Mudan Tellik

"'I have learned that there are places...that try to keep you there' - Episode 16"Professor Mudan Tellik is a rarity in the galaxy, an academic and non-criminally driven Hutt. He also wears elements of clothing, unlike his kin.

A known writer of archaeological articles, he has earned a reputation as one of the foremost scholars on ancient civilizations - with his sights now set on uncovering the past of the Core World of Duro.

He also runs a library in one of the stations that orbits the now-burned world, a place of bountiful knowledge and research.

Since discovering the potential risk of the artifacts the group uncovered on their mission to Duro, he has been at their side as one of their closest allies, acting as advisor and a local leader of their space station.

Background
Very little is known, though he suggests he has been a collector for quite some time, and has led a number of digs and excavations throughout the galaxy. He has been to places that, in his own words, have tried to keep him from leaving, as well as been to enough to offer the advice of "not trusting anything."

He once wrote a few articles on ancient ships that Nox came across, and has written numerous works on long lost cultures that were part of Dabrir Vesh's studies.

The Legend Begins
"'So powerful was she, that the war her children waged to claim her throne left the planet...wanting' - On Queen Astraxha"He appeared once the group was free of their servitude to the Serpent's Coil, pursuing a lead from their old contact Maru Jakkar. Told to contact this figure if they were interested in a treasure hunt, Hikaru, Nox and their new ally Tira travelled to his offices high in the skyscrapers, within one of the myriad stations that orbits the planet Duro.

Bluffing their way in past his rather unsettling secretary, they then saw Professor Tellik hard at work in his lab/personal library - jotting down notes on whatever he was doing. Turning around, he joked that they weren't the appointment he was expecting, but laughed when they told him who sent them.

He asked them what they knew of the planet below, and when they replied "basically nothing", he explained why the planet was in its current charred and devastated state. There was once a powerful ruler of the Duros, a Queen named Astraxha. She was so powerful, and so universally beloved, that when she mysteriously disappeared without a trace, it left a power vacuum. Her children waged a war to claim their right to succession, only for this war to burn the surface of their world. A tomb was built in her honour during this time, even though no body was ever found, and has become a place of great superstition and reverence to the Duros themselves - almost akin to a holy site. Nobody goes near it, and as they would later find out, it is one of the last places where flora and fauna grow in abundance.

He warned them to be on their guards, to never trust anything, and that all was not what it may seem, before handing them the co-ordinates of where he believed her tomb to be, and returning to his work.

The Plot Thickens
When the party returned, he was overjoyed to see it had not all been for nothing, for they brought forth an ancient navicomputer containing the journeys of Queen Astraxha. It detailed all her journeys, including her fabled personal tour that has so far gone unrecorded for reasons unknown. It had long been suspected by scholars like himself that the Queen had uncovered something important on these travels, as she returned a changed woman. She built strange monuments, like the Tomb they had just been to, for reasons she never revealed. Those that likely knew, her children, died trying to claim her throne.

As the navicomputer provided additional points of interest, Mudan and Maru hoped the group would continue to help them in their search of these artifacts. In return, he offered them help in finding avenues for the loot they found down below - from directions to the Duro Museum, to helping Vesh locate an ancient Hutt space station he had discovered a deed to.

Knowledge Is Key
He has since become perhaps the second-most important ally the Party has, providing key advice and coordinates on their next plan of action due to his continued study of the device uncovered below Duro.

He introduced the group to Dr. Kiona Traxus, to help consult on the strange alien documents they discovered, while also moving most of his operations to their newly acquired space station. At the same time, Maru has acted as a courier of sorts, storing the devices uncovered in Mudan's personal facility - revealed later to be very well-defended during an ill-fated burglary attempt.

Mudan became the primary source of information for the group when they returned from the Aran Moon, due in part to the attempted assault on him and Maru as they explored the Tomb themselves. Even the disappearance of Kiona on the expedition to the third device on Froz didn't deter him.

Whether this is due to his determination to keep the devices from enemy hands, or simply to not give up in the face of adversity, is unknown.