Swamped

You consider reading your father's book. You didn't have a lot of time to look at it back at the Marsh Fortress, what with all the running and hiding.

So when the wagon calms down a bit and you can spare your one hand, you take off your pouch and open it up, then pull the book out.

"Hang on, is that the book Rider was making all the fuss about?"

You're taken aback. You look around and see Yvonne at your feet. She doesn't seem to be bothered by the motion at all.

"Um, he said it was important, yes," you say. You feel a little bit embarrassed.

"Well, don't just pull it out like it's any old book! You don't want it getting lost in this mess if we hit a hard dune and you drop it, do you?"

"It's my father's," you try to explain. But Yvonne's already climbed onto the bench.

"You'll probably have trouble putting it back with that one hand of yours. Here, I'll hold the pouch open and you can stick it back in."

"But I haven't seen my father in years! This book is all I have!"

"Look, it's real easy to lose things in the desert. Everything looks the same around here, and sometimes the wind picks up and just blows things all over the place. I was there when Rider was looking for that book, and after all the trouble it caused, I don't want it just falling to the floor. Keep that thing in your pouch, it's for the best."

Reluctantly, you put it away as Yvonne helps you with the pouch.

"What's the book about?" Starling suddenly asks. You nearly forgot she was there.

"Something about forbidden romance," Yvonne says with a shrug. She doesn't seem bothered by it, but you feel more than a bit embarrassed to have it worded that way.

"More specifically, between a desert prince and a commoner," you explain quickly. "Or at least, that's what I saw at a quick glance."

"Huh. Never took Rider for the historical romance type," Starling muses. "He always seemed like more of a modern romance fan to me."

Over on the other side of the wagon, you can see Rivers chuckling to herself quietly. At least she's not piling on, but you really don't feel ready for this conversation.

Maybe you can change the subject.

Hey, where's the lizard worm?

You ask about the first thing that comes to mind, just to change the subject.

"Um, what exactly was Rider doing with that lizard-worm, anyhow? I saw him pick it up."

"Oh, he tied it to the top of the wagon," Starling says. "He hopes to drop it off in its home territory when things calm down. He said it would make too much of a mess inside. He's probably right, it's pretty messy in here already."

"Hmmph. They don't care if the wagon's clean, and they certainly aren't going to pay me enough to do it," Pubert grumbles. "Though if I'd had to wait any longer, I might have started tidying up out of boredom. I suppose you lot saved me from that, at least."

"Quiet," Rivers says, glaring. "Did I say you could talk? I don't remember saying that."

At that moment, Corvus comes back, looking really worried.

"Pubert," he says. "You were going to meet someone, right?"

"That was the plan. Of course, I had no idea when they were going to show up. Not like I can afford a calendar."

"Right. Well, just so I can be clear, would these people you're meeting with be riding desert-horses and wielding crossbows?"

Pubert seems startled, then just disappointed.

"Oh," they say. "They were planning to double-cross us, just take the delivery without paying for it. Probably kill me, too. Get the wagon as a nice bonus. Figures." They glance over at Corvus. "What was that you were saying about hiding out in a swamp, it's starting to sound real good as a career path."

"Oh, hush," Corvus says. "Rider's acting tough, as usual, but I'm not leaving him to fend off a half-dozen armed raiders by himself. So, if anyone's got ideas for how we can lose them, I'm all ears."

The wagon offers cover, giving us at least the appearance of an advantage if it comes to a shoot out. We need to make our seven people seem like twenty. Then they'll have to retreat!

"Well, unless they've been watching us, they wouldn't know how many people we have in here," you muse. "And if they had been watching us, they'd have better chances to strike than when we were already in the wagon. We could try to make them think we've got them outnumbered."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Yvonne asks, sarcastically. "You want to make decoys out of the junk in here? You want to make enough noise for twenty people?"

At that moment, you hear a loud noise. As you look for the source, you see a crossbow bolt piercing the wagon's sides.

"And might I remind you, they've got crossbows," Corvus says. "So they might press the attack even if the bluff works, seeing as they've got range on their side."

"I've got a slicer," you say.

"You've got a slicer all right," Corvus says, rubbing his head. "And you're not a bad hand with it. But are you good enough to knock a man off a desert horse while he and his friends are all aiming crossbows at you?"

"Probably not," you're forced to admit.

"Yeah, I doubt I am either. Still, so far this is sounding like a better plan than having Rider turn the wagon around and charging right through them, which is about all I had. We just need to work out the details. Anyone got any ideas?"

What if we ditch the goods that they're after?

Although maybe they need the wagon to transport it, so they might not let us off...

But what if we threaten to destroy the goods? Hold it ransom?

Hey, Pubert, what are you transporting, anyway?

"Hang on," Rivers says suddenly. "Can't we just drop off whatever Pubert was supposed to deliver to them? Not like it's going to be much use to us."

"I'm pretty sure that was just a ruse," Pubert says. "It's just a lodestone that changes colors - a little unusual, but not really valuable. Supposedly they were willing to pay a good price, boss thought it was for some festival or something, but I think they were just trying to lure the wagon out."

Yvonne looks thoughtful.

"That sounds familiar..."

Another arrow strikes the wagon.

"...but I guess now's not the time to get into it. I think they do really want the lodestone, though. At the least, it's more valuable than Pubert here realizes, and our pursuers might know that."

"Might be something," Corvus says. "If this was an ambush, then they won't call it off for the lodestone, even if it's the main thing they want. But if we threatened to smash it, that might get them to negotiate."

"Or we could just drop it," you say. "They might not call off the whole ambush, but they'd probably split up and send at least a few of their members off to, well, wherever they plan to take it."

Another arrow interrupts.

"We really don't have a lot of time to argue about this," Corvus sighs. "I say we make the threat."

"Great. And how do you suggest we tell it to them without being shot at?" Rivers asks. "Do they even understand our language?"

"Probably?" Pubert says, cautiously. "I didn't handle the price negotiations, though, so I suppose it could have been done in a different tongue."

"Good point," Corvus sighs. "Okay, fine, I'll take a minute and if nobody can think of a safe way to tell them what we're threatening to do, we just drop the stone and hope for the best."

Who can scream the loudest? Also, let's attach the stone to a stick or pole and poke it up through the roof or a window/hatch to let them see it.

"We could dangle the stone out of the wagon," Starling suggests. "Just, tie it to your mudpike? Shove it out, um, the door I guess. Not a lot of windows in here."

"It's not a very big stone," Pubert says. "Don't know if they'd see it."

"What about if we drew a picture of it?" you say. "Then we could make it as big as we need. I see a big sheet over there, we just need something to draw with..."

"I didn't find any paint, but there's charcoal," Yvonne says. "Just don't expect it to be very colorful."

"All right, who can doodle up something fast?" Corvus asks. "Draw, I don't know, a hammer striking the stone. Big as you can make it."

"I'll do it," Rivers says. "Get me the charcoal."

Yvonne grabs the charcoal, Corvus starts tying the mudpikes together, and you and Starling help to hold the sheet down as Rivers draws it, with Pubert grudgingly describing the lodestone in enough detail. It's a tense few minutes, as several more bolts strike the wagon, but it's soon finished.

You think it looks rather good for how rushed it is, but this probably isn't the time for compliments. Corvus quickly ties it on the end of the pikes, opens the door, stands back and shoves the flag out, the drawing facing towards the back.

A few more bolts strike, then they stop.

Then one more strikes the flag. This one has paper attached; Corvus pulls the mudpikes in and takes a look.

"It says 'stop the wagon and we'll talk,' but I don't think anyone's going to blame me for being skeptical," Corvus says. "Still, I guess I can tell Rider about this and let him make the call."

He goes back to the front of the wagon. You suppose you'll have to wait to see what happens. At least they seem to have stopped firing.

You're now Corvus.

"Got a message for you, sir," you say to Rider. "We, um, convinced them to stop firing, and they're offering to negotiate, but they want us to stop the wagon first."

"I see."

"Um, and there's a crossbow bolt in your arm."

"I'm aware."

"So, ah, what do you think about the message? Should we take them at their word?"

"I'd like to hear your opinion first."

Oh hells, he's pushing this off on you? Is he giving you one of his tests now, of all times?

What are you going to say?

1: They have done almost no damage, except to Rider, who I have no historical knowledge of personally but seems to not give a damn right now. The arrows or bolts or whatever seem to not even make it all the way through one wall of the wagon, so either they've got weak crossbows or you have a heck of a wagon. Could just... find something to give Rider cover and just keep going? But they'll probably just follow because they...

2: Probably REALLY want this stone or whatever it is, because they were fairly quick to stop shooting and draw up a message when they realized you were threatening to break it. Does that mean they can be trusted? Probably not. Can rider climb back into the wagon proper, and can you barricade the exits so they can't barge their way in? If so, could TRY talking to them. Still seems pretty bad.

3: In the end, this is a lose-lose situation. Unless someone here has a crossbow, then you could try to carefully retrieve the bolts and fire them back. Alternatively, hope they run out of ammo.

4: What's stopping you from just CHUCKING THE ROCK like they want? Pubert is in a bad deal anyways, it seems. Unless there is something immediately unusual about the lodestone, you should just chuck it. If they keep firing after that, then it's time to work out plan B.

Maybe it's all a big misunderstanding and we can all be friends; we could use some!

"My first thought: They just opened fire on us, with no warning. They only tried to negotiate when we threatened to destroy the thing they're after. So my gut instinct is, they have no qualms about killing us once they have what they want. The only way they'll give up after that is if they think we're not worth messing with... and let's be honest, you and I are the only ones here with much combat experience. Well, I don't know about Pubert, but I'm not planning on untying them if we can help it, so that's a moot point."

"So you wouldn't recommend stopping, then?"

"Well, my second thought is, they'll keep chasing us all night if they have to. Since it seems they really want this rock. Even if I could think of something to protect you and the horse, they'd attack the camp. So: just running, not a great solution either."

"I see. And what alternatives do you see?"

"We could just toss the rock out. Don't know if that'd be bad, but it might distract them for a bit. Then again, they might just keep shooting out of spite. So basically, I don't see a good way out of this."

"Thank you. Your opinion has been quite valuable," Rider says. "Please get back inside while I stop the wagon."

"What?"

Rider turns to you.

"I was planning to just run, but you made me aware of another option," he says. "You suggested they might give up their attack if they consider us too much of a threat to continue fighting."

Hells, of course he's doing it this way. Always got to be the tough guy.

And there's no way you're convincing him otherwise. Not at this point. You head back into the wagon. You're stuck with this scheme now, so you might as well figure out what you can do to improve the odds.

> Realize, in a moment of depressing realism, that y'all (sans Rider) don't look very threatening to begin with

Be Pubert

Truth be told, the rest of you aren't really intimidating.

You've got a good build for it, you suppose, but you doubt you could keep up the ruse in an actual fight. Rivers, well, she's got a good scowl going, but that's about it. Marshall... well, maybe playing up that lost arm could work, but you're having a hard time seeing it otherwise. Yvonne's tiny, and while you've seen what Crosswinds can do in a fight, she doesn't seem nearly as fierce. Then there's Starling, who's just not intimidating at all no matter how you look at it.

Well, you may as well tell them what's going on.

"Everyone brace yourselves," you say, grabbing the nearby bench. "We're about to stop. Then Rider's going to try to scare off the raiders."

"That's nuts," Pubert says. "One man against however many crossbows? He'll get killed."

"Rider's pretty tough, but yeah, that's a problem with the plan. So I was hoping to come up with something to improve on it other than 'if the talks go bad, run like hell', but I'm drawing a blank."

"Well, I might have an idea," Pubert says. "Could see my way to doing it if you untie me."

You give him the most skeptical look you can manage.

You're now Pubert. You figured this guy wouldn't want to let you go; he probably thinks you're just looking for a way to save your own skin. In fairness, that is your main concern at the moment, so you can't entirely blame him.

How can you persuade him to give you a chance?

> I know more about the stone and their tactics than any of you. If you untie me, I'll tell you what you should do with them.

"Look. I'm the only one here with any idea of who we're dealing with. Plus, you're going to have trouble opening the lockbox with the stone in it without me."

Corvus sizes you up.

"Now hold on a minute," he says. "You didn't say it's in a lockbox. Wouldn't that mean this lot would be stuck without it if they killed you?"

"I figure they were planning to take it then kill me. Or maybe they thought something was up when they saw your man driving the wagon. Look, the point is..."

You feel the wagon stop suddenly.

"...well, the first point is we don't have time for a lot of arguments, since it seems he's going to meet with them momentarily."

"Yeah, well, too bad for you," Corvus says. "If you know anything useful, spit it out."

"There's too much to just tell you!"

"Then you'd better start with the most important part."

You want to glare at him, but most of the effect would be lost under your goggles. Like you said, though, no time for arguing.

What should you tell him?

> The lockbox also has a bomb, and you don't know how to deal with that either. Let me go and I'll disarm it.

You're choice as to whether he's lying or not. : p

There's a poisonous animal, too.

"It's not just locked. There's an explosive in it. If you don't know the right way to open it, well, it won't be pleasant."

Corvus gives you a disbelieving glare.

"If that were true, they'd have no hope of retrieving it without you at all. Which means they wouldn't be firing on the wagon in the first place."

"Well! As it happens, I was given code words to share with them to explain exactly that. Of course, they'll have a hard time believing anything I tell them if I appear to be under duress, now won't they."

"Hang on," the scowling girl says. "If it'll blow up, couldn't we just warn Rider to get out of the way, and toss it out at them?"

"The lockbox is bolted to the..."

Before you can finish, the grebling pushes the box out into the open.

"Funny how you humans keep using bolts that are real easy to claw right out," she says. "So, I'm liking Rivers' plan, assuming you aren't just bluffing. If you are, well, now might be a good time to tell us."

"Um," you say, a little desperately. "The explosion's pretty big, or so they told me. Not like I actually tested it."

"Yeah, like that's not a bluff," the grebling says. "Too bad, I guess we don't have a bomb to throw at them after all."

"I don't really care about the lockbox, anyhow," Corvus says. "Not enough to let you loose while we're surrounded by hostiles. I want to know what you know about who these raiders firing on us are. And like I said before, if you can't tell us everything, start with what's most important."

Ugh. This really isn't going well for you. What have you got?

They're the dune wanderers, nomadic warriors of the burning sands. They live in the desert but must not have everything they need, because they raid traveling caravans. We've been able to trade with them in the past; you might call it bribery for safe passage for our, uh, special deliveries.

"I think the boss called 'em the Dune Wanderers. Nomads. They spend most of their time in the desert, living off the land and whatever they can get from passing caravans. They've been spotted on the outskirts a few times, always on raids, but nobody knows much about them. We've been trading with them for years, giving them stuff they'd have no hope of finding otherwise, in exchange for letting our wagons through safely. And taking care of anyone who happens to pursue us."

Corvus looks thoughtful.

"Never heard of them myself. Then again, I was lucky enough that I never got desert duty, so maybe no one had any reason to tell me." He looks at the grebling. "You're from around here, right? What do you know about them?"

"Not much, actually," she says. "We've run into grebling nomads, but they don't give us trouble and they don't have crossbows. And most of the humans we see are heading to Reth's temple or making their way back. I think we might be too far from trade routes to have crossed paths with them, or their victims for that matter."

"These guys are human. Or at least, human-sized," you say. "Anyhow, I figure what's going on here is, they realize the Guild scammed them some time ago, so they're taking it out on the messenger. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened."

"Now that's the most believable thing you've said in a while," Corvus says. "Maybe Rider can convince them we've got nothing to do with the Guild."

"Wouldn't help," you say. "If you're with the Guild, they only attack sometimes. If you're not, they attack all the time."

---

You're now Rider.

How are the negotiations going?

>Well-ish. It'd be going better if they were more fluent in conversational [whatever you speak], but you've got everyone acting more or less like civilized folk... for now.

> If pointing a spear against a hostile's throat counts as negotiating, you aced it.

You can't help but notice that they've avoided shooting any arrows at either the desert horse or at the lizard worm strapped to the roof of the wagon.