There were claims of a giant snake within the Worth Woodsea forest. They started out as rumors by hikers who barely escaped with their lives, but these claims eventually were taken seriously when a settler from the Erwyr village came to Paradise Dawn seeking help. The villagers rarely ever leave the forest let alone interact with outsiders. The inhabitants are mainly druids who worship and respect nature, so believe the circle of life should be cherished, but the settler by the name of Chok'rin, sought help, explaining that the giant snake that was tormenting them was beginning to destroy the ecosystem, eating too much, too fast and destroying the plant life where ever he moved.

Brone approached Chok'rin and was surprised to see the human was dressed in clothing that mixed linen, leaves and feathers. He could easily tell his people didn't interact with the outside world much, so to seek help from the guild must have been a great risk. "Big snake? Yeah, no problem, I'll take care of yer snake for ye" The dwarf said as he finished the cooked chicken leg he was munching down on.

After donning his full armor and weapons, and leaving a note stating he was off on a quest, Brone followed Chok'rin to the forest which took a few days on foot. They would have normally taken a wagon at least half way, but given that word of the giant snake had spread in the region, people have been restricting travel. After the few days of travel, the two have reached the last known sighting of the giant snake deep within the forest.

"By the Stone" Brone gasped as he examined the destruction that was before him. For miles he had trekked through thick trees and vegetation, but now he stood in a wide open open where many trees had fallen, brush have been crushed and the earth was pressed or upturned. "Ye sure it was a snake that did this?" Brone asked and Chok'rin nodded.

The two of them had taken a moment to track the direction of where the snake went by viewing the slithering prints upon the ground. Judging by how wide the slither prints were, the dwarf was sure the snake stretched as far as the length of the entire guild territory. He worried, but he was not fearful, he kept telling himself that he had faced much scarier things in his days in order to keep himself from dropping the quest all together. Taking one look at the worried Chok'rin also reminded him that he took on this quest for the sake of the Erwyr people as well.

After about three hours of trekking, Chok'rin pointed out that the sun was setting and that they needed to head back to his village to rest, but Brone gestured for him to go on without him. The Erwyr native showed concern, but Brone mentioned to him that dwarves did well in darkness so there was nothing to worry about. After some convincing, Chok'rin went on towards his village, leaving the dwarf to follow the destruction the giant snake had left in it's wake.

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The last rays of light vanished when Brone finally heard some sort of noise. No doubt because of the giant snake, the animals in the region had fled, which left the dwarf as the only source of any noise, the constant metal on metal clanging from his armor. He came to a halt and listened. There was movement, breaking of branches in the distance he believed, but he needed to make sure, so he looked about himself, listening as best as he could. With his dwarven eyes, he could pierce through the evening shadows that blanketed the area, but he had trouble trying to see through the thick of the trees that were lining the track of the slithering prints.

Then there was another sound of branches breaking that came from behind him, so she spun around around and searched. His main hand went to the handle of his golden axe that was stowed upon his back, but as he viewed into the darkness and tried to see through the lining of the trees, it was the same result. After a few minutes of silence, he began to wonder if it was his imagination that was playing tricks on him.

Suddenly, there was movement, beyond the lining of the trees was a long silhouette that was moving from left to right, it was the shape of a snake... a gargantuan snake. Then Brone heard a hiss, but coming from behind him. Just as the dwarf turned his head, a giant snake head struck with great speed. The large fangs, like the size of long swords bit into the golden armor; at the same time the snake flinched from pain, the golden armor's biteback ability caused damage to the viper, causing it to try and launch Brone away, but the dwarf was sturdy, he was well grounded in the dirt to be moved. The snake then reeled back just as quickly as it struck.

Now Brone could see the gargantuan snake in it's full glory. It took him a second to realize that the snake used it's lower body as a distraction so the head can strike from behind. A clever tactic from an animal, though it showed that the length of the snake in full was great enough to encircle the entire area without the dwarf even noticing.

"Ye ain't catching me with that move again" Brone said as he drew both his axe, with his golden axe held up in the air. The blue helmet upon the dwarf's head emitted a chilling cold air, which caused the snake to flinch again, but not pull away. The lengthy body began to come into view, encircling the dwarf as the head of the snake elevated, looking down upon it's prey; all the while Brone stared at the beast, daring it to make an attack.

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The dwarf and the snake stared at one another for half a minute. Each waiting for the other to make a move. Though Brone wasn't experienced with how snakes are in combat, he had learned to be patience like stone, knowing that these beast, as large it is, was quick with it's strikes. It's length body began to move again, coiling as the circle that was it's body was enclosing on the dwarf, to which Brone realized eventually the circle would close in to allow the snake to bind him, so he had to strike first before he was trapped.

As the snake's body encircling the dwarf came close, Brone made his move and brought the axe down upon the body, at that moment the snake moved in to attack, but it didn't realize the dwarf was activating his helmet's spell. A gust of strong cold area erupted from the dwarf, causing the snake to slow as it's body began to ice over. The golden axe slammed into the body of the snake, causing it to bleed. Though the snake's head was slowed, it was still moving in for the strike; this gave Brone enough time to move his green axe in the way to collide with the upper fangs of the snake, while his left boot caught the jaw. The snake was held at back.

After a few seconds of trying to pushed itself onto the dwarf, the snake then gave up on the strike and pulled away. This time the encircling body expanded and vanished beyond the brush and trees. Brone looked for the head and realized that too was gone. Now the snake was hidden again. "By the Stone, as big as this beasty is, it's able to hide away so easily" His head turned here and there, wondering where the reptile went, though he couldn't see it, he heard it slithering and hissing.

He didn't know what to do, the snake could technically strike from any direction because it's body was all around him. He was sure if he tried to run for any cover, the snake would make a move. Though because of magical frost spell of Casdae's Edict, the snake was slower so that Brone could possibly react in time, hopefully.

The hissing then stopped which put the dwarf on edge. A bead of sweat had formed and ran down the side of his face as he was looking all about him. Every so often, he would see branches and shrugs move and hear twigs break, but it didn't tell him anything, for the sounds were coming from everywhere.

Then suddenly the moved. It's head burst from the cover of five trees and attacked Brone at his blind spot. The dwarf tried to turn around in time, but the fangs were already sinking in through the shoulder guards of his armor, breaking them. It seem the snake tried to push the dwarf to the ground, then tried to pull him, but it soon realized that no matter what, it wouldn't be able to move the stubborn dwarf.

Brone swung his axe upward to try and hit the nose of the beast, but the snake pulled back and was already going back into hiding. "Damn you, reptile! Fight like ye have honor!" Brone yelled as he ran after the snake.

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The dwarf ran into the brush and looked all about himself, but the snake had already slithered away. "How!?" he yelled; this seemed impossible for a gargantuan creature with such a lengthy body to just easily vanish. Brone shook his head and tried to calm himself. So far he was winning the fight, right before the snake had vanished, there was a trickle of blood that was escaping the reptile's mouth, meaning the biteback ability of the golden armor was having it's affect. So if the beast continue to strike, then it may weaken itself before Brone lost his armor due to damage, but then he wondered whether the snake would retreat entirely. Would it be possible to chase after such an elusive being, regardless of it's size?

The sound of a tree being uprooted drew Brone's attention and he spotted a falling tree heading his way. He quickly lunged out of the way before the might tree slammed onto the forest floor. As he turned his head, he spotted the slithering body of the snake before it vanished beyond the brush again. "The damn thing is too smart" the dwarf realized the snake acknowledged the biteback ability and was trying to avoid it, now it resorted to having the trees fall upon the dwarf. This was Brone's mistake, he had chased the reptile into the cluster of trees, now he needed to get back to the clearing where it was safe.

Brone ran for the clearing, but as he burst through the tree line, the large body of the snake appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around him. No he was being lifted into the air as the head of the snake emerged from the other side of the clearing, getting ready to strike at it's meal. Luckily for Brone, he managed to raise his right arm in time before it too was pressed against his body in the bind. He activated one of the spells of the golden axe by bellowing a battle cry, his strength increased. The snake battled against Brone by squeezing him, tightening it's body against him while Brone fought against it. Then he activated another spell, causing his golden axe to quadruple in size, then he brought the axe down upon the coiled body of the snake "Release me, vile beast!" the large axe struck the body of the snake and the beast hissed while uncoiling and releasing the dwarf, dropping him to the forest floor.

Brone quickly got back to his feet as the snake struck again, it's teeth pierced the back and front of the armor, the dwarf's head in the mouth of the snake. As the armor cracked, the snake bled more, but it didn't let go, he kept it's grip on the dwarf and began to slowly swallow him, "No ye don't!" Brone yelled as he tried to move his arms, but he couldn't gain enough room to swing either of his axes. He was now in deep trouble.

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The dwarf was in trouble. He was slowly being swallowed by the titanoboa of a snake. It was smart enough to know that strike and pressure against him would harm itself, but once swallowed, the fight would be over. As the dwarf cried out in anger and frustration, his legs were the only things left to be seen, slowly going down the throat of the reptile. "Release me!" Brone cried out down the throat of the snake, saliva dripping onto his face as all he could see is the endless-looking wet tunnel that was before him.

How cruel of an end this was, to be eaten alive and no one would ever find his body. But the dwarf was stubborn so he continued to wiggle and fight against the beast, but nothing had changed except for the distance Brone was within the snake. He was now fully swallowed. And now the snake was satisfied and began to slither along the forest floor, looking for a place to relax and take a nap while it digested it's new meal.

The forest was quiet save for the slithering, every now and then, trees would be pushed over, alerting animals to run away, knowing something massive was in the vicinity. Then suddenly something caused the snake to stop. It lifted it's head before it started to coil it's body, then it started to slither aggressively, running it's belly across the floor.

It hissed loudly, not knowing what to do, but it was too late, It's belly was sliced opened, Brone had cast a spell while making the wide slice, causing a tornado to erupt from the belly of the beast. Then the snake was severed, it's upper body on one side of the clearing and the lower body on the other side.

Brone stood up, though with difficulty, head to toe in slime of stomach acid that was beginning to eat through his armor and cloths. He looked north to see the upper part of the dead snake and then south to where the lower part of the snake was. After a quiet moment to make sure the beast was really dead, and of course a few whacks from his axes, Brone confirmed the kill and began to walk towards the direction of the Erwyr village... or so he hoped. He had collapsed onto the floor after a few meters and fell asleep. The next morning he awake to find himself between the two halfs of the snake which reminded him of the night prior. He then got up, fully rejuvenated, though needing a shower. And began heading his way to the village. The quest was completed and he needed to not only turn in the quest by reporting to Chok'rin, letting him and his people know that they were now safe, but to head back home and let his guild know that the region is safe from the snake... if they even knew they were in danger.

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[Exit]