CF - Volo's Adventurers' Guild - PbP Campaign

As the party draws nearer to the western door, a noise behind it grows louder. At about 10 feet from the western door, the whole party can clearly hear the voices and noises of apparently a great many goblins.

Serena moves to the northeasternmost door, listen and checks if it's locked.
Perception: 7 Investigation: 24

Does the noise sound louder just because we are getting close to that door?  Or does it sound like the noise is getting closer?  Like they are coming this way?  Perception 17

Serena moves close to the north-easternmost door. She does not hear anything of interest near it. Upon closer inspection of the door and it's lock, she quietly determines that it is locked. Moreover, given her recent attempts to pick the lock outside the room where the party believed the dragon to be kept, Serena realizes that this lock is very similar.

Banjo waits quietly near the Western door, listening to assess the noises behind it. After a little bit he determines that the volume is due to the party's proximity, and that it just sounds like there are a lot of goblins engaging in conversations, arguments, cursing and other activities of goblin life on the other side of the door.

Serena has a go at the locked door, bringing out her tools again.
Thieves tools: 14

Quote from Oberon99 >>

Serena has a go at the locked door, bringing out her tools again.
Thieves tools: 14

 Serena deftly inserts her set of picks and goes about jiggling the elements of the lock. One piece after another she feels slide into place. After a few minutes, just as she is trying to get the last, trickiest pin to slide into place, her pick slips and all the pins fall back to their resting position.

So close, but so far. It seems like this lock is beyond Serena's abilities alone.

"Hopeless..." Serena mutters, looking down at her tools in disappointment and moves over to the next door to the left, listening, searching for traps and if it is unlocked opening it.
Perception: 8 Investigation: 11 

Tresvar says- “I guess I shouldn’t do my way with all those goblins next door..”. She looks sadly at her massive warhammer. 

Serena finds the next door to the west unlocked and opens it. The light from the hall spills into it revealing a passage that turns to the west a little ahead.

"I suppose this way is better than heading out over there." Serena says, pointing to the door in the west wall.
Unless stopped she then sneaks off into the passage leading north and then west, hoping for the others to follow.
Stealth: 21 Perception: 14

Banjo nods in agreement.  "We should avoid engaging the full host of goblins until we are either ready to lay our cards down and negotiate - or fight."

Banjo follows Serena's lead but drifts toward the back of the group.  From time to time a feathered quill appears in his hand as he jots down notes in their Volo journal about the ruins, their explorations, and his observations of kobold and goblin behavior.

The party proceeds into this northern passage. The initial hall is only wide enough to travel single file, but once it turns, the hall widens to ten feet, allowing travel two abreast. In the first bend of the hall, they note another narrow passage a little to the west of the original and south - leading to what looks like the third door on the north wall of the lantern lit hall the adventurers came from. The main passage is dark but makes a little zig-zag just west of the second narrow southern passage. This zig-zag turns north then abruptly west again. From where the leaders of the party are, they can see this last, west leading hall ends in another door, about 50 ft further on.

((If you proceed, all please make stealth checks, except Serena who just rolled))

Link to Image of Adventurers exploring the winding corridor

Stealth: 26.

Stealth 4

* Focusing on his notes, Banjo’s stealth is suboptimal.

Tresvar stealth. 20

2 

 
the 4 :) -  have disadvantage but forgot the formula for disadvantage…

The group progresses along the corridor. As they enter the northern leg, they pass another door along the south wall. Near to it, they can hear the same raucous noise of numerous goblin voices engaged in various activities.

The leaders of the party slow a bit to acclimate their hearing against that noise to discern what they might be able to hear from beyond the western door towards which they approach. Banjo, his attention on his note taking, unfortunately does not notice them slowing, and walks headlong into Tresvar, causing a clash upon her armor. The party stops, breathless. The noise from the southern room seems to continue unabated. 

Just as the adventurers prepare to let out a sigh, they hear the western door moving in its frame. The door opens letting torchlight spill into the corridor. The door rests languidly against the muscular red arm of the hobgoblin warrior who is talking over his shoulder as he opens the door:

In goblin:

Tresvar rushes forward and attacks the hobgoblin with her longsword.   (Surprise round or initiative?)

if surprise 

18 to hit and 7
damage. 

Tresvar's longsword cleaves into the hobgoblin's torso just as he turns his head to look into the hall. The look of confusion, then surprise, then pain lightnings across his face.

Closer to the door, Tresvar can now see the room the hobgoblin was in is a sort of circular throne room. 

A circular shaft pierces the floor of this forty-foot-diameter domed chamber. Dim violet light shines out of the shaft, revealing sickly white and gray vines that coat the walls of the shaft. The light is supplemented by four lit wall torches set equidistant around the periphery of the chamber. A crudely fashioned stone throne sits against the curve of the northwestern wall. A large iron chest serves as the throne’s footstool. A sapling grows in a wide stone pot next to the throne.

A hobgoblin in splint armor sits upon the throne with a goblin holding a gnarled staff at his side. In addition to the hobgoblin that Tresvar has attacked,  two other hobgoblins lounge on stone benches.

((Initiative))

Tresvar: 17

Serena: 8

Livia: 24

Banjo: 17

Erky: 18

hobgoblin warriors: 21

hobgoblin leader: 8

goblin shaman: 9

As Tresvar rushes forward and attacks the hobgoblin Serena reflexively blasts it with a beam of green eldritch force.
Eldritch blast: 18 Damage: 14

The green blast crackles toward the hobgoblin. While shocked by Tresvar's attack, his martial training kicks in as he twists his body to avoid being hit. The blast sizzles over his shoulder, splashing green energy against the wall behind him.