Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #59: Must Have Been Quite a Party (10/28/00)
Riyyh lays on his stomach on a feather bed in his tent. He is surrounded by evidence of a tryst - rumpled blankets, a bit of discarded jewelry, and a lacy bit of something or other draped partly over the edge of the bed.
Riyyh is charmingly rumpled himself, wearing a silk night robe, and is doing his nails.
Riyyh smiles fondly as he recalls... well.
Howe throws open the door to Riyyh's tent, letting in a gust of rather chilly mountain air.
Howe peers inside, rather curious in spite of himself.
Riyyh looks over his shoulder in surprise.
Riyyh sits up when he realizes he doesn't know the person by sight or by nager.
Howe spots Riyyh and grins like a sharpster... er, shark.
Riyyh: Hello? What an... er... unexpected....
Howe: Sectuib Riyyh ambrov Naros, I presume?
Riyyh: Why, yes.
Howe specializes in the unexpected; it pays rather well.
Meana with six year old Nikki in tow follows fuming.
Riyyh looks from Howe to Meana and the child, then back again.
Riyyh's eyes then return to Meana. She seems familiar....
Howe: I am Nils Howe, of the legal firm of R. Shysters, N. Howe.
Riyyh winces. Surely they could have thought of a better name than that.
Riyyh: How unf... er, I am pleased to meet you.
Howe reaches under his heavy winter cape for a thick packet of papers.
Riyyh gets up and tries to recover some of his clothes from various locations around the room. This obviously isn't a social call.
Howe: I am here representing the Alderberry Women's Commune, and Meana here in particular.
Meana is rather plain. Although she has a thick head of red hair and a rather ample figure for a Sime.
Howe: They allege that some seven years ago, they granted you an exception to their policy forbidding all men within their walls, so that you could shelter from a sudden winter storm.
Howe: And that during your stay, you abused their hospitality by, er....
Howe glances at young Nikki.
Riyyh turns to look at Howe, appearing genuinely innocent.
Nikki looks around the tent at all the pretty things. She has always liked pretty things. Her mother hates them.
Riyyh: Yes...?
Riyyh affects pleasant confusion.
Riyyh does well at this, since he is genuinely pleasant and confused regularly enough that he is familiar with the look and feel.
Nikki picks up a piece of lace. She doesn't know what it is but it is pretty.
Meana: Nikki! Put that down!
Nikki jumps and drops the bit of lace.
Meana: [to Riyyh] This is all your fault!
Riyyh does remember being coaxed into relations with more than one woman at the commune, and he remembers it being rather pleasant. The fact that he was blindfolded and wearing insulated elbow gloves at the time - as well as being rather securely tied up - leaves the details a bit fuzzy.
Riyyh remembers it being nice, though.
Howe: The women of the cooperative have retained me to represent them in a suit alleging twenty counts each of abuse of hospitality, loss of reputation, breach of promise, and, um, child support.
Riyyh: Twenty apiece? My word.
Meana has berated herself for her weakness every day since finding out she was pregnant.
Howe can't help rather admiring Riyyh for his accomplishments, particularly given that all twenty of the old, man-hating bats were frankly unappetizing.
Riyyh's tentacles wave apologetically.
Riyyh: I had no idea.
Riyyh buttons his shirt. Yes, he can do it while his tentacles wave apologetically.
Howe would have taken the case pro bono, just to catch a glimpse of such a perpetrator.
Nikki sidles up to Riyyh. He has on such a nice robe. He smells nice too.
Howe looks around the tent's lush interior, glad that he isn't taking the case pro bono, after all.
Riyyh places a reassuring hand on Nikki's shoulder. Not that the child appears to require much reassurance, he just likes kids.
Nikki: [looks up at Riyyh with eyes exactly like his] Are you my daddy?
Riyyh: I don't know, dear. [confesses]
Riyyh: Maybe.
Riyyh clearly isn't thinking in terms of lawsuits, or he'd have just said "no".
Riyyh rarely is forced to go to court over anything he himself did; things usually end up getting settled out of court.
Nikki: Oh.[looks down shyly]
Meana: Nikki!
Howe puts on one of his best expressions: righteous indignation.
Howe: Are you implying, Sectuib Naros, that my client is in the habit of inviting strangers off the street into her chambers, and that therefore the paternity of Nikki and the other nineteen children is in doubt?
Riyyh looks at Howe with an expression of mild disbelief.
Howe thinks if so, the "defamation of character" bit should be easier to prove.
Meana: [to Riyyh] You low down snake in the grass! You come to us pretending to be a victim. You repay our kindness by violating us-- er our customs!
Meana: I have half a mind to murder you where you sit!
Riyyh meets Meana's eyes. He looks curious and thoughtful. And, of course, compassionate.
Meana: [to Howe] I want him broken! I want him destroyed! Do you hear me destroyed!!!
Howe smiles at this indication that his client intends to hold out for a court appearance, rather than settling out of court.
Howe has nothing against fat settlements, but a bit of courtroom drama with lots of publicity goes a long way towards keeping the firm in business.
Howe: Yes, my dear.
Meana has turned the same color as her hair. She is rage incarnate.
Howe turns back to Riyyh and points an accusing tentacle at him.
Howe: You see the sort of emotional distress you have caused my client, and her associates..
Howe in fact is moved to distance himself from it a bit; he isn't very sensitive even for a renSime, but Meana is emoting.
Riyyh notices that Nikki is getting emotionally distressed in response to the change in tones of voices, and squeezes the child's shoulder reassuringly.
Nikki is now clinging to Riyyh in terror. She has seen her mother like this before. She has no desire to be the focus of this fit.
Riyyh sits on the bed, so the child will have better access.
Riyyh: I apologize if my presence was the cause of any disturbance. I assure you, such was not my intention.
Riyyh: There, there. [to Nikki]
Howe: An apology is insufficient. My clients have worked hard to earn their reputations, and you managed to destroy them in less than a week.
Meana: [notices her daughter's location] Nikki! Get away from him!
Howe thinks, its hard for the old bats to pretend that they're man-haters, when every one has a small child with the same brown hair and grey eyes.
Nikki cowers closer to her maybe father.
Howe checks the situation over critically, and decides it's time to make a show of intervention.
Howe moves closer to Meana and pats her on the hand (a bit gingerly, it must be admitted).
Howe: Now, now, my dear. Remember what I said about losing your temper. Save that for court.
Howe turns back to Riyyh.
Meana gives the Shyster, no Howe a dirty look.
Riyyh strokes Nikki's hair, murmuring soothingly to her.
Howe: You must admit that there is a certain family resemblance between the child and you.
Howe: I expect it would have been even stronger if your own hair wasn't turning grey.
Riyyh looks up at Howe.
Riyyh: I make no denials of paternity.
Nikki looks up at the nice man. She can't understand why momma says men are vile. This one smell really nice.
Howe: Good, good.
Riyyh: Nor will I refuse any reasonable request for support, or deny membership in Naros to any of the children.
Riyyh: However, I must confess to being a bit surprised as to the... well, the way this has been brought to my attention.
Howe was rather worried about that: given what he's heard about Narosian inbreeding, it would have been impossible to prove on family resemblance alone that Riyyh was the individual responsible.
Nikki wonders if he means she can come live with him. That would be nice. He has pretty things.
Howe had been debating the possibility of trying for a "collective genetic responsibility" argument, but was skeptical as whether it would fly in court.
Riyyh: I have received no letters, no contact of any kind. And it must have been a difficult passage here, particularly with the risk of being trapped by snow.
Riyyh: How was it chosen to broach this subject here, now? It puzzles me.
Meana: Trapped by snow? What does he mean by that? You didn't say anything about that.
Riyyh: Why, we are in the mountains here. At these elevations, and this removed from formal transportation....
Meana has no intention of getting stuck in an environment full of males!
Riyyh: I have been hoping to leave any day now myself.
Howe: Don't worry, my dear, we have time to get back to the...
Meana: How dare you....[fairly foaming at the mouth with indignation]
Howe's voice trails off as a gust of wind shakes the tent, hoping that it's dust and not precipitation making the pattering noise.
Riyyh has been delayed by the snag in obtaining the required supplies for the bath house, and further delayed by the necessity of masterminding a solution to Sayward's Gen problem.
Howe steps back from Meana's rabid attack.
Riyyh zlins Meana in some concern.
Riyyh: My dear, er, Meana is it? Please, sit down. You're quite distraught.
Riyyh: Would you like any tea? Something to eat?
Howe reflects that there are disadvantages to being a cut-rate shyster type of lawyer: the corporate specialists don't have clients like his.
Howe looks at Riyyh, a bit disconcerted by this show of hospitality.
Meana growls inarticulately and plops down on a convenient stool.
Riyyh stands, letting Nikki down onto her feet.
Riyyh: There, now, go to your mother. She's not angry with you.
Howe hadn't quite envisioned bursting in on the miscreant with a nasty lawsuit, and being offered tea and scones.
Riyyh pats Nikki on the back, then goes to see if the tea water he'd started is hot yet.
Nikki looks up at her father. He doesn't seem to know that it doesn't matter if mamma is mad with her or not. She is still going to get it.
Howe thinks that Riyyh isn't at all the debonair, fast-talking, uncaring swashbuckler he'd imagined.
Nikki clings to him even harder.
Riyyh: Oh, dear.
Riyyh manages to make it over to the tea area (well, the preparing-tea area - there is tea all over the tent in boxes) despite the impediment of having a kid wrapped around him.
Riyyh has a certain amount of practice at that, after all.
Riyyh: [and not all with kids]
Howe: Now, my clients did their best to preserve their reputations, by not bringing their difficulties to the attention of the surrounding community.
Meana watches her daughter cling to that despoiler of virtue.
Meana: Nikki! Come here!!
Riyyh flinches at the shout.
Riyyh: Please, go to your mother, Nikki. [kindly, if apologetically]
Nikki whimpers and reluctantly lets go of Riyyh's leg.
Riyyh: Maybe we can spend some time together later, okay?
Riyyh: But for now, you'd best do as she asks.
Howe: However, although it was possible to conceal the presence of twenty infants, twenty active youngsters is a different matter entirely.
Nikki looks at him, knowing there will never be a later.
Riyyh strokes Nikki's hair again, sadly.
Nikki: Okay. [tears are starting to form in her eyes]
Riyyh finally remembers which flavor of tea Alderberry Commune orders from Naros' catalog each year, and turns to the tea counter in some relief.
Riyyh searches for the correct packet.
Nikki walks over to her mother but tries not to get too close.
Meana: Now stand right there and don't move!
Nikki: Yes mamma. [tries to make herself as small as possible]
Howe: Due to an unfortunate incident involving a low place in the wall surrounding the Alderberry Women's Commune and a nearby apple orchard inhabited by the area's most prominent gossip, the presence of Nikki and her, um, siblings is now known in the area at large.
Riyyh measures the tea leaves into three gold-edged, trinrose-pattern china cups.
Howe looks from Nikki, who was apparently the ringleader of the breakout, to her mother, who was appointed by the others to take care of the outside contact with dreaded men as a result.
Riyyh: Surely the people expect Alderberry to have heirs? ... Replacements?
Howe: Recruits, certainly. But not children!
Howe: At least, not children conceived while they were actually living at Alderberry.
Howe: How can they show their faces to their neighbors, with such evidence of a breach of their principals walking at their sides?
Howe: They gave you shelter from a bad storm, made an exception to their rules as an act of compassion.
Howe: And you have repaid them by branding them as the worst sort of hypocrites in the eyes of their neighbors!
Riyyh places the tea cups and saucers on a small tray, along with honey (alas, no cream at the Dam, at least not yet) and three silver spoons.
Riyyh turns around, carrying the tray.
Riyyh: My dear man, I have accused them of no such thing.
Howe leaves out the bit about the Alderberry women actually being exactly the sort of hypocrites the neighbors think them--he makes a good living by not passing judgment on the sorts of clients who hire him.
Riyyh: And truly, had I known it would come to this, I might have put up more of a struggle.
Howe: No, you have merely left them with twenty children to explain.
Riyyh thinks they might have enjoyed that.
Nikki is fascinated by the silver spoons. They are so shiny and bright.
Nikki only has dull grey metal spoons at home.
Riyyh places the tray on the bed and carefully offers a cup and saucer to Howe.
Howe is once more derailed by Riyyh's response.
Riyyh: Honey?
Howe automatically takes the cup, shaking his head.
Howe: Er, no thanks.
Howe: What was that you said about "more of a struggle"?
Riyyh offers a second cup and saucer to Meana, with some trepidation. He would hate for one of the precious pieces of china ware to get broken.
Howe had been under the impression that Riyyh had been the slick seducer, and the Alderberry women innocent victims.
Riyyh attempts to smile kindly at her, past his nervousness.
Meana glares at Riyyh, refusing the tea.
Howe hates it when lack of information from a client throws up unexpected surprises.
Riyyh: Oh my, I only meant to say that they did ask me to perform this service for them, and that I wasn't terribly difficult to convince.
Riyyh offers the tea to Nikki instead.
Riyyh can occasionally be embarrassed by his own easiness, although not as much so as some people would hope.
Howe looks at Meana for an explanation.
Nikki smiles and reaches for the pretty cup.
Meana: Nikki!
Nikki stops in mid reach and hangs her head.
Nikki: No thank you.
Riyyh nods, and removes the cup and himself back to his seat on the bed.
Riyyh adds honey to the cup.
Howe sips at his tea, then smiles widely at the unexpected pleasure of the taste.
Howe: This is excellent!
Riyyh smiles at the compliment.
Riyyh sips the honeyed cup, noticing as he does that he must remember to finish his manicure.
Riyyh finds that the details become even more important when on the road, especially in a location as harsh as this one.
Meana is beginning to squirm a bit. The details of that occasion had been a bit fuzzy in her mind too.
Meana remembers the porstan had flowed a bit freely that night.
Howe notes his client's discomfort.
Howe had figured that there were details he wasn't being told, but this sounds like a bit more than a detail.
Meana: What do you mean? You violated us -- er our trust.
Howe: Twenty children in one short stay does seem a bit... excessive.
Riyyh: I had no idea.
Meana is losing a bit of her impetus. She had believed that he had raped -- seduced her and her sisters.
Riyyh: Surely some of them must have been twins?
Riyyh wasn't exactly in a position to be sure, but he could have sworn there had been no more than 7 or 8 women involved.
Howe: There are two sets of twins, and I understand there were twenty-one adult women in the commune at the time of your visit.
Meana: But he....
Meana: I mean there were....
Meana can't remember what happened for sure.
Howe: I understand that one woman was down with the flu during your visit, and two were away visiting their elderly mother and were unable to return due to the same storm that caused you to seek shelter.
Meana: It doesn't matter our reputation is ruined and he must pay!!
Nikki cringes away from her mother.
Riyyh winces at Meana's outburst.
Howe: There is also the matter of breach-of-promise. The women of Alderberry allege that you expressed quite specific and personal admiration, such that each had reason to believe that you were uniquely interested in her above all others.
Riyyh looks somewhat guilty at that last.
Howe: Until they compared notes the next day, of course, and discovered that you had said much the same thing to all of them.
Riyyh: Well, each of them is special and unique in her own way.
Howe: That may be true. However, one usually reserves such compliments for one's particular sweetheart.
Riyyh has no comment on that score.
Meana tries to remember what if anything he said to her. She must have been drunker than she thought. What ever it had been, he had persuaded her to abandon her principles for him.
Meana: I don't care! We have lost our credibility and most of our support in the community. We can no longer care for ourselves and it is your fault!
Riyyh frowns unhappily.
Howe: I believe that my clients can be forgiven for assuming that words such as "You are a perfect and unique rose bud, unfolding in the morning dew" denoted a statement of enduring interest on your part.
Howe: Particularly when you were, er, closely inspecting the rose bud in question with great interest.
Nikki wishes she could stay here with the nice pretty man even if he isn't her father.
Riyyh spreads his hands and tentacles apologetically.
Riyyh: I only did as I thought they wished me to do. If I was mistaken, I apologize.
Riyyh: And I do agree to support the children as required.
Riyyh thinks his House will not be pleased with the extra burden, particularly if the commune insists upon using Narosian finances to bolster their own sagging... er, drooping... er... failing economy.
Riyyh can only get so much mileage out of his stint as Interim District Controller, and the income that provided.
Meana: [to Howe quietly] I don't remember everything that happened that night. Just get us out of here before we get stuck with this heathen.
Howe blinks, not having expected his client to crumble at the sight of her ravisher.
Howe admits to himself that Riyyh doesn't look or act like much of a ravisher, despite the twenty pieces of evidence to the contrary.
Howe decides that he'd better rethink this case quickly, because his reputation won't last if he looks like an idiot in court.
Howe had thought that this was such an open-and-shut case, too.
Howe decides a strategic retreat is in order.
Meana makes a mental note to remove all alcoholic beverages from future Winter Festivals.
Howe: Sectuib Riyyh, my client and I must consult with regards to possible amendments to the charges.
Riyyh smiles kindly.
Riyyh: By all means.
Howe: We will return shortly when the amended version has been prepared.
Howe realizes that he is still holding the gilded teacup.
Howe thriftily drains it before setting it carefully aside.
Howe replaces the papers detailing the charges in his pocket, glad now that he didn't actually serve them.
Howe would hate to spoil his case entirely by allowing his vict--er, the alleged ravisher of innocent Meana and her sisters--to get a sneak preview of his approach.
Howe: Come, my dear. We have much to do today.
Riyyh smiles sadly at Nikki, hoping that the child's mother doesn't hold the accident of her birth against her.
Meana gives the shyster a dirty look for his familiarity and grabs Nikki as she stands to leave.
Nikki looks back and Riyyh longingly.
Nikki: Bye, Daddy.
Meana: Nikki!
Howe wishes he could work in the sort of luxurious surroundings that Riyyh occupies.
Howe contents himself with contemplating the possibility of getting another cup of tea when he returns to server the amended papers.
Go on to Episode #60: Strayed from the Tree
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