Jub looked first surprised then extremely irritated when Brutrumukk disrupted his spell. After waving the minimized gnome off with his free hand, the goblin practically snarled, "Fine, fine! But don't come crying to me if we get caught because someone suddenly decided that arson was unacceptable!" He paused for a moment to look at his surroundings, focusing on the balloon the scarecrow has pointed out to him for before noticing the large - and somewhat derelict - building in between them. He quickly started to make his way around it.

The bullywugs listen to Aurora intently as she gives her plan and they look to each other and nod approvingly at the sound of the plan. Even the leader seems to like this much more than his original plan.

He answers Aurora after listening to her bargain per the Rule of Reciprocity, "You got yourself a deal!"

@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud@Fading Memory@Cao the Exiled

---

As Jub runs and runs from the shouting, pursuing guards, Brutrumukk manages to give a decent bird call and series of hand waves to try and communicate to the small birds. His plea for help is successful, but...it goes unheeded. The birds' answers come out to Brutrumukk as an almost haunting sing-song answer,



Regardless, it seems like Jub is a speedy little guy! He runs around the burnt down building, and proceeds to hop across each stone across the river!

One of the stones rises up revealing itself to be some sort of rock elemental creature! It starts to gravelly shout, "Oi! You ungrateful little-!" and it tries to grab Jub, only for the goblin wizard to easily dodge the large rocky hand and make his way to the other side, leaving the elemental to turn his attention to the three pursuing guards as they reach the edge of the river.

Jub easily sees the balloon on the half moon shaped dock, and makes it there. But the only thing left now is to undo the ropes securing it and get into the balloon!





@XxFellsingxX@rush99999

"The merchants?" Brutrumukk said in response to the reply of the birds. After a moment, the bugbear gnome remembered the two darklings that he had killed earlier. "Oh yeah. The merchants." Just as he was about to try again though, Brutrumukk was suddenly forced to cling onto Jub's shoulder for dear life as the goblin began running fast enough to clear 240 feet in six seconds. "AAAAAAAA!" Brutrumukk hollered until finally the speedy goblin came to a stop at the docks.

After taking a moment to recover from Jub briefly deciding that he was speed, Brutrumukk looked up at the balloon and remembered something from one of his previous outings as the Spirit of the Snoring Stone. "I've seen stuff like this before." Brutrumukk said to Jub before gesturing towards a general area of the ropes tying down the balloon. "Somewhere there should be a sweet spot in the rope work. If we can 'it that spot, we can be off four times faster."

Aurora nods to the bullywug leader and offers her hand to shake and settle the agreement. "Then so be it. I, Aurora Malister, will aide you in your attempt to become king of Downfall. Let me and my companions rest for a bit before I go with you to execute our plan. I will not speak for my companions and what they wish to do."

Rory moved to a spot where the bullywugs had indicated the group could rest, motioning for the rest to join her.

Jub attempted to call out an apology to the rock elemental, but it only came out as a wordless shriek as he narrowly avoided being grabbed by it and continue running towards the balloon. Once he reached it, he jumped inside and began hurrying to undo the ropes as Brutrumukk instructed him.

Jub easily hops into the Swamp Gas Balloon basket with Brutrumukk, despite the cries and startled yells of nearby bullywugs. Despite the smell of moldy cheese permeating the air, the tiny gnome and the goblin wizard easily find the one knot holding all four ropes, and thus the basket, down to the earth. Jub swings his dagger at this knot and easily cuts it!

With that one single cut, the balloon floats in the air.

This allows the both of them to see the knights below. Some of them had taken to swimming around the earth elemental towards them, while the leaders are distracted by it! The swimming bullywugs shout at the pair of them, demanding them to come back and face justice!

However, the both of them realize one issue as they continue to float away from Downfall....



....The smell of moldy cheese does not dissipate any time soon...



@XxFellsingxX@rush99999

---

As Aurora, Gabriel, Zavakri, and Tsak take the time to rest and recuperate in the hut, they would first hear the bullywugs speak.

"Sir! One of the balloons seems to be departing! Sir!"
"I thought all of the balloons were supposed to be grounded after the last time someone stole a balloon!"

The leading bullywug speaks, "Another example of King Gullop's unworthiness, I see!"

Looking out of the window, the three humanoids and fey would all see a balloon floating away from Downfall! The balloon is clearly made of patchwork cloth, but it still functions as a normal hot air balloon. Some might note that the shape of the patchwork cloth balloon resembles a peach...

@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud@Fading Memory@Cao the Exiled

As Jub cut the ropes with a single swing and sent the balloon on its way, Brutrumukk let loose a triumphant roar as they made good their escape. "We're away, booyagh! We're away! HA HAAA!" The bugbear gnome then exclaimed jubilantly before looking out and down at the bullywug knights below.

"Come back and face justice!" The swimming knights demanded.

"No!" Was Brutrumukk's simple reply. The bugbear gnome then laughed uproariously as they rose out of earshot of the knights' demands, before settling into the balloon and looking towards Jub.

"Alrighty then, next stop: The 'Ag 'Ut!" Brutrumukk exclaimed before looking around the balloon for a moment and then looking back at Jub. "Don't suppose you know 'ow to fly this thing?" He asked.

Jub stumbled back slightly as the balloon started to lift off, and he had to steady himself for a moment. Once they were up high enough, he sank down to his knees and and started rubbing at his temples. "I can't remember the last time I had to run that fast," he muttered to himself.

"Don't suppose you know 'ow to fly this thing?"

"Hm?" Jub glanced over at Brutrumukk before raising his head up towards the balloon above him. "Err... not really, now that I think about it." He stood up again. "I do know there are some spells that allow you to summon a gust of wind which might help in this scenario but err, I don't know any of them."

Zavakri tittered, chittered, chirruped, and assaulted the nails upon her left hand in a thinly veiled visage of anxious deliberance as Aurora cut her political deal with the bullywugs. The woman had thrown her lot in with her companions’ direction on these matters, but it wasn’t until the final deal thoroughly struck and notarized^* that she seeemd to finally relax. She made a stiff bow, twisted on a heel, and trodded after Aurora into the semblance of privacy offered in accordance with Hospitality by their hosts.

As soon as Zavakri took a knee and leant upon the window, she seemed as if about to speak- but was silenced by the uproar of the Bullywugs. Her gaze shifted as if drawn by the outburst to the outer world, where she witnessed the rising of the balloon. Her eyes narrowed, then began to glow from within in the now-familiar clockwork display of her magic. She lifted her now teeth-hewn left hand and framed the balloon with her index and thumb fingers, a spectral grid projecting from her eyes and framing within her hand’s parameters. She shifted her hand slightly, the gridwork aligning with the hot air balloon as glowing points began to appear along the path of the carriage.

“…Mm, sloppy flightwork, could be smoother. Shape of that balloon makes for some strange aerodynamics, good gust of wind would set it right into a spin. At least it’s got the lads spirits up. We may have our work cut out for us if they’re a minority, though.”

She lowers her hand, the magical mathematica evaporating from her gaze. Without even looking up to make sure her intended recipient had, in fact, followed them into this period of rest Zavakri continued. She remained gazing out of the window at the balloon, simple curiosity rather than analytical graphing.

“This is a plan straight out of Rirvudd’s stories, but there’s one thing I want to clear the air with to balance the scales. Er, so to speak. If it’s not my place to say anything then so be it, but I just wanted to make it abundantly clear that unless you’re a remarkably different character than I’ve got you pegged for, it wasn’t your fault Gabe. I certainly don’t trust you any less, I don’t fear for your magic gone awry, I don’t find myself second guessing your judgement, and I certainly don’t find myself disliking your company. Accidents happen. We can’t… we can’t know every variable, every formula, every function. In my eyes, you’re a brave man who tried to help a friend in a time of danger and that’s what matters.”

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

“The only thing you’re guilty of is being a better person than me. I don’t like to admit it, but part of me is still afraid of Brut and I can’t help but wonder if the cosmos would be a more balanced place without him in it. But I have to acknowledge that part of me, about how he seems to live a life so antithetical to my own, and remind myself that doesn’t make him unworthy of his own life and quest. If any of us are guilty of anything, it’s me for having to even debate if his dying would have even been such a bad thing.”

She grew quieter as she spoke. She tapped at her temple with her fingers, eyes half closed as she admitted this to herself aloud as much as them.

“We’re all bound together. By this place, by our dreams, by our purpose, by this quest of ours. If we aren’t honest with ourselves and each other, we’ll fall prey to the foul chaos of this place and end up facing ourselves and our reflections moreso than our foes and their machinations. I’m sorry for rambling, I was trying to clear the air and I guess I had some more murky thoughts in my head than I realized…”

She lifted her head to finally look around the room sheepishly, blinking as if she had forgotten she was even trying to speak to people aloud.

"Err... not really, now that I think about it."

"You wot?" Brutrumukk asked as the color swiftly drained out of his face.

"I do know there are some spells that allow you to summon a gust of wind which might help in this scenario but err, I don't know any of them."

"No..." Brutrumukk said before looking over the side to see Downfall, or more specifically Bavlorna's Cottage, getting smaller and smaller as the balloon drifted further and further away. "No no no no NO NOOO!" The bugbear gnome exclaimed in anguish as he reached out desperately to his current best chance at turning back to normal. But no amount of reaching could cover the steadily expanding distance between him and the cottage now. Eventually, Brutrumukk slumped down into the balloon's basket with a groan of utter despair at what was without doubt the worst day of his life.

Resting an elbow upon the dusty windowsill the bards sharp steely blue eyes gazed out the dirty glass towards the flying machine the strange toadmen began to make quite the fuss about. Gabriel had propped his hand neath' the nape of his neck and on his chin, listening to Zav his gaze flicked to her.

"You're an odd one Zav, but your hearts in the right place...Every rhyme has a reason, an' my tale ain't a pleasant one." the half-elf spoke vaguely with a distant look upon his expression staring into the faint reflection in the window "But I ain't one to launch into long-winded tales like an old tottering man, I just...I've just got scars, on my mind and body the kind no magic can heal." the hand on his chin traced the outline of the scar that marred the side of his face.

"We all come from different walks of life, and aye fate seems to have bound our tales together, now I dunno if it's as philosophical as you makes it sound but I can agree that we all have to face the ugliness to see the truth." gingerly he gave Zavakri a light pat on the shoulder before he turned from the windowsill.

"'Accidents' like that only remind me of a life I drink to forget, but maybe I've been living in the past too long." Gabriel smiled, and though he didn't say it he clearly seemed thankful to have the present company, maybe adventuring was his purpose now instead of living by the pay of contracts on the road for a meager living to run away from the past.

Maybe he deserved to remember his promise to lead a better life, maybe he could be a better man or maybe he was getting a bit ahead of himself "Thanks for putting things into perspective."

Aurora knelt near where Zavakri had taken a knee. She listened as Zavakri commented about the balloon taking off, and then her consoling Gabriel. It was now that there was a few moments more of peace that Aurora was able to process what Gabe had said before the Bullywugs had waved them all to the hut. She sat there in silence unsure of what to say on the matter, feeling guilty she had not caught on to what Gabriel was trying to express earlier. That in itself reminded her of how Sophia had treated her at times. Especially when Rory pushed and pull against what was expected of her intent on doing what she wanted. While not an exact of how Brutrumukk's behavior had been, but close enough for her to realize some similarities.

It was an uncomfortable self reflection, seeing herself doing the same action that drove a wedge between her and her eldest sibling, to Gabe. A man who had been nothing but kind to her.

"I owe you an apology Gabriel. I should have listened to what you were trying to say then. Zavakri is right im that what you did was not to harm but to try to help. I'm glad you are able to see it that way." She looked at both Gabriel and Zavakri before looking out the window in no general direction.

"I did mean it when I told the Bullywugs that I could not speak for you. I didn't want you to get caught up in this political mess that I rushed headlong into. If you all wish to proceed with other matters do so. I should have not spoken up about the matter before thinking about where it would lead. A bit more reckless than I should be, especially with things here not always being what they seem. I really do not want you two getting hurt because of a deal I made to try to get leverage in our other upcoming battle." She said as she turned her gaze back to the pair that had started to be close companions, even if it was because of the circumstances.

"Don't be so dramatic," was Jub's immediate response to Brutrumukk's despair. After a moment, it occurred to him that this probably wasn't the nicest thing to say given the circumstances and he gave a sigh. He crouched down next to the barbarian. "Listen, I keep saying this and you keep not listening, but being a gnome is not the worst thing in the world. You've got some magical abilities, you can go places without adventurers trying to attack you or disparage you. I think you're really making this out to be a bigger problem than it actually is."

"I think you're really making this out to be a bigger problem than it actually i-"

A tiny hand seized Jub's collar and yanked the goblin down the rest of the way to where Brutrumukk lay. "Listen 'ere you little shit." Brutrumukk growled in goblin into Jub's ear. "Fer all seventeen years o' my life, I 'ave felt the brother gods were never too far away. Even if they weren't on the same plane as me. I felt Hruggek makin' me big an' strong. An' I felt Grankhul makin' me sneaky an' cunnin' and more than just a short fuzzy ogre... But now?"

The look on Brutrumukk's face and the tone of his voice slowly but surely began to turn from angry to worried at this point. "I can't feel 'em any more." He said. "They're gone from my life an' their gifts left with 'em. I'm so small now. An' I can barely even shoulder this backpack, let alone swing a weapon as 'ard as I did before. I can't remember 'ow to be sneaky. An' of all the things that've slipped into me mind in its place, about three o' those things ain't completely useless. All that's left now from before I became this... thing is the fear that comes from Skiggaret bein' 'round when somethin' could kill me."

The bugbear's gnome's mood shifted from worry to dread then. "An' if somethin' does kill me... what's gonna 'appen now?" Brutrumukk asked uncertainly. "Will I still go to Acheron? Will I still get to fight in the Eternal War with me old gang at me side again? Or is that not an option no more? Am I gonna 'ave to go wherever gnomes go when they die? Is my soul gonna be in the 'ands o' Garl Glittergold an' whatever other false-things the gnomes think are gods?"

Brutrumukk released Jub then and curled into himself, clutching at his head as a myriad of negative emotions warred for prominence on his face. "What's gonna 'appen to me?" Brutrumukk asked as he was finally forced to fully confront his predicament. "What's gonna 'appen to me?"

Jub gave a small yelp as the minute gnome was somehow strong enough to grab him by the collar and pull him down to his level. However, he didn't say anything and allowed Brutrumukk to rant at him as the gnome's mood slowly turned from angry to worried. Eventually, the barbarian let go and Jub took a moment to right himself, giving him some time to figure out how in the world he was supposed to respond to that.

"I... err, I'm sorry," he said after a long moment. "I guess I can't really... relate to... any of that. I've never really felt that close to any of the goblin gods... or any gods, for that matter." He mumbled under his breath, "Never really understood religious types, to be honest." He also wasn't sure how to respond to Brutrumukk's existential fears about where he would go after he died. Honestly, he tried to think about that stuff too often, because it usually led to him to feeling pretty awful afterwards.

Zavakri grinned by the end of Gabriel's responding monologue. She ran a hand through her hair and pulled it back from her face, starting gently and dropping her hair at the unexpected pat on her shoulder. A laugh bubbled up from her, not at his words but from her own awkwardness.

"I'm all for living in the now and the future if we all are." She added gently to his thinking-aloud. She performed a facsimile of a toast, open palm raised upwards as she quietly chortled; 'To Us!' quietly. She nodded to herself, as if this blessing was sufficient to the occasion. Aurora's words were absorbed by Zavakri as she methodically pulled her hair back and bound it into a short ponytail that some would dub librarian-ish.

"Pshaw, I said I trusted you all didn't I? My only concern is that I'm technically an employee of a governmental body, being an astrologer of Baldur's Gate and all, so if this affair somehow spreads back home then I think I'd be up for a promotion into..."

She makes a finger wiggling gesture, as if balancing an abacus.

"Intelligence, under the duke's retinue, I believe. It's a net positive for income, but I'd refuse on general principles. Rirvudd makes enough money with the merchant caravan he runs."

She chews her lip, a brief moment of thought.

"I also don't know if these...er...bullywugs are good people, if this is how they resolve their leadership disputes. It can't do more harm for us to help out, right? I'm as refreshed as I'm going to get. I can tap into almost all of my magical power at the moment, and I haven't had a chance to do so as of yet but I can manage grid-coordinate positional manipulations, as well as fudge the numbers on some faulty mathematica should the need arise. In a pinch I've had good luck with unerring projectile production, but largely my magic is still rather utilitarian."

She certainly had a way with words, that Zavakri; with enough parsing in their minds her companions could surely suss out that she meant to inform them that she could teleport someone moderate distances, simultaneously damage an opponent and heal a companion in close proximity, fire magic missiles, as well as a few other supportive abilities.

"I don't suppose shrinking or growing quite large would benefit our scheme?" She offered hopefully.

Brutrumukk gave no reply to Jub's words. The bugbear gnome simply laid where he had set down, completely unmoving for a time. Eventually, Brutrumukk huffed through his nose, sat up and looked down at himself. "Fuckin' darklings." The barbarian muttered as he inspected his wounds, showing no sign of a breakdown having ever occurred now. "What's the point o' bein' a weretiger if everyone 'as weapons made o' magic or silver?"

At Brutrumukk's comments, Jub found himself beginning to speak before he could stop himself. "Brut, you're not actually a weretiger," he said. The moment he said that, he quickly clapped his hands over his mouth, giving a small muffled curse in goblin.

Welp. Now he'd gone and done it.

Brutrumukk looked at Jub in confusion. "I ain't actually a weretiger?" The bugbear gnome asked. "What're you on about, booyagh? O' course I'm a actually a weretiger. You saw me turn into one during our last two fights. I even still 'ave the needle those darklings stuck me with what turned me. Look." Brutrumukk removed the backpack from his shoulders then, opened it, and began rummaging around in the part of the backpack where he had stored everything he looted from the darkli- "GAH!" Brutrumukk yelped in pained surprise as he quickly withdrew his hand from the backpack to reveal the needle was now stuck point first in the side of his hand.

The barbarian regarded the needle with an annoyed expression at first. After a few moments though, his expression changed to confusion. Then to realization. Finally, Brutrumukk's face settled on a look of anger. "Those fuckin' darklings!" Brutrumukk growled in fury before plucking the needle from his hand and glaring at it. "I should 'ave known bein' turned into an actual weretiger as a way of payin' fer incense was too good to be true. They must've thought it'd be a great laugh to 'ave me thinkin' that was what 'appened though." A vengeful grin replaced his anger then. "Well I 'ope that laugh was worth dyin' for." Brutrumukk chuckled at the thought before sticking the needle into the belt of his jester's outfit in such a way that it wouldn't be able to prick him by accident again. "Either way, this mightn't be a total loss at least. Maybe we'll find a use fer a needle what makes folks think they're weretigers."

"To be frank I'd rather let these fool frog men settle the matter themselves." after a moment of brief quiet the bard spoke up offering a shrug of his shoulders "I'm more worried about what're our two little friends are up to." Gabriel sighed looking out the window again crossing his arms.