Swamped

It's definitely magical. Plus, it's melding with the grebling's face!

The mask is actually a bird?

The mask has magic, you're nearly certain of that. But it also seems to be doing something. You can't quite tell what, there's something very strange about the ether. Or at least you think it's strange, you haven't exactly sensed ether very often.

You focus a bit harder, and suddenly you remember something Dominique said to you. She mentioned that the ether flowed out of your body when you were unconscious.

But it's flowing into the grebling.

"The mask is empowering them somehow!" you shout. "I can't quite figure out how..."

And then the mask caws. It's as if it's alive.

Rider tries to cover the beak, but suddenly, the grebling turns into a crow and flies out of his arms.

Is there anything you can do to stop it from escaping?

Chuck your slicer at it instinctively

caw back at it, maybe itll be surprised.

Grab at its tail-feathers - the crow won't be able to stabilize its flight without them

Before you even know it, you've picked up your slicer off the ground and thrown it towards the crow.

But the crow's already picking up speed. You're not sure if you'll hit it in time. Maybe if you could distract it...

Well, you don't have time to think very hard about how to. You just start cawing loudly. The crow seems a bit confused, and slows down ever-so-slightly...

...Just enough for your slicer to strike it in the tail. It's not a direct hit, but it does knock off a few feathers.

"That's good," Rider says. "The tail feathers are important for stability during flight. You did enough to throw it off course."

And indeed, the bird seems to be slowly flying towards the ground. The two of you start running after it, hoping to catch it.

As it hits the ground, the bird changes back. The mask's wearer seems to be conscious now, but Rider grabs them before they can try any spells. He also pulls the mask off.

"Would you mind telling me," he asks the grebling pointedly, "why a priest of Reth attacked our wagon?"

"You're human military staying in a grebling camp," the grebling snarls, "and you go riding out in a slaver's wagon, and you think we're not going to notice?"

"We seized the wagon from a criminal and we are staying in the camp because there is a matter of mutual interest we are investigating," Rider says calmly. "We would have gladly explained this had you seen fit to ask rather than spying on us."

"Pardon us for not believing humans would be open with their intentions."

"Perhaps it would be easier for you to believe if you were open with yours," Rider replies. "I am well aware that your disputes with this camp long predate our arrival."

The grebling doesn't say anything in response. Rider doesn't seem to have anything else to say, either.

Perhaps there's something you can say to get this conversation moving?

Err... Nice mask.

"Say, why can't we work together?"

You glance at the mask.

"That's a very well-made mask," you say, mostly just to shift the subject. "Did they give you that at the temple?"

The grebling just glares at you. Well, if nothing else it means you've got their attention.

"Look, don't you think this is a bit ridiculous? Maybe if you told us what you were after, we'd be willing to help. Not that I can say for sure, since you won't say what it is."

"I'm given to understand that what the grebling branch of the Church of Reth wants is to find - or perhaps plant - evidence that the camp is conspiring with humans to provide laborers for the slave trade," Rider says. There's no real anger in his voice, just annoyance. "That would, I imagine, be a great help with your campaign to shut the camp down over alleged heresy."

The grebling glares at Rider now.

"You don't know anything. Yeah, we don't like your little camp there, and we wouldn't miss it if a sandstorm blew the whole thing away. But we wouldn't stoop to anything so dirty, and that isn't what I'm here for anyhow. You just happened to cross my path and I figured I'd try to find out what you were up to."

"In that case, what are you here for?"

"None of your filthy human business."

And Rider's interrogation seems to have stalled again. Well, now what?

I'm not sure how "seeing what we're up to" translates into attacking us and our desert horses outright. That doesn't sound like something Reth would approve of... all creatures are precious in her eyes.

we came out here to have a private conversation, away from any listening ears. That's all. Obviously we're not going to tell you what we were going to talk about. After we finish talking, we're going to go right back to the camp. We don't want to be your enemy if we can help it, you know.

"If you were just seeing what we were up to, then why did you attack us at all?" you ask. "I understand Reth doesn't care for harming living creatures."

The grebling looks very annoyed, and doesn't answer. So you hazard a guess.

"Maybe we were heading somewhere you didn't want us to go. Somewhere you don't want anyone even knowing about. So you were making sure we didn't stumble onto whatever it is."

"Believe that if you want," the grebling says. "I'm not telling you anything."

"Really," you say. "Well, if it's all you want to know, I'll tell you why we were out here. Rider and I wanted a private conversation. We thought there was too much chance of being overheard in camp."

The grebling suddenly looks very worried.

"Did you say, Rider?"

"That would be me," Rider says.

"As in, the Rider of the Swamp?"

"I understand they call me that in some places."

The priest looks extremely worried.

"Look, I didn't know... How could we have known it was you? You're supposed to be in the swamp, not all the way out here!"

Well, this conversation took a turn you weren't expecting. Maybe you can lead it somewhere from here?

We know well where we're supposed to be, and we know little more about why we're here than you do. Maybe, if you promise to co-operate, we'll tell you what we've learnt. Back at the camp, of course.

"You're right, we're supposed to be in the swamp," you say. "And the main thing we're doing is investigating the thing that brought us here instead. So if you'd like to know more, well. Maybe we could arrange that, if you were a little more cooperative."

The grebling looks back and forth between you. They seem to be struggling to figure something out.

"How do I know you're really the Rider?" they finally seem to settle on. "I don't see your beast."

You're starting to wonder why they're so hung up on Rider. At first you thought it was just because of his fearsome reputation, but it's starting to seem like there's something more specific going on.

And then Rider laughs.

"Emerald may not be here in this desert with me," he says. "But look at my armor, and you can see for yourself the proof of our bond."

The grebling seems confused, and takes a closer look. And for the first time, so do you. There are green patches all over Rider's armor - you'd taken them for just padding, at first. But now you see exactly what they're made of.

"Those are shell scales, aren't they?" you ask.

"Indeed. It took three sheddings to get them all." Rider glances at the grebling again. "Or do you want to suggest I poached them from a dead beast?"

The grebling seems almost petrified.

"No, of course not," they finally manage to say. "Not when Reth herself has judged that so clearly."

You really feel like there's a lot you're missing about this. Should you ask questions, or just save them for later and see how the conversation goes from here?

Could be that this branch of the Church of Reth holds the Rider of the swamp in high regard, maybe even considering him blessed or protected by Reth, and that this grebling has unwittingly been sacrilegious by attacking you. But... Why would that be?

You'd better wait to ask Rider about it later. If Rider has any kind of sway here because of his reputation, it wouldn't do well to spoil it with potentially irreverent questions into why.

Ask if they know anything about the recent intrusions in the camp. Were those also innocent investigations by the benevolent Church of Reth?

Something seems odd here. You wonder if something happened involving Rider and the Church of Reth - it's not as though you know much about his history. That was, after all, one reason you were hoping to talk to him.

But you can't exactly bring it up in front of this priest. Probably best to just go along with it for now.

That said, there's something that's been bothering you.

"There were two intruders who attacked the grebling camp yesterday," you say. "Did you have anything to do with that?"

"Not me personally," says the priest. "I only arrived here early this morning. Can't say they didn't send someone else before me, though - if it's sensitive enough, they wouldn't tell me about it."

That's probably all you're getting on that subject. You look at Rider.

"So what should we do?"

"I think it would be best if we left him in Jebediah's care," Rider says. "You understand that, after what's happened, we can't simply let you walk free. But we can leave you under the supervision of a fellow priest of Reth."

The grebling looks very nervous, but nods weakly.

"Suppose I can't blame you for that."

"Well, then," Rider says. "Marshall, I'll help you secure our guest, and then I'll take us back. I'm afraid we'll need to delay our talk a bit longer."

You can't say you're all that surprised.

---

You're now Corvus, and you're in the middle of something unpleasant.

You're in an open space with a danger, and you dont know which direction it's going to come from.

You've really gotten yourself in trouble now. If you'd actually thought ahead for a moment, you wouldn't have rushed right out into the open.

Worse, your quarry managed to slip out of sight. Which means, if they opt to retaliate, they could come at you from any direction. Easily taking you by surprise.

The best option you can see now is to just turn around quickly, but carefully, and watch for movement. So you first glance between the two tents ahead of you, and then when you don't see anything, you turn around...

Just in time for the sandy-mocker to get the jump on you. Well, at least it only knocked you on your back instead of your front.

"Are all you Marshguards this well-trained?" Rudolph asks, walking up and grabbing the bird. "That's certainly not a maneuver I'd have ever thought of."

"I didn't expect it to be so fast. Or so strong, for that matter," you grumble, picking yourself up. "What's got it all riled up, anyways?"

"Dunno. Jebediah says the wild ones have been gathering at his tent and making a ruckus, not to mention a mess. Maybe our tame one's been getting the same idea. Or maybe he's just lonely. Too much time around greblings, not enough around his own kind."

Jebediah? It takes you a moment to remember the name, but you think that's the priest.

And come to think of it, the last time you saw a bunch of birds gathering, Reth was involved. Now a lot are turning up around the closest thing to a church this camp has? You wonder if there might be a connection, but you're not enough of a theologian to say.

Maybe Jebediah has some ideas, though. You might want to talk to him later.

First, though, you've got to help Rudolph get this sandy-mocker back in its cage. And then you've got some other jobs to take care of.

Lure it into the cage with food! And then go help with cleaning up around the camp.

The sandy-mocker puts up a surprising amount of resistance, but a little food in the cage persuades it to leave Rudolph's grip relatively peacefully.

"Thanks for the help, both of you," Simone says. "It's not the first time Jeremy's gotten out of his cage, but he isn't usually this agitated."

"Does this mean I might have to chase him down again?" you sigh.

"Not for a while, I always adjust the lock a bit after he slips out. Even if I do a rush job it's generally good enough to hold him for at least a week."

You glance at the sandy-mocker, who's absolutely devouring the seeds you tossed in. And he still seems to have plenty of energy afterwards.

"I think it'd be best if I kept an eye on him for a while, just to be sure," Rudolph says. "He doesn't seem to be calming down at all."

"Works for me. I'd rather not deal with him, and besides, I've got a cleaning shift I'm supposed to be on."

Simone glances at you.

"That really isn't necessary, you know. You're here as a guest."

"Yeah, but I prefer keeping myself busy," you say. "And there's a lot to do around here. Might as well find ways to help out while you greblings solve the mysteries of the universe."

You excuse yourself and head for the stables. Barb looks up as you arrive.

"You know, our brooms aren't really built for human height," she says.

"I'll manage. Is there anything I need to know besides how to sweep?"

"Not really. You already know to be careful not to get too much sand on you, that's about it. And I've taken care of the desert-horse stalls already. There's more sandrunners to clean up after, but their droppings are a lot smaller, and less frequent at that."

You look around and notice one of the desert-horses is gone.

"Someone go out for a ride?" you ask.

"Two of your human pals headed out in the wagon. Something about wanting a private conversation."

Well. You're not going to pry into that. Instead you grab a broom, which only goes up to your waist. It takes you a minute to adjust to using it, but it's not that weird.

You promptly start sweeping one of the sandrunner stalls. But then you think you see something odd in the middle of the mess.

It's a glittery piece of jewelry, and it seems to be reflecting an awful lot of light for how dark it is in here.

Its stuck in the ground more than you'd expect if someone had just dropped it.

You catch sight of something glinting amidst all the droppings. As you sweep them aside, it seems to be some sort of jeweled ring.

Oddly, it looks to be half-buried in the sand. Must have been there a while to sink that much, or maybe the sandrunners just kicked up a lot of it.

You clear out the area a bit more and reach down to pick it up for a closer look.

You can't. It's as if it's stuck... but there's just sand here. What's going on here?

Now you really want to know what's up with this ring. But how can you get it out?

Try using the broom to dig it out of the dirt.