Jan will have pulled Ula aside at some point to relay to her that the goblin says that there were dwarves that may have escaped from here.

She'll reluctantly leave the cave, but not lagging behind enough to give them cause to attempt to hurry her up.

Avaria watches silently as the door is opened and the hobgoblins again enter their area.  She wonders how often this happens?  As they state their business, she walks over in front of Ethel.

Standing defensively in front of Ethel, she stares at the hobgoblin.  "Take me instead, she is but a girl."

((Dose anyone heading to the arena have any damage?))… if so, Ula will place a hand on their shoulder and cast cure wounds on the most injured looking… along with a word of, “Good luck…”, to all.

((Adding 12 hp))

Marrin stands from where she was sitting, looking at up the grates and whistling. She looks over to Jan before tracking to where Ava is defending Ethel.

She pauses to see how the hobs react to the Ava's offer.

Either way, she isn't going to resist and gives Ava's arm a squeeze as she walks past her.

Marrin spends more of her time looking around as she is lead out.

Ethel is already rising to comply when Avaria steps up to intervene.  Girl? I must be 10 years your senior… what are you thinking?  But with the die already rolled, she hesitates to see how the hobgoblins react.  Perhaps we can test them a bit here without risking too much.

[If it looks like it may come to violence, Ethel will step forward and demand Avaria back down and not risk herself.  But for the moment Ethel waits to see how the hobs react to a little push back.]

The hobgoblins look at Avaria then to Ethel. All six draw their swords. 

"Can you do magic? Then come. But if not get out of the way," the hobgoblin guard says. "Crowd wants more magic."

They adjust shields, ready their swords, but then the leader shrugs.

"She comes now," he says pointing at Ethel, "Or all punished."

Xanthe stands at the mention of all being punished and takes a step toward Avaria.

The guards wait a response.

Jan mentally kicks herself, normally quite good at not revealing her magical skills, apparently she was careless enough in the squid fight that Hargrove or one of the crew caught her hexing the first creature... either that or one of her bunkmates... no, of course not. She's a good enough judge of character to trust them to keep things unsaid.

((Unless I the player am forgetting an obvious casting, of course... :P ))

Satisfied seeing their response, Ethel steps forward.

”Thank you for your concern, dear.  I shall be fine.  

So what sort of magic do your crowds wish to see?  A few dancing lights?  A little fortune telling?” 

Her words suggest humor, but her tone is flat and mirthless.

((Perhaps something in Jan's possession at the time of capture was revealing to someone with the knowledge or ability to know what to look for))

"Fight. Fight with magic," the hobgoblin guard says, relaxing a little.

As Jan, Marrin, and Ethel exit the cavern and the door closes behind them, they see another set of four hobgoblin guards leaning against the walls of the tunnel, apparently waiting for something.

The three of you are led down the hallway, around the bend and to the door to the guard chamber. One of the hobgoblins bangs on the door. The panel in this door is slid open and another set of eyes look out. After a moment the panel closes, the door is unlocked and you’re quickly led through the guard room, this time all of you noting the large bell Ethel mentioned.

The guards guide you towards the same doorway you went through before. The same door routine is gone through again and you find yourself up the stairs, down the hallway, and being ushered into the same prep room you had been unmasked in earlier in the day.

As you’re guided into this room, you see Hammerdasher and the human from the cave, walking down the hall, their clothes smeared with drying blood. A hobgoblin guard follows behind them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the cavern, less than a minute after Jan, Marrin, and Ethel are led out, the door is opened again. This time four hobgoblin guards appear. They look around the room and settle their eyes on Ula and Avaria.

“You two, come with us,” one of the guards says. "Work to do."

((Yeah, that too. But so far it seems they don't know wholly what the ring is or does. She's mostly just irritated that she didn't manage to pass as mundane, which she is typically careful to do. She's not one to engage in blatant displays of magic in her line of work... at least not until needed.))

Jan pays attention to the banging, to discern if it follows a precise pattern, or is truly just banging.

Marrin pays more attention to how the guards stand at each checkpoint, is it just the one that does the knocking that they look at or the whole group?

As the hobs draw their swords, Avaria puts her hands on her hips, "Now, there is no need for that.  No, I cannot do magic."  and she reluctantly stands aside.  She wanly smiles at Marrin as she squeezes Ava's arm.  As the three of them are being led through the door, Avaria calls out, "Come back in one piece."

Avaria looks around to try and figure out what to do next, and the door opens again, requesting them.  Ava looks to Ula, shrugs, and walks to the guards feeling a bit defeated.

Team Arena (Jan, Marrin, Ethel):

Jan notices no particular pattern to the banging. The best she can ascertain, one of the guards just bangs loud enough to attract the attention of anyone inside the guard post.

When the viewing panel in the door to the guard post is opened, Marrin notices that the eyes that look out at them do a cursory sweep of everyone but as best she can see, they don't really linger on anyone.

(Insight roll to try and determine more).

In the hallway near the arena, as Hammerdasher and the human pass by, the dwarf raises a hand in greeting. "Good luck lassies," Hammerdasher says.

Team Muscle (Ava, Ula):

Avaria and Ula are placed between the guards, two to the front and two behind. The door to the cavern is slammed and locked by one of the trailing guards. When you get to the doorway to the guard post, an almost identical sequence occurs to when Jan, Ethel, and Marrin went through, except the pair didn't see that. The door is banged on, a panel is opened and closed. The door is opened and closed. As you move through the room, the guard who had the key to the cavern hangs it up with the rest of the keys.

Instead of turning west to the door to the arena prep rooms, Ava and Ula are led to a doorway to the north. A guard takes a different key from the rack and unlocks this door. Two guards exit first, then Ava and Ula are motioned through, with two more guards following. The door is then shut behind them.

(Pause in travels to let anyone interact/observe/act if they like)

Jan will try to get a chance to chat with Marrin and Ethel. She'll not speak where their captors can hear, and will speak in Elvish, just to be safer.

"Daggers sufficed last time for me, but if they are demanding magic, I'm not sure what to give them. I certainly don't want to get shot down, but anything 'showy' I've got either is indeed just for show, or is a lethal measure. Though if they didn't bring anyone else out... does that mean we're fighting each other? Or some sort of beast? New arrivals?"

Insight: 7

Marrin raises her hand to Hammerdasher,

"Thank you, see you in a few. Apparently we've got another fight to win."

To Jan in Elven,

"Well, I'm not a killer but everything I can do in an arena is going to be, like you Jan, for show or lethal."

She's quiet a tick before continuing,

"We need to decide now that we're going to take whatever action we need to to get ourselves and each other out. We can do this, you two can do this."

In dwarvish, as greeting to Hammerdasher:

"... Just another day between the pickaxe and the rockface."

In elvish to Jan and Marrin:

"They told me they wanted 'more spells' but haven't given me long enough to memorize anything knew.  I only have one more spell prepared that I haven't shown yet.  I would have preferred to keep that particular number under wraps.  I'd rather these *swine not know everything I am capable of....  It is not something I can make nonlethal, so if it comes to using it, I will likely have to kill."

She nods solemnly at Jan's observation.   "Either we are fighting more fresh-off-the-boat captives, or it isn't prisoners we are fighting....".

* Rather than swine, Ethel uses a colorful elvish curse word for hobgoblins.  Perception 23 to see if any of the guards with them react... she is curious of they are listening in or understand elvish.

((Jan is limited to hex, prestidigitation, minor illusion and eldritch blast for her showy/lethal spells. She has mage armor up, and will not be demonstrating disguise self for the crowds.))

As Avaria and Ula head down the passageway with the four guards, at one point she pipes up, "Can you tell us what kind of work we are going to be doing?  At least so we can be a little prepared?"

She watches the guards she and Ula are with, seeing if any seem to be more lethargic then the others, not as quite on their game..

Insight   14

((Marrin has about the same, vicious mockery and dissonant whispers that do damage. She also has healing word, but that isn't going to win a fight.))

((Did any of team areas take Ula’s heal? I’ll assume not, and get the slot back))

Ula heads off with Avaria, following neatly between the hobgoblins and next to her friend.

”Keep your eyes peeled…”, Ula whispers to Avaria with a wink. “Let’s just get through this…”. She takes a good look around on the way to work duty: to remember the way and the layout, but also to see if she can spot anything noteworthy or potentially useful…

Perception: 22