1: Dovedale

OOC:

I think enough of us have infravision that we can guide the others without fire, no?

Oren takes stock of the situation and looks for a method to lower the birdcage to the ground...

The scene is dreadful. On one hand, Malard feels pity for the imprisoned being, but he also feels like this is a trap. Whether or not goblins can manage that sophistication is debatable, but they'd be in a bad position if there were an ambush now. "Thank you, Grabbo," says Malard. "I wish this weren't really what was happening, but there's no denying what my eyes are seeing. Why imprison this creature, really?"

The chain lifting the cage disappears into the dark ceiling, and the fire in the center of the chamber is wreaking havoc with your infravision. Where it goes is anybody's guess. The blue figure within does not seem to have noticed you yet.

It is now that you notice (because the DM failed to notice this passage further in the module) that the captive is singing a soft song while looking to the side of the fire opposite you. On that side and in a crude chair, leaned back and snoring, is another goblin with a particularly large nose. So large, in fact, that his head is more nose than face. He, too, seems to have failed to notice you.

Odilo crosses to the cage, in a hurry to get the captive free and the party gone from these terrible tunnels.

"Friends are here!" he says, drumming a knuckle across the bars, to alert the spirit to their presence!

Be wary Odilo, there may still be a trap.

"We could probably gag and tie up our napping friend here as well," Malard says.

"Almost certainly!" Odilo acknowledges with a whisper. But their prize was here now, before his very eyes. It invited a certain amount of risk…

Oren hustles over to the sleeping goblin and grabs him in a choke hold from behind with the intent of knocking him out properly.

Both Odilo and Oren make their moves, each heading to nearby destinations in the chamber but with very different purposes. As they approach, the large-nosed goblin awakes with a snort- Odilo's speaking did not do the party any favors. Maon reaches out with his divine senses, and finds no snares nor pits within the entirety of this chamber. He knows that the spell won't last long, and if he wants to be sure of other rooms in this lair he will have to move quickly.

"Ack! Intrud..." is all the goblin is able to get out before Oren's powerful arms wrap around his throat. He struggles against the elf, but the size difference and disparity in combat training leaves him pinned and silent. His little arms and legs flail and kick to no avail.

"What are you doing?! You are here to challenge the Chief, not pick on my friends!" cries out Grabbo, who was very misled (and naïve). He rushes towards Oren to help his fellow goblin. Those of you who did not rush forward can hear as the voices of both Bignose and Grabbo echo deeper into the cave.

Meanwhile, the singing nixie (for a nixie she is) looks to Odilo with joy and exhaustion. The small, beautiful, webbed-fingered woman whispers in a bubbly voice (bubbly like a stream), "Please free me from here. I beg you, I must return to my stream!"

Trina wastes no time, going to work on the lock to free the nixie. "No one deserves to be caged," she mutters. She struggles with the lock but can't quite get it. Angrily, she tries to pry it open with a dagger.

Shaking his head, Malard says quite plainly, "Sorry, Grabbo, but freeing her is part of challenging the chief. We can't allow this." He moves to help free the nixie.

Having a Halfling on his shoulders was no small task for Odilo the Pauper Mage. Not least because he still had to stand on his tippy toes, if they had any hope of reaching the cage.

He fuddles with his staff a moment, and passes it awkwardly up to Trina, precariously perched on his shoulders.

"Pass this… through the cage." he says, with effort.

"It’ll stop them pulling the cage up through that hole!"

With Trina balanced on Odilo's shoulders, she is able to see that a large padlock holds shut the cage. While rough in appearance, it appears to be of surprisingly fine quality. Her tinkering is hindered by the mage's awkwardness and sniffling, and she struggles to pick the lock.

"It's too bad we can't just break the lock off the cage," Malard says. "The faster we get out of here the better. Especially since we're freeing their prisoner."