Wake placed his hand on Mia’s shoulder and assured her that he would do everything in his power to see them reunited.

To the team, Wake will relay the information that Mia confided to him.

“Mia is very concerned about her family. She told me, ‘There's a hidden door in the cellar of the Inn. It's in the north wall behind a pair of barrels. The barrels are attached to the door so it's harder to spot when closed. If Lankus and Lara are anywhere, that's where they'll be. Daveth too.’ Can we please make haste to investigate this lead?”

All - Assuming the party decides to follow Wake's lead, you all find The Wicker Goat to have suffered greatly in the raid. Only the stonework still stands, though it is blackened by soot. The entire second floor has collapsed into the first in a jumble of charred timbers and furniture. It is difficult to see the ground floor, much less find the stairs to the cellar. You all set about working together to clear what you can, though the task is a formidable one. Thick beams press down upon the smaller, more manageable debris and it takes all of you to move just one.

Hours pass and you find no sign of Daveth, Lankus, nor Lara. You do find more than a few Gnoll corpses, though it's hard to tell if they died in the collapse or were killed before. You are all filthy and tired by this point, but you finally manage to clear a narrow path through to the cellar. You find the cellar to be partially collapsed, a pile of rubble squats stubbornly atop the remnants of smashed barrels along the entire north wall.

Taking a rock and tapping where he believes the hidden door to be, you all hold your breath as Wake presses his ear against the rough fieldstone, listening for a reply. Seconds pass... Nothing. Wake moves further along the wall, scrabbling over the pile of rubble and repeats his tapping, TAP TAP TAP... Again, nothing. Wake moves along, tapping the wall and listening among the smashed barrels and pile of rubble, TAP TAP TAP... TAP TAP TAP... In frustration, Wake smacks the stone against the wall and rests his head upon it, breathing heavily. ...tap tap tap... ...tap tap tap tap tap tap... You hear a gasp from Wake and he turns, "They're here!" Wake TAPS the stone against the wall excitedly and tosses it aside as he begins clearing the rubble from the space.

You all pitch in with renewed strength and within a quarter of an hour you manage to clear enough away that the hidden door is pressed outward a bare two inches and you hear Daveth's voice, "Thank Lathander! Wake is that you? Lankus is wounded, he's breathing but unconscious. Lara's fine, as am I." You see a two-inch strip of Daveth in the light filtering through the crack and can see that he is dirty and bloody.

After another quarter hour, the area is cleared enough to allow the hidden door to open a full two feet. Daveth allows an equally filthy Lara to escape first. She stumbles and falls on the debris, but Ariana and Ruby are there to catch her. Daveth exits the bolt hole holding a bloody stain on his side and you see a number of scrapes and burns covering his body. Wake helps him to sit next to Lara against a wall while Elwyn and Kulogall work to get Lankus onto Kulogall's oilskin coat, using it as a makeshift litter.

You all head back to the jail where the wounded are tended to under the teary eyes of Mia, her Dwarven minder knowing better than to interfere. Mia hugs and kisses you repeatedly while offering praise to Chauntea.

Kulogall says “Daveth, tell us what happened!  We attacked the gnolls, we need your help now.”

Elwyn helps out with the search for Daveth, Lara and Lankus, and is greatly relieved when they are finally found.
"You did good Daveth, saving Lara and Lankus from the fierce Gnolls. But Kulogall is right, we need to know why the Gnolls happened to raid Saltmarsh at such a convenient time." He says as Kulogall finishes. 

All - Daveth is recovering on a cot next to Mia, Lara, and Lankus. He tells you all the following:

• He and Lara were just returning to The Wicker Goat when the first shouts began.
• A group of Gnolls charged into town from the north in conjunction with another group from the east.
• The Gnolls left a portion of their forces to hold the bridge and prevent townsfolk from reaching the safety of the jail while also preventing help from going the other way; from the jail toward town.
• The Gnolls broke into the Inn, pillaging and attacking the four of them.
• Lankus and Daveth held them off.
• The Gnolls then set fire to the Inn.
• Lankus managed to help Mia escape, but when he went back in to get a wounded Daveth and Lara, the Inn began collapsing around them.
• They sought refuge in the hidden room in the basement.
• Lankus fell unconscious from a combination of his wounds, smoke inhalation, and exhaustion.

He is unsure why the Gnolls attacked. When Kulogall mentions help, Daveth says, "I think you guys can handle a few bumbling slavers without me, I'd rather stay with Lara and help around town."

All - It is now mid-afternoon, about 4pm. The Abandoned house is four hours from Saltmarsh by foot, roughly two by boat. What would you like to do?

Ariana is happy to see Daveth has survived. It seems he's found a good group of friends that makes him happy. She gives him a warm smile and slight nod.

"Daveth has retired from adventuring it seems. And who can blame him with such a great town and good people. Here, in case you get bored," she says, winking. She hands him one of the magic mushrooms she stole from the charlatan.

"Come on. Let's head to the house and prepare for our ambush," she suggests to the group.

Elwyn too nods approvingly at Daveth's decision, what could be more important than protecting your loved one. "I guess Saltmarsh is in no imminent danger of being attacked. I'm ready to go and finish our business with those slavers." He says clearly perking up after being reunited with Azure chirping on his shoulder, and finding out Daveth and the others had survived the raid.

When everyone is ready, Wake will help Kulogall using Shape Water to propel the boat back to the cliff-side cavern.

“Have we decided how we’re going to raid the raiders? Freeze their rudder? Tie down their anchor, assuming they drop it? Or just infiltrate and strike hard and fast?” Wake will ask since there have been a lot of distractions in the last 18 hours or so. A reset to get everyone on the same page seemed like a good idea.

"I think I am still up for playing the part of that nefarious wizard Sanbalet." Elwyn says and rummages through his backpack for his disguise kit. "And perhaps we should just keep it simple. We all come in this small boat pretending to be slavers and slaves, and when we are up on deck, well, we'll have ourselves a small mutiny."

All - The return to the smuggler's hideout is uneventful. You have time to walk through your scheme a few times before the moon's reflection on the water is eclipsed by a large black shape. A small light winks in code from the shape,

"Is it safe?"

"And I will play Xolo, of course.  I took a couple of his garments from the jail, for this very moment.  We will ride out to the boat, pretending to have slaves for sale, look for the right time, then spring our trap.  It would be nice to save the ship if possible, but if we need to we can scuttle it.  Either way, we are going to put an end to their little operation.  Are you all ready, rested?  I feel back to my full strength now.  The dark will be to our advantage.  Let's take the fight to them!"  Kulogall keeps helping Wake with shape water and gust to propel the boat along and so they can get in place.  "Do we have the lantern, for upstairs, and the code?"

Ariana pulls out the parchment with the code. She practices with the lantern as they wait for the ship to appear.

She stands at the window with the lantern, and when the ship signals, she jumps and whispers (though of course the slavers can't hear her), "They're here!"

She operates the lantern--short, long, short, long--to indicate "Everything safe," mimicking the same length of each flash type that she picked up from their message. Her heart beats fast as she grips her quarterstaff tightly.

Kulogall readied himself with mage armor.  He straightens up his outfit and prepares his best Xolo impersonation, after years of observation.  “Look alive, mateys.” and gives you a wink and a smile.  

While Ariana signals the slavers ship Elwyn tries to outdo his last Sanbalet performance, using his disguise kit for good effect, really looking alive.
Disguise kit: 16

“I can give one of us advantage on going first when the fighting begins. Is there one of us who really should be first?” Wake refers to Vigilant Blessing.

Ariana - Seconds that seem to be hours pass before you see the return signal, "Ready to unload; come to the ship "

Elwyn - With the oil skin coat that Kulogall stole from Sanbalet and the effects of your disguise kit, none would think you anyone one other than Sanbalet when viewed from the deck of a swaying boat in the middle of the night.

Ruby, wanting to help but not knowing how just stands there and watches as Elwyn disguises himself as Sanbalet. "That´s so cool, you actually look like him." She says to Elwyn, praising him. "Maybe I could get one of those kits too." She says thinking out loud. 

"I think you should give the advantage to Ariana, if she wants it." Ruby says to Wake. "I would rather follow someone in. 

Xologall arranges his clothing the best as he can and takes on the air of Xolo as they make their way to the ship.  “Let’s try to keep them fooled until we have a proper time to attack.  I will message you when it is time to go, or it will be obvious.  Good luck everyone.”  Kulogall sounds excited and you can hear the electricity in his voice.  

Wake confers Vigilant Blessing to Ariana as he girds himself for the coming encounter.

"Thanks Ruby, you can borrow mine anytime you want." Elwyn says to the halfling. "So will you play the part of a slaver or a slave Ruby?" He says, kneeling in front of her, ready to do a convincing make up. Disguise kit if needed: 18

"Yes, bless Ariana Wake, she will likely be in the midst of battle before the rest of us have even gotten on board of that ship." Elwyn says with a smile and a wink.

Elwyn then nods affirmatively at Xologalls orders.