| This room is large,
with a high ceiling.
2 pillars, 5 feet in diameter, reach 20 feet from ceiling to floor, in the middle of the room. A grid of 10-foot-square trap doors form the floor of the entire room. They are hanging open, forming a grid of 6-inch-wide beams between them. 15 feet below may be seen empty slave pits. These are 10 feet square and are separated from each other by iron bars that reach up to the trap doors. |
Standing out ov sight, 1 behind each
pillar, are 2 aspis
drones. Each drone carries
2 <long>
swords, 2 <large> shields,
and 12 darts
strapped to the inside of its shield. The
drones will NOT ADVANCE to attack, preferring
to CAST their darts and USE the pillars
as
cover.
Once a party advances over the pits,
the aspis will close && attack
the party.
The aspis
use their hind feet to cling to the
beams and are practiced at maintaining
their balance. Characters, however, must
TAKE care when attempting to melee
while <Fighting When Precariously
Balanced, WSG>
standing on the beam. Any aspis scoring
a
hit ov 2 or more greater than the #number#
required to hit knocks a character off
the
beam into one ov the pits below, inflicting
1-6 points ov damage from the fall. The
trap
door <Damage From Falling,
WSG>
@ the top will be closed by the operator
at 18b once a character
has fallen in. If a
character crosses over a closed pit, the
operator
at 18b will open it long
enough for the
person to fall in.
If a character strikes an aspis
with a roll that
is 4 or more greater than the #number#
needed
to hit, the aspis loses 1 attack that round
as it
regains its balance. 2 such successful
attacks,
cause it to lose both its attacks that
round,
while 3 such hits knock it over the edge,
Trap
doors will not close over an aspis, and the
aspis can climb out in 1 round.
The pits are separated from each other by
iron bars
spaced 6 inches apart. These
extend from the beams above to the floor.
There are no doors in the bars. One attempt
to bend
bars may be made per wall. The
trap
doors are connected to levers and long
rods that [run] along the beams and disappear
into the wall.
Aspis
drones: AC 2; MV 15". HD 6; hp
32, 36; #AT 2: D 1-4/1-4 |or| <1-8 by
<long>
sword>;
immune to electrical
&& cold attacks, 1/2
damage from fire
THACO 13
XP 492, 408
b. Trap
Door Control Booth
This is a small room,
sparsely furnished.
On the east wall are a large
number of
levers and above them
at eye level is a
narrow horizontal slit. A
large insect
man stands in the
room. He is carrying a
2-handed
sword, 2 <large> shields,
and
wears 2 belts that cross his thorax.
The drone
aspis operates the controls to the
trap doors of area 18a
&& usually watches
through the slit for signs of activity.
Any who
successfully pass through the slave
pit room
will be met by it in the hallway, as it
will NOT
allow unknown humans
to pass. If the slit is
seen from the chamber, it will still be
difficult
to see the aspis beyond it. This view
slit is too
small for missile weapons to be shot through
it, nor may the aspis be struck by a [magick
missile]
as the aspis cannot be seen. Fire
attacks (e.g. a [fireball])
will do some damage
if the center point of the attack is within
5 feet
of the opening. Damage from such attacks
will
be 1/4 the normal amount. The aspis
drone has 1 treasure that he was carrying
back to the nest--a [pearl
ov wisdom] set into
a brooch that he wears at the cross of
his belts.
Drone
aspis: AC 2; MV 15"; HD 6; hp 33;
#AT 2; D 1-4/1-4 |or| 1-10 by <2-handed
sword>;
immune to electrical
&& cold attacks,
1/2 damage
from fire
THACO 13
XP 498
>>19.