Swamped

There's a bloodstain, a scorch mark, and a good deal of soot. Looks like it must have been in a fireplace, or maybe a smithy.

But there's another stain on it, something you don't recognize. It doesn't even look like that strange ooze you saw in the cauldron - it's more like a lumpy liquid, of a very unusual color. What could that be?

Well, you've got no time to investigate more closely. You've got a shower to look forward to. You thank the nurse and head for the stall.

After all you've been through lately, the shower feels heavenly. The water's even warm, which is more than you were expecting. You idly wonder how they heat it.

After what seems like a glorious, but far too short, ten minutes, you get your underclothes on again. You could probably stand to change them, honestly, but you'd rather not worry about the consequences of leaving them however many years in the past. So you just put them back on.

And just as you do, you hear a knock on the stall door.

"Susan says you need some armor cleaned?"

"Uh, yeah," you replay. "I just finished and got dressed, sort of, so it's okay for you to come in."

The door opens, and a male nurse walks in. This must be Evan.

"Huh," he says, looking at the armor. "Wasn't expecting something like this. Is that even metal?"

"Ah, no," you reply, before realizing that this might not be so simple to explain.

Waterproof armor has existed for a while. But the designs keep changing, even if the Marshguards are usually late to getting them. You had a different suit when you first joined up, which was replaced with this model once they could get a decent supply. If the nurse has seen waterproof armor, it would probably look completely different.

So you'll have to think about how best to explain this without drawing suspicion.