Swamped

Well! First things first! How do you mail the letter?

All signs are pointing to the Marshguards, so if an opportunity arises where we can get captured with plausible deniability that we were totally aiming to do that we definitely should. I mean, it hardly seems as big a deal here as you would think it would be, since if nothing else everyone gets released after the rain.

And from what we were hearing earlier sounds like being a Lookout might very well be our ticket outta here (and into the Marshguard base).

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There's one obvious way to get an investigation started: let the Marshguards capture you. It shouldn't even be that hard, since they seem to have an interest in you.

And Nathan mentioned that lookouts are often the enemy's first target. That might be a good way to get yourself caught.

It shouldn't even be that dangerous, since they'll release you after the next rain.

But... well, you're still a trainee, and you don't even have an official status right now. Still, it can't hurt to say that you're interested in being a lookout.

You've got time to work out the details later. For now, you have to send this letter... and it occurs to you that you aren't sure how exactly that works, so you ask Mary.

"Oh, right, you're new, I've got to remember you don't know about everything yet. I'll take you to the Roost."

You don't know what she means by that, but you suppose it will be clear enough once you arrive. So you follow Mary up several flights of stairs, finally reaching a tall ladder against a side wall.

"Oh. You might not be able to get up that," she says, a little embarrassed.

"Well, I'll give it a try," you say. "Could always do with more climbing practice. Just stay at the bottom in case I need help."

You carefully attempt to climb the ladder. It's a bit awkward, but not as bad as the climbing wall was with both hands. After a while, you get the hang of it, and you emerge in a room filled with crows, many of them in cages. A knight waves at you, as Mary scrambles up the ladder behind you.

"Oh my, must have been tough getting in here? Terribly sorry. I'll ask the Captain if we can do something to make it easier for you next time. Oh, wait, we haven't met, have we? I'm John Two Hundred Twenty-Sixth, but generally they call me the Postmaster."

"Not John Postmaster?"

He shrugs.

"Nope. Maybe because it's a new position. Really been a great thing for morale, though. You have a letter?"

"Oh, yes."

"Right. Well, where's it going?"

You tell him the name of your hometown, explaining that it's near the border with Kroska.

"Right, right. Dorvin's gonna be the closest outpost to there. So let me just mark this letter... need the recipient's name, and any other details to help them narrow down where to take it on the other side."

A brief interrogation later, he walks over to a cage. You suppose the writing on it says "Dorvin", though you can't really tell. He takes the crow out and ties the letter to its leg, then walks over to a window shutter and opens it.

The crow flies off, taking your letter with it.

"And there you go! It'll stop at the roost in Dorvin, and from there someone local will take it out to Henry. Should only take a couple of days. I'll let you know if a reply arrives. Oh, are you going to need help getting down?"

You probably are, now that he mentions it. Enough trouble that you might want to take the time to ask him some questions before you make the effort.

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This is a lot of crows. What's the delivery range like?

Ask if you can use the ladder more, it will be good practice for your arm

"This is a lot of crows."

The Postmaster smiles broadly.

"Yeah, each one's trained to fly to a different outpost. Between them, they can cover all of Lansor and the south half of Minset. Further than that, we send a crow to one of the capitals, where they've got an even bigger roost and faster birds. It's not just crows, they're just cheap to feed and easy to train, so the smaller roosts use them exclusively."

"Is it hard getting the crows?"

"Nah. You just toss them some food and they follow you all day. Then they get in the cage without a fuss and they'll come back to it sooner or later once they think of it as home. Getting them to the other end is just a matter of getting them to think they've got a home there, too. Way simpler than training sparrows or hawks."

"Hawks?"

"Yeah, for when you've got something bigger than a letter to send. We don't have one here, too inconvenient to feed. We're dependent on the supplier for getting things like that in and out of here." He seems to enjoy talking about the birds. "So, any other questions, or should I help you down?"

You're thinking of trying to climb down the ladder on your own, but you may want to ask some more questions first, or perhaps take a closer look at the birds. It's going to be inconvenient to get back up here again, after all.

Ask what he thinks about you getting a pet bird

You do have one last question, though admittedly it seems a little silly to you.

"Do crows make good pets?"

"Depends on what you want in a pet. They tend to be fine as long as you feed them, but when they do raise a fuss..."

The Postmaster's answer is interrupted by a series of loud caws, which grows and grows.

"...well, it's like that. And when you've got a whole bunch of crows, when one starts crying out, the rest join in. Going to have to deal with this, hold on."

He starts running around the roost, and the noise slowly settles down. When it's finally calm again, he comes back.

"They usually get like that after the rain. Normally I let a few crows with nothing to do out each day, just to stretch their wings. But when the rain comes, I have to close the shutters and can't let any crows out. Luckily, they're smart enough to wait out the rain when they're coming in."

"That must be brutal after the month-long storm."

"Oh, the storm's another matter entirely. When we're preparing, I send almost all the crows out, with a note indicating the rain's coming. They stay at the outposts until the rain clears; then we send out the few crows we've kept to the capital with a note that the rain's stopped. In theory, we might need them for emergency messages, but fortunately that hasn't come up so far."

"The roost looks pretty full considering the storm was only around a week ago," you muse.

"Yeah, it's slow for the first few days, but after that they start arriving as whole flocks. Getting them organized again is a lot of work, I usually need to get a dozen knights in here to help." He suddenly laughs a bit. "Oh, but I'm getting sidetracked from your question. Crows make okay pets if you can deal with their outbursts, and if you don't mind letting them fly around outside for a while. 'Course, you're not allowed pets on base, but if you're looking for something when you go home on leave, eh, could do worse. Is that all?"

"Yeah, I think so." You look at Mary. "Er, sorry, did this take longer than you thought it would?"

"It's all right, didn't have firm plans for what to do between shifts anyhow," she says. "So how are we getting you back down?"

"I was thinking I'd try the ladder again."

"All right, but I'm heading down first. Just in case I need to catch you."

"Oh, good idea," says the Postmaster. "I'll go down, too. You shouldn't have to worry"

They climb down, and you wait patiently before following them.

It turns out that climbing down is harder, mostly because you can't see where you're going. You lose your balance about halfway down the ladder, but fortunately the others are already waiting to catch you.

"You okay?" Mary asks.

"Not really. Could have been worse if you two weren't there, but still pretty sore."

"Best see the medic," the Postmaster says. "I'll help you there. No need for Thirteenth to take more time out of her day."

"I don't mind, really. Let's go."

With their help, you make your way to the infirmary yet again.

"You tried to climb a ladder," John Medic sighs. "Why didn't I warn you about that sort of thing... oh well, what's important right now is the injury. What hurts?"

the body part that hurts is........... wait. didn't you lose that arm?

You try to focus. You feel a degree of pain everywhere, but there's definitely one spot where it's strongest, but with all the pain it's hard to think straight.

"Everything hurts, but it's worst here," you say, trying your best to point to the spot.

It takes a moment before you realize you're pointing at thin air, or more specifically the thin air where your right elbow would be.

"Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought."

"I've heard a bit about this, people who lose a limb but feel like it's still there. Haven't heard about them feeling pain in the lost limb, but this isn't really something I've studied much. Of course, considering how little we know about... about what injured you, it's possible there might be something more going on."

You see a slightly apologetic look in his eyes as he pointedly doesn't mention the rainspawn by name, or even with a clear description. It's probably as Captain Long told you - the official policy on not mentioning them in dry periods hasn't changed.

"Well, for now, I'll give you some general pain medication - you probably won't need the stronger stuff that you did yesterday. And I suggest you stay in bed here for a while, and when you're out, well, don't climb ladders. I understand wanting to test your limitations, but you should probably start with something simpler."

You nod, and follow John into the side room with the bed. At this point, you're not sure if you've spent more time in this bed or in your own.

"Now, the good news is, you'll probably be fine in a few hours." John opens a pouch and pulls out some herbs. "So you should be able to sleep in your own bed by tonight, as long as you're careful." He hands you a leaf. "Just chew on that for a while, it'll ease the pain."

You start chewing, and he's right - you do feel better. The sharp pain where your arm is missing remains, but that's probably not so surprising if it's all in your mind. Or if it's something strange involving the rainspawn, for that matter. Either way, it's more than an herb can help you with.

"Do you need any company this time?"

You shake your head. You don't mind having people around, but the herb seems to have a calming effect. John leaves, promising to check in on you later.

You sit there for a while. It's fairly quiet for the next hour or so, but you don't really mind, even with the inexplicable pain.

Then you hear some footsteps. You can overhear a few snippets of conversation - it seems the two prisoners have made it back to base, and they're talking to John about something. Probably just a checkup to make sure they didn't get hurt while they were gone.

You don't catch too much of the conversation, but you do try to make a point of listening for their names. Maybe you can talk to them about the Marsh Fortress later.

So what are their names?

Priss Oehner and Jale Berd :P

Ben Eleventh and Nora Feldspar

You catch the names Ben Eleventh and Nora Feldspar. The latter sounds like a Kroskan surname; she's probably the other Kroskan Burgundy was talking about. Especially as being surnameless is rare in Kroska; but then, Mary has both a surname and a number, so that's clearly no guarantee.

Anyhow, you try your best to remember the names even as you drift off for a nap.

It's mid-afternoon by the time the medic wakes you up. For the most part, the pain has cleared up, and the mystery pain in your missing arm seems to have passed too. It probably was all in your head.

Probably.

At any rate, John Medic recites a list of things you definitely shouldn't attempt just yet, such as climbing ladders. He gives you a copy of the list too, in case you need a reminder.

You thank him and get up. You feel a little embarrassed.

Regardless, you've got some time before dinner, and no particular obligations. What are you going to do?

Find Nora Feldspar!

To get to her you need to climb a ladder

Break room, see who's around

You consider looking for Nora Feldspar, but since you haven't actually met her and don't have a particularly strong reason to talk to her right now, you decide to just head to the lounge again. It's not as if you have a better place to go.

This time, it's rather crowded. Not as much as yesterday, when the rumors of rain were swirling around, but it seems that it's close enough to dinner that far more knights are taking a break.

You might recognize someone here, but there's also several groups in the middle of their own activities, and it might be interesting to join in.

What will you do here?

Climb a ladder

Card tournament, you're in.

join in!!!

You soon find a group sitting at a table with several decks of cards laid out. You see Lisa among the group, but she doesn't have a hand. Probably sitting out because of her win record.

You decide to head over and find out more details. It's easiest to start by asking Lisa, so that's what you do.

"What's everyone playing?"

"Well, we haven't started for real yet, these are just warmup rounds. Grey's trying to get some more entrants, see if we can get to sixteen for a full bracket..."

"Bracket?"

"Oh, you didn't see the sign? We're holding a tournament. Or, well, that was the plan, but yesterday's rain threw things off a bit. We were going to have an organizational meeting to work out our final preparations, but then Nora got captured. She's back now, but not in the mood to oversee a card tournament, so that leaves us short a judge. And it meant we put the signs up at the last minute, so we don't have as many players as we'd like."

"So, what's the game? Is it Swamprats?"

"Ha, no, the last Swamprats tournament was a disaster and the officers told us to stick to less 'emotionally-charged' games. That's how the Captain put it. I could tell you more about this game, if you're interested in joining the tournament." Then she smirks slightly. "Or maybe you'd like to be our third judge? It's just me and Grey right now, and we're going to need someone to settle our arguments."

"But I haven't played a lot of card games. Most of my experience is losing to you in Swamprats."

"This is a simple one, don't worry. And there aren't that many judge calls, mostly you watch the game and make sure nobody cheats. You don't have to, just thought you might enjoy giving it a try."

Well, it's an intriguing offer. Will you take her up on it? Or perhaps you'd rather try your luck in the tournament. Of course, you also might have some questions to ask her, whether they're about the game or something else.

You also wonder just what the name of the game they're playing is, but you're sure you'll find that out soon enough.

Yeah! You should be the judge of Three Leaves! Which features threes and leaves as very important groups of cards

(what are the suits again? leaves is one of them right?)