It had been an....eventful night up until now but Raven had wandered away at some point and 12 had mysteriously left in search of her secret target. So for now the man stood at a table sipping from a glass wondering if he actually accomplished anything tonight or if he simply made a fool of himself. He stretched a little and grumbled at the slight straining of fabric, one thing is certain he definitely needed to get a better suit next time he did something like this.

For now he drank and people watched, with those piercing yellow eyes moving around the crowd as he was an unknown people tended to not bother with him, though he was an alien that most had never seen before which got him some lingering glances of curiosity like an animal at a zoo.

She still couldn't find 'Dimples'. Either the astrogation tech had fled the scene or he was doing a good job of hiding from the predatory Mirialan. Which meant right now she was circulating, and passing a male of a race she had no idea about. His colouration matched her dress though. She had more sparkles.

As he saw her wander past he smiled a little exposing sharp white teeth "Shoula Tempes. Should've known you'd be here. You look great. To be expected." Came the deep voice with a hint of courscanti accent. That, mixed with the short clipped sentences could only be one person she knew.

She stopped and turned, instantly recognising the voice.

"Well then, One Liner . . . that is not the face I imagined under that tin can you usually wear."

He gave her a sharp toothed smile "I'd be more surprised if it was." He chuckled a little "good surprise or bad one?" He asked raising one eyebrow ridge.

"Not sure yet as I don't recognise your species. I was thinking you were a good ole human trying to be mysterious. Turns out you were mysterious trying to be ordinary."

She stepped closer, trying to recall if she knew anything about this particular set of features.

Unless she was very well versed in ancient history nothing about his features would be particularly familiar. Certainly nothing she had seen around. (People have been rolling Knowledge: Lore at 5 dice to see if they knew what he was.)

He maintained a straight face and let her look "I doubt you have seen my kind before. We are an ancient race that was believed wiped out over a thousand years ago. I am one of the few that are left."

"Very mysterious then."

She tilted her head, considering.

"Twi'Lek pigmentation, maybe Devaronian. I think you get some Ortolan that colour, but that's fur not skin. The teeth though, those are impressive and the eyes. Nope, you've got me beaten."

--

OOC I know the moment I saw the ava change, but Sholua has no idea. Not even the Temple teaches that anymore!

"Maybe you'll figure it out one day." He said with a grin "doesn't really matter in the end. Im still One Liner." He said with a small wink.

He looked around a minute before his eyes settled back to her "Enjoying the party so far?"

"Well it started well but the cute lil Imperial I found is avoiding me now."

She looked around to see if 'Dimples' had reappeared.

"I guess he wasn't into PDA."

He gave a grin "his loss. Imperials must have strange taste." He chuckled and then sighed "coming here was probably a mistake. Feel like if anything I made things worse. Not my kind of scene." He said with a bemused smile.

"Every little thing we find out might be crucial. Even if it's just knowing which Imperials are on planet right now."

For about the fiftieth time she wished they'd given her the bottle with her beer. A glass made an even poorer improvised weapon if required than the bottle.

He shrugged "maybe you're right. Time will tell." Someone wishing for a better weapon gave off a certain tension not everyone could read.

"Expecting trouble?" He asked with a raise of his eyebrow ridge "seem a little on edge."

"Surrounded by Imperials in the abode of one of the women I trust the least in the galaxy? You bet I'm on edge."

All her various teachers in the ways of the Force would have said things about patience and understanding about now . . . Sholua just remained ready to punch someone.

Both ridges raised a little "You know Saph? Why do you distrust her so much?" The being surrounded by imperials part made sense to him. He had just come to terms with the fact that he was walking into the nexu's den long before he showed up.

"I used to work for her."

That was enough for now. She'd already spilled out the story once and doing it again raised the chances it would get back to Saph.

Deonis nodded understanding enough "Well you know her better than me but....if anything happens you have plenty of back up." He gave her what was intended to be a reassuring smile. "I doubt anyone is trying to ruin such a fine party though."

He has the look of remembering something suddenly "Oh we have a mutual friend. Sharp teeth. Fishy. Said you both were also looking into dealing with the Swamp issue."

"Oh, Too Many! Yes, the swamp is a source of much darkness for this world, but the there won't be an easy answer to it."

She looked around again, more casually this time, as she was sure Phroth was here somewhere.

"Yes!" He said with a smile figuring out the connection between Phroth and the nickname quickly "spent much of the past few months in the swamp. Even harbored the spirit for a time. Pushed it out though. It is a very ancient evil. Very powerful." He nodded agreeing with her assessment

"Taking care of the beasts it spews out is just a temporary patch. Will help in the short term but not going to solve anything much."