"Alright, now is as good as time as any to spill the beans, though I honestly don't think you're going to like it. Let's make sure the prisoner's are secure and out of ear shot and move over there with the others." Kor says, as he gestures to a small clearing in the side of the road.

Once the goblins are tied and the group assembled, Kor begins "Alright, this plan is pretty simple, but simple and adaptable beats complex and rigid any day in my book. First, to review, we have two hostages that need rescuing likely surrounded by a hoard of goblins, we have two hostages of our own, and we have a cart full of dynamite and supplies. We have two main issues with rescuing our employers, one is we're probably out numbered and the other is we have don't know exactly where are employers are. Here's how I suggest we fix that." 

Continuing, he said, "Here's the broad strokes: That dynamite can even the score for us pretty quickly, but we'd probably be pin cushions before we got close enough to use it. That's where our little friends come in. We strap this bag Val repaired full of dynamite to one of them, without them knowing the bags contents of course, and send to them back to their friends with a long fuse. I think you all see where that goes. However, that leads to the plans' biggest problem, we don't know where the hostages we need to rescue are and we risk blowing them up, or any other innocents, along with goblins. But that's where these items come in, I can use them to for an arcane ritual to summon a familiar spirit given about an hour's time. Using that spirit I can attempt to find the hostages before we send in the bomb squad, allowing us the flexibility to adjust our plan to minimize their risk." Finished and glad to have gotten the plan out of his head, Kor sat back and awaited the group's response. This was a diverse group, he expected their responses to be enlightening.

(I’ll wait for a group response to the plan before continuing the story)

i would need a wee bit of a gander at the stonework in the area to be sure that your little 'present' don drop everything on their heads, prisoners included

"That plan sounds really well thought out. Maybe before going through with the bombing we propose a trade. I don't know how well that would work though. It would only work if these two are valued among the clan, seeing as they are getting paid a pretty penny apparently for the kidnapping from this Black Spider figure." Mav sits pondering silently for a minute. Trying to find a way to solve the issue while hurting and destroying as little as possible. After a few minutes he speaks up, "If a trade is possible, this would be a good way to ensure we aren't followed out of the cave. Surely they expect some sort of rescue party to come for Grunden. Maybe the dynamite might suffice as a ransom instead of a weapon?"

"Great, I was worried about that myself, but have no knowledge base for determining that one way or another," Kor says to the dwarf.

Seeing the pensive looks on the faces of the others, Kor figured he'd give them time to consider his idea while saving time by conducting the arcane ritual. The prep work was fairly extensive, but the actual ritual required little concentration, so he could perform it and prepare the dynamite at the same time. With that in mind he walked aways a bit, though still in stones' throw of the others, and started preparing the ritual. After setting the ethereal anchor points by which the spirit could enter the Material Plane, Kor set some light wards to ensure nothing terrible happened in the unlikely event the spirit was uncooperative. It was just a precaution though, as Kor had already contacted the spirit he was going to contract multiple times before in preparation for this casting. He set up the brazier, a poorly beaten brass bowl, and added the other ingredients. With a whispered incantation and a snap of his fingers, the brazier lit. Kor crouched down then sat on his heels before the brazier, knees together and straight out in front of him. He took several breaths to center himself then mentally reached out towards the connection.

He was immediately greeted by the spirit he was looking for, a fey spirit, with an almost child like glee. The spirit wasn't very old, therefore not yet possessed of the capacity for complex dialogue, what Kor mostly received through the connection was feelings and sometimes mental pictures. The fey, like many of its kind, was a trickster and therefore predisposed to Kor's own personality. Mentally seizing the spirit he sent it his intent (met with more glee and anticipation) and started forming the body the spirit would inhabit on this summoning. He'd considered his options closely, but there was really only one he thought had a good chance to do what needed to be done for this job.

An hour passed, with Kor finishing with the dynamite at roughly the same time the spell was completed. The brazier flared in green/gold flame. From within the flames a leg reached out, followed quickly by another...then another, and another, and another until a Spider with a body the size of Kor's fist pulled itself free of the now burnt out brazier. Kor's initial glee was only slightly dampened by primordial terror all warm blooded beings face when confronted with such a sight. That is until the spider reared up and started wriggling it's forelegs in jubilation.

"Gods, that's terrifying." Kor remarked with a shudder. The spirit-spider was trying to communicate with him using their telepathic link. It was displaying a series of images of a mother spider carrying a sack full of baby spiders around with it, causing Kor's shudders to turn into near convulsions. He finally deduced it wanted to be carried, so after long minutes of mental hand wringing, Kor approached the spider and slowly lowered his arm to it. It latched on immediately like an eager child, it's eight legs pumping as it crawled toward his face---

"Nope." The spider disappeared as he dismissed it to its pocket dimension. It would be completely safe there and he had already managed to summon it days before he had planned. What was the rush?

"BY ILMATERS MIGHT!"  Mav says as he jumps away from the giant spider, unaware until it POOFED out of thin air. "That was both unsettling and very impressive all at the same time! He will definitely come in handy though. I have never seen a ritual like that performed before, nor a spider of that size. it was too cold up in the mountains for them to survive." 

“I’d rather not kill more of them than we have to, but if that’s the only option that presents itself, I can make due. I your idea Mav, of trading the dynamite for Gundren, that way no one has to die. But I think if we’re going to do that, we should render the explosives inert, so they can’t use it to turn anyone else. They’re clearly not opposed to harming innocent people. ”

While Kor is casting his spell, Valathar steps into the brush and proceeds into the woods to find a place to hid their cart.

Nature: 20 to find a place within the woods to hid our cart and horses. 

Continuing the discussion on modifications to the plan, Kor said, "How about this: We send one of our hostages in first with a request for parley with the boss at a neutral location. My new 8 legged friend can ride along with him unbeknownst to the goblin. We'll have to encourage the goblin to move quickly, the longer it takes for him to get in, the more likely the spider will be discovered. Once they're past any guards, the spider will hop off and take to the walls or ceiling to follow the goblin covertly. I'm sure our friend will go straight to his boss. I'll be able to watch and hear what the spider does through its own senses. Once spidey here is done shadowing the goblin, he can check out the rest of the hideout, that should give us a good idea what we're working with. If the parley goes well, great, we walk away with our employers. If it doesn't we send them goblin #2 with a backpack full of presents." Kor thought for a moment as the others digested his words.

"I'd also suggest against mentioning the explosives outright. They're our trump card if things go wrong and they can be a powerful last minute bargaining chip to prevent that from happening. Plus, I'm not keen on giving a pack of goblins, and likely whoever these Black Spiders are, a cart load of explosives; though sabotaging them before hand, honestly wasn't something I had considered. Good suggestion, Val. I still think we should try to only give up the basic supplies first. I'm sure Grundern will be happy we saved him, but I bet he'll be much less financially appreciative if we gave up his dynamite. It's likely the ticket to whatever wealth his mine is holding." Kor finished. 

just keep that thing away from me Kor an well be alright  Berrus growled    

while ensuring the edges of his blades were sharp and his beard was properly braided

if we have to fight we fight   that is the way with goblins    continues muttering in Dwarvish about magics and the erieness of it

"I am comfortable with Kor's plan. I think looking for the peaceful option first might benefit us in the long, maybe even get some more information on what is really going on here."

“Agreed. Kor’s plan sounds good to me.” Valathar nods at the group, then turns to the goblin. “So, how far is this hideout of yours? It’s starting to get dark, and I think we should get moving. We should prioritize getting Gundren out alive, finding as much as we can about this Black Spider character, then killing as few goblins comes last I think.”

“Berrus, Kent, are you ready to head out and find our friend?” Valathar asks as he packs his bag with the things he removed since stopping. Picking up his Staff, he grabs the reigns of the horses. 

Well since it seems like you guys have a game plan, I’ll go ahead and speed up time a bit to get the ball rolling! 

Hours pass, it’s the twilight between afternoon and dusk, and your goblin companions have guided you and the wagon faithfully past the numerous pitfalls surrounding the Cragmaw cave. They warn you off sentries surrounding the mouth of the cave, and you park the wagon a minutes walk away from the caves mouth, hidden in the trees and shrubby of the thick forest surrounding you. The original goblin you conversed has revealed his name to be ‘Stonebitter’, and the poisoned goblin as ‘Bat-Ears’ due to his abnormally (for a goblin) small sized ears. The prisoners have stayed mostly quiet during the trip, aside from directing you where to go. Once you stop, Stonebitter looks to Mav, so far the nicest ofvthe group to him and says “Oi Mate, you cannot let me die ‘ere, I gots a wifey and a litter of mi own children to take care of, yes I do. If something bad ‘appens to me, please spare ‘em, there just little sprogs, ‘avent ‘urt a fly in their lives.” 

Okay, the balls in your court guys! I something to do in an hour, but will hopefully post at least once more tonight in about 3 hours.

"Of course Stonebitter, we will do our best. But you and Bat-Ears will have to continue to cooperate so we don't have to hurt anyone. Kor, I think it's time, let's take a once over of the area and figure out what we are getting ourselves into." Mav starts to stealthily walk and look around to see what's up.

The cave mouth is a tall, and wide opening in the side of a steep hill cliff. A shallow stream flows out, covering almost the entire opening, except for a strip of land on the right hand side. (You guys are coming from the left hand side for reference). A thick covering of shrubby covers both sides of the stream, but when Mav stealthily crosses the river almost completely silently, he can hear a loud snoring coming from the other side of the brush. A small guard post is set up, with sneaky arrow slits poking through the shrubby to cover the stream area, and two sleeping goblin guards. 

(Maps will come tonight (actually probably tommarow morning cause I’m getting back late) when I have my computer and photo editing software)

While the other's finished their last minute preparations, Kor went over the plan once again with the voice in his head. The spirit was fairly simple minded, but it had a passion for tricks that pushed it to new levels and this would be the finest trick of its short existence. The spider would ride on the back of the parley goblin discretely, Kor would cast a spell right before sending them off to camouflage the spider perfectly as long as it didn't move. Once inside it would gather as much info as possible, fed back to Kor through the link. When its task was done Kor would dismiss it to its pocket dimension for a safe extract.

Kor would also do his best to make a map of the goblin hideout for the group and assist with the parley as he was needed.

Mav takes a wide and careful path back to the others to report his findings. "There are two sleeping guards on the far side of the cave. I think if we all approach we can silently make sure they don't sound the alarm, and interrupt our attempt at a peaceful transaction. If we just send the goblin alone he could warn the guards. I can act as a translator during the parley, maybe someone more persuasive can be there doing the real talking." Upon the new intel gathered about the cave opening, Mav is having doubts about the plan might play out without running into problems, but still believes it is the best option.

Valathar stands near the back of the group. Never having done anything like this before, he’s apprehensive. He’s got his Staff in one hand, Scimitar in the other, and he’s doing his best to walk as quietly as possible. If he’s was being honest with himself, the goblins left him feeling a little uneasy. He’d always heard awful stories about the savagery of goblins from the traveling merchants that would stop in Thundertree. 

I can try and sneak close.  But all this metal doesnt lead to much sneaking

Kor was stringing his short bow when he saw Mav heading back towards them. He would have rather had Molly, his trusty old hand crossbow, but the last con he pulled hadn't gone so well, forcing him to leave a good portion of his gear behind. He was originally hoping to use the 10GP this current job paid to buy the supplies needed for the familiar summoning ritual, then use his new partner to advantage to make up for his loses. I guess this is going better, and worse, than expected. He thought to himself.

When Mav told him the news and his reservations with the plan, Kor said, "We'll have to trust the goblin, we could blow the whole plan if we accidentally alerted the goblins before taking out the sentries. Plus, if we kill the sentries, I'm betting the negotiations won't go so well."

"If Stonebitter over there ends up betraying us, we'll know it immediately as long my familiar is watching him. We'll be able to react quickly while the goblins will still be trying to wake themselves up and get out here. Assuming that entrance is the only way in or out, or at least the primary way, they'll likely be bunched up as they exit. Perfect targets for our bag of fun," Kor said with a grim smile.

"I think we're as ready as we can be and the plan is the best it's going to get until we have more information via the spider. Let's get Stonebitter and his buddy prepped. I'll do the talking if Mav translates, I've got a way with people, must be my pretty eye," He finished with a low chuckle. 

Kor passed out the remaining dynamite to each party member then summoned the fey spirit from its pocket dimension.