Marrin tosses her short sword on the table before gently laying her lute down, pushing the other equipment away to make space for it. This space making includes sliding Ula's medallion into her palm then into her belt.

Sleight of hand with advantage: 11

She then turns to the hobs and points at her lute and says,

"No one touches this but me. No one. Understand? It is in perfect tune."

One of the hobgoblins, the one that said "Drusus" several times, nods at Ula with appreciation. "You're strong. You might survive the games as a champion."

Hammerdasher, Snowreign, and Demai finally regain consciousness and manage to get to their feet, supporting each other. Geffroi speaks quietly to them, filling them in on what's happening.

Just as the you do, the lead hobgoblin bangs his sword against the door.

"No more games. Leave everything," he says loudly. And then he points the sword at Marrin "Put the amulet back."

The other hobgoblin tense up, and take positions flanking their leader.

Jan takes the hint and returns the three daggers and ring.

Marrin drops the amulet with a thunk on the table and a shrug, spreading her hands wide to show compliance.

"Whatever you say."

She looks the boss hob over while waiting for instructions.

Once the hobgoblin leader is satisfied you've dropped your gear, he gestures at one of the others who goes to the table and takes out a small book and compares what's written there to what he sees on the table. He touches each weapon, shield, and arcane foci. He moves the gear of the four you fought in the arena to a separate pile by the doorway tunnel to the arena sands before returning to the other doorway and tapping on it.

He says a few words in goblin. The door creaks open and you're ushered outside.

As you step out you see the hallway runs perpendicular to the room you just came out of, and based on what you saw of the sun overhead in he arena, it runs in a generally east - west direction. In the hallway, five hobgoblins face you about 10' to the west, and another five hobgoblins face you about 10' to the east.

Down the hallway to the west, you see a closed doorway, with another grate in it for a window, much like the door to the room you've just left. The five hobgoblins to the east, about face and starting leading the way. You're prompted to follow, with the next five hobgoblins taking up the rear. You walk past another doorway, with another grate in it for a window. Inside, you see a room much like the one you just left. A couple of tables are covered with weapons and gear. This is likely the room your opponents were prepped in.

Repost of hall/arena:

 You're then led up a flight of stairs, through a heavy iron door that one of the lead hobgoblins unlocks with a key, and into what looks like a guardroom. A few lit candles provide dim lighting, a few tables and chairs are placed about the room, racks of weapons line the walls. A large bell and mallet occupy one corner. One hobgoblin hangs up a couple of keys on the wall. There are two rows of about a dozen total keys. Two more are selected.

To the north is another closed, heavy iron door. But you are guided to similar door to the south. This is unlocked and you are ushered through. The door is closed behind you. You're led down another short hallway to another locked iron door. It's opened quickly, you're all ushered through and the door is slammed shut behind you. None of the hobgoblins guards entered with you.

Ula just gives a dismissive chuckle to the hobgoblin that complemented her strength, “uhuh!…”. She lets her arms droop down again and just awaits further instructions.

You find yourselves in what appears to be a natural cavern. It's about forty feet from wall to wall. Beams of sunlight shine in through gratings far overhead, well over one hundred
feet up. The floor is covered in a fine sand. In centre of the cavern is a large, deep pool of water. Tunnels appear to extend out to the west and south from this main chamber but you don't have time to look at those as something else draws your attention.

You’re not alone in here. A small group of prisoners, mostly human, with a couple of halflings thrown into the mix stare at you. One of their number, an older woman, takes a few steps towards you and extends her arms and says, “Welcome!”

The woman who greets you is an elderly human, frail and stooping but still projecting an air of confidence. She wears her long grey hair in a ponytail.

In the map above, you're in the cave to the top right and can see the tunnels extending to the ones to the west and south.

Jan nods at the elderly human cautiously. 

"Thank you for the warm reception. Hospitality has otherwise been somewhat lacking here."

She sizes the woman and her response up and down... not who she'd expect to be the alpha prisoner looking to put the newbies in their place, if that's what's going on, but Jan herself is well aware that looks can be deceiving.

Insight: 10

As far as Jan can tell, this elderly woman is what she appears to be. Physically frail, but despite the careful movements there's an iron will in there.

Avaria tries to take note of their surroundings as they are led down many areas until they finally reach the cave.  Still sullen from earlier, she tries to take in where they are now, and wonders if this is where they are to stay...and for how long?  

Avaria smiles to the woman that greets them, and steps forward a bit towards her as well.  "Thank you, ma'am.  How, how long have you been in here?  Is there anything to eat?  I'm starving."  She looks more closely at her new surroundings, in particular the other people that have gathered here.

Perception  8

Marrin looks around in suspicion before turning and looking back at the iron door. If there is an opening she looks in, otherwise she inspects it while trying to keep an eye on the other prisoners at the same time.

Investigation: 11(13)

Once she is done she moves to stand just behind Ava.

She adds her own questions to Ava's,

"How many are down here? How often do you fight? What do you fight?" She casts a look over her shoulder and says quietly, "How many guards? All hobgoblins?

The woman smiles at all of the questions and the urgency behind them.

"I hate to say this, but you can slow down. We have time" she says, not unkindly. "Why don't we start with names. I'm Xanthe Jonqui. But that's a mouthful so most just call me Xany. And who might you all be?"

She gestures around at the people you can see. Most look weak, sickly, and are barely covered in the rags they wear. A couple of them sit looking into the water of the pool in the middle of the cavern, others look listlessly towards the newcomers. A couple huddle together in whispered conversation. 

"There are nine of us here," Xanthe says. "Our little family. But how long I've been here? I really don't remember, it seems so long now."

She points to the two openings, the one to the west and to the south.

"The other groups prefer those caves."

She moves closer, looking at your injuries. She nods at them, pats Ula on her massive biceps, before paying more attention to the more severely injured; Hammerdasher, Demai, and Snowreign.

"They haven't brought any food in yet today, dear" Xanthe says to Avaria, then gestures at the pool of water. "And that's not drinkable unless you're an ocean fish."

She helps Snowreign and Demai over to some smooth rocks they can sit on.

"As far as we know, the guards are all hobgoblins. I think they're a mercenary troop. But like most of their kind, if you follow their rules they leave you alone. They're not cruel." she says. "The same can't be said about all of the Hargroves."

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

Marrin, the best you can make out with the door is that it's a very solid iron door. The hinges and frame are in good condition. There are no gaps you can see through and there's a small metal plate that prevents you from seeing through the grate. It is likely something that can be opened from the other side so guards can look in before opening the door.

Avaria, you notice nothing more about the group than what was described above.

"You can call me Janellae, or Jan, if it's easier.", she calls over her shoulder as she joins Marrin at the door.

She'll poke at the metal plate, to see if it can be budged, even just a little bit, or any gaps at the bottom or top. Even without... perhaps it would still work... perhaps...

She wouldn't be hiding from Marrin that she's in the process of puzzling something out, or at least attempting to.

Not wanting to get close to these people after what happened with Jaroo, Avaria nods to the woman, gives her name so not to be rude, "My name is Avaria." and backs away from the group of people.  She starts looking around the walls and the area in general in this cave.  Then looks back to Xany with an eyebrow raised, "Other groups?"

Marrin steps back to Jan as Ava takes over the conversation and says quietly to the elf,

"I don't plan on wasting away in here. Also, I think I have something to settle something with the Hargroves."

She'll give Jan a hard look before stepping back up with Ava to introduce herself.

"Marrin."

She isn't able summon a smile tries not to look angrily at the woman. Seeing Hammerdasher she walks over to him and asks in dwarven, not unkindly,

"Are you okay?"

Then,

"Is anyone going to come looking for you if you don't arrive at the next port?"

Jan nods, the thumb of her left, gloved hand rubbing the back of her right middle finger, where her ring normally sits. She replies in Elvish.

"Ethlehyn Ahronath," the scarred woman says to Xanthe.  "We were poisoned and taken against our will by Hargrove the younger while at sea."  Something about that tickled her brain.  What was it?

"My friends and I will need places to rest and recuperate.  Is there a system here?  May we take whatever space we find or have you some system for allotting sleeping space?"

Barely pausing for an answer, she turns her head toward Jan and Marrin and barks in Elvish:

 Next to moves to Snowreign, the haughty drow.  Addressing her in Undercommon:

 And then it clicks... that tickle from before.  She snaps back to Xanthe.  "You say those pools are saltwater?"

Jan, when you poke at the plate through the grate, it moves a little. But just a little. It feels like it's probably latched from the other side. It moves but, more like it jiggles back and forth a little; not enough to see through any gaps made but it does make it small space, maybe the width of a several sheets of thick paper.

 Xanthe looks at the other entrances to the cavern and nods to Avaria. 

"Yes, three other groups of prisoners," she says. "The goblins stick to themselves, as do the orcs. The hobgoblins and bugbears with them are the last group. We try to avoid them all as much as possible, but especially the orcs. They and their leader make everyone's lives miserable."

 Hammerdasher looks at Marrin and smiles. 

"I’ve been better, much better. But I’ll be good to go after a little rest." Then he shakes his head. "No one knew where I was going. I’ve been looking for someone who swindled me out of some coin. Haven’t had the courage to tell the clan about it yet."

The other prisoners audibly try to shush Xanthe when she mentions the orcs. A few of them look cautiously at the southern entrance.

Xanthe sighs and nods again.

"Take what space you can find, dear." she says to Ethel. "We try to help each other as much as we can but there’s not much here to offer."

Snowreign seems beaten down and fairly unresponsive. But he finally raises his head to Ethel and nods before responding in elvish.

"Laziness and over confidence. Guards can’t be alert all the time. Eventually they get lazy. Sometimes their prison just isn’t as secure as they think it is." He pauses and nods up to the grates in the ceiling. "Take those grates. Those are probably a waste of time since they’re so high up and you’d fall to your death just trying to get to them. They might be secure but how much are the caretakers here going to put into making sure they're not corroded by sea air."

You notice Xanthe listening more closely to any conversation in elvish than she appeared to when you spoke dwarvish.

When Ethel snaps at Xanthe she looks carefully at the wizard.

"Life has not been kind to you has it, dear?" she says with a sad smile. "But yes. It’s salt water. Why do you ask?"

Ula welcomes Xanthe‘s pat on the bicep. The kind of genuine, thoughtful, subconscious gesture that she’s given and received countless times in her work at the temple and as a healer.

As the others speak, Ula listens and doesn’t listen in equal measure. She lets to words wash over her, not dwelling on anything spoken too long, hearing more than listening.

She takes a step or two towards to pool, and in a natural break in the discussions, she asks everyone and no one, “The pools here, are they ‘safe’?”. 

She also peers deep into the water to get the measure of this first pool ((How deep and wide is it? Does it seem to have a source? It’s salt water. Sea water?)). With her affinity to water she perhaps assesses these things in a fraction of a second…