Swamped

You've just about settled on who you think you should ask and started thinking about how you're going to contact them, when you notice a patrolling knight.

You slip down and decide it's best to just give them warning. They turn towards you...

"Marshall? What are you doing here?"

It's Lisa Black. Good. You wonder why she's out - if she's on a repair squad, she would have been busy today. Indeed, she looks like she hasn't had much sleep. But you don't have time to dwell on it.

"Long story. I'll make it quick. Marshguards are attacking."

"Shit. Is Rider with them?"

"Yes. But, look, long story short, I made a deal with Mudviper - yeah, she's escaped. She's going to try to divert them by telling them we sent an infiltration force. So, I have to get some knights over there in order to make her story look good. Knights who are going to get captured."

"If you're looking for volunteers, I'll take you up on that..."

"No. I appreciate it, but you're repair squad, you've got work to do here. Get back to base and warn them. I want you to ask Mary Baker and Walter to meet me at the Rock - I'm sure they'll agree. Then ask Jackson, he knows his way around the swamp. And may as well ask Stacy, if you can wake her up." You pause. "Do you think Dean would go?"

"I'd have a hard time keeping him away. He's been worried all day about the Marshguards attacking over the poison; it was his idea."

"Right. And Tom Ninth was captured not long ago... I guess there's your friend, too, but I don't know her. Um, maybe Mark Conchway or Tom Tenth if someone else doesn't agree. That's all the thoughts I have, I'm kind of rushed right now."

"Got it. Don't worry, I'll pass it along."

You head to the Rock and wait. Before long, Mary, Walter, Dean, and Jackson show up. You see two other figures behind them, but can't quite make them out.

Who are the last two?

Show Content

SpoilerOptions are:
-Stacey
-Mark Conchway
-Tom Ninth
-Tom Tenth

You can suggest other knights, but you'll have to provide a reason why they'd come along.

Stacey

And tom eighth..? He seems to be carrying a box like the one you saw in his room, but larger, and actually smiling about how he's never gotten to try "this one" in a combat setting before

One is Tom Tenth. He appears to be unarmed except for a shield large enough to be be a raft. The arm carrying it doesn't have any armor on. Wait what's that symbol on his arm? Why does he have the same tattoo as Walter?

As they draw nearer, you can see that the last two figures are Stacey and Tom Tenth. Tom seems to have an unusually large wooden shield strapped to his arm.

"What's that?" Dean asks, staring at it.

"I'm not authorized for weapon use," Tom grumbles. "They said I'd need to retrain in combat before I could pick anything. So I've got this thing instead - it's not technically a weapon, so I don't have to return it to the armory each night. Doubles as a raft in a pinch, though it won't fit all of us. Maybe two at best."

"Right, um," you begin. "How much did Lisa tell you?"

"We're going to head over to the Marsh Fortress, get caught, and hopefully throw them off enough that they won't attack the base tonight," Jackson says. "Something like that. I've got a quick route planned already, so follow me."

"We'll need to get our story straight on why we're doing this, too," Dean says. "You know, the one we tell our interrogators, and the officers when we get back home. But we can work that out on the way."

As you follow Jackson, you start whispering to each other about the cover story.

Dean thinks it's best if he assumes responsibility. But everyone points out they don't know him that well, so it doesn't seem like a group he's likely to assemble. What you settle on is that Dean planned to infiltrate the fortress himself, and the rest of you were only responsible for helping him get close enough. He decided to ask newer recruits along because they wouldn't face harsh punishments if the plan were discovered. That leaves Walter, who Dean asked because he needed someone experienced with the patrols in order to lead the group around them.

As it turns out, Walter is actually quite good at doing that, warning Jackson as they approach patrolled areas.

After a while, you get to the meeting grounds.

"We're halfway there," Jackson says. "Don't need to go too much further before we get ourselves caught, since anywhere they find us will be closer to their base. So let's focus on making it look like our route was more complicated than it really was. I recommend a quick dip in the muck, for a start."

Meanwhile, the rest of you finish working out your individual stories about being asked along. Your own excuse is that you happened to overhear Dean asking Mary, and you decided that you wanted to help out. Dean was skeptical, but decided it was better than letting you reveal the plan before he was ready. You also explain Mudviper's involvement, though perhaps downplaying the parts that might get you in trouble, and that her story will involve escaping from your group.

"She didn't give you details?" Dean asks. "Well, given her position in the Marshguards, and her military background, she's smart enough to keep it vague if she didn't tell you what to say. So, let's go with this: we ran into her as she was escaping, because we were trying to hide in the same spot. We surprised her, argued for a bit about whether to press on or take her back, she slipped away. Probably because she wanted to report that we weren't using poison, and didn't have time to worry about us, but during the argument she probably overheard us talking about our planned route. Maybe we even say that we changed it after she left, once we realized she might have heard it."

"Right," Jackson says, climbing out of the muck. "We'll say we tried going through the western bog after she escaped. I'll try to figure out where she got them looking, since I'm navigator; everyone else can pretend they just forgot the original plan, since it was changed."

"I'm supposed to be leader, so I should know that too," Dean says. "Everyone else can pass it off as not remembering."

"We'll worry about that once we're caught. I doubt she'd guide them through the western bog, it's one of the more dangerous areas of the swamp."

"Why would we go through it, then?" Stacey asks. It's a good question, though you're not sure how much she's been paying attention.

"Because Jackson thought he had a safe route," Dean says, apparently starting to really get into it. "He pushed for us to go that way, but I was skeptical. When Mudviper escaped, though, I decided to risk it, since she might have overheard us mentioning the original route."

"Sounds good," Jackson says. "Of course, I won't reveal the route because they might use it to sneak up on us. Speaking of, this is as far as I've been into the swamp. We'll have to be more careful from here, because we don't want to get caught by a regular patrol. We want to wait for the bulk of their forces to arrive. However, if we just get a mile or so into their territory, they'll likely be tired enough to opt for heading back, prisoners in tow, rather than running off for an all-out attack."

"And even if they do go back... they'll be worn out, and we'll be expecting them," Dean concludes. "So this is it. We've got our story, we'll get ourselves covered in muck... and then we have to make sure that we're found at the right time."

"Right," Jackson says. "Shouldn't be too hard if we're careful - but the closer we get to the fortress, the better. So, does anyone have a plan for how we should approach it?"

perhaps split up into groups of two, that way it's not as dangerous as going alone, but if at least one group makes it to the fortress, it should be good enough for a mission success

dont split the party unless staying together endangers the mission! if you all work together, move slowly and quietly, staying to areas with decent cover, with your powers combined you should be able to make it to the marsh guard base.

are you still carrying the locked up prosthetic or did you leave it at base? if you are, ask someone if they know how to use this thing.. maybe someone knows how to lockpick here.

Stick together - keep an eye out for nocturnal swamp predators. This is not a mission you want to steer blindly into.

Tom and Jackson can scout ahead in the shield-raft, Dean and Walter leading the group one looking out for pests and the other for patrols. You, Mary, and Stacy take up the rear.

These guys are risking their lives because they trust you. Now isn't the time to tell them you are actually the Rider's son, but they will be plenty upset once they find out in a marshguard cell.

How is the group able to see? Moonlight?

"We could split up," Tom Tenth says. "Then if some of us got caught early, we'd still have others around to draw their attention. It might even get them sending a runner to the advance forces if we say there's more of us around."

"No, it's too dangerous," Dean says, shaking his head. "If it were just the Marshguards, that might work, but the swamp's got plenty of other threats. It's even worse on the Marshguard side; they're not as good at chasing beasts away as we are."

"So, we stick together, then," you say. "Makes sense." Something's bothering you, though. You take off your pack and pull out the strange device you got from Recordkeeper's office.

"By the way, does anyone have any idea how to open this? It's one of Flame's donations. I, er, was curious about it."

"Let me have a look," Mary says, taking it from you. "It's got one of his catches, I've dealt with these before... there we go."

The two cylinders separate. You still can't quite tell what they are; but now you can see there's some sort of switch near each end.

"I think it might be a tool of some kind," Mary says. "Possibly a weapon, but Flame doesn't tend to work directly with those. Stand back while I try one of these switches."

Everyone does and she flicks the switch. A rope flies out of the cylinder. Another flip of the switch, and it winds back in.

"I could probably make use of that," Jackson says. "Mind if I take it?"

"I suppose," you say with a one-armed shrug. Apparently it's not a prosthetic after all.

"Right, we've taken enough time," Dean says. "Tenth..."

"Call me Tom, dammit! I'm the only Tom here!"

"Right, sorry. Tom, you and Jackson head out in front on that shield-raft."

"I can go with them," Stacey says. "I'm a good swimmer."

"All right, but warn us if you see anything hostile under there. Speaking of which, I'll be looking for signs of dangerous creatures."

"And I'll keep a look out for patrols," Walter says. "Their setup probably won't be too different from ours, I can figure out where they're likely to be watching."

"That leaves Marshall and me," Mary says. "We'll keep an eye out at the back. If we see their troops coming back, we'll let you know."

She takes out a pair of long goggles and helps you put them on, then puts on her own pair.

"These should help us spot them from a ways off," she says. "But we need to stick close to the rest of the group; don't want to get so distracted by what's in the distance that we lose sight of what's right under our noses."

"Thanks," you say. You're already a little disoriented.

"Best to partner up, in that case," Walter says. You feel a large hand grasping your own. It feels good, but you can't think too hard about that right now.

"Good idea," Dean says. "I apologize for any discomfort, Mary. Now, let's get going."

You feel yourself heading out, but it's hard to keep track of anything with your sights set so far in the distance. All you can feel is the ground beneath your boots, and Walter's firm, comforting grip.

You're now Mudviper.

You convinced Rider with your fake warning; or at least, you persuaded him to play along. You said the Bogknights were sneaking through the Thornbrushes - it's a plausible path because it has few beasts, only thorny plants that a patient group can navigate through with ease.

Of course, the Marshguards aren't that patient to begin with, and can't afford to waste time with Bogknights having a headstart on their underdefended base. So Rider's sent squads to every one of the Thornbrushes' exits, as well as ordering a large search party to follow them in.

You wish you'd had time to arrange a proper cover story, but your information about the poison was enough to get Rider to believe you were in a hurry to begin with and didn't catch the full details of their route. Hopefully the Bogknights Marshall finds will be smart enough to work out their own story; you're taking a big risk here, and it wouldn't do to be exposed.

But you haven't quite done everything you hoped. Rider is still waiting here, along with five other squads. He plans to wait for the others to return from their search, then resume the assault.

That isn't what you were hoping for. It just means you'll have a more exhausted force, and the Bogknights will be more prepared. You want to avoid a pointless slaughter, not merely shift casualties over to your side.

There's a slim chance the order might be rescinded based on your report, but you can't count on that. It's better to do what you can here to convince Rider it's not worth pressing the assault.

But what can you say?

Casually slip this information into the conversation; "My target, Marshall Laikenne is the part of the Bogknight's forward assault team for some reason."

No need to say anything. Rider is smart, you can already see the gears turning as he asseses the battle situation. He's honest, but he'll pull back if he thinks it will be a losing battle. He asks you the question before you get the chance to reply.

"How did you escape?"

He needs to know if he'll be facing an alert base with night patrols actively hunting for hidden marshguards.

It's the truth, even if the reason why is different.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a question from Rider.

"How did you escape, Mudviper?"

His voice is imposing, even to you, and you know him better than almost anyone. It takes you a moment to regain yourself and answer. Fortunately, you can cover it mostly with honesty.

"The guard was the sort who takes himself too seriously. Think his name was Squib, something along those lines. It wasn't hard to lure him close enough to knock him out and take the keys - it seemed as though it was his first time on guard duty, in fact."

"And that didn't draw any attention?"

"Oh, it did. But only one knight. Seems the rest of them were busy. Why, they didn't even have anyone guarding my gloves - all I needed was the keyring I already had."

You haven't said a word of how it was Long who arranged for your escape to be that easy, of course. Rider can figure that out on his own easily enough.

"Did you encounter anyone else before being recaptured?"

"I had to incapacitate a lookout before slipping out of the base. Didn't really have a way to open the gate without drawing attention, after all."

"Is that it, then?"

"That was it. No other knights got in my way."

Rider leans in closer.

"Is the base aware of your escape?"

"Almost certainly by now. The knights I knocked out should have woken up, for one thing."

"That means increased patrols," Rider muses. "Both inside and outside the base. More knights woken up, to ensure you don't slip out of sight."

"More knights who might notice us sitting here with our weapons out," you note. "You, in particular. I'm sure you've noticed that they don't take it lightly when you're around."

"And yet, we are some distance from their territory still," Rider points out. "If they are focused on finding a single prisoner, they may be unprepared for a full-on assault."

He turns to one of the other squad leaders.

"Bluesight," he says. "I want your squad to scout ahead. Report back with the state of the Bogknights' defenses."

"Yes, sir," Bluesight says. Their squad moves forward and vanishes into the night. You hope the Bogknights are ready.

You're Marshall again. In the distance, you see a group of Marshguards slipping forward towards Bogknight territory. You tell the others immediately.

"Might just be scouts," Walter says. "Of course, if they're scouting, that means they haven't given up on their attack yet; they're trying to figure out if we're ready for them."

"We should be," Dean says, though he's not sounding as confident as you'd like. "Sergeant Ash was focused on shoring up our defenses from the moment he took command. I don't think we have much choice but to hope that's enough to scare off the scouts; I doubt we can catch up to them even if we tried to pursue."

"Lights up ahead," Tom Tenth says suddenly. "We're nearing the patrols."

"Got to think carefully here," Jackson adds. "There's some underbrush to the west we could hide in, but there might be something nasty hiding in there. Or we could press forward; I don't see any Marshguards on the nearest walkway, even though it's lighted."

How should you proceed?

What does Jackson think could be hiding in there? Of course Dean opts for it anyway. The chance to see some swamp creatures up close drives his gut instinct. Walter seems confident he could wrestle whatever's in there as well. Only Tom really prefers the path, but he's in charge of the raft after all.

Stacy is nonchalant about the whole thing...or sleep swimming, it's always hard to tell.

encountering swamp creatures is probably a better bet than encountering the marshguards at this point. especially if walter can wrestle them to death silently. just make sure you aren't going into the brush with anything poisonous.

"The underbrush shouldn't be that bad, actually," Dean says. "Most creatures that bother going in there are prey species looking to hide. The few predators that go in there regularly are the smaller ones, who need to rely on the element of surprise to catch their prey."

"They still might make noise if we frighten them," Mary says.

"I can only think of two or three species we might encounter that could potentially be loud enough to be heard all the way over there. And all of them will be facing depleted populations after the last rain."

"Well, The Dean knows his animals," Walter says. "If he thinks it's a good bet, that works for me."

"I don't like it," Tom grumbles. "What if there's some weird hungry creature we've never heard of in there? It wouldn't be the first time that sort of thing's caught some unsuspecting knights."

"Then it will leave signs of its presence. I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual."

"Like what, a trail of animal carcasses? We just had rain, we'll find those anywhere the scavengers haven't hit yet."

"I was thinking more along the lines of droppings. Those have a tendency to linger."

"Enough, Tom," Jackson sighs. "Dean's made his point - if there is something weird, he'll spot it early. I'm good with Dean's plans, any objections?"

"Yes," Tom grumbles.

"Huh? Oh, sounds fine," Stacey says, pulling herself out of the water.

"I think Dean's made a good case," Mary says. "So is anyone bothered other than Tom?"

The only person who hasn't spoken up is you. Are you with Dean, or do you have any concerns you want to raise first?

Go with Dean

"Sounds like Dean's got a handle on things," you say.

Tom Tenth still isn't happy, but he relents. He brings the shield closer to land, and he and Jackson get off. You and Mary pull down your goggles, since the extended vision won't do you much good in the underbrush.

It's much as Dean said; the few animals you see are tiny, and they flee deeper into the brush when they spot. There are still a fair number of mangled carcasses scattered around, but Dean glances at a few and concludes they're victims of the rain.

It unsettles you a little how readily everyone avoids saying "spawn".

Still, the trip is generally uneventful... until you find the carcass of a significantly larger animal. Tom Tenth is more than a little unnerved.

"Dean," he says. "Are you going to tell me that's not unusual?"

"It certainly is," Dean says. "As best as I can tell, this is some kind of bear corpse. But that's odd, there aren't any bear species in the swamp..."

"We should get out of here," Tom says.

"Well, it seems to be another victim of the rain. It's odd that it's here, but it doesn't really indicate any particular danger..."

"What if there's more of them around? We don't know how this one got here, what if more of them came after the rain stopped?"

"Gonna have to go with Tom here," Walter says. "I don't think we can take a bear down quietly."

"Well, let's see what we're dealing with if we leave before we make that decision," Mary says, putting her goggles back in place and poking her head out into the swamp. You follow her lead and see what you can spot.

What do you see?

shit! the marshguards are right there! they didn't see you, so you slink back into the brush holding a finger to your mouth to signal the others.

It's a small group, 3-4 scouting for you guys possibly...it might be to your advantage if you could take them out. You don't want too much noise, but having a group not check in could help pull attention away from a possible attack on the base.

You almost can't work out what you're seeing - it's too close. You slip back in and pull up your goggles before looking again.

Marshguards.

You turn back and put a finger to your mouth. Dean nods, and motions to everyone to move further back.

You do, and watch carefully. The Marshguards soon come into the bushes and find the dead bear.

"What the hell is this, a bear? Since when does this swamp have bears?" one of them asks. You recognize him as the one who was captured when you first arrived. You don't think you ever caught his name.

"I'm more worried about what killed it, personally," says a shorter one.

"It's not hard to guess, Shorty," said a third guard, with noticeably tall legs. "We just had rain a few days ago. This is more than likely the work of the rainspawn."

Shorty shudders.

"I wish you wouldn't just, y'know. Mention them."

"That's stupid. They're the most dangerous thing in this whole damned swamp, how can we not talk about them."

"Quiet, Legs," the first guard says. "This is definitely not the time to argue about that again. Greeneye, is this about where you saw some movement?"

"Yeah. And I doubt it was this bear-thing."

"Could be scavengers," Shorty chimes in. "Maybe we scared them off."

"Or maybe there are intruders. You know, like the ones we're supposed to be keeping watch for?"

You feel a tap on your shoulder, and turn to see Walter. He's holding up his fists and giving you a questioning look. Seems he wants to know if you're ready for a fight.

Are you?

Yes. you don't have a choice, really. Think tactically, is there a place where you can flank them, maybe wait for them to get through a particularly narrow bottleneck and surround them?

I forgot we never named that marshguard! He was a courier for merchants (particularly unscrupulous ones)...perhaps even from Dorvin, before the mail-birds were set up.

He keeps in good shape and has command of a squad that reports to Rider. His name is Corvus, a reference to his old occupation, and a tribute to the clever birds who even in flight seem covered in tar.

These marshguards, you recall, tried to kidnap you once before . They take orders from Rider and know he wants you caught - maybe have even figured out why.

You don't want to fight them. Your team could take them but you couldn't stop them from recognizing you and possibly giving away your relationship to the most feared man in the swamp. You remember how Walter reacted when he just saw the rider. How would he feel knowing he had been protecting his son?

You don't think you can stop your group from going for it though. Stacy's already slinked into the water. You ready your skyslicer and hope to knock the leader out in a single blow - he'd recognize you the easiest after you feigned an injury to chat with him. Dang though, he looks like he has done lot of push-ups. You're not sure you can take him.

And no one in your group notices Greeneye scouting from afar. ooor maybe she's just right there.

You nod, but then you hold out your palm in an attempt to say "let's not move quite yet". Walter seems to get the signal, and passes it along as you get your skyslicer ready. Everyone starts getting ready, but you think it might be better to wait for the Marshguards to be a bit more vulnerable.

You hold your head close to the ground and look through the bushes to try and see what they're doing, and get a good angle for your skyslicer shot - it'll serve as a signal.

"Corvus, we can't keep poking around out here. Starling and Rivers can't handle that lookout point by themselves if someone tries to attack while we're stuck here."

"Fine, then you head back and help them. I think we can take a few guards."

There's a bit of rustling as one of the Marshguards leaves. Good, that gives you a better chance. You can still hear some splashing, though - they must be walking through shallows. You decide to wait until that noise fades before making your move - despite the argument, the Marshguards seem more interested in talking to each other than searching the area.

"Can't believe Rider wouldn't let us join the attack," Shorty mutters. "Is he still mad we bungled that capture mission?"

"Of course he's still mad," the leader says. That other guard called him Corvus, you think. "But he's not petty. He's not punishing us, he's giving us an important job. Maybe it's a bit of a test, too, I wouldn't put that past him. But I know he didn't tell us to watch this area just because he was mad at us."

That's right - this squad takes their orders directly from Rider. They were ordered to retrieve you, something you haven't told anyone. You feel like it could get awkward if Corvus recognizes you; fortunately, while you can only see the feet of the Marshguards from here, they're different enough in build that you can tell which one's which.

You start planning your throw to hit Corvus, just as you hear him talk again.

"Now quit wasting time with stupid questions and start searching!"

"But there's a dead bear here, boss!" Shorty protests.

"If you see something that looks like it killed a bear, yell and run. Otherwise, keep looking. Wouldn't want any Bogknights sneaking past."

That sounds like a good time to strike. You toss your slicer and it flies through, hitting Corvus in the head. A moment later, Walter grabs Shorty, a ball goes flying through the air and strikes Legs, and Corvus gets knocked to the ground by a large shield.

"Mmph!" Shorty tries to scream, but Walter's already covered his mouth. Dean pins down Legs, while Jackson sits on Corvus and pulls out some rope.

It takes a few minutes of work from there, but you soon have them all tied and gagged. However, you can't help but notice something.

"Where's Stacey?"

"I think she was going for an ambush from the water if one of them slipped out," Dean says. "I'll see if I can find her."

You're now Stacey.

You tried following that Marshguard who stepped out, but she kept to the shallows. You didn't have a good chance to strike her without being seen.

Now she's on the walkway, looking back at the underbrush you just came from. She doesn't have long goggles, but you recall hearing the name "Greeneye". Eye-related nicknames usually indicate a scout. She might have good vision on her own, then.

How should you handle this?

Follow her back to see where she's stationed and return to the group with that intel.

Heh. A scout.

Visual acuity is a valuable trait in the swamp, but it's not the only way to keep aware of your surroundings.

You don't see your way through the swamp. The grime and muck obscures your vision, especially when swimming. You don't have to look to find your way.

You listen.

You're always listening to the swamp on some level. It has much more interesting things to say than most of the bogknights do. It's when you're swimming though, submersed in the waters of the swamp that you can hear it most clearly.

Greeneye has stopped moving. The walkway creaks as she shifts her balance. Maybe she's spotted you?

No. You're still mostly underwater - your weapon is drawn, but aquablades are invisible when submerged. Greeneye must be looking somewhere beyond - you can hear the others' fight finishing. Perhaps she's assessing their situation. Regardless, if she's a scout, then she's used to looking for danger far away, relying on her squad to handle dangers up close.

Dive deep - and come back up under the walkway.

You consider following her to see where she's stationed, but decide against it. You've spent too long away from the group as it is. Besides, the longer you take, the more time she has to spot you.

Instead, you decide to take advantage of the fact that the walkway is under the water. You listen carefully for Greeneye's footsteps, to work out where she is, then you leap out, blade drawn, and strike.

The walkway, that is. You know well that it's common for there to be weak spots after the rain, and the Marshguards don't have as many resources for repairs. If Greeneye falls in, it won't draw suspicions.

She cries out for help as she plummets, but you've already grabbed her and started back for the underbrush. More guards might come running, but they likely won't think to check over there.

You've got enough time to grab her, releasing your aquablade as you do. It starts floating up, but you manage to catch the strap with your foot.

Of course, Greeneye doesn't intend to get caught without a fight. She's already struggling. You try to swim as best as you can despite the struggle.

She had the sense to wear her mask in case of an accident, but even so, you're sure you can hold out until she loses consciousness from the pressure difference underwater. But that would be very bad for her body. You'd prefer a gentler approach.
But you're also pressed for time. You don't want the group moving on without you, or worse, risking themselves to find you. You can hear three sets of footsteps on the walkway; they're some distance away, but clearly they're going to check the hole you left.

What's your best option here?