Swamped

Tom First! Such a fun buddy

The night medic, you guess. Who knows when you might lose the other arm.

Isn't his name Tai Braker or something?

You decide to pay a visit to the night medic. Might as well meet someone new, after all, and you can probably help with treating the wounded more easily than moving heavy things around.

You go over to the infirmary, which you're quite familiar with at this point, and it's clear enough who the night medic is. She looks harried, which is understandable considering she's up late by her schedule. At the moment she's talking to Tom Eighth. You're a bit surprised to see him here, you thought he'd be cleaning his room.

"Good to hear that mess in the holding cells is cleaned up," she says. "We have enough problems with the Marshguards without sending one back with rat sickness. I'll have John check when he finally wakes up. No way I'm dragging myself over there."

"I could wake him up, ma'am."

Now you wonder if you're dreaming. You've never seen Tom Eighth be that polite.

"No need. I've got a few decent hours left in me. Not in any shape to do surgery, but Cindy's well-rested and she's got the training to do anything short of that. And the worst injury we've seen is Greenbags' sprained ankle, thankfully. Anyhow, that's the high-priority repairs taken care of. Start on the bedrooms now, though I wouldn't exactly blame you for saving Corser's for last."

"Yeah, I heard it was really bad there."

Heard? He was there. You're really confused now.

"I believe that's all for the moment, Eighth. Dismissed."

"I'm Fifth, ma'am. Eighth's my older cousin. People get us mixed up all the time."

"Older cousin?"

"He's older, but he signed up a year and a half after I did. So I got a lower number. Doesn't help with the mixups."

"So, wait, are you the one working on the loud project, or..."

"He is. And I keep getting complaints about it. I used to pass them along, but he didn't really listen."

"I see. I'll try to keep you two straight, at least when I'm more awake than this. Now get those rat holes patched up."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Things are clearer to you now. Tom Fifth runs off, and the medic turns to you.

"Ah, the new recruit. I hear you were having a rough start, even before the arm." She yawns heavily. "I don't believe we've met when you were awake before."

"No, ma'am."

"Well. I'm Eve, the night medic, and I've heard every joke you're thinking of a hundred times before so don't bring it up." She groans. "Hoping John wakes up in the next hour or so, but I'll hold out until then. So, are you here for medical help, or..."

"I want to help out," you say.

"Right. There is a lot of work to be done. Now, you're too new to be on any formal squad, so I don't think I want you on repairs... the injured are taken care of... and cleaning might be a bit much, since I doubt you're used to using one arm for a lot of tasks yet."

"No, I'm not."

"Right, then I suppose the simplest thing for the moment is courier duty. That is, passing along orders to the other knights so they don't have to keep running back here in between jobs. Not the most glamorous of work, but it speeds things up a bit. Now, let me think..." She glances down at a notebook. "Getting harder to remember who I sent where. I'll be glad when I can finally get some shut-eye. Now, let's see, who did I have new orders for..."

The watchmen out out in a hunting blind/ watchtower a little ways off base. It should be easy to find if you just head straight on the walkways. Just watch your step

First off, you need to go down to the kitchen and tell someone to make a swamp bean coffee

One of the reconnaissance squads just returned. They typically get some time off after a long run but with all the repairs, they've been reassigned to equipment checks - make sure the greatrats didn't damage any of the more critical items.

These are tough guys and ...probably wont appreciate being told that they have to get working again, but uh...good luck!

"East watchtower," Eve says suddenly. "Right. One of the Pest Control squads had to go out last night. Can't go into details, but they left a lifeboat out there. It's been too busy for us to send someone to retrieve it. East Tower should be able to locate it, assuming the Marshguards didn't pick it up. You won't have to worry about retrieval, just get to the tower and inform them."

"How do I get there?"

"Out the main doors, turn east and it's straight along the walkway. It's all patrolled territory, so if you're worried about swamp creatures, you can just find a patrolling knight and go with them. Probably won't take you all the way, but they can guide you to another knight who goes closer, and keep that up all the way to the tower."

"Could I just pass the message on to them?"

"Wouldn't recommend that. Too easy for it to get lost. Patrol requires a lot of attention, you see. Easiest if there's a dedicated messenger. Hold on while I write you a note." She scribbles something quickly and hands it to you. "Report back once you know if the boat's there or not."

"Got it." You put the note in your pouch. "Is that it, then?"

"Oh, one more thing. East Tower's not really a tower, per se, but you'll know it when you see it. Just so you don't get confused."

Well, that seems clear enough. You head to the front of the base, turn east, and start walking.

Until, that is, you find a gaping hole in the walkway, one that looks suspiciously similar to the greatrat hole in Juliet's room. You can go around it easily enough, but you're more than a little concerned about what might be lurking nearby.

Perhaps you should take Eve's advice and find a patrolling knight. Or, you could press forward and get to the tower sooner.

What are you going to do?

Look around cautiously first, but if you don't see anything then keep going. Still, do talk to the next patroller you see!

Climb a ladder.

Go back and get your skyslicer

If you have a source of light, maybe you can peer into one of these holes and see what it looks like.

Patrolling knight > pop out of hole.

Also, did Burgundy get stuck with patrol duty or was she up to something else?

You decide to look around carefully first. Maybe it's nothing.

You hadn't noticed before how close the walkway was to the muck; there's barely a foot of distance in between. You were sure there was more height closer to the base, but then again, that might just be because it's on a hill.

You don't see anything on the walkways, not even a fellow knight, so you take a closer look in the water.

And you think you see a shadow. One that's getting bigger. Instinctively, you step back and reach for your slicer.

Except it's not there. You curse yourself silently as you recall that you flung it in a rat's eye last night, and never went to the armory for a replacement.

But much to your surprise what pops out isn't a monster, but a Bogknight.

"Someone's there! Thank heavens. Pull me up, quick!"

You've only got one arm, and he feels heavy, but you find you've got enough strength to pull the knight's own hand to the surface of the hole. He braces himself against it, then grabs your arm with his other hand. You pull harder, until you hear a snap and then he starts climbing out easily.

You see that there's a large green weed wrapped around his legs, though. He's also rather bulky.

"Thanks," he says, gasping for breath and untangling the thick weeds from his legs. "I was patrolling and caught a greatrat sneaking through that hole. They're not much good at fighting while they swim, so I dove in after it. Managed to strangle it, but not before going low enough to hit the muckweed. Thought I was a goner."

"Are you all right? Maybe you should head back to base and get to the infirmary."

"I'll be fine in a few minutes, but I suppose it's best to be safe. Where are you headed?"

"East Tower."

"Not far, then. Tell you what, I'll take you there. Then we head back and I can tell the medic what happened." He stands up, and pauses for a moment; maybe he didn't get a good look at you before. "Judging by the arm, you must be the new recruit, Marshall?"

"I seem to be getting a bit of a reputation, but yes, that's me."

"I'm Walter. Used to be a wrestler before I heard the call of the swamp, so that's how I usually fight. I figured I could take a greatrat in the water, but it was tougher than I thought."

He does look stronger than most of the knights you've seen. You're almost surprised you were able to pull him out, but then, you did your share of heavy lifting back on the farm.

You both walk carefully around the hole and head for the tower. Is there anything you want to ask Walter about on the way?

Ask him what muckweed is?

And why a greatrat would burrow through the boardwalk if there's just water below it anyway

"What was it like, 'The call of the swamp'?"

ask him on a date (quick! while he's obligated cause you saved his life)

"So, what exactly is muckweed? It's that stuff that was on you, right?"

"Yeah. It grows pretty deep in the swampwater, deeper than we usually go. It's a lot like seaweed, but the big thing about it is that it's really sticky. Easy to get tangled up in it, and pretty sturdy too. I'm lucky it snapped; last time we had to rescue someone from some, we pulled it right out to the root."

"Strong stuff?"

"Very. I think this one wasn't quite mature. But Dean would know more about that stuff than I would."

You have to agree there. Still, something else is bothering you.

"Why did the greatrat dig through the walkway? There's just water under there, couldn't it have just jumped off?"

"Well, they aren't very bright. My best guess is it smelled something on the underside, and looked for a weak spot to dig through for it. There's always some boards that are weaker than others."

"But they can swim? That's nasty."

"Oh, yeah, they can. But they're not good at it. It's way easier to fight them in the water, provided you've got a bit of aquatic combat training." He looks a bit sheepish suddenly. "Maybe I could use a bit more of that, though. Just 'cause I hear the call of the swamp doesn't mean I'm a natural."

This is the second time he's mentioned that, and you've heard about it before. Maybe this is a good time to clarify.

"I, ah. I haven't heard the call myself," you say, unsure how he'll take it. "But, well. What was it like?"

"You haven't heard it? Then what the hell are you doing in this dump," he says, slapping your back playfully. "Seriously, though, most of us have heard it. I don't know how well I can explain it. It's like, one day, I knew I had to go to the swamp. Like I was needed here. Damned if I know what I'm needed for, but ever since I got here, I felt like I was where I was supposed to be. Am I making any sense?"

You can't really see what he's getting at, except by contrasting it with how you've felt since you arrived.

You've spent much of your time here feeling lost. Like you were an excess part in a machine that was working just fine until you came along. You've been trying to fit in, and you've made friends - better friends than you had in the outside world, anyhow - but the feelings haven't really gone away.

You don't feel like you don't belong, exactly. But you've definitely been lacking what Walter's just described.

He turns to you suddenly. This is the first time you've really seen his face since he took off the breather mask, and you can't help but notice he's rather handsome.

"You okay?" he asks. "You've been quiet all of a sudden, and you look a little pale."

"Sorry," you say. "Just, lost in thought."

"Does it bother you that you didn't hear the call? I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, you didn't. I just... Well, I'm still not quite used to how they do things around here."

"Ah, gotcha. Well, if it makes you feel any better, the call doesn't help much with that sort of thing. Ho, I could tell you some stories about my early days." He suddenly looks a bit embarrassed, which you can't help but find cute. "But not right now. We're here, at the East Tower."

The "tower", as it turns out, is more like a treehouse. You know better than to go up the ladder, so you call up.

"Orders from the night medic!" you shout. Someone comes down soon after, and you promptly recognize him as Nathan Grinnes.

"Well, if it isn't my new friend whose name I don't think I actually caught!" he says, smiling. "And my old friend Walter, to boot. My, what happened, Walter, you're looking awfully wet."

"Followed a stray greatrat into the water," he mutters. "Marshall here helped me out."

"Marshall! That's your name, yes, I knew I'd heard it going around. Couldn't quite place it, though. Well, Marshall, what news do you bring me?"

You hand him the note.

"Pest Control took out a lifeboat last night and had to abandon it. There's a sketch of where it should be, you're to tell us if it's there and retrieve it if it is."

"Right. I'll just head back up. Walter, why don't you come along, if it's there I'll need someone to look, and our dear friend Marshall doesn't seem to be in much shape to climb a ladder."

You can't deny that. Walter and Nathan climb into the tree, and you find yourself looking at Walter a little more closely than you were before.

Damn, he's cute. It's been a while since you found yourself feeling this way about someone.

But you also remember all too well what happened the last time.

Your ex girlfriend disappeared on you without a trace right before you had a chance to propose to her. You were worried at first, but her parents told you that she was fine and simply went off to travel... without you.

You're honestly not sure what you did wrong to this day, and it's made it hard to get attached to anyone since.

SpoilerShow

im not sure what the proposal ritual is in swamped world but i guess i should have clarify that he spent significant money on whatever the equivalent of a ring is

It was just another day at GB high...


I wonder if there's some sort of curse associated with being in the swamp without hearing the call...Walter doesn't seem to be aware of it, so it's probably fine.

It was, like, your seventh date? And you were the happiest with them you ever were but then it turned out it was all a huge con to trick you into giving them two entire years of savings

No. It won't happen this time, and it's almost certain nothing is going to get burnt down this time.

You think back to Sandra.

The two of you had really hit it off, and everything was going so well. Or at least, that's what you'd thought. Maybe you were just naive; it had only been a few months since you'd left the farm.

But really, even back then you could see the change in her after the fire. You knew she was shaken, even if you didn't know exactly why.

You thought the best thing was if you were there for her. That maybe you could ease whatever burden she was carrying.

Until, one day, when she vanished.

Her parents said she had gone off traveling, all over the old empire. They had no idea where she was headed next. Or why she hadn't told you anything.

In its own way, it was even stranger than your father's disappearance. That's probably why you tried not to think about it.

That was two years ago. The last time your life was stable, really. You even had a steady job, before the fire at least.

But the damage to the theater was too much, and even if it had stayed open, too few people could afford tickets. There was nothing in that town for you, so you moved on to the capital.

For a year and a half, you camped outside the labor office, taking on odd jobs as they came in. It wasn't much, but it kept you fed.

Maybe that's the real reason you approached the Bogknight recruiter when you saw her. Not to find your father, but to find some place to call home.

Your train of thought is interrupted when Nathan comes down.

"Boat's still there. Walter's up in the tower, since I don't usually get a chance to step out. I'll be bringing the boat here, then Walter's taking it back. You might as well wait around until then, it'll get you both back faster than walking." He smiles a little. "That's assuming I don't get ambushed, of course. That's always a risk."

"Can I help you out with that?"

"No, I'm just going to swim over to it. Hopefully I won't run into any greatrats, or anything too nasty. But I suppose you can watch and yell if you see anything behind me. Here."

He hands you a small device. It looks like a pair of long goggles.

"It's for looking through, if you haven't seen them before. Helps you see long distances. Walter's got a pair too, but he'll be looking over a wider range."

With that, Nathan hops into the water. You try on the device, and with a little effort you can spot the boat in the distance. You take the device off, and it's not even noticeable at all.

It takes a few minutes for Nathan to swim over, but he manages it without incident. He probably doesn't need you spotting for him now, so you think you may as well put the long goggles to use by glancing around in other directions for anything of note.

What do you see?

a sight you'd swore you would never forget; The monster from that night, practically camouflaged into the swamp, just standing there in the morning mist.. staring back at you.

A couple of cool landmarks, like rock formations, uniquely shaped trees

Ambush.

A strange shack made of a type of wood you've never seen before, certainly not anything that would grow in a swamp.