The fish flops over by the creature, and it hits the ground once and begins to bounce. It never gets the chance. A claw flashes out, skewering it and slicing it in two. Then Ma'Varkith leaps like a gazelle over the chasm. She has no problems with the leap, making it look easy.
As the psychic warrior begins her run, the creature's head bursts free of the stone and looks around.
Lidda's crossbow bolt smacks it right between the eyes. No sneak attack, but it looks like it hurt, and the creature chitters in pain.
It has a shiny purplish-brown carapace, almost like a beetle. Its head swivels to Jozan as he also backs up, perhaps thinking that he shot the crossbow bolt, and the thing erupts from the stone and moves to intercept Jozan as he activates the tattoo and begins to run. The monster is small, almost like a humanoid beetle, and its chitinous arms help it along as it scuttles forward. The mandibles clack, clack, and Jozan catches a momentary glimpse at its eyes. There's something odd about them. Something hypnotic...
but he tears his gaze away and activates the tattoo. Speed pours into his body like water into an empty trough, and his velocity increases as he clanks forward in his scale mail and large shield. The creature is right behind him, claws flailing and mandibles snapping!
And Jozan leaps.
It's clear from his takeoff that he isn't going to make it; where Ma'Varkith soared, he plunges, and the extra speed means that he smacks into the chasm's far lip with that much more force; if it weren't for the speed, he wouldn't have made the lip at all. His hands scrabble for a hold, and he can hear the sound behind him of the beetle-creature being hit by Kazak's crossbow. It's a good solid hit, and the thing screams a high-pitched challenge.
Everyone else is still in position around the cave opening except for Kerwyn, whose searching shows seams that look like they were once dug out and then filled back in with boulders and crushed rock. Perea gleefully munches the large fish that Alhandra tossed her. Regdar, you're holding a pink slip from WotC's Human Resources department. It claims that you are NOT laid off, and that the department's computers were hacked on April 1st. By way of apology, they're giving you a 5% bonus on your next treasure hoard.
And then the drums increase in volume, and the web in front of you erupts into fire. Heat licks your faces as the flammable webs burst into oily flame! And Devis is closest to the flaming tunnel....