Swamped

You're drenched in ether, so, uh, try not to make any sudden movements

"Right now, there's a lot of ether around you. I'm not entirely sure where it's coming from - it's not all time magic. It's very unstable, and seems to be following your motions. I'd recommend against making any sudden movements for the next few hours - there's no telling what it might do as it reacts."

"Believe me, I'm not planning on it," you start to say.

Then your head starts spinning again. You have a real bad feeling about this.

The next thing you know, you're in the middle of a street, standing next to the wizard from the ship, and with someone who looks like a much younger Mantis rushing towards the both of you with a pair of knives. You also feel like something is trying to pull on you really hard.

Whatever in the hells is going on, you're pretty sure that you're not getting out of it without making more than a few sudden movements.

Well do the obvious first and disarm baby Mantis

First problem. Mantis, assuming that's who it is. You already ran into someone who looks a lot like Bigfoot, so it wouldn't exactly shock you at this point.

Although... the wizard looks about the same age as when you last saw him, and Mantis looks to be in maybe his late twenties? Maybe it's a younger brother, or...

You don't have time to think it through because you've already had to run in front to block his charge. You somehow manage to wrestle one of his daggers away before he shoves you aside.

"I apologize," he says. "One of the gods is seeking that wizard's death, and I am not really able to question it. You are fortunate, whoever you are, because this god does not carry the same hatred for you. But I cannot guarantee your safety if you remain involved."

Okay, the weird way he talks and the babbling about gods make you feel pretty sure this is Mantis. It would be nice if that gave you some clue how to fight him, but the one you know is almost a match for Rider even in his old age.

It could help you talk to him, but you remember a couple of times when he was rambling hard about the will of the gods and he couldn't be dissuaded no matter what anyone said. He's sounding a lot like that right now.

Of course, those other times it wasn't somebody's life at stake. It was just weird stuff like trying to release one of the crows in the roost. Still pretty serious - you have to get another crow to do the same route, and that takes time - but it was okay to back down. Here, it isn't.

Well... you do remember one time when Mantis seemed to pause for a bit. Might be worth a shot to see if you can make that happen again. You take a moment to go over the details in your head and see if there's anything you can apply here.

You and your fellows were idly speculating about the nature of the call of the swamp. Mantis all of a sudden seemed flustered. He said something vague about your aura when you asked him what was wrong.

You were stuck cleaning floors as punishment for some stupid thing you'd done. Probably an attempt at Keeper's stash. You were with three others, all newmucks. You didn't bother to ask if it was a punishment for them too, or if it was just some kind of lesson. You'd mostly blanked out, wanting nothing more than to get it over with.

Rider and Mantis passed by and were arguing about something. You were sort of half-listening, your attention switching sporadically between their conversation and the chatter of the other Marshguards.

At one point, one of them mentioned hearing some Bogknights talk about the call of the swamp. He wondered what that even was. They speculated for a bit...

And then you noticed that Mantis had stopped in mid-sentence and was staring at you. You asked him what was up, but the answer was some of his usual incomprehensible nonsense about auras. He seemed almost embarrassed, though. As though he'd seen something he shouldn't.

Now, you do know a little more... or more like, you've got slightly more informed speculation. Long suggested that the call of the swamp might have something to do with a god. This whole aura business seems to be related to the gods somehow too, so maybe something weird happened with yours when the call of the swamp came up, and he took notice?

Okay, say that's true. How in the hells would you even do anything with that?

Well you have been having a painful sensation in your chest for a while it is not that distracting but is always there give that your full attention hopefully the change in your aura draws Mantis(?) attention and then start rambling about how this guy is important for the swamp while fighting through the desire of bolting out the door

You try to think about if anything else was going on at the time, in case that could have affected your aura. Not that you have any idea how those work.

You do recall that one of the newmucks accidentally poked you in the chest with her broom, and it ached a little the whole time. And you think you found it particularly aggravating right around when Mantis got weird.

Well, you've got a real headache right now, which you suspect has something to do with your time-travelling. Maybe you can focus on that. You put most of your attention on how your head is pounding.

He doesn't seem to react. Figures. This aura stuff probably has something to do with the soul, not the body or the mind.

And maybe the call of the swamp has something to do with that, too... didn't Rider feel it as well? Maybe Mantis just noticed it right then, and also noticed something similar with Rider.

In which case, you're not going to have much luck unless you can find someone else here who's felt the call. You suppose you can stand real close to the wizard and hope that by sheer chance, he has.

You get closer, and...

Mantis stops suddenly, staring at both of you. Well, something must have worked.

But you aren't going to have a lot of time to take advantage of his surprise.

Tell him he'll find the answers he seeks in the swamp and that you'll see him when he gets there. Then conk him on the head.

Simplest solution: punch him in the face. If you don't hit him now, you might not get a better chance. But a little distraction wouldn't hurt.

"The swamp holds answers for you," you say as you raise your fist. You knock him backwards, and he falls to the ground, dropping his other knife.

Now you turn to the wizard.

"Would you mind telling me what in the hells is going on?"

"I'm trying to figure out a lot of that myself," the wizard grumbles. "I didn't want to involve you, but I was in a desperate situation - and not just because of him." He seems to be shaking his head very hard. "I'm not even sure the other part of it's quite over yet."

"Let's try something a little simpler, then. We'll find a nice secluded place to talk..."

You suddenly hear a loud noise and you get the impression that there isn't going to be much time to compare notes.

"I'd love to, but I'm afraid it's a bit late for that," the wizard groans. "It's probably best if you stick with me and keep an eye out for threats in the immediate area, and don't worry too much about the big picture. I'm heading into the hospital."

"Can you talk as we walk?" you ask.

"I'm not even sure where to start, and I don't know who might be listening in. But I'll see what I can do."

He tells you about Nual's festival, and that he got a warning that someone was going to try to sabotage it somehow. Then there's something about a family called the Flames with shady connections who were injured and are in this hospital. And he mentions that he was investigating a theater troupe in the bar across the way, where he ran across Leonard Flame's brother mixing something up. Now apparently he's trying to get ahold of a neutralizing agent by talking to the doctor here, and then meet with someone to tell them he did that. He also mentions that he needs a sea terror's needle as proof, but Jack Flame ran off with the terror.

For a moment, you ponder trying to track down this Jack Flame while the wizard takes care of his stuff. But then you realize that you don't know this town in the slightest. You'd just be stumbling around blind.

Your conversation gets interrupted when the wizard spots the doctor. You listen in on the conversation, hoping it might shed a tiny amount of light on the situation, but you also keep glancing around. Both to get your bearings, and to keep an eye out for potential trouble.

And you think you just spotted something.

A lizard riding a muckbeast?!

It's a lizard sitting on the head of a muckbeast.

You're not especially frightened - muckbeasts are among the less aggressive creatures in the swamp. Besides, at this point they just look like smaller, browner versions of Rider's swamp beast to you.

But it's certainly strange. And the lizard bears more than a passing resemblance to the talking ones you saw in the desert.

"Um," you say a little awkwardly to it. "Hello?"

The lizard does an excited dance.

"Mortimer!" it says. "Lady! Vanish! Where?"

You feel totally lost, but the wizard seems to pick up on that, as he excuses himself from the conversation.

"Oh dear," he says. "One of our problems might be worse than I thought."

"Maybe you should tell me about that problem," you say, a little annoyed. "Because I'm already feeling pretty lost."

"No, I think I'll have to deal with it," he sighs. "Too complicated to explain. What you can do is deal with my sea terror problem. The doctor just told me he managed to find a neutralizing solution."

"Yes, although I couldn't make that much. Kandrian tobacco is fairly expensive and we don't have a supply agreement like we do with the wine," the doctor replies.

"Kandrian tobacco?" you ask, a little baffled.

"It's the key component to neutralizing it. I could go into detail on how I worked that out if you'd like..."

"No, I think I'll just take your word for it," you sigh.

"Would the amount you have be enough to neutralize a small cauldron of the stuff?" the wizard asks.

"Probably. But you'd need the whole thing."

"Hopefully that's all there is," the wizard sighs. "I'll tell you where it is, and then I'll investigate what this little fellow is trying to tell me about."

He gives you directions. He also mentions that there's a particular actor he wanted to talk to, in case you run into them. Not that you know how you'll handle that if it happens, but it's probably just as well to have a heads up.

You head over to the bar and glance at the open window.

Odd. Didn't he say there was someone in here when he left? You don't see anyone. But you do still see the cauldron, at least. He also mentioned another muckbeast, but you don't see any sign of one either.

You climb in the window, and pour the neutralizer in. You stir it for good measure.

And then you hear a loud noise again. Maybe now would be a good time to investigate it.

Is it coming from the bar? Take a peek.

You follow the noise through a back door in the kitchen just to stumble on Mortimer brandishing a stool along side with humanoid fox-monkey creature wielding a katana surrounded by masked people then the fox-monkey person throw a vial of something at them that sends a few flying back and yell something at you in a foreign language

Your first thought is to investigate the bar proper. You leave the dressing room, note there's an utter mess all around you, and then slip up to the stage to get a quick look at how things are going.

It looks like several of the actors are attempting to continue the play, despite the fact that there's a fight breaking out in the audience. You can see a dozen or so people in breather masks surrounding one table... where you see someone awkwardly defending himself with a barstool, standing back-to-back with someone in some kind of strange animal costume, wielding a very fancy blade. You wonder if that's real or a prop - it's not like any sword you've seen before.

There are a few people at the other tables. They look terrified, but they're probably not sure that it isn't part of the show.

Oh, wait... one of them is asleep. Well, it is pretty late at night, maybe he's just not a night owl. Seems a questionable place for a nap, though.

You wonder where the muckbeast is. Was it the same one you spotted at the hospital, or is it somewhere else around here? And you're still not even sure what made that noise - the fight's a bit noisy, but not nearly as loud as what you heard.

You're not even sure what you should be doing here. It's a very strange scene.

Maybe that noise is only audible to you. Could be a side effect of the time travel or the extra ether. It sounds familiar though, like a gong or a clock tower...


In any case, better leave this mess before you get noticed and... What's this? The actors think you're part of the play?

You wonder if the noise is even real. Long said you had a lot of excess ether or something like that, plus you've been pulled out of time. The wizard seemed to react to it too, but Mantis looked younger by a good forty years at least. So the wizard's probably not in his own time either.

You could ask if anybody else heard it, but if you were going to do that now, you'd draw a lot of attention to yourself. Best to pull away and maybe see about breaking up that fight...

"Don't know where you got that purple get-up, but it's absolutely perfect," someone says as you turn around. "The color of shame! What could better symbolize Mackenzie's younger, more idealistic self being disgusted with who he's become?"

You have no idea who this is, but they seem to think you're part of the show.

"You weren't like this when we were younger," someone on the stage says sadly.

"Oh, dear, look at me gushing. Nearly stepped on your cue! Get out there and knock 'em dead!"

It's probably safest to go along with this. Not like you can ruin the show much more than it's already been ruined.

You step out onto the stage, and improvise a line.

Mackenzie? You're no Mackenzie! For shame, for shame! I'd sooner die than become thee!

"Mackenzie?" you say, almost spitting. "You dare call yourself Mackenzie, after all you've done? You've stolen my life, replaced it with a hollow shell."

"Wh-what?" one of the actors says. He's dressed as an older man - so this is probably Mackenzie in the play. You hope your ad-libbing didn't throw him off too much - then again, he's probably supposed to be thrown off in the script.

"I had dreams once. Dreams that meant more to me than coin. What happened to them, hmm? Did you sell them for a good profit, or maybe you just tossed them away?"

"Follies!" Mackenzie declares. "Follies of youth, no more. You may wear my face, but you are nothing more than a shadow. You know nothing of the harsh truths of this world."

"And shadows follow you wherever you go," you shoot back. "You may deny me, but you cannot escape me. That, too is a truth of this world."

"That Laikenne woman has done this, hasn't she?" Mackenzie cries. "She's haunted me with specters, made me lose my mind. I'll not let her defeat me, you hear? None of this trickery will make me give up my company."

"It's not your mind you've lost, it's your soul. What's your company really done for you? Can you say you're truly happy?"

"Be silent! Away, foul apparition! You lament a world that could never be. I'll not shed any tears for Cassandra, not after what she did to me."

Cassandra? Who in the hells is that?

Probably the subject you're supposed to be on and he's trying to hint that you should be. Which doesn't exactly do you a whole lot of good when you have no idea who she is.

If the tables were turned, would she have acted as you do? And would her behavior be right and just? Nay! You've compounded her misdeeds with our own! I will not suffer thee to besmirch me so... En garde!

"Oh, it's Cassandra's fault, is it? Do you really think that, had it gone the other way, had it been you hurting her - do you think it would have fixed anything if she had taken this path with her life? Would you feel defeated, to see her leading a miserly life of misery? Have you even really gotten revenge?"

"She's out of my life!" Mackenzie shouts. "She's gone!"

"And yet, the moment I go poking around, you bring her into the conversation. You can't be rid of her any more than you can be rid of me." Inspiration suddenly strikes, and you draw the knife you grabbed from Mantis. "Or would you like to try it? See if you can fight off who you used to be."

Now he seems surprised. This is probably off-script, but it's off-script in a way that you can hopefully use to create a disturbance, and maybe get off this stage.

Though you don't get much of a chance to think about how to do that before something else demands your attention.

The person in the animal costume is rushing the stage

You were keeping an eye on the fight, but it seemed surprisingly low-key. A few swings here and there, but mostly everyone was watching for when someone else would make a move. And then they'd block, and go back to waiting.

And it turned out to be hard to give your full attention to that while ad-libbing lines. All of which is to say, by the time you noticed the person in the strange costume had broken off, they were already on the stage tackling Mackenzie.

Well, your plan was to cause a disturbance, so if one presents itself, may as well go for it. The other two actors, who were staying still, run around in a panic. You run towards the edge of the stage, hoping to get away before anyone asks too many questions...

"Where did you get that knife?" the costumed person asks, holding their blade in front of your path. The voice sounds like a woman's.

"I got dragged into a fight and grabbed it while trying to find a way out of it," you tell them. "Where did you get that sword?"

"From Matilda Laikenne's forge," comes the reply. It doesn't sound all that serious, but what really strikes you is the way the name is pronounced.

The wizard mentioned he was looking into the actor who played Matilda Laikenne, and Mackenzie said something about that name. But they pronounced it differently enough that you didn't actually recognize it up until now.

The way this costumed stranger is saying it sounds just like the way Rider said it when he gave you the orders to capture Marshall.

You don't know how this connects, but you're thinking you might want to look into it. Just in case you ever get back to your own damned time.

Which probably means you need to persuade this person into letting you have a more detailed conversation.

Turns out she wants to ask some questions to you too but seems to want to do it while dueling

"And where is this forge," you start to ask, but she's already swinging her blade. You barely deflect it - you're really not that good with knives.

"I have another question for you. Where is Ollie?"

"Who?" you ask.

"The man whose part you've stolen. He should have been here." She lifts her sword, and you step back as she swings at the space where you were. What in the hells is she doing?

"I didn't see him. I was just trying to get onstage for a look, and then someone thought I was an actor. What in the hells are you doing?"

"I see," the costumed stranger mutters. "He must still be backstage."

"I could use a little help here!" the man with the barstool cries out. You glance over; he's standing on a table, fending three masked fighters off. The rest seem to be heading for the stage.

"Is, uh, is that guy with you?" you ask. You really feel lost.

"We decided to work together," the woman says calmly, as she kicks one of the masked people in the face. "For the moment, at least."

"I think I have a lot of questions and this maybe isn't the best time or place to ask them," you mutter, as she knocks a slicer out of the air with her blade. The way things have gone for you lately, that probably would have hit you right in the head.

"We do seem to have some unwanted company. Fetch me old man Mackenzie's hat and then help me take care of them."

Hat...? You look back towards the stage. The actors have fled, but a hat is indeed lying on the ground.

"I don't know why you want it, but okay." You pick it up. "Now, have you got any actual plan for taking care of these guys?"