Ethan frowns at Spider's overhearing him, but looks even more unsettled by the response.

"I'm sorry, but something about you remind me of someone from back home."

"He was mean, and a liar and a bully, and my gut tells me I shouldn't trust you."

Ethan doesn't lower his shield or weapon, but also doesn't make any hostile action.

To the other, Ethan remarks,

"I don't think we should help him, or do what he wants, its probably a trap or something."

'He most certainly isn't to be trusted, your instincts are sound my friend' like the artificer, Zeke keeps his blade inclined towards the interlopers, but doesn't make any overtly hostile action, trusting Arvel to call the play.

Fae would simply raise a brow.

"Capital idea! I would love to speak to the dragon about you. We'll need assurances, of course. Diplomacy and trust being journeys of small steps and all that.

To that end, I think the best course would be for you to bring Gundren to us here. Once we are assured that he is alive and well, we will leave him under the guard of Yeemik..."

The charlatan steps around as he talks, twirling his walking stick thoughtfully. As he says the goblin's name he leans in so that only Yeemik can hear.

"...who will be suitably armed in compensation..."

Avrel turns back.

"...and, let's say, four of his goblin allies chosen by him. The impostor Azzinak excluded, of course. And I suppose, if you absolutely must, one of those as well."

The half-elf points at one of the Spider's spiders.

"A lovely little lake-side camping would be good for Mr. Rockseeker, I suspect. Fresh air. A few hot meals. It's be quite good for him after all he's been through. A little sunlight does wonders, doesn't it?"

Arvel winks.

"Then we'll go and speak to the dragon about you. Does that seem like an amicable arrangement?"

The Spider seems to be growing weary of the discussion.  "You forgot the part about bringing the dragon's head as well, my new friend.  Just slipped your mind, I'm sure.  I'm afraid I'd fear for Mr. Rockseeker's safety out here in the wild.  Surely you have heard of just how dangerous this area is, no?  I would be quite happy to negotiate with great King Grol for you to see that Mr. Rockseeker is alive and...mostly...well before you depart, however.  What more can I offer you?  I am happy to provide you with whatever I can, although my power is really quite limited.  Is putting Yeemik here in the King's seat truly the only other thing you desire?"

(Arvel feel free to make a Persuasion or Deception check, depending on what you are going for, at some point soon here, but fair warning that even a Nat-20 won't make a major NPC your puppet, of course.  I'll certainly take it into account regarding how far the Spider could be leveraged though.)

Elra clutches her fists and stares the the ground by the Spiders shoes. "I want to see what the Goblins did to Oghma's shrine," She whispers.

"Oh?  How interesting.  I have been allowed inside King Grol's castle and I'm afraid it is in a dreadful state, even without its goblin inhabitants.  It would be no place for a shrine to your gods any longer, not without extensive repairs at least.  Perhaps something of significance could be recovered and moved to a more suitable place of honor?  This I could negotiate for you."

(OOC Regarding King Grol, you are not familiar with any history on that name.  You did hear Yeemik mention something about a King when he thought you might be dead inside the cave the evening before, and even Klarg mentioned aspiring to be king of his tribe or something of the sort when you squared off with him a couple of days prior.)

"Unfortunately, that leaves us at an impasse. My companions and I won't be able to do the favor you ask without the adequate assurances we've asked you to provide. You've made your request and heard our terms. Where does that leave us?"

The Spider squints at Arvel and rubs his chin.  "I might be willing to give you one of the things you seek now, perhaps even the dwarf, if I only felt you were more committed to ridding the realm of the green dragon.  Alas, there are never enough heroes in the world.  I'll just have to convince the King to keep collecting enough food and treasure from people on the road to appease the dragon."

"Oh, we'll be more than happy to deal with the dragon. But you'll need to give us the assurance we've discussed."

"Seeing as I'm sure you only want the dwarf to 'make camp' out here so you can make off with him, you can have him.  I will take your new friend Yeemik back to the castle, and when you return with proof of the dragon's demise you can have this Ohgma's relics and we will see about improving Yeemik's station here."  With anger in his voice he says "I'm afraid my patience has worn thin, otherwise."

Another derisive snort from the towering Tiefling, 'Your patience is not the only thing that should be running.'  

Arvel tsks and shrugs his shoulders. He looks to each of his companions with the now-familiar expression on his face that says "Well, I tried."

**Krikket? Fire and arrow at the drow please.**

Tarja watches the negotiations warily, unsure if she could take her eye off Yeemik to watch the threatening mage. She would certainly not plan on going on a hare-brained scheme to kill a dragon on the off-chance this Spider would free Gundren afterwards. Now that negotiations looked to have broken down, she prepared to defend herself against goblins, spiders, or mage.

Fae would be watching intently in her silence, though, when Arvel’s expression would communicate ‘he’s tried’, she’d ready up.

"Th-thank you very much sir," Elra stammers out, trying to get the party to just back off. "For-forgive my friends o-open hostility... we've had a rough time recently..."

Seeing Krikket loose an arrow, Zeke waits until Vincent swoops down on the chattering Drow, and moves in, swinging out with his glaive and muttering arcane incantations under his breath Searing Smite (Spider needs to beat a Con 10 or catch on fire)  

Round 1 (partial)

Krikket's aim is true and the Spider is slightly surprised by the silent and invisible attack of the Sprite.  He snarls and grips his shoulder where the poison sets in.  Additionally the large orb of darkness just behind him vanishes instantly.  He looks at you all in anger, the drow's malice evident on his face.

(OOC  Going to pause here for actions from Tarja, Ethan and Elra.  Fae's Mind Spike will of course succeed when I finish resolving the round, and I want to hold off resolving Zeke's miss in case anything changes before the end of the round.  Edgar's 'Help' action could be a factor for someone in some way after Fae's turn, for instance.)

Initiative:
Tarja 18
Arvel 18
Ethan 15
Elra 12
Fae & Edgar 10
Zeke 10
Spider / Spiders / Goblins 9

(OOC Sorry Cubester, I waited 24 hours to see if you guys could coordinate your idea of using Portent with Krikket's shot, but want to update things while I have time and Fae already declared her action.  A great idea for the future, of course!  Additionally, I was pondering the nature of the Surprise rules in this situation.  On one hand the Spider is very much ready for you all to attack, but on the other hand he didn't know about Krikket and your order is, of course, telepathic.  I'm thus going to deny the Spider his reactions until after his turn, but won't deny him actions for an entire round since conflict with you in not surprising at all overall.  Luckily for you he rolled poorly and is last in initiative anyhow so everyone can tee off for a round.  Hope everyone is ok with that.  Denying him his Reaction is no small thing as it allows Krikket to be successful, triggering a couple of problems for the Spider, namely becoming poisoned and losing concentration on his modified darkness spell.  He rolled a 1 on that save and poorly on the poison save, but not poorly enough to fall asleep.)

Elra can tell that this isn't going to end well, so holds her amulet close and moves 20 feet closer to her teammates, praying to Oghma to Bless Ethan, Zeke, Tarja, and Arvel's attacks to hit true.

Tarja charges forward, joining in Krikket's assault on the Black Spider. (Attack: Attack: 25 Damage: 9