<blockquote><div><cite>Sashi wrote:</cite>"OK, so if you jerk one direction it means you want me going in the opposite correct?"</div></blockquote><br/><br/>"Well, yeah, but..." Ciro begins. Before he can finish his protest, however, the door behind Sashi rattles. The little squirrel pales, and begins tugging on Sashi's cloak.<br/><br/>"It's the Lictors! C'mon, Miss Sashi, we gotta go!"<br/><br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">(The text below is optional reading, as no PCs are present for this scene. Think of it as another sidestory- "Elsewhere in the Arena," perhaps. I've put it in a spoiler to save space, because it ran longer than anticipated...)<br/><br/><br/>Mere moments later, the double-locked steel door from the slave corridor flies open and a towering armor-clad bullywug stomps in, followed by a half-dozen guards. A simple glance is enough to tell that this is no ordinary flatfoot: beneath his breastplate, the frog's fern-green hide practically glows with health, and the telltale luster of a nutrion rich diet. His raiment is equally impressive: a deep blue suit of full plate polished to a mirror shine, sculpted at the chest and waist to resemble a set of open fanged jaws... and, even more disturbingly, a set of open-palmed handprints over the abdomen.<br/><br/>"Damn," the lictor grumbles, scanning the empty room. "Already flown the coop... eh?" His expression shifts to one of surprise as he spots the door guard's body, battered and half-dressed, in a near corner.<br/><br/>"Bloody hell," the lictor mutters. "BOL! POTION!"<br/><br/>"Aye, Cap'n." One of the guards proffers a vial of milky white fluid, which the lictor snatches and uncorks. He pries the unconscious guard's jaws open and dumps the contents of the vial inside, then waits for the potion to take effect.<br/><br/>A moment later, the guard groans and opens his eyes- and then nearly bulges them out of their sockets at the sight of the blue-clad lictor standing over him. "C-c-ccap'n Broga, sir! What're you-"<br/><br/>"Shaddap," Broga interrupts. "I'll do the askin' around 'ere. What's your name, lad?"<br/><br/>"Uh... Twyllo, sir. It's Twyllo."<br/><br/>"Well, Twyllo, it seems we 'ave a problem. See, you called in an intruder alarm, but there ain't no one 'ere except you, me an' my boys. Now, am I to take it this..." Broga jabs a finger at Twyllo's wounds- "An' this..." he indicates the open door to the Hypogeum- "Mean you let these intruders escape, and they're runnin' amok in my establishment as we speak?"<br/><br/>"Yessir! I mean, nossir! I mean... well, it's complicated," Twyllo stammers. <br/><br/>"I'll bet a lot's complicated for you," Broga snaps back. "Now, who or what exactly is it that breached our defenses?"<br/><br/>"It was..." Twyllo hesitates, but a pointed glare from Broga loosens his tongue again. "It was a rabbit lady, sir. She came in 'ere with a squirrel slave, carryin' a set o' guard's keys. I tried to stop 'er, but she was armed- carryin' a bloody flamin' scythe, sir!- an' she laid me out good."<br/><br/>"A rabbit." Broga stares incredulously at Twyllo for a moment, saying nothing... and then bursts out laughing. "A RABBIT! Oho, that's rich! You 'ear that, boys! Twyllo here got his arse handed to 'im by a damned bunny!" The guards behind Broga join in his laughter, and pretty soon even Twyllo himself is chuckling a little. Looking back at it, it is pretty ridiculous- beaten by a rabbit! Really!<br/><br/>Broga claps a massive hand on Twyllo's shoulder. "Well, don't you worry son, we'll track down that *snrk* killer rabbit lady an' see to it she don't hurt anyone else. As for you... I'll see to it we find someone else to fill in your shift..."<br/><br/>"Th-thank you sir," Twyllo manages.<br/><br/>"...Permanently."<br/><br/>"Sir?" Twyllo looks up at the lictor just in time to see a massive tongue coming at him. Before he can react, his world turns pink as the sticky appendage strikes him in the face and begins hauling his battered body toward the Captain's mouth. Broga swallows his injured subordinate up to his waist in a single gulp, leaving only a pair of dangling legs hanging from his mouth. Twyllo is too stunned or injured to resist his captain, or perhaps he's simply resigned himself to his fate; either way, he barely struggles as he disappears down Broga's oversized gullet in two more massive swallows. Broga gives a contented burp and turns back to his men, several of whom nod in approval at his newly bulging stomach. The rest are still chuckling over the late Twyllo's final flub. All six frogmen snap to attention as the Captain clears his throat, and begins barking orders.<br/><br/>"Arright boys, you heard 'im! Hopran, Perfedd, you watch this room in case our bunny comes back. The rest of you, come along- we're having rabbit for lunch!"</div></div></div><br/><br/>The convoluted walkways of the hypogeum pose no challenge whatsoever to Sashi; between lapine instinct and dwarven upbringing, subterranean navigation is practically second nature. By the time Broga and his guards are entering at the top floor, Sashi and Ciro are well hidden in the middle floors and her escape route is within sight- several routes, in fact.<br/><br/>On Sashi's current level, a sign above a decorated doorway reads "Thermae." No guards are currently watching the door.<br/><br/>Across from the thermae is another, much grander archway and landing, currently occupied by a group of half a dozen guards hauling a modified cage up from the bottom level. Panes of smoked glass appear to have been fitted between the bars, hiding the cage's occupant from view.<br/><br/>A series of stairways near Sashi's current position leads up to the lift platform. If she looks up, she can catch a glimpse of what looks like sunlight as the empty lifts descend.<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">EDIT: Changed the archway description to match the official Hypogeum map.</div></div></div>