Chapter 1: A Friend in Need

The goblin tugs on her own big, tattered lobes in response, pulling them down over her cheeks. Her mouth hangs open in horror, terrified the fallen angel wants to take her ears as trophies and give them to her companions.

Calling from 30 feet behind the rest of the group, Xelia messages Alastriona at the front.

Alastriona pats the goblin's head and settles her palm upon the cranium, turning the small creature to face the approaching group.

Butler moves into the room to the south and takes a quick look round for anything of note.

Rusty weapons and threadbare clothing litter the floor of this area, which you assume serves as a disorganized cloakroom and makeshift armoury. This looks nothing like the decent equipment of the Kenku assassins or even the Beauties you saw before. You find nothing of value, nor any secret passages.

Stitches stays in the hallway with his bow knocked, watching both the doorway they came through and the stairs that lead deeper into the secret hideout.

Xelia walks over to the goblin, smiling warmly at him. She motions Prince over to the other side of him. "Do you speak common, dear? We're looking for a friend. Perhaps you've seen where he was taken?" She idly picks at the dirt under her claws as she speaks.

The goblin listens very attentively, and then whispers common in terror.

"Eins knows nothing! Oh no, Grum'shar will be so angry at Eins and Zwei! 'Guard the door!' he said. 'Shoot intruders!' he said. Zwei must have fallen asleep too! Curse our heavy eyelids!"

Prince hands Xelia a nail file from his beauty kit.

Butler leaves the others talking with the goblin and scouts down the stairs.

Butler slips down the slime-encrusted stone stairs unnoticed. Looking around the corner, he sees a long hallway. Filthy water drips through the cracks in the ceiling where the hallway passes under the north-facing sewer tunnel. At the end of the hallway, Butler can make out at least two tattered straw mattresses. The mattresses are covered by roughspun blankets that conceal small, goblin-sized lumps.

Alastriona keeps her hand on the goblin's scalp, and fixing their eyes on Xelia.

Xelia takes the file from Prince without looking at him and promptly begins sharpening her claws with it. "Grum'shar? Is he a friend of yours, or a problem that we can help you with?"

Eins squirms on her rickety seat. Her lower lip quivers and she stutters nonsense noises; it seems her brain has seized up in the face of dread.

Alastriona feels the tension under her palm. With a quiet shushing sound whispering past her kohl-stained lips, a warmth emanates from her hand and spreads across the goblin's skin. She gently kneads the sensation into the scalp with her fingertips.

Prince hums a groovy, soothing tune to both Xelia and the goblin.

Eins warms up to Alastriona's and Prince's soothing ministrations. Her stuttering starts to break into sentences.

"Grum'shar is scary wizard man-orc. Grum'shar is boss here. Eins, Zwei, Drei, and Vier must serve Grum'shar - he killed our tribe but let us live if we are useful!"

Butler sees no movement from the two lumps in the meantime.

Now that the goblin is much more cooperative, Alastriona pats the goblin's head affectionately. She gives a slight smile and a nod to the interrogatee, then leaves them in the hands of Xelia, Prince, Vatra, and Stitches.

Turning for the stairs, Alastriona looks at Butler and walks up to join him. She peeks around the corner and sights down the arrow to see what has his attention, then looks to Butler with a question in her eyes.

Vatra begins playing with a small ball of fire he produces in the palm of his hand as he waits for a signal from his allies. He keeps his eye's peeled on their rear.