Marn Hierogryph

"Small-time hood?! Accessory?! I'm not an accessory! I am a mastermind!"

- Marn Hierogryph

Marn "Gryph" Hierogryph, also known as Baron Hieromarn, was a Snivvian black-marketeer and confidence trickster who resided on Taris during the Mandalorian Wars. Competing with the Black Vulkars and the Hidden Beks for market superiority, Hierogryph's activities riled the Tarisian constabulary, leading them to enlist the services of the Jedi Order. Padawan Zayne Carrick was tasked with apprehending Hierogrpyh, but time and time again, the Snivvian was able to elude him. On the Jedi's ninth attempt, he finally caught Hierogrpyh, but a sudden turn of events&mdash;the Padawan Massacre of Taris&mdash;forced the two to work together to escape the Jedi Covenant.

Enlisting the services of Gorman Vandrayk and Jarael, Hierogryph and Carrick were able to escape Taris, though not without sizeable bounties on their heads. Eventually, the group became entangled in the Mandalorian Wars, during which Hierogrpyh put his confidence skills to good use. After retrieving funds from the banking world of Telerath, and departing from Vandrayk and Jarael's company, Hierogryph and Carrick masqueraded as civilian supply personnel on Serroco. Unfortunately for the pair, the Mandalorians attacked, and while Carrick was able to escape the nuclear bombardment of the planet, it appeared that Hierogryph had perished.

Operations on Taris
How long Marn Hierogryph had been living on the ecumenopolis world of Taris is unknown, but his black-market operations were certainly worth the notice of the Tarisian constabulary. During the Mandalorian Wars, he started a Fleek eel scam, under the alias "Baron Hieromarn". Using the Market Street Outdoor Exchange as a platform, he insisted that fleek eel would soon be considered a delicacy, and that any investments in the venture would prove profitable. Claiming to be selling the product, he referred buyers onto "a family friend" at Junavex Hotel, and insisted upon hard currency, as there was a "delay" in transferring his accounts from Cadomai.

During this time, Hierogryph was enlisted by Zovius Mendu to help him flee the planet. Mendu, on the run from Jedi Master Feln, hoped to escape to Corellia. Hierogryph contacted Gorman Vandrayk, better known as "Camper", who was able to refit an old escape pod into a shipping container, allowing Mendu to escape amongst a crate of dried dreeka fish. Whilst the operation was a success, Hierogryph neglected to pay Vandrayk.

Sector Constable Sowrs soon tired of Hierogryph's scams, and enlisted the services of the Jedi Order. In turn, the Jedi of Taris dispatched Padawan Zayne Carrick. Fortunately for Hierogryph, Carrick was not particularly adept at his role, and would make many unsuccessful arrest attempts. On his seventh attempt, he was able to lure Hierogryph to the Upper City. Hierogryph believed he was entering a deal in which he would recieve military-grade blaster packs. His rationale for such a potentially anti-Republic deal was that he was "doing [his] part for the planetary defense". The merchant selling the packs was in fact Carrick, and the Jedi swiftly grabbed the Snivvian black-marketeer. While Carrick was searching for restraining binders, however, Hierogryph activated the Jedi's vehicle, sending Carrick hurtling through the Upper City. The Snivvian then made his escape.

Some time later, Hierogryph gained intelligence of a ryll and lum shipment bound for Coruscant. Making a deal with the Highport Stevedore Guild, he dispatched a group of bulk-loader droids to switch the shipment with a thousand kegs of sewage. Meanwhile, he had the ryll and lum stored in an Upper City warehouse. He was able to interest a pair of buyers with better prices than the Hidden Beks or the Black Vulkars, and was confident enough in the ineptitude of the constabulary to make the transaction in broad daylight. Little did Hierogryph know that Carrick had already infiltrated the Snivvian's warehouse, and had dismantled his droids. When Carrick revealed himself, Hierogryph's customers fled, despite his claims that Carrick was just a "Jedi Intern". Buying himself some time, Hierogryph remotely dropped several barrels of lum on Carrick, whilst pursuing the customers. The customers were well and truly gone, however, and Carrick was almost able to apprehend Hierogryph. Despite this, Hierogryph was immune to the Jedi's mind tricks, and was able to once again elude Carrick.

By nightfall, Hierogryph was trying to sell the demolished LB-series bulk-loading droids, and the tarnished merchandise to an Upper City contact. The deal struck, he noticed a purse of credits on ground. Reaching to grab them, he was apprehended, for the ninth and final time, by Zayne Carrick. At first protesting by crying of robbery and murder, Hierogryph staged a diversion by throwing the purse amongst the crowd. Just as he thought he had made his escape, Carrick used the Force to stop him in his tracks. Carrick was in fact late for what he thought to be his own knighting ceremony, so he left the captive Snivvian cuffed to a speeder outside the Jedi Tower. Shortly thereafter, the young Jedi came hurtling back out, with five Masters of the Jedi Covenant in hot pursuit. They believed that Carrick, or his fellow students, would bring about the destruction of the Republic, and so set about killing them. Carrick, having turned up late, discovered their scheme, and fled, with Hierogryph in tow.

Fugitive
"Snivvians&mdash;my people&mdash;we play at things. Adventuring, politics, even crime. And I love the game. I'm good at it. But this&mdash;this is too much heat for me."

- Marn Hierogryph The two fugitives eventually found their way to the Lower City via a garbage chute. Safe, for a while, Carrick explained the situation to Hierogryph, who began to suspect that it was Carrick who had murdered the Padawans, not the Covenant. The young Jedi was able to convince Hierogryph, however, before the Snivvian destroyed a surveillance droid of the Taris Civil Authority. The two then spotted a "wanted" sign for Carrick in the SoroSuub Landing, accompanied by another one for Hierogryph. The Snivvian, was enraged at the fact that he was being portrayed as an accessory to Carrick's crime, rather than the mastermind, and had a smaller bounty. Entering a Kedorzhan public house, Hierogryph treated the depressed Carrick to a drink.

Realizing that they needed to escape the planet, Hierogryph devised a plan. He intended to contact Vandrayk in the undercity and obtain a method of escape, but he told Carrick that they would be journeying to the dangerous Undercity. He obtained passage through the Lower City by bartering with a Wookiee cart driver, who would take them to Junk Junction. Upon getting off the cart, they were confronted by a pair of Black Vulkars. Seeing that the Wookiee had let them off at the wrong stop, Hierogryph was able to convince the Vulkars that the Wookiee had sewn spice capsules into his cart harness. He had hoped that by telling Carrick they were going to the Undercity, he could sway the telepathic Jedi into thinking that was their destination. While Hierogryph was sceptical the gambit had worked, the Masters had in fact entered the Undercity, buying the two fugitives more time.

The pair were able to make it to Junk Junction with a minimum of fuss, but upon reaching Vandrayk's home, dubbed "Last Resort", they were set upon by Jarael. Jarael and Vandrayk were Arkanian offshoots, with the former caring for the frail latter. Jarael had seen the "wanted" signs, and demanded that the pair leave immediately. Carrick's supposed "actions" had prompted several companies to leave Taris, effectively ruining honest Lower City employees. This angered Jarael, but Hierogryph was able to persist until Vandrayk had emerged. Vandrayk too was in a foul mood, due to the fact that Hierogryph had still neglected to pay him for the Mendu operation. Just as Carrick prepared to leave, Constable Sowrs and four masters of the Covenant arrived, demanding that the young Jedi surrender himself. Fleeing into the refuge of Vandrayk's home, the old Junk dealer revealed that the "Last Resort" was in fact a spaceworthy junk hauler. Escaping their pursuers, the foursome were able to make it to orbit.

At first, the Last Resort stalled, and was nearly destroyed by Civil Authority craft. Vandrayk was able to make quick repairs, however, and the craft sped towards Taris' inner debris field. Hierogryph was horrified, believing that the ship would surely crash in the treacherous field, but Jarael was able to pull up just in time. Suddenly, the Snivvian's skepticism became confidence; a turn that riled Jarael. She threatened to throw Hieroglyph and his Jedi accomplice out through the airlock, before Hieroglyph reasoned that the Civil Authority would question them anyway. The group decided to spend the "night" in the field, with Hierogryph sleeping in a space suit. Meanwhile, Carrick decided to move the Last Resort out of the field, while he contacted Jedi Master Vandar Tokare for guidance. Tokare, however, did not believe Carrick. Jarael, frustrated, had to move the Last Resort once again, in case Carrick's transmission had alerted the Civil Authorities. Carrick had decided that he needed to retrace the events leading up to the Padawan Massacre, and so the group set out for the "Rogue moon", where the Padawans had completed a training exercise in days prior.

While Carrick and Jarael investigated the moon looking for clues as to what the Covenant's motives were, Vandrayk and Hierogryph took the Last Resort to the far side of the moon for shelter. During their abscence, Carrick's master, Lucien Draay, and the Civil Authority caught up with the fugitive Jedi. Just as they closed in, Vandrayk fired on and destroyed their ship, while Hierogryph retrieved Carrick, Jarael, and the remains of T1-LB, a droid formerly in the employ of the Jedi Order. Safe aboard the Last Resort, Vandrayk was able to access the droid's holographic memory, revealing to Carrick that the Jedi Covenant had predicted the death of the Republic at the hands of one of the present Padawans. While debating this, the Last Resort was captured by the Oroko.

Upon capture, Hierogryph put his bartering skills to good use on the Oroko ' s captain, Valius Ying. He offered Ying access to all of his Taris warehouses in exchange for his freedom, and that of the Arkanians. Carrick, however, was the non-negotiable element of Ying's deal, and Hierogryph was forced to abandon him. He explained that Carrick was a "losing hand", and more than he had bargained for. The young Jedi understood, and despite initial trepidations, resigned himself to his fate.

Hierogryph, however, felt guilty over the trade, since no one had ever sacrificed themselves for his gain. With the Arkanians in agreement, he bribed the Oroko ' s first mate into releasing the Last Orbit in Taris' orbit. From there, the Snivvian and the Arkanians hatched a scheme to rescue Carrick. Jarael burst into the Jedi Tower, where the young Jedi was being condemned by the Covenant, wearing a red space suit that the masters had prophesised about. Wielding Carrick's lightsaber, she fended off the Masters, and used the low-gravity booster jets to escape the tower. Meanwhile, Vandrayk and Hierogryph brought the Last Resort in next to the tower, allowing for a swift getaway.

Cheerfully reunited with Carrick, Hierogryph offered the young Jedi a place in his "organization", which, in fact, consisted of only Hierogryph. The Snivvian believed that his brains, and Carrick's destructive power would either lead them to own the galaxy or destroy it&mdash;in which case, Hierogryph planned to sell the remains for salvage. Carrick agreed, though he intended to hunt down the members of the Taris Covenant, until one of them confessed to their actions.

Mandalorian Wars
"Blast it! I hate it when my cons come true."

- Marn, when he, Zayne and Camper are attacked by Mandalorians

While he could no longer fleece the citizens of Taris, Hierogryph hoped to gain as much from the war as possible. Journeying to Vanquo with his new friends, he set up a scam to steal Republic supplies from a small frontier camp. The group had gone without food for days by the time the operation was ready to begin. Jarael, disguised as Q'Anilia, sent a holographic image into the Republic camp with the help of Vandrayk, while T1-LB and Hierogryph created the pyrotechnics. The Republic force fled, allowing the group to reap the benefits of a fully stocked warehouse. Working quickly before the occupants returned, Hierogryph salvaged some munitions, hoping to sell them on other worlds.

While they were doing this, however, the Mandalorians attacked. The descended on the planet, and while Hierogryph, Vandrayk and Carrick were able to find shelter, Jarael, still disguised as a Jedi, was apprehended. Realising that they could not rescue her immediately, Carrick led the others deep into the Vanquo woods, with Mandalorians in hot pursuit. He requested that Hierogryph aid in fending off the attackers, but the Snivvian refused. They reached the Last Resort, only to find it being hijacked by a Mandalorian, Rohlan Dyre. Despite this, they were able to board it before it took off.

As the Last Resort flew away from Vanquo, Vandrayk attacked the Mandalorian hijacker. The group detained Dyre in one of Vandrayk's smuggling compartments, while the elderly Arkanian, who had a homing device planted in on of Jarael's bracelets, piloted the ship towards Mandalorian territory, a fact that alarmed Hierogryph and Carrick. Releasing Dyre to question him, they learned that Jarael was being taken to Flashpoint Stellar Research Station, a Mandalorian-held installation. There, she was to be interrogated by Demagol, a leading Mandalorian biologist. Dyre explained to them that he was a renegade Mandalorian, and that raiding Flashpoint would be suicidal, but Carrick had a plan.

Dyre hailed Flashpoint, claiming that he had "captured" Carrick. After landing, he took Carrick to Demagol, while Hierogryph and Vandrayk hid in one of the Last Resort ' s hidden compartments. While Demagol made to torture Carrick, Dyre incapacitated the biologist, and disguised Carrick in the vacant Mandalorian armor. Hierogryph had T1-LB drop a bag of mines stolen from Vanquo into the Flashpoint compound, and Carrick used the Force to attatch them to the Mandalorian emplacements. Then, Hierogryph, disguised as "Admiral Hierogryph of the Republic Cruiser Glomkettle", sent a transmission to the Mandalorians, claiming that his ship was nearby, and would attack Flashpoint if the they did not retreat immediately. To further his claim, he detonated the mines, destroying Mandalorian and captured Republic craft alike. The Mandalorians retreated, allowing Carrick and Dyre to retrieve Jarael successfully.

Retrieving funds
Following Flashpoint, the Arkanians decided that they wanted to depart from Hierogryph and Carrick's company. Resolving to pay the Arkanians to help them on their way, Hierogryph and company went to Telerath, the banking world. Since Hierogryph's accounts were frozen following the Padawan Massace, and he was a wanted Snivvian, he sent Vandrayk and Jarael to retrieve the funds, with Vandrayk using the Snivvian's old alias of "Baron Hyro Margryph". Their story was that "Margryph" had been confused with Hierogryph, that it was nothing more than a simple confusion of names, and that "Margryph" had full rights to access his money. Heirogryph coordinated the operation from the Last Resort and was inscenced when "Margryph" began insulting his character in front of the banker, Arvan Carrick. Carrick was in fact Zayne's father, but the group was not aware of the fact at the time.

Further problems arose when Carrick senior asked for "Margryph"'s 30-digit account access code, which had been left on the Last Resort. Hierogryph panicked, and made to call the whole operation off, but Vandrayk began reeling off seemingly random numbers. Fretting, Hierogryph urged Jarael to stop Vandrayk, before realising that the numbers were in fact the code. As Arvan led the Arkanians to the banquet pavillions, they were ambushed by the Moomo Brothers, a pair of incompetent Ithorian bounty hunters. They captured Arvan, while Zayne and Hierogryph raced to the scene, hoping to avert potential disaster. Upon meeting the Arkanians, Zayne raced off after the bounty hunters, and learnt the identity of the banker, though he was unable to save his father.

Wary that the entire situation might be a trap, Hierogryph met with Dob Moomo at a Telerath public house. He played to the Ithorian's vanity, and claimed that he was a far superior hunter to his brother, Del. Hierogryph claimed that Carrick wanted to surrender himself to the Brothers, in exchange for Arvan's freedom. Dob, inebriated due to Hierogryph's willingness to foot the drinks bill, accepted the deal. Meanwhile, Carrick infiltrated the Moomo Williwaw, and rescued his father. Hierogryph arrived, claiming that Vandrayk was in fact the Jedi, and demanded that the Moomo Brothers hand over custody of Arvan. The two brothers started arguing, as Del had agreed to no such deal, and when Carrick subtly let some machinery fly at Del's head, the arguement broke into a fully fledged fight. The Carricks hurriedly left the scene.

Back at the Last Resort, Arvan resolved the issues with Hierogryph's account, and had the money delivered to the ship in hard currency. Zayne, at that moment, demanded that Hierogryph pay him for his efforts. The Snivvian grudgingly complied, and lamented that he hadn't hooked up with Arvan, or even Lucien Draay, who was a member of an exceptionally wealthy family. Zayne ensured that his father was transferred out of Telerath, and the crew of the Last Resort departed for Ralltiir.

Little Bivoli
With his new self-styled status as a "Crimelord", Hierogryph intended to fleece what he dubbed "Stupid People". On Ralltiir, while Carrick bade the Arkanians goodbye, Hierogryph enlisted the services of a Trandoshan thief called Slyssk. Meeting Carrick in one of the cities, Hierogryph explained that he intended to make the most out of the War, and that he planned to travel to the frontier, to exploit the locals and the combatants. Slyssk delivered the ship: a provisioning ship called the Little Bivoli. The Trandoshan, however, renegged on the initial deal, demanding more credits from Hierogryph. Tiring of the banter, Hierogryph asked Carrick to bring down a damaged structure on Slyssk, while the Snivvian saved the Trandoshan. Slyysk was now bound to a life-debt, called ghrakhowsk. After the initial explanations were made, the trio prepared to depart, but were set upon by the Bivoli ' s original crew.

Blasting away from Ralltiir, the Little Bivoli was raised by the Republic Navy, and upon forming up with the flagship, the Courageous, the trio learned the purpose of the Bivoli. Touching down on Serroco, near the Mandalorian front, Hierogryph reveled in running the business of the Bivoli, and by curious happenstance, Slyysk was an adept chef. Posing as the "Host" of the Bivoli, Hieroglyph relegated Carrick to cleanup duties; a fact that riled the young Jedi fugitive. Nevertheless, the Bivoli was thriving on profits, and while Carrick argued that he wanted to clear his name, and not sully it, Hierogryph explained that he had always clamored for "wanted" status. He kept the scam going, despite Carrick's objections. During this time, Hierogryph had seven bounties on his head, with the total number of credits coming to 24,000. But "sightings" of him were highly common, due to the fact that most Snivvians presented themselves in a similar manner.

The first night, Hierogryph fell asleep amongst his credits, while Carrick experienced a vision of the future, which told him that the Mandalorians would destroy Serroco upon arrival, which was due to for the following day. Grudgingly, Hierogryph prepared to close up the Bivoli, while Carrick travelled to meet with Admiral Saul Karath to warn him of the approaching diaster. Slyssk, for whatever reason, countermanded Hierogryph's orders, and when the Snivvian tasted the Trandoshan's breakfast fare, he agreed to keep the shop open for a little longer. Klaxons began to blare, signifying the Mandalorian arrival, and the Republic troops quickly purchased whatever the Bivoli staff could wrap for what could potentially be a gruelling campaign ahead. Meanwhile Slyssk informed Hierogryph that they would not have enough fuel to reach orbit, let alone hyperspace. Hierogryph lamented that they shouldn't have served the troops seconds as the first Mandalorian warheads struck the planet surface. The Bivoli attempted to lift off, but was struck, and forced back to the planet. Whether Hierogryph was present, and whether he was killed during the nuclear bombardment is unknown, but Lieutenant Carth Onasi had contacted seventeen Stereb cities on the planet, activating their tornado alarms and sending the inhabitants into underground refuges.

Behind the scenes

 * John Jackson Miller originally intended Gryph to be an Ortolan. However, Brian Ching convinced him to change, due to the fact that Ortolans have no facial expressions.
 * In a podcast, Miller also said that Gryph has "a little bit of Peter Lorre in him," as well as Steve Buscemi.
 * Marn's surname, Hierogryph, appears to be a play on the word hieroglyph, meaning a type of pictogram used by the ancient Egyptians in their written language.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 0: Crossroads
 * The Taris Holofeed: Prime Edition
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Commencement
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Flashpoint
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Reunion
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Days of Fear
 * The Adjudicator Special Report: The Outer Rim
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 16: Nights of Anger, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 20: Daze of Hate, Part 2
 * The Adjudicator Special Report: Tools of the Trade
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 21: Daze of Hate, Part 3