Swamped

You could release some more animals. Nothing harmful, just enough to cause a ruckus. Then the Marshguards would be distracted enough that you might be able to focus on the pig's tracks.

It's not a great plan, but it's all you have. You can see a few slightly larger hogs; you passed over them when looking for one to trail, but they'll be better for making a distraction.

You let two of them out, only for Mantis to suddenly march in holding the original pig in one hand. With his free hand, he grabs one of the others and lifts it up, then glares at the third. It squeals a bit and starts moving back towards its pen.

"Would you care to explain what is going on here?" he says, turning his eyes towards you and walking towards the pens.

You can really understand what that pig was thinking right about now.

Rider is back, and he needs my help, but we got separated, and I thought the pigs would lead me to him, and-- *make a run for it*

Rider is back, and he needs my help, but we got separated, and I thought the pigs would lead me to him, and-- *make a run for it*

this, but don't run unless he tries to grab you too! converse like the mature adults you are

You decide to just come clean, and figure out the next step based on how he reacts.

"Well," you say, "your Rider came back, and he asked me for help, and we got separated, and I was hoping the pigs could track him down, but..."

And the next thing you know, Mantis turns around and rushes out of the room, only pausing for a moment to put the pigs back down.

"Please put those back in their pens," he calls back to you. What's gotten into him...

...oh. He must be looking for Rider now. That might be a problem.

The pigs are already heading back towards the pen. Mantis must have scared them, too.

Now what do you do?

forget the pigs, you've got to find rider before this shady mantis character does!

On the off chance that you can't find rider, you can at least make it to the homeward portal by following the compass.

Right now you can either follow Mantis or follow the compass. If they're both heading the same direction, so much the better... but don't let Mantis see it.

You decide to leave the pigs alone, somebody else can deal with calming them down and locking them up.

What you want to do is either contact Rider or get back home. You have no idea how to find Rider, other than following Mantis and hoping he knows more than you, or going back to the gateway and waiting for him to show up.

So at the moment, you may as well do what you can and head for the gateway. You don't even need to think too hard about your path, since the compass points directly to it.

However, it soon becomes apparent that Mantis is heading in the same direction. Does he actually have a way to track Rider?

You decide to put the compass away. You don't know what these Marshguards will think if they see it, so it's best to avoid trouble. You're at a point where you're pretty sure you know the route, anyhow.

Suddenly, Mantis turns around and looks you right in the face. You have the distinct feeling that you shouldn't make any sudden moves.

"You didn't lock the pigs up, did you," he says. He doesn't sound particularly bothered, but you can't tell what he's thinking.

"Well, no," you say, not sure how else to respond.

How in the hells are you supposed to handle this?

run

wait for him to continue. He's obviously going somewhere with this.
If you suspect 'continuing' constitutes bodily harm towards you, r u n

You wait for Mantis to say something else, but he doesn't.

Actually, he doesn't seem to be moving at all. He's just standing there, his eyes fixed on you. It's almost like he's meditating, but watching you at the same time.

The whole thing is really unnerving. You consider running, but you feel like it would be a waste of time. He'd catch you almost immediately.

You can only think of one way forward.

"What are you waiting for, exactly?" you ask.

"I am not sure yet," he says. His stance doesn't change at all.

Well, that didn't clear anything up in the slightest. You're almost thinking of walking off and leaving him to whatever he's doing, except you've got no idea where else to go. Besides, he's still staring directly at you.

About all you can do is puzzle over what he could possibly want.

time to put your mime training to use

Ask him where he was running to.

> "You're making me nervous. What's on my face?"

Now that you think about it, as strange and unsettling as Mantis is right now, there's one part of all this that you can't make any sense of at all.

He ran off in a hurry once you mentioned Rider, but now he's stopped here. If he wanted to find Rider, why did he stop?

It's something you can ask him about.

"Why were you in such a hurry before?" you ask.

"I did not want to lose the trail of Rider's aura. Ironically, it turns out I have the opposite problem - his spiritual presence is too dense here. I cannot track it clearly. So I am praying for guidance."

You don't understand what he just said at all.

"Do you really have to stare directly at me while you pray, though?"

"My apologies. Grebling auras are very different from human ones. I have had time to adjust to Crosswinds, but your arrival must be very recent, so I find your aura harder to read. At the moment, I am observing it as a means of keeping my spirit focused."

More of this aura nonsense. You've got no idea what he's on about.

And apologetic as he sounds, he still doesn't seem to want you to go running off. It's not in anything he's saying or doing, it's just a feeling you're getting from him.

Well. You suppose you did get some new information from him out of those questions, you've just got no idea what it actually means. Now what?

it's been too many updates of two characters staring at each other silently in a row. something else happens

You hear a rumbling. The floorboards shake.
Something bursts forth, right between you two, and it sure as hell ain't from the swamp

I might be the guidance you're praying for, Mantis. Do you have any inkling on where some book about Alexandra might be? Find that and I think you'll find Rider.

(And get out of my hair so I can follow the compass to the next portal.)

> Be Rider.

You decide to take a shot at speaking his language

"So you're looking for guidance? I might have something for you, then. Rider's looking for a book about Alexandria."

"Alexandra, or Alexandria?" Mantis asks. "They were two quite different cities, despite the similar names."

You think back on that. You're pretty sure Rider said Alexandria, but he might have gotten it wrong.

"The title mentioned a desert, so probably that one."

"Alexandra, then." He goes silent for a while, but that's hardly new. "It does not help. There are traces, but they are too faint to follow. Do you know the author's name? That might assist me."

You don't know what he's on about, but might as well tell him. If nothing else he can help Rider find the book, and then you can get back to the gateway.

"Christopher... something. I don't know the last name."

For the first time in a good while, Mantis' expression changes. He actually looks a little worried.

"I see," he says. He turns around and starts to walk away.

That's when you feel the floorboards start to shake.

You're now Rider.

You were on your way to check in with Mudviper. She might have the book, and even if she doesn't, you can trust her to find a way to get it to you. You hope it doesn't come to that, for Long's sake, but you'll do what you must.

Unfortunately, you just ran into a diversion that you can't ignore.

It's a baby squib! These little guys are super cute but don't last long without their momma. How'd this little guy get into the base?

It's a baby squib! These little guys are super cute but don't last long without their momma. How'd this little guy get into the base?

AGH this makes my heart hurt
Rider, save the squib, be the Ghost of Animal Whisperers Past

It's a baby squib! These little guys are super cute but don't last long without their momma. How'd this little guy get into the base?

I gotta see Rider's inner animal nerd, I gotta.

There's a squibling on the floor, flailing around.

Poor thing. Its eyes are barely grown yet. At this stage of development, it's almost entirely dependent on the mother squib.

Which means, in the immediate term, you'll have to be a substitute. Perhaps later you'll have the time to track down its mother, work out how it found its way here in the first place, and make sure that the answer isn't "because you have would-be-poachers". But for now, you just need to get it to your menagerie and write down some feeding instructions.

You can't keep the poor thing, of course. They're just too impractical to feed when fully-grown. At least they aren't prone to imprinting, or you'd have a much bigger problem on your hands.

You take off the silly bathrobe and wrap the squib in it. That should keep it warm, at least. Then you head towards your menagerie.

Until, that is, you hear some shouting. And it doesn't sound like someone crying about your restless spirit - rather, it sounds much like Yvonne.

You think you hear Mantis saying something, too. Well, that's going to be awkward.

Should you investigate, or get the squib to safety first?

The squib comes first!!

back to the zoo!