Now, I heard this one story-" Takel paused to suck on his cigarra. "-about members of a certain Mandalorian cult who never, ever take off their helmets, not even in presence of each other."

"Not even when.... you know?" prodded a younger woman.

"Well, that's the thing. Baby Mandos have to come from somewhere, after all. I once heard a story of a mated pair from said cult who finally decided to shuck tradition and see all the other had to offer. So they lock themselves in the bedroom, take off the rest of their armor first, and finally take the buckets off there heads. They looked into each other's eyes, scour each other's faces, and finally the woman says, 'I like you better with the helmet on.""

That roused some chuckles, but Takel continued, "They try to salvage the marriage after that. The man keeps his helmet on- and nothing else- like his woman requested, but one look at his ugly mug just soured the whole arrangement. The poor sod's desperate to please his woman so he lets her spice things up in the bedroom however she wants. Mandos are practical people in their way, so he lets her make clever use of some of his traditional weapons to heighten her experience. Blunt end in first, you know."

Aghast faces spread through Takel's audience. Still he went on.

"But it just won't work. Finally she just can't take it anymore. 'It's over,' she tells him. 'We have to split.' Now, their cult doesn't look too highly on divorce either- warrior culture, honor vows, all that, plus it's just humiliating- so he drags his feet and says maybe they can split up but still keep the vow alive, to save face, as it were. So she stews a bit before she decides, 'Fine. We can keep the vow but we'll go our separate ways. Take everything you've got- especially that helmet- and get out of here. Just leave me one thing: your beskad.' And he protests, saying that sword's been in his family for generations. But she says, 'You've got to give me something. I have needs, you.""