However, the manticores are smart enough to anticipate the party's attack. They quickly unleash their spikes at the party's front line at the first twitch of combat. Gaerys, Blue, and Kjelti, who form the party's front line, are targeted with four each. Gaerys and Kjelti are each grazed by a spike, while three tear away flesh from the already wounded bear.
[DAMAGE: Gaerys: -1, Kjelti: -3, BLUE -15!]
Vorsyin pulls a hollow glass sphere covered by a soft rag from his belt pouch. He rubs it vigorously to generate static electricity, and smashes it in his hand it with a sudden shout. A forked malestrom 40' long and 10' flashes into being, engulfing the two manticores. The air reeks with singed fur as the creatures roar furiously with pain. They remain standing, though not for long as Gaerys, Hollis, Antheris and Blue all charge forward, joined by a bounding Ethan. The heroes attack furiously, reducing the once-fearsome manticores to a pile of fur, blood and flesh.
The group has a half-second to breathe before a wave of fear engulfs them. As they look around, they realize that they have charged into the belly of the beast....
The first foe to move is a ghastly hill giant, hunchbacked, twisted, and with but one good eye. He bears long, black-bladed axe, which seems too finely crafted to have been the giants' handiwork. This giant, the Keeper, was hugging the east wall of the chamber - too savvy to dive into the initial fray. He, along with an albino ape with long teeth, turn the corner and attack Kjelti and Vorsyin. They pass a corpse of another such ape, who was obviously killed by Vorsyin's arcane assault.
The red-eyed ape, scarred from Vorsyin's earlier fireball, bounds forward first and jumps on the shield-maiden. Kjelti takes a defensive posture* and easily deflects the vicious assault of the ape.
[Total defense permits a -4 to AC. House rule.]
The ruthless Keeper, seeing an opportunity to bully an unarmored opponent, charges Vorsyin. With a heavy swing, the black-bladed axe tears through plunges into the flesh of the mage.
[Vorsyin: -12]
From the open hallway in the north pour a company of giants and hornfeet, both those who had obviously been positioned there as guards, as well as survivors from the first waive of attack. Two giants - one horribly scarred by Vorsyin's fireball - and six hornfeet come from the north and split the group who had attacked the manticores from Kjelti and the mage.
Now fully in the chamber, the party can see two doors to the southeast - one against the south wall and one against the east wall -- the latter door now clearly the origin of the screams of prisoners!!!
But from the southern door pour another group of five hornfeet - lead by a particularly large savage, clad in bone armor with a hill giant skull for a helmet. He bears a finely crafted bronze axe that seems to shimmer with cold.
To the south, a smell of sulfur waifs towards the party. Squinting through a dark hallway, the party seems to make out the flicker of flame and the movement of enormous - even by giant standards - bodies. The party also hears the dragging of a heavy iron object across the stone floor.
[H: -10
V: -28
G: -5
E: -26
B: - 42 [!!!]
K: -4
A: -9]
]