Catch & Kill

 

Nestled into the fissure, up and out of sight from the floor of the mine, are ten barnacoils - each situated at a major intersection above the rail where one of the side passages connects to the fissure with the rail running down it. Also making their home in the cave are three cockatrices. The cockatrices and the barnacoils live in happy symbiosis - the cockatrices dragging in kills to eat, and the barnacoils picking the scraps up off the floor with their sticky tongues.

Tactics

The cockatrices will wait until the party is half to two-thirds of the way into the mines, stalking them quietly from the side passages, before they spring into action. They will use hit-and-run tactics and their Charge perk - with one or two charging each turn to knock down their targets and get out of range, with those who don’t charge running in to strike downed opponents, then fleeing or charging themselves once their opponent gets back up.

Once this pattern of attack begins, the barnacoils will lower their tongues, hoping to catch characters attempting to flee. Any character who even partially enters a hex with a barnacoil above it can be attacked, and the barnacoil will attempt to entangle and hoist the victim up. The barnacoils will not attack the cockatrices, as they know where their bread is buttered, so to speak (of course, if things are going poorly for the party, and it is dramatically appropriate, a hungry barnacoil may have second thoughts about a tasty looking cockatrice moving in for the kill).