those of you relative to my time zone here in the U.S. had a spectacular Thanksgiving, and I hope those of you about to try Star Wars: The Old Republic for the first time ever during today’s launch of the Beta Stress Test Weekend have as much fun testing the game as I have.
Since I’ve been tied up with all kinds of holiday fun this week, not to mention all the holiday fun we’ll be experiencing in open–err, I mean ‘weekend‘–beta, I thought I’d make this week’s RP XP with MJ much, much shorter. In fact, I’m going to make it so short I’m not even going to write it.
I’ll be back next week with a very special edition of ((The RP XP with MJ)). Until then, good hunting out there in Betaland! And, if you see someone throw up a “LFG-RP” in General chat, it’s probably me. Come say ‘hi’… In character, of course.
Now, I’ll head out and let these guys take it from here. You’ve probably heard that RolePlayers “hear voices.” Well, sometimes we like to let ’em out. These guys, whom you might recognize, wanted to come out and say a few words about what they’re thankful for….
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((The RP XP with MJ – SPECIAL REPORT))
Behold, my very first RP in SWTOR. Thank you, Tyliana, whoever you were.
I’m a dedicated heavy RolePlayer. So, what do you think I wanted to test first upon setting foot in the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic?
Yup. Crafting.
Nah, just kidding. It’s RP! I was curious to check out the chat system, emotes, and the areas that could serve as backdrops for RP scenarios. I also wanted to see if it was possible to engage in RP-related PVP and how well RP adapted into the flash points or the scores of missions. Let’s take a look….
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((The RP XP with MJ #13))
Padawan Tarik sat next to the smuggler Yulel in the passenger compartment of the Regail. His eyes fell upon the Twi’lek spice runner with adoration beyond the simple recognition of her abilities and strength of survival. He dabbed at a scrape on the side of her face with a medicated pad but his eyes remained glazed on the unbroken beauty of her profile.
She glanced at him and he pulled away quickly, blushing and looking down at the Kolto salve tube in his other hand. She said, “You don’t think I should have brought this, do you? You think I should have left it.”
Yulel held up a clear crystal shaped like a chiseled tube no bigger than her little finger.
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