I'm running this encounter tomorrow evening with my homegroup. Two questions for those of you who have already run it:

1. Can the Spined Devil's Devil's Sight feature enable it to see through Amrik's Smoke Bomb-caused heavily-obscured zone?
2. The module describes "Amrik never battles to the death, and he surrenders if he can’t fight, talk, or slither his way out of a perilous situation." Given that he is an a tavern filled with mercenaries, my idea is that he'd probably run up the stairs to the taproom and gambling hall and proclaim "100 gold" to the first one who kills all the Adventurers in the Lounge below who are chasing him (if he makes it that far). Anyone tried this?