[Solved] Horville's House of Horrors: The Rakata Mummy

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Horville's House of Horrors: The Rakata Mummy

Sometimes the best place to search for relics was right out in public. That had been Harlan's first thought when she saw the flashing holo-advert at her hotel on the Ring of Kafrene: "Horville's House of Horrors! Unearth the darkest secrets of the cosmos! The Return of the Rakata! The truth behind the Order of the Terrible Glare! The ancient Jedi versus Sith enmity laid bare!"

Could be worth a look, she thought, only moments before Fiev, her Sullustan companion, started blubbering over her shoulder about how great the exhibition would be. As far as she could tell, Fiev had lived a sheltered life underground on Sullust. He had, evidently, become an accomplished miner, which was why Harlan was escorting him to Montitia, but without losing his joyful naivety. For not the first time, Harlan wondered much how smoother the trip would have been without this unplanned stop on Kafrene.

"Let's do it," she said. What was the worst that could happen? At least it would kill a few more hours while their ship was repaired, she thought.

Four hours later, she realised the worst was an unceasing torrent of questions as Fiev sought her view on any number of fabrications or conspiracies on display. 

"Would you look at that! A real life Rakata!" 

Fiev was pressed up against a dura-glass cabinet, leaving grubby hand marks and condensation all over the display. Nestled between a supposed Mandalorian sarcophagus and a stained glass depiction of the Duros Necromaner, was a cabinet holding a tall, red bipedal specimen: a wrinkled and mummified corpse. It had the infamous eye stalks of a Rakata at least, but even from several feet away Harlan thought she could detect the seams that pieced together the corpse.

Glad of the distraction for the Sullustan, Harlan turned her eye to the collection she had been (increasingly impatiently) waiting for: the Jedi versus the Sith. The first display held a holoball emitting an eldritch green glow. The sign called it a kyber crystal, but the scuffed edge suggested more likely plasteel than crystal.

The second display held a tattooed head said to belong to a Sith lord. As if! thought Harlan. The combination of horns and tattoos was intimidating, but she recognised it as a Zabrak; not uncommon on her homeworld of Dathomir. It was bound to impress someone like Fiev, but it was ridiculous to suggest it was Sith!

With low expectations, Harlan looked into the third display. It held a device shaped like a pyramid with ornate filigree and a dull orange glow. Harlan did a double take. It... it actually looked like a holocron... could it be? She touched her hand to the  cabinet, leaving a (less grubby) hand print, and closed her eyes. She *thought* as her cousin Ti-San had instructed her. She felt a warmth fill her body, which she thought she could sense emanating from the device.

"That's great! What is it?" exclaimed her Sullustan charge from next to her. Harlan opened her eyes to see the device flickering red, blue and pink in front of her.

"That, Fiev, is a five-cred trinket you could find in any market in any tourist trap like Kafrene - not worth the price of our admission. Now, what do you think of the necromaner?" she responded, turning away from the still flickering device. 

As they moved on to examine other cabinets and other rooms, Harlan took a last glance over her shoulder. The holocron waited for her. Tonight, she thought, I will be back!.

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A little scene with a little floor dedicated to @RocketBoy! Horville's Hut of Horrors was an episode and location in one of the Ewok cartoons. Clearly he made his way off the planet and onto bigger and brighter things. Hope you all enjoyed the cameo appearance of Sebastian the crab.