Swamped

Tell the grebling to search the wagon and make sure there aren't any surprises. Meanwhile, better get the wagoneer's name.

(It's Pubert.)

You know exactly what this wagoneer's gotten themselves into, and you're going to talk them into helping your group out instead.

You turn to the grebling.

"What's your name, again? Rider said it a few times, but it keeps slipping my mind."

"Yvonne," she says, a little impatiently.

"Right. You think you could look around the wagon, see if there's anything dangerous? Don't want our new friend here trying any funny ideas." You pat the wagoner on the back with mocking affection. They just grumble at you.

"I'll see what I can dig up. You sure you don't need a second pair of eyes on that scoundrel?"

"Not at the moment."

Yvonne scurries off and starts poking around in a closet. You turn your attention to your captive.

Fact is, whether you'd come barging in or not, this poor sap has no future if they stay on as a courier. Their prospects would be slim even if the job had gone smoothly; that's just how the whole dirty business is set up.

You want to convince them to leave. Of course, that would be easier if you had a better sanctuary to offer them than a filthy swamp filled with deadly beasts, but you've got to start somewhere.

"What's your name?" you ask.

"Pubert," they say. You doubt that's actually it, but then, it's not like you've got ground to complain about giving a fake name.

"All right, Pubert. Let's have a little talk about this job of yours. Specifically, how it's not a very good one."

"You think I don't know that? You think I'm out here in the middle of the desert because I'm having the time of my life? If I hadn't picked a few pockets to pay for these goggles, I'd probably have come down with the fever by now. But it's the only life I know, and it's not as if I can run from it."

Hmm. What can you say to that?

Approach the conversation from a more empathetic angle. Establish some rapport if possible. People get defensive when they feel like they're being lectured.

You think you might have come on too strong. You've got to lead them to an answer, not push them towards it.

Where to start, though... ah. Maybe try to get them talking from their own perspective.

"How'd you get stuck in this business, anyhow?"

Pubert sits quietly for a good while, before finally speaking.

"Dad was deep in debt. They offered to clear up half of it if he handed me over to work for them, so he did. Bet he hasn't learned a thing and he's dug himself even deeper in the hole, not that I've got a clue."

You know well what that long pause before answering meant. Back when you were a courier, it didn't take long for you to stop trusting anyone - except Ash, who was using you. But Pubert here doesn't even have an Ash looking out for them. They've got no one.

So they either figured it didn't matter if they told you the truth, or they gave you a fake story to try and shut you up. Either way, you've got a lot of layers of distrust to work through here.

Maybe you should try opening up a bit here, as a sign of good faith. Tell them something about your own experiences as a courier.

But what can you talk about?

Tell Pubert about the time you had a courier job go wrong due to taiga monkeys. That ought to lighten the mood!

come join the bogknights!

"It's kind of funny," you say. "When I was a courier, they tried to send me through the jungle once. Not ten minutes into the trip, a band of taiga monkeys swept all over the wagon and grabbed my delivery."

You pause to let that sink in.

"So what'd I do? I spent two hours poking through trees trying to find the damn package. When I finally did, two big monkeys caught me, pounded me a few times, then pounded the package to bits when they were satisfied I wouldn't fight back."

Even though their face is covered, you can tell Pubert's feeling nervous.

"So what did I do then? I'd stuck my neck out for the guild, and I had nothing to show for it except a pile of scraps. It didn't matter if I went back or forward, they'd just punish me. And as I thought through where I was... I couldn't do anything but laugh."

You start laughing now. Thinking back on that moment still gets you every time.

Pubert doesn't seem so amused.

"What's your damn point?"

"My point is, I climbed back to the wagon and rode as far as the provisions would take me. I knew the guild would catch on sooner or later, but I needed to give myself as much of a headstart as I could. Then, the last night before I had to stop to restock, I had a strange dream."

You think you see Pubert twitch a little. You opt to continue.

"It didn't make much sense, but... well, I saw myself in a swamp. And I thought, this is where I need to be. Can't explain it better than that."

You shake your head a few times before moving on.

"So then I went into town. My plan was just to get supplies, then get out before someone realized I was from the guild... but on the way, I happened to see something. Someone was going around in a weird uniform, asking people to go to the swamp. And I remembered the dream, and... don't know if this would make sense to you, but I felt something. Was nearly thinking of going, then I caught a glimpse of a guild wagon coming down the road and I panicked."

You worry you might be getting distracted. You glance at the rope quickly to make sure it's still tight.

"So what I thought was, I should snatch another wagon. One that isn't part of the guild. Hopefully one that's well-supplied. That took me to the shadier part of town - where people can sell things without the guild's approval. It was dangerous in its own way, but I didn't see another choice."

You let out a deep breath.

"So of course, the wagon I went for was occupied. The driver was gone, but there was a man in the back, and he had me pinned down in seconds. Demanded to know who I thought I was, and I panicked, and just started blurting out everything on my mind. He didn't take much notice, until I said something about wanting to go to the swamp."

You pause a moment so you can get ready to mimic his voice.

"'The swamp, eh?' he said to me. 'Should've said so to begin with, friend. That's where we were headed. Just don't cause any more trouble, and we can drop you off there no problem.' So, I said sure, and well, that's how I ended up in the Marshguards."

Pubert seems to be looking at you skeptically. It's a little hard to tell through the goggles, but you're definitely getting that impression.

"You're trying to pull something over on me, aren't you," they say. "I don't know what, but your story doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't the guild go to the swamp, when they've got no qualms about sending people out to other dangerous places, like this stupid desert?"

"Because of the rain," you say. "And also, because of the Rider."

---

You're now Rivers. What exactly are you doing, besides resenting the fact that you're even here in the first place?

Wrestling a mostly-headless lizard worm into submission. While giving Starling a healthy talking-to.

You've been stuck watching this lizard-worm. Despite the fact that its head hasn't regrown, it's still proving quite aggressive. Maybe it's something to do with the transport here.

At least it's not hard to deal with. It keeps ramming against your leg, but it doesn't take too much effort to throw off without any teeth to latch on with. You wish there were a better place to keep the damn thing, but Rider thinks it needs to be observed for a while, for some reason.

Meanwhile, you've got some words for Starling.

"What the hell was that all about?" you growl. "You just ran right over and got me stuck in this mess. And now you won't even talk about whatever had you so upset in the first place?"

"It was supposed to be for the Boss' ears only," Starling says. She sounds a little defensive. "I'm not sure it even matters any more now, though. Rider says we probably won't have a chance to get back for days."

Ugh. Great. She's keeping secrets from you. Not that you haven't kept your share from her, but at least you don't pointedly refuse to tell her things she asks about.

Even worse, it's got something to do with the Boss. Frankly, you don't see how it's going to help anything to tell him whatever it is. He's been a mess since the day you arrived here.

You shove the lizard-worm aside again.

"I could help you with that," Starling says.

You shake your head.

"I've got it covered. Didn't Rider give you anything to do?"

"He told me to stand by. I thought about keeping an eye on that Bogknight prisoner, but it doesn't seem necessary."

She glances over at Marshall, who seems to just be watching as Rider strokes the desert horse's ears.

"I still don't quite get everything that's happened here, honestly. Why is a Bogknight with us? And a grebling? And, well, that," she says, pointing at the lizard-worm.

"Don't look at me," you say. "I'm as lost as you are. Nothing's made sense since I saw Marshall again."

"Again?"

Oh, hells. You had to let that slip out.

It'd serve her right if you just left her hanging, since she's doing the same to you. But you just can't. You respect her too damn much, even if she's being a pain right now.

So what are you going to say?

evade, yeah i saw him once today and then another time and everything went to hell

If you're feeling up to it, hint at a past and leave it at that. She knows better than to push you anyway.

He had more arms back then.

For the briefest of moments, you think about passing it off as something else. That you passed by Marshall some other time today.

But Starling would see right through that cheap excuse. She deserves better than that from you.

Which isn't to say you're going to tell her everything. Just the basics. She knows better than to pry further, hopefully.

"We knew each other before I came to the swamp," you say. "That's all. Wasn't expecting to ever see anyone I knew again."

"Oh." She pauses, then glances over at Marshall. "Do you want to talk, then?"

"Hell no. The past is the past. I'm not the person I once was. I doubt Marshall is either, and I'm not just talking about the missing arm."

The lizard-worm makes another frustrated attempt to ram your leg.

"Are you sure you don't want any help with the worm? I'd imagine that's quite bothersome."

"Oh, be quiet."

---

You're now Marshall again. You're watching Rider work his animal magnetism on the desert horse.

You have a lot of questions for him, but you feel like this isn't the time or place. You're not alone, and there are things to be done.

Most of those things are best done with more than one hand, so you've been feeling a bit useless. You thought about trying to talk to Rivers, but she just seems generally hostile.

Rider suddenly turns to you. He seems to be finished with the horse for now.

"Marshall, there's something I'd like you to do for me."

"What is it?" you ask.

he wants you to hang onto something for awhile, 'just in case'.
(you wish that didn't sound so ominous. you've had a tough week already.)

"I need you to hold onto this for me. Keep it secure."

He holds out your father's book. You open up your pouch, and he puts the book in before you close it again.

"Why me, though? You can take care of yourself better than I can."

"In an emergency, I may need to serve as a distraction while the rest of you flee for the camp. I hope it won't come to that, but better to be prepared. Without the book, Long's condition is sure to deteriorate."

"I don't understand."

"Long can explain it better than I can, once he's recovered. In the meantime, I've earned the desert horse's trust, so we should be able to leave soon. Now, Marshall, whatever happens - I want you to keep yourself and that book safe. Understood?"

"Yes," you say, though honestly he's making you a little nervous. You hope he's just worrying over nothing.

Rider walks over to Rivers and Starling and starts talking to them. Then he lifts up the lizard-worm and slings it over his shoulder. You suppose it's coming along for the ride, too.

So it seems you'll be leaving this part of the desert soon. You stop for a moment to think about if there's anything that needs to be done before you go.

Double-check your belongings to make sure you didn't drop nothing. Elsewise, onward!

You already lost the book.

You already lost the book.

At least, you genuinely think so for a moment--there's a slight chance you're hallucinating a little. Welp, hopefully that has nothing to do with anything ominous at all...

You decide to do an equipment check. You confirm that you've still got your slicer, then you poke around in your pouch to make sure everything's there. Not that you had much left after being captured.

All they left you with after a search was some string, your water flask, and your cards. The flask is empty, as the Marshguards thought it worthwhile to get whatever clean water they could. You can feel all of those... wait, where's the book?

No, wait. You don't have your cards with you, you left them with Dean when you escaped. You mistook the book for the cards because you only felt the binding at first, and it felt enough like the card box to confuse you. You flip a few pages to be sure; that's the book, all right.

Maybe this heat is getting to you. It's hard to think straight. You step into the wagon, since you think you've done all you can for the moment.

Thankfully, it's cooler inside. You can see Corvus standing beside the wagoner, who's tied up; and Yvonne has gathered up an assortment of objects, most of which you can't recognize.

You also see a bench. You sit down on it and breathe a sigh of relief. It's not especially comfortable, but you haven't had many chances to sit down today, so you appreciate what you can get.

Soon after, Rivers and Starling step in.

"Rider's planning to get moving soon," Rivers says. "Got anything to tell him before he does, Boss? Or anyone else, I guess."

Well, Yvonne found something disturbing among the wagon's cargo. But don't let that slow us down, let's get this show on the road, pronto!

Well, Yvonne found something disturbing among the wagon's cargo. But don't let that slow us down, let's get this show on the road, pronto!

it's disturbing by grebling standards and 'oh god, take it away' by human standards

"Well, at some point he's probably going to want to know about this," Yvonne says, holding up a jar. It's filled with something that's an unpleasant color, but you can't tell what it is.

"What's in there?" you ask.

"You know how you humans use chamber pots? This is more like what we use."

You feel more than a little disgusted. You don't think you want to know how it got to be that particular color.

"Now, our friend over here probably isn't an unusually tall grebling," she continues. "So I'm wondering how this came to be here."

The wagoner doesn't look too happy, but answers quickly after a dirty look from Corvus.

"I was carrying a grebling slave for a client," they say. "That was a while ago. I haven't had time to clean out the wagon. Couldn't tell you what happened to him, I handed him off to another courier."

"Yeah, they like to transfer slaves around a lot. Less time for any one driver to hang around with them and maybe start caring," Corvus grumbles. "Thanks for the heads-up. I'll tell Rider once we get going; it's not like we can do anything about it at this point."

At that moment, you hear a bell.

"Ah, that'll be our last warning," Corvus says. "We'll get moving soon, so everyone hold on tight to something until you get used to the motion. Oh, and Rivers, keep an eye on Pubert here for me; I'm heading up front."

With that, Corvus walks past you, Starling sits down on the bench next to you, Yvonne just stays still, and Rivers braces herself on a support beam near the wagoner... Pubert, you suppose.

Then the wagon starts moving. It's a bit of a jolt at first, and you feel yourself shaking up and down. It's an even rougher ride than the carriage you rode to the swamp.

After a few minutes, though, it seems calmer. Still hardly comfortable, but you don't feel like you'll be tossed around everywhere if you get up.

Corvus still hasn't come back. You're starting to feel a little bored. Perhaps you can start up a conversation with someone here to pass the time.

If only you had a deck of cards. But hey, you've got reading material at the very least! Does any one want to hear a story?

If only you had a deck of cards. But hey, you've got reading material at the very least! Does any one want to hear a story?

Get SUPER embarrassed about 3 lines in. "My dad wrote THIS??"