Auriel takes a moment to inspect the bodies of the kobolds, removing their weapons and handing them to the captives. "I want you to have a fighting chance in case any more kobolds enter the cave," he says. "But remember: even if you're eager to leave, it's better that you stay here until we've scouted Jeralla's camp first."

Then, he stands and casts a quick glance around the cave, checking if the kobolds left behind anything else of use.

Afterward, the paladin joins Hildigrim. "So Jeralla is with the Cult. I suppose it makes sense, with all those sacrifices to Tiamat, as you said. We met her second-in-command just a moment ago. He scurried away from us, but we saw him talking through a sending stone to someone else. It sounded like he was planning to betray Jeralla. He said something about her 'not suspecting a thing' and that there was 'no better time to strike.' 'Kill the heretic, and the Cult of the Dragon shall shower you in gold', that's what he said, word for word. Does that make any sense to you?"

Auriel casts another glance at the dead kobolds, then turns to Sirge. "We were told Jeralla's kobolds were… strange. Warped somehow. But these ones seem ordinary to me—stronger than expected, maybe, but otherwise common. Have you noticed anything unusual about the others?"

"So Jeralla is with the Cult.

Sirge shakes his head. "At first, I thought so as well, but now that I've had time to study her, I no longer believe that. She is too brash, too wild. I believe it is Sharrak who serves the Cult," he says.

We met her second-in-command just a moment ago. He scurried away from us, but we saw him talking through a sending stone to someone else. It sounded like he was planning to betray Jeralla. He said something about her 'not suspecting a thing' and that there was 'no better time to strike.' 'Kill the heretic, and the Cult of the Dragon shall shower you in gold', that's what he said, word for word. Does that make any sense to you?"

"You met Sharrak!?" he gasps. "Yes, I have seen him whispering into that sending stone as well. I believe it is how he is communicating with the Cult."

He pauses for a moment, thinking, then turns to Hildigrim. "You have to help me capture Sharrak. He must be returned to Phlan for interrogation by the Harpers," he beseeches.

"We were told Jeralla's kobolds were… strange. Warped somehow. But these ones seem ordinary to me—stronger than expected, maybe, but otherwise common. Have you noticed anything unusual about the others?"

"Yes, these kobolds served Sharrak, though they possess some of the odd mutations still. It seems to be the kobolds closest to Jeralla that are the most severely warped and twisted," Sirge answers. Gazing around at the slain kobolds, you notice now that some indeed possess interesting traits, like patches of fur or one with an oddly pink hue to its scales.

OOC: Holding for player responses here.

"Sharrak is a slippery one," Auriel answers. "I tried to knock him down when we spoke to him, but he ran away. He must have informed his clan by now, I'm afraid. I don’t mean to say I don't want to help, just that it might prove difficult." He pauses, then turns to the rest. "Speaking of which, we should perhaps take a look at the mouth of the cave to see how things look out there—whether the kobolds are on alert, searching for us, or if there's some way to reach Jeralla's tent."

Carl helps the dwarves up, lending a hand to steady them, then holding his hand nearby them to keep them from running off.  He stands and listens to the story unfold.  "Likely they are on alert.  I bet ole Sharrak went straight away to tell 'em.  We need to look lively.  Extra sharp.  I imagine we might be hunted now.   And now you too."  He looks at the former captives, wondering how they are going to stay hidden, what they are going to do with them now...

Hildigrim taps his chin, thoughtful. Then his expression firms.

"We can’t stop now. Sharrak said this path leads to Jeralla’s tent. If that’s true, we’re closer than ever."

He glances into the darkness ahead. "Let’s see what’s waiting for us."

Hex nods at Auriel and adjusts her hood over her head before moving towards the cave mouth to the south of the cavern. "Stay here. I'll go take a look." She sticks close to the wall and peeks outside.

Seeing Carl's glance, Sirge leans down to one of the fallen kobolds, lifting a dagger from it, and says, "If you are correct that an alarm has been raised outside, then chances are we'll be safe in this cavern for now." One of the dwarves adds, "Please, just...come get us. We aren't for any more of us gettin' hacked apart by these freaks."

Hex looks outside of the cavern, seeing that the party is now on the opposite end of the statue's arms. The statue's massive goblet rests in its hand to the left of Hex's vision, while ahead of her she sees a large wagon parked near the river. Past that, a circle of tents looms through the fog. To her right, a track leads further up the cliffside toward a wooded forest.

Hex heads back to the party. "We're on the other side of the statue, wagon's not too far away. A little bit futher ahead is the camp. I didn't see anybody nearby, though we should still be careful." She notices the dagger in Sirge's hand and nods at him. "Please stay safe. We'll be back as soon as we can."

If everyone is ready to go, Hex heads to the cave mouth, keeping an eye out for any potential danger, before leading the party to the wagon.

Hildigrim pulls his cloak a little more closely around his shoulders as he prepares to leave the cave, another involuntary shiver running up his spine.

Carl gathers himself and follows, taking a deep sigh, and encouraging Squirt to follow. 

"They've all left the camp? Without leaving anyone to watch the wagon? Strange."

Like Hex, he scans the area for potential dangers, not trusting for a moment that they're truly safe.

"Please stay safe. We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Best of luck," Sirge nods.

The large wagon is parked near the river. Mysterious symbols are carved into the wagon's sides, and its leathery coverings are dyed red, white, green, blue and black. As you approach closer, you see their forms low in the fog - nearly a dozen kobolds surrounding the wagon in an outward-facing ring. A couple of the creatures bear strange deformations like those in the cavern; one glows a soft orange, its body covered in colored, apparently heatless flames. Another nearby has an extra pair of eyes, one to the side of its nose and another on the side of its head.

The howls of wolves echo from the woods around King's Pyre. Crows take flight from the treetops, and a cold breeze blows in from the sea. Something is moving up there.

Upon seeing the kobolds, Hex immediately stops in her tracks and crouches low. She looks up to the sky suspiciously as the crows suddenly take flight. "What in the hells..." She turns towards the rest of the party and whispers. "Well, we found the kobolds but... there's way too many of them to deal with. Not to mention they look enhanced somehow." She lets out a sigh. "Any ideas?"

Auriel doesn't like the sight of the dozen kobolds surrounding the tents—but he likes even less the sounds of howling wolves and the sudden flurry of crows taking flight. "What's going on up there?" he mutters, before adding, "If something is spooking the animals, then it can't be good. We could head back inside, take the cave up to the cliff, and try to get a better look from above to see what the kobolds do. They might move to check it out."

(ooc: I mean watch from up here)

Hildigrim listens closely, absorbing every detail. Something may come down the cliffside or draw the kobold up. Whether it might help or hinder their effort to steal the book was unclear, and hoping for a convenient distraction felt too optimistic.

His eyes narrow. If they couldn’t rely on chance ... maybe they could make their own.

He glances back into the cave, then leans in toward the others and whispers, "What if we use the owlbear to our advantage? If we let it loose in the camp, it might draw the kobolds’ attention — enough for us to slip past while they’re scrambling to deal with it."

Hex nods at Hildigrim's suggestion. "That's not a bad idea, just a matter of how to do that without it trying to kill us first." She glances up at the cliff Auriel mentioned. "I do think Auriel's idea is good as well. Something weird is going on and getting some cover will probably be good before chaos inevitably breaks out. We can check out the owlbear on the way, see if there's anything we can do before heading to the cliff?"

"So the idea is to sneak up to the back of the cage, pick the lock, open the door, and then run back to the cave and up the cliff, right?" Auriel says, lowering his voice. "Let's hope the lock doesn't give us trouble. I could try prying it open as a last resort, but it would be too noisy"

“Once the lock is picked, we could get away and I could have Squirt actually open it so that we are nowhere nearby when it emerges.  And it won’t be able to see Squirt… I agree with the idea, that’ll raise just the ruckus for us to get by, and perhaps draw things out in the open..”. Carl nods and prepares to help in any way he can.  

Auriel raises his thumb toward Carl, signaling his agreement with the proposition. He steps back to give Hex or Hildigrim space to pick the lock, staying alert to their surroundings in case the kobolds—or anything else—makes an unexpected move.