Swamped

all of it, and very fast, with no pauses in the event of interruption

Like how the number of poison cases has been coming in spikes, apparently during the warmest times of the day, and how the most recent cases were marshguards close to the blast of flame Long made when he battled rider.

Or maybe how the cases didn't start until after we renewed foraging missions after the unexpected rain.

Or maybe how the least affected group are the support staff that rarely leave the base.

Or maybe how the netting fungus used in the masks smells like cinnamon now, did marsh-net always smell like sand and cinnamon?

Also why do you suddenly feel like shit - and not in the emotional, self-deprecating way you were expecting coming to talk to Doc but in a massive-hangover-headache all over your body wow that floor is moving up fast.

You honestly have a lot of thoughts. So if she's not going to pay attention, well, then you're going to lay it all out.

"First thing I notice, nearly everyone poisoned was on a foraging team. Support staff, like yourself, are almost unaffected; Requiem's the only exception. Now, it's been a while since I was out foraging, but one thing I remember is that swampleaf grows better where it's warmer. And when I look at the other cases, I see the same pattern: they've been working someplace warmer than most of the swamp."

You stop to catch your breath. Starling seems a little lost, and Doc still doesn't respond. May as well keep going.

"Now, something's been bothering me since I heard about the poisonings, and I finally put my finger on it. I'm not sure we're actually dealing with poison at all."

That gets her attention.

"What the hell are you talking about? If it's not poison, what is it?"

"Look, we don't have the sort of equipment the Bogknights do. We haven't actually checked their blood for poison, right? It's just that, we're seeing the same symptoms as murderfly toxin, but they're taking much slower to show up. That's why we thought maybe it was being diluted, probably to preserve it for longer..."

"Get to the point."

"Right. Back before I came here, I was part of... well, let's call it an organization. An organization that sometimes had business in the desert. I never went myself, but the couriers who did go there... several of them came back, and they weren't in good shape. Called it desert fever. And I just realized, it's the exact same thing we've been seeing here."

"Desert fever." Doc runs over to a shelf and flips through a book. "It's written up in here... damn, you're right, that does fit with the pace of the symptoms. But how could it..." She pauses. "There's not a lot of info on it. Top theory is that it's caused by a mineral in the sand that gets toxic at high temperatures. So combine the heat of the desert with heat from the human body, and you've got trouble. But it never gets that hot in the swamp, even if the contaminant somehow made its way here..."

"It's humid, though. There's dampness everywhere. And we're always pretty active. Could be that's making enough of a difference."

"Hells!" Doc shouts. "I can't prove this either way without running blood tests. But we'd need equipment from the Bogknights for that, and if they start wondering why we need it, it won't be long before they realize how vulnerable we are."

"Oh, damn. We really messed this one up. Can this get any worse?"

At that moment, Mudviper comes back in. She must be here to get Starling, like you asked.

"Ah, you're still here. Starling, I need you to..."

At that moment, Mudviper collapses. Starling panics. Doc rushes to Viper's side, muttering to herself.

So what are you doing about this whole mess?

also collapse. you're jealous of the attention

Doc's in command here, most trained for this sort of thing and she's most familiar with the place. Follow her lead and get her whatever she asks for. However, Starling needs something to do to stay focus.

Dang, you've collapsaed in here enough times to know what Doc'll do next. Have Starling clear the table and help Doc lift Mudviper to it once she's ready.

You know just what happens when Doc has to treat a patient and the bed's occupied.

"Starling! Clear off the table. Just put everything in a corner of the room. We'll need it in a moment."

"Not just yet we won't," Doc snaps. "Get her helmet off."

Right, that'll keep her head from getting too hot. You don't want the problem getting worse. Doc gets to work on taking off the rest of Mudviper's armor.

By the time that's done, Starling's cleared the table. You all pick up the patient and carry her over so Doc can get a better look.

"Hells! The fever's pretty far along. She must have picked it up a while ago."

"That's just like her," you mutter. "Soldiering on despite the pain."

"Top priority right now, we need to cool her down." Doc glances at you. "Where's your cold-pack?"

"Already on her head. She needs it more than I do."

"Good. I'll grab more. Wish we had better stuff available, but we don't."

Doc rushes to a cupboard, and comes back with a half-dozen more cold-packs. She puts them on Mudviper's arms, legs, and chest.

"That's all I've got. Hopefully it'll be enough."

"Hopefully?" Starling asks. She's worried. Well, you are too, at that.

"She's gone untreated for too long. If she'd collapsed somewhere else, or if I'd treated it like poisoning, she'd have been dead by now. Even with the cold-packs, she's stabilized a bit, but I can't guarantee she'll make it to tomorrow. I'd feel a lot safer if we could cool her down more, but I don't have the resources for that."

Well, you're not settling for that. You've got to think of a way to keep Mudviper cool.

the meat locker! wait, you'd contaminate all the meat. run and fetch some ice

aw man, Shorty is going to be real disappointed when you take his ice cream from him. He saved up all mo th for that!

If you were back on the outside, there'd be more options. You remember delivering a message to a butcher once, who kept large blocks of ice in his back room so the meat would last longer before he sold it.

But you don't have the infrastructure in the swamp to manage something like that. Even the Bogknights primarily just eat swamp mush. Here, you don't even have the means to make decent mush; you have to settle for the raw swampleaf. You can't think of anything in the whole base that especially needs to be kept cool.

Wait - you can. Keeper's brews. The last time you swiped one, it was ice-cold. He must have something that can help.

You excuse yourself, and tell Starling to stay in case Doc needs anything. Then you head back to Keeper's place.

"Keeper," you say. "You've got ice or something, right? Doc needs it, fast."

He gives you a suspicious look. Seems your talk earlier didn't fully sell him on you.

"You want me to hand you a couple bottles of booze with that, maybe? So you can hand-deliver them to her? Since when do you do anything for Doc?"

"Since Mudviper collapsed, that's when! Doc's already got all the cold-packs on her, but she isn't sure that's going to be enough."

"Viper." He looks a little more serious. "Awright, fine, you win. If this is a scheme, you'll get your arse kicked by Viper twice over, and Doc'll give it another three poundings for good measure. The coolant won't last long if I take it out, but a couple of bottles should help out a bit. By the time that wears off, I should have a longer-term solution ready."

He heads to the back, and returns with two bottles. Of good stuff, damn.

"This'll stay cool for hours, even outside the stash," he says. "I trust Doc can keep it safe."

"She can, but I've got to get it there first. What if someone tries to take it from me?"

He hands you a bag.

"Well, you can carry them in this, so you won't have your hands full. As for getting back there without trouble... that sounds to me like the sort of problem any serious Council candidate should be able to handle. Best of luck."

The nerve! He's treating this as some kind of test? Mudviper's life is at stake!

The worst part, though, is that he has a point. If you're worth consideration, you should be able to handle this.

So how are you going to keep the booze safe on your way back?

run fastly

Sorry parol officer Crosswinds but GTFO of my way!

The first thought that comes to mind: just run, and get it there as fast as you can.

Moments later, you realize that, given your history, if you're seen running through the halls with two bottles of Keeper's finest, everyone's going to draw certain conclusions.

And then, you realize that's an excellent reason for would-be thieves not to get in your way; they'll just be drawing the attention of whoever's chasing you. And they don't know who that is.

So you put the bottles in the bag, and take off.

You're about halfway to Doc's when you start thinking that this was a really stupid idea, but on the other hand, you haven't been troubled by anybody. That said, you do need to stop and catch your breath, so you pause in an empty hallway.

"Well, somebody's in a hurry."

At least, you thought it was empty.

"What do you want, Crosswinds?"

"Me? Nothing. Never had a drink in my life, and I don't intend to start now. I thought you were on Keeper's blacklist, though."

"These are for Mudviper."

"I had no idea you two were that close."

"I'm in no mood for playing around, Crosswinds. Get to the point."

"The point is, since our last little talk, I've been keeping my eyes and ears open on your behalf. And I heard something you're not going to like."

"Rider's vanished, Mudviper's fallen ill, and I've got an unpleasant and awkward conversation with Doc in my future. So my day's already shot. Lay it on me, what's the new disaster I should be worried about?"

jackson escaped

And reports are coming in of patrol members being found unconscious in the swamp brush. Seems a rouge swimmer caught them off-guard but some are saying it looked like a ghost.

Doesn't make sense for Jackson to leave though, seeing how he wants to meet with his cousin. Chances are his escape is a decoy to help free the other prisoners.

"One of the prisoners escaped. Think his name was Jackson. Seems he didn't get locked in properly after someone interrogated him."

Oh hells. You'll probably get questions about that, too. Even though you didn't do anything to make it easier.

But he wanted to see his cousin. Would he even recognize her?

Maybe he's just trying to get the others out. Either way, it's not good for you.

"We think we've got someone trying to infiltrate, too. Patrollers have been disappearing, only to turn up unconscious in the underbrush, or behind rocks, or in tree branches. The reports started from further out, so it's unlikely to be the prisoner."

"We lost track of a Bogknight when we got free," you say. "Maybe she's heading this way?"

"Could be. Fortress is on lockdown, anyhow. Nobody leaves unless there's an emergency. We don't want that prisoner getting out."

"Well, there is an emergency," you grumble. "And I've got to take care of it. Say, you wouldn't mind looking like you're chasing me for the next little stretch, would you? Just give me a bit of a headstart."

"Go for it."

You run the rest of the way to Doc's, with Crosswinds chasing you. As expected, everyone decides to just stay out of the way. Any fight that has Crosswinds involved is sure to be chaotic, after all.

When you arrive, Crosswinds grabs your shoulder.

"Gotcha," they say, chuckling. You just glare and step in.

"Got a present from Keeper," you say, presenting the bag. "Two very cold bottles, and he says they'll stay cold for quite a while."

Doc takes the bag from you.

"Huh. Untouched. He didn't give you three bottles, did he?"

"He said he'd try to come up with something longer-term."

"Well, these should help," Doc says, putting them by Mudviper. "Of course, now I've got to keep the desperate drunks out until he's done with whatever it is."

There's a groan in the corner. Rotmouth is coming to.

"You may want your mask on," you say.

"I was getting to that," Doc scowls. "Starling, watch the bottles."

She still doesn't trust you, it seems. Well, you may as well try to make yourself useful anyhow, not like you'll have much else to do. Starling's going to be busy with guard duty, and Crosswinds has no doubt already...

"So what now, 'Boss'?" Crosswinds asks, chuckling a little. Seems they've decided to stick around for once.

Well, this is a rare opportunity. So what are you going to talk to them about?

even if you're not in on it, i'm still committed to getting mudviper that council position. please be in on it.

This prisoner escaping is bad news...but it actually presents an opportunity. This is the same group that pulled on over on your team last night. They're more than a little sore about it and you've been pouring over how you could have handled it better.

Ask crosswinds to gather your squad here. You have a plan to re-capture Jackson and catch that infiltrator. Also, you're going to take Rotmouth with you. Gotta break that group up and she could be useful.

Also ask what they know about "The Fall of Alexandria". Any idea why Feldspar might be interested in it?

Something's been bothering you since Crosswinds last showed up. Might as well ask about it.

"So. You never made it clear last time if you were up for getting the Council to consider Mudviper."

"Well, it's definitely not going to fly while she's sick. But I don't think it'll sell anyways. Maybe you didn't hear, but thanks to her report last night, a lot of us had to go scouring the Thornbrushes, and turned up nothin' because the Bogknights went another way. Lots of bitterness about that. Won't go away easy. If she takes the seat, there'll be riots."

"And there won't be if I do?"

"Well, you're working on proving yourself, right? Sure, it'll be a shock to most, but they won't be upset, so long as they think you got it fair and square."

They've got a point. You may have a poor reputation, but outside of Keeper and Doc, there aren't many Marshguards who resent you personally. And even if your efforts to smooth things over fail, it's not as if either of those two are the sort to start riots.

The main problem is that you don't have a lot of accomplishments to your name. They're largely outnumbered by all the times you screwed up. You'll have to do something big...

And come to think of it, there's a serious problem that you're being blamed for.

"Could you call my squad members here?" you ask. "Those prisoners made fools of us last night. I think it's time we got them back by recapturing the escapee."

"Doc said Greeneye should rest today," Crosswinds says. Damn, you should have known that - she's in your squad. Something to work on, you suppose.

"Well, we're not likely to need a scout. So I'll need a substitute..."

"Don't look at me. I've got enough work as it is."

As you think about who you can ask, you notice Doc step away from the bed.

"Well, your head seems fine," you hear her say. "Other than the fool ideas you keep getting to attack anyone who outranks you. Twice in one day, even!"

You suddenly get an idea.

"Greeneye can keep relaxing," you say. "Oh, one more thing. You heard about a book called 'The Fall of Alexandria'?"

"Yeah. It's about the collapse of a big port city near the end of the Imperial era. Big with historians, not a lot of books from back then survived. I hear there's some big argument about who the author is, wouldn't know anything about it myself though."

Hmm. Maybe that's why the Bogknight archivist is so protective of it, he could be trying to solve that mystery. Could also have something to do with why Feldspar wants it.

"Right, I'll get yer squad. Good luck."

Crosswinds runs off, and a few minutes later, you see Legs, Shorty, and Rivers gathered outside.

Now it's time to negotiate with Doc.

"Doc," you say. "It'd be nice if you could free up that bed, right? So I'm thinking of taking our guest here on a disciplinary mission."

"Hells no," Rotmouth interjects. "I don't want anything to do with you or your worthless squad."

"She's conscious and there's no severe lasting damage," Doc says, ignoring her. "So I don't object in that regard. But, well, you heard her. I don't think it would go well to drag her along while she's fighting you every step of the way."

Right. If this is going to work, you've got to actually convince Rotmouth to cooperate. So how should you approach this?

Heh, the similarity to Bigfoot is uncanny. Well...except that you wouldn't have had a chance at head butting Bigfoot unconscious.

She'll respect strength, and you've shown her that - but to really get her to go along, you have to make her think it's her idea.

"Yeah doc, you're right. What was I thinking? If I gave this newmuck a chance to prove themselves, they'd might even get their own squad! Gonna be tough capturing those bogknights though..."

"I don't think we should bother with her, Boss," Shorty says, interjecting. "She looks like nothing but trouble."

Funny. That's what he said about Bigfoot, back on your first squad years ago.

Though this time, he's not whispering it. You can tell Rotmouth's bothered by the suggestion.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," you muse. "She wasn't much of a fighter, and not particularly bright either. Maybe I'll see if Stinger's up to joining us."

"Hey!" Rotmouth shouts. "You had me outnumbered. One-on-one, I could have taken you just fine."

"It's not just that you lost, it's how fast. All it took was a basic three-way flanking maneuver."

She sits up and glares at you.

"I don't have to take this. You know what my sisters and me did before coming here?"

"Doesn't matter. The swamp's not like the outside world. If you pick fights with everyone who rubs you the wrong way, it'll eat you up. If you can't even learn that basic lesson, we've got no use for you. You'll never amount to anything."

She starts pulling on her chains.

"Let me out, Doc! I gotta show this bastard what-for!"

"Much as I'd enjoy watching that, I have to agree with the bastard. Your attitude is nothing but trouble."

"Screw this, we've wasted enough time," you say. "Let's grab Stinger and then go hunting for that prisoner. I thought I'd be gracious, but nah, this useless newmuck's just going to slow us down."

You hear the chains shake.

"Oh, that's it. I'll make you eat those words."

"Not while you're chained to that bed," you say.

"And I'm not unlocking her unless she's under supervision," Doc replies, turning her attention to Mudviper. "Can't imagine a lot of squad leaders would consider that risk worth it."

"Urgh. Fine. Let me on your stupid squad."

"No way!" Legs shouts suddenly. "You just want out of the chains!"

Ugh. Of course Legs would bark out orders. He's always had trouble accepting that he's not in charge of the squad.

And in a sensitive negotiation like this, he could blow everything. So how should you handle this?

Easy. Give Legs charge of keeping an eye on her. Everyone can do something and you can delegate. Not to mention he'd appreciate the responsibility. Unless he'd prefer to stay on guard duty to help make sure no one else escapes.

"You've got a good point, Legs. She's a risk. Someone would have to keep an eye on her at all times, make sure she didn't go running off. That would be too much of a distraction, and we can't afford it on an important mission like this."

"I'm not some coward!" Rotmouth shouts back. "I never run from a fight. Take me along, and you'll see just what I can do."

Now that's what you want to hear.

"Tell you what. Legs, you're keeping an eye on her. She does anything funny, you warn us. She behaves herself, and there's no problems."

"And if she doesn't?" Legs asks, skeptically.

"Her friends are already confined to quarters. Any more trouble, and we'll have to toss her in a cell for a few days."

Rotmouth glares at you, then sighs.

"I won't cause any trouble. Just let me out."

"She's your responsibility now, Corvus," Doc says, unlocking the chains. "Don't forget that. And could some of you help me move Viper to the bed before you go?"

Rivers and Starling comply, and when that's taken care of, you head out into the hall.

"So what's the plan, Boss?" Shorty asks. "Where do we start looking for the prisoner?"

If it's Jackson who escaped, he'd be looking for you- but can't let the others know that. But it doesn't make sense for Jackson to leave. Better check out the cells just in case. Maybe Locks got the name wrong. You also don't want to have the whole squad march en mass to the cells though. Split up, Legs, Rotmouth, and Shorty head one way and you Starling and Rivers the other. Let Rotmouth know this is a test. (Also, if it is Jackson who escaped, you want to keep a close eye on Starling)

If it's Jackson who escaped, he'd be looking for you- but can't let the others know that. But it doesn't make sense for Jackson to leave. Better check out the cells just in case. Maybe Locks got the name wrong. You also don't want to have the whole squad march en mass to the cells though. Split up, Legs, Rotmouth, and Shorty head one way and you Starling and Rivers the other. Let Rotmouth know this is a test. (Also, if it is Jackson who escaped, you want to keep a close eye on Starling)

Not you and Starling and Rivers, we've been wanting to separate those two for a while, remember? Take Legs or Shorty instead of Rivers

"We're going to take a look at the cells. See if we can find any leads." And so you can check for sure if it was Jackson who escaped; you can't trust everyone here to get Bogknight names right, and some bad info might have made its way to Crosswinds' ears.

"So which way should we head?" Starling asks. "I've never been to the cells before."

"That's a good point. There's two main routes. One's a little bit longer. But you know... let's give Rotmouth her first little test. We'll split up, in case we spot anything odd along the way. Legs, you and Rivers lead Rotmouth down the short route. The rest of us will take the long way. Holler if there's any trouble; I know you've got the lungs for it."

"Rivers isn't used to combat!" Legs protests. "I'd rather have Shorty along."

"It'll be fine, the halls are busier over there. If a fight breaks out, someone's sure to join it." And, you can't help but recall, Rotmouth's not exactly popular, even among members of her old gang. "Besides, it'll only be about seven minutes before you reach the cell block, ten minutes for us. If she can't behave herself for seven minutes, well, it's not going to matter if she gets away. She'll get caught sometime, and then there won't be any more chances."

Legs doesn't look happy, but he doesn't argue.

Rivers is another matter.

"I'm not going that way," she says. "Let Shorty go, it's like Legs says, he's got more experience."

You know what this is really about. She doesn't want to be split off from Starling; and if she has to be, she really doesn't want Starling to be on your half of the team. She doesn't trust you not to do something stupid and get Starling hurt.

And right now, you're not sure it would be a good idea to raise any of those points explicitly. Maybe it's got to be done sometime down the line, but not in front of the squad. And especially not while Rotmouth is here.

How should you handle this?