A nearby bush shakes violently...

Near the entrance of the airship ruins, you may notice a large, leafy bush large enough to hide at least a medium sized creature. You may also notice that it shakes violently every few seconds, dislodging leaves every time it rustles. Based on the amount of leaves on the ground, it appears this has been happening for quite a while now.

*Z is sitting and staring at the bush trying to decide if she wants to roast it with fire or not.*

As the bush gives an unusually violent shake, a small rabbit bursts out, running away from the bush at top speed. It disappears in to a nearby patch of thick foliage.

A small line of smoke is now rising from the bush and you smell the distinct scent of fresh burning flora. A small flame on the end of an orange tail pokes out from an edge of the bush then quickly snaps back in to cover.

Sethos wanders over to Z's staring figure as he feeds Taku a piece of banana bread. He stands next to her in silence for a kinute as he tries to figure out why she's staring at the bush before he gives up and asks.

"Why are you staring at that bush?"

Then the rabbit and everything else happens, Sethos watches the small animal scurry away before looking back at the bush.

"Riiiiiiiight..."

A familiar looking Charmander jumps out from the bush, looking back at it in alarm. By the point, it is very obvious that the busy has caught on fire. The lizard watches the bush burn and plants his hands on his sides, seemingly proud of his handiwork.

Snarg's jawpiece of strapped across the back of torso, looking like a very odd saddle. Unlike its normally clean appearance, it appears to have something written across its front.

Sethos moves in closer to the little orange lizard to see what the mouth piece has written on it, whilst being careful not to get too close in case the little critter decides to set Sethos' nose on fire.

*Z rolls her eyes and observes sethos and the charmander who's name i've forgotten.*

There is a sloppily scrawled message across the jawpiece. It appears to have been written in some sort of charcoal. The Charmander pays you no heed as you read the message:

Language: Undercommon

Spoiler:

Sethos turns to Z.

"Snarg is either drunk or extremely hung over".

He then offers the charmader some banana bread.

The Charmander takes the bread eagerly and places it in his mouth. Instead of eating it there, he trots off past the still-burning bush. He seems to be heading down a natural path to a nearby forested area. He glances back at you expectantly several times as he moves away.

Sethos stares suspiciously at the little charmader, then at Z then back at the charmander. Sensing he's unsure, Taku pokes him in the head and gives an approving yip, prompting Sethos to nod and follow the little lizard.

"Care to accompany me Z? I'd rather not have to carry an unconcious Snarg on my own".

Spoiler:

*Z is quite confused.*

"Uhh sure."

As you continue down the path, you quickly realize why there is a path here now. It was recently blazed, quite violently too. There are branches and other former obstacles scattered around everywhere, as if someone had ran straight through them in order to clear out the path.

The perpetrator is soon obvious as you eventually come to the end of the trail after a bit of walking. Snarg is at the end, hanging around a large branch of a tree, sleeping peacefully. Quite a few sticks, leaves, and other forest bits are sticking out from his fur. He also seems to be missing several pieces of his equipment, although fortunately he still has the 'essentials'. Zipar stops underneath him and points up, taking a large bite of the bread in the meantime.

Sethos lets out a chuckle at the sight of the state that is Snarg, he looks at Z, shrugs, and then walks over to Snarg, prodding him lightly with his walking stick in his fuzzy and dirty back.

Snarg, still half-asleep, bats at the walking stick. This sudden action unfortunately unbalances him and he tumbles off the branch, limbs flailing, and lands face-first on the ground with a thud. Zipar watches in amusement and strolls over to the fallen Gnoll.

The sudden stop does wake Snarg rather violently from his slumber. He rolls over and springs up in a fighting stance. His hand reflexively grasps at the air where his greatsword normally rests. However, it is missing from its back holster.

After a few attempts to grab the non-existant weapon, Snarg rubs his eyes and a look of realization comes across his face. "Oh, it's only bein' ya two, why ya bein-" he stops short and grabs his jaw. Zipar, still munching on the bread, arches his back in front of Snarg, showcasing the jawpiece. "Ah, thank ya, Zip'r."

After reattaching his jawpiece, Snarg attempts to speak again. "As I was saying: what are you two doing here knocking me out of a tree? I've got an, urgh," he rubs his temples, "bad headache after last night. I guess..." he pauses and scratches his ear thoughfully, "...you'd know about that, Z."

Looking back down the path, he looks over the trail of destruction with a surprise, yet slightly proud expression. "Whoa, looks like I went on some rampage. That's what always happens. Too bad I don't remember any of it and seem to have lost all my stuff." He doesn't seem to have noticed the writing on the jawpiece. In fact, it looks like he smeared the charcoal from the message all over his hands while reattaching it.

"Is that what they call a hangover? I've never actually seen someone have one in person."

*Z is looking at Snarg with a quizzical expression on her face quite clearly having no side effects from her massive alcohol consumption.*

"Uh ... yeah, it is. Usually don't end up with a broken nose though - just a headache." Snarg winces as he touches his nose. Making a few quick motions, he mutters in Undercommon and produces a weak flash of white light across his face. "Seems I was a bit mild though. Usually there's a bit more than a bit of wrecked bushes."

"That's better. Now, uh," he looks around the area, "anyone seen my gear?" He moves around the area, cleaning up the mess as he checks every nearby crack, crevice, and bush.

"You left a note to yourself on your mouth piece, but you've destroyed it now."

Snarg slaps his forehead. "Ooooooh! That's right! I always leave notes for myself so I know what happened!" For the first time, he seems to notice the blackened smears on his hands. After rubbing his hands off on his pants, he hurriedly takes off the jawpiece and squints at the smeared message. "Oh ... oops. Can't read it now. Er, what did it say? Did one of you read it?"

* z looks over at sethos.*

"I believe it said you buried your stuff at the big tree" He looks around at the trees all around them before looking back at Snarg "Can you tell which of these is biggest or are we going to need a tape measure?"

"The big tree....?"

Sethos squints at Z as he scratches his head.

"Well I think that's what it said anyway..."

"Oh ... wait ... hang on..." Snarg paces around in a circle muttering to himself. After at least a minute, he stops as his face lights up with a broad smile. "I DO know where that is! Come on!" He takes off further into the forest, grabbing Zipar up as he passes. The lizard squeaks in surprise, dropping the bread as he is carried off.

Sethos, a little surprised by the sudden change of pace, looks back at Z with a quick startled look before running after Snarg and his lizard friend.