Rise of a Regent Campaign Thread

Game Master Illydth

As Selena follows Lash and Dirk into the room, the crystalline structure of everything around her appeals to her. "It's like being in a dream," she murmured, before gagging at the smell. "At least we can rest here for a short while. Dirk, let me see your injury."

Selena pulls off her backpack to rummage for her healing kit.

Sulfur, mercury, crystals, and gems. Heh. :P Reminds me of Heroes of Might and Magic

"Thinking this would be a good place to hide a tiera Fyird begins to look around.

1d20 ⇒ 18 Perception.

I'm assuming Fyird found nothing in the cloaks or boots in the previous room?

Lash looks back over her shoulder at Mird.

"Wow...that was....just....wow."

Shaking her head she takes in the chaos of the room, her eyes locking on the ruby.

"Nobody touch that, it's probably poisoned or worse. Lena can you tell if it's magic?"

Her eyes begin combing the area for any indication of a trap of some kind.

Perception 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Appraise on ruby 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 "ooohhh, shiny :p"

btw nice job on the action movie description of the shot, very cool

Illydth, very cool depiction of the arrow shot. I appreciate the time you take to guide us through this experience.

"Ok, the trick part is finding the Tiara without breaking anything..."

Mird will wait until the "magic" members decide if we need to do a search or something else.

I'm assuming Fyird found nothing in the cloaks or boots in the previous room?

Fyird you missed DM's earlier post: "Fyird: You feel nothing in any of the pockets (other than a couple of holes) and the slippers look as if they're hanging on to usefulness by mere threads."

Also, I made a request of you in a recent post - are you ok with it? Earlier in the campaign you would track your performances with "Bardic Music 4/5" - I found that really helpful for remembering whether to apply your bonuses or not.

I'm going to hold the searches here for a second as I needed Thantos's response before allowing you guys to go off in this room.

I can see where your re-question is coming in Fyird since I started action on you in the same post I told you you found nothing. You DID have time to search the pockets and look at the robes before Dirk opened the door. You found nothing of any value at all (including the robes/slippers themselves).

Fyird Olaafson wrote:

I'm assuming Fyird found nothing in the cloaks or boots in the previous room?

Fyird you missed DM's earlier post: "Fyird: You feel nothing in any of the pockets (other than a couple of holes) and the slippers look as if they're hanging on to usefulness by mere threads."

Also, I made a request of you in a recent post - are you ok with it? Earlier in the campaign you would track your performances with "Bardic Music 4/5" - I found that really helpful for remembering whether to apply your bonuses or not.

"I'll have to dig out my old Beta rules to refresh myself, but yeah no problem".

In a stern, directive voice, Thantos says, "Don't go poking around here too much, unless you want to be transformed into a goat, get turned undead or maybe even something worse."

"Our Wizard friend has a number of unattended concoctions brewing forth magic."

"Watch it!!", Thantos exclaims as a test tube spontaneously bursts spilling its contents across table. The liquid glows briefly as is slowly spreads out across the table.

Thantos continues, "This might very well be a GREAT place to hide something, but I am not sure how much we can safely move while we investigate the area. It might be best if you allow me and our nimble friend Lash to carefully investigate things in here while the rest of you move back out of this room."

Thantos pauses while he waits for the group to respond.

"Ok" Says Mird crouching

"Let me see if we can find something here"

Mird will scan the floor without leaving his position. He is searching for some natural path that the Wizard would do to circle around the room without breaking his own stuff. If he finds something he will tell Lash

Tracking at 1/2 speed: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

I see why nobody plays Bards. They can do a little of everything, but really aren't good at anything, and seem to be relegated to standing around a lot singing while everybody else does things. Maybe there OK in a City based social campaign, but Fyird feels kind of useless here...Don't search, Not good in Melee, Not good in Ranged, and not much opportunity for extra experience. Oh well I've come this far, might as well see it out. Just somebody reach over and turn on the play button for bonuses when needed

Dirk experiences several things in rapid succession; his sword glancing off the crystal monster, the healing touch of his friend, the light brush of an arrow's feather on his shoulder followed by the complete disintegration of his foe. Uncertain for a moment, Dirk menacingly brandishes his sword at the pile of dust - until he notices the ranger's arrow shaft.

Turning to regard the Ranger, Dirk notices that everyone else is doing the same thing - regarding Mird in awe. "Nice shot", the warrior offers.

Hearing Selena's request, Dirk seems confused for a moment, unsure of which half-healed wound to present to her - so he will simply nod graciously and step towards her. "I'm fine, really. But if you have something that I may use to wipe the blood off my face I would be grateful."

Dirk will leave the searching of the room to the others.

New Total Damage: -5

Hearing about the inherent danger of the room, Selena agrees to move back to the previous room.

"The meditation room might be quiet enough for me to at least reset that nose. Lash, grab me a few crystals or interesting gemstones if you can."

Back in the meditation room, Selena applies some ointment to Dirk's slightly bent nose, then wraps a bandage lightly around his head and grips the bandaged nose firmly between the knuckles of her first two fingers.

"This is probably going to hurt a little. Here I have something for the pain."

She pulls out a small vial from the healing kit, handing it to Dirk to drink.

Healing Deadly Wounds 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 2 = 26

A nice lucky roll! That heals 4 hitpoints!

With an audible crunching noise, the nose returns to its original position.

"Keep the bandage on for a day or two. The ointment should keep it from getting too sore."

For those of you who like, there are some wonderful musical youtube videos and a better picture linked in my profile, for your viewing enjoyment.

Mird: Using your tracking skills you can somewhat make out what might be a path among some of the equipment on the floor. Your vision and inspection cannot reach the far ends of the rooms and there are too many tables and other obstructions for you to get a full view of a path through the entire room, that said, you can make out some areas that are less strewn about with fragile equipment.

Due to the cleverness of the plan I'm seeing laid out here, I'm going to forgo the called for random chance of knocking something over during the search. Instead, I have a tracking roll from Mird, I'd like an acrobatics roll from Lash and a Craft:Alchemy roll from Thantos. (If Alchemy isn't one of the listed skills, it doesn't much matter, all your crafting skills are at +4 if I remember correctly). Based upon the success/failure of the rolls we'll determine what happens. If anyone else has skills that might help/increase the chances of Lash being mobile around the room please let me know what they are, how you'd like to apply them and then make a roll on the skills.

As Lash hasn't yet committed to the search, I'll let her respond with willingness before giving final results.

Back in the meditation room, Dirk, Selena and Armand (Fryid, I don't know if you're staying in the lab to assist with the search or if you're heading back to the safer meditation room) await the results of the Lab search. Selena sets Dirk's nose, the pain sharp but fleeting as the salve does it's job. (Dirk, new HP: -1)

Acrobatics 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Dammit!!!

Don't worry about it too much, lets see what we get on Alchemy.

Craft (alchemy) check: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

1337 alchemy roll :)

Ok, now it is time to worry...hehehehe

There are a couple of VERY close calls as Thantos and Mird guide Lasciel around the room.

At one point the heel of Lash's boot manages to catch the top of a stoppered beaker sitting on the floor and ripped the stopper out...a foul pungent oder almost immediately filled the room causing the three of you to hack and cough violently for several moments, but no ill effects seem to have persisted after the air cleared. Another time a beaker burst mere feet from lash, but having been warned that the contents looked unstable ahead of time, Lash was able to avoid the brunt of the explosion, taking only a small cut across the top of the forearm from flying glass (Lash takes a point of damage.). Several times Lash wandered into "dead end" areas of floor, seemingly impassible through the glass and metal tubes and contraptions laying around, some bridging tables, others just strung out on the floor. At one of these points, given a description of the containers and the contraption and the liquid within, Thantos remembers an experiment he, himself, had done years back in Kethlenica with the same equipment. Guiding Lash expertly through the process he manages to have Lash vent some of the trapped gas harmlessly and disconnect enough of the hoses and materials to have Lash continue past the "dead end" to a mid sized storage cabinet, holding several rare components.

All in all, the search of the room takes over an hour. Minor missteps caused some of the materials to inadvertently mix while being packed away and become useless (including once where, before Thantos could stop her, Lash dropped a handful of two similar looking but very chemically different silvery powders into the same pouch, causing the contents to erupt, violently from the somewhat open top and eating through the bottom of the small leather bag. Luckily no one was caught by any of the mixture, but the compounds were obviously ruined).

The bad news is that the resulting search did not turn up the Tiara, nor Kavorquian's Journal, and you are all very sure that the search was thorough enough to have found either of these if they did exist in the room. The good news, however, is that the search did turn up several powders, mixtures, and rare elements, as well as some smaller alchemical equipment and brass/bronze/copper alchemical tools that are easily worth several hundred gold, as well as several scraps of paper with alchemical recipes. Finally a small volume was found within the storage cabinet containing more recipes as well as a potion bottle marked "minor healing".

Ok, so your room search did not turn up the items you were looking for, however we're going to call this 400 gold of alchemical items, mixtures, equipment, and raw materials. Stone weight on the equipment, materials, and small tools is 10, so please record this in a batch of 4 and 6 (6 for the tools and equipment and 4 for the raw materials). Given Thantos's alchemical knowledge you realize you've picked up enough stuff to provide the basics of your own alchemical lab. While you obviously don't have the space or the time right now, and you obviously don't have EVERYTHING you might need, you do have materials and recipes now to create some of your own potions and perhaps even have some basics for enchanting items in the future.

For the moment I'm not going to categorize every item you've found. You can note it on your sheets as "basic alchemical equipment" and "basic alchemical materials". If, in the future, you find you have need of a specific item (say a small gem or gem dust, some kind of material, etc.) feel free to reference the equipment or materials and ask if something like that might be contained within. We're going to assume the packing is "good enough" not to cause problems in carrying.

The three of you exit the Lab through the small hallway/closet and come back into the Meditation room where Armand, Fyird, Dirk and Selena await.

Coming down the home stretch here guys, what's next?

Who is carrying the alchemical equipment?

Seeing Mird, Thantos and Lash returning Dirk asks, "We ready to move?"

If there is nothing else we need to do in here, Dirk will move out of the room and down the hall to the southern door - then step aside to allow Lash to disable her trap.

Mird: Using your tracking skills you can somewhat make out what might be a path among some of the equipment on the floor. Your vision and inspection cannot reach the far ends of the rooms and there are too many tables and other obstructions for you to get a full view of a path through the entire room, that said, you can make out some areas that are less strewn about with fragile equipment.

Due to the cleverness of the plan I'm seeing laid out here, I'm going to forgo the called for random chance of knocking something over during the search. Instead, I have a tracking roll from Mird, I'd like an acrobatics roll from Lash and a Craft:Alchemy roll from Thantos. (If Alchemy isn't one of the listed skills, it doesn't much matter, all your crafting skills are at +4 if I remember correctly). Based upon the success/failure of the rolls we'll determine what happens. If anyone else has skills that might help/increase the chances of Lash being mobile around the room please let me know what they are, how you'd like to apply them and then make a roll on the skills.

As Lash hasn't yet committed to the search, I'll let her respond with willingness before giving final results.

Back in the meditation room, Dirk, Selena and Armand (Fryid, I don't know if you're staying in the lab to assist with the search or if you're heading back to the safer meditation room) await the results of the Lab search. Selena sets Dirk's nose, the pain sharp but fleeting as the salve does it's job. (Dirk, new HP: -1)

** spoiler omitted **...

DM

Lash shakes her head in fatigue from the stressful search of the room. she hands Selina a few simple gemstones pocketed from a group on a table.

"Here you go," she says with a wink and a grin.

"Thank you. Looks like you got caught on something."

Selena accepts the stones then points at the scratch on Lash's arm.

Anything else we want to do here before we move you down the hallway?

"Yeah,broken glass"

The seven of you get things organized and with a nod, start heading down the hall toward the door at the south.

You're still a good 30' back, the light barely reaching the doorway when you realize something is wrong...very wrong.

The door is still obviously closed and looks untouched...but Lash's trap, her dagger and her alchemist's fire, are gone...

Barely visible from where you are standing you see two coal black footprints just outside the south doorway. There is absolutely no sign of other footprints anywhere...from the door to the coal room, all the way down the hall to the south door is still as clean as it was when you entered the east room...other than the single pair of black footprints out front of the south door and the missing dagger/potion trap.

Spotting the footprints, Dirk turns to Lash, "Were those footprints present when you inspected this hallway?"

Then turning to Mird, "Can you tell from where they came?"

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 5

Dirk is doing a quick sweep for any signs of danger.

"Ok, let me see what I've got"

Tracking at 1/2 speed:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Mird: Your tracking turns up nothing. The floor of the hallway is immaculate. There are no footprints from the door exiting the guard house either up or down the hall except the single set of perfectly made immaculate footprints standing just outside the south door. The stone of the floor is swept clean, no coal dust clumped or even visible. The entire hallway is exactly as you left it when you first entered the east door almost 2 hours earlier: except no knife, no potion, and two perfect footprints outside the south door.

"No there was nothing there at all, it's almost like someone teleported there, took apart my trap then left."

"Lash, if the your trap were activated we would be able to see a lot of fire damage on the door right?"

"It is possible that if it was not activated our "friends" could use it against us. It would be nice to check for traps before opening that door..."

Dirk nods his head in agreement with Mird, then turns to regard Lash.

Lash steps up to the door, amused by the idea of checking for a trap that she originally set on this side of the door.

Perception1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

No traps here boss!

Well done folks, you've just averted about 2d6 damage in the face!

Wanted to take this opportunity to re-stress that (as you've done in this case) providing details on what you are doing does help. This is one case where specifying what you are looking for: i.e. Mird mentioning that they might use your own trap against you, is helping you out. Generally a 9 would be enough for me to say "heh, nope, no traps here!", instead given that Mird has asked you to SPECIFICALLY check for the same kind of trap that Lash originally set has lowered the difficulty level AND given Lash a bonus.

Here's how I am applying this "behind the scenes". I set the difficulty level of this trap at 20...especially given that the person setting this is doing so with extra care to hide it. Were you to have no idea at all related to this, this'd be a really hard trap to find.

However, you realize someone else is down here and you've run into a trap before that was set against you. This automatically takes the difficulty level down to 15, it's still a hard trap to find, but you should situationally be aware that the possibility exists that the door could likely be trapped. Were no one to have said ANYTHING I would have applied this 15 difficulty to a small bonus (below) and told you no trap existed...and you'd have likely taken 2d6 in the face. :)

However, Mird recognized not only that the potential was there, but identified that because the trap was missing from this side of the door there might be a correlation between it and those you already know to be in the dungeon. By asking you to check for traps because the previous one went missing it proved he had made the connection between the missing trap and the interference of another person. You might suggest that that shouldn't have needed to have been mentioned, that that information was "obvious", but I can't read minds...because he mentioned it I can act on it without "assuming". Because of this I am providing a +3 bonus to checking for traps...the assumption is made that there's not just the possibility but the likely hood of a trap existing...in real terms, Lash would likely "check twice" or more when the first check doesn't turn something up.

Finally, the real kicker was the comment that whoever took the trap might use it against you. This takes the insight above one step farther...not only do you recognize that the prior trap is gone but that there is some irony in it being set against you (Lash's comment points this out as well). This would cause a rational thinking person like Lash in this situation to pay attention to the SPECIFICS of how this trap might work...not only is she checking for traps in general, but the tell-tail signs of this trap exactly. This provides me another 5 point bonus to the trap check bringing the difficulty down to 10...

Were Lash to have confirmed in her trap checking message "Ok, so I'll check for traps in general but I want to pay close attention of any signs that my own dagger / alchemist fire trap is being used against us. I'll check for the metal glint of my dagger sticking in the wood of the door or look through any cracks between the wooden slat to see if I can make out anything that might look like the potion bottle or my dagger." I would have given this trap check automatically. If you can guess to a reasonable degree (by following the story) what is in store for you, I take the randomness out of the success completely. Note however that the additional -5 to the difficulty came only because you did manage to closely guess what was set against you...still, even had you been WAY off, you STILL wouldn't have hurt your chances at finding the trap, you'd just not have gotten the additional bonus.

As it is, 20 difficulty - 5 for knowing people are around and are likely to set this - 5 for checking for a specific trap = 10 Difficulty. 9 Roll + 3 for understanding that a trap is likely to be set here so taking special care to find one = 12...you found your trap! :)

At Mird's suggestion, Lash and the rest of you nod your heads at the obvious irony involved in using your own trap against you. Lash moves toward the door and again hears the odd scuffling / scraping coming from inside the room. Ignoring the sounds for a moment, Lash moves up to the door and carefully checks it for traps, paying close attention to the leather wrapped door handle to check for the same kind of needle trap you suspect was set against you earlier. Failing that Lash checks the cracks in the door and the door jam for other tell tail signs of common traps being set.

Seeing nothing, she nods her head once and turns toward Dirk, ready to pronounce the door clean...until a funny feeling comes over her. In mid turn you all see Lash stop and slowly close her eyes then shake her head and turn back toward the door.

Less quickly this time, Lash runs her hands all over the door from top to bottom with her eyes closed, following the natural cracks and crevices in the wood closest to the door jam, careful not to jostle the door much. After several minutes Lash gives a soft "ouch" and withdraws her hand quickly from the door...a small spot of blood on her index finger from a cut. Going back to the crack she carefully checks it and finds a shard of steel in a deep crack in the door...enshrouded in the darkness of the crack itself and surrounded by wood, it would have been practically impossible to find.

Bringing a light source close, she finds only a couple of hair's width of steel shaped to a point poking out of the wood in the crack.

You've found your trap. Grinning slowly, Lash turns and nods at each of you, acknowledging the existence of what you suspect is exactly what Mird mentioned: your own trap, set on the other side of the door.

Lash: You have two options at this point to disarm the trap. You can either use a sharp object like a metal spike, another dagger, sword, or anything with a point, to push the dagger point out of the door, likely dropping what you expect to be the bottle of Alchemists fire sitting on the dagger to the floor and triggering the trap on the other side of the closed door. This will require you to make an acrobatics check to be back far enough in the heartbeat it takes for the potion to slam against the floor not to be caught by the flames. There are alternatives that involve knocking the potion farther into the room that I would be willing to listen to as well, but requiring the same acrobatics roll.

The other option you have is "disable device". This will allow you to finesse your way into causing the potion not to fall off the dagger as you open the door. This will allow you to "save" the potion and the dagger for future use. Let me know which of these options (or come up with your own) you'd like to pursue.

Selena is thoughtful for a moment as she considers something from her own recollection of dreams and forbidden lore. She turns to Thantos.

"I heard, once, of a spell that enabled its owner to move things without touching them from a distance. Do you have such a spell in your repertoire?"

/clap Mird

Deciding against a good-natured jest at Lash's expense, Dirk offers only, "Impressive", to both Lash and Mird.

Hearing Selena's question, Dirk turns to face the Mage - interested in Thantos's answer.

Till we get past the door and the trap here there's not much else I can contribute to moving the campaign along. We're on the last legs of this dungeon at this point so if we can get cleaned up here we're likely to be done with this section of the campaign by early next week.

Yeah, thread's gone quiet lately. I'm assuming its work for most people. While I haven't quite gotten laid off, my hours have been reduced significantly. :(

"Selena, I know there are such Wizardly powers. I am not personally capable of such an ability."

"Magic Hand" is a 0-level bard spell... Perhaps Fyird can take a crack at it.

"Magic Hand" is a 0-level bard spell... Perhaps Fyird can take a crack at it.

Great Idea. I forgot I picked that up at 2nd level

"Everyone stand back from the door. maybe I can do something here".

Fyird begins humming the new song he had been practicing, and his dagger slowly floats to the door attempting to push the dagger through from a distance.

Lash takes a few steps back ready to launch into a backflip at a moment's notice.

Selena watches the dagger slide across the floor and moves to a safe distance from the door as it comes closer. She gathers the heavenly flame to her palm just in case something untoward should happen.

So I started this 3 times and got interrupted 3 times, lets see if I can finish it now...

Fyird's dagger floats up off the floor and slowly raises to just above waist height. It floats toward the door and angles toward the crack in the door where Lash found the tip of the dagger lodged into the door on the other side.

With a flash the floating dagger shoots forward and a metal on metal ping sounds as Fyird's dagger lodges into the door in the same place as the dagger on the other side, knocking it clear of it's tenuous hold on the door easily. A simultaneous clang of metal on stone followed by the distinctive sound of glass shattering greets your ears and a wave of heat immediately washes over you. As quickly as the heat, the door bursts into flame, the fire clawing along the slightly damp and semi-rotting wood, having a hard time catching hold, yet something continuing to force it to burn.

Several droplets of an oily liquid splatter under the door and almost immediately burst into flame, small fires licking the under and north side of the bottom of the door, while the cracks and crevices in the wooden door on the south side are a bright red/orange indicating that the entire south side of the door is aflame. Black smoke billows up into the south room with some of it being sucked into the northern hallway where you are as the flame on the south side of the door hungrily sucks up oxygen from the surrounding air.

An inhuman screech from the other side of the room gives you a confirmation of occupation of the room beyond, a high pitched whine follows the screech.

The flash from the ignition of the alchemists fire startles you and blinds you for a brief second, your eyes having adjusted to the gloom of the dungeon in the past hours of adventuring. While clearing your eyesight and trying to recover, you hear the crackle of the flame eating at the wood of the door and the pop of the warping wood due to the immense heat.

After several seconds the raging inferno stops and disappears almost as quickly as it appeared. Small fires still dot the door and sections continue to burn form the intense heat, while the wet wood resists the attempts of the wood to ignite completely.

The high pitched whine calms and, as seconds more pass, subsides completely...the whine reminding you of a terror-stricken dog.

Finally, after a couple of minutes during which your eyes adjust back to the darkness and the fires on the door all but subside, you step forward to again quickly examine the door.

The frame and door itself are still intact, the pull handle on this side of the door is warm, but not extremely hot, a sign that the fire burned quickly and subsided quickly. Several new cracks have appeared in the wood of the door and one panel is practically dislodged from the top support, it having warped and pulled almost completely away from the cross brace used to hold it in place.

Ready for whatever you'd like to do next.

Hoping to catch the whimpering occupant while still disoriented (and in pain) from the blast, Dirk will yank the door handle and step inside - sword at the ready!

Selena looks over at Fyird with a mischievous smile.

"Not bad! Glad I thought of it."

She maintains the heavenly fire in her palm, prepared to use it if necessary, and follows Dirk at a distance.

"Good job," Lash steps into the doorway, rapier in hand.

Mird will try to hide and enter the room unnoticed after the others. He thinks the smoke and the mess caused by the fire would be his allies on this fight.

Stealth : 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Tried to get this out last night but I ran out of time.

The room you enter is completely and utterly destroyed...far beyond the capabilities of the small potion that just went off in the room.

This is obviously another laboratory of some sorts, different in many ways from the last you were in. Standard metal and wooden cabinets line the walls, high up, of this rectangular room, of the same style and type as that in the prior laboratory. Of the room itself, these cabinets and a bookcase are about the ONLY things still intact.

Piles of metallic dust lay everywhere, some larger scraps of metal, iron, steel, or metallic material, lay in heaps all around the room, rust covering everything. A pile of wood, a large flat part of it looking like a scarred oaken tabletop, lays in the south eastern most corner in a heap. The surfaces of the table look undamaged, but the structure itself is completely fallen apart, as if every fastener that held it together had come undone or been taken out. A wooden bookshelf, standing sturdily next to the collapsed table, and the books on it all seem unmarred by the destruction of the room.

All around the room, bodies of smallish creatures lay strewn about small piles of rust, many obviously in advanced stages of decomposition. To a creature (at least those you recognize), they're all emaciated, gaunt and obviously starved...and all quite dead.

Your eyes are drawn to holes in the floor and ceiling, evenly spaced about two inches apart, in a 10' x 20' rectangle with a set of holes splitting the center of it (creating 2 10x10 sections). Laying one within each section are two creatures you do not recognize. One is lizard-like but much much larger than any lizard you have ever seen, particularly any lizard native to this area of Norwold. It's corpse is, however, shriveled almost to a husk, like everything else in the area, having died obviously of starvation.

The second creature is at least 3 feet long with many small legs and looks like a vastly overgrown yellow and green centipede. Several tentacles have grown out of it's head and two eyes, on stalks, are dark and dead looking. A pair of wicked looking mandibles, several rows of very sharp teeth, and the faint scent of rotting meat complete this display of horror.

A wooden cage rests against one wall, the wood of it's door splintered and cracked, a wooden spike, obviously meant to keep the wooden crate closed, lays snapped in half on the floor of the otherwise mostly intact cage.

Movement at the back of the room, in the shadows, draws your attention to another monstrosity, this one obviously alive. Somewhat the size of a large dog or wolf, this monster looks like a cross between an armadillo and a lobster. Four spiked legs attach to a rounded, oblong, plated and segmented body. A very long prehensile tail adorns the back end of it's body while a small, insect like head with two tentacles adorn it's front. The creature is obviously terrified, cowering at the back of the room, but obviously unhurt by the alchemist fire.

As Dirk and Lash come into the room the creature looks up, tentacles waving, and takes a tentative step forward, looking almost like it's sniffing the air. In a split second, the moster charges straight for Dirk, tentacles leading.

I need initiative rolls folks. Also, anyone with Knowledge:Dungeons or Knowledge:Arcane/Arcana can make a knowledge check for what the heck this thing is...as if it wasn't obvious from the description. :) Please make the rolls anyway however.

Creature Initiative Roll: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Creature Attack Roll (Dirk): 1d20 ⇒ 6
Armand Initiative Roll: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Armand is Holding Attack

In this situation you each had a chance to enter the room, before the monster at the back moved enough to be spotted...so consider yourselves spread out in a line along the north wall of the room in the first 3 squares: 2 to the right, 2 in front and two to the left of the door with Mird in the door square just behind Lash and Dirk.