Raden is clearly terrified of what awaits him at the palace, but he is also afraid of the heroes, and as such he does not make any escape attempts. The Devaronian has a speeder that can fit six passengers, and he wastes no time in zooming through the bridge city, weaving in and out of ruined buildings and taking shortcuts through the rubble. The trip to Darga’s palace takes half an hour, and Raden’s winding course leads the heroes into a dense cluster of buildings that blocks out their view of the Cato Neimoidian sky.
As the heroes approach Darga’s palace, they see that it is cleverly hidden among the ruins of several destroyed Neimoidian palaces. In fact, on first approach, there seems to be nothing of importance in the area. But on closer inspection, it becomes clear that the Hutt’s palace is cobbled together from former Neimoidian estates. The entrance to the palace is a pair of massive blast doors, 5 meters tall and carved with elaborate Hutt runes, set into the front wall. The doors appear to be unguarded.
Raden walks timidly up to one door, which has a small communications panel. He presses a button, sputters some phrases in Huttese
“This is Raden. I’ve come to deliver news to the mighty Darga. With all due respect, I require an audience.”
and steps back, fidgeting nervously. A long, quiet moment passes before two Nikto with hunting blaster rifles appear on battlements above the doors, weapons at the ready and pointed down at the visitors. A metal panel in the blast door scrapes as it is pulled aside, and a pair of glowing red eyes appear in the slit. A gravelly voice echoes from within the doors, again in Huttese
“You’re in for it now, Raden. Darga is expecting visitors, all right, but those creatures are not them.”
and the panel slams closed. A moment later, there is a heavy clank of metal on metal, and the blast doors part to either side. A rush of cold, dry air flows outward from the Hutt’s palace, and Raden motions the heroes to follow him inside.
Entering the palace, there is no sign of who or what might have owned the glowing red eyes seen through the door panel. The heroes follow Raden down a long, dark hallway illuminated at seemingly random intervals by torches set in sconces on the walls. Anyone passing through this hallway, including the heroes, feels that something is watching them from the darkness. Unmarked metal doors are set into the walls at various points, and the air is thick with the smell of dust and rotting wood.
Moving deeper into the palace, the heroes get the sense that the building was once bright and beautiful. Eventually, Raden leads the heroes toward the soft sound of music and voices, which come from the Hutt’s throne room.
Darga’s throne room is both opulent and repulsive. A thick layer of oddly scented smoke drifts through the air, rising out of braziers in the corners of the room. Once-beautiful tapestries line the walls, though most of them have been torn, burned, or stained to the point that they are almost unrecognizable. A raised dais in the center of the room supports the massive bulk of Darga the Hutt, and behind his dais a large, open balcony seems to extend into darkness.
When Warrick Raden leads the heroes into the room, the sounds of conversation and music come to a halt. Silence reigns as every eye turns to watch Raden lead the visitors into an open space in front of the opulent dais. Darga’s eyes roll from the heroes to Raden, then sharpen quickly with anger. He booms something in Huttese at the Devaronian
“What is the meaning of bringing outsiders here?”
who immediately begins groveling, of begging for the Hutt’s forgiveness as the rest of the court hoots with laughter and derision. Darga cuts him off with a harsh word
and calls for his protocol droid, TC-663. From this point on, Darga begins addressing the heroes directly, using TC-663 as a translator.
Darga’s giant eyes rest on them all for a long moment before the Hutt demands to know why they have come to his palace and how they convinced Raden to escort them.
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Characters with the Discovery destiny gain the 24-hour destiny bonus. (In-game time-line.)