(OOC: A few questions. Are we now close to where the Old Man told us we had previously died?  Is the snakeskin what smelled of decay, or is the smell coming from something else?  And can any of us make out a rough idea of how big the giant snake is?)

(You are maybe 2/3 of the way. You've gone about 300' into the swamp. The snakeskin is not what's making the smell. It's coming from further in the direction of where you can see a snake through the trees. Judging from the skin you estimate it's 40-50')

"Um...I really hate to come across as a chicken, but that's a big snake! I don't know if we can take it between ourselves. It may well be what killed us last time, so now might be the time to go check out the local towns, see if they have any information on it? Of course, I'm not one to run away from a fight, and we've come this far, so if you all want to keep on and fight it now, I'll obviously be the first one in! But, well... that's a very big snake...<cough...not scared...cough>"

"That might be wise Tormir" (Does it look like the snake is moving at all?)

No. It does not look to be moving. There have also been some decent perception checks that didn't indicate their was danger near.

OOC: Ah. Ok. I had just assumed we weren't close enough to register the danger yet. But that, and the smell of decay makes sense now. Tormir is ashamed of being such a wuss, but then, he's not very bright, and his rolls have been awful!

As Lorros bothers to actually look and observe that the snake is not moving, Tormir shakes the cowardice out of his head, and continues onwards- still warily, but slowly moving forwards. "Do you think it's already dead?" he asks Lorros.

(OOC: Is it still metagaming if it's just correcting a previous misunderstanding?)

(LOL. It's all good. I think it's funny you got all jumpy!)

Jim says: “Let’s press on, I’m not getting any younger!”

Making your way over and getting closer there's no doubt where the smell was coming from. There are signs of a battle here with broken tree branches and arrows and bolts littering the ground and, of course, the giant dead snake. It's suffered many wounds and you can see that it ate something or somethings before it died. It has a bulge not far behind it's head.

As soon as he sees the bulge behind it's head, Tormir says, "That'd better not be me in there!" - not quite thinking things through before saying them - and he runs up with his greataxe and hacks at the snake, trying to find its last meal. 

Lorros goes to one of the arrows in the area, picks it up and compares it to the ones in his quiver. Are they the same? Investigation: 3

Fortunately you don't really need that investigation roll, the arrows are a match.

(LOL when I saw the roll come up I thought you might say that I couldn't find a single arrow!)

Does Tormir manage to hack into the snake and find what/who it ate last?

Yes you do. It's a grisly job and you almost retch at the smell as you hack into it. Once you get the snake opened up enough you can see that there's a human in there.

(sorry about the late post on that. I had read your post last night and was laughing at the possibilities of finding yourselves in there and forgot to post what you really found. lol)

"Don't worry, it's a human. So at least it's not me in there." Tormir says, with a slightly awkward glance at Jim. "I wouldn't get too close though, I think you need a dwarven  constitution to deal with the smell."

Tormir is going to go even deeper into the gore to see if there's anything on the human that might be identified by anyone in town. Investigation: 3

((Tormir would like to find some new dice in amongst the gore. Also, I think he just finally threw up!))

(lol. I'm trying out my "Dice Rolls Suck" hack on you... looks like it works. haha j/k but damn dude! :)

Yeah, Tormir, you hurl as a slimy and crushed human slides out of the snake. You don't notice too much about the human while you're retching but Jim notices the human is wearing a very familiar looking shirt.

Jim shakes his head, mutters something and then gets a distant, cold and calculating look. With a clear sense of detachment he analyses the scene and looks for clues, included what looks like his own corpse.

Investigation: 8

Jim, well the first thing you notice, with great relief, is that it's not your own corpse. It is however wearing a shirt with a name tag that says "Tim". Your relief is short lived as a wave of dread washes over you as you get a flash of a memory of you and Tim sitting around a table laughing together over a couple pints. Despite your analytical disposition you momentarily suffer a great feeling of loss as it become apparent to you that Tim was someone of great importance in your life.

You are pretty shaken up and have to take a moment to collect yourself before continuing your investigation.

 Is the snake (and now "Tim") the only corpse here? We've come across a battle site, have any other corpses been taken away? (I'm aware that 4 of those "corpses" may have just walked back in, but am looking for any other debris from the battle that wasn't apparent on first glance)

Investigation if necessary: 9