Seeing the hobgoblin spellcaster flee and the bladebearer slain by Iravon's mighty flail, Valeria descends from the skies in front of the last hobgoblin, surrendering to her might.
"Who is your master hobgoblin and why did you ambush us on this road?" She says in a commanding voice.
(Intimidation: 25 Another roll if advantage due to help action from any of her companions: 11 )

"<Answer her!>" Iravon bellows in Goblin, then continues in Common. "Who makes you lower yourself to the level of mere highway thieves? This wretch?" He kicks the remains of the Bladebearer. "Or the coward who fled the fight?"

Helping Valeria, hopefully.

 The hobgoblin looks up in surprise at the flying figure, not expecting to be addressed from that direction. Nervously, he checks over his shoulder towards where his leaders came from, and then stutters out an answer in response to Iravon's prompting. 

"Uth-Lar... Zarr." he says, before shuddering and looking nervously at Valeria once more. 

(Assuming Iravon passes on a translation)

<We were acting on orders - Uth-Lar and Zarr - my Captains. That one is... was... Uth-Lar.> He gestures towards the corpse of the blade-bearer.

Listening to Iravon's translation Valeria then continues. "Ask him who commands them all, who's their general or whatever hobgoblins would call it. Also do you recognize any insignia on them Iravon? Could this be a unit from your old legion?" She says to Iravon, her stern eyes still staring down at their hobgoblin prisoner. "Kiersa, Mae, could you check the bodies, particularly the one with the two blades, for any leads on who these hobgoblins are and why they are here." She says sternly, her eyes still locked onto the hobgoblin prisoner.

Is there any insignia on them? If so does Iravon recognise it?

Mae watches as the hobgoblin starts to flee and is then arrested by Valeria. She cocks her head for a moment, catches her breath slightly and walks over towards them both and starts to reach out with her mind. (Casting Detect Thoughts) She keeps her gaze on the hobgoblin for the time being, seemingly unaware of what everyone else is doing at the moment. However, she does finally give Valeria a short nod after some time has elapsed, looking around at the dead bodies with a slight frown. Dead bodies were NOT Mae's thing.

"Valeria, if you feel the need a different sort of persuasion as well, let me know."

Valeria glances over at Mae, then at Kiersa and Iravon to make sure they were all still standing, feeling relieved but not showing anything but resolve towards their hobgoblin prisoner. Valeria then gives Mae a quick nod, taking a step back to let the silvertongued bard continue the questioning while she observes.

Kiersa nods to Valeria and starts to move around to check the bodies of the dead.  As she passes near to Mae, "Thank you again for the healing. Between the goblins and that dog... thing I was in pretty bad shape."

(Perception for trying to notice anything on the bodies: 12)

Iravon: As you briefly sort through some of the hobgoblin's trappings, you notice a crude symbol emblazoned on several pieces of armor and chain - a clawed, red hand, crudely pressed into the material as a mark, stained as if with blood. Iravon does not recognize the insignia.

Mae: As your spell takes hold, you detect a murky blend of fear and anger, though apparently neither emotion is directed towards you all of the party. Occasional glimpses of bright red light splash across the surface of his mind, but you will need to press the spell further to achieve greater clarity. Do you do so?

Kiersa: Other than their weapons, the Hobgoblins don't appear to be carrying anything, which seems odd to you since clearly these goblinoids had prepared positions from which to attack. You suspect their camp may be nearby...

Iravon takes a pauldron with the hand print on it, and thrusts it in the face of the captured Hobgoblin. "Which legion is this? There are none in the Wyrmsmokes with this symbol. Who is your General? Uth-Larr's General?"

Mae: In response to Iravon's inquiry, the hobgoblin's mind churns with further images of lights, now slowly focusing into flames. Shadowy figures, armed, stand before a great mountain peak. A Pillar of smoke rises before a great stone wall with a great gateway cut into its face. Rising above it, a great sinewy figure writhes with awful, distorted power.

The Hobgoblin begins to sweat. As he speaks, his voice becomes animated with fervor until being abruptly silenced. "<We... we are the Red Hand. Our general is our God, and he will save us. He will lead us! His name is Aza- Auh!>"

A blaze of red light casts a shadow on the ground as a bolt streaks towards you, impacting the hobgoblin in the chest and sending him to the earth, eyes smoking and skin singed. Cruel laughter echoes from the forest behind you, as well as a shout that gradually fades into the distance as you listen. In Hobgoblin, it is a cry of vengeance.

Valeria quickly turns around and ascends to the skies to scan the woods for the cowardly attacker, but to no avail. "Did you get any more information out of him?" She asks Iravon and Mae, staying aloft to scan the surroundings from her vantage point.
Perception: 20

Iravon prepares to run into the woods in the direction of the spell blast, but pauses when Valeria takes flight. He silly wait for instruction. She does not descend, but shakes her head. They are gone.

"The Red Hand," Iravon repeats. "It isn't a tribe I know. He said their General was their god, but Hobgoblins do not worship their Generals." He tosses the pauldron onto the dry dirt next to the charred remains of the hobgoblin soldier.

"This must be a small, breakaway band of traitors and heretics. We do not desert our gods. We do not desert Magubliyet!"

Iravon is clearly worked up at the idea of hobgoblins worshipping anyone other than Magubliyet and the few other gods in that pantheon. From what he has told you on your travels, his previous role within the legion included tracking down exactly this type of traitor and bringing them to 'justice'.

Mae's eyes flash as she turns back to the group, lost in her reading of the hobgoblin for a bit. "I see smoke...a great stone wall with a large gate...figures of shadow and one large, sinewy being on a tall mountain...and red..." She shuddered and her eyes darkened some as she looked more coherent. "I'm sorry that is all I could manage before he fell. What happened to him?" She wiped some slightly sweaty hair away from her face and went back to find her traveling cloak and return to her more clandestine, traveling form.

"Not much on these guys but weapons. They must be camped nearby," Kiersa says to the others.  No sooner than she does so, the hobgoblin is struck by the blazing red bolt.  She is on edge for a moment, looking back towards the forest, but soon relaxes.  She listens to the others: Ivaron and his information about not knowing of the Red Hand tribe; Mae's recounting of figures of shadow on a mountain.  

"You don't recognize any of the places you saw Mae?" she asks as the bard starts to collect her things.  Kiersa looks to the horses to make sure they aren't too spooked by the fighting and are ready to move on.  "I suppose it's continue on our way to Drellin's Ferry now?"

Mae shook her head slightly at Kiersa. "I've been a fair number of places but that could have been anywhere or nowhere." She came up alongside Kiersa, resting a hand on her arm for a moment smiled, "And you're welcome. It would be a sad fate to lose you now." She let go and began climbing back up to get ready to go.

Valeria descends again, landing gracefully on her chestnut steed, listening to Iravon, Mae and Kiersa before speaking again. "From what you say I fear we may be dealing with zealots of this god-general of the Red Hand. This was likely not a mere raiding party. If they believe their general is a god they are either very delusional or have great numbers and could be a great threat to nearby settlements. Considering how well-organized they seemed to be I think it is the latter. This being on the mountain you saw Mae might be the general-god our late prisoner was referring to. We should move on to Drellin's Ferry now to warn them about what we know, maybe they know more about these Hobgoblins of the Red Hand." She says in a resolute tone, ready to continue towards Drellin's Ferry, also looking over the others to see who would be in need of healing.

Iravon shakes his head. "With all due respect to you, Valeria, I disagree. I know my people, and these heretics will not number many. These occurrences are rare. If they were not, my role would have been impossible. I suspect a few dozen may have banded together to survive, no more. I agree that they are well organised, but they are Hobgoblins. I would expect nothing less, even from traitors like these. We are bred for war." With these last statements he has his chin held high in pride.

"Let us hope that you are right Iravon, but traveling with you and learning of your kind has given me a healthy respect for the might of the legions of your people. If this general-god really exists it would likely have gathered more followers, maybe enough to go to war even. Either way we must go on to Drellin's Ferry now Iravon." Valeria says, looking to Kiersa and Mae to see if they are ready to continue.

(Interject and we will continue the conversation, but if all are pretty much finished...)

As the party gathers and begins to set off, Kiersa notices some clear tracks leading from the road off to the right on the trail ahead. The tracks lead to a run-down cabin about 40ft off the main road, with signs of goblinoid inhabitation clearly evident on the doorstep.