Phodoxia is a bit leery of scouting too terribly far ahead, but it seems that her luck has been good so far, and she has successfully escaped notice. Most likely, the other corridors in the southern wall are more mining tunnels... Phodoxia well knows that mines branch ridiculously, following the veins of whatever mineral is desired. But, she steps quietly up to each of the corriders and peers down them, just to see if she can see or hear anything that might confirm her expectation.

Perception: 11

If the others come along, Mud slowly leads them ahead as if leading captives, trying not to fall too far behind the scouting Phodoxia.

Crawling through these darkened halls like earthworms... feeling so far from the bracing ocean air of and spray  of Procan's wild domain...

Phodoxia can't be completely sure but after peeking in a couple of corridors it seems that they doesn't extend too much. Perhaps they are relatively new. 

Rasen stop Mud when they  are about to exit the room. 

"Wait Wait..." he whispers "the only exit to this chamber is the crate. Do you think you are able to sell that you came down there with two prisioners? Why would anyone do that instead of using the normal way? "  

"It is true," Mud admits, his look remaining rueful, "that my seeking Procan's horizons may not have done much for my wits.  Might be, you're right, Rasen.  But then, most goblins aren't too smart.  Just as I'm not.  Dox might be an exception.  We could tell them we are new and took a wrong turn, perhaps?"

Still, the goblin pauses his advance, waiting to check if Stoney (or even Zark) have anything to say before they decide to continue after Phodoxia (or not).

Grrzark smiles and hefts his greataxe. "Let's do it. If anyone questions us..." His smile becomes very wide and crooked. Those looking at him feel like he might just be giving the truth to Mud's words that goblins aren't too bright...

Stoney is a little out of his element, with all these miners and goblins around, so he doesn't have anything it add. He follows the others.

He did reclaim his crowbar earlier, as soon as that grate was pried up.

While the party is moving along (and not talking), he will use Magical Tinkering on a pebble that he picks up, to record 6 seconds of the generic mining noises from the surroundings. Then the pebble goes into the bag of holding. (If at later time there is a need for a distraction or cover noise, the enchanted pebble might come in handy.)

Mud looks back and forth between Grrzark, Stoney and Rasen bemusedly.

"Onward, then," he smiles.  "Procan protect us.  Could be we are new Needle Toes.  So we got stuck with the job of bringing new slaves from Bazilik Erak down this way, which we heard is not the normal way.  But what do we know.  Anyway, got lost backtracking, and didn't want to bother the busy miners... but now that they're here and all, ahoy, could they point us the way to where the slaves should be?"

Mud proceeds quietly onward in the direction Phodoxia had gone, "leading" Rasen and Stoney with the rope.  Feeling strangely giddy.

"So, Zark," he whispers.  "Could come down to knocking out some Needle Toes.  That happens, just remember, get them, not me or Dox."

Grrzark bares his teeth in a wide, crooked grin. "I owe some Needle Toes," he says. He doesn't even seem to register Mud's apprehension that he wouldn't be able to tell one goblin tribe from another in whatever beserk fury he might go into. Puffing his chest out, he walks along beside Mud leading the other two like he's helping to guard.

The party scout walks before them after the miner goblin and she founds herself in a chamber, or more like an opening created by the confluence of various passages. In the center of the chamber there is a mining cart, where the goblin is already throwing the load and near the eastern wall there is a table with an older goblin sitting there, focused on some papers that he is reading and writting with a quill. He doesn't look up when the other goblin leaves the quarzt crystals in the chart and turns around to come back to work. Neither the miner or the one at the table seems to notice Phodoxia. 

Meanwhile, the weird comitive make their way through the tunnel, reciving at least two confused look by the goblins working on the lateral corridors, but they do no question them. they can see the light in the chamber where Phodoxia is.

Mud figures the ruse with the rope and the "captive slaves" may fool the needle toe miners, but he is not sure what is up there with the light.

"Grubbing around underground, picks and shovels and strangely lit caverns," he mumbles (quiet enough so no nearby miner can hear).  His voice drops even lower to a whisper  "Give me lines and sheets and salt wind in my face and I'm a happy goblin... is that Dox ahead there?  Can any of you see?"

Mud Perception:  12

Mud can see the table and the goblin behinf it in the chamber ahead, but he cannot see Phodoxia though

Mud pauses, not wishing to press his luck with the goblin behind the table in the next cavern unless he has to.

"Let us give Procan's winds a moment to see if they blow Dox back to us."

He puts on a confused air in case any goblin sees him.  As if he is leading prisoners but has gotten turned around and is trying to get his bearings.

Phodoxia gazes at the old goblin at the table, and then glances back towards the corridor. She sees a pair of goblins leading prisoners, a human and a gnome... Oh, well, there's Zark and Mud. And those others. What are they doing? I can see them just clear. I hope they've got a good plan. I suppose I should help. And she starts to slip back through the shadows towards them. For a moment she pauses, as if unsure of her course of action, but then she hops out of the shadows to stand in front of them.

"Oh, 'bout time, you stragglers!" she says loudly, in a teasing voice, and giggles. "Did you get lost back there?"

Stealth: 14
Deception: 11

Mud (Passive Perception 13) puts on a (mostly genuine) look of surprise and relief upon seeing Phodoxia materialize from the shadows.

"By Pr- ah... I mean, hi Dox!"  Recovering, he winks at her and gives her a goofy nautical salute.

"Glad you're here.  I was just supposed to take these... prisoners... to the slave pens, but I think I must have gotten turned around.  Unlike most Needle Toes, I've never been down here.  It's hard for us... new goblins.    They always give us the lousy jobs.  You know the way?"

Mud's voice is not loud, but nor is it quiet.  He is trying to keep up the pretense that he is not doing anything against the rules down here.  Just lost.

Phodoxia gives Mud the serious stink eye when he mentions Needle Toes. I'll lie to Needle Toes, but pretending to BE one of them? Ick! But, she shrugs. "What do you think I'm here for? Come on. And pay attention so you remember next time."

With that, Phodoxia marches off through the room towards the old goblin at the table near the eastern wall, eyeing him, as he is still not paying attention to her. She swipes another fingerful of powder from the pouch at her belt and dabs it quickly on her cheeks. He still didn't look up. Good! Phodoxia stops right in front of him, and flashes him a winning smile as soon as she can catch his eye. "Hello, sir. These fellows got lost. Headed for the slave pens, but they've wasted so much time I'd rather send them right to work. Where would you say they're most needed? I'll take them straight there."

Casting Friends on the goblin at the table.
Deception: 20 (rolled with advantage due to the spell)
Persuasion: 26 (rolled with advantage)

(Stoney usually likes barking out orders and making plans, but he understands that these guards might be more responsive to the goblins in the party.
He continues to keep his head down, his mouth closed, but watching the surroundings for any unwelcome surprises.)

The old goblin looks up from his papers to Phodoxia and narrows his eyes trying to adjust his eyesight from close to just a little far away. 

"hmmm what was that again?" he asks making Phodoxia repeat his words. While she speaks she has to raise her voice as the old goblin asks for it gesturing with one hand

"How I would know that? I am not the foreman after all... but... if you'd ask me I  would say take them back to their cells " he motion his hand towards the north passage "for them to be send away in the next shipment... and now let me work... " he grumbles and goes back to his papers trying to see something on them at the pale light of the candle in the table   

"Oh, well, all right, I'll take them that way, then. If we see the foreman and he wants something different, he can tell me." Phodoxia beams brightly. "Thank you so much, sir... won't be keeping you another moment!" And she trots off to lead the way into the north passage, acting for all the world like she's been there since she was born.

Soon the corridor shows another intersection. 

To their left the corridor continues further, in front of them, to the north, it seems that there is a chamber, the floor is covered by small, purple funghi, even from this distance the smell coming from there leave little doubts of the use that chamber must have. To their right, heading east, there is another corridor that leads inside the hill.   

"Next shipment..."  Mud mouths the words, his face growing a darker shade of green in the dim light, and his expression growing grim.  He whispers:

"I had thought they were enslaving unfortunates to toil in these mines.  Bad enough to be stuck so far from the sight of Procan's waves and sky.  But could they be befouling His waters to ship slaves out of here?  The foreman said they would be sent away in the next shipment.  Who would send slaves away from a mine but slavers?  Near the vessel that sunk mine, out on the Azure sea, was another that smelled only the way a slave ship can smell..."

Shaking himself, Mud tries to get back to the task at hand, though clearly preoccupied by his thoughts.  "Well done, Dox.  You've got a real talent for charm.  Now if we could only decide whether to go east or west.  Hopefully not north towards the latrine.  How I miss the ocean air..."

He attempts to discern whether there appears to be anyone or anything at the range of his vision (or darkvision) to the east or west.

Perception:  12