He'd aged visibly in the last decade, the unfortunate result of a life spent in exile. Once-fair skin had darkened, weathered by the elements of many a world, and his remaining eye seemed deeper-set, older, were one to guess his age they'd most likely guess late-forties, rather than thirty-five. To say nothing of the garish scar that ran from his forehead to jawline, a pair of dark sunglasses concealing the poorly-healed wound where his right eye used to be, Karth appeared something out of children's nightmares, a far cry from the promising Jedi he'd once been. His shoulders were hunched, as if an unseen weight was pressing down upon him from all directions, his thick legs struggling to keep him upright. Wrapped tightly in his maroon jacket, Karth took his first tentative steps out of the R-22 Spearhead, setting down on the dusty plains outside Worlport and steeling himself against the wind. Ord Mantell was a depressing planet, to say the least. Planets in the Mid Rim were hardly in such condition, but only the roughnecks dared venture here. A thick layer of dust threatened to choke the weaker-lunged, and the spaceports were hardly accommodating, even to the most seasoned spacer. But something had drawn him here; some voice in the back of his mind, the same that had fueled his search thus far. Ord Mantell held something he needed; be that answers, or simply another piece of the puzzle, he wouldn't leave until something had born fruit.
He'd landed the ship on a mesa, far enough out of range for any local scans--but close enough that he could find it again should he have to cut his visit short. Much like its master, the scratched and battered astromech droid that dropped ever-so-gracefully onto the dirt behind him had its reservations about this latest stop. "Kima", as he'd named it, rolled hesitantly to De'Qora's side and whistled, bringing a grim smile to the Jedi's cracked lips.
"Don't worry, Kima, I have a good feeling about this one."
The droid's response, from what he could infer, was less-enthusiastic. He chuckled, turning to pat the droid reassuringly on its "head". "I seriously doubt anyone's in the market for a used droid, especially one with your problems. But if anyone takes a shine to you, I promise I'll take care of it." That seemed to settle him, at least for the moment, so Karth turned his attention back to the faint silhouette of the planet's capital off in the distance. "Long walk... you ready for this?" He didn't even give Kima a chance to answer, wrapping his jacket even tighter around him, De'Qora set out on the journey south, hoping to reach Worlport before the sun set, who knew what might be lying in wait to catch travelers off-guard in the night.
