Swamped

"I want you to go to the confiscated weapons and bring me the big wooden shield."

"Big wooden shield?" You're a bit confused. "I'm not up-to-date on what the prisoners had with them, I'm afraid."

"Oh god damn, am I going to have to go through another debriefing?" Corvus sighs. He then continues resignedly. "Most of my squad got captured in an ambush. They had two knights keeping watch on us. But Shorty managed to loosen his ropes just a bit. I had to struggle to signal him not to escape right there; we didn't know how the battle was going, and if the Bogknights launched a counteroffensive, I didn't particularly want to get caught in the middle of it. Anyhow, once I heard Marshguard voices nearby, that's when I signaled Shorty to get out. He untied us and we grabbed one of the knights, the one with the big shield. Big enough he could use it as a raft, even."

"What happened to the other?"

"Don't know. She seemed to be asleep much of the time, but once we made our move, she was gone. Either she fled deeper into the bushes, or she made her way back to base. Greeneye said she was a swimmer, she remembers being ambushed and pulled under water."

"So you want the shield?"

"I think I can make use of it. Might need a little work from Feldspar, but it'd make for good cover in a one-on-one fight."

"Is that all?"

"No. I need you to talk to Doc for me. You know how things are between us, I can't talk to her myself."

"I don't think being afraid to talk to one of our key officers will help your chances."

"Ugh. You're right, I'll have to address that before the fight. But not today. I'll need time to prepare myself. For now, can you get a report on the poison for me? I'll want to take a look at that, make sure I'm up to date. It'll give a good impression to the Council, and it's a starting point for talking to Doc later. Unpleasant as that will be."

"What about finding out your possible opponents?"

"I think I can take care of that myself. I've got a lot to catch up on about what's been happening here anyways, so it shouldn't be hard to pick up some chatter about who's on the list to fill the empty seat while I'm at it."

"I'll leave you to that, then."

You're now Corvus, and as you said, it's time to scout out your potential opponents. Where are you going to start looking for information?