Jurgen regains his composiur,  and turns to Zyzygy and says "Friend, you do not need to give me coin. We are all in this together."

He also looks into the darkness of the cave in front of them. Perception = 17

Wolves, concludes Quinn. Goblins have an affinity for rats and wolves, raising them to serve as companions and mounts, respectively. Those are probably not dogs.

Syzygy sees nothing inside but rock and stream and some crude uneven steps.

Jurgen does a little better. He can see the main passage and stream bed climbing and curving to the right, and he can just make out a side passage leading left, deeper inside. Inside the raised chamber to the right he can see a thick stalagmite. There's an iron rod driven into its base connected to at least one chain, which moves slightly as he watches.

Sir Roderick moved up next to Jurgen, " SO what do we have here?"

Jurgen shares what he saw and adds "I would guess that barking sound is on the end of that chain. Are we ready to proceed?"

" So...hug the left hand wall as we enter."

" No problem"

"Uh....should I light my torch?"

Bryony gasps as the goblin is cut in half right before her. Her face whitens, but she regains her composure. This is what the life of an adventurer is like, she reminds herself. These daggers aren't for show. Too bad she hasn't had all that much experience using them yet. The little halfling tears her gaze away from the dead goblin and joins her new companions at the mouth of the cave.

"It's probably pretty dark in there," Bryony whispers. "And I don't have darkvision so a torch sounds like a good idea."

Quinn speaks up. "Aye, Sir Roderick. Must be wolves in there. Let's get moving. Lead the way, good sir."

Jurgen starts to cautiously move into the cave with his dagger and spear handy.

Tessa raises her glowing spear to provide some light and follows Jurgen in. She finds some jerky amongst her rations, just in case there is a hungry pup around the corner.

Sir Roderick follows Tessa with his blade drawn.

Jurgen carefully enters the cavern entrance, followed by Tessa and her glowing spear (and jerky).

Hugging the left-hand side of the opening is inconvenient, as the stream rushes by right up to the wall - there is no dry trail on that side. It means wet pants and boots with ice-cold water.

Jurgen gets a glimpse into the room to the right. Three beefy wolves stare back. The barking has stopped, but now all three chained wolves growl, snarl, and rattle their chains. Each wolf’s chain leads to an iron rod driven into the base of a stalagmite. Fortunately, the chains are short enough to keep them safely away from the main trail. The cave narrows to a steep fissure at the far end and emits the potent stench of animals. 

In the shadows of the ceiling to the north, Jurgen can just make out the dim shape of a rope bridge crossing over the passage ahead. There, a passage 20 feet above the floor appears to intersect this one. Closer, a gravelly side passage leads west.

Jurgen Animal Handling6 

Jurgen breaks open his ration and tosses the pieces to the wolves

The wolves pounce on Jurgen's rations, growling and snapping at each other for the food. Then it's gone. They look back at Jurgen and go quiet, begging for more. One even sits in obedience. (You feel confident enough of their behavior that you feel like it may be possible to even enter the room with them without becoming wolf food yourself.)

“Tessa, if you want, go ahead and throw them some of the jerk. “

" One of my past companions had the ability to speak with beasts.....I don't suppose any of you have that?  I doubt they are treated well by their current masters."

Sir Roderick handed over his own rations as well, " I could fetch our departed opponents....they've no use for their earthly remains any more and I dare say these beasts wouldn't mind a little payback.."

He nodded to his companions, " Terrible I know, but it is the way of things beyond civilised walls.....I would have no objections with you doing the same with my body should I depart this mortal coil."

" No different than throwing kitchen scraps on the garden beds really."

Quinn stays back standing watch for anyone or anything coming from up ahead. He keeps his bow drawn and at the ready  

Perception check: 11

The wolves voraciously devour the additional rations, and sit begging for more.

Quinn squints to see what he can, illuminated by Tessa's arcane light, but sees nothing notable ahead. The sound of water in the cave muffles most all other noises.

Then, peering over the shoulders of the others at the steep fissure at the far end of the wolf den, he can see that a narrow opening in the east wall of the den leads to some sort of natural chimney that climbs upward and out of sight. At the base of this fissure is a large pile of rubbish that’s evidently fallen through the opening above. 

Bryony stands as far back from the wolves as she can while still being able to see them. The wolves are much bigger than she is, and it's at times like these that she is acutely aware of just how perfectly snack-sized a halfling can seem to the beasts and monsters of the world.

Quinn takes note of the debris flowing out of the chimney. He thinks to himself…

“Hmmm…Must be some sorta room up above. We’ll have to keep an eye out up there.”

He slides over next to Sir Roderick and says “One of my elders could speak with beasts. She taught me much, though beast speech always proved elusive for me.

As for feeding the goblins to the wolves, that is quite the novel idea. It could settle down the wolves. Or it could rile them up. Even if the goblins treated them poorly, the wolves could’ve be trained for protection.”