While we were slowed by our guides, they more than made up for that with their knowledge. Not just knowledge of the surroundings, though they had that in spades, but of the flora and fauna of the swamp. They knew how to keep the turtles from bothering us, to keep the gators at bay. We were shown the herbs that made foods taste better, and where to find the best berries. Also though we were not moving as fast, we were moving in a definite direction.

The highways and byways of the swamp were there, but easily missed in the massive region that comprised this place. Currents meandered around zones of marsh that hardly moved, winding in and out and around. They didn't even stay completely stable, with changes in the environment moving the routes we'd need to take to get where we were going, but a well minded hand could find them, and follow them to their destination.

So our days were spent thus, days turning to weeks, drifting forwards towards the next stop on our journey. We learned, but stayed a bit distant, keeping well back from the village we knew we were going to have to leave at some point. After all, we'd already made so many new acquaintances, and none of us were planning on staying, Curz however did come by from time to time.

About a month in he joined us on a larger section of ground, one of the many former villages we were going through. There'd been a several of these, and more where people had opted to join our little caravan, throwing their lot in with the larger group headed deeper into the swamp.

“Justin,” he said, sitting down. “You said you wouldn't mind showing me how to build boats like yours?”

“I don't, but why now?” I asked, having assumed he'd wait until we got to our destination at this point.

“One of our scouts came back from the next village ahead, and all of them want to join us. We don't have enough rafts for that, much less enough good ones. It would be some help if we could have more.”

“Probably be faster to make normal rafts, but might be better to use ones like ours for any children...” Regardless of how much I might have started out different there was no stopping the change towards the culture that was all around you, and I felt some need to protect kids quite a bit more nowadays.

“Mmm, so?” he continued.

“We'll need some time, a day or two even if we rush it,” I pointed out.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Should be fine, the village will take a few days at the least to pack their things and prepare what they can, and this is a better place to rest than near them would be, more room, and plenty of dry ground.”

“Chien?” I called, looking over to my assistant. “Care to join us?”

“Sure thing boss, let's go.”

The three of us grabbed a couple of the other villagers for extra muscle and headed out into the swamp. Rubber trees like the ones we'd used weren't uncommon, and while they might not be everywhere they were certainly easy enough to find. Our companions were particularly helpful with this, more familiar with the environment and where they might grow well, leading us to excellent specimens.

We harvested a glut of the rubber bark, sheets and sheets, pulling it back to the camp en masse and lashing the wood into makeshift rafts, after all we needed more of those anyway, so why waste the wood? With the help we had we gathered easily enough for three vessels just like ours in only a few hours, many hands making light work. I noted down that I needed to do more things like this, groups being able to make stuff happen just so much faster.

The men and women of the swamp gawked at us as we unloaded our haul, and didn't stop as we began the construction process. Chien and I led, but I was once again reminded that the locals of this world weren't stupid, they just lacked the knowledge my old world had. Their paradigm hadn't shifted towards where mine was, not seeing some of the use in materials that I'd taken for granted.

“I see a problem,” Curz said as we worked on the first, magic making the needle that would bind it together flit in and out at high speed.

“What's that?” I asked.

“We don't have those,” he said, pointing to the little iron tool.

“Ah, that's true, but you don't have to have one like that. One made of bone should work, though you may need to use the bones of a strong creature to make it if you want it hard enough.” I wasn't sure honestly, having done fairly little work with bone needles, but knowing that they weren't normally as durable or sharp.

“Is that what you did then, use the bones of a powerful beast? I'll admit I've never seen a material like that before.”

“No, this is made from a certain rock from my homeland.” While true, it wasn't particularly descriptive. “It would be hard to acquire here, but if you want to trade for one I have a few pieces I could make.”

He seemed to waffle for a bit before nodding. I could make him a new needle later, as the process was simple, and win easy goodwill for it. Both of us would get what we wanted, and while I knew that 'bog iron' was a thing I also knew that it wasn't exactly easy to gather, nor where I might find it in this massive morass of a wetland.

It took us a lot of work, but after three days we'd produced three boats, all that we could with the bark we'd brought in. Word came that the village should be ready for us to leave now, and so a newly grown flotilla of rafts plodded down towards the next village over.

When we arrived the people were all together around the shore, bustling and rushing to and fro. Bundles of goods, food, tools, and personal effects were piled high on their own boats or up along the shore. Children were being herded, families trying to keep things together as they looked for anything missed. It looked like absolute chaos and I was frankly pleased that most of my part in this mess was done.

We did end up helping with the loading a bit, but only because we had little else to do. I'd never felt right sitting back and watching while others struggled with a task, so a little lifting and the like wasn't a chore at all.

As things were about halfway done a man from the village ran in, eyes large as he headed over towards Curz and who I could only assume was the local leader, though she wasn't an elder either. It seemed the oldest of our kind had truly abandoned their homes. I heard the approaching elf, as did many others when he spoke, breathless and clearly alarmed.

“A group is approaching fast, ten strong, and all look to have some ability,” the scout said in a panic.