Swamped

Looks like the Jawbone Mountains over yonder.

"There's a mountain range over that way I recognize," you say, pointing. "Looks like an enormous jawbone when you see it all at once. It's in about the middle of the desert, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out where we are."

You put down the goggles and pull out a map you swiped from Pubert. It's not as detailed as your own, but it's got the overall shape accurately enough for you to mark things.

You put down a mark where you know the camp is, and another where you'd estimate your current location. Then you hand it off to Rider.

"Thank you. Is there any reason I shouldn't take the most direct route?" he asks. "Any nocturnal predators to be concerned of, or hazards that aren't on the map?"

"Nothing route-specific, really. I think you know enough to be careful if a full-grown burrower surfaces, or if you see another sandstorm. Or, y'know, if those Dune Wanderer guys catch up to us. But all that's unlikely to begin with, so you might as well take the quickest route so there's less time for any of it to happen. Oh, but there's one other thing you might need to keep an eye out for."

"And what would that be?"

Migration season for some of the local fauna.
No, not the cute and fluffy kind.

Migration season for some of the local fauna.
No, not the cute and fluffy kind.

The kind that will be very interested in the lizard worm.

Migration season for some of the local fauna.
No, not the cute and fluffy kind.

The kind that will be very interested in the lizard worm.

In a parental sense. Poor guy is just in it's 10 foot larval stage right now.

Starling! Get off that thing! I don't care if it likes you. Come down here and learn to ride a normal mount with legs.

Migration season for some of the local fauna.
No, not the cute and fluffy kind.

The kind that will be very interested in the lizard worm.

In a parental sense. Poor guy is just in it's 10 foot larval stage right now.

Starling! Get off that thing! I don't care if it likes you. Come down here and learn to ride a normal mount with legs.

Bonus points if Rider is freaking the fuck out from all the animals. Like, these are brand new animals he's never seen, let alone heard of.

"Sandraptors."

"That's not a beast I've heard of before." Rider sounds more curious than frightened. Then again, he doesn't seem to scare easily.

"That's because they spend most of the year in burrows. Fierce things. Sharp claws, sharp teeth, travel in packs. Pretty smart, too. They catch lizard-worms and keep them in the burrow, then eat the eggs. Every six months, they abandon the burrow and run out to dig a new one on the other side of the desert. And it's about that time of year."

"They run lizard-worm farms?" Rider asks.

"That's what Betty said. She got caught by a pack. We thought she was dead for three months, but no, they treated her more like a pet. She escaped when they went for the other burrow."

"What happened to their lizard-worms?"

"Left behind, she said. Seems they only care for eating the eggs, not the live ones. But that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous."

"Thank you for the warning," Rider says. "I'll keep an eye out. You should get some rest while you can."

"You're one to talk. From what I overheard, you had a busy night."

"The day was no less busy. But I will manage."

"You got shot at, too. Can't you get Corvus or someone driving for a while?"

"I appreciate your concern, but we will arrive faster if I drive. Thank you for your help, Yvonne."

He's a stubborn one. You suppose that's it. You get back in the wagon and settle in for a long night.

---

You're now someone back in the swamp. Who are you, and what are you doing?

>Stinger, and you're learning how to cards

or

>Jackson, and you don't feel very well, like, at all

Learning how to cards sounds FUN!

You're now Stinger, and you feel like you've gotten in over your head a bit.

That card game earlier piqued your curiosity, but you haven't been able to find Corvus, Rivers, or Starling. And most of the other Marshguards don't seem to want to talk cards for some reason.

Which led you to Chips here. Seems you asked enough questions to get his attention. But considering he asked you to meet him in a corner of the fortress where no one else seems to be around, you can't help but feel this isn't just a friendly game of cards.

Chips deals some cards to you and himself, then he pulls one out of his hand and puts it face-down. He gives you a glance that suggests you should do the same.

You look over your cards, but really, they don't mean much to you. They're just a mess of symbols. You know what they are, enough that you were able to follow the game earlier, but you just can't see how anyone would pick one over another.

You just pick one at random and put it face down. Chips nods to acknowledge, then lifts a card from the deck.

He points at the little number on it. You think that's a three. Then he puts two cards in his hand down. He points at your card, and looks inquisitively at you.

You saw enough in the game earlier that you think you understand this. He's asking if you have a three. You put down a... five, you think? You double-check.

It's a five. You shake your head. Chips slides his two cards over to you, then motions to the deck. It seems to be your turn.

This card is an... eight? You have trouble counting all the symbols. It takes you a few attempts. Chips just waits patiently.

The symbol seems to be a rock. Eight of rocks? That doesn't seem quite right, but it's not as if the words matter right now.

Well, you think you remember the rules. You can guess if the number or the symbol matches his card. But you have to put your own cards at risk to do that, like he just did.

So, what's your move?

No risk, no reward. Guess!

After guessing wrong, flip the card table over in frustration and demand to know what this is really about.

You opt to guess the symbol, since there seem to be more cards with the symbol. You put down one card as a bet, and tap the symbol.

Chips shakes his head, and you toss your card over.

And you're getting frustrated. Not because of the game, but because you don't know what Chips really wants.

So you slam your fist down on the table.

"What is it you really want?"

But the table's a bit flimsy, and falls right over. Rather noisily.

"What's that noise?" you hear someone ask, not far away.

Chips puts a finger to his mouth. You're not sure you should cooperate with him, though. Not if he's being cagey.

On the other hand, Razor's been asking you a lot of uncomfortable questions ever since you arrived here. And Rider's not around to stick up for you. It might be better to avoid getting in trouble.

What should you do?

Keep quiet. You-Know-Who will have your hide if you botch this up.

You're mad that Chips is being cagey, but you're not DUMB. If YOU'RE in trouble, making more noise will just make you more in trouble. If Chips is in trouble, being seen with them will just make YOU more in trouble by association. But seriously, need to find out what's going on, and hopefully soon. Is there a MORE private area to sneak off to?

Too much is at risk. You can work out what Chips wants later. You grab him and lead him into a corner of the storeroom, in a narrow gap between a shelf and a wall. So narrow that it doesn't look like you could fit into it.

You know better. It takes a little work to hide Chips as well, but it's the most secure hiding place.

Then, you listen.

"Looks like a table fell over," someone says.

"That one's always falling over. Even when I try weighing it down. You got me all panicked for nothing."

"Can't fault me for being careful. We're in deep now. Don't even see how it does any good to have a meeting at all. Just means someone might spot us."

"Believe me, I know the risks. But there's no way around it. We need to make sure our cover stories line up. If there's something weird, Razor's sure to look into it."

"I thought you said you'd pinned enough on Viper to keep him off of us!"

"That's what I thought, too. But somewhere along the line, he figured out it was a false trail. So we definitely need to make sure we're ready for him."

You don't know who these people are. You only recognize a few Marshguards' voices, and these ones aren't familiar at all. You glance over at Chips, but you can't tell what he's thinking at all.

One thing's clear, though - Chips wasn't the only one who wanted a place away from prying eyes tonight.

What should you do?

You've got a piece of shiny metal equipment (like a knife) that you can use to surreptitiously sneak a glance at the speakers (via reflection) without leaving your hiding place.

Reflections might be dangerous, If they're cautious, and on guard, which it sounds like they may be, they could be on the lookout for anything out of place. Listening might just be enough for now, try to get important details or information that would lead you to their identities, or at least you can possibly foil their plans if they mean harm.

Chips seems oddly calm in this situation.

You think about using your knife as a crude mirror, in hopes of catch a glimpse of whoever's there. But light goes both ways. If you can get enough light to see them, they might notice the reflection.

Besides, everyone here has masks. You wouldn't be surprised if these two have theirs on, just in case they get unexpected visitors.

...You feel like a fool. You have a mask, too. Maybe you could have just put it on and made a run for it.

You still could, you suppose, but it's probably too risky to do it now. It certainly sounds like they don't want eavesdroppers.

You keep listening, hoping for another clue.

"Well. Let's get this over with fast. Way I see it, if the Sisters' mutiny goes through tomorrow as planned, we've got no problem; we quash it fast and we can pass anything he asks us about as just keeping an eye on 'em."

"And what if Razor asks why we didn't report anything sooner?"

"Well, we didn't see anything conclusive. But we'd seen enough that once they started to move, we could act quickly to cut them off."

"Don't like it. We've been at this too long for him to buy that."

"Yeah, but I think he's only noticed anything was off in the last week. We can say we were planning to report in a couple of days even if nothing happened."

"And what if he has noticed what we were up to earlier?"

"Then he would've already said something about it. He's not a patient man, you know."

"I guess you'd know better than me. So what do we do if they don't proceed with the mutiny?"

"I was kind of hoping you'd have an idea for that."

'Mutiny' is not a word you're very familiar with, but you get the distinct impression Razor is going to want to know about what you've heard.

Chips, for his part, taps you to get your attention, and shows you his raised fist. He looks at you, his eyes suggesting it's a question more than a plan.

So, will you go along with it? Or listen some more?

They already dropped some names, better to listen in some more.

You shake your head, and hold a hand to your ear to indicate listening. Even though they're trying to be cautious, they've dropped some important information. You may not know who they are, but if you hear everything, Razor might be able to work it out.

"You're right, we've got no good excuses if they don't go ahead with it. Our best option is to report them to get in Razor's good books, but then someone might blab on us. At least if they go ahead with a mutiny, we can deal with anyone troublesome while we quash it."

"Well, that's no good. So what, we're just supposed to hope they go ahead?"

"Who do you take me for, Mantis? I'm not talking hope, I'm talking persuasion. We've got to give the Sisters the idea that now's the time to act."

"Are you nuts? We can't afford to be seen talking to them now, especially not if there's a mutiny tomorrow!"

"Look, you made the case yourself. If there's a mutiny, we've got a cover story and we can use the chaos to deal with anyone who could contradict it. No mutiny, we're bound to be discovered."

"Maybe we should just make a break for it."

"You want to go back to Kandria empty-handed?"

"...No. And this damn swamp's the only place we can hide from them."

You can't recognize all the words, but this is definitely sounding bad. Should you intervene now? Or wait for them to leave, and then tell Razor what you heard?

You recognize the word Kandria for certain. See if you have any sleeping-darts left and you can knock...

...why is your dart pouch missing? Chips what are you?

You forgot how much those darts actually sting.

Kandria, that's a word you recognize. Rider's talked to Bluesight about it every once in a while. It's a country, one that the Marshguard leadership seems to consider troublesome.

So these two are involved with a hostile nation. That's something leadership will want to know. More than that, you can't risk letting them escape.

You reach for your blowdarts, but you can't seem to find them.

Then you hear two loud thuds. You turn and see Chips with your blowgun in his mouth.

It's the last thing you see before you pass out.

---

"Do you even know how long these things last?"

That's an unpleasantly familiar voice. You slowly open your eyes, and you see Razor glaring at you, with Chips standing beside him and looking worried.

"Well, I suppose we know that now. But I'll still need to have a few words with you later about using unfamiliar weapons recklessly."

Chips looks down sadly, then leaves.

"As for you," Razor says. "I have a few questions."

You sit up, slowly. You feel a stinging sensation in your wrist; you rub it as your head starts to clear up.

"Go ahead. Ask," you say.

Stinger has shown loyalty and competence. For most, that would be enough, but Razor is nothing if not suspicious. He'll grill you on the usual points, why you didn't immediately intervene against the seditious pair you encountered, some vauge question to have you prove your loyalty.

But what he really wants to know is how well you can read your native tounge.