Swamped

Go find a nice quiet corner to cry in, you loser

follow orders! also don't pull the big lever that says DO NOT PULL

Get below all the decks as you're so startled by the order that you fall off the boat.

grab a weapon and start attacking anything & everybody in a blind panic

Get in a shape more suited to fighting

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Get in a shape more suited to fighting

do 200 push-ups

You're too weary from your journey to argue. You could barely lift a weapon right now. You hide below deck and slip into an empty barrel.

Before long, you hear the sounds of fighting from up above. You can barely tell what's going on; you hear metal clashing against metal, boots stomping, and then, suddenly, five loud splashes in quick succession.

A few moments later, you hear the sergeant calling out.

"Marshall! All's clear. Bring us some rope, we've got a prisoner here."

You attempt to climb out, but as you do you knock the barrel over and it starts rolling into a crate. Fortunately, it's a crate with a pile of rope hanging over it, so you can at least take care of that.

You climb out of the cargo hold. One of the knights takes the rope from you and rushes over to the sergeant, who seems to have her hands full keeping a tall man in purple armor in a headlock.

You can't help but notice the other knight lying on his back, panting heavily. You walk over to him.

"Need any help?"

"Got knocked down," he gasps. You can see a few cuts on his face and a few spots where his armor has taken some heavy hits, but he seems to be having more trouble with exhaustion than with his injuries. You help him up and lead him to the bench.

Then you head over to the sergeant. She's got the prisoner tied to the mast, which she's leaning on heavily herself.

"A raiding party of six," she mutters, glaring at the prisoner. "You Marshguards rarely send more than four at a time. So what was so important about this shipment that you decided you needed more, I wonder?"

The Marshguard doesn't say anything, but he glimpses in your direction for a few moments. Were they after you?

"Well, I'm sure we'll hear more from you once we reach the base," the sergeant grumbles. She turns to you. "Marshall, I'll need you to keep an eye on this fool while I drive the boat." She points to a filthy spear lying on the deck. "You haven't been issued a weapon yet, so I suggest you hold onto the prisoner's mudpike in case you need it."

You lift the spear. You don't really know much about fighting with one, but at least it's light. Hopefully, it won't come to that.

The knight helps the sergeant over to the wheel, and before long the ship starts moving again. You're left with little to do except wait, and suffer the prisoner's glares.

You consider talking to him, if only because you have nothing else to do. But what would you even say?

"this weather we're having, huh"

> Just make vague threats.

Ask the prisoner if they know about your father...

"I'm Marshall, what's your name"

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You wonder if the Marshguards might know anything of your father, but you've got no idea how to phrase the question. Frankly, you hadn't given much thought to how you were going to investigate once you got here.

And it's not as if you're likely to get more information out of him than the Sergeant was. If he does know something about your father, he's not going to tell a Bogknight trainee about it.

So you decide to start with a question that's been bothering you since you saw him.

"Why purple?" you ask. He returns your question with a baffled stare, as though he's wondering if you really know so little.

"Really, now. You're wondering why a company of exiles and outcasts wears the color of shame. I'm sure the great poets have spent many sleepless nights pondering that question."

In truth, you hadn't known much about either side, only that the Bogknights were recruiting. You assumed that the Marshguards were representing another kingdom, and that the whole conflict was a territorial dispute that the respective rulers didn't actually care that much about because it was just a smelly old swamp.

But asking the prisoner who already thinks you're an idiot doesn't seem like a productive way of learning the political background you've awkwardly inserted yourself into. So you decide to bluff and act as though you were asking something else.

"What I mean is, it stands out against the swamp, doesn't it? Brown and green everywhere. I'd think that would make it harder to hide."

"We don't need to hide," he snaps. "This is our swamp. The armor protects us and it's waterproof, that's all we need to fight you bastards."

"Must come in handy when it rains," you say with a smirk.

Judging by his expression, he doesn't think that's funny. Neither does the knight wandering the deck; he walks over to you, his face barely containing his rage.

"Let me be clear on this, newcomer. You never joke about the rain," he says. "Especially not when we're all still recovering from a month-long storm. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."

Not even a day on the job and you've already managed to embarrass yourself by breaking unwritten rules you never tried to learn. Bored or not, you decide to keep quiet for the rest of the trip.

The sun has started to set by the time the barge reaches base, thankfully without another ambush. The prisoner gets locked up, no doubt to be questioned further tomorrow, and you're given a simple, rather unappetizing meal before being shown your quarters.

You've got about an hour before you should get to sleep, considering the time you need to wake up for training. You might like to use it to learn more about this conflict you've gotten yourself mixed up in, or perhaps just to talk with some of the people you'll be spending the next six months with. Or you could just go to sleep now and get as much rest as you can.

How will you use your time?

fuck up some more, you fuck-up

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> Get more sleep.

you don't need to learn anything more about the people you're with, the people you're fighting, the place you're in. just get some rest! if there's anything important you need to know, you'll find out without really trying

get as sleep-deprived as you can.

You feel frustrated with yourself. You've barely been here a day and all you've done is hide and get reprimanded.

You close the door to your room and fling your newly-assigned helmet at the top of an empty bookshelf. It mostly serves to remind you that you haven't unpacked yet.

Still upset, you lie down and just try to sleep.

It doesn't work very well. You're too annoyed with yourself, and the barracks are hardly free of the swamp's foul stench. You spend most of the night tossing and turning without properly getting to sleep. By the time the morning rolls around, you're not sure if you got any rest at all.

But you're still expected to train. After a quick and bland breakfast, Sergeant Greenwoods leads you to the training room.

Here, there's just a training dummy that's clearly seen better days and a rack with a few practice weapons.

"So, let's start by seeing what you already know," the sergeant says. "Take any weapon you feel comfortable with, then strike the dummy as you see fit. We'll continue from there."

What sort of weapon will you use? And how will you attack the dummy?

F L A M E T H R O W E R

F L A M E T H R O W E R

bludgeon it to death with the gas tank

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F L A M E T H R O W E R

HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!

if there's not one available, make a great impression on the instructor by showing that you're so already incredibly skilled that you just build a flamethrower on the spot out of the practice weapons on hand.

then fuck up by igniting all the swamp gas you fuck up

F L A M E T H R O W E R