Swamped

You see something small and made of metal. It starts moving.

Then, suddenly, you see a lot more of them. You can't even really understand what they are, or what they're trying to do.

Whatever it is, they soon seem to abandon it, and start scurrying about, slowly forming into a shape. It looks like a large circle with some other mark inside it. But you don't recognize it.

Except, parts of it look like the sketch of the mark on the artist's injury report. Is this what the complete thing is meant to be? And if so, what does it mean? And what do these metal creatures have to do with it?

The vision stops. You have more questions than answers.

Your best guess is that the mark somehow relates to the exiled god. If that's right, then whoever attacked the artist would either be the lone worshipper, or someone they hired.

But if that's right... then what do the metal creatures mean? And why did you see them when you held this wooden crest?

You take a closer look at the crest. Perhaps that will tell you something.

The woodgrain is subtly painted or stained to appear brown... But in a small crack you can see purple.

It's not oak.

You're not an expert on trees by any measure, but you've carried around an oak staff long enough to recognize some key details of it. Especially the ether pattern it gives off.

This one is giving off an especially rare ether pattern for wood - which is to say, none at all. And looking more closely, it's not even brown. It's just painted that way.

There's a tiny spot where the paint has given way and is showing purple.

But it's definitely wooden. Where in the world could purple wood grow?

You don't think this crest is going to tell you any more. You put it back on the table.

Almost immediately, you feel a strange pounding sensation in your head. You pick the crest back up, and it stops.

Seems someone intends you to keep it. At least you have some divine guidance, you suppose. Though you aren't entirely sure if this is an improvement over having none at all.

Regardless, you think you're done here. You put the crest in your pocket. Your next move is probably to pay a visit to Mortimer or Mona Flame.

Before you go see young Mona, perhaps you can ask Leonard how likely it is that the guild tried to bomb the hospital just now.

"I wonder," you mutter, just loud enough that he might here. "I wonder if they ever try to settle grudges with explosives."

He doesn't respond. But you do notice his arms tensing up. He's getting angry.

You doubt you'll learn more from him. He doesn't seem inclined to open up any more.

So you take a look at little Mona, age twelve. She has a severe hand injury.

When you see it for yourself, though, you discover the report was understating things. There's a damned sword lodged into her arm, going from the elbow to her hand. Who does this to a child?

Actually... looking a bit closer, it doesn't look deliberate. Still terrifying that this happened, though, even if it was an accident.

You aren't sure you want to see any more, honestly. She looks deep asleep anyhow - maybe someone slipped her some swampleaf to spare her the pain.

Even if you did wake her, how much could she possibly know? She's a child. You probably should have skipped this trip, really.

But then something catches your attention.

The sword itself. It has an engraving...

Near the tip of the blade, just poking out of the poor girl's hand, you can see bits of a symbol. You take the Oak Crest out and compare; it lines up perfectly with the pieces you can see. You'd rather not disturb her to get a better look, though.

It might prove worthwhile to pay a visit to the smith once you're out of here. For now, though, it's probably best to learn what you can from Mortimer. You leave without another word.

When you arrive at Mortimer's bed, though, there's no sign of him. The bed is empty, but the light is out.

Was he taken away against his will, or is he doing the same sort of wandering you are? His injuries were serious, but they were all on his upper body, so you can't rule out walking away. But the Flames seem to be somebody's target, and it's not as if you haven't already seen suspicious activity tonight. Maybe the bomb was meant to cover his abduction.

Hmm. On the other hand, you definitely weren't informed of a patient going missing on your second day on the job. You were a full month in before you had to learn how to make a report on that sort of situation. So if he was abducted, then either he was rescued, or someone on the hospital staff deliberately covered it up.

And if he was rescued, well, it might very well be that you were the one who did it. Best to assume that's the case for the moment.

So how are you going to find him?

Would he or his abductors traipse through the front door, or slip out the locked staff room? Probably not. Cut him off at the likelier exit: the fire escape.

Your first thought is to check if he's left, whether by his own will or by force. Going through the front door is a sure way to get spotted - the tavern across the road is always full of gossips until it closes at dawn. You think back to the bomb you found, but the windows here are hard to open all the way. Slipping a clock inside is one thing - getting an entire person out would be difficult without making a lot of noise, one way or another. There's also a staff entrance at the back, but there's a locked door between it and the actual emergency ward. And the night doctor's the only one here tonight with a key.

That leaves the emergency exit. It's set to ring a bell if someone opens it, but the bell is easily accessible, so it would be easy to cut the string or otherwise disable it. Your understanding is that they couldn't afford anything more secure, and they figured if you had to be inside to break it, well, that was good enough security.

You make your way over to the exit, and examine the bell. Somebody's stuffed a big ball of cotton into it, preventing the clapper from moving. So they almost certainly used the door.

But this sabotage is also easily reversible. Take the cotton out before anyone has a chance to check, and your escape goes unnoticed. This suggests that whoever left plans on coming back.

So maybe Mortimer just wanted to stretch his legs. Or maybe whoever grabbed him is also a patient - there's an unusually large number of them right now, after all. It would be easy for someone to slip in with the crowd.

Of course, it might also have nothing to do with Mortimer and just be a coincidence. Except, you think you just spotted something which makes that seem significantly less likely.

Not another breather mask, cripes, this timeline is filthy with them

There's a breather mask on the floor. And the strap's been broken. That suggests a struggle.

And it also suggests you'll have to head out in order to make any sense of what's going on. At least the bell's already been disabled. You open the door cautiously, hoping you can find something that puts you on the trail.

You suppose peeking into the past is an option, but you're still hesitant about using ether. Best to see what you can find out through mundane means first.

Before you even begin your search, though, you have a realization. You suspected the abductor was a patient, since they planned on keeping the alarm intact. But then why bring the breather mask with them? It would have only made them stand out.

Not that you're sure why all these suspicious people are wearing breather masks around their necks in the first place, mind you. Are they expecting to need them?

And then a thought strikes you. Glaxin.

What if they're all working for the same group, and there's a plan to release glaxin or another dangerous gas sometime soon, but they don't know the exact date and time? So they're keeping their masks with them at all times in order to be ready.

If that's the case, Mortimer's abduction must be very important in order to risk facing the gas without protection. Either that, or the captor intends to return very soon...

...possibly after handing off Mortimer to a carriage driver. You might not have much time to keep things from going off track.

Well, that's worrying. Good thing you started your search before you got too deep into thought, though, because you just found something that looks quite helpful.

A talking gecko! If you can just convince it to talk...

It's a lizard. One that you recognize - they nest on the nearby beaches, apparently having a preference for sand, but every once in a while they wander as far as the town.

Which usually causes a fair amount of ruckus, because they like to repeat sounds they've heard - including speech. This can often lead to confusing conversations when somebody doesn't realize a lizard is around.

The thing is, they only repeat things. Which isn't to say they don't have some grasp of what the words they're saying mean, but they aren't really able to construct full sentences. So asking one questions takes a little work.

Well. Might as well start with the most pressing one.

"Have you seen Mortimer?" you ask the lizard.

"Mortimer! Mortimer!" it shouts back. But it just seems to like saying the name rather than understanding it.

This is another thing that makes them hard to talk to - sometimes they get hung up on particular words. Still, you hoped it might have overheard the abductor saying something. Well, nothing for it but to try again.

"Did anyone like me come by this way?"

"Anyone? Mortimer! Anyone!"

Now it's dancing around. They usually do that when a word is familiar. You wait to see if it says anything else.

"Anyone finds out! Big trouble! Mortimer!"

Now it seems to be repeating things it heard before.

"If anyone finds out, you'll be in big trouble?" you ask, guessing at what it might have heard.

"Trouble! Trouble! Mortimer!"

This lizard really likes the name Mortimer. You're starting to think of it as the little fellow's name.

At this point your best guess is that Mortimer was trying to intimidate his abductor, probably with his connections. On the other hand, it could also be the kidnapper threatening a witness.

You think you need more concrete information, so you think carefully about your next question.

Where are we going?

"Where are we going?" you ask. Maybe the lizard overheard them talking about their destination.

"Going? Mortimer!" The lizard seems confused. "Big trouble! Mortimer?"

No such luck, it seems. Perhaps different wording?

"Which way did they go?"

You can't say you have high hopes.

"No way!"

Well, perhaps they were a bit higher than that.

"No way! Letting! My sight, pretty boy! Mortimer!"

No way I'm letting you out of my sight, pretty boy? That's almost certainly the kidnapper. Well, unless Mortimer is an enormous flirt. You suppose you don't know enough to rule that out. But you still haven't gotten any concrete answers.

"No way! No way! No way!"

You think the lizard's trying to get your attention, so you look more closely. You realize that its dance has changed a bit, and now it keeps pointing its tail in a particular direction.

And a quick glance in that direction suggests a rather obvious place to look for more information.

The sailor's guildhall! Give that lizard a tasty bug as a reward

You recognize the place immediately. It won't change much in the next thirty or so years.

This is the guildhouse for the independent sailors. The ones who don't have a military commission or a regular job on a merchant vessel. The ones who just take whatever work they can get.

Exactly where you'd go to hire someone desperate and unlikely to ask questions. Not at this hour, but they could have made arrangements beforehand.

"Thank you," you tell the lizard.

"Thank!" it shouts back. Then it mimics chewing. It's hungry.

Best not to feed it the dead murderfly, you might want that looked at. But there's a large beetle crawling up the wall, probably too high up for the lizard to get on its own. You grab it and toss it down; the lizard happily gulps it up.

Now you make your way towards the guildhouse. It's clearly closed, without any sign of lights... but you hear a rather distinctive sound as you get close to one of the windows.

A most unusual bird noise. Is it even a real bird?

It sounds a bit like a bird squawking. Except, it's not any bird you've ever heard before, and you've heard quite a few in your lifetime. Your mentor in wizardry kept quite the assortment, and she often had you feeding them.

Listening a bit more closely, you think it sounds like someone trying to imitate a bird. A signal to an accomplice? Or are you just overhearing someone who likes to make noise?

Well, if it is a signal, you'd expect to hear another one in response.

As the thought crosses your mind, you hear a very loud barking that also sounds a little off. Well. That's probably not coincidence.

What if you've been spotted? Maybe a scout saw you and called out a warning. In which case, you might be in trouble. You head back into the shadows...

And feel a very strong grip on your shoulders.

"Hmm. An officer. Don't recognize you. Better have the password ready, or there'll be trouble."

Officer? Oh, right, you put on Resk's hat without really thinking about it when you got dressed.

Which seems to be a stroke of luck. You might not have the password, but at least you've given him a moment's pause. Hopefully you can think of a good way to make use of the time.

It's probably not worth using time magic to learn the password. Better to turn the questioning around on this person and refuse to answer theirs.

You suspect your time magic could let you learn it - perhaps by showing you a previous time it was used around here. But you'd really rather not expend the ether, not until you better understand how much you can afford to.

Instead, you opt to bluff.

"I wasn't born yesterday. I do know a password, but how can I be sure you're the one who's supposed to receive it? After all, I don't recognize you, either."

You feel their arms squeezing a little harder.

"You're asking an awful lot for someone in your position," your assailant sneers. "Don't see how you're going to back up that kind of talk, but maybe you'll surprise me."

Perhaps you're not the best at bluffing.

"Let 'em go, Black," says a voice you can't see. "The hat's on the right way this time, but the clothes are all wrong. No jacket, for one. This officer's another fake."

You suddenly find the grip loosening.

"Hey, we can't just go droppin' our names, Sunflower," the voice behind you says pointedly. "Never know who might be listenin'."

"Well, you don't. You don't have the sort of eyes I do. And the only one here is this fellow. Who, judging by his conversation with our friend Mortimer, is looking for the same thing we are."

"Mortimer!" chirps a familiar-sounding voice.

"Your, ah, friend?" you ask.

"Yeah, Morty don't do the pet thing," says the voice behind you, evidently Black. "Which suits me fine. Easier if he feeds himself. So you think he's lookin' for Flame?"

You're not sure exactly what you've walked into. But it seems that it might actually work in your favor, somehow.

"I heard the whole thing," Sunflower says, stepping close enough for you to see him. "Unfortunately, we only thought ahead for a signal on 'somebody's coming', not 'I think they can help us'. Apologies for the trouble."

"You don't wonder why he's looking?" Black asks.

"Well, he's clearly not with the Guild or he would have either given up a password or tried a better bluff. And he doesn't have one of those strange masks, so he's not with that group either. Not to mention, he looks a lot like the old fellow I brought to the hospital earlier. I did tell you about that, didn't I?"

Black doesn't say anything in response. And from the way Sunflower is looking at you intently, you get the feeling that he's waiting for you to say something.

I am a patient at the hospital. Thank you for bringing me there.

Some masked person tried to bomb the hospital, and when I went to check on the other patients I discovered Mortimer Flame had gone missing. One of those masks was by the emergency door, so I suspected there was a struggle and that I needed to move quickly.

"Ah. Thank you for your help, I'm afraid I never got a chance to before."

Sunflower smiles.

"Yeah, you were still out cold when I brought you in. Was planning on asking about you tomorrow, but I guess there's no need for that now."

Still nothing from Black. You think they want you to drive the conversation, if only to see where you take it.

"Speaking of people with strange masks, I've run into a few since waking up. One of them tried to blow up the hospital. And another mask was left by the emergency exit. The strap was broken, so I thought there might have been a struggle."

Now Sunflower doesn't say anything. Maybe they want to hear more?

Wait. There's something he should know if he brought you in. Maybe he wants to know you're not trying to hide it.

"Seems there was a mask with me when I was knocked out, though. Doesn't look quite the same, but perhaps it's connected somehow."

"Black?" Sunflower asks.

"Well, he knows more about it than he's letting on," Black says. "But he's not stressed about whatever he's hiding. It's more like how it is when you talk about your job, and someone asks for details, but you'd really rather not get into it."

You find that analysis more than a little unsettling. Which is probably the point - they're making clear it's not worth hiding anything important.

"I see. Well!" Sunflower steps a bit closer. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd just as soon not get involved in your business either. Except where it happens to cross over with our business. Namely, with regards to Mortimer Flame."

"Why do you want to find him?" you ask.

"Now, now, can't go telling you that unless you're willing to share why you do. And there's no time for that sort of business when we still haven't found Mr. Flame. So let's just start with the fact that we all want to find him, and then focus on how we're going to do it."

You suppose that's fair. You're curious about the talents these two have displayed, but it's not as if you don't have your own share of secrets.

"Well, I was trying to find out what I could, but then you two ambushed me. So I'm afraid I haven't gotten any leads. But if you share what you know, perhaps I'll notice something about it you overlooked."

"Don't know about that. Sunflower's pretty clever," Black says. You get the distinct impression Black isn't too shabby in that department either, and just doesn't feel the need to say so.

"Well, it's worth a try," Sunflower replies. "I'm afraid we don't have much to go on, though. Between the two of us..."

"Us!" the lizard squawks suddenly.

"Three of us," Sunflower continues, "so far we've only managed to find one thing that was clearly a clue."

A muddy boot print.

Sunflower suddenly seems to see something. He motions for you to follow him. You get the feeling he wants to be quiet. Even Mortimer the lizard seems to have gone silent.

He leads you around the guildhouse, and points to a footprint in the mud. It's clearly fresh - couldn't have been made more than ten minutes ago. Unfortunately, it seems whoever made it was careful to wipe their feet afterwards, as there are no other prints nearby.

Your thoughts are interrupted as Sunflower suddenly speaks up.

"The eyes on us have gone off," he says. "For the moment, anyways. Might have realized I spotted them."

"Seems if we're going to figure anything out about this, we ought to be quick, then," Black grumbles. "But all we could tell is that this came from somebody's boot, and it's not military issue."

"And about half the sailors in this port wear work boots," Sunflower adds. "So that doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"Actually, these aren't work boots," you say. "They're riding boots. There's a little wedge in the heel, that helps with staying on."

"Riding boots? But the only stable here is specifically for the carriage companies, and they don't stock saddles," Black mutters. "And if you kept a horse anywhere else in town, it'd draw notice. So who'd wear riding boots in this town?"

"Ah, pardon me, I wasn't clear enough. I didn't mean horse riding."