Saga "No Good Deed" -- (Gungan experiences during the Trade Federation Invasion of Naboo)

Title: No Good Deed

Author: Seldes Katne

Summary: After escaping the Trade Federation?s forces? attack on the city of Otoh Gunga, Captain Tarpals and his patrol of Gungan riders rescue a group of their people from a droid convoy. In doing so, they inadvertently liberate a number of Naboo youngsters and their guardians as well. During the journey to the nearest human settlement, the combined group must face wild animals, droid scouts, and the long-running distrust between Gungan and human.

Rating: PG

Recognizable characters: Captain Tarpals, Handmaidens Saché and Yané, Hela Brandes (Queen Amidala?s Minister of Music/Arts, if you?re really up on your Phantom Menace trivia). Also includes various human and Gungan OCs.

Disclaimer: All characters and situations recognizable as being part of the Star Wars Universe belong to George Lucas and his appointed representatives. No money whatsoever is being made from the writing or publishing of this story.

Major thanks and mounds of chocolate to my courageous beta-reader Kaeli, who took on 127 typed pages of story, including many sizeable chunks of ?Gunganese?, the language Jar Jar Binks introduced in The Phantom Menace. She not only read through and finished editing this story in under a month, but also very intelligently suggested I add a glossary of Gungan terms and fine-tune some details. A full Gungan cavalry salute to her for her efforts! Any remaining errors in the story are the fault of the author, and should not be blamed on the characters, the beta-readers, or George Lucas and his creative staff.


At this point, you can basically skip on ahead to the next post, which is the actual beginning of the story, without missing a thing. The rest of this post consists of a few author comments and a glossary of Gungan terminology found in the story, posted in green letters and located here for your convenience.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One of the best pieces of advice my Editing professor at Syracuse University ever gave me (aside from ?Never turn down free food?) was ?You don?t get paid to start a story ? you get paid to finish it?. Of course, no one who writes fan fiction is getting paid to do so, but you get the idea. So, this story is completely finished as I post this message. Barring unforeseen circumstances (i.e. I get run over by a bus or aliens land and I?m invited to visit their homeworld), I plan to post every Thursday until the whole piece is published. (And I promise that if the aliens land, I?ll post a note, time permitting. ).

Anyone who has worked with me for more than ten minutes will tell you that my ego gets plenty of feeding on a regular basis, and is indeed straining the sides of the piano case in which it?s kept. Therefore, reviews, while appreciated, are not necessary. If you like the story, and want to leave me a note, your comments will be gratefully acknowledged. However, if you don?t want to reveal your presence, that?s fine too. Lurkers are welcome. If you like what you see here, tell a friend. If you don?t like it, the ?Back? button is located in the upper left corner of your Internet browser. There are many excellent stories on this site; please keep looking until you find one that appeals to you. Thanks for stopping by.

For anyone interested in reading other perspectives on the Trade Federation Invasion, I highly recommend Sache8?s ?Dance with the Stars? and Knight-Ander?s ?The Young Flames? . Both of them are well worth reading, and deal much more extensively with the humans of Naboo than the Gungans. There is also the Theed Palace thread, which lists stories that take place on Naboo.

?No Good Deed? is actually my fifth Gungan piece. Rest assured, you don?t need to read any of the others in order to understand this story. However, for anyone inter

 

No Good Deed
By Seldes Katne


Hidden amongst the forest undergrowth, two Gungans watched the company of droids move past.

?There?s only the one armed vehicle,? the heavyset scout told his companion. ?The other two seem to be strictly for transport. Three dozen maccaneeks, with only hand-weapons.?

?You?re sure they?re transporting our people??

?Yes. They seem to have come across a small group of us, probably from one of the outlying settlements. My guess is that they?re taking them to one of the places in which they?re also holding the Naaboo.? He glanced sideways at the other Gungan, a lean, grey-skinned member of the Otolla race named Tarpals.

Tarpals grimaced. The Naaboo weren?t his concern. ?They?re heading into the Kintar region, aren?t they? There?s more forest than swamp in that area, if I remember right.?

The other nodded. ?I think so.? He peered thoughtfully at the vehicles skimming the ground a cesta?s cast away. ?These maccaneeks are pretty far away from any of the areas inhabited by the Naaboo.?

?That?s all right. We?ll use it to our advantage. Let?s get the others.? The two Gungans carefully eased their way through the forest growth, leaving the transport vehicles behind. A few minutes later they located their kaadu, the two-legged reptilian creatures that served as cavalry animals for the Gungans? Mounted Patrols, and rode to rejoin the rest of Tarpals?s temporary command.

Nearly a full eight-days had passed since the invaders had arrived. The Gungans had known about the maccaneeks almost from the moment the first ships had landed. The huge transport vehicles that crashed through the forest, panicking the local wildlife and carving their own roads by pushing over every tree in their path, hadn?t exactly been inconspicuous. The first report had been brought in by a most unlikely source -- the exiled Gungan Jar Jar Binks and his two Outsider companions, who were seeking transportation to the Naaboo city of Theed. Although Binks and the Outsiders had been sent on their way almost immediately, the reports of the mechanical army had continued to come in from the outlying settlements and hunting parties. While the army seemed to be concentrating their attention on the Naaboo, the human inhabitants of the planet, the Gungan population grew uneasy.

Tarpals had sent word to his superior officers, General Ceel and General Yoss, and activated the first groups of the Otoh Gunga militia. Every able-bodied Gungan received at least a minimal amount of military training, in preparation for emergencies such as natural disasters or attacks by creatures of the Abyss. Only a small number of Gungans served as career military, most of them as members of the Mounted Patrols. Three of the Patrols were permanently active; Tarpals's own command, the Third, served as the protectors and law enforcement officers of Otoh Gunga, the principle Gungan city, and its closest settlements.

Before the sun set on the first day of the invasion, Gungan scouts had been dispatched to the smaller settlements, carrying the news and beginning the task of alerting military reservists. Patrol members took up posts in the forests surrounding Lake Paonga. Within days of the first sightings of the invaders, a small fleet of underwater vehicles had entered Lake Paonga and struck at the city.

The underwater defenses that kept the large aquatic monsters out of Gungan territory had proven mostly ineffectual. The city?s patrols, using artillery mounted on the lake bad and mid-sized bon-gho submarines, had held the invaders long enough to allow most of the populace to flee, and the Ruling Council had gone with them, escorted by most of the professional soldiers. The militiagungs, voluntary part time soldiers, had stayed behind to cover the last of the evacuees. The remainder of Tarpals?s command had provided leadership and support. Then, gathering what was left of the defenders, Tarpals had order the

 

I'm here and I'm reading!

I wish more people on these boards followed the advice of your editing professor. And I wish my ego were more like yours, instead of needing constant feeding in order to thrive.

I liked the way the Gungans speak "normally" to themselves -- much easier for us hue-mins to read -- and only lapse into Bassic at the sight of the Naaboo. Speaking of communication, the "hunter speak" is a great idea, and used well here.

I have to run, but I'll be back to read more!

 

Excellent!

The title, the premise, the energy of the first post and the oh-no-what's-this of the last paragraph all sucked me right in--I am going to love having a Seldes story to look forward to.

 

Looks interesting.

I wish I had the attention span to finish half the stories I start. But then, that's only one of many reasons why I'll never be paid to write.

 

Jane: Thanks for the first comments! And you read the glossary, too, bless you. Just so everyone knows, there will not, repeat NOT, be a vocabulary quiz at the end of the story. I noticed the Kit Fisto icon under your name, too; does this mean your story is moving forward again?

Wilhelmina: Nice to hear from you -- I hope you've been doing well. I also hope the story doesn't turn out to be a disappointment....

Karebear214: Please don't take my comments about writing and finishing stories as a criticism. I know that many people really need the feedback and emotional support that comes from getting comments on each posted piece of a story, and if that's what works for you, then go for it. I'm personally just so afraid that I'm going to get to a certain point and discover that I've written myself into a corner, or have a huge plot hole that can't be fixed, that I force myself to keep going until my stories are completely done. (I also tend to write short stories of fewer than 30 typed pages, so finishing a story is a lot easier for me than for many people.) I worked for several years as a journalist, and I'm frankly much happier as a fanfiction author, because now I get to write about what I want, not what my employer wants, and that's the best part about being an "unpaid professional".


"No Good Deed" is going to be posted in eighteen pieces, plus an author's note; it's the longest thing I've ever written (including my Masters' thesis for library school!). Each segment will equal between five and eight typed pages of printed text. I hope everyone has comfy chairs for reading. New post coming up Thursday!

 

In addition to five Gungans, the patrol had rescued nearly a dozen humans ? a rather heavy-set older female, a trio of adolescents, and a handful of children.

?Getten everyone outten there,? Tarpals instructed his patrol, using the Gungan form of Bassic for the benefit of the humans. Scouts were already rigging saddles for the falumpasets, which could carry three or four small riders. ?See if there?s anything in those vehicles we can use,? Tarpals instructed Peskis in High Gungan; the Ankuran motioned one of his scouts over to help him raid the transport.

Tarpals turned to the human woman, who tilted her head back to look up at him. ?Yousan free to go,? he told her. ?My suggest yousan gettens ?way from here right ?long. The maccaneeks will comen to see what?s happ?ned to theysan.? He nodded at the wreckage of the convoy.

To his surprise, the woman?s face took on a frightened look. ?Go? Go where? We?re in the middle of the wilderness -- there?s no civilization anywhere near. We?ll starve before we can reach any of our towns or cities.?

Surith Herns, a corporal whose arm bore the dark blue armband of the Kintar settlement, leaned over to another Gungan and laughed. ?Is she kidding?? he asked in High Gungan. ?It?s summer -- you can?t go a stone?s throw into the forest without tripping over something to eat. How have they survived all this time??

His companion tilted her head to one side in the Gungan equivalent of a shrug. ?Who knows? Maybe their food falls out of the skies and they just have to pick it up and eat it.?

?We don?t even know where the closest town is,? the woman was saying. ?Please, for the sake of the children, you have to help us.?

?No, we don?t,? Herns muttered. ?You?re the ones the maccaneeks want, not us.? Rell Iss turned in the saddle and frowned at him; Herns gazed evenly back at him.

Tarpals stared at the human for a moment; then with a jerk of his head, he motioned Herns over. ?At one time, the nearest Naaboo settlement was in what they call the Tendesay foothills. Has that changed??
Herns shook his head. ?No, it?s still there. They?re going to have quite a walk to get there, though -- it?s a good three-day ride.?

Tarpals nodded, looking thoughtful, and Herns continued. ?Captain, we need to get our people to the Sacred Place. This maccaneek army is still searching the woods for us. And the longer we stay here, the more likely it is that their reinforcements will arrive.?

?We need to get moving,? Tarpals agreed. He waved to Peskis, who trotted his kaadu over to join them. ?Get all of the animals saddled. Let?s see how many people we can fit on the three falumpasets.? Peskis nodded and moved off, calling to his two scouts to help him.

?Captain --? Herns began, but Tarpals cut him off.

?We can?t leave the Naaboo stranded here. Even our own children wouldn?t survive long under the circumstances.?

?If we leave the Naaboo here, the maccaneeks may well be content with rounding them back up,? Herns protested. ?This army is invading the Naaboo territory. If nothing else, these Naaboo will provide a distraction for the maccaneeks and give us time to get out of the area.?

Tarpals looked him squarely in the eye. ?I have no more sympathy for the Naaboo than you do, Corporal,? here he sighed and shook his head, ?but I also can?t just ride out of here and leave a group of children behind. They?ve done nothing to deserve this. We can?t abandon them any more than we could a group of our own young.? He straightened up in the saddle and switched to Bassic. ?Wesan tekkin? yousan as far as Tendesay. Theysa village there. After that, yousan on yoursa own.?

The woman looked relieved, but the teen-aged boy?s face held an expression of suspicion mixed with disgust. The younger children?s faces held everything from excitement to fear. Most of them huddled close to the woman.

Riders pulled the extra kaadu into place, the

 

I've yet to be disappointed by one of your stories, Seldes.

I like this Peskis fellow. Maybe because he's nice to the humans even though he doesn't have to be; maybe because he's a good storyteller. I love legends.

Peskis chuckled. ?Now, Captain, you know the old saying: no good deed, no matter how small, goes--?

?Unpunished?? Tarpals remarked dryly. He noted that most of the command was avoiding the Naaboo, barely even glancing at them, with the exception of the Gungan family they had rescued.

?--Unrewarded,? Peskis finished.

Hehe. I have a hunch--a little one--that Tarpals will get a bit of both.

Saché and Yané! Hurray! It's one of the wonderful quirks of fanfic that though this story presents an alternate version of their fate to the other story I'm reading that features them (Sache8's Dance With the Stars), I can hold both versions in my head as part of my personal SW universe.

Aw, poor Edvic. There's always one xenophobe. I do hope he doesn't do anything rash. The little grub scene at the end reminds me of the grub scene in The Lion King--"Slimy, yet satisfying." *bats away the tune of "Hakuna Matata" that is threatening to get stuck in her head*

Great post!

 

I'm reading, but I'll have to delay the review until I have more time. Sorry! Hopefully to-morrow.

 

Okay, I'm back.

In answer to your question, my Kit Fisto story took a giant leap forward and original characters started pouring out of the woodwork. I had to stop again, though, to work on other things. I think it will still be several months before the story is ready for posting.

Herns and Edvic seem like two of a kind; suspicious of and disgusted by the other race.

I liked the way that Tarpals was willing to help the humans, even if only because of the children.

Loved the story about the peko-peko birds!

It speaks for Tarpals' character that, even though he's starting to share Herns' disparaging opinion of the humans, that he takes time anyway to comfort Zanté, and, later, to talk to Hela Brandes although he really doesn't want to. I'm respecting him more and more.

Hela Brandes sounds like a sensible person as well; organizing the children, and trying to learn about the Gungans, and wanting to help.

I wonder who this Zanté is. There seems to be a bit of a mystery about her -- or is it just me?

Forgive my ignorance, but is this an AU? Or did Saché and Yané really stay behind on Naboo at some point? (It's been a while since I've seen the movie, and I think I've forgotten quite a lot of details.)

But I'm really enjoying the depth of detail in this story, the way that you impart so much information and yet still keep it flowing so smoothly. If I watch closely, maybe I can learn something from your style.

Looking forward to more!

 

Wilhelmina: I like this Peskis fellow. Maybe because he's nice to the humans even though he doesn't have to be; maybe because he's a good storyteller.

Peskis is an interesting character. Keep your eye on him -- he's going to get even more interesting by the end of the story.

I love legends.

I know, and as I recall, you've written a few yourself. By the way, for anyone who hasn't read it, Wilhelmina's story The Snow Star is in the Archive, and a lovely story it is, too!

Jane: Yes, Saché and Yané really did stay behind on Naboo during the invasion; the Queen only took three Handmaidens with her. Knight-Ander's story "The Young Flames", which I've linked to in the first post, deals with another version of their adventures during the invasion.

I wonder who this Zanté is. There seems to be a bit of a mystery about her -- or is it just me? No, it's not just you. I posted the peko-peko story on Melyanna's Legends and Myths Thread about a year ago, and the version there gives an idea of what eventually happens to her, but I promise her past will be revealed by the end of the story.

And I'm glad to hear about the success with the Kit Fisto story. Gives me something to look forward to....

But I'm really enjoying the depth of detail in this story, the way that you impart so much information and yet still keep it flowing so smoothly. If I watch closely, maybe I can learn something from your style. Thank you. Given your excellent writing ability, I can't imagine what I could possibly teach you, but thank you. I was afraid that I hadn't included enough detail when I wrote this, because I've been visualizing the characters and settings for over a year, so to me they're familiar; however, I knew my readers would need some descriptions. Apparently I managed a decent balance....

Next post up on Thursday!

 

Yané laid an armload of leaves on the ground and paused to watch Orrin. The Gungan was shinnying up a sapling-sized tree, which promptly bent under her weight. ?Hol? the end,? she instructed Saché, who anchored the top of the tree so Orrin could slide safely off. The Gungan tied a supple vine around the sapling and attached it to a hastily cut stake that she drove into the ground with a rock. ?Lettin? go,? she told Saché. When the girl released the tree, it remained bent over, held in place by the vine. Orrin grinned. ?Now wesa needin? some mo-ah.? The three bent down a second sapling and tied it to the first. They soon had half a dozen small trees bent and tied together at the tops, the entire group held in place by the stake. The final result was a small circle of bowed trees. ?Now, wesa usin? the leafs,? Orrin said, and they wove the leaves in and out around the saplings, forming a very large ?basket? that would shelter them from the weather and provide some protection from the local wildlife. Yané and Saché glanced up to see three similar shelters had been built around the clearing.

?That?s not enough for everyone, is it?? asked Saché when they paused to rest.

Orrin tilted her head in a Gungan shrug. ?Most of ussan, wesa slipp out?n?doors,? she explained. ?Wesa mekkin? these for yousan and the other sprattlings and theirsan fam?ly. Tomorrow, wesa scatter the leafs back ?round the area an? let the trees go back straight, an? no?un knowen wesa been heres.?


~*~*~*~


Brandes noticed Peskis peering up into the tree branches. ?What are you looking at??

?Mesa thinkin? iss a nessst,? the Gungan replied. He raised his voice. ?Whosa good?n for climbin? heah??

The children, human and Gungan, clustered around the two adults. ?My?ll go,? volunteered the older of the Gungan children.

?Yousa Temmis, yiss? Right-o. C?meah.?

Peskis hoisted the youngster onto his shoulders. Temmis grasped the tree branches and pulled himself up until he could swing his legs up over the limb. Then he crawled up the branch to the tree trunk and clambered up to the next set of branches. In a moment he was hidden by leaves.

?Iss?n nessst!? Temmis?s voice drifted down. ?An? desa h?eggs innin!?

The Gungans all grinned. ?Diss?n good luck!? the Gungan female said. ?Usually h?eggs hass all hatched by now!?

?Kenn yousa drop dem down to ussan wit?out brekkin? any?? Peskis called back up.

?T?ink so!?

Sen Tal positioned himself under the tree. A moment later a pale green egg dropped down out of the leaves, and the male caught it in his right hand. He caught the second egg in his left hand, then shifted the two eggs to one hand and waited. A third egg, then a fourth hurtled down from the tree. The male caught them, then called up, ?How menny mo-ah??

?Jus? diss?un,? Temmis shouted back, and a fifth egg dropped. The male, caught with both hands full of eggs, looked around wildly for a moment, and then focused on the last egg. His head shot forward, and everyone heard a muffled ?flummp!? as his mouth snapped shut. The female stepped forward, and the male turned to her, grinning. Then he opened his mouth and the last egg, intact, slid down his long tongue and into her hand.

?Ewww!? exclaimed several of the humans.

The female blinked at them. ?Wesa only ettin? the inside,? she said mildly. ?Outside don? matter.?

Temmis reappeared among the leaves. ?What wesa leavin???

?Leaving?? Brandes asked, puzzled.

?Yiss. For da bargain.? The female Gungan glanced around. ?Heah -- yousa gotten fruit, wrap dem in leafs and wesa send dem up.? Peskis plucked two broad leaves from a ground plant and wrapped several of the smaller fruits in them. Then he tied the leaves closed with strands of grass and tossed them up to Temmis, who clamped the leaves in his mouth and climbed back up the tree. A few minutes later he swung down, ran along the lowest branch, and hopped into Sen Tal?s arms.

Peskis beamed at him. ?Yousa remember the Bargain Story, eh??

?Course?n. Ever?on

 

Good idea and nice details for building a shelter meant only to last one night and leave little or no trace for anybody following.

On the one hand, I was with the humans saying "Ewww!" when the Gungan caught the egg with his tongue, but on the other hand, the female's explanation about the inside and the outside souned perfectly reasonable, too. Wonderful writing, to help us readers see both sides!

Tarpals hesitated. Escorting the Naaboo was one thing; actively relying on them to do tasks without supervision was something else again. And here again! As a human, I almost feel insulted that the Gungans think humans can't do anything without help, but then I remember how the Gungans have to help them in so many other things, so I can understand Tarpals' sentiments here.

Sounds like the Gungan children are making the first steps towards friendship here, giving the peko-peko feather to Zanté. That was sweet!

Interesting that the three teenagers are thinking of striking out on their own, though. I'm glad Brandes was able to give them some excellent reasons for staying. Is it just their dislike of the Gungans that make them want to leave? Edvic sounds positively paranoid. I don't think Saché and Yané are that bad, though, or at least I hope not. I hope that the comment about the Gungans holding them for hostage only comes from the fact that the girls have been at court and are used to political intrigues, not because they wouldn't put anything past Gungans in general.

Zanté doesn't speak? No, she hasn't made a sound this entire story, has she? Now I'm really intrigued!

Loved the innocent question about humans not being able to smell their way back to their shelters!

Temmis almost seems to have adopted little Zanté. I felt hurt for him when she didn't want to sit by him and went to the humans instead.

Nice situation there between Herns and Edvic! Yané and Saché did a good job of standing up for him with their talk about the voorpaks being able to deliver a nasty bite when threatened. Will the two human voorpaks get the chance to bite Herns? He'd deserve it!

I like Orrin. She's fair.

Whew, that was a long section, but I'm looking forward to the next one already!

 

Herns + Edvic = Trouble.

*snaps fingers*

"When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way..."



Poor Hela. It seems as though she's the only one willing to fully trust the Gungans--Edvic's certainly not on her side, Saché and Yané want to get out of there, and even Zanté's too scared to break out of her shell. Hela's swimming against the current. Likewise, Timmis seems to me to be the only Gungan with no reservations about the Naboo (I really like him. I hope Zanté likes him by the end, too. I was halfway expecting her to trust him, and was very sad when she didn't, but in context I think the way you wrote it was a truer reaction.). All the adults, kind as they are, seem to have doubts of one kind or another (sometimes justified) about the Naboo.

The level of detail in the setting up of camp and foraging for food was great. I felt like I was really there.

Ooh, another story! I'm looking forward to it.

 

Jane Jinn made a comment about the length of this last post. Just out of curiosity, would people prefer it if the posts were shorter? "No Good Deed" has 18 pieces, which means it'll be the end of January before it's finished, but I could make the posts shorter and stretch the story out longer if that's more convenient for everyone. I try to keep each post to a length between five and eight typed pages.

I wish I could take credit for the idea of the shelters Orrin and the two Handmaidens build, but they are actually based on homes historically made by several tribes of Native Americans here in the northeastern United States. What can I say, I'm borrowing a number of ideas from the masters of wilderness survival!

Jane: Interesting that the three teenagers are thinking of striking out on their own... [snip] .... Is it just their dislike of the Gungans that make them want to leave? I get the impression that the majority of humans on Naboo have no contact with Gungans in general, and therefore have no idea about their culture or behavior. So part of the distrust might come from the Handmaidens' experience with court intrigue, but it might also be a case of "better the devil you know than the devil you don't"; slogging throught the wilderness might just seem like a safer choice. (Especially after Edvic's comment about "I hear they eat people". Knowing what I do about Gungans, I found that rather amusing.... )

One of the things that struck me during the movie was that at NO time did any of the Queen's advisors suggest, "Hey, we're being invaded, let's ask the Gungans for help because, heck, they live here too!" Padmé had to go all the way to Coruscant and be rejected by the Senate before turning to her neighbors for assistance. (There's actually a place later in my story where the Gungans debate giving the Naboo their help, and the Governers' Council turns the idea down flat, so the distrust isn't just on one side....)

Will the two human voorpaks get the chance to bite Herns? The situation with Herns is indeed going to come to a head, but not, I think, the way it's expected. Herns undergoes some rather interesting character development during the story. He and Kimma, and Orrin to a certain extent, offered me some real surprises while I was writing this. Stay tuned!

Wilhelmina: Ooh, another story! I'm looking forward to it. Well, a piece of one, anyway; I needed to introduce a few other ideas, so we're going to miss part of the telling, but fear not -- later in the story Peskis is going to have the opportunity to tell a full-blown legend (it ran three typed pages in length), and Tarpals himself will get to tell a short story or two, although not to the group as a whole....

Temmis and Zanté both have a couple of nice scenes coming up later on. There are going to be a number of character changes in the course of the story, for both humans and Gungans.

Next post up Thursday!

 

Well, so far I am loving this marvelous, richly textured story. (Figured I should stop lurking and say so.) And I will take my posts any length I can get them.

I'm glad to see the Gunguns getting a better (I tried to come up with a less judgemental word but couldn't) representation than I felt TPM managed for them too.

There was an interesting thing on NPR that a friend pointed me to sometime in the last year that was partly about how Jar-Jar (and the Gunguns in general I guess) was portrayed. I am no longer certain but I think the gist of it was that the portrayal of Jar-Jar was one of the things that made him start to rewrite TPM in his head. I found it intriguing. But not as intriguing as I do this story.

Thursday? I'll try to hold out that long. It'll be hard though. This is the kind of good read that has you up all night reading a book and not caring that you look like heck the next day at work and spend the day feeling dumber than the average lamppost due to lack of sleep.

KD

 

Knight_Dilettante, thank you for both the kind words and taking the time to de-lurk. I know there's a certain amount of effort involved in writing up comments, so I appreciate them!

My biggest concern with TPM was the fact that so many people reacted so negatively to Jar Jar Binks, and seemed to think that all Gungans were exactly like him, which of course isn't true. (Granted, I thought George Lucas went out of his way to make Jar Jar look ridiculous in a couple of instances, but that's no reason to condemn the whole race.) I was just fascinated with the hints of Gungan culture we saw in the movie (one of my favorite scenes is the swim to Otoh Gunga, a.k.a. Gunga City), and it's been fun exploring that along with a variety of original and borrowed characters.

And I'm glad people are enjoying the ride!

 

Tarpals stood just outside the circle of the light and watched the audience settle in. He?d caught most of the tale Peskis had told earlier; obviously the Ankuran was a fine storyteller. Storytellers and Memory Keepers were respected in Gungan society, but tonight, Tarpals decided regretfully, was not the time for him to listen to the old tales.

He turned away and made the round of his sentries. Two of the experienced patrol riders had each brought a militiagung with them for training. Tarpals listened to their reports; recalling Artil?s style of command, the captain made a few encouraging remarks to each of them, and continued on. The last sentry turned out to be Kimma Nril.

?Lieutenant Peskis seemed to think it would be all right if I sat a watch,? she told him. ?Don?t look so surprised. I?ve had more than the average amount of training. Just because I left military service to raise a family doesn?t mean I?ve forgotten everything.?

Tarpals settled himself on the fallen log beside her, automatically facing in the opposite direction, his left hip and shoulder a hand span away from her right. It was a common position for two Patrol riders who planned to talk while still watching the area around them; it placed each Gungan?s mouth close to the other?s ear, allowing them to watch each other?s back. ?You obviously didn?t serve in Otoh Gunga, or any of the Mounted Patrols. You?re young enough that I?d remember you. Where were you assigned??

?I was with the Flying Wings, trained and stationed in Otoh Dinistallis.?

Tarpals blinked; the Flying Wings, riders of the aquatic creatures known as aiwhas, were among the most elite of the Gungan military units, even more so than the Mounted Patrols. Otoh Dinistallis, the only Gungan city actually built on and around an ocean cliffside, was the sole training area for the aiwha riders. ?A most impressive post. How long ago did you leave??

?Sixteen seasons,? she replied. ?We Took Temmis In the following season, and Plirri ten seasons after that.? Gungans divided a year into two seasons, a rainy season and a ?dry? season, when it only rained every two or three days. ?I?d like to Take In another child or two and raise them before returning to service.?

?And your essoans??

?Neither of them went beyond the basic training. Sen Tal farms and hunts, and Hanar makes clothing and other items. They make for a good family.?

?You chose well,? Tarpals agreed.

Kimma inclined her head slightly in acceptance of the compliment. ?Captain, if I might ask a question.... Why are we going to Splitrock? It?s a prominent landmark, and much of the area is exposed. Won?t we be more noticeable to the maccaneeks??

Tarpals nodded. ?We will. But there?s a cache hidden in one of our wayposts there. We?ll need the extra food, ammunitions, weapons, and clothing. The bundles we took from the maccaneeks earlier today contain a lot of items for the Naaboo, but very little for our people. We?ll have a better chance of making it to the Sacred Place safely with those supplies. At the very least, we need to replenish our supplies of buumas. And we won?t be going out of our way by stopping there.?

?Ah.? Kimma was still scanning the forest over Tarpals?s shoulder. ?So we would have been heading in the direction of Tendesay anyway. Taking the Naaboo isn?t as altruistic gesture as I thought.?

?No. It?s not. I don?t have any particular fondness for the Naaboo. Apparently it was their affairs that brought this maccaneek invasion down on us in the first place. If the Naaboo in the convoy had all been adults, I probably would have left them behind.?

?That?s not exactly a sound military decision, is it?? Kimma remarked. ?After all, the adults can be trained to do complex tasks relatively quickly, and would really be more useful than the children. Naaboo or not, I think your decision was made more from kindness than you realize.?

The captain snorted. ?I?m a soldier,

 

That was a lovely post on so many levels.
He paused, then added, ?Seemin? to be lotta h?extra clothes. ?Spect yousa finden? them useful.? Maybe it is just me but, it seems like either Tarpals is needling her subtly about how bad the humans smell or about their nudity taboo. Either way, heheheheheh. I'm really starting to like Tarpals even more than I already did.

KD

 

Well, the Bantha of Real Life has been sitting on me lately, but let's see if I can't get my head and hands free to eke out a reply.

I thought aiwhas were native to Kamino. Interesting that the Gungans have incorporated them into their military. The Gungans do seem to have a fairly military society, come to think of it. Kimma tells Tarpals that she's had more than the 'average' amount of training.

When Kimma says that they "Took Temmis In", does that mean she's not the biological mother, but that she's more of a foster mother to the child? Another fascinating aspect.

Aha, so Tarpals had another reason for taking the route to Splitrock. It doesn't seem to be the main factor, though. I did like the way that Kimma told Tarpals that his decision was made more from kindness than he realized.

I never thought about the fact that the Neimoidians might use such barbaric methods to get the adults to agree to the invasion. It certainly makes me think of Sio Bibble from the film in a different way ... seeing his actions against a different background.

Did I understand correctly that Tanoh Matawba was a Sacred Place and that the Shrine Keeper there was the family member that Tarpals cared most about? At first I wondered if Tanoh Matawba was the name of a person or a city.

Good descriptions of the attack on Otoh Gunga and the way that Tarpals had to sound the evacuation because they'd never had such an enemy before.

Wonderful detail about the circle and the prominent role it plays in Gungan society!

Brandes has got more guts than I have, if she can even contemplate bathing in a cold stream! Brrr!

I loved Tarpals' retort after Brandes revealed the human nudity taboo to him! ?Uhn-huhn. Yousa plannin? on tekkin? a bath with yoursan clothes on?? Now he sounded amused.

At least Tarpals respects the taboo -- what if some other Gungans come along while the humans are bathing, though?

 

Knight_Dilettante: Thank you! I think Tarpals is ribbing Brandes more about the clothing issue than the smell, although I suppose it could be both, come to think of it....

Jane: It's okay to be late or to not post -- I honestly don't know how you keep up with everything as it is! The issues with Gungan families should be explained later in the story, but basically all Gungan parents are adoptive parents; given their method of reproduction, it's difficult to tell who the biological parents are. Terrestrial amphibians like frogs and toads produce many eggs, which are fertilized and develop in water. Female Gungans don't get pregnant; this makes it much harder to know which eggs belong to whom, unless there was only one couple in the mating pool. I've got some of the social and biological methodology worked out, but unless someone wants a full-blown lecture, I'm not going to get into it right now.

Aiwhas are indeed native to Naboo -- the one we saw in AotC is an export. I'm curious as to who is actually exporting them, the Gungans or the Naboo. Nothing in my research suggests an answer either way....

"Tanoh Matawba" is a small settlement that is part of the Patrol circuit around the area of Otoh Gunga; the events in the story "Sacred Place" happen there. One of the characters from that story will also show up here.

I was a bit concerned that I would offend people with both the nudity taboo discussion and the fact that Tarpals appears briefly without clothing. Thankfully that doesn't seem to have happened. Perhaps I'm just too much of a prude....

Military service is expected of all able-bodied Gungan adults, according to the Gungan entry in the Databank at the official Star Wars site, but I got the impression that most Gungans are not career military. (Tarpals himself seems more like a security officer than a soldier in the early part of TPM.) To me, this would explain why the Gungan Grand Army didn't do particularly well against the Trade Federation droids -- there's a big difference between doing drills and actually fighting a battle. The Grand Army is more of a milita force than anything else, I think -- a small core of true soldiers in charge of volunteers with varying degrees of experience.


Next post on Thursday!

 

Phew! I'm here!

"I was with the Flying Wings, trained and stationed in Otoh Dinistallis."

Inner child: Cooooooooooool.

Seriously, though, I wonder what it would be like to steer an aiwha. A big flying creature is considerably different from a big flying machine.

Making sure I have this right--is Treece the Shrine Keeper? *needs to go reread Sacred Place*

The flashback to the attack on the Gungan city was very touching. I felt sad for them, pity for their situation, and the desperation they must have been feeling, watching their homes being destroyed. How terrible that they were forced to give in like that!

I liked the little glimpse of Tarpals in his morning ritual. Is it a morning ritual, or something different, something simple like a bath? Why was he doing it?

I liked the end of the scene. Tarpals is goodhearted, and I like his sense of humor.

 

Hi, Mina! Glad you could make it!

Seriously, though, I wonder what it would be like to steer an aiwha. A big flying creature is considerably different from a big flying machine. True enough; I envision it as being a lot like flying a horse. Um, okay, guess I'd better explain that....

The rider would hold the reins in English riding style (left rein in left hand, right rein in right hand). Pulling the right rein back or to the side signals the aiwha to turn right, pulling left rein signals it to turn left; pulling both reins upward signals the animal to ascend, leaning forward and pulling both reins down signals a descent. Or something like that.... It's been a while since I've been on a horse and ridden English style, actually.

Yes, Treece is the Shrine Keeper at Tanoh Matawba. She's grown up a LOT since "Sacred Place".

The "ceremony" in the pool is indeed a morning ritual; when Tarpals has access to water, he does this as a sort of morning prayer of thanksgiving. (There's a little snippet of a legend later in the story about the water of Naboo.) I'm not sure if it's unique to him or his generation, or whether all Gungans do it.

Tarpals, despite his affinity for water, has one of the driest senses of humor I've ever encountered. It's particularly fun to watch everyone else's reactions to it, since he's seen as being rather formal and authoritative by most people. One of his favorite tendencies is to utter the punchline right about the time someone has just taken a swallow of liquid....

 

One of his favorite tendencies is to utter the punchline right about the time someone has just taken a swallow of liquid... LOL! Perhaps compounding it, like a certain fanfic author whose initials are SK, by waiting until his victim is seated in front of a computer monitor as well. <wiping cola off screen>

Oh I do like your Tarpals. Well, I like all your characters actually. A great deal. But I am really getting fond of Tarpals. I'm glad the teasing was about the clothing taboo. It seemed more likely somehow, the other being a bit too mean spirited and undignified for Tarpals. Now some of the others I can see going that way...

More any time soon? Please?

KD

 

Ooops. Sorry about the computer screen, K_D. I wrote a Harry Potter fanfic in which a character's wand did something amusing in the middle of a rather tense stand-off, and a reviewer mentioned they read that part right about the time they'd gotten a mouthful of coffee.... I really need to stop doing that to people, I guess.

I'm happy to hear you like the characters, although I think Tarpals might be surprised -- he doesn't generally see himself as "likeable". And some of the other characters revealed a surprising amount of background, particulary Orrin and Kimma. Peskis has an interesting twist to his character, but I knew about that when I started writing this over a year ago.

Since you asked nicely, here's the next part. Thanks for reviewing, everyone -- I appreciate it!