[I think we can safely say, if you are murdering them all, then yea, no need to stay in initiative! RP out which one you are keeping! Sorry for taking so long. I am terrified I caught covid at this point lmao]

Lys stops short as all the goblins fall quite easily. She looks to you and speaks, "Well, that was easy. Shall I slay them all then?" She stands over one of the goblins, her blade pointed at it's neck.

Alakazam takes a moment to think, "Hmm, let's keep one of them alive for questioning.  Also, I believe there was something important in that map case there.  Let's slay the rest and see what they have before awaking the last goblin."

The magician procures rope from his pack and begins to tie up Gret the goblin.  He removes Gret's gear and weapons and ties the rope to one of the horse corpses to prevent any chance of running.  He then gives Lys the go ahead to kill the rest, pulling out his dagger to assist.

Investigation Check: 14

[LOL I AM HERE I PROMISE. Sorry, I had covid and it kicked my dumbass LOL]

It would appear this scene has already been completely looted. The satchels on the horses are looted and as stated before, the map case is empty. However, you figure it might be worth keeping the map case since it seems very valuable. Since it bears someone's initials, it could be welcomed back if you manage to rescue whoever this belonged too -- assuming they still drew breath. Or perhaps you could sell it for gold, you imagine you could fetch gold in the double digits -- 10 gold at the least.

With all the goblins dispatched except the last, Gret begins to wake up as the spell wears off. "Ugh... my bloody head..." He shakes his head and then sees all his dead friends, then he looks up to see a knight and a magician and a winged cat. Like any self-respecting goblin, he shrieks at the top of his lungs.

"I would have preferred to kill them all." Lys comments. Her expression doesn't change, but you get the feeling she is very annoyed at this goblin's cowardice. 

[No worries, Rue!  Covid's a bitch and a half, so take your time to recover.]

Alakazam responds to Lys in a hushed voice, allowing the goblin's wails to mask his whisper so that only the female knight may hear, "Now, now Lys.  There may still be information to gather.  And who said anything about letting the goblin live afterwards?"

Alakazam then approached Gret, clapping his hands loudly twice to garner the goblin's attention, "Settle down friend, you can consider yourself lucky.  You see, my friend here would loving nothing more than to tuck you into bed along with the rest of your friends.  But I've managed to persuade her to let you live, so long as you answer our questions.  You want to live don't you?"

[I was being destroyed by other things if you didn't notice LOL I am here again!!! hopefully for at least a long while before the next calamity hits!]

Gret gulps and looks around at everyone. It feels like its almost a whole 15 days before he finally answers, "Yes! Yes I will! Please, don't gut me!" He cries ugly. He very much does not want to be killed, it would seem.

[Welcome back, glad you've managed to come out on top of things alive.  No worries on the game; you first, D&D second.]

Alakazam smiles behind the mask, pleased with Gret's answer.  "Alrighties then, answer each question as thoroughly and detailed as possible.  Hold nothing back, no matter how small the detail."

The magician begins to question the goblin, pausing after each question to allow Gret to answer, "What happened to the people you ambushed?  Who were they and why did you ambush them?  The map scroll case was empty, where is the map?  Where is your hideout?  Who leads your group and what are your numbers?"

Alakazam looks to Lys, seeing if she finds his line of questions satisfactory and if she had any of her own questions to add.

[I still exist ahhh. I would say maybe I will finally be available, because I just went through having my birthday, but with thanksgiving coming up -- you never know!]

Gret, for what its worth, starts going off, just answering everything as soon as you ask:

1. What happened to the people you ambushed?

"The boss has us keepin' 'em tied up. Would be better if we ate 'em, er, well, I guess this way, they might still be 'round when you get there. They're at the hideout."

2. Who were they and why did you ambush them?

"A dwarf an' a old hume guy. Dunno who they was, boss just told us to wait out 'ere and snag 'em. Top priority, apparently."

"The human." Lys interjects. "What did he look like?"

"Eek! He's got white hair and a beard, but not like a dwarf's, smaller and white too. Uh... wore a lot of armor, like youse."

"... I see. And did he have a crown emblazoned upon him?"

"Uh... maybe?"

Lys doesn't ask more about it.

3. The map scroll was empty, where is the map?

"Boss said if we saw somethin' like that to give it to 'im. I suppose its with the boss now."

4. Where is your hideout?

"Up north, it is, I could show you, just don't kill me! Its hard out 'ere for a goblin, mate. Especially with all these damn humies movin' into the place and actin' like they're better than us all!"

5. Who leads your group and what are your numbers?

"Klarg's the boss. He's a big bugbear with even bigger muscles. No one likes 'em, he's just the guy King Grol put in charge. If youse ask me, he shoulda gave the job to Yeemik, but they never trust gobs with leadership. Real shame, and real lack of equity just cause we's the smaller of all of us. Next thing you know, the king's gonna put an elf in charge of us next with how things are lookin'..."