1: Dovedale

Grabbo merely shrugs at Odilo's question. "Guards during the day, guards during the night. They might not want you there, day or night." He seems genuine in his indifference.

"Stealth then must be the option," Malard says. "Perhaps we should head back for the night, and set out in the morning. A few more hours likely won't change anything, right?"

Maon agrees.

"I don't know about this. Sneaking in to do what? Talk to the blue lady who's constantly under guard? If we get caught we'll look like thieves or assassins, and we'll be massively outnumbered. And, crucially, we still don't have any real reason to think the goblins are even connected to the dried up river so we'd be taking a huge risk on something that may not actually progress our mission or help the village, and could even endanger the village if the goblins think they are to blame for our transgression into their lair. Maybe just talking to them is an option here.
After all, the only real, confirmed issue with the goblins was Grabbo's misschief, which we've already solved."

She turns her attention at the goblin again. "Grabbo, tell us a bit about Chief Gravelbeak. How does he regard the village. What would he do if he knew you were sneaking out to steal from the humans?"

The Half-Orc seems completely at ease again, now that everybody has stopped talking about killing. Judging by some of the reactions of the group she may have overreacted, but she still feels like she did the right thing standing up for Grabbo. It's not just that though. It feels like Maon was talking about her. And he'd be a lot more justified if he had been. She resolves to talk about it with him privately.

The goblin gets a little excited when asked about his chief! "Gravelbeak is the biggest of us! Well, second biggest. Maybe third. But he's really good at fishing! And so smart! He keep the village happy, and keeps his tribe happy! He doesn't mind some small pranks, so I do my best to have fun pranking! He's a good chief."

"I see two way of approaching this, Oren chimes in,

"Either we are going to the goblin camp to free the Blue Lady by day when they are mostly asleep, or we are approaching by night to treat with their leader for an as of yet unknown reason. Since we have no motivation to free the Blue Lady other than the ideal that all living things should be free and we also have no reason to speak with the goblin king as of yet, perhaps we should first head up river to investigate the cause of the drought that we were employed to remedy. We could easily bring our new friend here with us and play his card at a point that it makes more sense to do so."

Our notions were correct from the beginning. Seeking out the farm to gather information then moving on to the river's source. I think we're on the right trail.

If we must parley with the Goblin Leader we should do so only after we gather more information about the river itself.

In the meantime, see that our "guest" doesn't run off and let us be off at the break of dawn. After a good breakfast of course. We should pay the widow for her hospitality on our way out.

She mentioned something about the mountain, maybe we should share that information as well, if possible. What say you all?

"Yes, the goblin shall have to accompany us for a day or so, if we search the river. We can’t have him…" and then he turns to Maon "… and maybe even the landlady here, telling anyone of our plan to treat with the goblins." he shrugs.

"Do you think she’ll talk?"

"Perhaps we should vote?" Malard suggests. "If we opt to bring Grabbo with, then perhaps it can ride my donkey."

Can we trust the widow to be discreet? Another question is, who besides us knows that our plans might include a parley with the Goblin Clan?

We should keep Grabbo from getting anywhere near her. As long as we keep our tongues in check, there'll be no need for trust.

Maon pulls his pipe from his pocket and looks out at the stars before having another bowl of tobacco.

Trina nods her agreement. "We bring Grabbo here with us and keep quiet about our intent. The fewer who know, the better. Would you like to come on an adventure with us, Grabbo?"

"My main reason for wanting to talk to this chief Gravelbeak was that he likely knows more about what happened to the river than the folks of the village, seeing as he lives a lot closer, and we just learned he's apparently a great fisherman, so the river would be of particular interest to him, and he likely wants the problem dealt with as well.

As for freeing the blue lady... I agree with Oren on the principle that people should be free. At the same time, Maon isn't exactly wrong in his belief that certain beings should be... contained. I just disagree that Grabbo is one of them. I'd rather like to know why the blue lady is locked up before setting her free. It also should not be our primary concern. The thing with the river threatens the entire village. We should fix that first, and then we can see what to do about the blue lady.

I'm fine with just going straight up the river, but I think our chances will be better with more information."

She disagrees with telling the widow much of what they're planning to do unless she asks, mostly because they don't really have much to tell other than basically "we're gonna go there and see what's up".
She also disagrees with "paying her for her hospitality".
"We're not her guests. She's our employer. She's paying us. And she's likely the wealthiest person in town anyway."

Odilo nods along; agreeing with much of what’s being said.

"A vote then? To the river first, and then treat with the goblins.

Or the goblins first, and hope that they might illuminate the issue with the river some more!"

The man thinks on it a moment. Mulling over the options and weighing them against each other.

"For my part, I think… I say we ought to see the goblin tribe first. Jabrano makes sense of it!"

Jabrano speaks truth. Maybe she can care for Grabbo. I know we are at odds on what to do with him, but I am at peace.

As for a parley with the Goblin leader, that could be our death at worst, or if he is amenable, dangerous at the least. I feel if we see what has become of the river we will be able to divine the truth with more clarity about the predicament.

If there is another element involved, such as magic, in the holding back of the river, I would want to know first hand rather than relying on second had information. No offense, although Goblins are quite clever indeed, they don't have a reputation for mental accuity. We've already conceded that they would not have blocked the river without guidance from an outside source.

That is, IF they have blocked the river and not someone else.

Maon continues to look at the stars, noting the brightest ones. He puffs at his pipe, the glow creating deep shadows across his face.

Maon realizes he may have suggested too much about their plans in the presence of the creature. When they release the creature to his own devices, and he is certain they will release him, he will reveal all he remembers of their conversations. Another fly in the ointment of secrecy!

He looks at Odilo

Knowledge is power, and we should not be unarmed...just a thought good man.

He nods at Jabrano, pipe glowing.

Trina shrugs. "I think that we should check out the river first. Hey, maybe something is jamming up the river because the goblins are holding the blue lady. Maybe she is a water spirit or something!" She seems very pleased to have thought of this idea.

The captive goblin shakes his head emphatically. "Grabbo doesn't want adventure. He just wants to go home."

"Well, it sounds settled then," Malard says. "The consensus is to speak with Gravelbeak, and bring Grabbo with us. Who knows? Maybe we have a bargaining chip."