It's showtime!

You push through the double door and step into a HUGE (like, proper huge) room, with a grassy floor and several small mounds of grass and dirt that create a space very much like a cut-out section from a real environment. Your eyes widen in amazement, and you look around to take the whole space in.

There's a few individual wooden pickets from a broken-apart fence pushed into the dirt, which stand just by the doorway you came through and form a dotted borderline with each other. To the right, there's a small single-roomed hut with a thatched roof. The side facing out to the rest of the room has a large empty window frame, and there's also an empty doorframe in the side that's facing you. Professor Phoebe sits cross-legged on the roof of the hut with her face-cage helmet on, pencil and notepad in her lap as she watches you all intently.

The room's walls are painted to look like continuations of the landscapes, carrying on for ages more and ending in a nice bright blue sky. You do a slow little spin to see it all, smiling widely and with gravel squelching underfoot. On the wall behind you, where you came from, you can see a few far-off houses painted into the scene as well. So , it's sort of like you're defending that town, then! This place is super cool.

The room is very well lit, all of the light coming from a caged orb-shaped bulb in the centre of the roof. It's bright enough to light the whole place up, walls and nooks and all, and you can even feel a slight heat on your skin from it that feels very similar to sunlight.

About two-thirds of the way across the room, there is a flowing stream of cold water that's about three metres wide, which breaks between two of the larger grassy mounds and snakes across from one end of the room to the other. A single bridge is all that connects the sides. A gravel path, which you're standing on right now, runs down from the room's double doors to one end of the bridge, and continues on after the bridge's other end, winding into the distance until it eventually becomes a part of the painting on the back wall.

Your classmates are just as enthralled as you are, and the four of you stand there for a good while just looking around in amazement. It's incredible just how real the space feels. It can't be easy to maintain a room like this.

As you're all taking it in, Delilah lifts an arm and points across the room. The three of you follow her finger to the other side, and watch as three small creatures appear from behind one of the mounds in the back of the room. Everybody instantly snaps to attention, straightening up and drawing their weapons as you all try to get a good look at the monsters. In the corner of your vision, you see Professor Phoebe scrawl something down into her notepad. You wonder what- no, game face on, you can't lose focus!

The three creatures slowly enter the space, looking around predatorily. They all walk on their back legs like velociraptors, but they have no tails. Instead of having short arms with clawed hands, they have long, curled scythes for arms. Their skin is thick, wrinkly, and dark grey, sort of like an elephant's, and their flanks are layered with a lighter grey chitin armour that's laid flat on each side. The way they're layered on top of each other allows a bit of flexibility for the torso to bend left and right. The flat chitin sheets come up like a triangle on the body, but don't seem to meet each other at the top, having a gap along the monster's back that follows along with its spine.

"What are those?" You ask, squeezing your{if Weapon == 1} batons{elseif@ Weapon == 2} Sledgeaxe handle{elseif Weapon == 3} pepperbox pistol's grip{endif} tightly.

"Miranda would probably know." Says Jace.

The three creatures spot you at this point, all three heads simultaneously locking onto where the four of you stand with each other. You shrink back into yourself just a little -- those things look really scary.

"Well, you can go ask her if you'd like." Delilah says, glancing over at you with a look of disgust. You scrunch your face up and **** yourself to be brave, taking a deep breath and straightening back up again.

"Okay, here's what I'm thinking." Jace says. His eyes are laser-focused onto the three monsters as they slowly stalk their way over to you all. "If we can- Dellie!"

Delilah's started walking forward already, only now pulling her twin sickles out from where she had them tucked into the straps of her leather armour.

"If you three want to make a plan, don't stop on my account."

With that, and nothing more, she starts running towards the group of three grey monsters. At this, the monsters let out a loud screeching roar and begin gunning it full sprint as well.

"Oh- come on!!" Jace shouts, before moving quickly to the right of the battlefield to duck into the hut. As he runs, he knocks a bolt into his crossbow.

Cameron turns to look at you, staying where he is. You hold your{if Weapon == 1} batons{elseif@ Weapon == 2} Sledgeaxe handle{elseif Weapon == 3} pepperbox pistol's grip{endif} even more nervously.

Those things are really rapid -- it won't be long before they'll be right on top of you!