Swamped

start thinking up some good juicy rumours to spread since that seems to be the in thing right now

Bored, you start scratching out the routes you've taken on the boards above you. You remember the paths reasonably well, but having it mapped out will hopefully keep you from getting lost.

It also calls your attention to a few places you haven't been to yet. Not that you really plan to explore; you just want to get out of here as soon as you can. On the other hand, that plan hasn't been working too well so far; it might be good to get a better layout of this base.

You hear Keeper's footsteps again, and head back to your listening-hole.

"Sorry for the delay. Seems Bluesight and Stinger had a longer debriefing than usual. And I'll have more guests once Corvus' squad gets out, it seems."

"Ugh. Corvus. I hope he's not injured, it would make my day considerably better if I didn't have to see him."

"Well, let's not worry about that for now. I'm out of mush up at the bar, but that won't take long to make. So let's see where you got hit, get this business over with."

"A couple of blows to my right leg... my left arm... my neck hurts a bit, but I think that's from last night still."

"Hmm. You've got bruises, but I don't see any bleeding or anything. Let's see how they do with a little pressure on 'em..."

"Ow!"

"Right. No reaction on the arm or the neck, leg's in pain."

"Not when I walk. Just if you press on it."

"I'd bandage that one to be safe. Ah, you brought some... then let me take care of that. There you go."

"Thanks. Now we can both get back to work."

"Y'want me to spit in Corvus' water for you when he turns up later?"

"No. What if you turned out to have something contagious?"

"Ah, thinkin' ahead I see. Well, I'll get to makin' some more mush. See you later, Doc."

"Hang on. Before I go... You're still thinking we should back Requiem?"

"Why, do you have another idea? There's no way they'll pick Mudviper after last night's mess, and you're too busy. I am too, at that, though you'd be a damn sight better than me."

"No. It's just... I've seen a lot more of Requiem than you have lately. It's given me some new doubts."

"I got plenty of doubts about them. But right now, I don't see a better option. Come up with one and then we'll talk."

"All right. I just think it might be good to give the matter some more thought."

"I've given it plenty. But it's not like a better candidate's going to present themselves. Now get goin' already, I got to mash some leaves."

You hear Doc leaving, then a few minutes later you hear Keeper walking out.

The coast seems clear. You expand your hole and slip out.

You can see a few small crates filled with leaves. Well, if the humans are willing to eat them, they're probably safe for you.

Although... there are markings on the boxes that you can't really understand. One mark is on almost all the boxes, another is on only five, and the last is only on one box.

Perhaps they're different kinds of leaves? You can't see a difference at a glance, though. So which of the leaves will you eat?

eat from the boxes with the most common marking

But take a couple out of the other boxes too, putting them in different pockets. Maybe it'll be nice to have some variety later on. Or maybe they'll turn out to be useful.

It occurs to you that the markings might indicate questionable leaves, or old ones. Or perhaps they're being checked as a source of poison. In which case, the most common marking likely indicates the ones that are known to be safe; it wouldn't make sense for a pantry to keep a large stock of one type if they were inedible.

Still, you decide to grab a few leaves from the other boxes. You might be able to find out more about them later. You store two leaves from the lone box in one pocket, and three leaves from the uncommonly-marked boxes in the other. Then you grab a dozen leaves from the boxes with the most common marking.

The leaves are bland, but filling. Just three are plenty for you. You put the rest in your mistflower pouch - you don't know when you'll next have a chance for a meal.

You head back into the hole, and think on the conversations you've just heard. Most notably, on the fact that Corvus' squad is likely headed here soon. Which means that woman you met earlier, Rivers, will be around.

You don't really need a detailed conversation with her, though. You just need to persuade her to talk with someone about how to leave the swamp. As long as you've got a listening-hole, that should be good enough.

But how will you let her know you're here? And if she doesn't think of starting the conversation herself, how will you give her the idea?

the birdcalls seemed halfway to work earlier... if she's getting followed around by shitty birdcalls then they'll know

If birdcalls don't work (or if you get drowned out by a responding cacophony of crows from somewhere nearby) you could scratch a crude picture of a bird onto one of your mystery leaves and discretely "deliver" it to Rivers when her squad arrives. Can you fold it into an airfoil or something?

Well. The crow calls seemed to work last time. You head to your hole in the mess hall, and start listening.

Since it doesn't seem to be the regular meal time, you expect you won't hear a lot of noise until Corvus' squad comes in. So you wait.

"Well, well. Been expecting you. Thought there'd be more of you, though. Where are the others?"

That's Keeper's voice. You don't recognize the one that responds.

"Mudviper wanted to talk to the boss, so he's preoccupied still. Shorty wandered off somewhere, I don't know where or why. Greeneye's checking in with Doc, because she got pulled underwater last night. So it's just us three for now."

"Pulled underwater?"

"We got waylaid last night. Well, except for Rivers and Starling. At least the boss had the sense to keep them out of trouble this time."

Ha. Whoever's talking has no idea.

"You must be starved, then. Why'd you need two debriefings, anyways?"

"Damned if I know. Probably because Corvus has a reputation. And the rest of us are saddled with it."

You hear what sounds like a noncommital grunt from Keeper. Maybe he's not impressed with the rest of them, either.

Well, you've heard enough. You decide to risk the bird call.

"Caw! Caw!"

"Is that another crow?" someone asks. You don't recognize the voice. Maybe it's one of the other people Keeper said he was serving.

"Another one? I hope you're not implyin' anythin', I run a tight ship 'round here. No animals get into the food on my watch."

Well, you managed to.

"No, I mean we heard one in the hallway earlier. You don't suppose some prankster let them out of the roost?"

Hmm. You're getting concerned. You probably shouldn't rely on this particular trick too much.

"I'll see if I can find it," someone says. It's Rivers. She's probably caught on, at least.

And indeed, she soon comes near your hiding spot.

"What are you doing?" she hisses at you quietly.

"Trying to get in touch with you. Did you find out how to leave the swamp yet?"

"No. Been busy in meetings. Didn't tell them about you, don't worry."

"Right. Well, if you could just get a conversation going with your friend about how to leave the swamp, I'll listen in and that's the last bit of trouble I'll give you."

She looks skeptical.

"Rivers, what are you doing?"

"Looking for holes in the wall. Places a crow might've gotten lost."

"Well, save it for after breakfast. You don't want to starve, after all. The crowing seems to have stopped, anyhow."

Rivers gets up. That makes things easier for you. All you should need to do now is wait and listen.

But of course, it can't be that simple. Almost immediately, a problem presents itself, one you can't ignore.

smoke. is it a mistflower, or a fire? it's so thick you can hardly breathe, the coughing might give you away

You sure are sleepy all of a sudden!

Smoke.

You don't know where it came from, or what caused it. Just to be sure, you check your mistflower pouch, but it's still securely sealed. And your mistflowers wouldn't be this dirty, anyhow.

Whatever the cause, it's not far off, and it seems to be drifting your way. If the smoke reaches your hole, that's likely to draw unwanted attention. What's more, with how thick it is, you're not sure your suit's filters can keep it all out.

You decide that you'd better investigate, so you start following the smoke to its source.

It looks like a campfire. A lit campfire, beneath the fortress floors, with water all around it.

Bizarre as the sight is, it's even moreso when you consider that you've been down this route before. But considering your own presence, and that of the bees, you have a guess at where it came from: the desert.

Although, why would anyone need to light a fire in the desert? It's hot enough there already. You wouldn't risk it unless it was dark, and it shouldn't be dark there now...

Well, that can wait. You start splashing water on the flames to put them out.

Except, nothing is happening, no matter how much you douse the pile. How can this be?

Wait. There's one way you can think of. You take a closer look at the firewood.

Sure enough, there's a small stick of darkwood in the center. Someone's set darkwood ablaze. But why?

Well, that's a question that can wait. For now, what matters is dousing it. Unfortunately, that won't be simple; once darkwood starts burning, it's hard to stop it, and you don't have a lot of resources on hand.

So what are you going to do about this?

You're supposed to bury it in dry sand... But where would you find that here?

Hmm... Is your suit fire retardent? Take it off and see if you can wrap it around the burning darkwood.

The best option would be burying it in dry sand. But there's so much moisture in the swamp, you wouldn't be able to keep the sand dry even if you had it.

All you've got on hand that might help is your suit. It's heat-resistant, and the inside of it is still dry. To avoid giving yourself more trouble, you pull off the mask and shove the darkwood in.

Well. It's not doused, but your suit won't catch fire easily. Unfortunately, you've now exposed yourself to the smoke, and you start coughing.

You cover your mouth as best you can while making your way back to the mess hall, but this has probably seriously compromised your stealth. And you need to properly dispose of this darkwood as soon as you can.

Still, everything will be considerably easier if you can listen in on those directions.

Unfortunately, it seems your investigation took a little longer than you hoped. You don't hear any voices at all. They must have finished their meal.

Well, it's not a total loss. If Rivers heard the directions, she probably remembers them, so you'll just have to get her attention again. Although, the crow trick seems to be making people suspicious, so you may need to find a new method.

Should you find her, or look for a way to get rid of this darkwood? Or is there something else you could do with your time?

Gotta ditch the darkwood. Maybe you can find a place to smother it in the pantry... a box of leaves? Or even better, is there any kind of refrigerant?

Your surreptitious ally doesn't seem all that reliable, so maybe this whole stealth approach is undermining your efforts to escape the swamp. Wouldn't it be better find someone in charge and explain your problem? Maybe they know something about how you got here; you could compare research notes before returning to your team.

If you can't safely smother the darkwood, it might be best to just go out into the open and find someone who can help. Sure beats lurking under the floorboards in the crocodile-infested muck.

Your first priority is cleaning up this darkwood. You decide to take another look in the pantry; they might have ice there.

You crawl over, and after making sure you don't hear Keeper's footsteps, you risk stepping out again. Then you give the area a more thorough examination.

With a little looking around, you find a cabinet, and the inside seems quite cold. But will it be cold enough to put out the darkwood?

Well, you may as well give it a try. You put your mask in, and shut the door.

You plan to wait for a few minutes and see what happens, but then you hear Keeper talking.

"Back already, Sieve? I don't think it's even been an hour."

Damn. He's not coming here, is he? You run a little closer to the entrance so you can hear the conversation better.

"We couldn't get anything done. Lemon came down with poisoning sometime last night, and our squad was already shorthanded. And we're not the only squad having problems. They're still trying to figure out where to reassign me."

"You mean, they can't find another squad where you won't get smacked when you run your mouth?"

"Apparently not! So I figured I'd come in for an early lunch."

"Hmmph. An early shot at some gossip, more likely."

Well. They seem to just be talking right now, but Keeper might come this way at any moment. You could just hide... but what if he checks the cabinet where you're keeping your mask? That would be trouble.

What should you do?

Well, if that happens I suppose it's his problem. If this place having problems with teleporting campfires, better they find out about it this way than by immolating in the dead of night and waking up dead.

Still, better not dawdle. Get back in your hole and see if you can track down Rivers!

You don't think you have time to grab your mask - not right now, at least. You run back to your hole and think.

You plan on getting your mask back if Keeper doesn't notice it, but the next thing you should do is find Rivers. But where could she...

Wait. Her squad leader didn't eat yet. If you sit under the mess hall and listen, he might ask where she is. At the very least, you can follow his footsteps; he's bound to run into her sooner or later.

First, though, you need to find out what Keeper does next. You hear his footsteps entering the room soon.

"Hmm," he mutters. Not that you know what he's saying - apparently he's not one for talking to himself.

You hear him pacing for a bit.

...Did he actually notice that you took some leaves? There were so many, you find it hard to believe he could have counted them all.

But maybe you disturbed something without realizing it.

And if he thinks someone's been rummaging through his leaves, he might check the cabinet to see if anything in there is gone.

Suddenly, you hear a loud shout.

"Hey! Keeper! What's taking so long with my grub?"

"Bah. I'm not walking back there just to tell him I can't find my mixing bowl. And he knows full well I can't call back with this weak throat of mine. He's just going to have to wait."

So it wasn't anything you did. You're certain you didn't touch his bowl.

But, if he's looking for it, he might check the cabinet. That wouldn't be particularly good for you.

Is there anything you can do?

pretend you're a ghost

Lead him to his bowl using animal noises.

You try to remember if you saw his bowl when you were in the room. And... yes, you think you saw something off in a corner.

So you crawl over to there and start making noises. You're not sure if you're trying to sound like an animal or a restless spirit, but hopefully it draws his attention to the bowl.

You hear footsteps coming towards you. That's good enough. You head back to the listening-hole.

"Must have left it here when Doc stopped by," you hear him mutter. You also hear the rustling of leaves. "And I should probably have someone look into that strange noise... bah, who am I kidding, the council's not going to care."

"I'm starving here!" Sieve yells.

"Hmmph. Well, it'll just have to wait. Like everything else around here."

You hear Keeper walking away. Now's your chance. You pop out and grab your mask from the cabinet.

The darkwood is still burning, but the flame's a bit smaller. Damn, it'll take hours to put it out at this rate, and you'd really prefer to hold on to your mask.

You don't like the thought of putting it in the cabinet unprotected, but what could you cover it in besides your suit?

Any glassware around? Mugs or cups or anything?

You glance around the room and spot some glasses.

Well, glass doesn't burn that well. You grab one and toss the darkwood inside. Then you put another glass inside it, to keep the fire from escaping. Then you put them in the cabinet.

Hopefully, that will deal with the darkwood eventually. If it doesn't, Keeper will find it and, while its presence might baffle him, at least he'll realize something needs to be done with it.

With that taken care of, you shake your mask out to get rid of any ashes, put it on, and dive back into the hole.

From here, your best plan is to follow Rivers' squad leader, so you head back to the mess hall hole and start listening for him.

He comes in soon enough, and starts talking to Sieve. You listen in, but it doesn't sound particularly interesting at first.

At least, not until they mention the wizard.

"A spell? You've got to be kidding me."

"Saw it with my own eyes! There was an explosion, a cloud of smoke, and then they were both gone. If that's not magic, then tell me, what is it?"

Well. You can think of more than a few ways to make an explosion without magic, but the disappearance is interesting. Could it be that whatever sent you here works both ways?

Or is this "Long" they're talking about an actual wizard?

Either way, this little piece of information has definitely caught your interest. Too bad there's not a whole lot you can do about it. If they were transported, like you, that doesn't help you figure out how it happened. And if Long really is a wizard, he could be anywhere at all, so it's not as if you could ask him for help.

A shame, really. An actual wizard would be a great boon to your research.

Regardless, it sounds like Corvus is going to be talking here for a while. Do you stick to the plan and follow him, or do you have another idea for what to do?

SpoilerShow

For reference, this is the conversation Yvonne is overhearing.

here's your big chance! all of this has already happened! you can do anything you want and get away with it!

Stick to the plan and keep listening. Eat a carrot.

You keep listening. Unfortunately, there's no further mention of the wizard; Sieve gets distracted when one of Corvus' squadmates pops in, and then Corvus starts talking with Keeper about what sounds like base politics.

If you had any plans to actually stay here, it might be relevant. As you don't, though, it only bores you. With little else to do, you decide to count how much mistflower you have in your pouch.

Wait, hang on. There's a tiny package in here. How did...

Simone! Oh, that little scamp, she snuck a special something in your pouch again. You can't help but smile. You hope you can see her again soon.

You carefully unwrap it and... yes! It's a carrot! Oh, darling Simone, she knew just how much you missed these. She must have gotten one on her last trip into town. You'll have to thank her.

If you ever see her again.

You collect yourself. You need to focus. And for the moment, that means wrapping up this carrot again; no sense getting it soaked in the swamp water. Besides, they tend to crunch. You wouldn't want to give yourself away like that. Better to save it for when there's enough noise to cover you, or when nobody's around.

Unfortunately, you got distracted just as the conversation was wrapping up. You hear footsteps, but you're not completely sure they're actually Corvus'.

Well, you don't have a better idea for now than to follow them. Then, suddenly, they stop.

You feel a little lost.

Maybe someone else is talking to whoever you're following? But you didn't hear another set of footsteps...

Still, when you press your ear against the ceiling, you think you can hear faint noises like a conversation. Not that you can make anything out.

Perhaps it's time for another listening-hole. You start crawling away to make it.

Then you feel a strong grip on your arm. You turn and see another grebling, this one wearing a Marshguard uniform.

"Well, how about that!" they say, grinning. "Here I thought I was the only grebling mad enough to come to this swamp. Let's go somewhere and have a little talk, shall we?"

You're about to protest, but then you feel a hard smack on the back of your head and everything goes black.

When you come to, you're in a small room, and you're tied to a bedpost and have a gag over your mouth. The grebling you saw before is looking over your mask.

"Apologies for the poor accommodations," says your captor. "I wasn't expectin' anyone, you see, so I didn't have much time to tidy up or get a nicer cushion."

You suddenly realize that you're sitting on a pillow.

"Now, I'm gonna take out the gag, if you promise not to scream. Seein' as you don't want to be spotted, I don't think that's in your best interest."

You nod weakly.

"Good. Now, I didn't have time to introduce myself before, so lemme do that. The name's Crosswinds. Before we get started, let me make one thing clear - if you're here to hurt us, you're gonna pay for it. If you're not, nobody has to know you were ever here. Got it?"

You nod again. You don't intend to harm anyone here, so that sounds like a deal worth taking.

"Awright. So!" Crosswinds pulls down the gag. "Let's start simple. What's your name? 'Course, if you feel like volunteerin' anything else before I ask, you can go right ahead."

Hmm. How should you handle this? Just how much information are you willing to share here?