[HOE] The Firm

[Dusarat@aol.com]

Four Words Rich!
    Debs, Varshafsky, Phemen, and Pestivich!  

    This is the greatest HoE idea I ever had and I need someone to bounce it 
off of!  I was driving along, and it occurred to me that just about the best 
role-playing fun you could have would be to transport the grizzled 
post-apocalyptic HoE'ers into.... the glory days of 1999!  Think it, there 
they are, well-armed, well-stocked, without any money, picture ID, the 
magnetic strips that make up our life, and very little memory of what things 
are like.  
    But HOW you ask?  Well, the stars are in conjunction, and the party is 
found by an emmissary from those nebulous of forces, "The powers for good".  
A spirit of an old hero, or on old black woman in a rocking chair (A la The 
Stand), or whatnot.   And they are told, that They have become important.  
Their next deed will be noticed by some very influential powers, and the 
trial will be fierce.  
    And at the next opportunity, they find that a loved one, or a cherished 
object, or some other personal thing has been taken from them, and brought.. 
to Phoenix.  It has to be something personal, bad guys have come after the 
party personally and the party has to enter Phoenix to undo the damage.  

    And in Phoenix, that's where they Enter the Ghost storm and into.... 
Downtown modern day Phoenix!  Busy streets, urban sprawl, people who actually 
look down on guns (But it is Arizona, so they don't look down on guns too 
much, this can be fun later on as the most unusual people pull out guns).  
Imagine it, HOW do they get by?  If you've ever been in a city, known no one, 
had no currency, no place to stay, and no job lined up (I've been in this 
situation once, and it's the most memorably disoriented position of my life), 
you know how impossible this would be.  MEanwhile, they see posters, signs, 
bilboards, on the sides of buses, on buildings, on TV's, on radio, and 
amongst other things, there are ads,

    Varshafsky, To get your share in Divorce.
    Elect Judge Debs, to get hard on crime!
    Keep filth off TV and out of Schools, Jack Phemin, atty at law, 
    Mark Pestivich, Representing the people of Phoenix in lawsuits for over 
20 years

    And you make it messy.  Make their search for whatever it is, 
frustrating, harsh, and make everything go wrong.  And then they get thrown a 
bone, whatever it is, whoever it is, it's at the Courthouse.  And they can't 
get into the trial.....

    Unless they have a Lawyer.   

    And by now you guessed it.  And here is the fun of the scenes coming up.  
 Because the three offices that they walk into are set up very carefully.  
Watch some legal shows for inspiration.  

Varshafsky,
    Blind Justice is on the desk, her sword held high. Newspaper clippings, 
dot the office,  Huge monetary fees, pictures of sobbing wives, grinning 
husbands, some holding their hands in the air with 'Victory' signs.  
Headlines like "Dawson vs Dawson", "Cramer seizes Custody", "Kilroy wins 
settlement of 70 million", "Hurtz Vs Hurtz, the Children decide..."  
    Play Varshafsky as the bellicose fighter.  Imagine a Lawyer with a 
nickname of "Mad Dog".  Passionate, and he gives the party a schpiel.  He'll 
lead them to their goal.  With his help, nothing will stand in their way.  
With the bang of the gavel, they will hear....... Victory!  
                            And they better turn him down....

    Phemin's office, Blind Justice, scales held.  Other than that, four 
blank, wooden walls.  Phemin is like a Mantis, his fingers laced together.  
    "We'll take it from them", he says, "They have no right, they don't.  
It's unecessary.  All they want to do is force it upon you, you need to keep 
safe.  I kept the dangerous ideas out of schools, children didn't need those 
ideas.  People, people don't need those ideas.  With me, we'll cleanse the 
system, make it..... pure.  Sometimes, people should do without.... 
sometimes, we must make them."

                And they better turn him down

    Pestivich.  He's on his Cell-phone.  Young, good looking, suave, I bet we 
all hated him in High School.  A nice silk tie on his impeccably pressed 
shirt, a crown tie pin.  His office is filled with drawings, of himself, in 
court.  He swivvels his chair to face the party, he smiles, 
    "I know it's yours.  You have a right to it.  I need you to believe that 
are else I can't fight for you.  And you know it's true.  You've worked hard 
haven't you?  You've felt pain, you've made sacrifices, and it's time for 
payoff.  Look me in the eye, hold your head up high, and let me hear you say 
it, 'it's time for mine'.  Come to me, let me get it for you, let us get it 
together!  It's all about you........ I'm........  all about you."

            And when they turn him down.  They are escorted from the 
premises, on the front steps, is their old woman, she tells them, they can 
represent themselves.  If they get to the Courthouse.  
    And since they're not WITH the lawyers, they're against them.  They turn 
a corner and Pestivich is down the street, talking on his Cell phone.  
Pestivich takes the cell phone from his ear, it seems to stretch into a 
curve.  A bow is now in Pestivich's hand with his Cell-phone as the handle.  
He lets loose with an arrow for each member. This is pause time, Pestivich is 
invulnerable, immovable, unblindable, drama.  Each arrow hits, every roll the 
party makes is at a -5 from here on as they feel the disease....

    Phemin leads protesters.  Activists, Religious rightists and sign wavers 
obstruct the party wherever they go.  

    Varshafsky and the cops.  Shots are fired, batans are waved, remember 
that -5!
    
    And when they get to the Courthouse.  It goes quiet.  The court is dark.  
Whispers, "Crime.... crime... crime...".  A breeze waves, "The crime......."  
Their loved one is in the witness stand, the jury box is filled with shadows, 
"The crime".  
    It rises from behind the bench, Black, robed, white curls frame a face of 
blank darkness (Remember those Judge wigs), "guilty...", "The crime...."  
"The crime... is life..."
    Th gavel bangs "The sentence... is death..."

    Here's the tough part.  THey have to get the message from the other three 
horsemen that there is more to each than just blunt "Death War Famine 
Pestilence".  So as Death begins to whomp all over the party in a fight to 
the.... well.. him.   There need to be clues, they have to get the fact that 
Death is about Fear of Death, not Death.  Death isn't 'Trying' to kill them, 
he wants them scared, and he'll toy with them for eternity.  They have to 
understand that if they grab the loved one, and willingly run into death's 
arms, and that's the portal out.  

    So how do you do that?

            So, what do ya think?

                    Damon