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[Samantha - Round 1 Success - Bust some heads - Body: 9]
[9 + roll(1) = 10]
[Difficulty: 20]

[EPIC FAIL]

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The agile fox's footpaws were near silent on the floor of the hallway, her tail streaming out behind her as she made her escape. Ha ha! Can't be far now! I can practically smell the clean air and open sk--

*BUMP* "Ack!"

That was not clean air nor open sky. That was a surprised squirrel that she'd dashed headlong into. And there were plenty more behind him. By pure instinct, she tensed and shot out a footpaw, connecting solidly with the tree climber's midsection. As he doubled over, Samantha went into fight or flight mode...and she chose the first.

"That's it! Come and get some, you nut-munching, tree hoppers!" she snarled, baring both fangs and claws, crooking one finger as if taunting them closer. Unfortunately, they more than happily complied.

The fighter fox held her own, even against overwhelming numbers, at least for a time. She kicked and clawed, bit and tackled, facing angry, desperate squirrels on all sides. Sadly, a dozen agile squirrels are hard enough to keep up with, let alone in a tightly-enclosed space. Samantha thought she was faring well...and she never saw the buff squirrel behind her that broke the chair over her back.

She hit the floor with a sickening thud, dazed and watching the room spin dizzily. Were there more squirrels now? Hey, that one had three eyes and two noses! Hee hee...why was the room going black?

Name: Jukka
Option: Three
Roll: 7 + 5 = 10 = Fail

How they hadn't heard the otter was certainly beyond him. He'd made enough noise, after all. He didn't dwell on this, however, and he ran as fast as he could on all fours, the branch he had used to escape was clamped tightly between his sharp, white teeth. Unfortunately, what he thought was an exit was most certainly not. The otter skidded to a halt and quickly stood, taking his only weapon into his paws. He debated stepping back from the room, but the information passing between the squirrels was just so damned interesting. This, however, would be his downfall.

"-leaves us no time to get any proper meals of our own, how's she 'aspect us to go catching her anything decent if we're all underf-... eh?"

His pierced ears pricked and he bit his lip. He didn't feel as though he could just walk away. What kind of heartless creature could leave them to suffer? Any chance to get away quickly vanished as one of the squirrels happened to glance to the side and catch sight of him with her amber, almond shaped eyes.

"Oi! 'e's gettin' loose! Get 'im!" Her voice was shrill and caused him to wince, but he quickly threw up his paws, dropping the root as he tried to show off that he meant no harm. The motion did not work, however, as the lot of squirrels quickly approached.

"Now-now, you lot, just give me a listen! I wanna get out 'o 'ere and ya'll clearly ain't gettin' treated how you oughta, so why don'tcha tell me 'bit more 'bout this Ferrah-lass, n' maybe we can get all a ya'll out of here?"

"Shutcher mouth, water-dog!" She squealed as she darted forward, the squirrels behind her chattered away insults as they fell on the otter, bashing at him with their spears and sticks. He was met with a world of pain before he could turn and run. A particularly hefty blow to his head caused his senses to swim, until he lost all consciousness.

Haswar - Round 1 Fail
Body: 4
Mind: 9
Difficulty: 13 (option #2 - body + mind)
Result: (4/2) + (9+2) = 13 + 20 = 33 = Epic success!


Haswar was already sore and cranky and needed a drink badly, and after the squirrels finished hitting her with their clubs through the bars, she was sore, cranky, and wanted to have a nice meal of squirrel dumplings along with a tall flask of something strong enough to peel the bark off of trees and make her forget this ever happened. She wouldn't have been surprised if they cracked something, but she couldn't worry about that yet - getting out of this horrid place was the first priority; once she was safe at home back in her Fleuve burrow, she could assess and treat the damage. She just needed to figure out how to escape-

Well, apparently the sadistic squirrels weren't appeased simply by beating her through the bars. One of them worked loose one of the bars so he could enter, most likely with the intent of beating her some more, and the others looked very inclined to follow. Cold fury took over Haswar, and before she truly thought the action through, she leaped forward and kicked the first squirrel right in his acorns. As he folded over with a pitiful squeal, Haswar snatched his club and hit him over the head with it. Thankfully, the others were too stunned to react at first - either because they thought they had weakened her enough to keep her from fighting back or because, more likely, they thought she was too old to fight back (the thought of which only furthered her rage), and Haswar quickly turned her attention to them in order to take advantage of their shock. Each squirrel's head or face met with the club she had liberated from the first squirrel, and each successful meeting of wood with skull was punctuated with Haswar's enraged shriek, "Respect! Your! ELDERS!!"

The last squirrel actually managed to get his wits about him before she could hit him and grabbed the club to stop her from swinging it, but Haswar was too furious to let that stop her. Without her magical items, she couldn't pull on much power, but she knew she could still manage something. She knew water was leaking through the cell's ceiling - she knew water. She lived where water was abundant. Water was her ally. As quickly as she could recite the right words, she used her limited magic to make the water from the puddle in the cell fly into the squirrel's face. It made her headache much worse without any of her items with her to amplify her magic, but it worked. As he spluttered and swore and tried to wipe the water from his eyes, Haswar pulled her club free again and sent him to the ground with his comrades with a swift swing.

As soon as the last squirrel was down, Haswar hit him again for good measure then bolted down the hall where she thought she saw...yes! A door, and she could see sunlight leaking from around it.

( Don't mess with granny ferret! )

[[Nolan, Round One Fail

Round Two: Mind = 8, BIG and HEAVY, Success!]]

The thrown root hit home, smacking the lead squirrel squarely in the face, and Nolan took some small satisfaction in his exclamation of anger. Sure, the root did absolutely no real damage, but the thieving blackguards should share his pain. Bwahahahaha! The small boost in his mood was very short lived, however, as the squirrel and his comrade hastily exacted their revenge for the ineffective assault. The first swat of a club caught him off guard--he had expected threats, sure, but an actual beating was serious overkill--with a crack across the nose; seeing stars, he made a brief, fruitless attempt to wrestled the club from the squirrel's grip before falling back under barrage of blows from the second squirrel.

Before long, he was curled in a tight ball against the back wall of the cell, with his arms wrapped about his head in a last-ditch effort to avoid any lasting damage. Unfortunately, this meager defense had the adverse effect of prolonging the squirrels' attack. The bushtailed miscreants, it seemed, were absolutely bent on beating him senseless. Eventually, they succeeded.

He came to with a grimace and a groan as his head bounced off of a rock embedded in the floor of the hallway. The world spun with a sickening lurch as he opened his eyes; he was inclined to blame the wave of vertigo on a concussion until he realized he was, in fact, in motion. He was being dragged unceremoniously across the bare earth by his one remaining foot. The fur on his back side caught and pulled and caked in the damp soil, just another minor convenience to add to the countless bumps and bruises he had accumulated. The squirrels, for the time being, seemed unaware that he had revived, so Nolan used to opportunity to take stock of his current condition.

He was...well, still in one piece, or as whole of a beast as he had ever been. He still had both ears, both arms, and was more bruised than broken, though he could taste blood and was willing to bet that his nose was about three times its normal size. Nolan squinted as a sharp beam of light caught him full in the face. A moment later he was past the skylight and craning his head back to get a better look at the source. That was natural daylight... They were near the surface. If he could just get away from these two, he may be able to get above ground before this Farrah noticed he was missing. Presuming he was able to find his staff first, of course. The knowledge of its absence tugged at the back of his mind, temporarily subdued by the lingering pain from the recent beating, but certainly not completely erased. Leaving without the staff would just be inviting Farrah's lot to catch up with him on the surface and he was sure that a second escape would be impossible.

Providing that the first escape was not, of course.

Leaping up and running was never really an option. Luck was (apparently) with him, however, for an opportunity was not long in presenting itself. As the squirrels dragged him along the floor to who knew where, they passed several other branching tunnels as well as the occasional cell that was similar in construction to the one he had recently inhabited. One of these looked as though an avalanche had just breezed through; the cell's bars were scattered like ten pins and great furrows had been plowed in the dirt floor and ceiling where the bars had previously been embedded. The destruction had apparently occurred only recently, for it concerned the squirrels enough that they slowed, then drew to a halt completely, conversing in muttered tones.

It was a better opportunity that Nolan could have begun to hope for. Carefully, quietly, he stretched out and seized hold of one of the scattered bars. Actually wielding the new weapon was considerably more difficult, but not impossible. Nolan all but held his breath, waiting for the right moment, then suddenly sat bolt upright and whipped the cell bar around like a bat, cracking it across the rear end of the nearest squirrel. He toppled forward, overbalanced, and the second whirled on Nolan, surprised. The hare was ready for him. Even from a sitting position, he wasn't much shorter than the standing squirrel, and the cell bar more than compensated for his current height. He brought the bar crashing down on the squirrel's skull with a resounding crack, and actually laughed aloud in approval when his opponent dropped to the ground. Whether he was unconscious or dead, Nolan couldn't say, but at this point the hare couldn't have cared less.

Using the cell bar as a crutch, Nolan hoisted himself to his foot just in time to have the first squirrel turn on him again. Maintaining his balance on one foot while swinging a stick was out, so the young hare used the crutch to propel himself at his foe. He tackled the squirrel to the ground, and the pair rolled several paces before Nolan gained the upper hand. He didn't hesitate, but pushed himself to sit up with one arm, then brought the cell bar down on the squirrel's face with the other. Once. Twice. Thrice. Again and again.

Breathing heavily from the brief exertion to his already sore body, Nolan climbed off of the crumpled form and struggled to his feet once more. The bar, with its narrow tip, made an incredibly uncomfortable crutch, but he really didn't have any other option. Leaving the two unfortunate squirrels behind, the young hare hobbled off down the hallway and was rewarded by the sight of a dimly glowing woven door. He gave a small smile of approval and hurried on to push it open. In the back of his mind, a voice niggled that he was abandoning his staff, but he settled it with an assurance that that was far from the case. He was merely verifying that this was the way out, then he would double back in search of the staff. He addiction, content with the death of at least one squirrel, accepted that explanation for the present as Nolan pushed open the woven door.

Charlemagne
Round One: Success
Option & Roll: Mind [8] + [16]
Difficulty: 20
Result: 24 [Success]

Piece together the situation and reason that whoever this 'Ferrah' is, maybe they would be better off without them, they join you as you march out the back.

He had thought he was home-free. “What sort of place is this?” Charlemagne grumbled and shook his head, then walked boldly into the dining hall. “I say! Who is this Ferrah? Leaving you to scavenge for scraps like mere urchins and ragamuffins…doesn’t sound like much of a boss to me…Shameful really.” Putting down their food and turning to look at him, they cocked their brows and looked at each other. “What’re you on about?” one began to say, but was soon cut off by another, “Damn right!…I’ve no idea who you are, but you’re dead on.” The dining hall was soon filled with chatter, the animals discussing what Charlemagne had said. “He’s right…I’m done with this…call me a deserter if ya like, but I’m done!” With that, over half of those gathered stood and headed out, Charlemagne joining them as they exited into the sunlight.

Reina
Round One: Success
Option & Roll: Soul [8] + [15]
Difficulty: 16
Result: 23 [Success]

Put on your poker face and convince them you're not on the menu, slip out through the back

Although she had exited slowly and gracefully, she soon took to running once her captors were out of view. Rounding the corner she stopped dead as all the squirrels in the room turned their heads in unison. “Well, well…look at that…” A grungy, one eyed squirrel said, walking over to Reina, “And what’s a pretty thing like you doing in a dangerous place like this?” She began to panic, searching for the right sort of response, “I…was visiting…paying my respects to…Ferrah…was asked to come and bless you all.” She felt sick at the thought of it, blessing criminals, what would her father think? “Oh, yeah?” he replied, nearing her with an evil grin. “No, wait…” said a squirrel from the back of the room, “It’s gotta be true…you can tell from her clothes that she’s of Sunhedge. Just let her pass.” The others nodded and turned back to their food. “Well then, seems The Great Tree is smiling on you…be on your way” he gestured to the door dismissively and grumbled as he returned to the table. Reina put her hands to her chest and bowed to them all, staring adoringly at the squirrel that had spoken for her, then took off towards the door. Freedom…sunlight…Oh Joy!