"So we're dealin' with an 'ag then?" Brutrumukk said in response to Zavakri's words. "I've 'eard a thing or two about their type. Can anyone else 'ere say the same?" Should another party member indeed also know a thing or two about hags like Brutrumukk did, they would have a decent amount of knowledge on the subject of hags between the two of them.

Jub glanced up at Aurora as the elven woman offered to help him to his feet - not unlike how she had before the two of them had entered the carnival. With a weak smile, he let her help him to his feet. "Thank you," he said, before taking a moment to dust himself off.

When the human woman spoke again, Jub swerved to face her, only just managing to avoid falling over again. "Well, next time, maybe consider asking the rest of us before you do anything like that," he said. He was attempting to sound stern, but the affect was lessened by the fact he was slurring his words slightly.

"I agree." Brutrumukk agreed with an annoyed growl. "The fuck were you thinkin' pullin' somethin' like that? Some of us would 'ave liked to sleep before divin' through some mirror portal leadin' to Mag knows where." Brutrumukk then turned to the rest of the party. "An' what the fuck were the rest o' you thinkin' followin' 'er?" Brutrumukk asked. "Jus' cuz some mad cow decides to be fuckin' stupid, don't mean you gotta go with 'er! Now we're stuck on some broken bridge above some gods fersaken swamp with no idea where to go or what to do! An' to make matters worse, we're all fuckin' tired...! Great work everyone. Great fuckin' work."

Gabriel had untied the straps holding the sleeping roll in place from his backpack and set to unrolling it, rubbing his temples as the bugbear grew more and more frustrated.

As the half-elf listened to Brutrumukk berate the party, Gabriel gritted his teeth his head pounding wishing he had a bottle of whisky to calm his nerves.

"You're one to talk!" he snapped back angrily a tinge of an accent in his voice "Ya bloody well followed too, the god damn mirror pulled some of us in!" he pointed to the spot they appeared from "Like fuck'n hell ya couldn't have just left! It isn't our fault we left in a rush, those old farts likely didn't want to let us stay." he said meaning the two Misters.

---

Tsak was had been second to last through the portal, dashing forward to grab her pack from the misters and hug them both tightly. With a kiss on both of their cheeks, the overly giddy fairy flew right into the portal at top speed. Now, planer travel was nothing new, she's traveled to all sorts of planes all her life, but the fey never really got used to the sensation. Well, one mistake she had made was flying into the portal in the first place. As Tsak came out the other side, the tattooist came cometing down into the ground, roughly crashing into it. A yelp, groan and giggle later, the fairy would move to her feet and take in her surroundings. At first, excitement over took her, she did it! She finally became an adventurer! Then.... panic. Tsak, breath becoming heavy and quickly, took out her sketchbook as she looked around for the others. After taking a few deep breaths, the fairy would fly up to the others and called out, "Uh... I could fly up to the air and see if there are any towns or villages nearby..."

When Gabriel spoke up, Brutrumukk wheeled around to face him, looking just about ready to club someone to death and subsequently mount their head on a spike. "Yeah, some o' you were pulled in. I weren't talkin' ta them" Brutrumukk said. "An' yeah, I followed even though I coulda jus' left. But that woulda meant leavin' you and the others what got sucked across to deal with whatever mess ya got sucked into after that bitch opened the portal. An' fer various reasons, I weren't all that keen on the idea. An' as fer those fuckin' knife ears-" It was at that moment that Tsak chimed in. The interruption took the wind out of Brutrumukk's sails. And after staring at the fairy for a moment, Brutrumukk heaved a growly sigh. "Do what ya like. I'm gonna get some rest." Brutrumukk said before finding a decent looking spot on the bridge and beginning to set up his bedroll.

Zavakri’s exhausted emotional state cannot handle the torrent of anger and vitriol coming towards her. She goes wide eyed, like a deer in headlights, and curls inward on herself.

“If Rirvudd were here, he wouldn’t let anyone say such things to me. But he isn’t. And I am. So say what you want. I deserve it, I suppose. I’ll do my best to not let anyone else down or to disappoint anyone ever again.”

She curls into a sobbing ball of sorceress.

Aaaaand now everyone was shouting at each other. Any annoyance towards the human woman (or any of his companions for that matter) that had been building up within Jub melted back down and he was just left feeling exhausted. "Yeah, I think it best we just set up camp here instead of traipsing through the swamp while we're all tired and upset," he said to Tsak. "Even if you happen across some form of civilisation, it'll probably just be a weird fairy town with weird fairy rules." He paused, suddenly realised who he was talking before adding, "No offense."

---

Tsak frowned as she looked around the group, and she thought the carnie life was stressful. Slowly nodding to the grouchy bugbear, she would take to the air, flying up past the trees and took a look around for any towns or villages.

Both what the bugbear said and how the poor dark skinned reacted to the whole situation was a real punch in the gut for the likes of himself, it was bad enough to see that their argument had hurt her but the fact that Gabriel hadn't helped matters made the half-elf feel poorly about his words.

Brutrumukk while his words might have been harsh were also right in a way, the bugbear just did what he thought was right to do "Oh gods, I..." Gabriel looked from the bugbear to the woman crying on the ground "I...I am so sorry." all the anger fell away replaced by worry, his brow knitted together as he knelt by Zavakri "Look Brut...You just did what you did and I understand that," he sighed "You did what you thought was right and I don't blame you for that."

"Aaaaaand she flew off anyway," said Jub as he watched Tsak head upwards into the trees. He then looked over at his group, shaking his head slightly. "I think I'm going to start crying now," he muttered as he watched Gabriel try and comfort the sobbing woman. With a sigh and a slight shake of his head, he started rifling through his stuff in search of his sleeping bag and other assorted camping gear. It was clear that no reasonable conversation was likely to occurr while everyone was sleep-deprived.

---

Tsak spent a bit of time in the air, taking in their surroundings while calming herself down. She knew what she was getting into, yes, a less... conflicted group of adventures may have been better, but at least Rory was chill. Taking a deep breath, the fairy would fly down to the others before finding a branch to sit on, "Sooo... I know I'm new, to all this, but, umm... is it normal for an adventuring group to be this loud and boisterous? Or is it just this group?" Tsak would look at the group, between the bigoted goblin, arguing bugbear and bard, then the slightly unhinged human lady who's name she never learned, she was fairly concerned about her current situation.

The sky begins to darken slowly as everyone realizes how tired they are, the twilit sky becoming night as the discussions and arguments continue. When Zavakri begins crying, the party would feel rain begin to fall on them. The rain is not heavy enough to seriously drench the party and prevent them from going to sleep, but it is enough to really compound the feelings of sadness and melancholy that are now present in the group. The rain will not let up until the party calms down and recovers from this sadness.

As Brutrumukk leaves to go find a place to rest, he notices that there is now a nearby stone that has a frowning face made of cracks in the stone. Zavakri notices, as she curls in on herself, that there are thorns growing next to her that weren't there before.



The rest passes by quietly for the party. When they wake, they will be well rested and ready for this swamp and its unknown dangers.

A smirk of cruel satisfaction settled on Brutrumukk's features as Zavakri broke down in the face of overwhelming hostility. As the bugbear finished setting up his bedroll, Brutrumukk pulled out his waterskin and took a sip from it, pretending that the water was in fact Zavakri's tears. When he noticed a nearby stone frowning at him, Brutrumukk's smirk unrepentantly grew. Normally, he had to keep his evil urges in check so that he remained on positive enough terms with the locals that they continued leaving offerings at the Snoring Stone rather than driving him away with pitchforks and torches. But here? So long as he didn't piss off the adventurers he was traveling with, all the locals could do here was frown at him, unable to do anything to actually stop him. That was probably going to change at some point, but for now, he intended to enjoy it while it lasted. Brutrumukk lay down on his bedroll, shut his eyes, and allowed the sweet lullaby of Zavakri's sobbing to send him off to sleep.

When Brutrumukk awoke well rested and actually ready for whatever nonsense he'd been roped into, he ate some rations for his breakfast as he waited for the others to wake up. When everyone was awake, Brutrumukk remembered the parting words of the Misters and decided to bring it up. "Oi oi, any o' you lot know what alley corn is?" Brutrumukk asked. "Before I followed you lot through the mirror, Fatso an' Ponce mentioned somethin' about alley corn an' some other confusin' stuff."

After helping Jub up and watching the rest of the group snap at each other, Rory found a spot on the causeway away from the group a bit. She needed a few minutes to process the sudden appearance of the vines by the human woman, and the frowning cracked rock by Brutrumukk. "Gabe you might want to move away from that spot. A small piece of the causeway broke there." she contemplated on the sudden changing of the environment near these three. "We are not in Faerun anymore. In fact I think we are on a separate plane of existence..." She muttered to herself while setting up her bedroll.

When Tsak arrived back, asking if it was normal for adventuring groups to argue like this, Aurora turned to face towards her. "Normally such groups don't form this way. Not in my brief experience anyway. Better get some rest. We are far from home and it may be sometime before we get back.

The next morning came soon enough and Aurora felt better rested. It had been a mostly quiet night except for the ballon. That was strange but it may be something to look into. An alicorn? What would an alicorn have to do with what we are here for?

Despite everything, Jub managed to sleep quite well. Even the sprinkling of rain didn't seem to disturb him much and he woke up with a rather loud, dramatic yawn and a stretch. Maybe it had been that he had been just so tired out by the festivities yesterday or the fact that causeway didn't rank anywhere in his list of 'Worst Places He'd Ever Had to Rest', but this was actually one of the best sleeps he'd had in some time.

Still, he wasn't sure how everyone else was given the arguments earlier so he mostly kept to himself, rifling through his bag. He removed the wings he'd gotten from the carnival and put his wizard coat back on, both to stay true to his brand and also just to keep warm, though he left his hood down this time. After all, everyone present knew he was a goblin now, so there wasn't much point. He also pulled out his spellbook and some travel rations. After casting Prestidigitation to make his rations taste, well, less like rations, he began flicking through his spellbook while eating. Anyone who happened to be watching him would be able to tell that this was a ritual of his. Another thing people would notice if they bothered to look over at him was just what poor condition his spellbook was in. Brutrumukk had seen it briefly, but this was the first time the rest of the group would have. The cover made it look just like a ratty old notebook, while the inside was filled with scribbled writing and various arcane diagrams. There also seemed to be some doodles and notes in the margins which seemed to be in a different script from the others, likely put there later by Jub himself.

When Brutrumukk and Aurora started talking, Jub frowned as he thought to himself. "Alicorn... alicorn... nope, doesn't ring a bell," he said. If he had a pen, he'd probably write that down somewhere in his book to remember, but after rifling through his bag for a few moments, he remembered that he'd lost his old quill at some point on the road and shrugged. As he was about to continue his eating, he called over to the rest of the group, "By the way, if anyone wants me to use a little magic to spruce up their rations, do ask. After all the carnival food we consumed yesterday, dried fruit and jerky is probably something of a let down."

It was clear to the half-elf that nobody in particular wanted nor cared to remedy the situation and like the rest of them Gabriel was too tired to carry on arguing.

He layed there upon his sleeping roll looking towards the sky, resting his head upon the back of his hands with a look of despondence on his face 'How is it here,' he thought to himself his thoughts still nagged him of the feeling he felt upon arriving wherever they were 'After all these years, it makes no sense but it is here.' a sigh escaped his lips as he turned over and closed his eyes 'Thomas always had a habit of losing things but never a bet, but how could it be here?' his thoughts trailed as sleep fell over him like a heavy sheet.



"Hm, I remember hearing about those as a lad." the bard spoke up after finishing a bite of jerky that he washed down with the water from his skein "Like unicorn but they can fly, fanciful tales though are all I know them from."

"Alley corn is eunuch corn what can fly?" Brutrumukk asked in confusion in response to Gabriel's words. "Huh... Corn sure is weird." With that said, Brutrumukk moved to the edge of the bridge and looked down at the hundred foot drop separating them from the ground. Despite how high up they were, there were various hand and footholds and sturdy looking mushrooms that would make getting down easy enough. "I reckon I just found us a way down from this bridge." Brutrumukk informed the others. "If that's the way we wanna be 'eadin, that is."

---

Tsak had a hell of a time sleeping at all. The fairy sat on the ledge of the bridge, doodling a bit before focusing her pen on the frowning stone. After a bit, Tsak would slowly drift down, laying on the ground with her head on her pack and fall asleep.

Once awake, Tsak would rub her eyes, gripping about her stiff back. She was already missing her tent and cot. After a bit and without word, she would gather herself, dusting the dirt and grass off of her before turning to her daily routine. She hit a breakthrough, She was sure of it! And if her intuition was correct, she might have finally been able to craft some real Arcane Tattoos. While designs and formulas were in mind, the Fey would return to the ledge of the bridge and draw them out.

Zavakri slept...

Well.

Which is unexpected; she drifted to sleep amongst sobs of torment and anguish, fearing illusory dragons and the judgement of a little sister she grew up without. Swords glinting in darkness, failure looming ahead, and to start it all off she couldn't even seem to get along with her companions no matter how convicted and gung-ho she behaved. It was ludicrous. Heroes were supposed to be bold and gallant and rush to the aid of someone, right?

Someone. She was out here chasing after someone. Nobody else seemed to be, or nobody else had said as much at least. That made her feel vindicated; Correct, even, in her decisionmaking... But everyone had lost something, something important to them, otherwise why would they have followed her? Why would they even be trying to understand and help if not for their own shared experiences? Experiences that bound them together beyond the mere happenstance of their meeting as a group. It was a tighter mathematics than that, some nebulous X factor hidden behind the equation of their literal circumstances, and one that could not be solved for easily.

She turns in her sleep, beginning to waken.

"Oh..Riri...Mm...I hope everything's going okay in Icewind Dale..."

Zavakri pushes herself awake, letting the sounds of her companions wash over her. She looked skyward in the predawn air of her awakening and let herself get lost in the dwindling stars, gazing skyward even as the sky brightened into day, and even as everyone began discussing plans and creatures.

"I knew a fella who sold Alley Corn, once." she said quietly. "Deep fried stuff, ethnic bloke from Amn sold it on a street corner out of a trolley. Nice guy, I wonder how he's doing...."

Then, upon Gabriel's informative contribution, she giggles; "Not to be confused with the Horned Pegasus, eh?" She muses herself, stretching her body out before springing to her feet. "We're certainly not in Faerun any longer; I have those stars memorized and these are something else entirely. Give me a few nighs, maybe a week or so, and I should be able to do basic charts and keep direction at night- but until then I'm as lost and blind as the next gel. It'd help if I had the proper tools as well- but hey, you make do with what you've got, eh?"

She appraises Jub, before indeed making use of his mystical food spicing powers. She brandishes a ration, communicates with him briefly, before ending up with a heated meal of Baldur's Gate quality spiced food; a delicacy that is actually Waterdaivian spices, but the Baldur's Gatean community has adopted it and branded it their own. As they do with everything else, too. She munches away with nostalgia and gusto, approaching the side of the bridge and gazing down beside the Bugbear.

"Give a shout if anyone slips, I can slow falls with sorcery. Well, really, it's with Math- but sorcery backs it up. I'm ready to move when everyone else is; Name's Zavakri in case anyone forgot or missed it. I'm an Astronomer by trade, Mathematician as well, youngest in my laboratory to be honest. Humble, too."

Her good mood was almost more terrifying than her deep sadness.

"Alicorns, Doll Houses, Forgetful Hags, and an ethereal thick Fog. Solution won't find itself; let's get out there and get exploring, chums."