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| Gar Bal
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Coruscant
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3 BBY (age 45)
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N/A
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Duros
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Male
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1.6764m
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79.3787
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None
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Red
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Clan Plagueis, Saraask'ar
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Holdout Blasters and Small Bladed Weapons
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Arms Dealer
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Gar Bal is a weaponsmith and dealer in the employ of the Saraask'ar currently allied with Clan Plagueis.
Character History
Early Life
During the latter half of the Galactic Civil War, a pair of Duros emigrated to Coruscant, hoping to find reprieve from the indentured servitude they were bound to on Duro. They settled onto Level 108 and built a life there along with their young son Gar Bal. Gar Bal grew up without much, his family lacking in income and wealth. Throughout his youth, he often found himself wanting more and sought out ways to earn credits to the end of improving his and his family’s life.
While an impressive educational pedigree might be out of his reach, Gar quickly discovered that there were more options available that fell outside the purview of an upstanding citizen. There were many of his peers and older adolescents making their own way through extralegal activities. Gar saw this as an opportunity towards achieving his goals. He joined with a gang known as the “Skitterflies” and began learning the basics on how to live a life of crime.
Since Gar was new to the Skitterflies, he was often given the grunt work, such as cleaning up after his fellow gang members, carrying around their things, and cleaning their gear. The Duros soon discovered he had a knack for tinkering with the blasters and vibroblades his peers ordered him to clean up. He began to regularly take things apart and study how they worked, eventually becoming a self-made expert on the weapons the gang used. The Skitterflies’ leader noticed how quickly Gar was taking to this new skill, so he encouraged the Duros to further refine his abilities, turning up the gang’s weapons and equipment.
Gar became the group’s de-facto gearhead and earned the respect of his fellow gang members. As he got older and grew into his own, he continued to expand his knowledge and rise up the hierarchy of the Skitterflies. Everything seemed to be going well until the Skitterflies got into a particularly nasty conflict with a rival gang. Gar was not a particularly skilled fighter, so he did his best to support his gang. Nonetheless, their rival had some kind of higher power backing them up, and so managed to wipe out most of the Skitterflies despite Gar’s best efforts. Gar, now very closely acquainted with the perils of his chosen life, decided to go into business for himself. He was practically an adult and, despite the fond memories of the Skitterflies, wasn’t yet ready to ingratiate himself with a new group of potential future corpses.
Tell That to Kanjiklub
Gar had some money saved up from his time with the Skitterflies, but he was still far from wealthy. He spent most of what he had on getting himself a small shop set up and stocked with the tools he would need. At first, finding customers and friends was a bit rough. He had to keep his identity as a former Skitterfly secret in case someone wanted to finish the job from before, so he couldn’t rely on his old reputation. What he did have in spades, however, was a particular set of skills. Skills that would come to be honed to a great degree over the course of years of hard toil and labor.
Another skill Gar had to pick up out of necessity was customer service. He learned how to deal with and manipulate people, striving to get the most out of his business transactions he could manage. Eventually, he began to slowly pick up success, starting off by loaning out his services to gangs just like the Skitterflies, but eventually managing to work his way up the social ladder and start landing more wealthy clients with more exotic tastes. Over the course of more than a decade, Gar Bal worked his way into the ranks of the top weapon engineers and dealers in his little corner of Galactic City.
His influence would soon spread beyond Coruscant as, in 29 ABY, one of Gar’s clients put him in contact with a criminal organization known as Kanjiklub. Through the organization, a wealth of work and credits passed through Gar’s office and he was constantly busy serving clients both big and small. The early 30s ABY were some of the most profitable and busy years of his life and the Duros was well on his way to securing the bank account he’d always dreamed of.
Gar was caught off guard when, in 35 ABY, Kanjiklub accused him of shorting them on multiple deliveries of weapons. The Duros may be operating outside the law, but he still had his ethics. Part of the reason he had come so far was because of his fair and ethical business practices despite the profession he had. Gar took a stand against the Kanjiklub, refusing to fold to their fabricated claims. Unfortunately, Kanjiklub were insistent on following through with their betrayal, putting a sizable price on his head. Despite the success he’d been having, the Duros knew that his clients weren’t all as principled as he was when it came to business. He couldn’t risk one of his former business partners deciding to cash in on the bounty, so Gar Bal fled Coruscant, seeking out protection from another organization he did business with, the Saraask'ar.
Joining Plagueis
Travelling into the Unknown Regions, Gar travelled to the Saraask’ar’s base of operations and entered into negotiations with them. He had done so before in his many times doing business with the organization, having made illegally modified blasters and vibro weapons for them over the past several years. After a tense back and forth, Gar managed to work himself into a deal. The Saraask’ar agreed to protect Gar Bal from the Kanjiklub and the fallout of their betrayal provided the weaponsmith continued to work for the slavers for free. Gar took the deal, seeing no other option for the time being.
Through the Saraask’ar, Gar began to build a new network of contacts. Primarily through one of the slavers’ strongest allies, Clan Plagueis. Through working with them, Plagueis also became an ally of Gar’s. For years, Gar worked with the Saraask’ar and Plagueis, putting his weapon modification and engineering skills to work.
About Gar Bal
Physical Description
Gar Bal is shorter than the average Duros but heavier than most with his slightly above average muscular frame. He doesn't have a strict athletic form; instead, he packs a shade more fat on while keeping a great deal of muscle. While in his workshop tinkering with weapons, Gar is usually clad in a dark brown smock covered in oil stains over a dingy light grey v-cut long-sleeve shirt and dark tan trousers. Whilst out on a trade, Gar Bal will wear a dark brown duster and trousers with various hidden pockets for an unidentified number of holdout blasters and small vibro blades to be hidden within.
Philosophy
- "Never do something you're good at for free."
- ―Nin Bal
A line Gar’s father had told him very early in life had stuck with him for as long as he could remember. When he realized he had a knack for tinkering with weapons and improving them beyond "legal" specifications, he always made sure he received some sort of payment, whether it be direct credits or a service. Before being introduced to the Sith of Clan Plagueis, he laughed at the idea of the Force and preferred to trust in his wits and the blaster on his hip. Since then, however, he has seen its might and treads carefully among the Force-users of Plagueis.
Personality
Gar Bal takes a lot of pride in his work. While in his workshop, Gar is truly in his element, a god among men. His ability to comprehend weapon components and how to increase their efficiency rivals some of the best minds in the galaxy. Because of this, Gar Bal is very particular about the layout and cleanliness of his shop. He has a very aggressive and dominant personality, erupting into fits of anger when his tinkering doesn’t work out as planned.
Outside of his workshop, it’s almost as if Gar Bal is an entirely different person. His aura exudes a savvy confidence and calm charisma. Gar Bal is so sure of his ability to illegally modify weapons for peak performance that he often downplays the seriousness of the deal at hand and attempts to charm his way through it. When that doesn’t work, his silver tongue always knows the right words to pick, often resulting in him speaking very bluntly and effortlessly.
Combat
Gar Bal is handy enough with a blaster, knowing many of them better than he knows his own mother, but fighting is often a last resort for the Duros. His craftsmanship comes first and his skills as a salesman second, both skills he would prefer to nurture over his combat abilities. That being said, he’s not below trading blaster fire with a prospective buyer should the situation call for it, but it is largely a last resort. He’s plenty willing to hide behind Saraask’ar muscle while they do the fighting for him.