Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #53: Mud Bath (10/12/00)
Nick is making his way through the construction camp on an errand.
Nick's boots are much the worse for the mud, but he is warm in his new sweater and cap.
Nick is trying to locate an interim source of decent tea, but so far has had little success.
Nick heard a rumor that Cris had some decent tea, and is hoping that it isn't another dead end.
Nick wonders why Riyyh hasn't yet sent the tea he ordered, and hopes that the delay doesn't mean more trouble with communications or transportation.
Riyyh hikes up a muddy, rutted hillside crisscrossed with the roots of now-absent trees.
Riyyh is wearing a serviceable yellow-and-gray cloak with the Naros emblem on it (his dirty-work version of the Householding cloak) and quite a bit of mud on his legs, like everybody else in the construction camp.
Ali follows after his Sectuib, impressed by the sheer depth of the mud holes created by all the construction.
Riyyh's long silver hair blows free though, and it is clean and shiny, as is most of the rest of him. How did he do that?
Riyyh however augments shamelessly to make it the rest of the way up the hill.
Riyyh: I can zlin him just ahead. [tells Ali]
Nick is so used to seeing Riyyh in his finery that he doesn't recognize the approaching pair.
Ali thinks that there are places where you can probably slide for hundreds of feet downslope in a good rain.
Ali pushes harder to keep up with Riyyh.
Nick is also not expecting Riyyh quite so soon.
Riyyh and Ali were part of a contingent of 17 Narosians (most of them semi-estranged, or at least in trouble for various radical activities) that arrived at the edge of the camps just forty five minutes ago.
Ali knows Riyyh doesn't appreciate either this much exercise or exposure to the elements.
Nick was occupied with Arat at the time of the Narosian's arrival, and so he missed their arrival.
Riyyh just had to see Nick right away, of course.
Riyyh: Look, there he is!
Riyyh is delighted to see his son (well, one of his sons) (who is also his grandson) after all these weeks.
Riyyh: Nick!
Nick turns his head, searching for the source of the call, and finally recognizes Riyyh.
Nick: Riyyh! What are you doing here?
Nick can't imagine a place less convivial to Riyyh's lifestyle than the Dam construction site.
Riyyh: Why, we're here to lend aid in any way we can, of course.
Riyyh smiles and hugs Nick, having neatly sidestepped the precise nature of Nick's question.
Riyyh: You zlin well.
Riyyh: You've met Ali, I believe?
Riyyh hopes Nick remembers Ali but forgets the bit about Ali asking him for his autograph.
Ali, looking at the Nick's rumpled uniform, thinks he doesn't dress as well as he did in Capitol.
Nick looks at his--well, a bit more than sibling, due to their common grandparentage.
Nick: Yes, we've met.
Ali: Hi, Nick.
Nick: Hello, Ali. Have you been taking good care of Riyyh?
Nick does his own assessment of Riyyh's condition, as a matter of academic interest only, of course.
Ali: Of course.
Nick does reflexively reinforce the shielding effect of Ali's nager, given the chaotic surroundings.
Riyyh appears well fed, well Companioned, but just a bit of a mess compared to his usual, and definitely dressed down. He's only wearing one necklace for jewelry for example, and hardly any embroidery.
Ali does not appreciate being reminded how young and inexperienced he is; he has heard that too often in recent months.
Riyyh is in good spirits, mainly due to the adrenaline rush at zlinning the scope of the problem facing them for himself.
Nick: Is it just the two of you, or a larger group?
Nick is pretty sure Arat is going to want the full details of any Narosian encampment in his area of responsibility.
Riyyh: There are seventeen of us, all told. Of course, Ali and I cannot stay over the winter, but everybody else is quite eager to help long term.
Nick: I see.
Riyyh may be exaggerating slightly in some cases, but he is sure they will become properly eager once they have had time to get used to the idea.
Ali does not contest Nick's adjustment of the ambient, although he considers it rude. But of course Nick was never taught the kindness and consideration expected in a true Narosian.
Nick suspects that Arat has been hoping that the rumors of Narosian involvement would not materialize.
Nick: Do you have a campsite yet?
Riyyh: Yes, we are setting up a camp on the southern edge there, near the trail where we came in.
Riyyh: We want to be accessible.
Nick nods.
Nick: That will do for now, although you'll want to place any permanent structures carefully. There have been mudslides..
Nick is using a rather loose definition of the word "permanent", of course.
Riyyh: I had no idea so much had been clearcut already.
Riyyh: There may be problems in the spring, next year if not this year.
Nick looks at the stump-covered hillside and sighs.
Ali wonders if it is as much fun to sled on mud as it is on snow.
Nick: There were too many people cutting trees for firewood and building materials.
Ali decides that once he can steer Riyyh to a suitable bathtub he will have the time to investigate this possibility.
Riyyh nods. That problem will only increase as winter sets in, of course.
Nick: I'm hoping that the rate of cutting will slow, as the excess population moves elsewhere.
Nick: Although it will be difficult for people to leave, when the snows start, even if they want to.
Riyyh: But with winter setting in... well.
Riyyh thinks that the last thing he wants to do is argue with Nick about firewood, not when they've only just been reunited.
Riyyh: And how are you liking your work?
Nick looks around at the mud, shacks, tents, and working-class people.
Nick: I'm much more comfortable here than I was back in Capitol. Arat hates it, though.
Nick: There's much too much dust here, and not enough insulation.
Ali looks around also. He can see there is way too much mud and the grooming facilities are not up to Riyyh's standards.
Nick doesn't feel like explaining all the other trials that have been making Arat unhappy: there is very little that Riyyh can do about them, after all.
Riyyh nods sympathetically. He can't really like Arat, but he can sympathize about the dust and insulation.
Nick: We do have hot water in our quarters, though, which helps.
Riyyh: Oh, how nice for you.
Riyyh hopes to have such an arrangement himself, very soon. Until then, perhaps he can visit Nick and Arat.
Ali can see he will have to do some scavenging to keep his Sectuib happy.
Ali: How is that managed? The facilities here seem rather primitive.
Riyyh listens with interest.
Nick: We managed to get a half dozen showers up in the building over there, as a disease-prevention measure.
Ali's months as Riyyh's Companion have taught him a better understanding of how Narosian principles apply in the world outside the gates.
Nick points to a long, rectangular building.
Nick: There isn't a reliable way to heat it, though, and the lines are pretty long unless you go in the middle of a shift.
Nick takes pity on Riyyh.
Nick: I expect Arat wouldn't mind too much if you borrowed our facilities on occasion.
Nick: Particularly if you offered him a token of appreciation--perhaps some tea?
Nick looks ~~ hopeful ~~
Riyyh zlins Nick's all too personal interest in such a gift.
Riyyh smiles kindly.
Nick really wasn't all that optimistic that Cris's tea supply would be up to Arat's standards.
Riyyh: I would be pleased to offer the both of you some tea. We brought plenty.
Riyyh may believe in placing difficult Narosians in farflung outreach programs, but to strand them without tea from home would be just plain cruel.
Nick's smile lights up both face and nager.
Nick: Thank you.
Riyyh beams, basking in Nick's altered nageric output.
Riyyh's stint as Nick's channel was spent in no small part making Nick happy just to get that effect.
Elte walks between the rows of crude shelters, snapping pictures.
Sayward rolls up a set of blue prints and puts them back into their cylinder for safe keeping. She makes her way out of her tent and navigates the maze of other tents on her way to one of the work sites. There is no such thing as a direct route anymore.
Sayward comes out near the trail and notices Nick talking to two other people.
Riyyh: But we're keeping you from your work. [concerned]
Riyyh: Is there a time and place when we could meet? Perhaps this evening?
Elte has been talking to workers and refugees about the recent changes in the Tecton incentive programs and the labor board policies.
Riyyh blithely ignores the fact that Nick is assigned to a Farris and therefore unlikely to come free at any reasonable hour.
Elte catches a glimpse of Nick's lanky silhouette and hurries, hoping to talk to the Gen when he is not preoccupied with Donoring.
Nick: Actually, I've got another half hour before I have to meet Arat.
Nick had assumed that it would take at least that long to find some drinkable tea.
Elte: Hey, Sosu Nick!
Nick had therefore made arrangements with Jeniard to see that Arat was not left alone.
Nick looks up at the call.
Nick: Hello, Elte!
Elte splashes through the mud with great energy.
Sayward has found herself becoming more curious of late and decides to see who the new arrivals might be.
Nick: Elte is reporting on the construction project for the out-Territory papers. [to Riyyh]
Sayward slogs up to find Elte has beaten her to the group.
Elte notices that the Gen is speaking with a Sime dressed in rather exotic garb.
Sayward: Hi Nick. [she nods to everyone else]
Nick: Hello, Sayward.
Sayward: Don't you look nice and warm.
Elte takes in Ali's matching colors and Donor's stance.
Nick grins.
Riyyh: Elte Andover. [smiles] I've read your work.
Nick: This is my, er, father, Sectuib Riyyh ambrov Naros.
Riyyh: What passion, and what... [distracted by Nick's introduction]
Nick: And his Companion, my, um, brother Ali.
Riyyh: Hello. I am pleased to meet you. [to Sayward]
Nick decides to keep the introductions simple, and only go back one generation.
Nick: Sayward manages the construction gangs.
Sayward: Glad to meet you too.
Riyyh smiles apologetically at Elte, figuring he can talk to him later.
Elte: Sectuib? What brings you here?
Elte: And glad to meet you too, Ali.
Riyyh starts to answer, and then just smiles as Elte speaks to Ali.
Elte: Miz Sayward, it's a pleasure. I've seen you around, but I don't think we've been introduced before.
Sayward finally places the rather curious Gen asking all the questions. He is the reporter.
Sayward: No I don't think we have. Pleased to me you as well.
Sayward: Has everyone gotten settled in? I know how hard it can be to get straight around here.
Elte is overjoyed to have four interesting people to talk to at once. He enjoys multiple concurrent conversations.
Ali bows decorously.
Riyyh, who has always fared better in one-on-one situations, falls back on his smiling-and-nodding-and-wringing-hands-endearingly mode, which is not bad either.
Sayward smiles at the very good manners of the child.
Sayward: Is this your son? [to Riyyh -- is thinking grand son but better safe than sorry]
Riyyh: Yes, he is. [smiles]
Riyyh places a hand on Ali's forearm, possessively.
Riyyh: And my Companion.
Sayward: Well, he does you proud.
Ali is very used to this type of family chitchat and commentary and smiles indulgently.
Riyyh: He is very kind and attentive. [agrees] And a very hard worker. So interested in all around him!
Elte: That cape you're wearing, Sectuib Naros. Does that display your Householding colors?
Elte has always been fascinated by military regalia, and is finding Simelan uniforms charming in new ways.
Riyyh: Not very well. [confesses]
Sayward: Now I remember. Cris said that your group was mounting a relief effort?
Riyyh: Yes, we are. [relieved to have the conversation turn away from the state of his wardrobe]
Riyyh: When I heard of the hardships being endured by the people here, I knew we had to help.
Riyyh: It is the motto of our householding, after all.
Nick: Have you any further thoughts on just what form that help will take?
Nick is pretty sure that Arat will want all the details.
Elte is fascinated that the head of a Householding would come all this way just to help the unfortunate.
Riyyh: As you know, we have only been here for an hour, so I haven't had time for a full appraisal of the situation, but there are many obvious courses of action available.
Riyyh smiles apologetically.
Riyyh: I hope to have a better idea within a day or two.
Elte finds the Householding principles and traditions very quaint indeed.
Elte is more familiar with Gen principles and slogans such as "Shoot them all and let God sort it out."
Sayward: Let me know if there is anything you required to make your efforts easier.
Riyyh doesn't want to do any more here than point his people in the right direction. Their youthful passion and inventiveness will take care of the rest.
Riyyh: Thank you. [to Sayward, warmly]
Sayward is amazed at the strength of the family resemblance between father and sons.
Elte: Nick, do you think this new incentive program will move enough people out before winter sets in?
Nick: I hope so. At least the selyn shortage is starting to ease.
Sayward thinks that the mother of the boys must have contributed very little to their looks.
Riyyh hopes that their youthful passion and inventiveness won't get them into quite so much trouble here as it has in other Narosian outreach programs. These people have been hand-picked as completely impossible in the usual settings.
Ali looks at Sayward. She looks big and tough, kind of like a Gen version of his mom the blacksmith.
Nick: Riyyh, should I ask Arat to put you on the work schedule?
Riyyh: Please. [to Nick.] Thank you.
Sayward: [resists the urge to tousle the lad's hair but smiles warmly at him] Well young man, someday you will grow up to be a man like your big brother. You already have a great start.
Ali stiffens.
Ali remembers that he should not take offence at the ignorance of an out-Territory barbarian, even if she does sound like his mother and treat him as if he were still in diapers.
Nick notes Ali's defensiveness and sighs.
Ali: I am a man already, Tuib Sayward. Although I understand you can't zlin that.
Ali: But I am a working Companion.
Sayward: My apologies Sosu Ali. I didn't mean to insult you.
Ali: No offence taken. I understand that customs are different across the border.
Sayward thinks Sime Territory should at least let them get some size on them before they eat them.
Riyyh strokes Ali's shoulder in an unconscious attempt to soothe the Gen.
Riyyh is a very hands-on type individual.
Nick: Ali is responsible for Riyyh's health, just as I look after Controller Arat.
Nick hopes that this will placate Ali's apparent jealousy.
Sayward now has to repress a smile. Riyyh at least doesn't seem to require the constant wiping and cleaning that Arat does.
Riyyh: He is very good to me.
Nick wishes that Ali could understand that Riyyh really has no attraction for him as a channel, particularly not when there are Farris channels around.
Ali relaxes; no one can resist Riyyh's charm.
Riyyh understands Ali's frustration; Ali took a lot of flak at the District Controller's office for not having had formal Tecton training, generally behind Riyyh's back where he couldn't defend his Companion.
Sayward: Ah I see. Well it looks as if you do a great job. Ali.
Ali: Thank you.
Riyyh smiles.
Nick is, of course, well aware that being Riyyh's Companion is not the sort of challenge that even Jeniard would be, unless one considers the challenge of finding something to say about the seventh outfit of the day.
Elte: Miz Sayward, now that enough selyn will be available for augmentation, how will that affect the work plan?
Sayward: We will be getting back on track. In fact it has been going a bit faster than we anticipated. We are catching up nicely.
Riyyh takes Ali aside and asks him if he wants to take a walk around the construction site, since they are here.
Sayward: By the way Nick, thank the Controller for me.
Nick: I will. He is very relieved that the selyn shortage is easing.
Sayward: Yes I would guess you all are.
Ali follows Riyyh with pleasure, eager to see more of this new environment. And also eager to get his channel away from the other Companion he dotes on.
Nick is perhaps more relieved than most, as Vortez Lake gave him a bad scare.
Sayward: By the way did you get my invitation to brunch on Saturday?
Riyyh murmurs a good bye to Nick and nice-to-meet-yous to the others, and sets off with Ali to do some exploring.
Nick: I expect it's waiting with the rest of my mail--I didn't sort through it this morning.
Elte waves good-bye to Riyyh; he marks him down in his mental notebook for a follow-up.
Sayward: Well it also is for Arat. I think you will both enjoy a bit of down time.
Nick: I will bring the invitation to Arat's attention. I can't promise more than that, at the moment.
Nick shrugs apologetically.
Sayward: I understand. I know Simes don't rest like we do but you should see if you can drag that boy out of the office sometime.
Nick has his own ideas about that.
Elte: Winter is almost here. How can you keep the job moving ahead and the selyn coming in when the snow hits?
Sayward: Elte, have you had a chance to see the work sites yet?
Elte: Well, the main site, of course, with the blasting down into the canyon.
Elte: I've got some great pix from that.
Elte really enjoyed the aerial shots when he talked Sgt. Edka into lowering him in the rappelling harness.
Sayward: I bet you haven't seen the tunnels yet.
Elte: Hmmm. No, I don't believe I have.
Sayward: Well, let me know when you want to go. I'll take you on a tour while I check on the work.
Elte doesn't think the tunnels will be as photogenic as mid-air explosions.
Elte does think however they will lend themselves to descriptive prose quite nicely.
Elte: You're on, Miz Sayward.
Sayward: Gentlemen, I must be going. Nice to have met your family, Nick.
Nick wonders if Sayward would say the same if she knew exactly how extensive his family actually is.
Sayward: Elte, just let me know what you decide.
Elte: You bet!
Sayward smiles at both men and turns to make her way out to the site.
Elte: Nick, I had no idea your Dad was a Sectuib.
Elte: You never mentioned that.
Nick makes a habit of avoiding mention of his relationship with Riyyh, actually.
Nick: I'm not a member of Riyyh's house, actually.
Nick: And I didn't even know we were related until a few years ago.
Elte: I confess I'm not quite sure how this House business works.
Elte: I can see the Tecton's set up like a military bureaucracy.
Elte: But is a House like a club, or a school, or more like a corporation?
Nick: No, more like an extended family.
Nick forbears from mentioning that in the case of Naros, there's no "like" about it.
Elte: And you didn't even know you were related?
Elte has noted on other occasions that in-Territory people seem extraordinarily casual about sex.
Nick: Not until I visited there, and Riyyh mentioned that he knew my mother.
Nick: And then it turned out that he knew my grandmother as well.
Elte blinks.
Elte: Do you mean "know" in the Biblical sense?
Elte has had quite an extensive classical education.
Nick looks at Elte blankly.
Nick: What does that mean?
Nick is not up on his out-Territory religious idioms.
Elte: Do you mean they were....
Elte is not exactly up on his in-Territory idioms for explicit physical functions.
Nick sighs.
Nick: If you're asking whether Riyyh is my grandfather as well as my father, the answer is "yes".
Nick has never really made his peace with his genetic heritage, but there is no point in denying it.
Nick: Ali has a different grandmother than I do, but otherwise....
Nick shrugs.
Elte is difficult to shock, but he is approaching that state.
Elte: I thought incest was taboo in all human cultures.
Elte: Do Simes see it differently?
Nick: Not really. Naros is a bit more flexible about such things than most, but it caused a great deal of trouble when the Narosian membership discovered that most of them were related.
Elte thinks perhaps this is his chance to discover a new sociological insight.
Elte: Most of the House is related?
Elte has to admit the similarity in appearance between Ali, Nick and Riyyh is unmistakable, although they do represent three different generations.
Nick: Well, almost all who were born in the past 45-odd years, yes.
Nick: Some closer than others.
Nick: Although it seems likely that many of the older members are Riyyh's brothers or cousins...
Elte's eyes gleam; Gen society is quite sexually repressive, but they like a good scandal as well as anyone, especially when all the unmentionable deeds can be attributed to Simes.
Elte wonders if there might even be a best-seller in this.
Nick: If you want the details, you ask Riyyh.
Nick is just vindictive enough to subject Riyyh to the reporter's questioning on that issue.
Elte: I can see that come from an interesting background, Sosu Nick.
Nick: The Tecton is certainly interested in it.
Elte: I will indeed approach Sectuib Riyyh about the matter... in the interests of broadening inter-territorial understanding, of course.
Elte: Ah, what is the Tecton's concern?
Nick: They are rather curious to see if my... relatives, to varying degrees, have the potential to become First Order Donors as well.
Nick forbears to note the distressing numbers of those relatives whose degree of relationship is 75%.
Elte: It's an inherited ability, then?
Nick: Yes. There is always a shortage of Donors, most particularly ones with the capacity to handle a Farris channel.
Elte has been subjected to the Gen culture's obsession with breeding for "purity," but did not think that Simes would share that concern with bloodlines.
Elte: Well, yes, I've read that the Houses try to encourage the birth of Channels. But I thought Donor abilities were learned skills.
Nick: They're both.
Nick: A Gen may be born with the potential to be a Donor, but that means nothing if that potential isn't developed.
Elte: And in the case of Naros, people have entered into incestuous liaisons in order to produce more powerful channels and Donors?
Nick thinks that over for a moment.
Nick: No, I think it had much more to do with Riyyh's wanting everyone to be happy.
Elte blinks.
Elte: Well, I will certainly want the whole story.
Elte thinks, including all the juicy details.
Nick: I am sure Riyyh will be happy to give you his side of the story.
Nick can say this with certainty because that will make Elte happy.
Nick suspects Elte might discover more than he bargained for about what else can make him happy, but that's fortunately not Nick's concern.
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