Murl Arceth

"Some see war as a tragedy, I see it as a business opportunity. The wreckage of recent battlefields are always the best places to scavenge gear, and the spoils of these salvages are the greatest credit-makers. What some see as junk, I see as valuable equipment. Do you have any idea what the scraps of a wartime Munificent-class frigate is worth these days?"

- Murl Arceth

Murl Arceth was a  who served as an arms dealer for the  during the, despite his lack of developed commerce skills. After the resolution of the conflict, Arceth became a on the junkyard world of  during the. Notably, he was the salvager who sold the personal holocron of ancient Har'esh Volen to the. By, an aged Arceth was still selling salvaged equipment to the highest bidder.

Early life
Born to a particularly poor family on the homeworld of  around, Murl Arceth managed to survive the first seven years of his life in the planet's brutal communal hives before he decided to embrace commerce and business. However, he was notable for lacking the same skills others of his kind had in the field, which resulted in him achieving lower status in Neimoidian society.

Because of his lack of business savvy, Arceth was unable to leave Neimoidia. Though not as skilled as others of his kind, Arceth remained talented enough to become a smalltime entrepreneur, though was forced at one point to work in a for six months.

Clone Wars
When the -wide erupted, Arceth had managed to move off-planet and immerse himself in the 's criminal dealings when he began supplying the  with  and other illegal equipment that he had bartered for or stolen from. As such, he came in regular contact with the Cartel's numerous. It was commonly speculated by many that he secretly worked as an arms dealer for the, though he neither confirmed nor denied this. Around, Murl had come to reside on the moon of. On one occasion, Arceth was hired by the crime syndicate to supply them with a large amount of. However, Arceth's shipment proved faulty, resulting in the detonators exploding upon being delivered.

Angered by the damage caused by Arceth's carelessness, Black Sun hired a named  to punish him. The spineless Neimoidian was unable to elude Sing for long, and she eventually located him and left him with a pronounced limp as a reminder to be more cautious next time. Arceth eventually became a prominent figurehead in the exportion of and, and oversaw a large amount of its trade on behalf of the Hutts. When overseeing the delivery of death sticks to the underworld, Arceth wound up in a cantina brawl in which he received a scar down his right eye when his face was sliced by a piece of glass.

Near the of the war, Arceth had become a weapons supplier to infamous gangster, and regularly sent out large consignments of goods to his palace on.

Scavenger
After the Republic was reformed into the by   in, Arceth chose to retire from the lifestyle as an arms dealer and decided to settle down as a. In the wake of the Clone Wars' end, Arceth decided there could be a lot of profit made from salvaging from the wreckage of old battle sites. Though he mostly severed his ties to the Hutts for the most part, a fair amount of Arceth's equipment was sold to the Hutts.

After a year spent based on, Arceth moved to the toxic scrapyard world of , a place he felt he would be able to maximize his profits by recovering the new and old technologies that lay buried on its surface. After arriving on the planet, he integrated with the, a small tribe of who resided on the planet. After getting the hang of the world's habitat, Arceth moved out and formed his own small gang of salvagers, which would quickly become the main competitors of band of scavengers led by. After Roosh's death at the hands of Darth Vader's secret apprentice,, Arceth took over as the region's main scavenger.

Around, Arceth uncovered a deep in the scrapheaps of one of Raxus Prime's towering mountains of junk. Determining it was something of value, Arceth contacted the of the sector and sold it to him at a incredibly hefty fee. Unknown to Arceth, the device was actually the personal holocron of the ancient Har'esh Volen, and not long after its purchase, was given to  Palpatine as a gift.

Later life
As late as, Arceth was still selling equipment he had recovered from the garbage piles of Raxus Prime, though by this time, he was suffering from and had been confined to an old  he had salvaged. According to medical records possessed by a doctor who had been hired to examine him, the aged Neimoidian was expected to die in the next two years, though stated there were still chances he could survive. Towards the end of, Arceth's health had dramatically deteriorated, though he still remained hopeful for a recovery. His last known appearance was when he supplied a spacer with a quality class 0.8.

Personality and traits
Cynical and straightforward, Arceth would always be one to go straight down to business. Though surprisingly thick-skinned for a Neimoidian, Arceth would still show spinelessness whenever pressured in life-threatening situations, though he was noticeably less cowardly and fearful than others of his kind. Though time shaped him into a decent enough businessman, Arceth was nowhere near as skilled in the commerce arena as many other members of his kind, which resulted in his lower status in Neimoidian society. This mainly stemmed from his connections with the criminal networks of the galaxy during the Clone Wars, which shaped him into a shabby yet perceptive trader. Though he was not refined, he was still skilled at manipulating a deal into his favor, and was good at reaching outcomes that would benefit himself.

Like all typical Neimoidians, Arceth was paranoid and selfish, though was uncharacteristically more aggressive than others of his kind, and was not concerned with getting his hands dirty. This was noticeable in the fact that he almost always kept his personal on him, and was very capable at using this. Having spent most of his life bartering with other species, Arceth was fluent in a number of languages which included, , , and. Though greedy and self-centered, Arceth was relatively unconcerned with elaborate attires or headdresses, as shown in his regular garment, which was both simplistic and inelegant. He also did not bear any of the hats worn by others of his race used to represent their status.

Behind the Scenes
In much earlier drafts of the character, Murl Arceth was planned to be a  who followed 's  and existed some time prior to the rise of. The idea was he would have been something of a philosophical character, though the idea was later scrapped. It was then decided he would become a, and inspiration for the character was prominently drawn from the characters of and.