This (10 by 10 yards) area is entered by the south-east corridor from the AUG 3 area and the eastern corridor from AUG 9. A collective of Nx2 Dire (+1 SM, +7 ST and HP, +2 DX, +2 Per, +2 HT, +3 DR, add Bloodlust (9)) Bugbears are lurking in the dark here, uneasy with each others’ company but forced to endure living together by the resident competition from other monsters on this floor, they have set up traps around the entrances and the first 5 yards of the area so as to protect their lair here. This entire area is littered with dried stinking offal, the gory remains of previous monster victims.
Any trap detection or disarming roll is opposed by the monsters’ Traps-12 skill. The corridor from AUG 3 is boobytrapped with a pressure plate on the floor (Per-based Traps-4 to detect the plate, DX-based Traps -4 to disarm the plate). If the plate is stepped on, it will trigger the walls on both sides to extend and smash together (avoiding the smashing walls requires detection or a Hearing-2 roll (Danger Sense gives +2) to allow a Dodge roll at -1, getting hit inflicts 10d crushing damage). The walls can also be stopped with brute force; a Regular Contest of ST against ST 45, any item braced between a pair of walls takes 10d crushing per second. The corridor from AUG 9 is boobytrapped, too. There is a tripwire (Per-based Traps-8 to detect, DX-based Traps-8 to disarm) that sets off a mechanism to throw an axe (4d+2 cutting to a random hit location) at the subject from a distance (detection or Hearing-8 allows any valid active defence at -3).
Getting past the traps to the central part of the area finds a big tent (seemingly made up of multiple tents stitched together) which contains 20 dirty sleeping furs, a gore-splattered wooden table, 5 lanterns, 15 pints of oil, 3 tinderboxes, 19 wooden stakes, 7 wicked-looking knives for skinning and gutting, 2 huge stacks of raw meat, 4 discarded cheap knobbed clubs, 36 pieces of thick rope in varying lengths (from 3 to 20 yards, about 200 yards in total), 2 barrels of clean water, 35 horridly-stained cloth sacks full of messily extracted organs, and a big stack of firewood. If anyone has the guts to thoroughly check the gore sacks (gross!), they can find miscellaneous valuables pilfered from unlucky victims. The treasure is 10 diamonds (each worth $1000), 25 gold coins, 500 silver coins, 5 platinum rings with jewels (each worth $10000 and weighs 0.25 lbs), 50 electrum coins (can be mistaken for silver or gold) and 1000 billon coins (can be mistaken for copper).
There’s 10 pits with sharpened stakes at the bottom (each 1 square yard big, 3 yards deep, 1d+2 impaling if fell in) around the area’s outer parts, camouflaged with thin grey stone slates that breaks away when stepped on (Dodge roll, -2 without Danger Sense, to leap away if the breakaway floor is walked upon). Detecting it is a Per-based Traps (opposed, see below) and easily avoided once detected. Jump across the detected pit with DX or Jumping. Lengths of ropes (2 yards across) kept tight are tied to stakes in the floor (the rope and two stakes can be stolen) in 8 places around the area, meant to trip people walking around (no damage, but you make noise and are knocked prone). Detecting the trip-ropes is a Per-based Traps-3 roll (opposed, see below), disarming them is automatic once detected. Detecting and foiling all of these traps here means a quick contest against the bugbears’ Traps-12 skill.
There’s a concealed heavy wooden trapdoor (unlocked, -2 to find) in the middle of the area allowing a subtle escape through a small underground tunnel (1 yard wide, 3 yards high, 25 yards long) to another area on the floor.
Three Hundred and Thirty-Three 