Pyloon's Saloon

Pyloon's Saloon was a saloon in Rambler's Reach Outpost on Koboh. It was owned and operated by Greez Dritus after the death of the previous owner Abel Drongite. The saloon was named after Dritus' great-grandmother Pyloon.

Description

Pyloon's was situated opposite Dendra's Antiquities flanking the main street at the mouth of Foothill Falls in the settlement Rambler's Reach Outpost on the planet Koboh. The building was erected from stone and complimented with wooden decking and stairs with rusted red and yellow metal support foundations and roofing decor. It had three distinct dome-shaped structures across the roof and a large turbine. The exterior of the building had protruding generators and vents and was surrounded with miscellaneous scrap, including an old landspeeder, droid parts, and crates.^[1]

The main entrance was labeled with a simple sign that read saloon and had a detection device above the door with green material drapes hung above the entrance.^[1]

The walkway leading through to the main bar area had a wooden floor with circular orange and brown rugs with three burnt orange sofa areas. The walls were adorned with numerous artifacts including hanging bone decorations, hookah pipes, and large blasters fixed to the wall. Red and green drapes covered parts of the walls, as did a selection of posters including ones warning locals not to feed the boglings and advertising Pyloon pie. An inactive droid detector was placed on the wall by the door. The arched door that opened to the main bar area was guarded by a TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droid.^[1]

A stone staircase with wooden handrails led to the main bar area, with black tubing providing electricity to the bar from outside. The interior was constructed from wooden foundations with additional metal pipes and vents, and golden metal furnishings and rails.^[1]

Near the entrance were the refreshers, which contained three cubicles, a hand dryer, washing sinks, dirty mirrors, and an additional GNK unit. A post on the wall stated that the sale and use of death sticks was prohibited.^[1]

A large curved bar was present and included a built-in rail that allowed the saloon bartender droid M-6NK to travel around the bar and into the adjoined kitchen area. The bar was fitted with several dispensing units with the bottom of the saloon's vast aquarium as its backdrop. Dritus had a modified chair on one end of the bar that allowed him to oversee the bar and the patrons.^[1]

The ground level of the saloon was adorned with large blue and gold, red and blue, and purple and gold sheets that draped from the ceiling and over certain wall areas. A collection of artifacts was visible above the bar area upon entering, including a Republic Clone Trooper helmet and a diorama of a sail barge, with additional cultural decor placed throughout the level. Further posters were found on the walls including a poster depicting Pyloon, one advertising Doma's shop, another stating GONK chargers were available on the premises, and warnings that Rayvis, B1-series battle droids, and the Bedlam Raiders had been seen on patrol and were not to be allowed entry.^[1]

There was seating available around the bar with two standalone tables and three booths tucked into the walls. The booths contained orange sofa seating and each contained varying artifacts including Phillak skulls and hookah pipes, and the booth frequented by bounty hunter Caij Vanda had blasters hung to the wall, an assortment of weapons, an additional Clone Trooper helmet plus bounty hunter helmets and B1 droid heads presented as trophies.^[1]

A stage in the corner of the saloon provided an area for entertainment, complete with a sound desk and a rudimentary lighting system. The DJ droid DD-EC and musician Ashe Javi eventually performed there with Javi describing the acoustics of the venue as wonky but found that the sound was to their liking.^[1]

A lobby between the bar and kitchen contained serving utensils, drinking vessels, GNK power droids and was decorated with a brown, orange, and light blue circular rug. The area also provided access to a small storage room in which the Mirialan Moran stored some belongings and a view of the kitchen area which was stocked with various cooking utensils and ovens.^[1]

The area also led to a staircase down to Dritus's quarters, with hidden access to a vast network of smugglers' tunnels. Within Dritus' quarters were items retained from his prior adventures including Cere Junda's hallikset, Cal Kestis' Bracca scrapper outfit, and a collection of Dritus' red and silver flight suits. There was also a workbench, power generators, a bunk bed, and a selection of flora collected from various planets. A private entrance was available also leading to the landing pad.^[1]

Leading up to the second floor were two stone stairways situated on either side of the bar. The walls leading up were decorated with further colored drapes and posters, including one advertising the maintenance services of Zygg Soza. The upstairs balcony level had additional seating and tables which offered a clearer view of the bar area and aquarium which was eventually maintained by the Sakavian Skoova Stev.^[1]

One of the tables would be used by the rescued High Republic droid ZN-A4 to trade datacards with Kestis. A poster on the wall depicted the Trontoshell of Dredger Gorge in its natural habitat. A smaller room was cleared to host a Holotactics table run by Bhima Ook and Tulli Mu.^[1]

Another stone stairwell led to the rooftop area. The area was home to a large garden area with four plots to plant seeds and was managed by Pili Walde. Across the area were spare planting pots, shelving units, and work areas. A small rock formation and water fountain could be found in one corner. Access to the turbine roof could be found here due to the overgrown roots forming a vertical pathway.^[1]

History

The saloon was originally managed by Abel Drongite. According to M-6NK, Drognite also ran a smuggling ring on the side and had a deal with the Bedlam Raiders that they would receive a cut of any profits he received. However, on one occasion, Drongite shorted the Raiders their fee and was subsequently killed when one of the gang members shot him with their blaster. The local prospectors Gulu and Gido recalled that Drongite would let customers go hundreds of cycles without settling their tabs and allow patrons to sleep on the floor if necessary.^[1] In around 9 BBY,^[2] after Drognite's death, ownership of the saloon was picked up by the M-6NK and the Latero Greez Dritus, who named it after his great-grandmother Pyloon. Many of the credits Dritus used to purchase the saloon were fronted to him by his friend, the Jedi Master Cere Junda, but he was unsure of where Junda had gotten ahold of that much money.^[1]

That year,^[2] the resident Turgle was attacked by Rayvis and the Bedlam Raiders in front of the saloon, but was saved by Cal Kestis, who had come to the planet in search of Dritus. Cal Kestis stayed in the private quarters under the saloon as a base of operations while on Koboh. During his time on Koboh, Kestis recruited several beings to set up in the saloon and attract further patrons. Those recruited include Ook and Mu, Stev, Javi and DD-EC, and Walde. These efforts boosted the popularity of the saloon until the increased presence of the Galactic Empire on Koboh changed the plans of many Rambler's Reach Outpost residents. Other regulars at Pyloon's Saloon included bounty hunter Caij Vanda, the droid ZN-A4, Mosey Cimmaron, Turgle, Bode Akuna, Toa, Moran, Tulakt, Zygg Soza, Wini Eres, Harr, Dana, and Grock. While Kestis sought the key to Tanalorr, a fabled planet inside the Koboh Abyss, the saloon was often defended from Bedlam Raider attacks by the Nightsister Merrin. At this time, the saloon was thriving and was busier than it had been for a long time. Once the Raiders had been defeated, many of the patrons decided to leave Koboh for pastures new, as the Empire had moved a Star Destroyer into orbit over the planet.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Pyloon's Saloon first appeared in the 2023 video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, developed by Respawn Entertainment.^[1] Prior to the game's release, it was first shown in a trailer released on March 20 of that year.^[3]

Pyloon's Saloon was designed by the Respawn's environment art team led by Evan Cwiertny, as one of Cwiertny's first assignments during development—as well as one of their last too. Concept art of the saloon was done by George Rushing. Modelling and texturing artists who worked as part of Cwiertny's team included Shane Estanislao, Ajilan Potter, Chelsea Velazquez, Brian West, Tim Wallace, Kevin Duong, Aaron Fowler, James Catterson and Kahlil Reedy. Lighting artists, UI artists, VFX artists, collision designers and designers included Matthew Cooke, Daanish Syed, Stephen Babb, Paulette Larriva and Martin Badowsky respectively.^[4]

During the development of Survivor,^[5] narrative director^[1] Manny Hagopian suggested that Greez name his cantina after his great-grandmother, which had been repeatedly mentioned in the game's predecessor Jedi: Fallen Order. As Dritus's great-grandmother's name had not been established in Fallen Order, Respawn's writing team allowed Hagopian to name Pyloon after their own late grandmother.^[5]

Appearances

• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (First appearance)

Sources

• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – Official Story Trailer on the official Electronic Arts Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com) (First pictured)
• 5 Things We Noticed in the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Story Trailer on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars: Best of 2023 on StarWars.com (backup link)
• The Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Team Drills Down Into Cal Kestis' Story on StarWars.com (backup link)
• The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
• We All Want to Dance to Andor's "Niamos!" on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Turgle in the Databank (backup link)

Notes and references

External links

• EA Star Wars (@eastarwars) on Instagram (post on July 3, 2023): "Rumors run rampant in Pyloon's Saloon. Have you investigated any of these? 👀 #StarWarsJediSurvivor" (screenshot)