Swamped

With Greeneye out you and starling are our next best scouts. We have to split up to keep our best eyes open. You can take this route, but then Starling goes with Legs and Rotmouth.

Rivers doesn't trust you, but she trusts Rotmouth far less. Given the choice, she'd want Starling with you. But to seal it, hand her the deck of
cards (the pack missing her hand) and let her know that it's not just Rotmouth who's being tested. Rivers is keen enough to pick up that like the swamprats game, this is a chance for Starling to grow, and for Rivers to test you.

And it's like a ten minute walk, okay?

"Shorty, what happened the last time you went on a scouting mission?" you ask.

"Do we gotta bring that up again, Boss?"

"Yes, Shorty, we do. Remind everyone what happened."

"...I found the Bogknight squad we were trailing, but I completely missed the weak walkway between us. And also the gator sitting below it. Ended up alerting the Bogknights, and they pulled me out and dragged me back to their base. They laughed about it for weeks."

"What's this got to do with me?" Rivers says, scowling.

"I told Legs to watch our guest. So he can't devote all his observation time to looking for odd things that might lead to our escapee. We need a good scout on each team, and you and Starling are better at that than I am. Greeneye's better, sure, but she's still recovering. So, Starling either goes with me, or with Rotmouth. If you're sure you want to switch..."

Rivers is looking doubtful. But she's not actually saying anything.

"Oh, and another thing. I noticed your hand was missing from our game earlier."

"So what?"

"So, here's the rest of the cards. May as well have 'em all in one place." You pull the deck out and hand it to her. "I haven't looked at any besides my own - but if you don't believe me, you can level the playing field when we finish things up later."

She doesn't answer, still, but she does stand behind Legs. That's about as cooperative as she gets, you suppose.

"Right. Any other problems?"

Rotmouth mutters a bit under her breath, but that's it. You figure that's good enough.

"Okay. Let's get going. See you in ten."

You start walking down the long way. It's almost deserted; there's not a lot of important rooms in this direction. That's probably going to change once word gets out of the escapee, but for now you're the only ones actually patrolling it.

You all keep an eye out for what you can. Of course, you're not sure what exactly you're looking for, which makes it hard...

Oh hells. Is that Gray-maw walking this way? You don't think she's seen you yet, but it won't be long before she does.

How should you handle this?

Better tell your crew to look sharp. Keep Starling in the middle. Greymaw is packing a slicer, though she'd likely just settle for taunting you unless... Is that cocky bully twirling a set of cell keys?

"Hold it," you say. You point Shorty to Starling's right, and stand on the left so you'll be closest when Grey-maw approaches.

"That's good. Now, keep moving."

Grey-maw gives you a glare when you pass by. You try not to look worried.

"Hang on," she says suddenly. "Where are you three headed?"

"I heard there was an escaped prisoner," you say cautiously. "So I'm headed to the cells to check it out."

"Who ordered you on that job?" she asks.

"I'm under Mudviper's command right now," you reply. "And today she left me to my own initiative. It's an evaluation of sorts."

"Well. Razor left that investigation in my hands," Grey-maw says, pulling some cell keys out of her pocket. "So. Unless you've got some actual authority to look into this, you've got a choice. You can work under my supervision, or you can get lost. Which is it going to be?"

Damn. You should have known something like this would happen. Of course Razor would be giving his right-hand assignments that would make her look better to the Council.

So, what's your answer?

sleight-of-hand the keys

There's no way you're going to work under Grey-maw, but the fact she's trying to recruit you shows that she's confident. Possibly enough so to brag about the info she's already acquired.

Let her know that your squad is pissed someone let out the assholes that tied them up last night. There's no way we're gonna sit around while that happens. She'll understand the anger...might even help her relax more. Hopefully, too the thought of having to manage your whole squad is distasteful enough for her to drop it and let you pass.

Ask why she's heading away from the cells if she's investigating the escapee. She doesn't seem to be on anyone's trail at the moment.

Curious that she's by herself...unless she sent Gash and Carbuncle down the other path...

"Hang on. Where are you headed if the cells are that way? And why do you still have the keys in that case?"

She gives you a look as if you're thick.

"To keep them safe. That Bogknight's going to want to help his friends, so best to make sure the keys are in good hands. As to where I'm headed... well, I'm not answering that question until you answer mine."

Ugh. You couldn't work under her at the best of times. You definitely can't with the Council business in the background.

"And what are you going to do if we just press on and check things out anyways?" Shorty suddenly asks. Oh hells, when will he learn to keep his mouth shut?

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We ran into the prisoners last night. They tied us up. You think we're just going to sit by if one of them's on the loose? Our honor's at stake!"

Hang on, now. That's the sort of thinking Grey-maw understands.

"Yeah, it's not just about Mudviper testing me. I've got to make sure these Bogknights learn not to mess with my squad again. And that means we're handling this ourselves. You have a problem with that?"

Grey-maw chuckles.

"Never thought you, of all people, had that kind of backbone." She laughs. "And hells, if I have to deal with your whole mess of a squad, forget it. If you screw this up, I don't want that on my head. Fine, do what you will. But if you want any information out of me, it's going to cost you."

Well, despite what she just said, you've already worked one thing out. She's probably planning to use the cell keys to bait Jackson into a trap.

You're also going to keep the other team waiting... oh, hells, what if the rest of Grey-maw's squad is taking that path. That's just trouble waiting to happen.

Should you try to bargain with Grey-maw for info, or just keep moving on?

Dang it. She wants to arm wrestle. There's a reason arm wrestling is frowned on at the marshguards. It's all fun and games until Gray-Maw breaks your arm...that being said, you have been working out maybe you could...Nah youre gonna say nooo--oookay! Let's arm wrestle! Check this out! and-please-don't-notice-Starling-pickpocketing-you (Starling why are you doing that???)

"Well, I can't accept without knowing your price."

You have a pretty good idea of it, though, and Grey-maw confirms your suspicions when she holds up her arm.

"Arm-wrestling. Beat me and I'll tell you what I know. Lose, and you'll be taking orders from me tomorrow. So, are you up for it, or are you too afraid?"

Dammit. You walked right into her trap. If you turn it down now, even if you've got a good excuse, she'll spread word that you're a coward. Your chances of making the Council are already bad enough.

But if you accept... well, there's a good chance she'll break your arm, and there goes any chance of winning a combat trial. Not to mention whatever unpleasantness she puts you through tomorrow.

On the other hand, if you actually won, or at least forced a draw, that would be a major boon to your reputation. And you have been working out since your capture a few days ago.

Best bet is to play for a draw. You can use the time pressure as an excuse, without sounding like you're backing down.

"I'm already keeping the rest of my squad waiting," you say. "So we'll make this quick. If neither of us is down in one minute, we just stop the match there and call it even. Fair?"

Grey-maw sneers. She's confident you'll go down in less than a minute.

"Fair. Hey, short stuff, you're timekeeper." She tosses Shorty a pocket watch. "And don't try to end it early, I'll know if you do."

"Boss, have you lost it?" Shorty asks. "This is Grey-maw!"

"Let me worry about that, Shorty. You just keep an eye on that timer."

You hold up your arm and get in position.

"Start us whenever, Shorty."

"Three... two... one... Go!"

Grey-maw starts putting the pressure on immediately. That's her style. You feel your arm giving way, but you were prepared for it. Still, fighting back is a struggle. About ten seconds in, you feel your arm starting to give way.

"Not bad," Grey-maw says, sneering. "I didn't think you'd last this long."

That was a mistake on her part. Stopping to taunt you made her lose concentration, just a bit. Enough that you can start pushing back.

It doesn't take her long to catch on, though. She starts pressing again. You managed to gain a slight advantage before she noticed, but she's even better on defense than on offense.

In fact, you don't think she's even trying to win right now; just get you to tire yourself out holding her down. She figures she has time.

So you start holding back, just when she least expects it. She's not quite ready to go back on offense, so it takes her a bit of time to push again. By then, you've braced yourself.

"Thirty seconds left," Shorty says. You try not to think about it.

But Grey-maw seems thrown off. She expected to win by now. You feel just a bit of pressure lightening again, and you seize the chance. You push with all your strength, and...

It's not enough. You've got her arm down about halfway, but she's caught herself. And you're going to strain your arm keeping this up.

You should have played it safe. You've extended yourself too much going for a win that was clearly beyond you. Now you'll be lucky to make the timer.

You don't think pulling back will work this time, either. She wasn't taking you seriously at first, but now that's changed.

Still, if you keep the pressure on, one more distraction could be enough to pull through this.

"Fifteen seconds," Shorty calls out. You're both too focused to notice.

You feel like you'll give way soon. And once you do, it's over. If only...

"Grey-maw, what are you doing?"

You don't even have time to process Razor's voice, only the fact that Grey-maw's distracted by it. Now's your chance. You push down, hard.

"What the... I lost?"

"I don't care," Razor growls. "I gave you an important task. I can't have you wasting your time arm-wrestling. Get back to it!"

"But Razor, this is the guy you..."

"I made my recommendation, Grey-maw. I would appreciate not being forced to revoke it because you can't prioritize properly. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, got it," she grumbles. She gives you a glare. "I've already checked out the roost, couldn't find anything there. I'm heading for Rider's stable next."

"Don't talk to me about it, just go and do it!"

"Yes, sir."

Grey-maw runs off, more than a little deflated, and Razor turns to you.

"Corvus. What's this business I'm hearing about desert fever?"

How did he hear about it so quickly? You've never known Crosswinds to tell Razor anything before it was absolutely necessary, and you don't know who else might have brought it up.

And how are you going to answer?

It's like murderfly toxin but slow-acting. Back before I came here, I was part of... well, let's call it an organization. An organization that sometimes had business in the desert. I never went myself, but the couriers who did go there... several of them came back, and they weren't in good shape. Called it desert fever. And I just realized, it's the exact same thing we've been seeing here.

You decide to just straight-out answer.

"I've seen people come out of the desert with it. The symptoms are a lot like murderfly toxin, but they come more slowly. Which is exactly what's been happening to our troops. Doc looked it up, seems something in the desert sands makes you sick if you get too hot."

He seems surprised.

"When did you realize this?"

"Um, I had a nagging feeling ever since I saw Gills come down with it. But I couldn't quite place it until I had a look over Doc's reports on it. Then I realized heat was a common factor in all the cases, and that reminded me of the fever."

You're not sure what his angle is. He could be digging for dirt on you... but he might also be seriously sizing you up as a potential Councillor.

"You looked over Doc's reports?"

"It's a subject that came up when Mudviper talked with me. That was my third debriefing today, sir, so I'd appreciate it if we could make this one quick."

"I have other matters to attend to myself, so I suppose I'll resume this later if I have anything else to add. Before I dismiss you, though, I have one last question."

"What is it, sir?"

where's jackson, corvus you fucker?! you were the last one to see him, you must have done something

Good ole Razor, power hungry and paranoid. Fun how he just makes life harder for ya.

"Would you care to tell me what happened when you interrogated that prisoner earlier? Because he seems to have escaped."

"There's not much to say. I pressed him, he wouldn't talk, I handed him over to a guard. Pretty standard interrogation, really."

"Which guard?"

"I don't know her name offhand. Short lady. Grumpy. Seen her around before but we've never talked, in case you want to suggest that I handed him off to a Bogknight spy. I thought you just had one more question? Or do you need help with counting?"

He gives you a glare.

"I should be able to find her soon enough. We'll continue this conversation later. I suggest you be on time for your evening meal, Corvus; I think that would be an excellent time to discuss these matters."

Ugh. Well, that's going to put a damper on your appetite.

"Thank you sir," you say, straining yourself to sound as sincere as possible. He walks off, and you turn to your squad members.

"Well, that took longer than I would have liked. Let's get going..." You pause. "Shorty, please tell me you're sweating because Razor was just here, and not because you're coming down with desert fever."

"Grey-maw, too!" he shouts. "Who else are we going to run into down this hallway? Bigfoot? Clams? Are all the terrifying Marshguards getting together for some kind of conference?"

"Look on the bright side. Razor's given me a good excuse. Anyone else shows up asking questions, I can say I'm meeting with him later."

"Yeah, but what do we do if they notice Starling's got Grey-maw's keys?"

"We'll just... what?"

Starling smiles awkwardly.

'Well, I thought we'd want them if we're looking at the cells... and she was distracted by the arm-wrestling..."

"I can't believe this." You shake your head. "Well, nothing for it. Just keep those in your pocket. And if anyone asks, Gray-maw was so frustrated after the match that she didn't realize she'd dropped them. That's our story and we're sticking to it. Got it?"

"Got it," they both say. You press on. Fortunately, the rest of the walk is uneventful. Even more fortunately, everyone else is already there, though Rotmouth is looking bored and Legs seems really on edge. Rivers seems about as annoyed as usual.

"What took you so long?" Legs asks. "We've been waiting a good five minutes."

"Had a run-in with Grey-maw, and then Razor wanted to talk. Not exactly people I can ignore, you know. Any trouble on your end?"

"I was quite well-behaved," Rotmouth grumbles. "But this weasel doesn't seem to be happy with that."

"She's just waiting for the right moment," Legs says. "Hoping I'll let my guard down if she holds off."

"Can we just get moving already?" Rivers cuts in.

"Well, not so fast," Rotmouth says, grinning. "Shouldn't we tell the boss about that weird thing you saw on the way here first?"

"That wasn't anything important," Legs says. "No need to waste time on it."

"Wait, hang on," you say. "What did you see, Rivers? I need to know that before I can decide if it's worth taking another look."

something swimming this way comes

Rivers is a tad distracted by Starling bragging on you. But yeah- sure looked like something glimmered under the floorboards. Probably nothing.

"There was a small hole in the floorboards. I thought I saw a glint of something through there. Took a closer look, but all I saw was swamp muck." Rivers clearly seems annoyed.

"Could have been our escapee swimming through," you muse.

"Didn't see any sign of him. And the water below the base is too shallow for hiding. You can see the bottom."

"Hmm. I guess it's something to check out. If we find a big hole in the floor somewhere, certainly. But even if that's where he is, there's no real place to leave the base underwater. We already called a lockdown on the floodgates."

"Well, you can look for yourself if you want. Me, I just want to get moving. Don't care where."

"Right. Probably best to start with the cells, then we'll look for any holes he might have used to slip into the water. This way, everyone."

You lead the squad into the cells. Ringer and another guard are standing watch outside an empty cell with a noticeable gap in the bars.

"This where the prisoner escaped from?" you ask. Ringer rings his bell once, you're pretty sure that's a yes.

"Yeah, and Grey-maw already went over it," says the other guard. "Gave me a real chewing-out, too. All I did was escort him, I didn't even get shifted to cell duty until a half-hour ago."

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Butterfly. Look, I don't know what you want to check. We're making sure the others don't try anything, and we're keeping a close eye on this cell in case he's stumbled onto some sort of secret passage. But you're welcome to look at anything that catches your eye."

Well. Time to start the investigation, you suppose. There's six of you here; so what should you have everyone do?

Rivers and Starling start scouting the area to look for clues and signs of potential entrances/exits. Have Legs and Rotmouth chat it up with the prisoners, starting with Tom (have Rotmouth keep her distance during the chat) Legs managed to hit it off with Tom before, oddly enough. Shorty's on sentry duty, let us know when someone comes.

You're going to check the other prisoners, see if you can spot any contraband or something that could cut the bars...

Oh hey Jackson. Fancy seeing you here...in a cell...

Uh...Butterfly, out of curiosity, how many arms did the prisoner you escorted have?

Uh...Butterfly, out of curiosity, how many arms did the prisoner you escorted have?

3 of course, why

"Right. So first off, we're looking for places the prisoner could have left. Butterfly, just to be clear - no one saw him leave through the main entrance?"

"Nope," Butterfly says, shaking her head. "The cell was already empty when I got here."

"Who was on the shift before you?"

"Well, Ringer's shift is different from mine. So they were already here. I think the other guard on duty was Crook?"

Well. You can add "have a word with Crook" to your list of things to do once you're finished here, you suppose.

"So there must be some kind of passage. Rivers, Starling, search the cell block up and down for possible exits. Shorty, keep an eye out on the main entrance, on the offchance the prisoner comes charging back here to free the others. Legs, you got on well with Tom Tenth, go question him from outside the cell. Keep Rotmouth with you, of course, but make sure her breath doesn't get too close to him. Move on to the others when you're satisfied with his answers."

"And what are you going to do while you're all taking care of that?"

"I'm going to check the other cells. See if they seem to be hiding something, or waiting. Just seeing if anyone's expecting a next step."

With all that settled, everyone heads off into their positions. You glance into the cells.

There's a young woman, looks like a newmuck to you; a rather large Bogknight who looks like he might be able to just tear the bars out if he put a good effort into it; Dean, who you vaguely remember seeing some other time; and... Jackson?

Jackson gives you a meaningful look, to the effect of "so when are you keeping up your end of the bargain". But that means Crosswinds' info was wrong. You head back to Butterfly.

"Hang on," you say. "Did you escort more than one prisoner today?"

"Yeah, after I dragged yours back here, Razor had me take the one-armed kid to questioning. Again. Don't think he did the questioning himself that time, but I'm not sure who did."

Crosswinds must have missed that crucial piece of info.

So you've got a missing one-armed newmuck who's been the center of a lot of attention lately. You've got a promise to Jackson to reintroduce him to his cousin. You've got questions for Crook about what exactly he was doing. And you've got a dinner conversation with Razor to look forward to.

But all of that's going to have to wait until your team finishes their work here. And you seem to have taken care of your own task already, so it's time to move on to something else.

You could ask Butterfly some more questions, take the more troublesome approach of questioning Ringer, take a closer look at the empty cell, or go check on how your squadmates are doing. Or perhaps there's another option you're overlooking.

What are you going to do?

link jackson back up with his cousin asap, that's something that's been on your to-do list for too long.

Haha. Greymaw checked the rookery for a one armed Bogknight who can't climb ladders...

...Razor is keeping Marshall in the rookery isn't he.

Have Shorty run to the Rookery to grab some paper for you. Tell him to report back if he notices anyone there - like Greymaw's crew.

As for Starling, you need to check the room Marshall was interrogated in. Tell Rivers to make a small diversion to give Starling the chance to sneak in. (Wouldnt want those keys to go to waste). Tell Starling you'll make up an excuse to meet her in the room. Once she's in, ask to have a follow up interrogation with Jackson. Locks should allow it since you interrogated them once before. That'll get you, Jackson, and Starling in the same room, alone.

It suddenly strikes you that it's odd Grey-maw looked in the Roost; Marshall's only got one arm, which would make it hard to climb the ladders.

So odd that you wonder if there was some other purpose behind it.

You put yourself in Razor's position for a minute. You've got some peculiar interest in this prisoner, but you can't do the questioning yourself.

Wouldn't the simplest way around it be to make the prisoner disappear?

And most investigators would overlook the roost, because there's a ladder to climb. It doesn't usually see a lot of activity, anyways. Especially with Requiem still recovering. Come to think of it, you saw Doc's report and Requiem's symptoms were a little different...

Ugh, no. Much as you dislike Razor, you aren't quite convinced he'd do something that underhanded. He's no Ash. Still, it's worth looking into.

"Shorty," you say, walking over to him.

"Yes, boss?"

"I think I forgot my notebook. Could you grab me some paper and a pen from the Roost? I'll take over on lookout duty."

"Um, sure."

"And tell me of anything you see there. Grey-Maw seemed to think it was a place worth checking. I doubt that, but I'm curious if she missed something."

"Got it, Boss. Anything else?"

"Yes, if there happens to be anyone there, try not to draw too much attention to yourself. Just tell me who it is."

"Why would anyone be in the Roost, unless they were mailing a letter?"

"That's just what I'm wondering about."

Shorty shrugs, and heads off. This is really just a hunch, but if Razor and Gray-maw are up to something, there's sure to be some of their cronies keeping watch at the Roost.

Well, now you might as well think about how to use this situation to get that meeting between Starling and Jackson going. You don't like having outstanding debts, especially to the enemy.

Starling has that keyring, which also has the interrogation room keys on it. Hmm. You could probably benefit from checking the room Marshall was questioned in. Certainly that's how you'd pass it off as an excuse to Rivers to let Starling check it out.

Then you'd make sure she didn't get caught there by questioning a prisoner. Just suggesting to Locks that you wanted a follow-up. You might need to get someone else's approval in case she's in a bad mood, though; she prefers it when questioning gets done right the first time.

Well, it's a plan, anyhow. You should be able to work out the details when Shorty gets back. You aren't even entirely sure why you thought you'd need lookout duty, really. Who's going to come here that you should be worried about? You doubt Marshall would take the obvious route back, and anyone else should be a Marshguard.

...wait, who's that coming? You don't think it's Shorty, he shouldn't have had time to get to the roost and back yet.

Mudviper?! Yikes she needs to lie down.

"Mudviper? What are you doing here, you're sick."

"I'm a damn sight better than I was when Razor paid me a visit. Corvus, what the hell did you do, from half his questions it sounds like he's actually thinking of you over Grey-maw."

"Well, it was your idea to recommend me!"

"I stand by that," she coughs. "I just didn't expect him to agree. So I wanted your read on the situation."

"You didn't have to come rushing out of your sickbed to tell me that!"

"Actually, I'm headed to my quarters. This was just on the way - and if you're wondering how I knew you were here, Crosswinds told me. I'll get to bed once I've heard your thoughts."

You know you can't win this argument. Best to get this done quickly.

"He talked to me just a little while ago. Seemed interested in the desert fever, then he asked what was up with the prisoner I questioned escaping. But now it turns out a different prisoner escaped... the one-armed kid, the one he didn't want you talking to."

Hang on, now. You thought Razor might have snuck Marshall away for questioning, but if that was it... why would he ask you about the prisoner you'd interrogated instead of the one who's actually missing?

Maybe Shorty will be able to clear things up when he gets back.

"Corvus? What is it?" Mudviper asks. "You've gotten quiet."

"Just, got some thoughts to sort through. Anyhow, Razor said he wants to talk to me later at dinner. For what that's worth. That's all I can add to what you've said."

"And what do you think he's up to? I know that man, he's always up to something."

You'd better give her an answer, so she leaves and gets some much-needed rest.