"Why, is that an-...Mm, quick math..- up-to-1,200-pound-supporting raft? Where in the nine hells did you find one of those?" Zavakri asked.

"Found it stuck in the mud." Brutrumukk replied.

"Blimey, you're just carryin' it, ain't you? Built different, you bugbear folk." Zavakri continued in wonder.

"Yeah, we are, ain't we?" Brutrumukk said pridefully as he flexed his free arm. "Mag didn't come lookin' fer Hruggek and Grankhul fer no reason, y'know."

"As for where we're going... I say we leave that up to Gabe." Zavakri went on to say. "Bloke says he has a feeling about this place, and I haven't the foggiest; if we're going blind, I say follow the man's gut. Point a direction and off we march, Sirrah!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good i-" Brutrumukk got as far as saying before noticing the giant snail's presence. "Uh... 'Ow come the snail's still 'ere?" Brutrumukk asked. "Weren't it on the rabbits' side?"

"I think it's safe to say that Bob isn't on their side anymore, at the very least. The rabbits were browbeating the poor thing," Aurora answered Brutrumukk's question regarding the Giant Snail.

She then mentions to the group, "I did see something during our rest: A hot air balloon of sorts falling out of the sky. I think it landed close by. It might be something worth investigating. Of course, I'll go with everyone, wherever that may be. Investigation or no,"

When the party decides to venture forth into the mists, they find no other opposition to face in the swamps and mists before they reach the next destination.

---

After a while of walking through the stick mud, the party and snail see a new sight among the swamplands.

A crumbling stone tower rises out of the swamp, leaning at such an angle that it threatens to keel over. Black brambles surround the base of the tower and cling to its lower half. Hanging from the crenellations on the lower side of the tower's peak is a large woven basket at the end of a tangle of ropes and tattered fabric. The basket dangles thirty feet above the surface of the swamp.

Aurora speaks up to the party, "That's it! That's the same balloon I saw earlier..."

"Looks like we'll 'ave to get past these thorny brambles if we wanna reach the balloon." Brutrumukk said as he put the raft aside, set Jub down on the ground, and drew his hand axe. "This shouldn't take too long."

With axe in hand, Brutrumukk set upon the brambles. Within six seconds, most of the thorny thicket was gone. Within six seconds more, the work was complete.

"Job done!" Brutrumukk declared. "Come on then. Let's go see wha-"

"Watch out! Behind you!" A voice suddenly called out.

"Eh?" Brutrumukk said in confusion as he looked up at the balloon's basket, where the voice seemed to stem from. After taking a moment to process the unexpected occurrence, Brutrumukk did as the voice instructed and turned to look behind him... Where two giant constrictor snakes were glaring at the bugbear with a drowsy fury he was all too familiar with.

"...Oh bugger."

After the not-so-delightful encounter with the supposed locals of the swamp, Gabriel was far more guarded than before with a hand clenched firmly to the basket hilt of his rapier.

As soon as his slight ears heard the bugbears words, Gabriel had drawn his weapon humming lightly as he brought it up with a flourish "Fear not my furry friend," he strode towards the center of the area weapon held in a guarded stance "For even you surely can wrangle these garden snakes!"

Zavakri watches in amazement as Brutrumukk hacks away at the brambles in the path- and at the call of caution her hair rises in a catlike manner in surprise at the unexpected voice...

But even more astounding was the sheer size of those serpents.

"Now that's just inconvenient! Doesn't anyone realize that muscle mass rises on a linear algorithm opposed to weight's exponential growth? Each pound of muscle over a certain point approaches a critical mass that renders the creature's body inefficient! If they get any larger they might be incapable of even moving! What do they eat? Do they eat Bobs? Is that even a good source of sustenance? They would have to sleep more hours of the day just to function! Are snakes cold blooded, too? How do they regulate their body temperatures? Why am I the only one who seems to think this is wrong? It's wrong! They shouldn't be able to get that big!"

She brandishes her orb, caught up on her own ramble and fixating on their possible inability to regulate body temperature;

Temperature equals X, reducing the value is simple...

And a frigid bolt of energy arcs through the air, geometrically moving in a jagged and jarring manner, to write out a simple equation reducing the temperature by a large factor, and when it strikes the Snake frost spreads over the creature. Take that, snake B. Take that.

She then sidesteps rapidly to be behind Bob, leaning out around the snail to watch the fight in a nosy manner.

Ray of Frost says 24 to hit!
3 Damage! Speed reduced by 10!

The snake hisses angrily as Zavakri's ice hits it. But it seems to realize that the attack slowed him down, so he decided to go after the original offender: The Closest Bugbear, Brutrumukk.
It tries to coil around Brutrumukk, only for the bugbear barbarian to dodge out of the way.

Aurora then runs up and towards the balloon, realizing that a voice was coming from the basket. As she runs, she readies her shortbow, knocks an arrow, and fires at the snake. The arrow flies true and pierces through the scales.

She then continues her mad dash towards the balloon.

"Is this really the time to be discussing the probability of giant serpents!?" Jub shouted over to Zavakri. The sudden appearance of the giant snakes had caught him off-guard, causing him to freeze up in fear as his mind raced through the many, many ways Brutrumukk could meet his demise. It was only the human woman's babbling about muscle mass and dietary concerns that seemed to trigger some form of irritation that snapped him out of this trance. "Humanoid bunny rabbits that steal your memories! Inexplicable megafauna! I think we just have to accept that nothing in this place makes any goddamn sense!" With that, and powered by a mixture of terror and annoyance, he got on all-fours and sprinted like a startled cat closer to the two snakes, though still keeping some distance from them. He then stood up to his full height and, making the same gesture he had made with his hands when facing the rabbits earlier, flung a fireball at one of the snakes.

Brutrumukk had dealt with smaller constrictor snakes before, so he knew what to expect from them and how to avoid it. As the bugbear slipped clear of one snake's attempt, Brutrumukk dropped his handaxe and drew his morningstar as he watched his companions unleash their attacks on the snakes. The scent of reptilian blood and burning scales brought a murderous grin to Brutrumukk's face as the heat of battle instilled within him an intense desire for bloodshed. A desire he acted on when Jub's firebolt momentarily distracted the snake to his right. "HRUGGEK!" Brutrumukk roared as he lunged for the singed serpent and brought his morningstar down upon the overgrown beast.

After getting fire flung at him and being hit with a Morningstar, the other snake hisses and tries to constrict and squeeze Brutrumukk. However, it found that the bugbear is still somehow faster than him and his fellow serpent.

Tsak meanwhile, flies to pursue after Aurora, curious about what has her attention, but also cautious in case the serpents go after her.

Heavy with skepticism at how well things are going, Zavakri squints past Bob's corpulent mass and raises her orb with an optimistic caution, seeking to once more bamboozle Snake B. Nothing too complex going on here, just prodding That-Which-Should-Not-Be until it Stops-Being.

Ray of Frost says 12 to hit! If this hits...
7 damage????? S-Slow it down?

Gabriel's muscles tensed as he sprang forward, his gaze focused and jaw set watching the serpent closely as it slithered around the bugbear failing to realize it was no match for the fearsome monster it was fighting against yet also failing to watch it's own flank.

Already on the offensive the half-elf lunged forward with a graceful flourish, stabbing the serpents coiled body with the accuracy of a surgeon before turning and stepping back with a turn of the heel. Wiping the blood upon his blade against the cuff of his leather gloves.

Snake B lets out an angry hiss as it both pelted with ice and filleted by a bard with a rapier. It seems to take a moment to communicate with the other Constrictor Snake in hisses and tongue flicks.

The snake then moves to Brutrumukk's other side, and winds his large body around the bugbear.

This time, the attack finds purchase, and Brutrumukk finds himself in a bind...literally! The snake squeezes the bugbear with all of its strength.

Aurora swears under her breath, and she fires an arrow at the snake, only for it to duck its head. She then continues her movement and disappears from their view behind the leaning tower.

Jub's eyes widen as one of the snakes suddenly wrapped itself around Brutrumukk. "Hold on, Brut!" he called and attempted to fling fire at the attacking serpent. Unfortunately, due to nerves and fear of accidentally hitting his friend, the flame only just missed its target, causing Jub to swear in goblin.

"RRRRRRRRAGH! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Brutrumukk roared in annoyance as the snake managed to get a decent hold on the bugbear this time. Now that he was in its grasp, Brutrumukk knew defense would be a waste of effort, so he devoted all his energy to attacking. Brutrumukk swung for the snake and once again struck true, this latest blow landing harder than the previous strike.

Snake A takes advantage of the distraction B provided and uses this chance to make its way to the balloon basket. It does a tail whip to ensure that anyone else who could attack it wouldn't be able to. It stops moving and peers into the basket, causing a male voice to shout out,

"WAAAAUGH!!! Stay back, you foul beast! I have no fear!"

Tsak hears the scream and she makes her way towards the snake. She mumbles an incantation and she calls out to the snake, "Leave them alone!" before she throws a dagger at them. The snake lets out a loud angry hiss as the dagger and hex did a significant amount of damage.

Zavakri pats Bob on the side of his shell. He was working perfectly as cover and deserved some affection. She observes the battlefield with a sense of superiority granted by having never missed an attack and having never been attacked herself, quite satisfied at the rage of the bugbear serving as a secondary shield to her own elegant self. Or something like that. She witnesses Tsak rising to the rescue of the vocal balloon basket, and after a quick mental equation to conclude that *someone* must be in there she moves 30 feet towards the basket and lets fly another array of lethal mathematica towards Snake A.

"Oi, Get out that basket! I'll catch you!" She lied like a carnie, as she mentally prepared more spellcraft for the occasion.

Magic Missile says X=5; 15 Force Damage to Snake A by the basket

"Just because you added a few Z levels and a new Y and X Vector doesn't mean I can't still calculate for your present position!" She declared boldly to the snake as her missiles struck home. Then, she balks- she had mistakenly gotten rather close to Snake B, but was thankful that her companions were still nearby. Oh bugger. At least it wasn't right next to her, yet.

OOC: Intention it to be close enough to the basket to cast Feather Fall should the fool actually jump out of it like she told him to, hopefully he at least disengages to do so. If I can't possibly get close enough to have the basket 'within 60 feet' for a featherfall, she'll stay a few feet further from Snake B so it can't just walk over and whack her without provoking an AOO from those nearby

His weapon had yet to miss it's mark up until the current moment, Gabriel had been on his toes until as he followed the snake tangled in combat with the bugbear. His toe caught the edge of a root while he sprang towards the giant serpent, he lost his balance thrusting the tip of the old rapier at nothing but empty space.

"Drat." Gabriel growled, sounding mildly annoyed as he stepped back into the ready position with his weapon at the ready.

As the chaos continues, Snake B looks at Brutrumukk before opening its maw and just begin to swallow the bugbear. As it does, the coils and the mouth just squeeze Brutrumukk painfully.

The voice in the basket responds to Zavakri's words, "I would if I could, Fair and Wise Lady Sage! But I can't move this accursed cage!"

The voice then calls out to the serpent in front of him, "I'm not completely defenseless. I still have a trick or two up my sleeve. Have some of this then!"

The voice then sneezes and a burst of rainbow colored fog sprays upwards from the basket.

Snake A recoils and then glares at the voice within the basket, completely unaffected by his trick.

"Uh oh..."

Then a silvery dart hits the snake’s head causing to recoil and accidentally take an actual inhale of the fog. When it lifts its head up again, this time it’s eyes are showing multiple colored rings. If a snake could have a large dopey smile on its face, this snake would have it.

The voice seems to realize what happened and gave a cheer!

Seeing the constrictor attempt to chow down on Brutrumukk did not help Jub's nerves, and his mind was racing through all his possible options when he caught sight of Zavakri in his peripheral, cowering behind her large snail friend... who seemingly hadn't moved an inch since the fight began. The goblin gave an angry huff, as he swallowed back yet more goblin curses.

He also noticed Zavakri let loose a familiar spell on the other snake, three magical darts that easily hit their mark. Right. Magic Missile. Always hits its target. Not as flashy as a firebolt, but a guaranteed hit and far less likely to accidentally hit and set his friend alight. Taking a deep breath, he made the appropriate gestures as he summoned forth his own magic missile on the snake attacking Brutrumukk.

The magic missiles slam into the large Constrictor Snake that held Brutrumukk. The first missile causes the snake to lift its maw off of the bugbear, and hiss upwards to the sky, before he falls completely limp. Brutrumukk falls as he is freed from the grip, and he watches the snake fall to the ground.

Before anything else can be done to the snake, the corpse grays and solidifies. Somehow...that snake corpse turned to stone!