Quote from DragonDenn >>

Brin allows the webs to fade away (stops concentrating on the spell.) He glances to the two in collars. "So what is going on in there?" He asks them as he nods towards the door that was just closed.

Pulling on the collar so it isn't pressing on the front of his neck, one of the men replies: "That toad monster and 3 of those Bane cultists are in that room right now.
They make us work. Sometimes an ice witch would come to the room, and feed on someone right in front of us, laughing at our horror. The ones who weakened were handed to one of the Slaads, to be hosts for their spawn. After a new Slaad bursts out of someone, they had us throw the bodies into this pit, to make more zombies.
Please... you need to save the rest of us. Don't let them die."

(Zombies are never in great shape. Glancing around, you do notice that the ones you fought here had a lot of damage in the chest, consistent with something inside coming out.)

"Let's see what we can do about it then." Brin says, moving to the door. He will check to see if it will simply open, or if it is locked, or barred from the other side.

Isk listens the prisoner's story, horrified.  He'll spend just a minute or two seeing if he can free the collars from their necks and then get ready to kill whatever is in the next room.

Ana was beginning to be concerned about them possibly having bitten off more than they could chew. She wished they could rest, bind their wounds and come back ready to face these monsters fresh. But she could see that was not an option - if they were to leave the enemies would get away, or bring reinforcements and fortify.

"How many of them are there?" She asked the men. If the slaads were being created here, there might be quite a few of them. "Do you know who's in charge?"  

Reverie frowns as she gazes at the two men quietly before she curses under her breathe, closes her eyes briefly by the horrifying images as they explained what had happened to them. Clutching her scimitars slowly as she bit her lower lips to calm herself down, then she remembers the Trimyrai's villagers, worrying what might have happened to them. "Where are you from? If everything is finished, then maybe we could find a way back to home for all of you." Reverie murmurs as she checks on their collars. Perhaps, she could try break them like how she broke a small cage to release Clarion. "Do you know where they are exactly as this moment? Are they staying beyond that door?"

"Those toad monsters come and go, especially the fresh spawn. There seem to be 2 that are here regularly, a blue one who left a while ago, and that green one that forced us down here when there was a large explosion." (The slaad at the surface was blue, and the Fireball that was cast earlier made a loud bang.)

"The cave with our cages, behind that slab of stone, has 3 other men in Bane robes. At least one has cast spells. That cave had another passage south, but I don't know where it goes."

(At that 4 way intersection, you took the path to the northeast. It sounds like the passage north connects to the cave the prisoners are in. You could probably circle back and take that northern passage, or try to break through the stone slab that is acting like a door. If is sturdy enough to hold back disorganized zombies, but will probably crumble under the pressure of seasoned adventurers.)

"What do you guys think?" Brin asks as he eyes the stone slab. "Getting through that will take time, maybe we should circle around and try that other tunnel."

Ana pursed her lips. They should employ a bit of trickery, she thought, and go around and through another entrance where they wouldn't be expected, perhaps.

She pointed at the door, then at her ears to hopefully convey the idea that the enemy were probably listening to their planning. She made a sweeping gesture to include them all, implicitly leaving out the escaped prisoners, then pointed back the way they came. Out loud she said, "We can't keep going right now. We've dealt them a blow and discovered their secret location. Let's go back to the town and the guards can mop this up."

The two prisoners look dismayed, until they see that Ana is giving them a circular motion to play along with it. As that sinks in, they look a bit more confident, and start shouting in response. "No, you can't leave! Those people need you." "There won't be anyone left by the time you get back. That isn't fair!" They stomp on the ground to make footstep noises, and keep an eye on the stone door to make sure it is still closed. They also give good-luck hand gestures to the you, having faith (from Brin's earlier comment) that you aren't actually abandoning them.

Your party backtracks out of the corpse flower chamber (it will reek of decay for another week but you are somewhat used to it). You have to move quicker than you would like, but you still try to keep the travel noise down. You arrive at that intersection, and take the northern path. After some winding around (60'), it opens into a chamber of compacted dirt and boulders, but better dug out than the flower chamber. There are candles in enough spots to provide dim lighting here.

You enter from the west side. The chamber is 50' east-west, and 30' north-south. There are brass cages along the north wall, scarcely larger than a human. There are some low work tables with a number of robes on them. The stone door (leading to the flower chamber) is on the east side. Just before it is a stone slab covered with dried blood, more like a work table than an altar.

On the north side of the room are 7 prisoners (in rags, like the others you have met). A pair of armed humans in Bane robes are getting them out of their cages and chaining them together by leg and neck shackles. (Those 7 prisoners will not be able to move from the north-center area.) Another Bane figure (that you saw earlier) is by the door, leaning close to it to listen to the muffled noises on the other side. The green Slaad is pacing impatiently near the door, opening and closing its talons in anticipation of combat.

Everyone roll initiative.
No surprise for anyone, but also these figures won't have a Readied action against you, since you are coming from the other side of the chamber.

Initiative 11 

Brin initiative: 13

initiative: 19 

Initiative -
23

Initiative: 20

Initiative grouping:

• Reverie, Trimyrai, Iskander
• lead priest, green slaad
• Brin, Ana
• other 2 acolytes

The lead priest has the distinct shimmer of Mage Armor. The 2 acolytes are wearing leather armor.
You are at the west end of the chamber, 25' away from the acolytes (who are chaining the prisoners together) and 50' away from the slaad + priest at the east end.

Reverie, Trim, and Isk are up. (In that order, but we can swap around when people go in that group when it is convenient.)

(OOC - contemplating using Hypnotic Pattern - are the bad guys arranged in such a way that i could snag with all with the 30 ft cube? Or maybe the room is too small and i'd flash us as well...)

(OOC: do the prisoners look like they are in any immediate danger?)

(I keep forgetting that Hypnotic Pattern exists... A 30' cube will get most of the occupants of the room. Either the priest or one of the acolytes will be left out.

The prisoners are not in danger before the party arrived. But once combat gets going, they could easily be attacked by the armed acolytes, or used for cover as literal meat shields.

Isk will cast Hypnotic Pattern in the room such that the priest is left out saying, "This should stun them, but damage will wake any who are stunned, focus your attacks on the priest!"

DC 15 Wisdom save vs the creature becomes charmed for 1 minute. While charmed by this spell, the creature is incapacitated and has a speed of 0.  The spell ends for an affected creature if it takes any damage or if someone else uses an action to shake the creature out of its stupor.

The "priest" notices the movement of the party by the entrance. Using his reaction, he casts Counterspell (which is not normally a priestly thing to do) to neutralize Isk's spell.
"Intruders! Stop them in the name of..." (He pauses for a moment.) "... in the name of Bane!"

The others look towards the doorway. The green Slaad, even more menacing looking than the blue one you fought at the surface, widens its 3' wide mouth in a toothy grin, and begins casting a spell (which won't happen until its turn in initiative).

Reverie and Trimyrai are still up.