Ulim Daal

Ulim Daal

Ulim on Tattooine
Species	Duros
Birthplace	Unnamed planet in Wild Space
Age	20, Born 24 BBY
Height	6'1"
Career	Smuggler
Languages	Basic, Sy Bisti

Backstory

As told by Ulim Daal himself.

Early Life

I was born in 24 BBY and grew up on a backwater planet all the way out in Wild Space, far from any Imperial, or at the time, Republic presence. We did not get many off-worlders visiting us, and I mainly had the locals to keep me company. I learned early how to take advantage of my situation. There aren’t many Duros out in wild space, certainly not on my home planet, so I could do things other people couldn’t, and people would just think I was a strange alien child. For instance, I could steal small items from a shop while the shopkeeper watched. I would act like I was allowed to take things from stores, like I didn’t know what money or payment was. Most shopkeepers found it amusing and the items small enough that they just let me keep it. Others started to give me the items straight out, sometimes even throwing in a bottle of fizz or some other treat. A few would take it from me, and when I looked at them lost and mumbled some incoherencies they would either shoo me out or have me do some meaningless chore as *payment*.

Of course, as I aged, playing the lost child did not work so well, but I found other ways to get along. I would watch people working and notice things that weren’t getting done. When I approached the supervisor or owner and offered to do the work for cheap, they would often agree, and even sometimes increase the pay. I got all sorts of odd jobs, and some of them I managed to both make recurring as well as unnecessary. For instance, there was an old human women whose eyesight was not so great. Her roof had gotten quite dirty so I offered to clean it in exchange for some food from her garden. She agreed, and offered me some additional work maintaining her yard. Of course, the first time was the worst, since it had not been properly maintained by someone for sometime, and she couldn’t notice with her poor eyes. Subsequent times were much easier, hardly anything needed to be done, but she continued to pay me the same amount as the first time. I would even skip the work sometimes and just show up for payment. Of course, local credits, food, and trinkets only go so far, and I yearned to get offworld. I started offering my services to some of the local traders who traded our goods on other worlds. I managed to visit many of the neighboring colonies this way, but unfortunately, since I was getting paid in the money of my homeworld, I always ended up back home.

A Trip to Lothal ~8BBY

When an opportunity to join a local trader on a trip to the Imperial controlled Outer Rim world of Lothal, I jumped on it for less than my usual pay. I was supposed to help load and unload the cargo, but as soon as we landed on Lothal, I was out exploring the city. This was my first opportunity to see Imperial rule, and I wasn’t going to let it pass me by.

At first I thought that Imperial rule seemed much stricter and tighter than the Marshals that policed the planets in Wild Space, but soon I saw a recurring pattern. When the imperial patrol rolled through the landing platforms, all the pilots changed behaviour, and immediately changed back when the patrol left. At the Imperial Academy cadets would goof off behind the backs of their instructors. Citizens would hide in their doorways when Imperial vehicles drove by, before coming back out and talking to their neighbors. And most telling of all, I saw some illicit cargo change hands right behind the backs of an Imperial patrol.

I made sure to return to the cargo vessel I was hired for before it left, and apologized for getting lost in the city. The captain laughed and said it must be strange, such a big city for someone from our little planet. I neglected to tell him I’d seen cities nearly as large on some of my other ventures off-world.

Impressions of Imperial Rule

What I saw on Lothal impressed me greatly. A galaxy wide rule of law leaved many holes, and I saw ways to exploit them. The Imperials were not all seeing or all knowing. They were, for the most part, off-worlders, trying to rule a planet with people and society unlike their own. They didn’t know the people, and so they didn’t see how much freedom they were leaving. Sure, a tightly controlled Imperial planet would be a nightmare to live on, but most Imperial worlds had plenty of freedom if you knew where to look.

Compared to the Marshals I’d dealt with on other worlds, the Imperials didn’t have a personal connection. The Marshals see their rule of law as a personal mission, and they would hold a vendetta against even the least significant criminal. The Imperials are faceless, and don’t have time to remember small time criminals. If you avoid them the first time you’re safe.

At the same time, the Imperials aren’t faceless. Each one has their own ambition: power, wealth, influence, prosperity for their sector. And those ambitions clash with the imperative coming from the center of the galaxy. Coupled with the friction between Imperials and the worlds they occupy, and their focus is divided such as to leave opportunity and exploitability.

Getting Off World 6BBY

I continued to take what jobs I could, but I was getting restless on my small planet. One day a large trade deal was occurring and a large off-world cargo vessel landed. I quickly offered to help load and unload cargo. When it was all said and done, I convinced one of the officers of the vessel to hire me. I haven’t been back since.

I worked with them for several months, first simply helping move cargo, but I started to help with other things as well. I had a knack for astrogation, and sometimes got to sit on the bridge and check over hyperspace jump calculations. I also showed an uncanny ability to notice some of the subtle cues when customers visited the vessel, and I started coming along to some business deals to simply look out for signs of deception or hesitance, as well as anything indicating potential cargo we could carry. When on the ship I started to help the master of the cargo organize the manifest to make room for more cargo in the cargo hold.

I also noticed that there were business deals I was not invited to, and cargo that was brought in under the cover of darkness, and not put on the manifest. What I learned was that some of the crew was involved in a smuggling operation, although I did not know who exactly. My increase in workload and responsibility was not accompanied by an increase in pay, but I was starting to get tired of being a hired hand anyway. After about six months onboard. I started planning a heist.

I noticed that there was a flaw in the way the vessel and cargo was secured when we first landed in a port. The ship security would all leave the ship to get us all the necessary clearance and to secure the ship for the next few days. There was an opening of a few hours where the cargo was unprotected, and during those few hours, there was a few minutes where there would likely be no one else in the landing bay.

I needed a few more people to pull of the heist successfully, so I watched the other crew and recruited a few that seemed the best candidates, agreeing to split the profits evenly. I monitored the illicit cargo that was being funnelled through the ship until both the cargo and our next destination lined up favourably.

The Heist

As soon as we landed we got to work. We would only have about 45 minutes to get off the ship, and only a few hours before anyone noticed. We secured what appeared to be the most valuable black market cargo and made it out of the landing bay and into town where we met with a buyer. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem interested in much of our cargo, and wasn’t willing to pay very much. We only were able to sell about half of what we had, and for about a fifth of what it was worth. We split the remaining cargo and went our own ways.

As I was turning off the street with the black market buyer, I heard a commotion behind me. I ducked around a corner and looked back to see several officers and security crew from the cargo ship chasing down some of the people who helped me with the heist, confiscating the cargo and credits, and putting them in binders. I don’t know how they figured out so quick, but I had to get out of there fast. I don’t know if anyone else was able to avoid capture, but I had to meetup with the pilot I made prior arrangements with quick. I had to leave a crate of thermal detonators behind, once again reducing my payout.

I used the remaining pieces of cargo, some spice, a few hacked data-pads, and some other small items, to get the funds to do some planet hopping. I only have one case left. It doesn’t seem to have anything of value in it, just some strange spare parts. They might be worth something, so I hold on to them.

I don’t want to run in to the crew of that cargo ship again, but I doubt they will put much effort into searching for me, even though they undoubtedly know I designed the heist. They probably got most of the cargo back, I imagine that buyer was half expecting something like what happened, and that’s why he lowballed us. I’ve been able to pick up some supplies on my travels, and now I need to start making some credits again. It is nice not to be tied down anymore.

Events of Edge of the Empire

See also: Edge of the Empire campaign

See also

• Zid Dirpas, the roleplay character of Brodie Snavely in the same campaign.
• Petra Tyche, the roleplay character of Rob Bauer in the same campaign.
• Rush Kiyanu, the roleplay character of Chance Wen in the same campaign.
• Edge of the Empire campaign, the campaign this character is a part of.