Haguan

"Day of Burning."

The kidnapped Chee Lan meets her captor, Haguan Eluatz, the head of the Gethfennu, Mersian organized crime:

huge;
black (not green);
bulging belly;
embroidered robe;
heavily scaled;
almond-shaped eyes;
scimitar-like nose;
glittering rings;
squatting on his tail;
accented Eriau;
gun and intercom on a large desk of dark, polished wood.

The setting:

somewhere on the planet Ronruad;
white fur carpet;
glowing pictures;
soft music;
sweet incense;
a couch;
an offer of arthberry wine;
windows showing -

-ruddy sand,
strange wild shrubbery,
a dust storm,
gaunt hills,
ice crystals,
the sun Korych, fierce through a tenuous atmosphere
and a few stars, including Valendary, the supernova whose radiation has not reached Korych yet.

Merseian governments hope that the League will not protect the Gethfennu from the supernova so Haguan must make his own arrangements. When he mentions torture:

Korych sets;
the sky turns black;
many "...beautiful but uncaring..." (p. 256) stars appear;
Haguan switches on a light and offers rewards.

Thus, a perfect synchronization between the universe and Haguan's dialogue.