Roark Garnet

"Well, if it isn't our old friend, Tax Inspector Mothra. And how are you today, Inspector?''" "''Cut the small talk, Roark. I know you're smuggling, and I'm going to search your ship."

- Roark Garnet crosses paths with Tax Inspector Mothra

Roark Garnet was a Human male from the planet Socorro. During the Galactic Civil War, he operated as a smuggler, much to the dismay of his parents. He piloted a HWK-290 light freighter, the Moldy Crow, until his sister, Neena, was killed by Tiss'shar gunfighter Uul-Rha-Shan. Upon her passing, Garnet inherited her freighter, the Dorion Discus, and used the Moldy Crow to pay off a loan the Socorran had been forced to take out from crime lord Grappa the Hutt to cover his running expenses. Styling himself as an adventurer and entrepeneur, Garnet loved the life he led and viewed his lifestyle as true freedom.

Garnet had many adventures throughout the galaxy, and often traveled with companions. Joh Yowza, a Yuzzum, worked with Garnet after stowing away aboard his ship, before leaving to join the band Evar Orbus and His Galactic Wailers. Hawk Carrow served as Garnet's most regular co-pilot, as did the Wookiee Nagraoao. Garnet also traveled with his daughter, Jill, her grandfather, Jackson Farseeker, and the bounty hunter Tantos Dree. While he had no political leanings towards either the Galactic Empire or the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Garnet hated the Empire for making it hard for him to earn a living through their restrictive laws and edicts, and had several run-ins with their military forces and law enforcement agencies. However, the Socorran was willing to work for the Alliance on at least one occasion when he was contracted to ferry supplies by one of their operatives, Selnia Harbright.

Early life
"My mom always said that Driver Education course would come in handy."

- Roark Garnet

Roark Garnet was a Human male born sometime between 28 BBY and 24 BBY on the planet Socorro in the Kibilini sector of the Outer Rim Territories. He had a sister, Neena, who become a famous gunslinger, and he operated as a smuggler during the Galactic Civil War. Garnet acquired a ship, a HWK-290 light freighter named the Moldy Crow, and traveled the stars operating as a free-trader, self-proclaimed adventurer and entrepreneur. Garnet was disowned by his parents over his decision to become a smuggler, who believed that he was gallivanting around the galaxy. However, after years of struggle, he was unable to make ends meet under the oppressive regime of the Galactic Empire. While he dreamed of making one large deal and retiring, the truth was that his main expenditure was bribes to Customs Inspectors. Eventually, his operating expenses forced him to take out a loan of 25,000 credits from the crime lord Grappa the Hutt. The Socorran was constantly reminded of his debt, along with threats about broken kneecaps.

At some point, Garnet entered a relationship with the daughter of Jackson Farseeker, a retired Imperial captain. The union produced a daughter, Jill, but Garnet lost contact with the family. After his sister Neena was killed by the Tiss'shar gunfighter Uul-Rha-Shan, Garnet inherited her stock light freighter, the Dorion Discus. With a second ship to his name, Garnet used the Moldy Crow to pay off his debts to Grappa the Hutt.

Smuggler, free-trader, entrepreneur, adventurer
"I tell you now, Garnet. You bad smuggler. Verr bad. Make Mogroch angry.''" "Mogroch's got to wait. I&hellip;" "''No wait! Wait long enough. Two days, Garnet. Two days, 10,000 credits. Two days to live for you."

- A Muur threatens Roark Garnet over a debt the smuggler owes to Mogroch

Around 3 BBY, Garnet obtained a P2-series astromech droid from fellow smuggler Devon Fuller in exchange for a sum of credits that Fuller owed him. Garnet believed he had the better end of the deal until the droid misunderstood the smuggler during a battle with Imperial ships and lowered his vessel's deflector shields. Garnet ended up spacing the droid, and vowed to have words with Fuller if he ever ran into him again. Around 1 BBY, Garnet sold several GY-I information analysis droids to the University of Rudrig in the Tion Hegemony. The University paid for the droids using credits from tuition fees and donations, and were willing to pay a slight markup. Garnet liked the fact that he could make a legitimate run without interference from Imperial Customs.

Garnet once encountered the female bounty hunter Jana Jarel, engaging her in lightfight. Garnet was wounded by Jarel, but managed to dodge a subsequent blaster bolt. At some point, Garnet also fought a failed Jedi, Jimbo Kinnison, in melee combat. Garnet wielded a club, while Kinnson was armed with a lightsaber. Sometime later, Garnet was working with a Wookiee co-pilot named Nagraoao when they crash-landed on the planet Tatooine. Nagraoao was wounded in the crash, and Garnet attempted to cauterize the Wookiee's wound with his blaster since the bacta tank and all the medical supplies were destroyed in the crash. Nagraoao complained about Garnet's attempt.

While piloting the Dorion Discus, Garnet encountered several strange pyramidal ships, and was attacked by them. The resulting damage was so severe that it took Garnet several days to repair it, although the fusion generators were left with an odd pinging sound. On the ship's next voyage, Garnet took his Wookiee companion Nagraoao along. The ship encountered a meteor storm, causing more damage to the Dorion Discus. The fusion generator failed, and the two were lucky that the system's magnetic bottle did not follow suit. Garnet and Nagraoao repaired the damage, but several of the pyramidal ships that had attacked the Dorion Discus previously appeared around the vessel.

On the planet Xerxes, in the Core Worlds, Garnet intended to enter a weapons shop located on the planet, but was being hunted by the local police. Believing that there may be ambush waiting for him inside the shop, Garnet staked the place out for an hour. Unable to determine whether or not security forces were laying in wait for him, he attempted to convince a local citizen to enter the establishment for the sum of twenty credits to check on his behalf. Garnet once met an eight-year child by the name of Jimmy Marbels who was searching for his brother, Johnny. By this point, Garnet was wanted in seven star systems on the charges of "pillage and rapine," although the smuggler contended it was merely a misunderstanding between himself and intolerant Imperial officials. Marbels asked to fly Garnet's ship, to which the smuggler replied in the negative.

Garnet once incurred a debt of 10,000 credits to a being named Mogroch. Mogroch sent a Muur after Garnet, who used its tentacles to choke Garnet while warning him that he had two days to pay his debt. At another time, in search of information on the location of Jackson Farseeker, Garnet visited a cantina where the bar was tended by members of a hive-minded insect species. After using a pile of credits to jog their memories, the insectoids told him that Farseeker had been in the bar less than seven hours previously in the presence of a tentacled alien whose species they did not know.

Garnet attempted to enter the Contumely Club, but was blocked by a Wookiee bouncer named Urartu. When Garnet tried to explain that he was supposed to meet someone inside, Urartu's translator, a small creature sitting on the Wookiee's shoulder that Garnet had assumed was a pet, informed him that no Humans or droids were allowed in the establishment. Garnet was once incarcerated in a detention cell and attempted to persuade a droid named M-3PO to strangle the sleeping guard with a feather boa during an escape attempt. M-3PO fretted over inflicting harm to a living being despite Garnet's protestations that he wasn't really attacking the guard since he was asleep. The droid's worrying woke the guard.

While visiting the planet Spee, in the Saijo sector of the Outer Rim Territories, Garnet was accosted by a lizard-like alien as he left the spaceport. The alien offered to act as Garnet's guide during his time on the planet. While visiting a bazaar on another planet, Garnet kept losing comlinks and wondered why the natives were kleptomaniacs to a local merchant. The merchant replied that it was not the natives who had stolen the devices, but the lizardflies who nested in the cliffs above Outreachial, many days travel from the market.

Around 1 ABY, Garnet submitted several comments to Cynabar's Droid Datalog regarding his experiences with various droid models, including the GY-I information analysis droid and the Elegance message drone. He also later wondered if a Wanderer Scout Surveyor droid, stripped of its scouting and medical subroutines, could store hidden data such as smuggling routes within its computer matrix. Garnet had not caught up with Fuller over the P2 astromech droid incident by 1 ABY, although fellow Cynabar's Droid Datalog commenters Toria Tell and Callin reminded Fuller of Garnet's interest in him through postings on the datalog.

Some time prior to 4 ABY, Garnet visited the forest moon of Endor in the Moddell sector of the Outer Rim Territories. While there, one of the native Yuzzums named Joh Yowza sneaked aboard Garnet's ship looking for food, and became trapped aboard the vessel when it left the moon. Garnet discovered the stowaway and took a liking to the alien, especially his singing. The smuggler nicknamed Yowza "Furball," and the Yuzzum helped Garnet out by performing menial chores around the ship such as cooking and cleaning, all the while learning Basic. During a layover on the moon Nar Shaddaa, in Hutt Space, Yowza wandered away from the ship and was attracted to the music emanating from a local tapcafe called Uncle Chesko's, which was being performed by Evar Orbus and His Galactic Wailers. Yowza began singing along with the band, and was hired by the band leader, Evar Orbus.

Imperial entanglements
"Keep your armor on, bounty hunter. I'll take care of this. Assessor, this is Dorion Discus. Ah, negative on customs inspection. We have a priority cargo for the Imperial base on Markon IV. Our priority authorization is filed on Thorgeld."

- Roark Garnet attempts to bluff the customs frigate Assessor

At some point in his career, Garnet was aboard an Imperial bathysphere in the atmosphere of a Jovian gas giant. An altercation occurred on the vessel, pitting Garnet against the Imperial crew and causing the bathysphere to lose control and plunge deeper into the gas giant. Garnet managed to subdue all but one Imperial, and the two wrestled for control of the vessel. The Imperial elbowed Garnet away from the wheel, gaining the upper hand, and arrested their descent while attempting to stabilize the bathysphere. Garnet wrenched control of the bathysphere back from the Imperial when he noticed a huge gray lifeform above them, and avoided a collision by centimeters. Suddenly, the bathysphere's repulsorlift engines failed, exposing Garnet and the Imperial to the full gravity of the planet. Although the Imperial was stunned and believed that they were doomed, he directed Garnet to the craft's repulsors at the smuggler's insistence. Struggling against the increased gravity, Garnet made his way to the bathysphere's aft section and managed to fix the bathysphere's repulsorlift to avoid being crushed to death. As the Socorran approached the bathysphere's control cabin, he heard the Imperial change the setting on his blaster. Realizing the temporary truce that had manifested itself during the stabilization of the bathysphere was over, Garnet drew his own weapon and leapt through the doorway firing.

During the Galactic Civil War, Garnet and his co-pilot Hawk Carrow made an unscheduled delivery to the planet New Bakstre in the Cassander sector of the Outer Rim Territories. During the delivery, Imperial Customs cruisers forced the Dorion Discus to crash into a forest on the surface. The Regina Cayli, an M-class Imperial Attack Transport, was dispatched to investigate the crash. Deploying stormtroopers, they discovered Carrow, and proceeded to wound and capture him, taking him back to the Regina Cayli. Garnet subsequently infiltrated the vessel through an open and unguarded landing ramp, freeing his co-pilot from the ship's infirmary. Escaping from the ship, Garnet and Carrow had to figure out a way off the planet as the Dorion Discus had been disabled in the crash, and they were certain that more stormtroopers would be waiting for them at the crash site. Carrow suggested returning to the Regina Cayli and stealing the transport, which Garnet considered to be a bad idea.

Garnet later reconnected with his daughter, Jill, and was traveling aboard the Dorion Discus with her, her grandfather Jackson Farseeker, and the bounty hunter Tantos Dree. After leaving the planet Thorgeld, the Imperial Customs Frigate Assessor attempted to conduct an inspection of the vessel. Farseeker advised caution, and Dree made it clear that if the Imperials caught him aboard the Dorion Discus, then he would see to it that Garnet would suffer. Jill recommended hiding Dree by dangling him out of an airlock tethered to the ship. Dree dismissed the idea and headed to the gunnery bay while Garnet attempted to bluff the Assessor, claiming that they were carrying a priority cargo bound for the Imperial base on Markon IV. The Assessor crew did not believe Garnet and started firing at the Dorion Discus; Garnet evaded the incoming fire long enough for Farseeker to plot a course and jump to lightspeed, although the customs frigate managed to score a grazing hit.

Garnet once visited a planet in a trinary system. He got involved in a speeder bike chase with a stormtrooper through a canyon. After unsuccessfully trying to shake his pursuer, they traded blows by slamming their vehicles into one another. As they raced through the canyon, both Garnet and the stormtrooper collided with obstacles. The stormtrooper was killed, while Garnet suffered injuries from a fall. The Socorran also fought against four Imperial stormtroopers at a later time, and managed to dodge blaster fire from all of them.

Garnet was later involved in a battle with four Imperial TIE/LN starfighters. Despite having already lost his wingmen, Garnet managed to dodge fire from all four starfighters, then destroy them all in turn. At another point in his career, Garnet learned that his companions Hawk Carrow and Nagraoao had been captured by the Empire and incarcerated in the spice mines on Kessel, Garnet took the Dorion Discus to rescue them. Once in the Kessel system, the Dorion Discus was intercepted by a Star Destroyer and searched. Garnet claimed to be transporting food and spare parts to Kessel, and offered the naval officer in charge of the inspection a bribe. The officer accepted Garnet's offering, and allowed the Dorion Discus to go about its business.

Garnet had several encounters with Tax Inspector Mothra through his smuggling career. During one meeting, Mothra believed that Garnet was smuggling and wanted to inspect his ship. Garnet, however, pretended to have contracted a phony ailment on Lockest IV known as Merthian lung infection which he stated was rarely ever fatal. Fearing contagion, Mothra beat a hasty retreat, leaving Garnet and his co-pilot, Hawk Carrow, to be about their business. Garnet later encountered Mothra again, only to find that he had been promoted to Associate Governor. Revealing he was aware of Garnet's earlier deception, he told an aide to watch the smuggler closely.

Garnet once stole several Elegance message drones from an Imperial depot near Obas, in the Andirma sector of the Expansion Region. The smuggler used the droids to contact wary clients as they were a secure method of communications, and as only outlying Imperial garrisons were equipped with Elegances, Garnet assured that no one intercepted them by using phony Imperial transponder codes.

During the Galactic Civil War, Garnet and Carrow were contracted by Alliance to Restore the Republic operative Selnia Harbright to transport medical supplies from Droecil in the Boeus sector of the Expansion Region to the Calus system in the Inner Rim aboard the Dorion Discus. During the loading operation, stormtroopers entered the docking bay, forcing Garnet to take off with Harbright aboard, which had not been part of the initial contract. On route to the Calus system, Garnet decided to take a shortcut through Keller's Void, an empty area of space in the Inner Rim that connected the Wroona and Calus systems. The Dorion Discus hyperdrive cut out in the middle of the Void as its sensors detected an asteroid field that was not on any charts. Garnet requested that Harbright man the topside gun while he and Carrow shut down some of the main systems to inspect the hyperdrive. As Garnet and Carrow worked to repair the Dorion Discus, pirates under the command of Black Jack attempted to capture the vessel. Garnet and Carrow assisted Harbright in stopping the pirate's attempt to spacejack the freighter and delivered the supplies safely to the Alliance on Calus.

Personality and traits
"Aw, Roark never could take a joke."

- Devon Fuller, as quoted in Cynabar's Droid Datalog, v.4.7.1

Roark Garnet was six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. He sported long sideburns that stretched to his jawline but at one point he had a pencil-thin mustache, and was considered to be good-looking. A smart but cynical individual, Garnet was a decent businessman. His decision to become a smuggler was not accepted by his parents, but Garnet loved the life. He considered his ship to be his home, and relished the freedom that traveling the stars gave him and would do anything, including borrowing money from a crime lord, to avoid losing it. Garnet often traveled with companions, and he was a loyal man who risked his life to rescue his friends when they were captured by the Empire. He also allowed the Yuzzum stowaway, Joh Yowza, to stay aboard his ship rather than evict him and took a liking to the being.

While he dreamed of one day making enough money to get out of the business, the smuggler privately admitted that he did not really want to give up the life he led. Holding no love for either the Empire or the Rebel Alliance, Garnet blamed the former for forcing him into debt with a crime lord due to their restrictive laws and widespread corruption, but was willing to work for the latter. Garnet was considered to have a bad sense of humor that did not improve with age, while others, such as Devon Fuller, held the opinion that the smuggler never took a joke well. He also carried a thesselbeast's foot, which he believed to be lucky.

Trained to use a blaster, Garnet carried a heavy blaster pistol. He was also experienced in both unarmed and melee combat, and stored a knife in a boot sheath. Having passed a Driver Education course in his youth&mdash;which his mother proclaimed would come in handy one day&mdash;Garnet was an accomplished starship pilot, capable of flying space transports and starfighters. He could also fly speeder bikes. Due to his experiences, Garnet was fully capable of repairing starships, and did so on a regular basis. He once managed to increase the sublight speed of his ship by removing a faulty hydrovalve that had been reducing power to the engine couplings. Garnet was known to have a stash of Wroonian ale aboard the Dorion Discus.

Behind the scenes
Roark Garnet was first mentioned in the first edition of the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game published by West End Games in 1987. He was used both as an "example character," illustrating character creation and gameplay for the game, and as the main character in the solitaire adventure Regina Cayli. Garnet played the same role as an example character in the Star Wars Campaign Pack a year later, and appeared in the first issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal in 1994 as the Regina Cayli adventure was reprinted. The adventure The Void Terror, printed in the third issue of the Adventure Journal, featured Garnet as a secondary character. 1997's Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids featured comments by Garnet on various droid designs, and in the same year, the Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook - Special Edition tied Garnet's backstory into that of Joh Yowza, the Yuzzum singer added to the Special Edition of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. In 2005, Garnet was mentioned in the second entry of Wizards of the Coast's The Dark Forces Saga and was revealed to be one of the previous owners of the Moldy Crow, the ship used by main character Kyle Katarn in the Dark Forces videogames, and linked him to the character of Neena Garnet, who was mentioned in the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook. Garnet received an entry in 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Garnet's image was first included in the second edition of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game released in 1992. Drawn by John Paul Lona, it was used to illustrate the generic smuggler template used for character creation. A slightly cropped version of the image was printed in Star Wars Adventure Journal 1 to represent Garnet in the Regina Cayli solitaire adventure. In 1996, a colorized version of the image was printed in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded and was used to represent Blaine Hansom, who served as the example character for that book. In both the first edition of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and Regina Cayli reprinted in Star Wars Adventure Journal 1, Garnet's character template is based on the generic smuggler character template, with slightly improved statistics to reflect the in-book examples of how to assign skill points during character creation.