Aria grinned, whispering an almost subsonic "Thanks..." in an eager but mischievous voice once her body disappeared. Always a wonderful way to scout around or get the jump on foes...<br/><br/>The 'foliage' across the south half of the chamber vanished, revealing more clearly a chamber unlike the others - meant, quite plainly, for leisure and decadence, resembling nothing more than the paradise-like palace courtyards and harem enclosures kept by various pharaohs and Calishite sultans over the ages and which Kass from her geographic and avocational background might've been passingly or intimately familiar. The silk-cushioned and gold-framed furniture seemed either designed to face the central fountain, or to make strategic use of the columns (and vanquished foliage) to provide seclusion.<br/><br/>Aria noted a magic aura from within the fountain; some thing to conjure water, she supposed.<br/><br/>As she floated invisibly into the chamber and flew just under the ceiling, she espied the source of the scratching, in the far end of the room (and barely able to fit there) - a centipede of terrible girth and length, nearly as large as the scorpion. Its bulbous butt faced opened door-blocks leading into a chamber which would've been directly oppose the first one Kass and Aria had entered - given the symmetry of the pyramid, perhaps the centipede had kept in a position oppose the scorpion. She wondered whether it had been in stasis too, and also deliberately or accidentally released by one of the mindflayers.<br/><br/>In any case, the thing was animate now, its ruddy green-brown carapace stretched along the back end of the room, and its hundred-some legs clutching the floor and furniture. Its huge-mandibled head worked more avidly - it appeared to be feasting on a barely recognizeable human carcass, its visible shreds of flesh a Mulhorandi copper, and the scraps of clothing of a white and tan coloration and similar style to that of Karsus and the two soldiers' packs they had found in the southwest chamber. If the great vermin had noticed the vanishing 'foliage', it obviously hadn't let it interrupt its mangled meaty meal.<br/><br/>Aria floated back to Kass, whispering what she saw, and saying "If it lacks any attack at range - venom-spewing or innate magic or somesuch - I suppose there's a chance we could down it from afar at little danger to ourselves. It's almost as tall as the chamber and could probably reach us even from the ceiling, but it seems a bit cramped and I imagine the columns would slow down its horizontal movement."<br/><br/><br/><br/>t10 on hide / ms (ifwhen I forget to mention relevant skills, Aria always takes 10 when she can)<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: courier;"><br/><br/><br/>2nd floor<br/>' gaps in floor (opened vertical doorways, or the collapsed floor / ceiling of the central chamber of the 1st floor)<br/>d closed floor doors (transverable like normal flooring)<br/><br/>X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . . . . X<br/>X ` ` ` . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . d d d X<br/>X ` ` ` . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . d d d X<br/>X ` ` ` . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . d d d X<br/>X . . . . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . . . . X<br/>X . . . . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . . . . X<br/>X ` ` ` . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . d d d X<br/>X ` ` ` . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . d d d X<br/>X ` ` ` . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . d d d X<br/>X . . . . ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X<br/>X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/><br/><br/>1st floor<br/>C giant centipede<br/>- reference for squares below the vertical doors (normal flooring, but no ceiling)<br/><br/><br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . C C C C C C . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . C C C C C C . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . C C C C C C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . C C C C C C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . D D . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . D D . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . - - - d . . . . . . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . - - - d . . . . . . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . - - - d . . . . . . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . X X X X X X D . . D X X X X X X X X X<br/>24 X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . X X X X X X D . . D X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . . . . . . d - - - . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . . . . . . d - - - . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . - - - . . . . . . . . . . . d - - - . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>18 X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>12 X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . X X . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . X X . . . . X X . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X<br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d d . . . . . . . . . . . D D D X X X X<br/> 6 X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . D D D X X X X <br/>   X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . D D D X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . . . . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X . . . . . . . . X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/>   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/> 1 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X d d d d X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X<br/></span><br/><br/>