Bayard glances around, "Perhaps we'd have better luck downstream?"

Caliban shrugs, "Lead the way"

Allorian, noting the confusion and indecisiveness of the group, himself included, offers up a suggestion- "We are just scouting the area, lets head downstream and find a place to wait until nightfall. Even if we can't make it directly across we should be able to get some kind of an idea of what is going on. We can try to get a headcount if there are indeed pirates on the other side of the river. We definitely don't want to be completely outnumbered and unprepared."

((I feel like we are stalling a little, id like to just get to a place where we can assess the situation))

As Bayard and Xarrut start to head downstream, they hear the voice of a small child say "I want to go home now," with a deeper voice responding in a low tone that neither of you can pick up what is said.

To the east of the party, several humanoid can be seen in the increasing dusk, but, you can make out little from where you're currently standing.

Xarrut’s curiosity is peaked, and he’s going to sneak closer

stealth 17 

As Xarrut gets closer, he sees five frog-like amphibians, two giant frogs, and what appears to be a human child standing near the river. He barely has time to notice this group, before one of the giant frogs opens it mouth and swallows the human child. Immediately after the child is swallowed by the frog, all seven creatures dive into the water, barely making any noise.

From the direction of the village, voices can be heard approaching this location with torches being carried by multiple individuals. You hear shouts of "Timoku" coming from the people heading towards you.

Xarrut recognizes this could go terribly. “Over here! A boy‘s been attacked!”

Bayard moves to the water's edge and tries to look for the creatures.

Perception: 8

Caliban walks behind Bayard, keeping an eye on him and ready to provide aid if something happens. 

Neither Bayard nor Caliban see any sign of the creatures in the water. The river is deep reddish brown in color making it impossible to see anything that is below the surface of the water.

As Xarrut calls out, the torches all begin to change direction and head toward him. When the humans and half-elves in the party get close enough to see him, a female voice cries out "That's him. That devil's spawn took my child!" The voices from the people get louder and angrier at this outburst, but, one man near the front waves his arm to try and quiet the people behind him down and yells "YOU! What are you doing here, and did you take our children?"

Stepping to the front of the group and specifically blocking Xarrut Allorian speaks out in a very authoritative voice- "Quiet down and calm yourselves! I am Allorian of House Silverfin from the city of Stolitz. They (indicating the group) are in my employ and we are here to find your children not kidnap them. The ones that took your children are getting away at this very moment while I stand here dealing with your ignorant prejudices. Now, if you would like to avoid my blade and the wrath of my family you can give us the information we seek to help find your missing child." 

Once he is done Allorian just glares at the man in front and generally uses his nobility to pull rank and cow the group. Then raises an eyebrow to indicate, well what of it. 

“I saw a boy! Something grabbed him, some sort of frog monster!”

The crowd is definitely cowed by Allorian's presence, but, muttering can still be heard in the background. Upon hearing Xarrut say "frog monster" the man in the front of the group asks for a better description of the "monster."

After hearing Xarrut's response, the man says "Bullywugs!" Someone back in the crowd says "But, we have a deal with them creatures. Why are they breaking the deal." 

The man in front hushes the voice, and turns back to Allorian and says "If the bullywugs took Timoku, the child is beyond our reach, and probably safe for now. But, tomorrow, we will need to send a group over to talk with them." (I'm assuming the rest of the group has now gathered around). "The lot of you look like you know your way around weapons. Perhaps you could serve as an escort? Why don't we head over to the Mermaid and discuss this issue further."

The woman, who appears to be Timoku's mother, starts crying hysterically, and the leader of the group turns around and says to one individual "Rakvin, why don't you take your wife home. We'll get your son back tomorrow."

With a piercing gaze Allorian tries to read the mans face and body language. Does he really think the boy will be safe and trying to read his general intentions about leaving there child.Insight- 23

“You have a deal to sacrifice children to bullywugs? Why not go after them now?”

Xarrut raises his cane and looks back in the river thoughtfully. 
“They‘re calm for for people who just had a kidnapping.”

Bayard stands at the river's edge with a puzzled expression on his face, "So, I'm guessing this probably means its unrelated to the missing people and lights over here? Or no?"

Caliban nodes in agreement to Xarrut's statement as his knuckles whiten as he grips the head of the warhammer still being used as a cane. He looks out over the water for any sign of the creatures or the child seething with anger and wanting to do something.

After a time Caliban takes a deep breathe and steels himself against his anger and a calm comes over his face.  He says a quit prayer for Timoku's safety, and turns his attention back to the party and what options they have. 

Turning to face away from the people of the village and face only his companions, in a low voice- "I agree Xarrut. We need to be wary and keep our heads about us. I don't like the way this feels. Bayard, I am not sure what to think about the lights but I do think this might explain some of the missing people. I will be curious to find out more about this 'deal' that they have with these bullywugs." 

To the villagers- "Where do you propose we discuss this?"

The leader of the group seems nervous, but, not too overly concerned about the missing children.

But, when Allorian suggests that they had agreed to sacrifice children to the bullywugs, the mans demeanor quickly changes: "For outsiders, you seem to have a little of ill-founded opinions. You might want to keep your mouth shut until you have a better idea of what is going on. Yes, we had an agreement with the bullywugs. But, the agreement involved us giving them knicknacks and some food in exchange for us being able to fish, hunt, and collect plants on that side of the river. The kidnapping of children is how the bullywugs negotiate. They did it before, over 30 years ago. And, all the kidnapped children were returned."

"We've kept our end of the bargain, but, now the question is why aren't they keeping their end? I'm hoping that if we send an ambassador tomorrow morning, we can get our children back."

In response to some of the other questions, the man continues "The only missing people around here are the children. Timoku was the sixth child to disappear. But, until tonight we didn't know how they were disappearing. What lights are you talking about? We haven't seen any mysterious lights. But, let us head over to the Laughing Mermaid to continue this discussion."

“We were looking into a pirate problem, and heard a rumor about lights on the other side of the river. We were looking for a way across when we saw your boy get snatched. It sounds like we’re on the wrong track.” Xarrut makes a wry and disappointed expression. “Maybe we can help each other?”