CHARACTERS OF KALANDAR:

CAPTAIN VARN

Almost anybody among the Kalandar denizens enjoys living in a forsaken and corrupted region, and if it weren't for the need to remain hidden or the impossibility to leave the planet, few of them would willingly live in the zone. Yet none hates living in Kalandar as much as Imperial captain Dygon Varn himself.

Varn rarely leaves his outpost in Ghastal, and when he does it is a bad day for him and for the citizens of the village. Always in a terrible mood for being forced to watch and keep in order a hopeless region, Varn detests direct contact with his "civilians" and, for sure, civilians detest contact with him. When some orders or a problem force Varn to get off and walk in the streets of Kalandar surely an unfortunate bystander will end up in the Imperial prisons, even if it were only to vent his rage on someone and to make the citizens' lives in Kalandar as miserable as his.

Unfortunately (for him), other than a few occasions in which he can display a little personal power, Varn has little hope of having Imperial law respected in Kalandar. This for a very distinct reason: the Imperial sector of Couscant under which Kalandar's jurisdiction resides hasn't the slightest intention of bothering with the region and leaves Varn with a handful man, scarce resources and huge bureaucracy with which to face the situation of the zone.

The grim situation Varn must face day after day is even more unpleasant if one considers the identity of the direct superior to whom he must obey and report in all matters concerning the region: general Thar Garen.

Years ago, when Palpatine's New Order was about to complete its ascent and was consolidating his power, Varn and Garen were young officers fresh out of the Academy, eager to serve in a military hierarchy far more efficient and powerful that it could ever hope to be under the Old Republic. Digging their way among the ranks of the military with the ambition and the ruthlessness typical of the Imperial soldier, either Varn and Garen saw their golden opportunity in the moment in which the Imperial Court acted to turn Kalandar into the residence of the rich and powerful: the officer who happened to be in charge of that region, if only for the fact that he would have continuous and direct contact with the most powerful and influential people in the planet, would have struck an excellent hit. Colleagues and collaborators until then, Varn and Garen actually became sworn enemies in the moment they both set their eyes on the commanding place of the Kalandar region.

What ensued was a struggle made of intrigue and dirty blows that demolished forever their mutual friendship but that would also utterly destroy their careers, so strong were the calumnies and the schemes they were ready to inflict on each other. In the end, in order to avoid expulsion from the ranks of the army the two officers came to an agreement: whoever of them got the place would take the other in as his second in command. Satisfied with this solution, Varn and Garen eagerly awaited the day of the nominations (once they joined their forces, it was easy for them to sweep away any other serious opposition for the title). The final verdict saw Garen as the winner, only by a slight difference in the final list. Retroactively, of course Varn now thinks that Garen played dirty in obtaining the place.

Garn kept his promise and Varn was called as his second in command at Kalandar, but life wasn't surely easy for the defeated captain: while Garen took care to take part to public ceremonies, to grant and obtain favors from the powerful and to display perfect Imperial efficiency in front of the ?lite, Varn was charged with the actual organization of security patrols, surveillance of the region and de facto responsibility for any error that could arise. All this before a haughty and susceptible population ready to cry scandal if only a drunk clochard was found sleeping in the park. Praises and rewards for the perfect management of the region went to Garen: responsibilities and problems were Varn's sector.

Soon Varn could no longer stand the situation: Garen grew in fame, charisma and prestige and at the same time took care to ensure that Varn could never do the same, cutting him out of every important contact and burdening with chores and missions without a moment of rest. After years spent in dark envy, Varn started plotting to overthrow Garen. Taking care to accumulate a few contacts in those rare spare moments in which Garen did not hold his leash, striking deals with the minor criminals he arrested promising freedom in change for "a favor to be made at the proper moment", Varn managed to build a little plot against Garen. Using an important govern contact that an infamous network pirate called "Black Ghost" had provided him with, and paying a huge amount of money -almost all he had managed to spare in his years of service in Kalandar- Varn obtained what he had always desired: at the end of the year Garen would be transferred to the place of Supervisor of Imperial activities in the sector, and Kalandar would come in the hands of Varn.

The plan worked out perfectly: without even the slightest problem the order from the government came and the reassignment was put into effect: while Garen was cleaning his desk, Varn could at last sit in the control room: he was in charge of Kalandar now.

Varn was already cherishing lunches with the rich and the powerful, promises of favors and bribes in turn for particular care in the surveillance of certain parks and palaces, when... the first messages of moving came in. Varn could barely believe his eyes: within not even a month from his promotion, one after another, the families of the Imperial Court were abandoning the region. Within the end of the following year, more than half of Kalandar's lands were abandoned, sold or bought by firms and people of dubious reputation: the year after that, the villages and the hills of the region were only a pale memory of the planetary paradise they had been in past.

Too late Varn realized had had been tricked. Warned by the nobles that Palpatine was about to spell the region's doom, Garen himself had allowed Varn to organize his own little coup. With the complicity of the mysterious Black Ghost he had ensured that Varn's petty schemes went to a good end and, supreme mockery, to get rid of a place that would soon become very uncomfortable and to obtain supervision of the whole sector's activities he had even received Varn's lifetime incomes.

Dygon Varn could only swear between his teeth while he saw the region falling into corruption and hopeless decay: every day aliens, evacuees and scum of every kind settled in the streets or among the ruins. A request for troops, vehicles and resources to maintain the order in the region provided him only with his final mockery: "the Empire does not consider the region of Kalandar a priority worth of employing valuable men and resources: the secondary and marginal land it has become makes it a zone of scarce relevance and interest to the majority of the planetary citizens. This implies that any commanding officer who knows his job will be able to keep order in the region with minimal efforts and resources - Sector Supervisor General Thar Garen".

Needless to say, all requests of being transferred were never answered: Varn remained stuck in Kalandar without any hope of transfer. Since then he has been leading his pointless struggle against the refugees, the beggars and the outlaws that congregate in the region. A struggle that is lead with little or no belief, and only sporadically. Exacerbated and despaired because of the dead end in which his career is stuck, Varn only worries about not having anything serious happening in Kalandar, anything that could earn him the attention of the Imperial army. The rest of his life is a little personal hell that he faces sometimes with anger, sometimes with resignation.

The only thing Varn actually fears is further "attention" from Garen. The captain knows that he ruined himself by trying to plot against someone more powerful than him, and he only hopes that Garen will content with the outcome of his plan. Luckily the new heights the General has reached keep him busy for most of the time, but once in a while the General remembers to order a surprise inspection or a control of the region. Varn can only swallow the pill and suffer, well aware that if he meant it, Garen could use the actual situation of the region to spell his doom at any time.

Varn hates Garen with passion, but he fears him too much to attempt anything against him. He remained burned the last time he tried to move against him ,and he believes that further attempts at revenge would only earn him a sudden end: when faced with the idea of clashing with Garen again, even Kalandar's little daily hell suddenly becomes bearable...

Dygon Varn
Type: Imperial Captain

DEX 2D+2
Blaster 6D
Dodge 5D
Grenade 5D
Vehicle blasters 4D+2

KNO 3D
Bureaucracy 6D
Intimidation 4D+2
Law enforcement 6D
Survival 4D

MEC 3D+2
Communications 4D
Ground vehicle operation 5D
Repulsorlift operation 5D+2
Walker operation 5D

PER 3D+1
Bargain 5D
Command 5D+2
Forgery 5D
Investigation 6D+2
Search 5D

STR 2D+1
Brawling 4D
Climbing/jumping 3D+2
Stamina 4D

TEC 2D+2
First Aid 4D
Security 5D
Walker repair 4D

Force sensitive? No
Character points: 5
Force points: 1
A Quote: "Listen to me, scum: if you think that living in this hole is bad, remember that until I'm around, for you it will be even worse!"

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