Zhisshikassa leans on whoever is available - or, if nobody, a simple wall - and rolls his beady eyes backwards. He was vulnerable in this state, sure. He couldn't see or hear where his body was. He continuously emits a small whisper as he transfers his thoughts into his familiar. 

Strange. Where was everyone? Zhi relays the information verbally towards the party back in the room they remain in. He commands Iskri to snoot-boop Daewen in the direction of the area beyond the hallway. 

Daewen relays the message back to the group (through Neph) to join her in room 4, as it appears to be empty (except for the invisible Dueregar). When they arrive, she instructs them to check out the five smaller rooms attached to room 4. 

These rooms appear to be nothing but workrooms. They are otherwise insignificant. You can, however, tell they have been regularly used, but no one is here at the moment.

Lugging the food dish, DroDaewen will ever-so-quietly enter room 6, communicating with Neph the entire time what she sees. 

Neph sends to DroDaewen a message, "How are you going to explain the snake around your neck?  Hmm.  Anything yet?  Tell us when/where to come, this place is like a friggin maze."

AREA 6

This room is an elaborate ballroom. The central area of the ballroom contains dozens and dozen of blankets and pillows for the Rybalkan captives - all of whom look in general good health. There's about twenty captives here.

The prisoners, upon seeing an unarmed singular drow cook, immediately look around at each other like they're deciding if they should kick your ass or not. 

DroDaewen sets down the bowl of food, and slowly backs out of the room and back to the safety of her teammates. Once again, she relays info once the scene to her team.

To Neph: I’m thinking we let all of the captives loose…it’ll cause a wonderful distraction, allowing us to more freely roam this fortress. 

Neph relays the information to the party.  "There is no one in room 4.  Let's move there, then step into room 6 with DroDaewin.  To keep her from being jumped, we will go in as a group and free the prisoners, it will work as a great distraction..."

Doc thought on it as Neph and Daewen relayed what they had discovered and their plan.  "That seems risky.  Besides the fact that we're putting innocent people in harm's way - people we're supposed to help - it'll put the entire castle on high alert that there are intruders around.  If we wanted that, we should've just gone for that spider.  I'd rather try and see what kind of information we can get from the hostages first before trying anything else."  Pausing for a quick sigh, he added, "But if everyone else wants to go along with the plan, I'll assist however I can."  

Zhisshikassa's familiar hugs closer to Daewen, unwilling to leave the (relatively) warm source of heat for Zhi's own, cold scales. Zhisshikassa frowns. That snake was more of a bastard than him. 

Zhi himself wears his perpetually sour look. "Setting the captives free is quite risky. I care little for them - our mission is to slay drow, not save civilians. If they are a distraction that must be used, so be it - I simply believe unleashing the captives may be problematic.

I suggest informing the captives of our presence. We have already cleared their weapons deposit - transferring weapons to the captives and blocking the drow's access to their own armory may tilt the balance in our favors as we set them loose. Either way, you seven are more powerful than the rest of the rabble. Keeping you alive is the best for my survi-" a beat- "Our survival- sacrificing armed civilians is tactically a possibility." Zhi looks towards Doc. Doc had told him to be more compassionate to the party. An attempt was made.

Quote from PlumPie >>

Zhisshikassa's familiar hugs closer to Daewen, unwilling to leave the (relatively) warm source of heat for Zhi's own, cold scales. Zhisshikassa frowns. That snake was more of a bastard than him. 

Zhi himself wears his perpetually sour look. "Setting the captives free is quite risky. I care little for them - our mission is to slay drow, not save civilians. If they are a distraction that must be used, so be it - I simply believe unleashing the captives may be problematic.

I suggest informing the captives of our presence. We have already cleared their weapons deposit - transferring weapons to the captives and blocking the drow's access to their own armory may tilt the balance in our favors as we set them loose. Either way, you seven are more powerful than the rest of the rabble. Keeping you alive is the best for my survi-" a beat- "Our survival- sacrificing armed civilians is tactically a possibility." Zhi looks towards Doc. Doc had told him to be more compassionate to the party. An attempt was made.

Looks like he actually listened to me for once... Doc thought to himself as he noticed Zhi's more "sensitive" reply.  Knowing that they needed to move quickly while they still had the upper hand, Doc turned to Daewen and said, "Lead us to where the hostages are.  and you can get rid of that disguise.  Zhi is right that we don't have luxury of shepherding them out safely but we can at least figure out what they know.  And maybe arming them before sending them back through the secret passageway isn't the worst idea in the world."  With that, he followed the quiet elf towards Area 6 and the Hostages.  

Anyone (Doc and Daewen, I believe) who approaches AREA 6, as a member of the Black Sun, and now a Drow, hear the hopeful gasps of the prisoners.

All around the room, people clamor to their feet, surging towards the door. “Who are you?” they demand, “Are you here to save us?” A larger man in the back shouts over them all, “Quiet!” before continuing, “You don’t want them to hear us, do you?”

DC18 Insight: ?!?!?!?

Insight: 19  

Doc was a bit overwhelmed as he was surrounded by the people in the room.  Holding his hands up in a placating manner, he quickly looked over the crowd for any injuries or anything else notable before deciding what to do.

That one dude in the back? He said that a little too loud.

DroDaewen follows Doc’s order and takes down her Disguise Self spell. But before following the team back into the other room with the captives, she attempts to hide in the shadows (Stealth: 18) in order to slink into the room undetected.

Once in the room, she follows the edges of the room to reach the back, where that one dude is apparently hiding out. She heard his comment, but does she know which guy said it? (Perception: 11).

 Apparently not. 

Looking over the crowd, he got a strange vibe from the larger man in the back; he did not like it one bit.  "Okay everyone!  Settle down, settle down." he whispered loudly to the crowd.  "We've spoken with your high priest and we're here to stop the drow."  Then looking towards the man in the back, he did his best to betray nothing as he nonchalantly placed his gloved hand (his spellcasting focus) in his pocket as it began to glow ever so slightly.  "Sir, everything is going to be alright.  Why don't you calm yourself and lower your voice?  Then you can silently join my friends over here and quietly tell us what exactly is going on in this castle."  He held the man's gaze as he waited to see if his subtle spell took effect.  Either way, he was ready for whatever happened next.

• Cast Suggestion on the suspicious guy: DC14 WIS Save or he's gotta do what Doc said (the italicized text)

Here's the save: 16

"Sir, everything is going to be alright.  Why don't you calm yourself and lower your voice?  Then you can silently join my friends over here and quietly tell us what exactly is going on in this castle." 

"I am a spy. I work for the Drow. I am a Vikmordere mercenary - there are many others here in the castle. We all are loyal to Naraneus. Go, and run. Thizasta will find you, and sacrifice you all."

As if almost on cue, an enormous shadow spider reverse melts from AREA2, as if bleeding into AREA 6 from under the door and reforming into something eldritchly terrible. 

The villagers begins to scream, all of them, except the man you're suggesting. You're pretty sure everyone heard those cries.

• History check on all that dude said: 19  

Before he could even process or respond to what the man just said, the screaming began.  Turning to the Squad as he took out his golden book, he simply said, "I think the time for discretion  is over..." before turning towards the evilness in front of them.

Initiative (since it seems like we're heading that way): 4  

Nephvir tries to melt into the shadows, hiding in the corner, similar to NoDroDaewen.  He brings out his short swords as silently as he can, it looks like he's going to have to use them...

Stealth :  23

Initiative :  16