Swamped

bite or claw

call it rude names or if that doesn't work throw rocks

You briefly consider just striking it with your claws, but that would require getting close. And you don't know how dangerous that lizard is up close.

You can snap a sharp twig off and try to throw it, though. A rock would probably be better, but you aren't going to find one up in the tree branches.

Now if only you were trained at throwing. Or had one of those fancy throwing gloves you've heard about... then again, they probably only come in human sizes.

The next best option is dropping it, you suppose. You hop over to the tree, place yourself above the lizard, and drop the twig straight down.

It strikes the lizard in the side, making a small cut. Well, that's something, but probably not enough to lure out the bees.

At least... not at this distance. Maybe if you could get a few bees to come closer to the lizard, they'd take note of the blood and alert the rest of the swarm. Alternatively, you could try leading the lizard to the bees.

Either way, how are you going to do it?

throw the lizard

drop more and more twigs as many as it takes

You try dropping another twig, but the lizard seems to be more alert now. It scrambles out of the way, and... further up into the tree.

Right towards you.

Well, that wasn't what you wanted, but maybe you can make the most of this. As the lizard approaches, you grab it and fling it towards the bees.

Chaos ensues. The lizard clings to its new home, but the bees are driven into a frenzy as they smell the blood dripping from its cut. They fly around wildly, putting the soldiers on edge.

"Flies! Everyone get your masks on!"

"Those aren't flies, they're too small! I think they're bees!"

"Bees in the swamp? Never heard of such a thing! And I'm not taking chances!"

Unfortunately, in spite of the panic around them, the guards at the fortress door are still standing at their posts. Whether it's out of duty or just an inability to think of anything else to do in the crisis, you can't say.

On the bright side, you've caused enough of a distraction that you can get closer to the door with little trouble. It's just that final step of getting through it that's a problem.

So how are you going to do that?

when god closes a door, he opens a window. there's always a second way in

time for stealth!

You decide to see if there's another way in. After all, you can't see beyond the door too well, and you'd look more than a little foolish if you slipped past those two guards only to run into a dozen more.

That's when you notice a small opening just above the surface of the water.

Perhaps you can find an entry point from beneath. You just need to slip into the water when no one's looking your way.

Which turns out to be rather simple, with the chaos caused by the bees. You just wait for both of the door guards to look somewhere else, then glide into the water.

It turns out to be hard to swim in the muck. And you weren't much of a swimmer to begin with - it's not exactly something you do a lot of in the desert.

Still, you manage to slip in, and thankfully the water is shallower once you make it past the opening. Seems the Marshguards built a floor underneath the surface.

Or maybe it's an old floor that sank, you can't tell.

Strangely, both the floor below and the planks above seem to be made of purple wood. You've never seen any tree this color, but it doesn't look painted either.

Well. Now you need to figure out where you can go from here, then work out some kind of plan for meeting up with your contact.

But the fortress is huge, from what you saw of it. You could spend hours trying to find a way up there. Is there some way you can speed up your search?

put up fliers and let your contacts come to you

This would be a damned sight easier if you could get that woman to contact you.

But that's not too likely. With your notebook gone, you can't pass a note through the boards - and even if you did, you never asked her name. You only know the name Starling... and her squad leader Corvus, come to think of it.

Is it a whole squad of bird names? Well, even if it is, you couldn't possibly guess hers. Besides, you're not sure if some of these soldiers can read, and you still don't have anything to write a note on.

Wait. Birds. Maybe if you drew a picture of one, it would get her attention? Or at least make its way to her squad leader.

Well, that's a desperate plan, but it's better than letting these Bogknights or Marshguards take you prisoner. Of course, it still depends on finding something to write on, and with.

You suddenly hear loud footsteps overhead. Unfortunately, even if you press your ear to the ceiling (or floor, you suppose), you can't make out any conversation clearly. Most likely, their mouths are too high up.

Maybe if you made a hole, you could at least hear them talking and get some kind of information to work with. On the other hand, you might also risk discovery.

What should you do?

maybe you can use an empty glass against the ceiling so you can hear better

if not then yeah lets make a hole. i'm confident we can make a getaway if we are discovered and the value of information you could get has to be worth the risk probably

You decide to make a hole. You'll start with a small one.

First, you crawl around until you reach a spot where the footsteps are quieter. Hopefully, that means you're under a wall.

Then you start scratching at the planks until you can start hearing some voices.

"...Rider's gone? You pullin' my leg?"

"It's true! While we were bustin' our rear ends in the Thornbrushes, he picked a fight with Captain Long and then they both disappeared."

"Damn. Last night was an even worse disaster than I thought."

This isn't going well. You've got no idea what they're talking about.

"So wait, who's takin' over for Rider? It's not Mudviper, is it? She's the one who got us huntin' for spies in there in the first place."

"Don't worry. Razor's sure to give her what-for. Don't know who else it could be, though. Ha, maybe I should try for it."

"You? Yeah, right. They'd put Corvus on the council sooner than you."

Corvus? Wait, that's a name you recognize. Not that it does you any good.

"Oh gods, that would be a disaster. You think that's funny? You were never on a squad with him. I'll eat my mudpike if that fool makes the Council."

"Speak of the devil, here he comes now. Why don't you tell him what you think?"

Hang on, maybe this will be useful after all. You risk a quick peek through your hole to see if you can catch a glimpse of this Corvus.

And you do. He seems to be leading a group of six down the hall, including the two girls you saw earlier.

This would be very convenient if you could somehow get their attention without drawing notice from anyone else. But that's a tall order.

You try desperately to come up with an idea.

make bird noises

You can't do much down here except make noise. And you'd rather not call out, you've done enough of that today.

Maybe a crow call? That might get the attention of this "Corvus", and even if it doesn't... well, this place probably has messenger crows. You won't stand out as particularly odd.

"Caw! Caw!"

"Huh, has one of the crows got loose?" someone asks. "Hey Corvus, why don't you check that out? They're your friends, aren't they?"

"Very funny," someone else says. Probably this Corvus. "Look, my squad's had a rough night, and we have to go to debriefing. So save your bird calls for when we're done."

Well, seems that didn't do much. But hang on... the woman you saw before just wandered over your hole. She gives you just a small glimpse.

"Rivers, don't wander off!" Corvus shouts. "Look, I'm sure you're bored after a whole night on patrol duty, but we've still got to report in."

"All right, all right," the woman says, rolling her eyes. Well, at least you know her name now. Too bad you couldn't actually say anything to her.

Maybe you should just wait and see if she comes back. Debriefing can't take that long, can it? And if she knows you're here, she just has to start a conversation about the way out where you can hear it. Then you can get out of the damned swamp, and your business here is done.

On the other hand, this waterway is cramped. Hardly a comfortable place to wait. And she might not even bother coming back, or may not be able to even if she intends to keep her end of the bargain. Then again, is there even anything useful you can do besides waiting here? You're not sure you can think of anything.

What are you going to do?

look for holes

scout for a more comfortable hidey hole

You decide to scout around for a bit. It's probably too risky to make a hole big enough to crawl through, but maybe there are existing holes that lead to more comfortable places.

After a few minutes, you find one, and glance through it. On the other side, you can see some sort of prison cell. Seems to be empty, though.

But you hear a lot of activity. There's probably some guards nearby, and likely prisoners in the other cells.

"Hey, Butterfly! You got any prisoners you can spare? I got cleanin' duty and I ain't in the mood for it."

"Grips. You ain't been here long enough to trust with a prisoner."

"C'mon, Butterfly! We're both Sisters, ain't we?"

"That was before the swamp, Grips. Things are different now. Yeah, I was a Sister before I came here, but now I'm a Marshguard."

"You've only been here, what? Four years? What the hell's happened to you, Butterfly?"

"The rain happened. Look, you want to get in trouble, that's on you. I ain't havin' any part of it."

"Since when do you listen to orders? You never listened to Rapunzel's."

"If I'd listened to her, I wouldn't be in this swamp; I'd be in a grave. Get outta here, Grips. Only favor I'm doin' for you is not reporting you for this."

Suddenly, you hear very loud footsteps.

"...Oh. So that's how it is," you hear Butterfly say. "All right, but you owe me big time. You know I'll get in trouble for this sooner or later. I better get something damn good out of it."

The footsteps start again, and get fainter.

What a strange conversation. You're not sure what to make of it. It's really got nothing to do with you, though.

So, now what?

SpoilerShow

Just for reference: this is happening at about the same time as this post.

you're getting hungry with all this running around, is there a place for food

try to find an armoury though you'd prefer not to having a weapon to defend yourself if you had to would be useful

You decide to go back and explore a little. There's more useful places to be than a prison.

In fact, you stumble on the next one before long. You hear the sounds of a forge, and as you get closer to the noise, you happen upon a small hole that opens into their armory. You loosen the boards around the hole a bit so you can squeeze through.

No one seems to be in here at the moment, but there are plenty of weapons. Especially pikes. Considering everyone you've seen here has been wearing armor, you don't think your claws would be up to the task if you had to fight.

You grab a pike and head back down to the waterway. They won't miss one when they have so many, and you already know you can wield it if you must.

As you slip back into the water, you start feeling hungry. How long has it been since your last meal?

You almost feel silly. You were just out in a swamp full of leaves, and it didn't even occur to you to grab anything for later. Then again, you surely wouldn't have been able to recognize which plants were safe.

You could eat one of your mistflowers, but there's little nutrition to them. They're more like containers for the water than a proper meal. Your best option is to find where the humans eat.

So you opt to listen in the hall again, until someone mentions getting food. Then you try to follow their footsteps.

The footsteps stop. Hopefully, this is where they keep the food, or at least close to it.

But you can't see any holes. So you take a chance and make a small one again.

You can see a few tables, and just a glimpse of what looks like a bar in the distance. Is the kitchen behind the bar, perhaps?

You listen in, hoping for more information. If possible, you'd prefer to know for sure where the food is before you risk poking your head out to grab it.

"Ah! If it isn't my old friend, Lumps! Say, have you heard the latest about Rider?"

"Yes, Sieve, I have. Everyone has. It's all over the fortress by now. So just zip it. Keeper, I need a good stiff drink after last night. It was a mess."

"Shift's over, Lumps? That's odd, because my schedule says you've still got an hour's work ahead of you."

"I just spent the whole night in the Thornbrushes. So I told my whole squad we're through for today."

"Don't you report to Claws? She's not going to be happy."

"That's the other reason I need a drink."

Well. You don't seem to have found much out, but as best as you can tell the human called Keeper is in the direction of the bar. Which makes sense, if he's giving out the drinks.

You move in that direction, and poke another small hole when you think you're behind the bar.

But all you can see are the walls and a human's legs. You can't tell where the food is, and actually leaving this hole is likely to get you spotted.

What do you do from here?

you could use a drink, you're willing to risk getting spotted

maybe try pilfering food from a kitchen/pantry area rather than a serving area

You're probably better off finding where they store their food than where they hand it out. But where do you look... oh, wait, the human's walking away. You duck back down and follow his footsteps.

When you hear him walk away again, you make another listening-hole, then you wait for a bit and listen, in case anyone else is around. Or perhaps he'll come back to put the drinks away again.

You feel relieved at your decision when you hear a voice.

"Keeper. Have you got a moment?"

"Looking tired, Doc."

"Well, aside from last night's mess with the prisoner, and how damn busy I've been since the poisonings started, I just got in a fight with those three new girls. All from the same gang, you know."

Poisonings? That's odd.

"Thinkin' it might be bigger than some newmucks who need to be taught what's what?"

"I doubt it. But I am a little worried. We've got a few dozen Sisters throughout our ranks. Not enough to threaten a mutiny, really..."

"But if they joined up with someone else, that might be another story. Especially with Rider missin'. That's what you're thinking, ain't it?"

"If someone were going to make a power play, this would be the time. I'm not specifically worried, but I'm... wary."

"Ha, keep that up and you'll find yourself thinkin' like Razor. That man sees enemies around every corner. Maybe that works on the Council, but that's not where you're needed, is it?"

"To be honest... I'm thinking about it. You know how little thought they give to our needs. Maybe I could actually get us looking for proper medics."

"Don't see that gettin' anywhere unless we kidnap 'em. You come by for a reason, Doc, or just to chitchat?"

"I can't give myself a proper examination. I only took a few blows in that fight, but I need to make sure they're nothing serious. And you're the only one here I can trust with that job."

"Ah, right. Hang on, just stay there a minute. Someone seems to be late for breakfast. I'll be right back as soon as I've taken care of it."

"Better be fast, I've got a lot of work to do."

Well. By the sounds of it, it seems you'll be waiting a while before you can snatch yourself some food.

What will you do with the time?

scratch a quick map of where you've been so far onto a surface to orient yourself and plot your next move