The bugbear stands behind the bars, glaring back at Yed. Its gaze is unflinching.

    Yed’s eyes fall to the bug bear’s left left knee, with which he goes to grab his Warhammer into the grip of his right hand. He calls out to the jailer, 

   “Let me in.”

    The Goliath leans his forehead against the bars and begins to rhythmically tap the silver, ornate Warhammer against the metal cell. He calls out to the bug bear in a soft, almost sing song voice,

    “Your knee is looking healed...I’m gonna have fun breaking it again.”  

Intimidation: 10

The bugbear speaks in a deep rasping voice. "Attacking an enemy after they surrendered and now torture? You really are most noble heroes." As it finishes its sentence, the bugbear ducks its head and slams it into Yed's belly, trying to push him out of the cell. Yed braces against the impact and stays standing where he is. The bugbear growls. "Get out of here. Send me to prison, kill me, do whatever you want. I'm not going to talk."

Bugbear Athletics: 17
Yed's Athletics: 17

(To be edited.)

Shamash steps closer to the cell, and using his Channel Divinity, he will augment his presence with divine pwer (+5 to Persuasion for the next ten minutes).

"Come, friends, we can work this out.  We aren't asking for much more than your friends have already given us. We just need a little more direction to Cragmaw Castle. We will find it anyway, but you might help your own case here." 

Persuasion: 23

"Well, I had hoped to begin things with a bit more civility." Doc begins, addressing the bugbear. "You speak Common quite well, I'm impressed. Allow me the courtesy of giving my name at least. I am Doctor Elias Jennings."

He straightens his own collar and matches the intense stare of the bugbear.

"I know neither my respect nor civility mean anything to you; but you appear to possess enough intelligence to understand your situation. You know that the fair-folk and 'civilized' races of these lands care little for your intelligence or otherwise. All they see is a shaggy, ugly, monster that is hell-bent on pillaging and running off with their children in the night. Now, I know enough about goblinkin in my years to know that bugbears such as yourself have a tendency to ingratiate yourself with goblins or other tribes with relative ease due to your more... militant tendencies. I'm not asking for the name of your clan, your leader or even the one that your leader follows. I'm only asking for the location of this castle we've been told about; as we believe our dwarven friend has been taken there. If you were to prove cooperative..."

Doc leans in slightly, making a mild show of his deft fingers in the process, one of his thieves' tools spiraling to-and-fro his fingertips to his palm.

"These old barred cells are not exactly maintained to the caliber in Neverwinter or many of the great cities to the north. It would be a shame if, somehow, the lock were simply to not function properly and a rogue bugbear were to escape back into the wilds, never to be seen in these parts again."

The seasoned doctor's eyes flash behind his glasses, predicting that the thus-far intelligent captive follows his line of reasoning.

The bugbear leans against the back of the cell. “It surprises you, doesn’t it, that I can speak your language? Trust me, this is not the first time I’ve dealt with humans.” The bugbear laughs. “What you say is, on the whole, true. Unfortunately, my freedom is worth nothing when the Black Spider finds out I told you something. But, as you say so yourself, I’m sure you’ll end up finding the castle on your own.”

    “Looks like he’s useless. Let me break his leg again, but we still release him after. Let him limp back home. But we still spread the word that this little man squealed like a piggy while in prison, I wonder how long it’ll be before Black Spider kills you. I wonder how he treats traitors, you think he’d believe you little useless bugbear? I’d guess not.” Yed says all of this as he circles the bug bear, ready to attack if he makes any moves towards him. 

Intimidation: 9

Doc clears his throat, glancing at his companions before returning to him.

"Threats of death mean nothing to you, I can see that much. Your fear of this 'Black Spider' is quite something though. They have cowed a mighty creature such as yourself into utter submission. You may not think we have much of a chance, but we do intend on finding this individual and bringing them to justice. Any effective information you provide can help secure not only your freedom from us and from those less reasonable than us, but also potentially free you from the yoke of your former master."

Doc, lowers his glare, his glasses sliding to the tip of his nose as he stares the bugbear down.

"Or are you happy with your life as a slave?"

The bugbear doesn’t even acknowledge Yed this time, answering only after Doc speaks.

”I’m sure you believe that you will defeat the Black Spider, but even if you do, it will be too late for me. The Black Spider is never merciful.”

Shamash turns to the others, "I'm not sure we are going to get very far with this one." 

He turns to the goblin, "I hear that you know Cragmaw Castle, but couldn't give directions. Would you be willing to lead us there? It might be a way to atone for all the hurt you have caused." Shamash does his best to glow in a divine fashion....

(OOC: Not sure if this calls for a persuasion check, but just in case: 24)

The goblin scampers to the back of the cell, away from Shamash. “I... I’m sorry! I dunno where it is! I’m really bad with directions...”

Big Bear leans down, “Have you ever been there? What does it look like, what do the woods look like around it?”

The goblin says “Yeah, I’ve been... The forest looks like... a bunch of trees, I guess.”

Shamash looks to his friends. "It looks like we aren't getting far with them. Should we explore some other options? I know I am worried about the Orcs we heard reports about."

     “We still have a third prisoner to ply for information.” Yed then turns to the cell holding the wizard Iarno, his grip tightening around his weapon as he recalls how the wizard had caged that family, those children. “He ran. There must be a reason. Should we start with a harsh hand or a kinder approach?” The Goliath asks his party members without ever moving his eyes away from the human.

"I'll begin; hopefully one of you can assist with other forms of persuasion should I fail."

Doc says as they arrive at Iarno's cell.

"Iarno Albrek. Glasstaff. Traitor of the Lord's Alliance and leader of the Redbrand thugs," Doc begins. "Well, I suppose at this point, you are not just a traitor to the Lord's Alliance, but The Black Spider as well. You know... I was hoping that you would be willing to assist us. You see, we took you alive in the hopes that you could be informative and tell us where Cragmaw Castle is located as we do intend to rescue Gundren Rockseeker."

Doc pauses for a moment, and pulls out a letter, leaning inwards.
"You know we found your correspondence with this individual... I happen to have spent a great deal of time in Luskan and Neverwinter. There are certain individuals there within the shadows that carry a similar handwriting style. Certain folk who make the political turmoils in Waterdeep and the other great cities look like children squabbling... I'd like to think that this Black Spider is already intending to sever the loose end that you have become. Now, there's a chance that Sildar and the Lord's Alliance may take mercy upon you and simply saddle you with jail time and stripping of your title... I very much doubt this individual will show similar priorities when it comes to your well-being."

The doctor straightens his collar as he leans back.
"You're a practical man. Educated. Make the smart choice, help those who can help you."

Persuasion: (Inspiration)
10

Iarno spreads his hands as much as he can in the manacles and smiles. “I have already told my dear friend Sildar all that I know. I’d love to help you, but I’m afraid I just don’t know anything else. As for the Black Spider, I’m sure he’ll arrange for my freedom.”

"Very well, stay here and rot then." Doc says flippantly as he prepares to depart.

Frustrated, the group leaves the jail. What will their next course of action be?

Big Bear walks over to Doc as they leave the jail, "I vote that we occupy our time helping out with some of the more difficult tasks around town, and use that as a way to investigate the surrounding region. An entire castle of orcs has to leave some kind of trail that we can pick up on eventually, right?" He looks troubled, reflecting on this Black spider character, this may be more adventure than he was initially expecting, but he was determined to see this through.