Swamped

he's trying to get a read on me and all else is pretend

"Best guess: he thinks I've got a real shot, and he's trying to figure out how to deal with me if I make the council. I don't think I can get anything out of it, other than that he's taking me seriously. Surprises me, to be honest."

Mudviper smirks.

"There's a reason I recommended you. I suppose either he sees it, or the others are starting to. The real question is if he's committed to putting up Grey-maw as an alternate at tomorrow's meeting."

"Wait, tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is when they finalize the candidates. Then they'll call them all in individually and vote. If there's no clear decision, that's probably when Mantis will suggest a trial."

"That seems awfully fast."

"They don't want to spend too long deadlocked. Anyhow, I guess my advice to you at dinnertime would be to work out if he thinks he's got a chance to stop you from making the council, or if he's trying to make the best of a situation he can't win."

"Noted. Now get some rest already!"

"Very well. Best of luck, Corvus."

She walks off. Just in time for Shorty to get back.

"What's Mudviper doing up and about?" he asks.

"Being stubborn," you sigh. "Soldiers can be like that sometimes. So, did you see anyone or anything unusual at the roost?"

"It was pretty quiet," Shorty says, handing you the paper you wanted as an excuse. "But there was one thing that I couldn't help but notice."

"And that was?"

somebody's missing a big toe, and it's in the roost

The west end guards were napping outside! and their gate was open. I thought we were supposed to be on lockdown?

"Well, it's kind of gross," Shorty begins.

"We're in a swamp. Everything's gross."

"I think I saw a severed toe," he says awkwardly. "A big one. Didn't get a good look at it, because it made me wince, but there was definitely something there."

"Unpleasant, but it doesn't really mean anything. Crows are scavengers. Maybe one of them passed a corpse on the way and..."

You notice the disturbed look on Shorty's face.

"Well, no need to get into the details. Point is, that's relatively normal when you're dealing with crows. I'll head over and take a look at it, but it's probably nothing unusual. Is that all?"

"Well, I could see the west guards from the roost. They were napping, and their gate was open. I thought we were on lockdown?"

"West guards? We've only got one entrance to the fortress, and it's in the south. We don't have a west gate, we have a west wall."

"It looked like an open gate to me."

Now you definitely need to see the roost for yourself.

"Right, you stay here, I'll go take a look at this."

You head over to the roost. You soon see the "big toe"; it's just a chunk of carrot in some vomit. Still rather disgusting, but...

...wait, hang on. Crows aren't fed carrots, certainly not this large. And the only food you get in here is swamp mush. Then where did this come from?

But that's a secondary concern, because you've already looked at the west wall. What Shorty thought was a "gate" actually seems to be a large section where the wall has simply collapsed.

You look further down. You wish you had those long goggles that Bogknight scouts sometimes carry, but you think you can see a gaping hole in the ground under the wall.  The muck around it seems to be rushing in.

The hell? Are there full-grown tunnelers under the swamp? You can't think of anything else that could make a hole that size.

You rush to the roost's alarm bell and sound it furiously. You'll need to have a talk with Shorty later, but right now you've got an emergency.

Claws comes rushing up the ladder.

"Who's sounding the alarm? What's going on?"

"The western wall's collapsed! There's a hole under it! And the guards at it are out cold, or worse!"

"The hell... it has! What could even make a hole that big? And how did we not notice until now?"

"What should we do, sir?" you ask. "The base is on lockdown, isn't it?"

"And we'll have to lift it to check that out. Bah! I'll go tell Razor, but it would make things a lot easier if we could catch that prisoner soon."

You're now Marshall.

The last hour or so has been a mess. First, a very intimidating woman asked you a lot of questions. Then Crook stopped by your cell in a panic. From what you've gathered, it seems Razor's after you again.

Crook covered your escape, and led you someplace he said would be safe. But there's a lot of Marshguards running around, especially after that alarm went off. They must be taking your escape seriously.

And just where did Crook take you, anyhow?

the roost. they'd never look for a one-armed guy there!

"Can you get up the ladder?"

"I've done it before, but I had problems getting back down."

"That'll work, then. They won't think to look for you here. It's not a busy place, anyhow. Even if they do look, nobody but Requiem and me knows about this little hiding spot. I'll stop by again when Razor gives up, just sit tight."

But it doesn't sound nearly that quiet. You've heard at least four people clambering up that ladder since you arrived, and it sounds like two of them are shouting at each other now.

Not that you can make out much. There isn't a lot of sound making its way in here. But on the other hand, that likely means you won't draw attention as long as you don't make a lot of noise.

This whole thing has been a big mess. It seems Rider vanished last night, and you've heard nothing from Mudviper either. You're unlikely to get the explanation you were hoping for.

You almost wonder if it would be better to let Razor ask his questions and get it over with - but then you recall your interrogation with him and conclude that no, it wouldn't.

You strain yourself to hear the conversation a little better. You still can't make out anything sensible, but you think you recognize the voices. One is the Marshguard who got captured the first day you arrived... Corvus, you think? And the other sounds like the woman who got Razor off your back last night.

Maybe it's worth the risk of exposing yourself; from what you know, neither seems likely to hand you over to Razor, and the woman seemed to have enough authority to protect you from him.

But you don't know that for sure. Or they might not give you a chance to explain. There's also a chance you're wrong about the voices.

Should you go out there now, or stay put?

don't move a lung. you're waiting, and wait you shall.

Achoo

You decide to wait. There's a lot going on, and you'll probably be safest if you just wait for Crook to get back and update you on what's happening.

So you stay perfectly still, just to make sure you don't make any sudden sounds...

"ACHOO!"

Such as that sneeze. Ugh. It's so dusty in here. You really wish you had your mask.

And now you hear footsteps approaching. They might have heard you. It's hard to say; sound doesn't travel too well. It could be a coincidence.

They did come closer, though. You can make out some of their words.

"...like someone sneezing?"

That sounds like Claws. You only heard her once, but it's a memorable voice.

"...could be, hard to say. ...hole in the wall? ...you know how this place is."

And that's Corvus. You've heard him enough times to be sure.

"...no time for this... Razor... that tunneler..."

Tunneler? What's she talking about? Does the Marsh Fortress have a tunneler problem, too? And why'd she mention Razor?

You hear some footsteps getting quieter. Sounds like she's moving away, at least.

"...think there might be something... let you know what I find..."

Uh-oh. It sounds like Corvus might be looking for you. On the other hand, he could be talking about something else for all you know.

Well, if it comes down to it, you've got that slicer you grabbed earlier. If he's searching alone, you might be able to surprise him, and then... well, you'll work that out if it comes to it.

"...a latch?"

It sounds like he's making his way to the hidden door. You get your slicer ready.

It takes him nearly a minute to open the door. At which point, you promptly throw your slicer and hit him in the head. He falls unconscious, and you drag him into your hiding spot before closing the door.

Now what?

Slicer: 2, Corvus' head: 0

Crook is pretty impressed you just one-shotted a squad leader...even if it was Corvus, apparently he was able to beat grey-maw in a arm wrestling contest.

Maybe there's a way to confirm if there's a tunneler problem. Dean would know for sure.

now hide WITH the body

You decide to keep hidden for now. You'll keep an eye on Corvus and grab his mouth if he wakes up.

It's about five minutes later when you hear a particular knock - Crook's signal. He opens up the hidden door and waves.

"Thought I'd best check on you," he says. "Base is in an uproar and I didn't need you getting mixed up in it... what's Corvus doing there?"

"He, um. He found the entrance," you say. "So I caught him by surprise and knocked him out."

"Huh." Crook blinks. "So you did. Funny, they're saying he beat Grey-maw in arm wrestling, and here he is knocked out by a newmuck. Anyhow, if he's found you, it's probably best we get you out of here."

"I told you, I don't do so well going down ladders."

"Not to worry. See, ol' Crook saw an opportunity here. Everyone's bein' rushed out to hunt the tunnelers, but Crook, he says, 'y'know, someone's got to take care of all these sick folk in the meantime, Doc can't handle everything herself'. And everyone else is all, 'oh, Crook's just looking to get out of the dangerous work', which is good, because it means they're not going 'hey, Crook's just got himself a big cart full of blankets and pillows that you could hide someone in'. Or give someone a soft landing in, yeah?"

"Well, all right," you say. "Let's go."

You walk over to the ladder. Crook goes down first, checks that it's clear, then waves to you. You jump down and land in a very soft pile.

"Right. Now, you just hide yourself in the cart while I take you to the next hiding spot."

"Where's that?"

we're going out the west gate and crouching in the swamp. here's a bamboo stick to breathe through, and here's two more to hold next to that one so it looks like a naturally-occurring group of bamboo sticks

"Well, up until a few minutes ago, my backup plan was sneaking you into the swamp," Crook says. He's being quieter now that you're in the cart, but you can still hear him clearly enough. "See, there's this spot near the west wall that I use when I want a break without anyone bothering me; shallower than it looks, so you just need to crouch down with your mask on and nobody sees you. Well, we took your mask and I can't get ahold of it, but I had something else for that. But that won't do now, not when a good chunk of us are fighting out there..."

He pauses suddenly.

"Oh, good afternoon, Doc," he says. You'd better keep quiet. "Busy day, is it?"

"And likely to get busier," Doc says. "You're on sheet duty, Crook?"

"Volunteered. Just because there's an alarm doesn't mean the base doesn't have to keep running."

"Good. I need new sheets for the infirmary bed. It's seen more use than I'd expected today."

"Here you go, just leave the dirty ones out by the door and I'll grab them when I pass by. Or I can make the bed for you if you want..."

"No. You're not on the list of people I trust in there unsupervised."

"Fair enough. What takes you away from your workspace, anyhow? Checking up on the patients?"

"No. We've got another sick officer, and as usual that means I have to take on some of their tasks. You're usually on cell duty, aren't you, Crook?"

"That's right."

"When does Butterfly work the cells today?"

"Should be there right now. She had the shift after mine."

"Thank you, Crook. I've got to have a few words with her. Carry on."

You hear Doc walking away, and Crook resumes his whispering.

"...so anyways, with all the uproar the base is emptier than usual. So there are places I can slip you into more easily. It's a big base, and it's been sort of gradually built over decades, so nobody really knows the whole layout... well, they say maybe Rider does. But I know lots of little places to hide things, and this next one is one of my favorites. Here we are."

You poke your head out and see an empty hallway. There aren't any doors in sight.

"Here we are? But I don't see anything." you say.

"Exactly! Now, this is a good one. There's a loose panel on the wall, you can barely tell..."

Crook pushes the panel aside.

"And behind it is a secret passage! Only person who might be able to find you here is Rider, and if he comes back, he'll make sure Razor doesn't lay a finger on you."

"Where does it lead?"

"I, uh, wouldn't recommend going too far down it. It'll be trouble. Just stay quiet. You can walk for a bit in there if you want to stretch your legs, but otherwise, just stay hidden. I'll come by again when I can, and let you know what the situation is with Razor."

"Thanks," you say, slipping into the passage.

"Don't mention it. Sticking it to Razor is its own reward."

Well. Now you've got to pass some time by yourself while hoping you don't get caught. Again.

You do wonder why he wouldn't talk about where the passage led, though. On the other hand, it seems to get quite a bit darker further down, so perhaps you're better off not indulging your curiosity.

What are you going to do now?

let's not lose another arm. stay put

You opt for caution, and sit still very quietly. Somewhere in there, you doze off.

When you wake up, you hear footsteps. Lots of them. Whatever was going on outside must have stopped; it sounds like this is a busy hallway. No wonder Crook didn't want to hide you here earlier.

You put your ear to the wall and see if you can hear anything.

"I don't care if it turned out to be dead, I don't feel safe with a tunneler that size around."

You don't recognize this voice, but then, it's not as if you've met that many Marshguards.

"I know what you mean. What if there's more? And even without that, until we can fix that hole and get the wall back up, we've got another angle for the Bogknights to attack from."

That voice is slightly familiar, though; you think it's the Marshguard who was captured in the last rain. You never caught his name, though.

"It ain't all bad news, I hear they caught that swimmer. Guess that makes up for the one-armed newmuck getting away."

This seems to be a third voice; again, no one you know.

"That's our Candlestick, always looking on the bright side," says the first voice, slightly irritated. "That just puts us back where we were: with at least a tenth of our forces recovering from poison, Rider missing, and a gaping hole in the west wall. If the Bogknights get wind of how bad things are over here, they might just make a play for the fortress."

"Actually, I heard the poison is actually desert fever," says the second voice. "Not that it makes a difference. Worse, Long vanished with Rider, I hear, so who's going to hold the Bogknights back if they get mad at us?"

"You three!"

That voice is unmistakable. It's Razor. What could he want?

"Yes, sir?"

"No one's seen Corvus in at least an hour. Claws says he was checking something out in the Roost before the attack, I can't find anyone who's seen him since. Go take a look there. And bring him straight to the dinner hall if you find him, I'll be waiting."

"Yes sir!"

You hear them walk off. Then you hear Razor shouting more orders at whoever's nearby. About a half-dozen orders later, you hear what sounds like someone pacing.

"Anyone else in need of something to do?" Razor asks. You don't hear an answer.

"Good. Then I think it's about time I took a good look at Rider's quarters."

You start hearing him tap on the wall.

He knows about the passage you're in.

What are you going to do?

retreat into the darkness, walking backwards, slicer at the ready

freeze up with a dumb look on your face and your slicer on the floor, you fuck-up

Lets check out Rider's quarters first!

You pull out your slicer. You can do this. Catch him by surprise, like you did with Corvus...

Your legs freeze up. No, that's not going to work. You've heard enough of his reputation; Razor's one of the best fighters in the Marshguards. Even if you surprise him, you've got no hope in a fight.

You barely pull yourself together enough to realize what he just said - that this passage leads to Rider's quarters. Maybe if you can make it there first... well, you don't know the next part of the plan, but at least you can hide.

You run into the darkness. You don't know if you heard Razor open the passage behind you, and you're not about to look back to find out.

You run and you run, not thinking about the noise you're making or what you might be stepping in. You just move on, until you hit a wall.

You can see the hinges on this side. You slip in.

This must be Rider's room, though it's hard to tell at a glance. It seems a fairly ordinary room from what you can see - though perhaps this is what passes for high-quality in the Marshguards.

Now that you're here, what are you going to do?

Woah, this place smells like dad.

Woah, this place smells like dad.

and not the one that's missing

The first thing you notice is a distinct smell, one that's even stronger than the swamp stench.

You'd know it anywhere; that's the smell of Henry's pipe. He didn't use regular tobacco, but something else, something more distinctive. Said it was hard to get ahold of more, so he was saving it; he only smoked once a year, always on the same day.

He never talked about why. Father seemed to know, but never said anything; just left Henry alone in peace.

And now that same stuff is lying in an open tin here...

Come to think of it, today's that day, isn't it. You remember he always aired the stuff out a day in advance, something about how that improved the flavor.

Was Rider observing the same ritual? Why?

You shove a nearby lid on the tin. It seems Rider won't be needing it today.

As you do, you spot a letter, neatly folded up. Unfolding it, you read a simple message...

"Marshall has joined the Bogknights. I leave the rest to your judgement."

You recognize the handwriting immediately. It's Henry's.

There's also a letter on the desk. It's barely started.

"Marshall,

In case I am unable to explain things to you in person, I will write what I can safely in here.

For these last seven years, I have been protecting your father from..."

You grab the letter. You don't think you want Razor seeing these.

Speaking of which, you hear footsteps. You dive under the bed. Hopefully you'll get a chance to slip out before he thinks to look here.

"Kandrian tobacco? My, it must have been twelve years since I had some of that. The growing never really recovered after the famine. And to think, Rider had a stash all this time!"

Maybe you did get here before he noticed you. That's a relief. If he's just looking for information, he's not likely to go poking around under the bed.

"The scent's still lingering, so it must have been airing out recently. Hmm, maybe Rider thought he needed some before last night's battle. I'd still like to know where he got it."

You're getting more nervous with every passing moment. Should you wait for him to leave? Jump out and confront him? Distract him and make a run for the passage?

What should you do?

freeze up, not out of strategy, but out of raw fear

Oh good Razor found those maps he was looking for. Good thing you'll probably never need them.