Gales of giggles carried from the upstairs reading room down through the ground floor of the Rhy'Din Public Library, permeating the entire building with the sound of Riley's amusement. She'd been holed up since just after the Library had opened that morning, pouring over the City's law books. Quite a few of the laws were sensible, but would no doubt prove difficult to enforce. Some of them completely contradicted each other. And still others were so ridiculous, they made her laugh raucously despite dirty looks and repeated shushings from the librarians.
She'd written a list of her favourites to bring home to share with Danny. Included on this list were such gems as "It is illegal for a man to beat his wife with a strap wider than two inches without her consent", and "Criminals must give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and explain the nature of the crime to be committed." The Governor would no doubt be delighted to know that he was required by law to provide all newly-settled families with a hog and that one may not host a game of marbles in the Marketplace unless he or she first obtains a written permit from him. Well, that particular law could be amended to reflect the newly-created office of Citizen Resources. Maybe those cute girls of Brian's would like to take care of those permits.
Just as she'd calmed down enough to stop giggling, she stumbled across yet another gem, this one indicating that catapults may not be fired at buildings within city limits. Apparently it was perfectly all right to fire them into crowds of people, vehicles, the river, and buildings outside of the city limits, however. "Wow," she muttered and shook her head. These books were definitely in need of complete review and overhaul. It was a job that would no doubt take at least a month and probably require at least one other person, maybe two.
She frowned suddenly as a thought struck her. Did the city have something like a Constitution or a Bill of Rights" Would she have to hold a general election just to get laws changed" Would it be possible to get a representative from each race in the City together on a judicial review council" Should she even attempt to license attorneys and require a Bar Association' What about court records" Where were they kept' Were they even kept at all" "Jesus," she muttered as she jotted down all of these questions on the flip side of a sheet of paper that already contained 20 or 30 other questions. "You've gotten yourself into quite a position, haven't you, Ri?"
Chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip, she turned back to the books and snorted with amusement when she discovered that it was illegal to carry a fish into a bar. It was also apparently against the law to shoot at a member of the Watch with a laser gun, but there was no mention about conventional weaponry, clubbing one over the head with a blunt instrument, or stabbing one with the sharpened end of a pencil.
She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and looked up to see Miss Krunkle, the head reference Librarian. "We're closing now, Ms O'Rourke," she said in her soft voice.
Riley nodded and gathered up her notes and rose from her chair. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Krunkle. Hey, do you think it'd be possible for me to reserve one of those private study rooms for a while" I have the feeling I'll be here a lot for the next few months." The Librarian nodded and told Riley to stop by the reference desk when she came back the next morning to get a key for one of the private rooms. "I'll have all your books waiting for you," she added.
Riley left, feeling more than a little overwhelmed. But she was back doing what she loved most and would make it work...no matter what this odd little slice of the Multiverse threw at her.
((OOC Note: All of the dumb laws mentioned in this post are based on actual laws in the US, with some minor adjustments to reflect the...special nature of Rhy'Din. If you're curious about what other sorts of stupidity your lawmakers have dreamt up, check out Dumb Laws))
She'd written a list of her favourites to bring home to share with Danny. Included on this list were such gems as "It is illegal for a man to beat his wife with a strap wider than two inches without her consent", and "Criminals must give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and explain the nature of the crime to be committed." The Governor would no doubt be delighted to know that he was required by law to provide all newly-settled families with a hog and that one may not host a game of marbles in the Marketplace unless he or she first obtains a written permit from him. Well, that particular law could be amended to reflect the newly-created office of Citizen Resources. Maybe those cute girls of Brian's would like to take care of those permits.
Just as she'd calmed down enough to stop giggling, she stumbled across yet another gem, this one indicating that catapults may not be fired at buildings within city limits. Apparently it was perfectly all right to fire them into crowds of people, vehicles, the river, and buildings outside of the city limits, however. "Wow," she muttered and shook her head. These books were definitely in need of complete review and overhaul. It was a job that would no doubt take at least a month and probably require at least one other person, maybe two.
She frowned suddenly as a thought struck her. Did the city have something like a Constitution or a Bill of Rights" Would she have to hold a general election just to get laws changed" Would it be possible to get a representative from each race in the City together on a judicial review council" Should she even attempt to license attorneys and require a Bar Association' What about court records" Where were they kept' Were they even kept at all" "Jesus," she muttered as she jotted down all of these questions on the flip side of a sheet of paper that already contained 20 or 30 other questions. "You've gotten yourself into quite a position, haven't you, Ri?"
Chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip, she turned back to the books and snorted with amusement when she discovered that it was illegal to carry a fish into a bar. It was also apparently against the law to shoot at a member of the Watch with a laser gun, but there was no mention about conventional weaponry, clubbing one over the head with a blunt instrument, or stabbing one with the sharpened end of a pencil.
She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and looked up to see Miss Krunkle, the head reference Librarian. "We're closing now, Ms O'Rourke," she said in her soft voice.
Riley nodded and gathered up her notes and rose from her chair. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Krunkle. Hey, do you think it'd be possible for me to reserve one of those private study rooms for a while" I have the feeling I'll be here a lot for the next few months." The Librarian nodded and told Riley to stop by the reference desk when she came back the next morning to get a key for one of the private rooms. "I'll have all your books waiting for you," she added.
Riley left, feeling more than a little overwhelmed. But she was back doing what she loved most and would make it work...no matter what this odd little slice of the Multiverse threw at her.
((OOC Note: All of the dumb laws mentioned in this post are based on actual laws in the US, with some minor adjustments to reflect the...special nature of Rhy'Din. If you're curious about what other sorts of stupidity your lawmakers have dreamt up, check out Dumb Laws))