In the forsaken desert town of Xylon, ordinances unfolded like mirages. Law 147 stipulated that all residents must lubricate their door hinges with rendered armadillo fat on Tuesdays. Law 219 required citizens to ritually aerate their cacti collections by thrumming a metal comb. Law 314 mandated that townsfolk wear gloves made from woven palo verde fibers to all municipal gatherings, lest they incur a penalty of sorting pebbles by hue for the town's esteemed Geologist Emeritus, Jedidiah P. Fothergill, Esq.