Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #82: The Green Marauder (12/9/00)
Racknie stands in the foyer of the Narosian bathhouse, surveying his latest efforts with justifiable pride.
Racknie thinks that the plants really do add the perfect touch, particularly the large one he has placed in the corner.
Racknie adjusts that pot just a bit, to show off the plant's best side. Or sides, rather, as it's large enough to fill the corner and then some.
Racknie tuts unhappily at one frost-burned leaf, but is generally pleased with how well it survived its journey.
Racknie thinks that it was well worth the bribe he offered the fishing boat's owner to allow a lighted brazier in his hold.
Racknie steps back, admiring the way that the steam from the hard-working boiler looks like fog, curling among the large green leaves.
Racknie adds a touch of warm water to the roots of a set of three potted palms.
Riyyh arrives at the bath house, at the bright and early hour of er.... 2PM or so. He's all ready to go for the day, clean and cheerful and full of energy.
Racknie is tutting as he removes dead leaves from an overgrown spider plant.
Racknie steps back to see if that improves its appearance sufficiently, or whether it must be repotted before it will be acceptable.
Riyyh: Why hello, Racknie.
Racknie turns to Riyyh with a broad grin.
Racknie: Sectuib! Aren't they beautiful?
Riyyh blinks at the spectacle before him.
Racknie rearranges one tuft of the spider plant to see how it looks.
Racknie: They'll add the perfect touch, once they've greened up a bit.
Racknie: The poor things weren't being looked after, at all.
Riyyh looks all around him; the entryway is filled with several dozen plants of various kinds, some of them suspiciously familiar.
Riyyh: Goodness gracious!
Riyyh: Isn't that impatiens from the Mayor's office in Salmonton?
Riyyh is sure there couldn't be two like that in Norwest; it's got yellow, pink, red, purple and magenta specimens all in the same pot. And that pot! Chartreuse and turquoise. Oh my.
Racknie: Why, yes. He always kept forgetting to water it--look how stunted it is.
Racknie: It'll be much happier here, don't you think?
Racknie bustles over to check the impatiens for signs of thirst.
Riyyh: However did you convince him to part with it? There have been dozens of stories about how much he charged Arat for his chair.
Riyyh knows Racknie didn't pay actual money, as he hasn't asked Riyyh for any.
Racknie shuffles his feet.
Racknie: Well, I didn't actually....
Riyyh zlins Racknie at little more carefully.
Racknie realizes that this sounds a bit weak.
Riyyh's eyebrows rise in astonishment.
Racknie: It was being abused! I couldn't let it stay with someone who doesn't appreciate it, and look after it properly, could I?
Riyyh looks around at all the other plants.
Racknie looks at Riyyh with an expression of puppylike appeal.
Riyyh is reasonably sure that the forest ferns, which are basically balls of roots with the dead shoots cut off, were "rescued" from the forest. But the others....
Riyyh: Er....
Riyyh: Racknie, you did ask the owners of these plants before taking them, didn't you?
Riyyh sometimes has to ask these things when working with Racknie.
Racknie looks scandalized.
Racknie: And wake them up in the middle of the night? That would be inexcusably rude.
Riyyh winces.
Riyyh: Oh, dear.
Riyyh: You really shouldn't have gone in the middle of the night.
Racknie: It's not as if their previous owners cared about them. I mean, look at how root-bound this poor succulent is!
Racknie tuts unhappily over a jade plant.
Riyyh doesn't doubt that Racknie accidentally went at night, and that no foul play was intended. Racknie is well known for haring off on his latest venture without thinking through the logistics.
Racknie: And that rubber plant! Look at how it's all stretched out, trying to find a little light.
Riyyh is sure that Racknie arrived in Salmonton and began looking for plants without really thinking through the situation.
Racknie: It's practically starving.
Riyyh: Racknie, I am sure you meant well. [kindly]
Racknie at least meant well by the plants.
Racknie: People shouldn't have plants if they don't intend to take proper care of them.
Riyyh realizes that those raised in a communal Household like Naros might mistakenly think it is OK to borrow things from others' houses and workplaces without asking first, or even to scavenge and scrounge. But one might have hoped Racknie would know better after all his weeks in Capitol.
Riyyh: Well, yes, but you really ought to have asked.
Riyyh: Now, the first thing you must do after caring for these plants is to go and apologize.
Racknie: Oh, I'm sure we can send them a note or something.
Riyyh: No, I'm quite certain you must apologize in person.
Riyyh: After all, they must be permitted a chance to protest.
Racknie thinks it over.
Racknie: Well, I suppose they must have some feelings for the plants, or they wouldn't have them at all. Even if they don't know how to care for them properly.
Riyyh: Of course. It takes quite a deal of effort to raise plants, as you know. Just because they are ignorant does not mean they do not deserve the results of their own labors.
Riyyh: Imagine if somebody stole all of your experimental plants from home?
Racknie brightens.
Racknie: I know. We'll invite them all over here for tea, and explain to them just how much responsibility it is to take care of a plant.
Racknie: That way, they'll be able to consider whether they really want one, after all.
Riyyh: Now Racknie, that would never do. [placing a restraining hand on his son/grandson's forearm]
Racknie: They really ought to start with something a bit hardier, don't you think?
Racknie: Something that can survive a bit of neglect, if it has to.
Riyyh: Well, yes, but perhaps they prefer the challenge of the difficulty of these varieties. Or perhaps they simply like the looks of them.
Riyyh is trying to decide how much trouble Naros is in for smuggling uninspected agricultural materials across the border.
Riyyh decides probably not much, so long as no troublemaking snitches ever see the interior of the bath house... or talk to anybody from Salmonton.
Riyyh: Now, Racknie, you simply must take responsibility for the problems this will create.
Riyyh: You will have to go and apologize to each and every one of these people, and make what amends are possible.
Racknie straightens, the light of battle shining in his eyes.
Racknie: Of course, Sectuib.
Riyyh: Remember, you must be apologetic and conciliatory. If they wish their plants returned, you must do so.
Riyyh: Do you understand why?
Racknie: I'll explain to them how unhappy their plants were, and work with them to locate varieties that will thrive in the locations they want to put them in.
Riyyh sighs.
Racknie: Yes. It's not their fault that they don't know how to care for their plants.
Riyyh wishes Racknie were just a little bit better equipped to cope with the real world.
Riyyh: That isn't what I meant. [admits]
Racknie looks at Riyyh, openly bewildered.
Racknie can't comprehend of standing by and allowing a helpless plant to be abused.
Racknie: Experimented on, perhaps, but not abused.
Riyyh takes him aside and attempts to explain.
Riyyh: You see, Racknie, most people don't see plants as anything but objects.
Riyyh: Why, I don't myself.
Racknie: ~~ shock ~~
Racknie: But they're alive!
Riyyh: I realize that you have strong feelings about plants, but really to get along in our society - and in Gen society - one must take into account the feelings and rights of human beings.
Riyyh: And I'm afraid that a lot of people in Salmonton are going to be very angry about your stealing their plants.
Riyyh: Why, look at this little spider plant here. This pot looks to have been hand made. And this macrame plant holder... surely love went into it?
Racknie considers the pot and holder, looking stricken with conscience.
Racknie: You're right. It looks like a child wove it.
Riyyh: The people may not love their plants they way they love animals, but they do think of them as their possessions and they must have cared for them at least somewhat, or the plants would not be alive today.
Riyyh: None of these could have survived in this climate without care and protection.
Racknie: I'll repot the spider plant immediately, and return the pot and holder to their owner.
Riyyh's tentacles flutter as he looks somewhat pained.
Racknie: I know! I'll put a fern in the pot, too. It will be very happy in low light.
Riyyh: Racknie, your heart is in the right place, but I do wish you'd think these things out in advance.
Racknie is handicapped in this respect by an inability to think on one subject for more than two seconds.
Riyyh: Theft is a serious crime in Gen Territory.
Riyyh: There have already been trust issues between the camps and Salmonton, because of the channels going to take donations.
Riyyh: When they learn that someone has infiltrated their public spaces in the dead of night, why, they'll be furious.
Racknie: I'm sure they'll understand, when they realize what they were doing to their plants.
Racknie: Surely they'll be happier, when they have plants that will thrive for them?
Riyyh: I'm afraid they won't.
Riyyh: You see, your view on plants is unique, Racknie.
Riyyh: I'm not sure that anybody will ever understand it.
Riyyh: It's a matter of perspective. They would enjoy plants that grow well, but only if they were approached properly on the subject.
Riyyh is afraid that "perspective" is something Racknie might never experience himself.
Racknie is the first to admit that tact in approaching people is part of the 25% of Riyyh that he didn't get.
Racknie: How should they be approached?
Riyyh: Well, it is difficult now, because they will be angry.
Riyyh: You'll have to apologize for having wronged them in stealing their plants before you can do anything else.
Racknie frowns.
Riyyh: Then, explain why you stole them - not because you feared for the plants' safety, but because you wanted them for our bath house.
Riyyh: It is true, isn't it?
Racknie: Well, it's true that I found the plants when I was looking for the nursery.
Racknie went into all the most impressive buildings he could find in the town, but strangely enough, none of them were devoted to horticulture.
Racknie: If I hadn't been looking for plants, I'd never have visited Salmonton at all.
Racknie: And then those poor plants would still be suffering!
Riyyh: Oh, dear. [to himself]
Riyyh: Well, you must tell them that you stole the plants because you wanted plants for the bath house.
Racknie: But that would be a lie!
Racknie: ~~ shock ~~
Racknie's motives were, in fact, completely altruistic at the time.
Riyyh sighs.
Riyyh: All right, Racknie.
Riyyh moves his hand to rest it on the back of Racknie's.
Riyyh: I can see that this is beyond you.
Riyyh: I will arrange for the apology and the return of the plants myself.
Riyyh: But please, do consider the laws and mores of the outside world when planning your activities, Racknie. It does so simplify matters.
Riyyh has little hope that this will ever happen.
Racknie: ...return them? Without teaching their former owners how to make them happy?
Riyyh: It will not be possible to do that when they are angry. [kindly]
Racknie looks and zlins like a kicked puppy.
Riyyh: It is too late.
Riyyh: It would have been much better to offer them the advice without offending them first.
Riyyh thinks, and then offer it in small enough tidbits in a gentle enough way to avoid offending by the giving; a difficult task in and of itself.
Riyyh is not certain Racknie would have been up to that either.
Racknie certainly gets along better with artichokes than artisans, as anyone watching him try to help the bathhouse builders would know.
Riyyh: But it is good to remember that for the next time you find yourself in this situation.
Riyyh of course can't really hope this situation won't come up again. To do so would be tantamount to hoping Racknie gets lost in an avalanche or some such. Unthinkable.
Riyyh: Now, perhaps you could tell me where each of these was obtained?
Riyyh will have to think out his butt-kissing and grovelling strategy.
Racknie looks sadly at the potted jungle.
Racknie: Can we at least repot a few of them, and prune them a bit? Just to give them a chance?
Riyyh: I'm afraid not, not yet.
Riyyh pats Racknie's hand, and then goes away to prepare his unhappy mission.
Go on to Episode #83: Demonic Chorus
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