Vrab's Garden

When beings consider the drug trade in the galaxy, they usually think about commodities such as ryll and glitterstim. While not as well known, lesai is a stimulant that has its adherents. For one thing, it allows users to go without sleep. For another, some claim that it deadens the emotions. It is the prior property that makes it valuable, and Slarr the Hutt employs an Ithorian gardener to produce it for sale. The gardener, Eryado Vrab, produces it in a facility that fronts as a producer of foodstuffs for the Hutt's enjoyment, but a few beings know the truth about it.

The Garden

Refer to the appropriate map for the following area descriptions. The garden is built using a prefabricated pressure dome, the kind of used on airless worlds. This allows for easy maintenance of temperature and humidity, allowing Vrab to create just the right environment.

1. Entrance

Each entrance consists of an airlock with pressurized double doors on each side. Only one is actually functional, since power has been cut off from the other three. Vrab can reconnect power in the event of an emergency, however. Unless one has the passcode, it takes a pair of hard Skulduggery checks to bypass the doors.

2. Interior

The interior of this building is hot and humid. The floor is filled with dirt, and there is a pool of water in the center. More than a dozen trees surround the pool, along with shrubberies and other plants. All in all it forms a habitat for various creatures and plants, including the amphibians that are one of Slarr's favorite snacks. A number of the lizards that are a source for lesai can be found throughout the habitat. At any given time, Eryado Vrab, along with two Aqualish guards and a pair of Nikto servants can be found here. All but the Ithorian find it to be rather boring duty, but a change of pace from working inside Slarr's palace.

Eryado Vrab (Rival)

Brawn 2 Cunning 2 Presence 2

Agility 1 Intellect 2 Willpower 3

Soak: 2

Wound Threshold: 11

Strain Threshold: 15

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 1, Cool 1, Core Worlds 2, Discipline 1, Education 2, Lore 2, Medicine 2, Melee 1, Negotiation 1, Outer Rim 2, Perception 3, Resilience 2, Stealth 1, Survival 3, Vigilance 2, Xenology 2

Talents: Confidence, Expert Tracker, Forager, Heightened Awareness, Outdoorsman, Toughened

Abilities: One free rank in Survival; Ithorian Bellow

Equipment: Heavy clothing, breath mask, medpac, vibroknife, walking staff (treat as a truncheon)

Eryado Vrab is an expert when it comes to flora and fauna from around the galaxy. He grew up on Ithor, with a reverence for the Mother Jungle as is common among his species. Even so, the wildlife of one planet was not enough to satisfy his curiosity; he wanted to see other worlds, too. That drive is what eventually led him to Nal Hutta, where Slarr the Hutt offered to bankroll a garden facility if the Ithorian would just add certain specific animals—lizards with fungus growing on their backs—to his menagerie. Although he knows that the fungus is used for nefarious purposes, Vrab could not help but agree. Now he has the freedom to cultivate all manner of plants, as long as he delivers the required quantities of lesai in a timely manner.

Using the Gardner in an Edge of the Empire Campaign

The Ithorian and his illicit pharmaceuticals can be incorporated in a campaign in many different ways; a few of the possibilities are detailed here.

• Vrab handles the production and distribution of lesai for Slarr the Hutt; his facility relies on secrecy, rather than impressive security messages, for remaining undisturbed. If somebody learned the truth of the matter, they might be so bold as to try robbing the place.
• One Imperial officer wants to experiment with using lesai to increase the stamina of soldiers in the field. To that end, he visits Slarr's palace and makes arrangements for doing so. While he is there, observant characters might recognize his true identity. Moreover, he might be able to identify wanted criminals who are present. Although it wouldn't do for him to try apprehending those beings in the palace, he could always try to do so once outside it.
• Should he learn that the PCs are traveling to a world that he hasn't visited, Vrab might ask to accompany them, or offer to pay them for delivering a particular plant or creature.