Swamped

It's called FASHION, my friend!

It is a play custome it uses swamp turtle shells covered with sob tree resin and cloth interior for hmmm acting in the rain

"Not metal, huh? Well, it's not like any sort of leather I've ever seen," he says. "So what is it?"

"The inner layer's leather, actually, with a good deal of padding. But there's an outer layer of, um, I forget what it's called." You do remember some of this stuff, but you probably don't want to give too many details away. "They make it from some kind of special tree sap, I think. It's still flexible when it hardens up, but it's also waterproof." You realize that you're still going to invite questions about why you've got it. "Needed it for a costume. For a play, that is."

"If it's that padded, it seems like it would be suitable for real combat armor. Why on earth would you want that for a play?"

"Oh, well, mostly we wanted it for the waterproofing. For, ah, outdoors performances. Guess it turned I figured I'd try it out in tonight's show just for the look, though. See, it's purple, which is symbolic of shame..."

You can see the nurse starting to roll his eyes. Good, he's not a theater type. You really wouldn't want to carry that act on for much further.

"Well, if it's waterproof, can't you just wash it off in the shower?" he asks, probably just to quiet you down.

He's got a point there.

"Well, I wasn't sure how badly you needed the water," you explain. "If that's not a problem, then yeah, I can do it that way. Sorry for the trouble."

"No, it's not that big of a deal. I've got other things to take care of in here anyhow." He sighs deeply. "This is a much busier night than usual. Thankfully, we should be able to send most of the patients home in the morning, so as long as we don't have another big fight breaking out, tomorrow night should be calmer." Then he pauses. "Actually... maybe when you've finished washing that armor of yours, you can help me with something else."

Help me find who this belongs to?

"I'm cleaning up some stuff that belongs to patients. And that means I've got to get it back to them." He sighs. "Thing is, a bunch of this stuff was brought here before we arrived, so we've only got the notes from the clerk on personal effects to go by. And it's a new clerk, so I'm not used to his handwriting."

"And let me guess," you mutter, dragging the armor to the shower. "He's gone home for the night."

"Exactly. But maybe you'll have better luck deciphering it than I will. If not, then I guess you can go around asking patients if they're missing anything."

That might not be the best use of your time, but at this point you aren't sure what is. You start running the water.

"I guess I can give it a shot," you say noncommitally. If nothing else, you can ask the wizard - maybe some of it is his. "Did you lock the emergency door, by the way?"

"Yeah," the nurse grumbles. "Don't like closing off that exit, but after the close call I had there, I guess there isn't much choice."

"What do you mean, close call?" you ask.

"Someone pulled the door open just as I was approaching to lock it. If not for the man standing watch, something bad might have happened." He looks down dejectedly. "He just jumped past me right through the door, and told me to get it locked, with him on the outside. I complied, but... well, I'm wondering if that was the right call."

"Probably. He seemed to me like the sort who could take care of himself."

Although, you're starting to think it would be good to make sure of that.

"Well, we can worry about that later. I've still got a bit of cleaning to do, and I imagine that armor's going to take you a while."

It is, but you think it'll be worth the trouble. What you're not sure about right now is your next move. Do you go along with the nurse's idea and help with identifying the lost property's owners? Do you have a little talk with the wizard? Or do you try to figure out what's going on outside? Hells, maybe you should be doing something else entirely.

Well, you've got at least a few minutes to think about it while you're scrubbing your armor.

But nothing you think of really settles things in your mind. So you suppose you'll help the nurse. Though using it as an excuse to talk to the wizard again wouldn't hurt.

You finish cleaning your armor, and get it back on. Feels good now, honestly. You haven't been able to change it in some time - not since you got to the desert, and you had a lengthy day before that.

Wait, dammit. The desert! You haven't been dragging sand through town, have you? The last thing you need is to cause an outbreak of desert fever years in the past.

No, hold on. All this time travel must be throwing you off. You got a good soaking in that crate when you got transported to the airship. Not as clean or refreshing as this, but it would have been enough to wash the sand away. Probably.

Just for your peace of mind, you take a quick look around the shower and the stall where you had it lying around. No sign of any sand - or toxic metal, for that matter - amidst the various mess that's fallen off. If you had enough to infect someone, surely there would be some trace of it.

Although, as you look, you realize that there's something else amidst the grime that you weren't really expecting.

A... carving?

It looks like a piece of a wood carving... vaguely shaped like a bird's talon. Huh. How did that get there? Was it on your armor? Was one of the nurses carrying it for some reason? Was it here before any of you even arrived?

The only person you've ever known to do wood carving is Mantis. But even if you really did run into him earlier, he doesn't necessarily have anything to do with this... You're almost tempted to ask him about it, except you don't know where he is and you really don't like the thought of how that might impact the timeline.

Well. You pick it up with a washcloth - no sense getting your gloves dirty again - and put the cloth away. Maybe you can ask someone about it.

You step out, and the nurse has moved all the objects to a different table.

"Almost everything's cleaned off," he says. "There's one damn thing that's going to be more trouble, but its owner won't be leaving any time soon. I've gotten the forms on the offchance you can read them. Figured out all but three things. This book, this hat, and..." He pauses. "Where'd I put the other one?"

You take a quick look around.

"Is this it?" you ask, pointing at something that catches your eye.

A mechanical gizmo of some sort. Is it a toy?

You point to a strange metal object on the ground.

Picking it up, it seems to be a gear on a metal rod, and as you lift it, the gear turns on its own and goes up and down.

"That's the one. I don't know what it is. Judging by the form, the clerk doesn't either." He pulls up a form and shows it to you. "There's a very clear question mark next to one of the items. My best guess is that it says 'toy', but I can't be positive."

"Yeah, this could be an o, but it might be an a," you agree. You look down at the name. That's pretty hard to read, too... Except, wait, you could swear you've seen it somewhere else... But where? Somehow, you keep thinking back to the swamp, but where on earth would you even see a signature...

Suddenly, you remember. There was a supply raid on the Bogknight fortress. Somebody - was it Candlestick, maybe? - grabbed a box but everything in it seemed like junk. But someone had scrawled a label on the box. There was a fair amount of discussion about what it said...

And the most popular theory was "Jonathan Flame". It seemed to fit the length, at least. He was a big supporter of the Bogknights, and also famous for inventing some weird stuff along with the more practical creations, so it was plausible.

This thing does remind you of a lot of that junk, actually. None of it seemed to do anything useful, but it did almost all have moving parts. Could be Flame was dumping off some of his failures, on the offchance the Bogknights could find ways to use them in larger mechanisms.

So maybe this is an early invention by a young Flame? You suppose there's no harm in asking.

"Looks like it might say Jonathan Flame? Maybe? Is there anyone here by that name?"

"We have a bunch of Flames. I don't know all the names offhand..." He thinks for a moment. "I can only recall Leonard, and his troublemaking nephew Mortimer. They were all brought here because of some accident at a smithy. Don't know the details"

Well. That's interesting.

"I saw the hat earlier. It looked a bit like it might have been burned, maybe in a forge at a smithy. So maybe it belongs to another of the Flames? Or someone else caught in the same accident?"

The nurse holds a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"There was one other person in the smithy accident... not the smith, she got knocked down but didn't have any serious injuries." He shrugs suddenly. "Sorry, it wasn't my shift so I only remember thirdhand... Susan's wife has the day shift, and they always gossip so I usually get updates on that sort of thing from her. But I can't quite recall who she said it was... well, I can't remember the name, but I think I remember why they were there."

They were picking up or checking on an order... A fancy sword!

"It was another customer," he explains. "They were picking up a ceremonial sword, or maybe just checking on its progress. I think it had something to do with the sacred festival, but I'm not a Nual-worshipper so I don't really know the details."

"Wouldn't surprise me," you muse. "That looks like a naval officer's hat. When you spend a lot of time out on the ocean, I'd imagine you'd want to be in Nual's good graces."

"It does look a bit like one," the nurse agrees. "Hmm, but I've been all around and I haven't seen any sign of a naval uniform. I suppose they could just be wearing the hat, though. Anyhow, I guess that doesn't help much since I don't know their face."

"We could ask the Flames," you point out. "One of them might have seen something."

"Leonard's in desperate need of rest right now, and Mortimer seems to have slipped off somewhere again," the nurse mutters. "And now I remember, Susan said the other two are just children. Wouldn't want to disturb them, either. Maybe if we haven't figured it out by morning, but right now I'd rather not start there."

"Fair enough," you say. "Guess the odd little toy can wait, too. Got any leads on the book?"

"We don't seem to have a form for that. Which is another strange thing, because we do have three forms I haven't accounted for, but the rule for books is that you write down that it's a book and then you write the title. Now, look at these two forms."

He hands you a pair, and you can see that they both have just short scrawls for the missing items.

"One of these should be for the hat," you say, looking over it. "But it's not obvious which. Both of these kind of look like they could say 'hat'. So you think something else has gone missing?"

"Well, with some of our patients not being willing to sit still, it's hardly shocking we're losing track of their things as well," he grumbles. "What worries me is that whatever it is could have been contaminated, and if it is, we have no idea where it is."

"Well, I'll ask around among the patients and see what I can find out," you say.

"Good, good. That's one less worry on my mind. Gods know I've got enough tonight already."

You already know where to start - with the wizard, because you feel it would be fruitful to talk to him anyways. You grab the items, and the forms, and start walking towards his bed.

"Hey! You there!" you hear someone call out. "You a nurse?"

You turn around to face the voice.

"Uh, no, but I might be able to help," you say cautiously. "Is your chamber pot filled or something?"

"No, nothing like that. Just got a question I need to ask."

Are you Kandrian?

"You from Kandria?"

"No. Can't read it either, if you need help with that." Why would they even ask if you're a nurse if that was what they wanted to check?

"Nah, I can read it just fine. But I ain't got anyone to share this great joke with. Only makes sense in Kandrian, see." They start smirking, as if they're daring you to prove them wrong. "What's with that outfit, anyways?"

You can see right through them. They're trying to unsettle you. Hoping you give something away that you shouldn't. You don't know what their angle is, but you're not going to play along.

"Sorry, I'm too busy for small talk," you reply. "If that's all you want, I'm afraid I'll have to pass."

"But you're not a nurse," they say, with a hint of smug satisfaction.

"I'm a volunteer. Doing some simple work to lessen the load for them. That's all." You turn away, but they almost immediately speak up again.

"Dressed like that?"

"Yes, dressed like this. Why don't you get some sleep?" you reply, without turning around. You start walking away.

But you also make a note of where the bed is. You might need to figure out just what this patient's up to.

"How'd you get out of the swamp, anyways? Thought your type had nowhere to go."

Damn. You couldn't help but hesitate at that one. You aren't sure how much they could tell with your back turned, but they definitely know you didn't brush that off.

But maybe you can make a quick bluff about why that question got to you and throw them off the scent.

The life of a muck fisher didn't get that hard yet buddy

Performance troupes and traveling circuses take all kinds of folks. They don't care if you're a muck fisher.

You try desperately to think of who else might live in a swamp.

"Don't know how you guessed I was a muck fisher, but I got out by joining an acting troupe." You try to sound as surprised as you actually are, with a touch of indignation. "To the artistic types, it doesn't matter where you grew up if you got talent."

You then walk off more quickly. Hopefully that comes off as taking offense.

Your plan hasn't changed - you're going to talk to the wizard and see if he has any ideas about this stuff. Or about anything, really. Especially if he knows anything about how you can get back to your own damned time, but you aren't especially optimistic on that point. And there's way too many people who can listen in for you to have a decent talk about that here, anyhow.

Speaking of listening, you feel like you're hearing a faint sound. You pause and try to get a better sense of what it is... but the noise seems to stop once you're not moving. Then, a little after you start walking again, you swear you hear it.

Is there something on your shoes? Unlikely - you just cleaned them with the rest of your armor. Is it something to do with the ether Long warned you about, or...

Wait, there's a more mundane answer. Someone's following you. They're trying to time their footsteps with yours to cover the sound, but apparently they're not quite good enough at it.

That seems risky. There's a lot of people who might spot them... except, you're probably drawing more attention, what with your uniform and all. For that matter, maybe it's nothing sinister, just a nervous and curious patient.

But you'd also prefer not to deal with a nervous and curious patient right now, so maybe you ought to do something about it.

AMBUSH

Run wizward at top speed if you can do so safely

You think what you want to do is catch them in the act. If it's just a patient trying not to draw attention, that should be enough to get them to cut it out. If it's actually somebody spying on you, better for you to get the drop on them than vice versa.

Your first thought is that since you aren't seeing them, they probably have a tough time spotting you. Vision goes both ways, after all. So to test that idea, you slip around a bed and start walking in place.

You still hear the steps. They seem to be getting closer. You take a quick peek around the corner in case you can see anything.

You manage to catch a glimpse of someone slipping behind a bed. So you know where they are now.

Whoever they are, they clearly don't have much stealth training or you wouldn't have noticed them so easily. They must be improvising. Maybe it's the patient you just walked away from, hoping to learn more.

You might be able to outwit them, then. Thing is, walking in place might not work for much longer - even an amateur is bound to notice the sound getting louder. You could step more lightly, but that's awkward in these boots.

Maybe there's some other way you can catch them by surprise.

You know what they say if someone is following you and you know where they are hiding hush them at full speed

Then again, they've gotten closer than they probably intended. That might be enough if you make a run right for them.

You get a little bit of distance from the bed so you can prepare for a good sprint. You head right for the bed you saw them run behind.

They panic. Start running off. But it took them too long to realize what you were doing. You manage to catch up and grab them by the shoulder.

Then you pick them up, as you realize it's a grebling.

"So, you mind explaining why you were following me?"

"Hiffush casga bunall!" they hiss at you. You're not well-versed in grebling languages, but you recognize this particular phrase because Crosswinds shouted it for a good ten minutes straight after Shorty dropped a box of supplies on their foot.

Which is real worrying. After Crosswinds calmed down, they told you it was a military term that got adopted as a swear by a lot of former soldiers.

And despite the anger, you don't think this grebling's swearing. You think they're giving someone else an order.

Bonk!

The phrase basically means "get the enemy from behind while they're distracted", although there's a bit of nuance that more or less comes down to "strike when they least expect it" and is the main reason for its popularity as a curse.

You turn around quickly and find another grebling rushing towards you - and your first instinct is to whack him upside the head with his friend. He groans and falls over.

"Now," you say to the grebling in your hands, "you mind telling me what you're up to?"

"They've got bad experiences with humans in military uniforms," says a gruff voice behind you. "Mind, I told them not to go looking for trouble, but youngsters have so much trouble listening at that age."

You turn around. There's a grebling woman holding a cane.

"Sorry," you mutter, putting your captive down. "There's been a lot going on tonight."

"I know." She walks over towards the one on the ground. "Oscar, are you all right?"

There's a weak mumbling.

"He's going to need to lie down in one of these beds for a bit, but it looks like you didn't hit him too hard. Just dazed him."

There's an edge to her voice suggesting you're lucky it wasn't worse than that.

"Yeah, I panicked when I noticed him running towards me."

"Interesting, that. You seemed to react to the little order this one was spouting off." She's looking at the other one judgmentally. "Maybe you've had it used against you before?"

"Only by someone who used it like a curse word." Doesn't seem to be much need to hide that. "Where'd the young ones pick it up?"

"The battlefield."

You don't get the impression she'll be clarifying. You do note that she's holding the cane very deliberately - ready to swing it or deflect a blow at any moment. She might be willing to talk, but you doubt she trusts you all that much more than the younger ones do... and she can probably hurt you worse than they can.

Not that you can't understand her feelings. And given the way things are, it's probably best to settle for just convincing her and the kids to leave you alone.

But you think you want to show her a gesture of goodwill before you head off to your own business. If only for your own peace of mind.

Might ask if any of items of the list belongs to them since we are already doing that