Huttmoff says, "I will follow your lead. But I will stay a little bit back so that my armor will hopefully not reach the ears of anyone you are sneaking close to. Lead on."

Stealth 1 (if relevant from the back): 2

Stealth 2: 3

Hilke shakes her head at Huttmoff. "They'll likely hear my armor first."

Zelaerys (these are straight rolls but he has disadvantage due to his armor):
Stealth 1: 15
Stealth 2: 0

"Water first - basements and underground manmade tunnels second. I think maybe the Rats use that tunnel to move about town." Dav'eed takes point, leading the group up the dry subterranean riverbed. His half-elven ears twitch at each odd sound, trying to discern if it belongs to the wind or some other type of monster waiting to eat them! He has his bow in his left hand, using his right hand for balance when needed, but always ready to draw an arrow.

Leaving the allure of the sunlight filtering through shattered wood behind you begin the arduous climb upward. Boulders tumbling from the arched ceiling have tumbled along the riverbed in a jumble of sharp angles, limb snagging cracks and ankle breaking crevasses. Many of the rocks are larger than Briar is tall creating darkened holes beneath and between them.  The sound of scurrying and the clack of chitin tapping on rock rises from around you, small creatures scurrying away into safety from your efforts.

By the time you reach the crest of the tumble of rocks, the torch is already sputtering its last life. A large eroded room sits dry and cold. A thin beam of light strikes the dry floor, a large bucket hanging forlornly from a thick rope rising to the well head far above. The design of the well head, the shape and masonry reveal you are beneath the main town square. The large well outside The Keep. The sound of voices and activity drifts down from the sunlit world above.

Three other passages lead off from this room. The two smaller tributaries are dark, and dry, a thin wind blows at your back, gently pulling you forward, and downward. They appear to head back towards the way you came, back down towards the Neverwinter river. The sound of voices, accompanied by a grumbling of grinding stone echoes upwards from one of them, the other is quiet.

The third, and largest passage continues to ascend upward very gently. A thin, tired trickle of water struggles to find its way downward to collect in a small sludgy pool of dark water before it. The breeze blowing into the room from this passage has a subtle tang of acid, a bitterness at the back of your tongue.

"I think we keep going upstream, yeah?" Dav'eed asks, pointing the way where the trickle of water comes down from. He will proceed that direction, sneaking along and wary for anything that has decided to move down here...

"We're not alone," remarks Zelaerys in a hushed voice, pointing down the tributary from which the sounds came from. "You think the Rats retrieved their fallen? The mage didn't care about the corpses and the guard would not drag them unnecessarily through here."

"It looks like they [Rats] have been running business down here for some time. Might be they even know why the water dried up. But I follow your lead, Dav'eed," concludes Zelaerys and lights another torch (removed one from backpack and have the current one in equipment). 

"I think we are getting close, you notice this smell?" He asks and suggests to Dav'eed, "Perhaps, you could scout ahead a little bit and see if what awaits us there? We can remain in constant contact as long we keep the distance below, say, a hundred feet."

"I agree that we should keep following the dried stream bed," Hilke answers to Dav'eed.  "I'd bet the voices are from above. But probably shouldn't take a chance."   She looks to Dav'eed. "You want to scout things out real quick first? We'll stay ready to catch up if you need us." 

Huttmoff nods in assent as he agrees with the thinking of the rest of his party. We need to figure out what has happened to the water. He grants Guidance to Dav'eed before he goes off. 

"OK - I'll check to make sure the voices and the grinding sounds are actually coming from above and down another dry well. Back in a few!" Dav'eed darts down the side passage, following the sounds of grinding stones.

Leaving the others to wait beneath the slowly shifting halo of light, Dav'eed moves downward. The voices and rumblings of stone, faint, still beckon him forward. The darkness away from the ray of sunlight creeps in from the edges. The grey walls move past slowly as he creeps forward. Near silent within the passage, every footfall echoes back with insistence, creating a feeling that his every step will give him away to those below.

The passage winds deeper, a small tributary dropping steeply to one side. Too narrow to investigate Dav'eed stops to listen. The sound continues un interrupted from further below. The distance begins to feel oppressive. Dav'eed glances back the way he came, the sudden feeling of isolation washing over him. Has he gone to far. It would take more than a few moments to return. The sound of a crash and a few recognizable curse words are barked back and forth. 

Dav'eed creeps forward the last dozen feet to pear around the corner of the dry river passage. A half dozen Goblins? are clustered in the passage ahead. The river bed opens, breaking through a constructed area of brick and mortar. Once a basement perhaps or part of an earlier building, it is now little more than ruins. Shattered walls and tumbled stone collected along one wall of the river bed. 

The tallest of the group stands well over twice the height of the others. Rough and ill fitting plates of armor strapped to his body, tufts of fur poking out at odd angles. "If she returns and we are not through she will tan your hides, now get back to it." he bellows at his smaller kin. The shorter members of the group have pointed ears and the stature of a goblin, yet their hides appear to be carved from stone, their arms hang long and loose from their sides. Heads like chiseled rocks they scamper back to the task of digging loose stone and boulders from the wall. The smell of pickled pork and spices wafts up, faintly from this area.

Dav'eed waits for a few minutes to observe, and for his expected magical check-in from Zelaerys so he can report back what he found. The stone-skinned creatures intrigue him - he thinks about all of his training and lore and tales to see if he can remember what type of creatures these are. He was never one for reading old, boring books, though... (Nature check? 

Assuming that Dav'eed has had time to relay what he has seen (through Zelaerys), Huttmoff says, "Do you think they are referring to that wizard woman we met early, Ferdy, I think? I have to admit I would not particularly want to cross her either, but it seems like maybe we should investigate what these goblin creatures are doing."

Dav'eed watches for another minute as the creatures below continue to pull large stones from the wall. He cant see exactly what, the area hidden behind the bend. The creatures remind him of Goblins, but Goblins may be as different from each other as Elves are from men.

The largest of the group, turns its head slowly, its neck disappearing in layers of muscle. Looking up the passage in Dav'eeds direction. A sharp clicking sound bounces from the rough stone walls, echoing up the dry river bed. It stares, then turns back to watch its charges. A pile of stones collect, hazardously stacked next to a crumbling wall. A rumble echoes through the room as the pile settles, the highest rocks rolling down the stack and grinding to a halt several feet away. The dust settles and the creatures return to work. 

The silence in the Half-elves ear reminds him he ventured too far. He heads back to relay the information to his companions. The first message comes only seconds before he returns.

The four of you have rejoined within the well room. 

"What sort of creatures do you suppose they are?" Hilke asks. Then she adds, "Though I suppose more important is, could whatever they are doing be the cause of the river drying up? I've not known goblins to be the most cooperative creatures, but maybe we could just talk to them and see if we learn anything?" 

"We could also just continue up the river to see if there is anything obvious that obstructs the flow, and leave the creatures be for the time being," argues Zelaerys. "This underground passage appears to be a fairly busy place. I'd rather continue straight up the natural path of the river and see if something ordinary obstructs its path. If we find that the creatures have a hand in it, we can still ask them." Then a thought strikes his mind, "Or do you think, they might have stopped the river in order to allow them to carve a hole into some place to steal or extract something or someone of value to them? Perhaps, you're right and we should have a look and inquire?"

(Zelaerys would prefer to check the obstruction to the river water first.)

Dav'eed ponders for a bit... "If we can restore the river flow down here, it will, literally, wash away all of our other concerns...Also, restoring water to the town will benefit more people than disrupting a single deconstruction project...although we can certainly investigate this criminal activity afterwards. However, if the group feels strongly about checking out the stony goblins, then I'll lead you to them."

(Dav'eed's vote is restore water flow over almost any other side quest for now =)

Seems you are 2 for 2 on which way to head. Please discuss and decide.

Huttmoff nods in assent to Zelaerys and Dav'eed's argument. "It does make more sense that the water stoppage would be upstream. The stony goblins may have caused it, but we can probably clear the blockage whether we confront them or not. Our main job is to clear the water blockage. Let's go." 

Dav'eed once again leaps forward to scout ahead of the group. Clearing the sludgy puddle easily the passage beyond is fairly easy to travers. Gravel and small stones have collected over the eons, crunching under foot as he moves forward. The occasional buzz of Zalaerys in his ear, and the Halo of faint light, a ring around the passage behind, keeps him within range of his companions.

The trickle of water continues onward, as smaller tributaries break off, the erosion of the river finding the soft stone and splitting to find its own way towards the sea. Small puddles and pools of water have collected along the course of the strengthing stream. Another torch dies, you realize you have left the known exit over an hours, perhaps two hours walk, behind you. You are no longer under Abiershire, you left the town a while ago. Further afield, there may be no easy exit from these caves. If the water was to suddenly come back, where would you go? You stop for a moment to discuss what to do, as another torch is lit.

The gentle tinkle of water over stone gives you hope you are getting closer. Only a thin trickle of water, it never the less has grown stronger as you continue forward. The other passages, nearly a half dozen, many of them much smaller than the main tunnel have been left behind. Not crippled by the dark, it still would make it more difficult to get back without torches, or light and you are already on your third...

Make a Perception check DC 16