The last centipede crawled away from Uria and Garisto and their sharp swinging metal of doom. It sought out a softer, juicier target - Grolo - and bit him, before the others could manage to put it down for good.<br/><br/>The gnome didn't look so good as rashes broke out all over his skin in some sort of allergic reaction to the centipede venom that had been injected into him by the now-dead centipede's bite. Despite whatever anyone tried to do for him, he quickly fell unconscious. The best that could be done was to make him as comfortable as possible and finish what they had come for without him.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Concluding the battle</div><div class="spoiler_body">With only one wounded centipede remaining against three characters, the outcome of the battle was never in doubt. Moving on...<br/></div></div><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>The Mite Lair Entrance</strong><br/><br/>Now that it was safe for the time being, the hole that the giant centipedes had crawled out of could be investigated properly - a root-lined shaft that dropped down into the mites' underground lair. The tunnels were obviously meant for the mites' own use - there was no light at all save the little that peeked in from the entry hole, and the ceiling was rarely more than five feet high. The humans entering the tunnels would be forced to stoop over or else they would continually mash their heads into the ceiling above.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Entering the mite lair</div><div class="spoiler_body">There is no light underground, forcing characters to bring light sources or else grope blindly about.<br/>The low overhead clearance forces characters to stoop over, and they suffer a –2 penalty on all attack rolls made within the lair as a result.<br/></div></div><br/><br/><strong>The Hatchery</strong><br/><br/>The entry tunnel opened into a large, damp chamber. The wet and muddy floor was crisscrossed by several shallow trenches, each containing a shallow pool of dirty water. Six foul mounds of compost and dung were heaped in the trenches, scattered about the room, each studded with small spherical eggs. Some were already hatched, with tiny centipedes - too small to do any harm now - scurrying about, fleeing the light. There was nothing else of note in this room.<br/><br/><strong>The Torture Chamber</strong><br/><br/>At the far end of the hatchery was another tunnel that lead deeper into the mites' lair. Long before the end of this tunnel, high-pitched cries of terror could be heard from the next room at the end of the tunnel. The oval-shaped chamber had walls that were overgrown with thick tangles of long gnarly roots. Four black-scaled kobolds, and one half-elf, were tied by their wrists and ankles to the roots against the walls. A group of six mites were gathered around one of the kobolds, torturing it by poking it repeatedly with sharpened sticks while it screamed the high-pitched cries that echoed across the room and beyond into the tunnels. Noticing the entrance of intruders, they turned around to face them, brandishing their sticks as weapons, while chittering gibberish in their own strange language.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Mites (6)</div><div class="spoiler_body">Roll initiative. On a 12 or higher, your character acts before the mites; otherwise, the mites act first.<br/><br/>AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 11<br/>hp 3<br/></div></div><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Freeing the prisoners</div><div class="spoiler_body">With a slashing weapon, you can cut free one of the kobolds or the half-elf from the roots, as a standard action, allowing them to act on their turn.<br/></div></div>