[Solved] (NJO) (Meego) Lesson: Diplomacy

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Meego was reminded of his former life as a mailrodian. He was nervous, he knew Aemos would rebuke him heavily for this, but Ma-Riki and Jun had insisted that this errand was important. The procession of curious villagers, the Jedi Noko Imani and Jun Jin-Wa, the initiates, and one of the village leaders wound around the slowly rising pathway next to the beige stone wall. Meego slipped from the parade and burrowed his way through a crowd of Orrlgg herders into a thin alley which led away from the main thoroughfare to a small, wooded hill. According to the crafty Lannik, he’d be able to smell the right building from a hundred meters away. Meego would have completely missed it, if an armed hooded figure hadn’t bumped into him. His snout twitched. An older man with a long grey beard and floppy brown hat had exited from the neighbouring building topped with a domed spire. Unfastening his navy coat, Meego checked to make sure the spoiled milk concoction was ok, well, as alright as fermented milk could be, then walked up to the man who was dusting his hands on his tattered tunic. 

“Rangers gettin’ you down. Huh, what’s this?” the old man asked kindly as the rodian gave him the green bottle. 

“F-fermented… milk?” Meego replied with little confidence. That didn’t seem to bother the old man who sniffed it and smiled pleasantly. 

“Mmm. For this, I’ll trade deliciously. How about some Orrlgg Juice?”

Meego nodded, this time with a little more assurance, the Jedi calming techniques were working wonders on the Rodian’s nervous nature. “S-some uh basic grains would also be nice. What are ‘rangers?’”

“Of course,” he promised cheerfully, then frowning. “The rangers say they protect us from evil spirits and witches in the dark woods; they think there’s an evil force set to destroy us. Mostly, they’re pretty cryptic, always dressing in cloaked hoods and rudimentary armor. We don’t see ‘em too often but they’ve never been particularly nice.”

“I-i have felt evil there.” 

The old man handed Meego the grains and what he had called ‘Orrlgg Juice.’ He paused before speaking again. 

“Interesting,” he replied, all kindness gone from his voice, replaced by a foreboding fear that tinged the old man’s voice. A fear that followed Meego as he hurried back to procession, hoping that he’d go unnoticed, however, that contrived worry paled in comparison to the looming dread of the dark presence, the same that he’d felt in the woods after they’d crashed on Ator Hollos.