Devil's Advocate

Mr. Dum Rusleigh is an enigmatic person with an infectious enthusiasm and a youthful zest for life. Many other superlatives both positive and negative would be appropriate to describe his persona and of a lifestyle that was envied among the land locked tribes of the remote Kingdom of Zelistan. Rusleigh is a lawyer by profession but has had to give up his law practice for blatantly abusing the lawyer/client privledge in a landmark case that he was charged and found guilty.

Zelistan is the country with several small bordering villages in a hilly region where transport is mostly by bullock cart or on foot. Rusleigh is among the few who has been awarded a governmnet scholarship and studied from abroad. On return, he became the promising youngster among the tribes who followed archaic traditions including 'hero worshipping' of their ancestors. This is where he fell out with his congenial elders, where his enthusiasm for modern ways of exploring what is possible saw him cross the line into what his elders considered inexcusable bounds.

In better times, Rusleigh was the dashing young man always ready to take on controversial cases involving people who were testing the limits of freedom in a society controlled by a few dominant interest groups. Rusleigh's father who owned several plantations and employed many workers for a meager wage is not at all pleased to find his son unwilling to fit into the hitherto acceptabale social mold. On several occasions, he advised his son not take up cases which would confront the authorities.

Zelistan was ruled by a king , an absolute monarch. He had a council of ministers to run the states day- to- day affairs . His majesty was consulted before any important decision was made. The king has set aside the most fertile lands in the country for his private use, some for his holiday retreats and one for a stadium and playground which is being used by an elite group at the pleasure of the king.