Van Rijn Rolls

"Territory," see here.

"Territory" begins on p. 1 of Volume II of Poul Anderson's The Technic Civilization Saga. On p. 6, "A hoarse basso answered..." through a closed and locked door. This is our first indication that a familiar continuing character is with us again. When the door is unlocked:

"The merchant rolled through." (ibid.)

He does not literally roll - I have seen someone do this - but maybe he gives that impression. I think that I noticed that he was described as rolling in The Man Who Counts and I thought that that was inappropriate at the time because then he was starving. However, I have not re-found the passage when looking for it. But I did find another reason for van Rijn to stand up:

"You've been winning too motherless often for my taste.'
"Van Rijn surged to his feet like a broaching whale.
"'By damn, you take that back or -'"
-The Man Who Counts, p. 426.

We gather that:

van Rijn cheats but cleverly;
he needs money to issue bribes to get things done;
he needs to retain respect by acting tough when challenged;
nothing is spontaneous;
everything is an elaborate act.