Essie hums and flashes Daerthe a warm smile, shifting to fully cover her with her shield. "Oh, here," she says. "Maybe this will help." And she reaches out and taps the elf's shoulder lightly. Her fingers glow for a second before she pulls away. She doesn't want to crowd the grumpy woman terrible much; she likes not having her fingers snapped at.

Cure Wounds for 7 HP back to Daerthe

The sorcerer woman is perplexed at the failure to detect any sign of a third ogre, she recalls the she-goblin sending a response earlier in which the name 'Boss Hark' has been clearly mentioned. It's not impossible to assume that the boss can be something other than an ogre. On the contrary, the goblin could have been attempting to deceive her into thinking that they had an almighty boss. 

She will search for anything significant that can be found in the remains of the ogres and goblins, covering her nose with her sleeves when she feels disgusted with the stench of the corpses while attempting to retrieve the glowing dart.

Intelligence: Investigation 8

"Well, we can't stay out here all day." Helena says, moving into the cave. She would find the ones she put to sleep and tie them up, as long as she doesn't get attacked before then.

As Sphyboe checks the bodies of the dead, she finds that the ogre has nothing of interest. The goblin nearest the entrance has a sack that holds a tinderbox, a smoking pipe, a teddy bear, and a set of Three-Dragon Ante cards. The goblin on the right side, farther into the cavern has a pouch with 5 copper pieces. The goblins each have scimitars and shortbows of poor quality. Sphyboe also notices that near this goblin corpse, there is a narrow passage leading to the east off the main cavern. There appears to be another passage in the northeast corner of the main cavern.

As Sphyboe heads over to that right side of the cavern with her glowing dart, it leaves the left side with the sleeping goblins in darkness. Presumably, Helena would use her own Light spell to be able to see what she is doing. As she ties up the sleeping goblins, she notices that one has a simple wooden box that holds 15 sp and 37 cp and the other has a jar of cloves and a dented silver jug that is probably worth about 20 gp. Again, assuming that Helena has some source of light, she also notices two passages leading off the west side of the main cavern.

Neither Sphyboe nor Helena is able to see into the far northwest corner of the cavern, unless they move closer.

Ryndar will move to assist Helena with securing the goblins, bow at the ready for any additional threats he perceives.

Perception: 13

Bearamble will abandon the thought of following his nose and instead scramble down to the entrance of the cave. He will take up a position guarding everyone’s back, near the dead female ogre, inside the cave. He will let out a quiet (Wookie type) growl to alert the nearby party that he has joined them and then will sniff the air inside and again facing outside to try and keep anyone from being surprised by approaching enemies.

Sniffing perception: 8

Daerthe begrudgingly nods to Essie as she is healed, cursing the internally as she had been able to do such things in what felt like a different life. She will make her way towards the sleeping goblins, moving to rest her hand on her rapier. "We should kill them before they awaken."

Helena does cast light to allow her to see. She glances to the two passages nearby. "Shall we check those out?" She asks the others, after putting the items she found into her pack.

Sphyboe will hold the glowing dart in her mouth to free up both of her hands. Then she will pick up the copper pieces and the gaming set, and put these inside her backpack. She kneels down on the ground to examine the tinderbox, smoking pipe and the teddy bear; all these mundane items might belong to the villagers who are supposed to take refuge inside the cave. But there's been no sign of them to her dismay. She cuddles the teddy bear and picks up the smoking pipe and tinder box with both of her hands then returns to the main party. If the Boss Harpers see her cuddling a stuffed animal like this, she's definitely going to be fired for lack of professionalism.

"....Mmph...mphh..mmmmm.."

Following after the others deeper into the cave, Essie picks her way carefully across the cave floor. She's feeling a little worn out, but since the others are still moving, she supposes it's best to keep moving, as well. She's worked through more tiring situations before, after all. And she's never been in a cave before. This is all new and exciting. That's more than enough motivation to keep her putting one foot in front of the other and moving. She steps up to the stalagmites with her head cocked to one side. One of her hands reaches out, and she can't help but run her fingers along the stone's surface. 

As she turns and studies the rest of the cave, her fingers go back to tracing along the symbol on her amulet, a little habit of hers as she thinks. She lets out a little hum. "If the townspeople got here first, then the goblins may have scared them deeper into the caves," she says, her voice a quiet murmur. "Perhaps that's why they haven't returned to the town yet. They couldn't get around the goblins."

Then she looks at Helena, as if just now hearing her question. "Oh. Yes. We should check these out. Which one do you think we ought to do first?"

Bearamble takes his place guarding the entrance to the cave. He smells the stench of the dead ogre and goblins nearby, the damp, mineral smell of the cave, and a little fresh forest smell from outside. As Essie touches one of the stalagmites, she finds it to be smooth rock, cool to the touch and damp.

As folks have moved around, you’ve been able to get a more complete sense of this main cavern, especially for those of you who have darkvision. There appear to be a total of six passages that lead off the central cavern. Ryndar notices one in the northwest that is probably where the last goblin ran off to at the end of the fight. There is also one in the west, one in the southwest, one to the east, one to the northeast, and a final one to the north. Sphyboe also noticed a pool of water on the north side of the cavern, probably about 30 feet wide.

By now, the two secured goblins have woken up. They struggle a bit in their bonds and look around at you all. One says, “Hey! What’s going on? Let us go! Boss Hark is going to be real mad if you don’t!” You immediately get the feeling that this desperate creature is trying to say anything to convince you to release her.

(What would you like to do? Feel free to add any ability check rolls that you think match your actions.)

Ryndar crouches down,  smirking at the goblin. "Would would make a wager the Boss Hark wouldn't give a second thought if either of you disappeared. And if, by some minor miracle he does care, then he'd be willing to pay some ransom for your return. Right?" He pauses for a moment, letting the line of thinking sink in. "Doesn't seem like either of those outcomes are particularly positive for you. I'd say your best option at this point, would be to give us some information. Then, depending on how useful you've been, I might... MIGHT... keep my colleague here..." he nods towards D, "from gutting you where you lay."

Intimidation: 7

Bearamble will fall back from the entrance about 20’, approaching the party but maintaining some distance. He will want to stay near the light sources inside the cave lest he get stuck at the entrance with nothing but blackness behind him and nothing but his nose to try and locate his team. He will smell the air frequently as this is his best sense here, surveying the darkness surrounding the light.

(Passive perception for the bear is 13 and your call if it would be at advantage due to keen smell)

Sphyboe spits out the glowing dart which has been greatly hampering her ability to speak by muffling up her speech. She will move closer to the place where the goblins are being interrogated while holding up the mundane items in front of the restrained creatures.

"Yes, we might let both of you go if you tell us something. Quid pro quo!"- she shakes the tinderbox to draw the attention of the goblins, then asks patiently, "Do you know from where your friends got these things? Does this teddybear belong to one of the villagers who took shelter here? Where are they?"

Charisma: Persuasion 5

Daerthe draws her rapier and taps it slightly against her open palm as she looks to the others with a raised brow. "Why waste your words on them? Let me send them to be with the others. If you let them live they will merely be a nuisance to deal with later." She says if the goblins do not respond favorably to the words of Ryndar or Sphyboe.

Together, Ryndar, Sphyboe, and Daerthe have gotten through to this sad creature. “Wait! Please don’t hurt us! Yes, we can help you. We can help with whatever you want. The tinderbox and teddy bear? I think Flik got those from Nightstone and brought them back. Yes! Yes, he did. But also--I tell you and you spare my life, yes? Don’t tell Boss Hark that I talk? Yes, the human folk and others from Nightstone are here. Where the bats are.” And she points northeast toward the passage on the other side of the central cavern. “If you go quick, go quiet, you get them out before Boss Hark comes. We just go back to sleep here, yes? No one tells Hark we help you. But we do help you get your friends, so you let us live, yes?”

(By the way, I forgot to say that amongst the other smells, Bearamble has picked up a strong smell of bat guano.)

Sphyboe will strap the teddybear on the side of her backpack, and she's seen putting the mundane items inside it... carefully tucked beside the Three Dragon Ante cards gaming set. She will pick up the glowing dart from the ground and will ask the goblin, "How do we know that you're speaking the truth?"

The goblin stares at Sphyboe, seemingly a little at a loss. “I dunno. I don’t want that one to cut my throat, I think you believe.” She nods at Daerthe. “I guess you go look where I tell you. There no danger there, unless maybe you upset the bats. They live down below, but come out if you bother them. There, see, I tell you more than you ask. I want to help. I want to live. Many die at your hands, I see. Flik told us so, but Longo and me don’t believe. Now Longo dead back in Nightstone Inn and I see myself that you kill this ogre.” She nods in the direction of the ogre body in the entrance. Then her curiosity gets the better of her fear and she asks, "You kill Nob, too? Other ogre? Boss Hark not like that. Now he lose his big guards, lose his strength." She looks thoughtful as if considering the effects of these changes.

Daerthe continues to give the goblin a glare that shows she thinks herself above it, keeping her hand on the hilt of her rapier. "Well it told us a few things but at least do not let it go just yet. If it is telling the truth it should not be afraid to come with us."

Helena nods at this final bit. She glances to the goblins. "What do you say, lead us through to the villagers, and do so quickly, so this boss of yours doesn't find out before it is done."