THE GROUNDS 15C GREAT ROOM.

15C GREAT ROOM. Five halflings are here, each has a giant rat on a leash.

5 Halfling Thieves (AC 10; MV 9”; T1; hp 4, 4, 1, 4, 5; #AT 1; D Short sword; SA +3 with bow or sling; XP 36, 36, 30, 36, 38)

Thief skills: PP 35%, OL 30% F/RT 25% MS 25% HS 25% HN 15% CW 70% RL –

5 Giant Rats (AC 7; MV 12"//6"; HD 1-4 hit points; hp 2, 4, 2, 1, 1; #AT 1 bite; D 1-3; SA Disease; XP 9, 11, 9, 8, 8)

Each halfling has 3-18 (3d6) silver spanners. They wear no armor. Like the other halflings in the Shoe House, these are nasty customers. A favorite tactic for them is to act surprised and drop the leashes to the rats, which will then attack. This strategy gives them plausible deniability in case the rats are easily defeated. They will avoid direct confrontation unless the party seem to be very easy marks.

The room is comfortably furnished with many couches and chairs. A wet bar is near the west wall. A large number of empty bottles are here, having been despoiled by the halflings. Within a secret compartment under the bar (treat as a secret door), there is a stash of 10 bottles of fine wine (20 gold crescents each) and 5 bottles of top of the line distilled beverages (rum, schnapps, whisky, brandy, and absinthe, 15 gold crescents each).

There are many small round windows in the south wall. If anyone looks out of the windows, things outside appear to be much smaller than they really are, due to the strange distorting effect of the magic house.