Swamped

You try pushing under the sand with the broom in hopes of lifting the ring. But as you push in, the sand seems unusually thick.

You get down and try brushing the sand away by hand. It seems... strangely heavy, for sand. It still doesn't take much effort to move, but it feels more like you're pushing small rocks away.

Maybe that's why the ring was so hard to move. You clear as much sand as you can without actually putting your finger in the ring - you don't know what would happen if you did, but you know what happens in folktales to the sort of person who thinks it's a good idea to put on strange rings and you're not taking any chances.

And once the last grain is cleared, you find you can lift the ring - barely. It feels as heavy as a boulder.

You don't think you're going to be able to move the ring very far. What should you do?

Hide it somewhere and find someone who might know how to look at it, either now or later. Maybe that grebling who was studying the aether?

You can't hold onto this thing for very long. And you can't really do anything useful with it. Best to ask one of the ether experts around here.

But... you wouldn't want someone stumbling on it and maybe hurting themselves. Or somehow mucking things up with its magic - you suspect it's magic, anyways.

That means hiding it... of course, you've got to come back to show it to someone, so you'll need to make sure the hiding spot is recognizable.

The first thing you think of is stuffing the ring in your pouch, and leaving it on the ground. But no, that would be too obviously out of place. A curious kid like Max Junior would spot that in a heartbeat.

Then again... if you get it checked out fast, you wouldn't have to keep it hidden for too long. On the other hand, you've had plenty of trouble getting ahold of people here in a timely fashion.

You'd best make your mind up quick about how you're going to hide it, though. Your hands are already getting tired.

Place it in one of the corners where the walls meet and cover it with a bit of dirt.

Poke a bristle from your broom through the ring, standing up as a marker so you can find it again.

Brooms. Brooms are everyday, boring things. The sort of thing a curious, troublemaking kid isn't going to go poking around, because brooms are for cleaning.

So you thread a few bristles through the ring, and shove the broom in a corner.

"Finished already?" Barb asks, walking into the stable. "Doesn't look like it. Or is the smell getting to you?"

Oh. Right. You had the broom because you were cleaning.

You're about to explain what you were doing, but all of a sudden, you catch a glimpse of something and it gives you pause about letting her know the full story.

Suspiciously missing book.

When you arrived here, Barb looked up at you. You didn't think much of it because of course she did due to the height difference, but now you remember she was reading a book. Didn't look like she was more than a quarter into reading it, judging by where it was open.

And you see now that she has a small pouch about the size of said book. A pouch which is wide open and has no book in it - but she's not carrying it, either.

You wouldn't normally think that was too weird... but you haven't been sweeping that long, have you? When did she even have time to put the book away? Why did she come back here in such a rush?

"Had more trouble than I thought with the broom," you say. "I'm trying to decide if I should tough it out or see if there's something else I can tie to it for more leverage. What brings you back so soon?"

You catch just a hint of nervousness in her eyes. You were never the greatest at cards, but you could usually pick up a thing or two at the table. Something weird is definitely going on here.

"I dropped my... my notepad," she says. "Got to keep track of how the sandrunners are doing. Makes it easier to tell early if one's getting sick."

Now this really seems weird. You've seen the grebling notepads, and the book she had earlier definitely didn't look like one. And she sounds a lot more like she's coming up with an excuse.

But... maybe the book's just something embarrassing. Gods, you're starting to think like Razor, seeing threats everywhere just because they could exist. Still, she's definitely acting different from before.

You need to think about how to handle this.

Steal. That. Book.

What'd it look like? I'll help you find it.

"Well, as long as I'm here, I may as well help you look," you say. "What does it look like, exactly?"

Barb pauses.

"Actually, I think I just remembered where I left it. You can just figure out what you're going to do about that broom."

She turns around and leaves. Well, that was a bit odd, but it's probably nothing serious...

She doesn't have a tail.

You wish you'd given a bit more thought to what that could mean before you instinctively tackled her, but there's no going back now.

"What in Goan's name are you doing, human?" she shouts back at you. Then she looks shocked as she realizes what she just said.

"Not Reth's name," you observe, picking yourself up of the ground and then lifting her up before she can run. "Plus, calling me 'human' when you ought to know my name. And then there's the missing tail. I don't think you're really Barb."

"Disguise potion," she sighs. "Used it to copy her after she stumbled on my hiding place. Unfortunately, my supplier didn't warn me it wouldn't account for tails."

"What'd you do with Barb?"

"She's fine, just unconscious, I was just planning to grab what I came for and get out of here. That's all."

"And what did you come for?"

She goes quiet.

Now what?

>Shout for help, but don't take your eyes off her.

Well, there's no reason you need to deal with this alone. There's plenty of greblings around, and whoever turns up can fetch Rudolph even if they can't help you directly.

"I've caught an intruder!" you shout. "I'm in the stable! I need backup!" You keep looking directly at her, to make sure she doesn't try to get away.

About a minute later, two greblings run in. You think you see a bunch of short shadows outside the tent, too.

"Isn't that Barb?" one of them asks.

"Last I checked, Barb still had her tail," says the other.

Right, this is going to be inconvenient to explain.

"Where's Barb?"

Your captive seems to be weighing their options. You give them your fiercest look.

"I was hiding in an empty wastebin, so I stuffed her in there after she found me. Figured I'd be gone by the time she woke up."

You glance at the greblings.

"Tell somebody to go look and make sure she's okay. It seems we've got quite the crowd outside."

The slightly-taller of the two greblings nods, and heads outside. The other one seems rather nervous. Maybe it's your voice, or just the fact that you're threatening someone he knows - even if it's not actually them.

You're thinking hard about what to ask when Yvonne steps in. She seems upset.

"Does someone want to tell me what all this commotion is about?"

"Um," says the nervous grebling. "The human's holding Barb in a threatening way, except apparently it's not really Barb. My brother went to get a search party going."

Yvonne looks directly at you.

"Whoever that is, put her down."

"I'm worried she'll run."

"I can keep her from doing that. But meanwhile, there's a silhouette on the tent walls of a human holding a grebling up off the ground, which isn't exactly making anyone comfortable."

She has a point. You put "Barb" down, gently, but you still keep a grip on her arm.

Not that you're sure where to go from here. More questions, maybe?

Ask about Goan.

Well. There's one thing that's been on your mind for a while now.

"Who's Goan? Must be someone important if you're using their name as an oath."

They don't answer, but to your surprise, Yvonne does.

"Goan is dead."

You're about to ask for clarification when she continues.

"More than dead - forgotten. The other gods forbade their priests from speaking of Goan to the people, and so, in time, all knowledge of them was lost. Only a few scholars even know their name. But their domain, what they looked like... even why the gods punished them so severely... these things remain a mystery."

She turns to the prisoner.

"Now, I don't hear much about what's going on in the colonies. But I do know there's more than a few people who have problems with the church. And given our history with the human gods... well, who else is there to turn to, right?"

The prisoner scowls.

"You don't know anything."

"Nobody knows anything about Goan, save the gods themselves. So if you do have some information, feel free to share it."

The prisoner goes quiet again. You're not sure if that really helped.

Without going into specifics or giving away its current location, ask the director about the possibly magic ring of heftiness. You can see if the intruder reacts to indicate that it's what they're looking for.

You wonder if there's a particular reason why this spy tried to come in here. If, perhaps, they're after the ring you found.

And you've got an excuse for bringing it up.

"By the way, Director. I found something weird a little while ago." You put a hand on your pouch for good measure.

Yvonne looks a little exasperated.

"Can this wait?"

"Oh, well, I just wanted to make sure it didn't slip my mind," you say. "I was thinking Dominique might have some idea about it."

No reaction from the prisoner. But then, she probably doesn't know who Dominique is.

"What, you think it's something magical? That would be high priority, if it's something that isn't where it's supposed to be."

Fortunately, Yvonne brought up magic for you. And the prisoner definitely reacted. They caught themselves, but you couldn't help but notice their eyes turning to your pouch.

"Wait, you mean you've got magical items just lying around here?"

"No, we have a small number of magical devices and uncovered artifacts that we keep in secure places. Which is why it would be particularly concerning if something went missing, especially if it were unreported."

"When you say devices..."

"Specialized measuring devices, mainly. Most of the ones we've developed don't use ether, but there are some things that are hard to do without it."

"So... what, rulers or barometers or that sort of thing, only magic? Not, like, magic wands or rings or whatever."

The prisoner definitely seemed to perk up for a moment on "rings".

"You've got more or less the right idea, yeah. We don't really go for that shiny stuff. Did you find something like that?"

Hmm. What's the best way to answer, given that the prisoner is watching?

Yes, you did, but dont give away where it is yet.

"Yeah, I found a ring. Didn't want to keep it on me because I thought it was doing something, so I put it in a safe place for the moment."

The prisoner seems to be very pointedly not looking around the tent. They're looking right at you. They seem to have realized that you know something.

"What do you mean, doing something?"

"Well, like I said, I thought it was magic. It was..."

You pause for a moment to drag out the uncertainty. The prisoner's starting to shake a little, probably from nervousness.

"Heavy," you finally conclude.

They stop shaking, but you can't tell if they're relieved or if they're just calmer now that it's done with. Might as well go all-out with the description, then.

"That is, it felt real heavy for a ring. Even the sand around it felt more like pebbles. I wasn't sure it was safe to be around something like that, so I hid it."

That's odd. The prisoner seems... confused.

"Probably a good idea," Yvonne says. "I'll inform Dominique that you want some tests done."

She turns to the prisoner.

"Have to say, it's real unsettling. If not for the missing tail, she'd look just like Barb. If you are a she."

"It's none of your business who I am," the prisoner says.

"I'd probably agree if you weren't poking around in our camp. But we just had two intruders yesterday whose allies captured someone very dear to me. So perhaps you can understand how I would feel if you were working with the same group."

The prisoner looks Yvonne right in the eyes.

"I'm not working with anyone any more. Been promised one too many golden roses."

A golden rose has silver thorns. The last Guild password you ever learned, and you've rarely heard the saying otherwise. Maybe this prisoner works for the Guild?

You don't think the password trick you tried on Pubert would work here, though. They're too guarded right now. You'll need another way to check that theory.

Hold onto that thought and hand the prisoner over to the camp. But you stay there and keep an eye on the broom until the prisoner gets taken away.

You decide to save that for later.

"Don't you have a better place to keep her?" you ask.

"Not really. We're not built for taking prisoners, and we greblings are harder to keep confined than humans are. Especially in a desert, when there's always sand underfoot to burrow through. Our best option is probably the medical tent, just because it's got a sturdier floor to keep the sand out. But we'll have to keep a close watch on her."

"Well, I'll watch her while you get that sorted out," you say resignedly. Too bad you don't have particular ideas.

"Rudolph should be making his way through the crowd, he'll be able to help and escort her along." She looks thoughtful. "I should really get them out of here."

"You know, I don't remember there being this much commotion during the fighting yesterday."

"The fighting didn't happen during lunch hour," Yvonne sighs. "Most of us can get intensely preoccupied with our work."

It's lunch already? You must have lost track of time. Well, hopefully you can grab some after Dominique has a look at what you found.

Meanwhile, you lock eyes with the prisoner as Yvonne heads out. She glances at the other grebling, who's just been standing around this whole time.

"Don't you have work to do?" she asks. "Or were you volunteering for the security detail?"

"Oh! Um, sorry," he says. "I'll get right on it, Director."

He scurries out behind Yvonne, leaving you alone with the prisoner again.

Now what?

Try being upfront with them and not dancing around the subject. Ask them if they're willing to tell you anything about who they are, why they're here and what they're doing.

You suppose at this point, there's no harm in trying the direct approach.

"What's your name?"

The prisoner seems startled, but not so startled as to actually answer.

"None of your damned business."

"Fine, if that's how it's going to be, I'll call you Nonev."

They don't exactly seem shaken.

"Whatever suits you. I'll be out of here before any of you see my real face."

You've pulled this trick a few times. Feign confidence in your ability to escape, get your interrogator to think you mean it, they'll try to figure out your nonexistent plan and squander a lot of time.

It's not going to work on you.

"Why are you even here? What was the thing you wanted?"

Silence. But you've seen enough to know what sort you're dealing with. She's silent because she thinks she'll slip up if she talks about it more. She'll only talk if she thinks you're on the wrong track entirely.

"For that matter, why were you hiding?"

"So I could sneak up on someone and disguise myself as them," she shoots back. "Wouldn't have bothered if I'd known the potion couldn't hide my tail, though."

Hmm. Interesting.

"And just who gave you the potion?"

"A wizard," she says. "Where else would I get one? The theater?"

"Fine, then. Where did you meet this wizard?"

Silence. So this is a potentially productive question.

Maybe you can get more out of her if you make a good guess about where it happened.

Time to employ those old guild keywords with a knowing wink.

And then change the subject and ask what happened to her tail.

The way she talks makes the whole thing sound like a black market deal.

But wizards aren't the sort to partake in the black market. There aren't many wizards left - at least not in this part of the world - and those who remain tend to live as hermits.

Which means it's probably the same wizard you heard the occasional rumors about back in your Guild days. And you never learned his name - but you did carry a message about him, including some of his codewords.

"Maiden's Moon," you say suddenly, trying as hard as you can to look like it just occurred to you.

She gives you a funny look.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't mind me. I just lost track of what day it is. Trying to think back to what the moon looked like. I think it was a Maiden's Moon seven days ago?"

"Eight," she says. Then she seems to realize she said something, and takes on a much more guarded pose.

That wouldn't make much sense to you if you didn't know what Maiden's Moon meant in Guild circles. It wasn't actually about the moon - it was about the start of a new month. You never understood why they called it that, but basically it was a day where all the dirty business was put on hold.

Regardless, you answer her as nonchalantly as you can.

"Really? Eight? Could swear it was seven. Maybe I should ask someone else later to double-check."

She doesn't seem to know what to think now. Good time to derail things with a different question.

"So what happened to your tail?"

"Sold it."

That was much more direct than you thought.

"To who? To the wizard for a disguise potion?"

"To the sort of person who buys grebling tails, because I was desperate. You think it's easy to get human money when you've been kicked out of your burrow for--"

She stops suddenly. Wow, you hit a nerve there.

What now?