Swamped

If this is a ship, it probably has a deck. It might help you make sense of the layout if you can get up there. And if you're at the front, as you suspect, then there's probably a way up nearby.

You go back down the hall and look down the nearest intersection. You can see a ladder in a recess in the wall. As you get a bit closer, you see that the ladder keeps going both up and down.

You glance down the hole, but don't see anything beyond the ladder itself and the nearby walls. Maybe you'll look into that later. For now, you want to see what's up top.

You grab the ladder and climb out onto the deck. You're out in the air now. You walk over to a railing and take a look down.

The ground seems very far away, but the view is incredible. How many people have seen the world from this high up?

Unfortunately, it's also quite windy. You think it would be a bad idea to stay out too long; it's going to be dangerous here if the wind gets any stronger. So for now you focus on seeing what you can find.

You don't see anything significant nearby, other than the figurehead. Which looks a bit unusual - it's like a young man with a book in one hand and a staff in the other. He's handsome, to be sure, but figureheads tend to be more muscular. Then again, that's mostly because sailors tend to prefer that type. Who knows what sort of person works on a flying ship?

Towards the back, you see what's probably the equivalent of a captain's cabin. It looks to be about two floors high. You wonder if there's a steering wheel somewhere in there.

Looking up, you see something strange. It seems to be tied to the ship in several places. Maybe that's what keeps it afloat. But what even is that? You can't think of anything you've ever seen that resembles it.

Well. Looks like your choices now are to go back down, or head for the cabin. That or investigating the deck some more, but you'd rather not risk being out so long that the wind picks up.

See if you can peek into a deck-accessible porthole of the cabin.

The cabin has caught your interest. But you also don't want to go barging right in. You'd rather see what you can find out from the outside first - maybe it's got windows. Or... what did they call windows on a ship again? Portholes?

So you start walking around. You do find some, but they're a good two feet higher than your head. Hard to get a good look inside that way - you'd need a ladder or something, and you can't be sure how stable one would be in this wind.

It's odd that they're that high up. Wouldn't be too useful from the inside either, unless the floor is raised relative to the deck. Or maybe they're just there to let the light come in.

Ah, but there's one thing you can tell from here - the glass is clean. So there must be a way to reach them from the outside. Might as well look for that and see if you can use it without drawing too much attention.

You walk around to the back of the cabin in your search... and you find it.

More specifically, you find Ash cleaning the windows, standing on some sort of platform. He stops cleaning, tugs on a rope, and the platforms shifts over a bit. Away from you, thankfully - looks like you happened to approach from the direction he started cleaning from.

But now what do you do?

Ash is doing menial labor and you haven't seen anybody else who seems to belong here. How under-crewed is this vessel anyway?

You might have him at a tactical advantage if you can get to the mechanism that would allow him to get back to the deck and hold him at spear point. You want answers and it's a long way down.

But what if there are reinforcements in the cabin? Can you stealthily block the cabin door from opening before confronting him?

For as long as you've known Ash, he's been no stranger to hard work. But it's always been in the context of getting ahead. Work hard to impress the boss and get a better job, one where you have more power and privilege. He's not one to do something like cleaning windows unless he knows exactly what he's getting out of it.

Which means questioning him is likely to yield some interesting answers. Especially as he's one of the only people you've seen around here, or heard for that matter. This ship hasn't shown any sign of having much of a crew, which could also explain why he's on cleaning duty.

That means it would also be hard for him to call for help... unless there are forces inside the cabin. You've got no clue on that. But if there are, well, there's only the one door.

Too bad you don't have much to block it with. The few fixtures you can find on the deck are bolted down - which makes some degree of sense, really. Otherwise they might fall off in harsh winds. You could use your mudpike, but it's probably not strong enough, and it would leave you unarmed against Ash. He's a good enough fighter that you'd be wary of giving up any advantage you have.

Well. You've got one idea. They don't have anyone watching outside the door, so you could do a quick test to find out if anyone's on the inside. You grab the knob, turn, and run away before the door swings open. If someone's on the inside, that should lure them out to investigate.

You hide behind one of the deck fixtures and watch. No one comes out or closes it. So it's not being actively watched, then.

So now you've got a few options. You could confront Ash now, or you could risk a quick peek inside. You could see if anyone's in there, or perhaps look for something to help you block the door.

You could also just wait to see if anything happens, or head back down the ladder.

What's your next move?

Stick around and watch. If you find a good opportunity to question Ash, do so, but be incredibly decisive-- do it in a place with an escape route or move [the discussion] to a place with an escape route promptly.

You decide to wait. After giving it some thought, it's less important to block off Ash's escape than it is to make sure you have one.

Well, technically, you've got that feather which should let you be okay if you jump... but that's not something you're particularly inclined to test if you can help it. So for now, you'll stick to observation.

You see the platform swing around to the side of the cabin. Looks like Ash is still at it. Nobody closes the door, though.

He's wiping those windows awfully fast. Then again, they already looked pretty clean, so this is probably just a quick wipe to keep them that way. It takes no more than ten minutes before he's done, at which point he tugs on a rope and the platform slowly lowers.

Good thing you didn't go after him, that could easily have taken you by surprise. Now he's looking at the door. He seems puzzled.

"Carma?" he asks. "Are you in there? The door's wide open."

He waits for a response, then steps in.

Do you follow him, or do you take advantage of his absence somehow?

Follow - but cautiously. Prepare for any underhanded moves.

Maybe it's curiosity. Maybe it's just that he's the one familiar face you've seen so far. But you find yourself unable to resist following Ash.

Of course, you know you have to be careful. The open door might have put him on his guard. So as you walk up to the door, you look in very carefully.

There's a short staircase leading in. So it is raised in there. It would also be very easy for someone inside to keep an eye on that entrance without being spotted.

But the sound of Ash's footsteps is loud enough to tell you where he is, and it's not near the door. Even if he does spot you, he won't be able to catch you... not that you're planning on being spotted.

You climb the steps as quietly as you can, and look around. The cabin's surprisingly empty - there are lots of shelves, but they're bare.

Ash is over in a corner, looking at something. You climb up just a bit to get a better look... seems it's a trunk.

The room's a lot more open than you were hoping. Sneaking up on Ash here will be almost impossible. Still, he's distracted, so you might be able to get the jump on him if you charge right at him. Then again, it might be better to back off and wait for a better opportunity.

What's your next move?

Not quite yet. Let's see if there's any information, anything to do with that trunk that he'd get more distracted by.

Wait till he's distracted. Then trip his legs!

For now, you stay where you are and watch. Maybe you can find something out about that trunk.

But before long, he seems to be satisfied with whatever he saw in there. He shuts it and stands up.

Time for you to get ready, then. You slip back down, and figuring he'll be heading this way, you look for a quick trap you can set up.

Well. Somebody left their boots here. Their boots with rather long laces. You don't know who these belong to, but they'll suit your purposes. You quickly tie the laces together and drop them near the door, then slip out and wait.

About a minute later, you hear a loud crash, along with a scream. You pop your head back in.

"Fancy meeting you here, Ash," you say. You step on his back and press down hard before he can recover himself. "Mind telling me what you're doing here? And where Captain Long is?"

"I've only got one thing to say to you, Martin," Ash shoots back. "And that's to stay out of my way."

"Hmmph! Didn't think you'd be so immature as to throw a meaningless name back in my face," you mutter. You can feel him pushing back against your foot; he's resisting hard. It's taking most of your strength to keep him down.

So your main weapon for turning this around is your voice. What can you say that might discourage him from fighting back?

You can drop that knowledge you picked up from before. Nothing trips people up like finding out that their secrets have already been figured out.

(You do remember, right?)

The gods are angry and you seem to be on the wrong side of their ire.

"Careful now. Wouldn't want to get in more trouble with the gods than you already are, would you?"

You feel him stop struggling for a moment. You figured as much. If there's one thing Ash fears, it's facing the consequences of his actions, and when gods are the ones setting the consequences, they'll be quite severe indeed.

"What, exactly, do you know about what the gods are doing?" he asks. He's trying to work out if you're bluffing.

"Well, for a start, one of their messengers gave Captain Long a warning the other night. Seems it has something to do with what you Bogknights are after."

"That's got nothing to do with me any more," Ash says. "I'm through with the Bogknights."

Probably because he got caught. Not that he'll admit that if he doesn't have to.

Anyhow, this is about as cooperative as he's going to get. You can probably keep it going for longer if you give him a good enough line about how the gods want him to help you, but failing that, you can probably try to at least get some info out of him before he catches on to your bluff.

So how should you approach this?

We can't play this too long. Let's find out what he's hiding.

Right. You're not in the mood to waste time here.

"I suppose taking the captain prisoner would be bad for your career in the Bogknights," you say. "What'd you do with him and Marshall? Where are they?"

"If it were up to me, I'd be happy to let you take them off our hands, but my associate has other ideas. And with all the bridges I've burned, if she kicks me out, I've got nowhere else to go. So pardon me if I don't answer."

You aren't exactly feeling sympathetic. He's made his own damn bed, after all.

"As if you couldn't just ask your friends in the Guild for a nice desk job somewhere."

"Unfortunately, that only works if I don't have any enemies powerful enough to ask the Guild to track me down. That might have been true yesterday, but today is another matter."

Well, he seems to be regaining himself. At the same time, he's betraying a level of vulnerability that you haven't seen since you first met him. He's terrified - not of you, but of what happens next. He's used to being in control, and now he isn't.

You feel like you should wrap up this conversation fast, preferably by knocking Ash out. You know there are others on this ship, and you have no idea when they'll go poking around over here. But you don't have the info you need yet.

So how should you play this?

Sounds like he's less than committed to his current comrades. He might jump at a chance to hedge his bets against some other party coming out the victor...

Offer a way out. Carma (or whoever) is going down, the master is going down, and the gods will have their vengeance. He doesn't need to compromise his position in any way that his employer can discover, but if he can point you in the right direction and keep quiet about your presence here, you can see to it that he's granted some leniency in the coming reprisal. He's relatively young, he could still have a chance to recover his future, even with his crimes. Your experience in the Marshguard has driven home that point.

But yeah, definitely knock him out when you get what you want. Not only does it give him plausible deniability if his betrayal of his current colleagues is discovered, but it gives you a longer window before he gets a chance to betray you.

This is the Ash you know. The Ash who doesn't really care which side wins as long as he's on it.

Which means all you really need to do is get him thinking your side might do better than this Carma or whoever he's currently working with. You don't need to fully close the deal, just convince him you're a plausible option.

Well. Why not give him a little dose of his own medicine?

"You don't seem to understand how things are going to go, Ash. This plan you're in on isn't going to work, and you're just going to get yourself in deeper if you stick with it. Not just with earthly authorities, either. But if you help me stop it, that's another matter. You don't even have to do anything more than tell me where Long and Marshall are - and who besides you and me is going to know if you blab?"

There's a brief pause. Then, suddenly, you feel a strike to the back of your head.

"Damn, Carma's a good shot with a slicer," you hear Ash say as your consciousness fades out.

You wake up tied to a chair, with the muscular woman you presume to be Carma staring you in the face.

"Apparently, Ash knows who you are. And I don't particularly care how you arrived. So I really only have one question for you," she says. "Do you actually know that the gods disapprove of my plan?"

Well, you don't. So your choices are, try to bluff somehow, or come clean.

What are you going to do?

To be frank, I don't know your plan.

"Honestly? I don't have a clue. I just know your plan involves kidnapping two people whose safety I consider myself responsible for."

"Interesting," she says. "My understanding was that the Bogknights and the Marshguards are enemies. Yet you would risk yourself for these two?"

"Sure, we're fighting all the time, and I don't see how that's ever going to stop. But we also all live in the same damnable swamp. The same swamp as murderflies, mossbeasts, that accursed rain, and now whatever terrors are being sent there from the desert. Right up to goddamned tunnelers. And you know what? Sometimes, even when someone's your enemy in that kind of mess, you've got to lend them a hand. You've got to stick together. Because fighting at a time like that is a good way for both sides to lose."

She laughs.

"So what you're saying, then, is you see me as such a greater obstacle? A common foe to be overcome?"

"Nothing so grand. You kidnapped Long and Marshall. And Ash said you had no plans to release them. If that's where we are, then I'm not helping you."

"I can't see how much help you could even be, since I doubt you know more about servicing an airship than Ash does. And you haven't a shred of magical capability. I was merely hoping you might have some insight into whether the gods favored my attempts to stop the Master's ascension. Since you don't, then there's no further point to this conversation."

"You sure about that? There's a question I'm real surprised you haven't asked."

She doesn't look amused.

"I already told you, I don't care how you arrived. I presume you activated the device Ash left behind, probably with the aid of a wizard to avoid alerting me. I might be interested in the details if we didn't already have two wizards in our custody, but as it is, I only want you out of the way."

"No, not that one. I was thinking, 'Did you come here alone?' You want to try that one on me?"

Carma's eyes widen, as though she's just had a realization. Without another word, she kicks your chair over and rushes out.

This is not a comfortable position to be in, but on the other hand, you're not being watched now. If you can just get out of these ropes, you might have a chance to slip away... not that you know where you're heading.

Even better, the intensity of Carma's reaction suggests that Rider made it here after all. Not that you have any idea how to find him, but if he's around, that's definitely going to make things easier for you.

So first things first. How can you get loose?

The edge of the desk in here might be sharp enough to fray the bindings on your wrists.

First things first - you've got to understand exactly how you're tied up.

They were pretty thorough - not only is your body tied to the chair itself, your wrists and your ankles are separately bound. Granted, it's with cloth instead of rope, so it's not as sturdy, but it's still tight enough to be a severe problem. You might be able to lift this chair up, but you'd have a hard time walking out.

Well. Hard is better than impossible. So with a great deal of effort, you get to your feet and look for something to help you get the rest of the way out. At least your new exercise regimen has made the weight of the chair bearable.

There's a desk. It seems unused - probably because this "airship" wasn't meant for whatever Carma's doing with it - but more importantly, it has corners. Not the sharpest thing in the world, but better than nothing at all. Besides, you don't have to shuffle very far over to it.

After awkwardly making your way over to the desk, you shift your wrists against the corner. This is also hard to do since they're bound behind your back, but after a while you feel the bindings separate.

With your wrists free, you manage to find a knot behind you, and loosen it a bit. It's hard to make progress, but you get enough to give the rope some slack and break out. Finally, you lean down and snap the bindings on your feet.

You have no idea how long that took, but you also doubt you'll be alone in here for long. Carma may have been in a hurry, but she's not foolish enough to assume you don't need to be watched. She'll send Ash - or possibly that guard you saw her berating earlier - as soon as she has a chance.

So you can either make a run for it, or prepare to ambush whoever's coming in to check on you. What's it going to be?

If we ambush whoever's coming, maybe we can get an advantage from them.

You still need information, so your best bet is to make use of the fact that someone's probably coming. You hide behind the desk and lie in wait.

A few minutes later, someone walks in. It's that person who looked like they were wearing a guard's uniform of some sort. Now that they're standing up, though, you can see that they look quite young.

They also seem very worried when they don't see you. They start rushing around wildly. You barely have to try to sneak up on them and tackle them to the ground.

On the other hand, when you start asking questions, they don't say anything at all. They just seem terrified. And barely able to fight back. The hell is going on here?

"I figured the poor kid wouldn't be able to handle you alone," someone says. You immediately recognize Ash's voice, and turn to see him standing in the doorway.

"Who's this, Ash? Who's this kid you dragged into whatever you've got going on here?"

"I barely understand myself," Ash says. "They're a sort of stowaway. Best guess I have is, one of Carma's former associates also went rogue, got this kid a guard disguise, and had some sort of plan for him. Then things went wrong when he ran into us. He doesn't talk, so I assume he's a Silent One - well, not that you'd know what those are."

"You're awfully talkative all of a sudden," you say warily.

"Well, I don't see much harm in it. I know full well I can close and lock this door before you can close the distance to me. And I suppose I just haven't really had anyone I can talk to in a good while. The kid here isn't much of a conversationalist, and Carma's all work, work, work. It's been hard for me to gather my thoughts at all."

You know Ash too well for this. He's always got some sort of angle.

"You want something from me, don't you," you say.

"More like I've had an idea," Ash says. "I've been through hell this last day, Martin -"

"Corvus."

"Corvus, whatever. I've barely had time to think, so much has happened. I made an enemy of a man who wants to be a god - which means I've basically made a bet against him and I need to win it or I'm finished."

"And what's that got to do with me? What's this idea of yours?"

Ash smiles back at you as he prepares to explain. Gods, you want to punch him in the face. But you might as well listen to his offer first.