Swamped

Use the pike to prop up your desert suit to look like you're just sitting around quietly. Then make your escape!

As Keeper heads out again, you already feel frustrated.

You're sick of this. You're not going to just stick around here. If trouble comes, you'd rather be long gone.

The easiest way back down is probably to unblock the hole you used before. It's out of Keeper's field of view, so you should be able to clear it out a bit at a time without him noticing.

You immediately realize a problem with this idea: Crosswinds. They most likely blocked off the hole, so your modifications might get noticed on that side.

Your other option is finding a way to pick the lock on the actual hatch Crosswinds used. Which, come to think of it, you didn't actually see while you were under the floor. And while you can remember where it was, it blends in better than you'd expect; you can't see a single seam anywhere.

Maybe you could surprise Keeper and tie him up so you can work uninterrupted... then again, if you get caught attacking one of them, what limited goodwill you've built up is probably going to be squandered.

You suppose you could also try picking the lock on the door. If there's an emergency, chances are the halls would be emptier than usual. Too bad you don't know anything about picking locks.

Oh, there's the counter, too. You could jump over that if nobody's around; you'd just have to find a way past Keeper, as he's probably too big to jump it easily. The door leading over there isn't locked, but Keeper's been spending most of his time there.

So. If you're getting out of here, how are you going to do it?

Use the mudpike to barricade the door leading to the counter to keep out Keeper, then continue hunting for the secret hatch.

It suddenly strikes you that the door to the counter area opens into this room. If you could prop up something, like this pike... yeah, the shaft seems sturdy enough. You just need some good supports...

Before you know it, you've pushed two boxes up against the wall and have the pike wedged in between them. Seems you let your imagination get ahead of you again. After all, the moment you have it all set up, you realize that Keeper can probably go around to the other door, and you definitely don't have the time to block that one, too.

Well, since you've already made this big mess, it doesn't seem worth going for finesse. You can't find the hatch, so you just head for your hole and start tearing through it.

You've wasted enough time here. You need to find your way out. You've had enough, you'll find a way out without anyone's help.

Fortunately, you're in familiar territory. You know exactly how to get back to where you entered the base in the first place...

...and of course, now there's a floodgate blocking your exit. Wonderful. You also hear a lot of boots overhead, so slipping out through the main door doesn't seem likely to work either.

Well. Now what?

Explore down one of the branches that were ignored earlier. There has to be some way out, and maybe you'll find out more about the real situation here.

You think carefully.

All you really need is a window. Perhaps if you explore, you can find one. You opt to take a route you didn't earlier; hopefully, whatever's going on outside has left Crosswinds distracted.

You think back on the routes you took. You think you saw a corner past the prison cells, so that seems as good a place to start as any.

As you pass by the hole from earlier, though, you think you hear Rivers talking. Hmm. If you can get some directions from her, maybe you'll actually be able to get out of this nightmare. If you're very lucky, you might even be able to get some help with escaping the base.

Your first thought is the crow call - it's been some hours since you last used that, so they've probably stopped worrying about the crows being on the loose.

On the other hand, Keeper's surely realized you've run off by now. For all you know, the whole base might be looking for you... and for that matter, you don't know if the alarm's been resolved.

Maybe you should just stick to the plan and keep going down this corridor. But, you still don't know a way out of the swamp, and Rivers is your best chance at getting one.

What should you do?

Risk exposure to make contact with Rivers, as long as whomever she's talking to isn't Crosswinds or that Razor human.

You decide to listen in and try to find out who Rivers is talking to. But all you can hear is the occasional ringing of a bell. Strange.

Well, that bell probably doesn't belong to Razor or Crosswinds or anyone else who might cause trouble for you. Your best option is to just get those directions and get out of the swamp as soon as possible. So, you go for the crow call, and then wait near the hole.

"Hang on one second," you hear Rivers say. "I think I heard something."

She pauses for a moment.

"Can I have your keys for a second?"

You hear the bell again, then you hear the door opening.

"Was this the missing prisoner's cell?"

Two rings.

"Huh. Why even bother locking it, then? Well, I'll take a look around it. You can get on with whatever you were doing."

Two rings.

"You're sticking around? Ugh, whatever."

Rivers crawls over to the hole. You see her staring right at you.

"Hmm. Don't think this hole's big enough for someone to get through. But it does lead under the floor, looks like. When's the last time we had someone look at these cells?"

You hear the bell a few times.

"Wasn't looking for an actual answer. I just mean we could have other cells in bad shape. I'm going to take a closer look around this one, why don't you see if the escapee's cell has a hole like this one... hey, what are you doing?"

Before you know it, Rivers gets shoved aside and a human hand picks you up. It takes you a moment to work out what's happening; all you know is that another Marshguard is holding you up to his eye and silently glaring at you. He's got a good grip on you, too; you can't really move your arms.

How should you handle this?

Different approach this time... Smile! Introduce yourself!

If that doesn't work, it's back to struggling, probably with head butts.

"Er, hello," you say, awkwardly. "I'm Vivien, and I just want to get out of this swamp, but one thing or another keeps happening and I'm still here."

He doesn't respond, just continues glaring.

"I ran into her before. She's troublesome," Rivers says. "But I owe her a favor. Getting her out of the swamp strikes me as good for everyone."

Your captor glances away, probably at Rivers, then gives you a threatening glare before putting you down.

Well. He's got nothing on Razor for intimidation, but you definitely think it would be a bad idea to run off while he's watching.

"Can you just, keep the others away while we talk?" Rivers asks the silent man. "I don't want this to get complicated."

He rings a tiny bell once, and steps out.

"Don't worry. Ringer's not the sort to tattle, and not just because it's inconvenient for him to do that with a bell. So what the hell happened, I thought you were going to listen in and leave."

You're not sure how much you should tell her. She probably doesn't even care about the details, but she probably wants some sort of explanation before she accepts that you're not going to cause any problems for her.

What should you say?

Got nabbed by Crosswinds, sounds like you guys are experiencing a desert fever outbreak, someone left burning darkwood under the base, and I lost my carrot.

Now that we're all up to speed, how do I get out of here? And what's this big alarm going on? We under attack?

"I got caught. Told them about how you're dealing with desert fever. Oh, and about some darkwood burning under your base. That sort of got them off my back, but they still wouldn't let me leave and that's really all I want right now. Well, getting my carrot back would be nice, but I won't hold my breath on that one."

"You got caught?" Rivers groans. "Great, now I'll get in trouble."

"I didn't tell them about you, and I still don't plan on it. Like I said, I just want out of here. Preferably before everyone gets back from whatever that alarm is."

"I got no idea what's going on there," Rivers says. "The boss just told us to check the cells for any sign of the escaped prisoner, so we've been staying on that the whole time. Haven't heard back from him in a good while now, so we're way out of the loop."

"Whatever. Top priority, getting out of the swamp. So if you've got directions for me..."

You unzip your suit enough to pull out your notebook. At least Crosswinds didn't confiscate that.

"Let me hear 'em. I'll write 'em down so no one has to know it was you if I get caught again."

"Fine, I'll..."

"Hey! You with the bell! Why're you just standing around there?"

"Oh, dammit," Rivers groans. "It'd be one thing if anyone on my actual squad saw you, but I definitely don't want to give Rotmouth an excuse to report me. You should probably get hiding."

Of course something was going to come up. It always seems to today.

Are you just going to scurry back into the hole, or do you have another idea?

Escaped prisoner? Maybe they went out the way I came in.

Rivers, why don't you tell Rotface or Stinkblade or whoever that you're looking for clues, and meet me down there asap.

*scurry into the hole*

"Maybe your prisoner got out before the floodgates near the entrance went up," you say. "You can at least use that as an excuse to go under the floor and we can finish this conversation."

"That hole's not big enough," Rivers grumbles.

"Yeah, but maybe there's another passage into the escapee's cell that's hard to see topside. Or just say you're trying to see if someone could fit under there. Look, if you don't help me here, I'm probably going to wind up getting in your hair again."

"Fine," Rivers grumbles. "I'll give it a try."

You head back through the hole, and listen.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" you hear Rivers say. "I'm trying to check out this cell, and I don't appreciate you barging over here and distracting me."

"I don't care about that," says another voice. "I just want to know why this guy's loitering around."

"He's a guard here. He's probably keeping an eye out in case one of the other prisoners tries something while we're busy."

You hear a bell ringing.

"See? One ring means yes. He's agreeing with me."

"Doesn't seem like he'd have a good view from here."

You hear... three rings?

"Oh, what?" Rivers says, sounding upset. "Keeping an eye on me? Now that's just uncalled for. I was just looking at the hole in this cell here. Don't see why you'd expect that to make trouble."

"What hole?" There's a pause in the conversation. "Huh. That one? Doesn't look big enough for a human. Maybe a grebling could squeeze through there, but I'm pretty sure all our prisoners are human. Is this even the right cell?"

Two rings.

"Hey. The boss said to check things out - and, I might remind you, he's your boss too for now. So I'm checking things out. Maybe something's hidden down that hole, something that helped the prisoner escape."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Don't know. Maybe if I open up the hole wider and take a look, I'll see something."

"Yeah? And who says you can do that? That hole's gonna have to be fixed, or we'll be out a cell. You wanna wait for the boss to get back so you can ask him?"

There's a pause.

Well. This conversation doesn't seem to be going where you'd like. Is there anything you can do from here to help Rivers out?

Bird noises, to save the day!

Well. You've been wary of the crow noises because they might draw attention.

But right now, that's actually a benefit. It's a reason for Rivers to investigate.

So you start crowing.

"What the hell? What's making that noise?"

That's not either Rivers or Rotmouth talking. You think you might have heard that voice in the mess hall?

"Legs! There's a hole in that cell. I think the crowing came from it. I was going to take a look at it, but then Rotmouth here started giving me a hard time."

"Oh, really," says Legs. "You know, Rotmouth, you're not exactly in a position to be giving orders to anyone here."

"All I said was there's going to be trouble if she widens that hole to look in deeper. Someone's going to have to fix it. Or do you have permission to just go around breaking walls whenever you like?"

"Well, this is easy enough to settle. Butterfly! Can you get over here for a minute?"

You hear a pause before someone else starts talking.

"Yeah? What do you want?"

Hmm, that voice is familiar. Wasn't she talking when you stopped by this cell earlier?

"You and Ringer are the guards on duty. So! Rivers here wants to widen the hole in that cell to take a look at what's behind it. Do you both agree to let her do that?"

One ring.

"Fine by me, but I hope it's not a waste of our time."

"Well. There you have it," Legs says. "I don't know that you'll find the prisoner, but maybe you'll catch whatever keeps making that noise, at least."

It takes a little while, but you soon hear some noises. A little while later, Rivers is in the crawlspace with you.

"All right," she grumbles. "You better get this down, because I'm not saying it more than once. Start from the front door of the base..."

You write frantically. It's not easy in the cramped space, but this is critical information. When she's done talking, you put your notes away.

"Good," you say. "Now I need to actually get to the front door. Or maybe your roost and I can improvise from there."

"Can't help you much with that," she says. "I'm in enough trouble already. Just get out of here and out of my hair, that's all I want."

And with that, she leaves.

Now what?

It's either crawl your way back to the outdoors, find your way to the roost so you can glide to the front door of the base, or try to trace your way to the front door from under the floor boards.

First option is risky because Crosswinds and probably Keeper could cut you off. And actually, Crosswinds might think to intercept you if you try for the front door from down here too. But who would expect you to head to the roost? If you can find it, that is...

Can you hear any crow sounds?

The roost is probably the safest option. The front door is sure to be guarded, and the floodgates are likely still closed.

The roost, though - it only needs to be protected from you, so there's a chance nobody's caught on and you can get there safely. The only question is how to find it...

Oh. Of course. You've been making crow sounds all day, all you need to do is listen for some real ones.

You crawl around until you hear some noisy crows. Unfortunately, it seems they're up high; the roost must be above ground level. That's inconvenient; you don't think you can climb the inner walls too well, which means you'll have to risk surfacing.

Well, one thing at a time. You open up another hole so you can better hear if anyone's coming. Unfortunately, you're hearing quite a lot of footsteps nearby. Whatever was going on outside must have been settled, and the base is slowly filling back up.

So, now what are you going to do?

go fast

You've had enough of this.

You can climb faster than humans, and you've got your glider wings to get out once you're in the roost. It doesn't matter if you're spotted, as long as you can keep ahead of your pursuers. After that, you know how to leave the swamp, so you can just leave and then work on finding your way back to the desert.

So, you just rush out and scramble up the ladder, ignoring the surprised shouts from the Marshguards in the hall. If you can just make it out now, you can put this whole mess behind you.

Unfortunately, your plan runs into a small snag when a Marshguard greets you at the top of the ladder. She grabs you just as you scramble onto the ground, and you can't help but notice that her gauntlets have very sharp claws on them.

"A grebling?" she asks. "What, is Crosswinds throwing a party? Or maybe the Bogknights sent you to spy on us?"

Well. Now you've done it. Her grip's too tight to force your way out, not to mention those claws could easily tear through your suit if she were so inclined. So, you'll either need to say something very convincing, or pull off some kind of clever trick to get her to let you go.

It's that or just give up and let them throw you in a cell. But you can't give up, not when you're this close to freedom.

So what are you going to do?

come on, i'm just trying to get out of the swamp. my kind can't live here, i've been here a day and i feel like i'm dying

Bite her in the throat

"I just want to get out of this damn swamp," you say, weakly. "Let me go and I'll be out of your hair and never come back."

She doesn't seem particularly convinced. You contemplate trying an attack in desperation, but she's holding your arms down and your teeth aren't sharp enough to even inconvenience her.

"Look, I can't last out here. I haven't been here a day and I feel like I'm dying."

"Crosswinds seems to get by well enough," your captor says. She walks away from the ladder, and towards the inner wall. Probably figures you're trying to break free, and she doesn't want to give you a chance to jump.

"I'm not Crosswinds. I'm not prepared for this at all."

That's odd, you think you hear something nearby. Someone groaning? But you don't see anyone else...

"Then what's that suit for?"

"It's desert survival gear. It's just that the desert's fiercer than the swamp in general. But it's where I've got to be. I don't want to get in anyone's way here, I just want to leave."

Is that sound coming the other side of the wall? It's more than a little distracting.

"Yeah, well, with all the trouble we've had today, I'm having a hard time ignoring the suspiciously out-of-place grebling. Maybe you didn't have anything to do with any of our problems, but I can't let you out of my sight until I can say that for sure."

You almost wish Crosswinds were here. At the very least, you wish whatever's making that noise would stop, it's hard enough to concentrate as it is. Still, you try your best to think of a way out.

This woman doesn't seem very open to persuasion, and she's got you significantly outmatched physically. But if you could just get her to put you down, you could probably make a run for freedom.

Is there any way you could distract her, perhaps?

play possum

You go limp. Maybe if she thinks you're dead, she'll put you down.

"Hey! Don't try to play that game with me, I can tell you're breathing."

She pauses for a moment.

"Shit, wait. Maybe the desert fever knocked her out. Better take her over to Doc, just in case."

Well. That really isn't what you want, but maybe if you keep the act going long enough, she'll give you a chance to slip away again.

"Hey, you there! Fetch me one of the empty feed sacks, would you? They're about the right size to hold a grebling."

Well. That doesn't sound good. Both the part where you're going to be stuffed in a sack, and the part where there's someone else coming.

If you don't act now, you probably won't get another chance to escape. But what can you do?