With the mention of ice frogs being used as guards, Doter raises his fists a bit in a defensive posture. He follows behind Jahn pushing Valanthe forward, unsure of what might be about them in this dark place. 

Perception: 11

For their own sake of seeing, Jahn would light a torch with their tinderbox. 

OOC: Ulysse is afaid of the dark and always keeps up a Produce Flame

Quote from Stivali >>

Jahn would smile toward the shadows, assuming them to be the frogs in-question.  They'd squeeze the bandits shoulder in approval and let go.  Jahn would not have their shield equipped.  "After you."

 “Ilde, Mindartis, Drusilia! I’m back! Come chuck the beam over!” Valanthe yells out into the cave, before six seconds later, you see a dwarf and two elves run into the dim edge of Jahn’s torchlight on the other side of the pool. “Who in the Noine ‘Ells are these people?” Says the dwarf. “And where are the others?” One of the elves chimes in.”

”Well, to put it plainly, these folk killed all the others and then took me hostage. They want to see the boss, apparently.” Says Valanthe. 

Jahn would simply eye the bandits, neutral as possible and making eye-contact to each of them to greet them, but also warn them to try anything.

The dwarf lets out a sigh before saying, “Come on then.” To the other bandits, and with that, you see the three of them pick up the 25-foot-long heavy wooden beam lying against the west wall of the cave at the south end the pool, swinging it back and fourth towards you, the dwarf saying, “One! Two! Three!” Before they all let go, lobbing the beam across the pool so that one end is at the water’s edge on your side, and the other is on the south side, forming a temporary bridge. “Come one.” Says Valanthe, starting to walk across it. 

"Just to keep my balance..."   Jahn would gently place a hand firmly on the shoulder of Val as they start to walk across, hoping she doesn't try anything fishy in this scenario.

As you all walk along the beam, you see a cavern to your left full of bats. Val continues along to the other side where the other three bandits are, who lead you further into the the cave. The slow dripping of water from the ceiling flows to a pool in the southwest corner of this cavern. A large wooden bucket with a lid sits near the edge of the pool.

Everyone make another perception check.

Perception: 15

Ulysse perception: 25

Jahn, you see that there is a giant ice frog in the pool, and Ulysse, you see that there is not just one, but two giant ice frogs. 

Another tunnel leads the left, with light at the end. The bandits lead you in that direction. 

Ten empty bedrolls are arranged in a circle around a cold fire pit at the center of this cavern. Chicken bones, empty wine and spirits bottles, and other food waste litters the floor.

“Hey can you guys escort them the rest of the way?” Val asks the other bandits, “I need to rest.” (OOC: she is at 1 hit point)

”Yeah sure, elf.” Says the dwarf, and she beckons you to follow her into the next cavern, in which you can see the edges of a large pool. 

Jahn would nod and simply follows the dwarf.  

Doter continues to chug along behind Jahn, just kind of nodding at everything that's happening. He looks around for any of these frogs he was told of as they're moving but isn't super focused. He's more keen on hearing anything that the bandits might be saying. 

Perception: 23

Ulysse sees the second hidden guard and is impressed by how well trained they appear to be. "How iss it they know to let go and who not too? Very impresssive. How is your bosssess... condition? We have a handful of items we belive are here. 2 of the last 3 ownerss of thosse itemss appear to be turned to icce ssculpturess. We sseek to determine the cause and hopefully turn that discovery into a way of preventing its final sstate."

“Well, we’ve trained the frogs to attack anyone who’s not escorted by us, so don’t go wandering off.” Says the dwarf. “And yeah, Hulil is sick with the same malady that killed Urgon Wenth. It causes her to move slowly and is turning her veins blue. She plans on setting out for Shadycreek Run soon, hoping that trading the items her sister Tulgi stole from Pelc’s Curiosities allows her to pay for healing that will cure her.”

She beckons to follow her into the next cavern:

Water dripping down from stalactites in the ceiling fills a dark pool that completely covers the floor of this cavern.

The dwarf pulls a dead bat out of a bucket she was carrying, and tosses it to the water’s edge. After about five seconds, a huge, ten-foot long blue toad emerges from the pool, and swiftly gobbles up the bat.

*lets out a deep, guttural croak*

The dwarf takes a few steps closer to the toad, and says, “Old Croaker, we need you to ferry us and these people across the pool.” 

Old Croaker: “RiiiiiiiiBITT!”

She turns to the party. “Ok guys, this ‘the Old Croaker’.” She says, “We’ve trained him to ferry people over to Hulil’s cavern. So we’ll go, one or two people at a time. Oh, you there, tortle, you’ll have to stay behind. You’ll be too heavy.”

Ilde the dwarf: “I’ll go first by myself, so that I can rouse Hulil from her meditation and alert her about what’s going on.”

And with that, you watch her climb onto the back of Old Croaker, and it swims off to the other side. 

About ten seconds later, Old Croaker returns, ready to carry more people. 

“Who wants to go across with me?” Asks one of the elves as he steps towards Old Croaker. “Oh, and ah, you there, human. You’ll have to take that armour off if you don’t want to go by youself.”

Jahn would nod.  "I'd say 2 go ahead of me, I'll take the frog myself with my armor on for the second trip."