1: Dovedale

I'm sorry, Grabbo. I guess somebody got sight of the end goal and decided to skip a couple of steps of the plan. But your friend is fine, Oren knows what he's doing. He's going to wake up in an hour or so without as much as a bruise.

She walks towards the cage.
"Yeah, truelly unfortunate we can't just apply brute strength to the matter..." Jabrano deadpans as she looks up at the cage. The Half-Orc stands seven feet tall. Reaching up she can easily reach eight feet high. She picks up the chair and places it under the cage. Nine feet. She figures she can close the distance in a jump easily.

She stands on the chair and jumps up, her fingers reaching for the bottom of the cage.

Due to the sheer weight of the half-orc in armor hanging from the cage, the chains creak and grow taut, and the sound of them clinking can be heard all the way to the eastern edge of the cavern, where a tall ledge can be seen in the flickering light. But another noise can be heard, the voices of goblins echoing through the lair emanating from the east. Meanwhile, Grabbo pouts in place about never trusting tall'uns again, not for as long as he lives and not for all the pies in the world.

So far so good... she thinks as she dangles from the cage. She gets a better hold and climbs up until she is in a good position to deal with the lock.
She grabs it in one hand and twists hard.

The padlock is strong, but the door it is attached to much less so. The metal snaps and the cage door swings open. "Climb onto my shoulders." she tells the faery, "We're getting out of here."
She drops down to the floor once the farry is secure. Absent-mindedly she puts the padlock in her pockets.

"Well, don't I feel like the fifth wheel on the wagon," Trina says, watching the half-orc make short work of the lock.

"Astounding!" Odilo says, marveling at the athletic feat.

"And no matter! Let’s be away before we’re stuck! Will the goblin lead us back out? Or just be trust our nose alone?"

It is as Unda is crawling onto Jabrano's shoulders that you first see the eyes. All of the eyes. Glinting with cunning, reflected in the firelight. Sets to the north, south, east, and even west, not far from you. And, terrifyingly, above you. The sound of wings flapping can be heard. You are surrounded, with the maze to your backs. It would be nearly impossible to escape without Grabbo, and he realizes this. A familiar voice can be heard coming from a set of eyes to the north of the cave. A pair of eyes that seem to be set atop another, larger pair. The chief and his wolf.

"Well, well, well, it would seem you think you're smarter than Chief Gravelbeak! Thought you could come into my home and steal my bait? Not smart enough! You've been caught! What do you have to say for yourselves?!" His voice is angry and proud, and absolutely upset.

"You’re mistaken, Chief Gravelbeak!"

Odilo quickly thinks through the arcane requirements of his spell as he speaks.

"We are your friends! Allies, one and all! We are here to remove this blight from your abode. It has the power to cloud the minds of all goblinkind! We are to take it away!"

The words are coated in honey, and pleasing to the goblin’s ear.

Moving into the light, Gravelbeak rides his wolf forward. He looks curiously at Odilo, and then at the nixie. "Oh, I do believe you are correct... her singing has continually put my tribe a'slumber. Who knows what else she can do from behind those rune-wrought bars? You must be trying to help! Please take her away, then." His voice shows none of the anger from before, but an actual friendliness towards the wizard.

Another figure steps into the light, not far from the chief. This particular goblin is wearing black hood garments, almost clerical in nature; her pointed nose is warted, and she is mighty ugly. "But my lovely, what are you talking about? She can cast no spells, and these are no friends of yours! They mean to foil our... I mean, your plan! You have to stop them!"

A giant bat swoops into the light before carrying its leather-capped passenger back into the darkness. The voice of the bat-rider cries out from above, "Uncle, why are we not throwing these big'uns in the fire? They come here with sword and hatred towards us, and steal our captive! Nobody steals who we stole!"

The entire tribe of goblins erupts in bickering over what to do, but the chief seems unwilling to budge on the issue. Though he doesn't seem as protective of those other than Odilo...

Calling above the chaos, Odilo clears his throat:

"Thank you, your liege! Allow us to rid your kingdom of this menace!"

He turns, ushering the others to leave quickly. He puts himself between them and the main trio.

"As for you! Keep your forked tongues behind your teeth. The mighty chief has made his will known! Make way, before this creature can cause more peril!

Oh…" he says remembering.

"A trusted guide will be needed, your liegeship. Haste is required, so fast legs are best!"

Oren slowly slides away from the unconscious goblin, hopeful that the incident might be forgotten as attention seems to be pointed elsewhere. Labrynth or not, the elf knew that the best odds in fighting such a number would be in the choke point of the maze. Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, he edges his way towards the exit, his hand on the pommel of his sword.

For the moment, Malard stays quiet. He doesn't need to speak, and Odilo has done a masterful job in dealing with the goblins for now. He makes a few small steps towards the exit, signalling that it's time to go, but doesn't dare do anything that might disrupt Gravelbeak's reverie.

Jabrano kneels down with Grabbo with the fairy still riding on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, this wasn't the plan. But take a good look at her. Gravelbeak was killing her by keeping her locked up." She indicates the increasingly agitated goblins. "If this comes to a fight, a lot of people on both sides are going to die. You need to talk them down. You know what they'll listen to."

The loudest of the voices, belonging to Chief Gravelbeak, cries out above the din. "Grabbo, take them from our home, quickly now!" He gestures towards the maze entrance with his sword, before returning to bickering with his underlings.

It would seem, however, that Grabbo was not excited about this command. He hops to and leads you all back to the maze from which you only recently emerged, and begins escorting you through the twisting passages. Trina, before too long, is able to recognize that this is not the same path he had taken you on before. After all, halflings have a keen sense of direction. But before she can figure out what Grabbo's plan might be, she notices that the current passage tapers to a fine point that would be difficult for anyone but herself and Grabbo to traverse. The goblin darts forward suddenly and leaps into a tight hole, squirming and kicking to continue forward.

"Well, so much for a clean getaway. Next time we mark our path with chalk, eh?"

Oren draws his sword as the group retraces their steps, he felt sure that once the hex wore off the chieftain would be coming for his prize.

"Anyone particularly skilled at tracking?"

Odilo, angry now, scrambles forward and tries to grab the goblin a second time!

Malard lunges for their guide...

Uh-uh-uh! You stay here! Trina snatches at Grabbo.