Nodjeim Spear Attack vs sleeping hyena:  (15 or 1) +7 for 22 to hit for 16 damage

     Followed up by

Nodjeim Kick Attack vs sleeping hyena:  (8 or 13) +8 for 21 to hit and 13 damage...

Veldruk's Rolls:

1. Attack (with advantage) = 19 to hit, 20 magical slashing damage (damage rolled two times for the critical, 10 in both times)

2. Bonus Action sleight of hand = 14

(Reminder that crits only double dice, not modifier damage, so that'd just be 14, not 20)

(Is anyone else attacking? I want y'all to get your hits in, then I'll roll for NPCs)

Nope, still staring into the abyss. Sorry, cave ;-)

(Actually, screw that, the hyena actually has literally two more hit points than the attacks here, so an NPC will just attack and roll sleight of hand. Ok, chakka failed to reduce the noise, but the three of you do manage to kill the hyena. That's 1 noise per hit from Nodjeim, 0 noise from Veldruk, 1 noise from Chakka, for a total of 3 noise. With a +3 perception and a further +3 from the noise, the remaining hyena rolls a natural 2 and fails to wake up.)

Chakka, Veldruk, and Chakka work together to take out one of the giant hyenas silently, and without the threat of another hyena waking, they can take out the last giant hyena without issue.

You've got a couple giant cages, a bloodstain the size of a dragon, and the deaths of over thirty sweet little innocent animals on your conscience. What do you do next?

He took no pleasure in the killing of the beast, but neither he was bothered. Killing came naturally for his kind. They were raised that way, especially those that had belonged to the armies. Though the Underdark was dangerous and without mercy it was not a matter of survival. Not always. Most of the time it was conditioning. Clemency was weakness and weakness was to be uprooted either by torture or death. The later far better than the former.

 His steel bit their flesh, taking the bloated creatures one by one. The larger ones took a combined effort from him, Nodjeim and Chakka. They left behind the question of the next action.

“Now we’re ready for the cave.” The warlock stated using a gloved hand to clean the blood from his blade. “I’m not specially perceptive, but I’m hard to hit and only Threla can see as far as me into the dark so I’m thinking of taking the vanguard.” He continued, running the bloodied hand on the ground, using sand to clean it, and waiting for anyone to object before turning to the rogue. “Olan, you going apart from the group?”

It made sense. He was stealthier than everyone else combined. Veldruk was sure his sneak attacks would make quite the difference there.

Notes: Veldruk is suggesting entering the cave with a marching order where he is first of the line.

 "Where would you like me? I can take the opposite side of the cave from you with Threla guiding me, or I can cover your flank."

OOC: I can go off to the opposite side and use ranged attack, or slightly to one side for melee.

     "I'd have no trouble stealthing in excepting the darkness," Nodjeim says.  "What do we think of deliberately making noise out here and drawing them out?  We didn't want them coming while we were engaged with others out here but now that they are dispatched...  Perhaps we could bottleneck them as they try to stream out?"

“We don’t know how many enemies we are going to find there so I would prefer an in-between. Far enough so you can support from range but close enough that we can reach you in case help is necessary. Maybe no further than sixty feet from us?” In saying that he turned to Trela. “How do you feel about the curse? Any chance it triggers more crackling?”

Before the bard could answer the monk gave his considerations. The warlock put a hand on his chin and pondered for a moment.

“The entrance of the cave is too large to actually bottleneck them. We would have a fight against their full force, possibly at too great of a numeric disadvantage.” It was the same problem with the smoke plan. “Absurd as it may sound, I think we have better chances if we enter the cave then pick them up a small group at time. Hopefully before any one group alarm the rest. If things go bad we have a way out cleared. Unless Auntie arrives before we finish the gnolls and get us cornered.”

Then escaping would be much harder. But not impossible, said the voice of his mind. As far as escaping routes went, the ambush by the ravine was worse.   

     Nodjeim nods and silently accepts this point...

"That's fine by me." Olan nocks an arrow "Ready when you are."

"I don't know if the curse will trigger. For the moment, I feel fine, but who knows. It could come out in the middle of combat, but I would rather go in with the group, than stand out here and wait for this 'auntie' to return. If she did return, I doubt I could handle her by myself." Threla says, shrugging. With a deep breath, she readies herself, following close behind Veldruk, so that way she could also use her superior dark-vision while still staying safely behind the warriors.

"I'm feeling all right for the moment too," says Evelyn. "I think picking them off in small groups is the best plan. I wish my eyes were as keen as yours. I will hang back near the entrance of the cave and provide support with spells as I can."

Anybody entering and trying to be quiet, roll me perception and stealth!

Nodjeim Perception:  19
Nodjeim Stealth:  13

Perception 18

Stealth 13

perception check: 12

stealth check: 18

Veldruk's Perception: 23 (Nat 20)
Veldruk's Stealth: 12

Evelyn's Perception: 5

Evelyn's Stealth: 15

OOC: seems like everyone has rolled. hopefully we don't get caught.

Threla sneaks into the cave, following closely behind Veldruk.