Manciple Tobias leaves and you all enter the barracks, immediately on alert as there is a flurry of noise and activity from a room to the left of the entrance.  There are two guards working to use their spears top separate two prisoners fighting each other, one is quite bloody. Things calm down and you can see three cells, with two cultists in each.  One pair just looks bored, one pair are angrily staring at each other from opposite sides of the cell, and the last cell has the two that were fighting, one with a wound on his neck, and the other with blood on his chin.   One of the guards(the senior one to you locals or people who make a DC12 History check) looks at you, and removes her helmet revealing her cropped red hair. "Hello, I'm Sergeant Dustwaffle, we just had a little disagreement about 'betraying the masters'.  We have a room you can talk to them incividually if you want."

[[Let me know how you want to proceed.  I'd prefer not to go through a blow by blow, but would prefer you all tell me a strategy, then we make some rolls and I narrate the result.]]

OOC: Well Hayeth's strategy was to try and charm them using Charm person and if it doesn't work take a short rest to Arcane recovery and try again, if that doesn't work normal persuasion until tomorrow her DC is 13 if you want to make some saves :)

Hayeth looks to the Sergeant and nods her head politely "Greetings Sergeant, I am Hayeth and these are..." she gestures to the rest of the group letting them introduce themselves "Having individual talks would be useful, I feel like it would be wise for them not to know what the others say, before we do talk to them you wouldn't mind me checking something quickly would you?" She says motioning to her spellbook at her side, if there are no objections she will take some time to ritually cast Detect Magic just to double check if there was any magical foul play since the party left the cultists

Daemyar would like to inspire Hayeth to give her the extra bit of oomph in her efforts. 

And to attempt to find out what happened to Derrek. And what the Manciple Tobias had done before we got here. 

I think Dumasz will wait to see how Hayeth does. If she is unsuccessful, he’ll wait to find out before attempting anything more drastic.

First off, there are no magic spells on the prisoners or guards. You detect traces that an enchantment spell has just ended in the interrogation room. Your passive Arcana and investigation are high enough to know it was probably zone of truth.

[[Forget what I said about the tell me a strategy and I'll narrate thing.]]

There are six prisoners, 2 bored, 2 angry stares, 1 neck wound, and one bloody chin. Please tell me who you try to interrogate first, and who goes in the room with the prisoner. You can all fit in the room, but it's kinda tight after 3 people.

Vahorn cuts straight to the chase with the Sergeant, forgoing greetings. “Which one ‘betrayed the masters’ then? The one who took it on the chin, or cracked their neck?” He looks at Dumasz and Hayeth, “Maybe best you take the ‘traitor’ and we can rough up the other one..”

Hayeth nods looking around the room with her opalescent eyes again "Indeed, it seems a zone of truth was cast here I'd imagine by the Manciple, am I right Sergeant?" she pauses looking at the roughed up prisoners "We need to find out what they told him" she then blinks her eyes and they return to normal

"Sergeant. Dumasz, myself and one of my other companions" She looks at Lia, Noell and Vahorn "Will take the 'traitor' into your private room if possible, Dumasz and I will try our silver tongues first, with my magic as a backup and, one of the others looking intimidating in the background"

She looks at Dumasz with a smile "Not that I doubt your ability to be intimidating all by yourself Dumasz, but he may get confident if it's just scrawny old me and you in that room with him a third will help eliminate that confidence"

Lia steps up next to Noell and mutters to her, "Think you can keep Vahorn from murdering any of the other prisoners while I head with those two?" She nods towards Hayeth and Dumasz.

Noell smiles uncomfortably at Lia, loathe to tell her that Vahorn was the one who convinced her not to murder the prisoners in the first place.  "I'll.. do my best," she says stutteringly.

(for fun: deception when telling Lia that she's going to try to stop Vahorn from roughing anybody up too badly: 15 - this would theoretically be against your passive insight unless you have reason to believe Noell would be lying to you and want to check her more closely)

She follows after the others into the interrogation room, and after trading a glance with Vahorn, replies "I think Vahorn is right.  It might be best if we work them separately, two at a time.  These rooms are rather small, and sometimes more is less, when it comes to questioning prisoners."  She indicates that she'd like to follow Vahorn with one of the more stubborn of the cultists.  "We've worked well together in the past for many years, I'm sure we can manage," she adds to Hayeth and Dumasz.

(Happy belated mother's day to all who celebrated, btw!)

Vahorn nods, keeping his eyes on the prisoners, trying to figure out if any one of them seems to be the ‘top dog’. “Cults are always looking for new recruits, at least we might find out why these humans are so eager to become enslaved. If not... we can watch them squirm.”

Dumasz is following Hayeth’s lead for the moment

((Lia's passive insight is 15, so she would probably notice that something isn't quite right.))

Lia's eyes narrow slightly at Noell's stuttered response. Nevertheless, she accepts it with a single nod and turns to follow Hayeth and Dumasz. "We shouldn't leave those two alone for too long, one of them's going to end up hurting somebody," she mutters as they walk.

Hayeth nods acknowledging what Lia said "Well then lets make this quick shall we" she will indicate to the Sergeant to open the cell of one of the tougher looking cultists  "Lia if you would be so kind as to escort our friend here to the solitary cell"

Once all of them are in the cell she will shut the door "If you'd like to sit" she indicates the chair to the opposite side of a table (which I assume exists here) which her and Dumasz will sit to the Cultist. She will then sit at the table and put her feet up on top of it "I hope you don't mind Lia here listening in on our conversation" She pauses a moment looking the Cultist dead in the eyes "I don't suppose, you want to just tell us what your traitorous friend told the preist do you? I don't want things to get messy you see but these two very much don't mind the mess, so let's cut a deal, you tell me what I need to know, I get you a meal and a cell where you wont get hit and... nobody else has to know" she pulls some jerky ration from one of her pouches and places it in front of the Cultist "In fact here's some advance payment, there is more where that came from, as well a proper hot meal if you cooperate, maybe some frozen dairy if I'm feeling particularly kind"

Persuasion: 20

"Gladly." Lia takes the cultist by both wrists, pinning them behind their back, and marches them after Hayeth. She purposefully grips a bit tighter than necessary so it starts to hurt by the time they reach the cell. Unceremoniously dumping the cultist in the other chair, she posts herself on the wall behind Hayeth, arms crossed and staring directly at the cultist the whole time.

Noell also looks over the prisoners, trying to find one who looks both knowledgeable and possibly likely to talk.  (Insight: 14)

"How about that one over there," she mumurs lowly to Vahorn after a moment of study, indicating the prisoner she singled out - quite possibly erroniously - as an easier target to pressure.

“Maybe, but we need to show our dominance first. You know people more than me, but these ones have tendencies, or at least aspirations to be animalistic.”

As they step into the pen, Vahorn shifts his body to make himself seem bigger, hissing at each of the prisoners, making eye contact with each and every one of them ready to take down any of them who might try to challenge him. Animal handling 21

Once finished asserting theirselves, he looks to Noell to take the lead.

Noell crosses her arms and stares at each of the prisoners for a good while, counting to ten in her head before shifting her gaze to the next.  She lets her sight linger on her victim of choice, holding her count for especially long.  Then she sighs, and shakes her head slowly.  "Sorry about that one," she says to her target, indicating Vahorn with a tilt of her head.  "He can get a little unruly when upset.  And we're certainly upset.  I'm upset.  My friend here is upset.  The mayor is upset.  The town guard is upset.  The Hearth is upset.  And I suppose you all are upset with each other as well.  You're probably asking yourselves right now, 'Whose fault was it?  Who clued these adventurers in to our ceremony?  Was it a mole?  A spy?  Or sheer incompetence?  Who messed up the watch?  Who fumbled their attack?' 

So many people upset... that's a lot of pressure to bear, isn't it.  Loooot of pressure.  I sure wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now," she laments wistfully.  "It seems like the whole world is just upset with all of you."  She eyes her target.  "Maybe a little break would do you some good.  Come with us, answer a few questions... maybe get some things off your chest.  It will make you feel better.  Perhaps less judged by your peers here.  Could do you a world of good," she says invitingly, though the gesture she gives to the person to rise is clearly not a matter of choice.

Persuasion, with advantage from Vahorn: 20 (was the first roll, with advantage or not)

[[ Please pause posting until your DM unconfuses herself. ]]

[[Ok, we're good, game on.]]

Interrogation room:

The guards indicate the cultist with the neck wound is one of the traitors. You take his cellmate, the one with blood dripping down his chin, and you realize from his filed teeth, that's his cellmates blood.
The prisoner takes the offered food. He replies in a foreign accent, "This question I cannot answer. I was not in this room. The priest, he made us all an offer for protection, food and a place to live in this dungheap of a town in exchange for our service and devoting ourselves to Anwyn. Anyway, those who say yes, he takes into this room for a while and they come back. We ask what happened, they tell us they took an oath of loyalty. He betrayed the masters, so I try to kill him. Guards stopped the fun."
[[Hayeth and Lia rolled 19 and 20 for insight, he seems like he is being forthcoming.]]

Outside:

Noell picks out the bored prisoner looking out the window. "Sure let me gather my things... oh wait, I have nothing." He comes with you.

Hayeth nods "Stopped the fun indeed, well that is unfortunate isn't it, the masters do value loyalty" She looks to Dumasz then back to the Cultist "What were your plans with the seal in the tunnels? Did the masters tell you? How much do you know of your other bretherin?" she pauses a moment "Remember more food is in it for you, or we can tell the guards to  not keep you and the traitor in seperate cells if you'd prefer"

"I do not think you will starve me. I'm done talking."