Valji begins to ritual cast alarm, presumably communicating as much to the group.

As Skiaceq is walking away, Escobert yells in his direction: "Where are you going, bird? I can't keep this door open forever! Just long enough for your friend here to do his ritual!"

He goes back into the basement and sets himself down, content to wait for the spell to finish casting. 

 To Urokris, "There seemed to be a group of four of them that were most clearly heading this way, but that doesn't mean there won't be more."

Ignoring the dwarf's protest, Skiaceq pulls a torch from the pack strapped to his waist and strikes it alight. Chasing away the shadows gives him some semblance of power over his fear, but his legs still have to operate without his brain, like a passenger on a cart.

He ventures deeper into the tunnel, seeking the storage area Escobert had mentioned. What was Leosin looking for? The tunnel's make, or something more?

As Escobert mentions, "that monk Leosin," Quarion is struck with a sense of familiarity.  Slowly the pieces come together.  "Skiaceq," he says, "Leosin is a monk? I think I may know where he is."

 Urokris walks up behind Ski and places a hand on his shoulder, and quietly says, "Listen, if you'd like no one would blame you if you took another route. We can instead, perhaps, find out where this tunnel goes, quickly come back and tell you where the tunnel leads so you can fly to us instead of going through this."

Skiaceq's eyes go wide. He spins abruptly. "Where?!" he squawks more emphatically than intended. Becoming self-conscious, he struggles to calm himself, but is unable to mask the exacerbated worry in his expression with the torchlight so close. "I must find him. It is more important than anything."

Skiaceq follows the path sloping slowly downward until, about 40 ft in, just past the dwindling light of Escobert's torch, he find a stone staircase heading down into the darkness. It seems to be the same kobold construction as the rest of the tunnel, and in the dim light at the far edge of his torched light, he can see the path continues forward in the same way it had earlier, only this time sloping upwards.

Make a Charisma saving throw. On a 5 or lower, you become frightened of the staircase (basically means you can't approach it). On a 15 or higher, you regain enough of your senses that you can notice what's going on around you normally until you leave the tunnel.

In the span of a couple of seconds, Quarion makes an assessment.  On the one hand, he figures that an anxious and disturbed monk is unlikely to be much good in a fight, and so he is tempted to tell him he saw his friend escape to safety.  On the other hand, that might lead him to bolt the group entirely and chase after him... He glances into the agitated Aarakocra's eyes to read them.  No, if he knows the truth, he'll be able to focus his energy on getting to the cultists, where perhaps they can make some headway finding out where Talis is.

"I saw a half-elf who appeared to be dressed as a monk being held captive by those cultists and their kobold minions.  He was tied up, though he didn't appear to be hurt."  This last part was of course far from the truth. "I couldn't say what they were planning. But it seems to me we are going the same place."

If Skiaceq keeps going forward, you can decide to have advantage on that saving throw thanks to Quarion's support.

Urokris:

Skiaceq's emotions are stumbling over each other. He is at once overcome with concern to learn his father's been captured, and relieved to have direction. Perhaps outside, he would be able to compartmentalize this conflict.

"Take me to him. My fa–"

He stops, aghast at his slip-up, mentally scrambling for some misdirection. But he is silent for too long. After a long moment, Skiaceq sighs. Somehow, the claw inside his chest slacks, and his complexion visibly relaxes a bit.

"My father will know what to do. If he is pursuing this cult, it is a threat to more than Greenest."

(OoC: Anyone who wants to can make a Perception check of 10 or higher to see the following)

Urokris speaks calmingly to the fearful Aarokokra, "You said he might not even be here. We'll go ahead. I'll be back shortly." He walks into the darkness with a torch and you see his shadow disappear down a staircase ahead.

Walking with Skiaceq out of earshot of Escobert, Quarion whispers, "Your friend was right you know. I'm fairly confident this tunnel was built by kobolds. Which means there's a fair chance they put a secret entrance somewhere."

"Perhaps we should check the walls around here while we wait for Urokris to return."

Quarion searches around the tunnel while waiting for Urokris to return. After a little searching, you find what appears to be a switch of some sort about two and a half feet off the ground.

"There's some sort of switch over here. What do you think, Skiaceq, should we see what this does? Could be a trap, I suppose... Or it might open a door. Or maybe it's just a light switch. Looks to be right at kobold eye level, so to me that suggests useful rather than dangerous. Still, no sense in both of us standing near it.  Why don't you back up just in case it is a trap."

Quarion cautiously flips the switch then involuntarily winces, preparing for the worst.

There is a rumble and you hear mechanical clinks of long disabused gears turning as a seemingly normal patch of wall suddenly opens into another passage, much smaller than the one you are currently in. Moist, stale air rushes past you. Escaping from its ancient prison. 

The passage is small... the perfect size for a kobold, but at a little over 3 feet, the average man would have to crawl. As you bring your torch down to its level, it seems to go on for about 10 ft until it reaches a small iron door.

 Once Valji completes his ritual casting, he moves down the tunnel to where the others have found a secret door. "Ah! Show me the lever you found, and let me have a look at the locking and retracting mechanism. Interesting...too simple for dwarves. And look, a tunnel just the right size for me! Now I don't feel so little..." he says with a big grin. "Still, I think I'll let you stabby-types go first..." He readies his quarterstaff - or what did the big one call it...an Eighthstaff? Anyways, the gnome follows the rest of the group into the tunnel, the only one able to walk upright! 

"Ahhh. Friznet...I forgot that old adage my dear friend Seymour always said - 'If you aren't the lead mule your view never changes."  Yep. That Seymour Butts was a real fart smeller..." His giggles at the puns fill the tunnel...