If not already overwhelmed by the escaped prisoners, having a barrage of questions being thrown was another thing to contend with. He took a few breaths and spoke each word out slowly enough as he addressed each question "Well, my name is Wyatt Barna, and we're beneath an abandoned watchtower by a cliff. The guy that employed us is named Sarfin, Sarfyr, or somethin, that fello a weird one. Trust me, this Sulfur guy is twisted cunning, but seems to enjoy chatting and asking odd personal questions to people. I just listen to the captain Gnaegak's order and he said to imprison the lot of you first while they question the others first. And to answer your question" Wyatt rolled his eyes at the tiefling that gave him a good series of questions. "Do I look like the captain? Because I don't have tusks. I've been down here by the cells for a few hours told to listen and watch you lot. I don't know if their still on duty or asleep. Why don't you ask someone else as this place only has one path that circles up outside. Maybe they know where your things are. You would have to be pretty dumb to get lost here and lucky to not run into anyone.

As the orc asked about the other members of their caravan, Wyatt simply scoffed. "I already told, you I have no idea, I've been down here for mo-", before he could finish, he was pulled and pinned onto the ground. At this point the party would be striping him of his items and clothes. On him was 10gp, 42sp, a mace, heavy crossbow along with his 20 bolts, hooded cloak, and a single key. His leather armor would take a minute to remove if anyone decided to take it. During this lengthy time that Wyatt spoke and his things removed, Aron would hear a faint scuttling sound of something climbing behind one of the stacked creates. With his eyes darting to the sound, he saw something else at the edge of his eye, resembling a tail.

Angus waited for the looting to finish before speaking. "Y'know, yer not doin' a particularly good job of answerin' our questions." Angus said. "I suggest you start comin' up with somethin' useful a'fore I lose me patience. Need I remind ye that yer life depends on how well ye answer?" To illustrate his point, Angus pushed the glaive against Wyatt's throat hard enough to break the skin and draw a few drops of blood.

Orchid will assist in stripping and tying up Wyatt, using his own cloak to hog tie his hands and feet behind his back and leaving him in one of the cells, using her own key to open the door. Though it seemed Angus still had some questions for him so she left the celldoor open for him to answer them, but Orchid doubts there's much left this guy knows. "This scum is too low on the totem pole to know everything we want, mate. Were it up to me I'd use this cloak of his to string em up." As she says this, Orchid tightens the knot on the binds so that it would dig into his wrists. "Let's just finish with him and move on out. Or perhaps if he don't have anything useful to tell us, maybe we'll drag him along as a shield." Orchid says viciously, trying to scare him. While she was certain that the group had him at a position of power, he was still awfully catty with them, which means he may be hiding something. "After all we didn't kill him if his friends starts shooting arrows at us and hit his body."

Najila listened carefully and she went over the given names of his employers over in her mind. One of them definitely sounded elven, sulfur was an element, and she was pretty sure Sarfir wasn't a name. It may have been a codename. But the first name, and their predicament were certainly clues. They were better than nothing, and she was sure she would piece them together soon. She noted how Wyatt mentioned that the Captain had tusks. A normal human didn't have tusks. The kind of people who did came to Najila's mind, and all of them were the brute strength types.

She reminded Wyatt when he started scoffing, "Now, now, Wyatt. You're not exactly in a good position right now. I'm sure you don't need me to remind you of that,"

She answered Orchid, "Ah well. At least we're able to glean some clues off of him, as well as the general layout of this place,"

She commented to her friends, "Judging from what he said, their captain may be as strong as Ironbane over there," When she said Ironbane, she nodded towards Angus, since she didn't know his name. She added, "As far as I can tell for right now, his employer may be elven. Of course, he could have just given a code name to Wyatt here,"

As the others tied the guard, Azzen donned the leather armor over his illusionary leather armor and spoke to the tiefling child. His voice was kind, gentle and filled with a calm confidence that would ease her mind from the current situation.

“What is your name?
How long have you been here? What have you seen?
Where is your home?”

As required he littered in compliments and reassurances such as, “Your a brave child, that’s a beautiful name, we will get you home.”

Persuasion 22
Insight 4

Although he seemed to calm a bit from all his talk, the party striping him of his valuable and being tied. But he nervousness quickly returned the highlander sank the blade of the glaive deep enough to draw blood, causing Wyatt grow a bit pale as he hopelessly squirmed in place. "He's a spellcaster, our employer, okay okay! lets not be hasty! I'm only of worth if I'm talking and moving, even if as a meat shield, right?! But I ain't no expert, in the finger wriggling arts." panting and hos body trembling a bit more as he could feel his blood slowly trail down his ever growing pale skin, Wyatt tried to catch his breath before continue. "The captain just says the employer handles the integrations with some magical help and sometimes asks us for some help as his little lizard things ain't big enough to help! But hey, those fancy mages ain't strong like your highlander here, I'm sure he, might let you all, go if... it means his rope, doesn't get torn in a... fi-" Looking to have trouble keeping his eyes open, before he could finish speaking, his trembling pale body slowed to a halt as he appeared to fall unconscious.

After hearing the various questions form Azzen, she remained quiet for a bit, still nervous and shaking. But once she saw Wyatt fallen unconscious, the tiefling girl look up to the face Azzen with her dark and faint purple tinted eyes, now appearing not as timid. "Um... Celeste. Celeste Darkh. I don't know how long its been since I've been here. I only remember being woken up and brought into a nearby room where this elf man asked someone strapped to a chair if they recognized me. When they didn't know me and well." She looked over to the unconscious Wyatt and continued to softly speak. "This happened for a few times until one of my guardians, Layla was in the chair. She tried lying about knowing me, but the elf man only smirked as he ordered someone like Wyatt to-" She paused as one hand tried to reach for her horn, but instead reached for her eyes as tears once again ran down her face. Now a bit closer to Najila as she sank into her veil and robes and trying to speak in between her cries, she tried to continue "They pulled me away, blinded folded, and in this cell. I probably woke you all up. After a bit of time to calm herself, she looked to Azzen once more "If you can, stop with all the questions, it just reminds me, of the elf man."

As Azzen asked Celeste all of the questions, Najila, for once, sent him a harsh glare, as if silently warning him to stop. She knew very well from experience that being interrogated was not going to help the captured girl in any way. She listened to Celeste, and when the girl moved closer to her, Najila held her close in a protective yet comforting manner. After Celeste made her request, she answered the girl, her gaze softening towards her, "Of course. Please, forgive my friend, Azzen,"

She heard some of Wyatt's answers. So the employer was indeed an elf, and a spellcaster no less. The only question was what kind of spellcaster was he? Someone who was born with magic? A scholarly wizard? Or someone who received his powers from a patron, like Najila herself? If he was protective of a piece of rope, then he might be a warlock like her...

Either way, he probably had her Book of Clouds...

She then suggested to her friends, "We should leave...before any more guards come here and potentially overwhelm us. I can send Pythagoras ahead to scout for us, if everyone is in favor of that?"

Angus watched amusedly as Wyatt squirmed at the glaive's point and began spouting something somewhat useful. The employer was a spellcaster. The employer interrogates his prisoners, sometimes with magic and sometimes with minions. The employer was not strong. The employer was very protective of a piece of rope. Before any more could be learned from Wyatt, the thug passed out. Angus raised an eyebrow at this, he was fairly certain he'd only scratched Wyatt's neck, and one does not simply pass out from a scratched neck. Angus wondered for a moment if magic was at work here.

However, Angus would quickly forget about that as he heard the little tiefling girl talk about her time as a prisoner in this place and of how she had been treated by the elf man and his minions. By the end of her story, Angus was shaking with anger. "An' I thought I was cross before." Angus said to himself. When he heard one of the others start talking about something irrelevant, Angus lifted Orchid's glaive above his head and brought it down on Wyatt's neck, separating his head from his shoulders with one fell blow. After doing so, Angus walked over to the exit, shoved Aron aside, and kicked down the door. "MACALISTER!" Angus bellowed as he charged out into the unknown.

Their interrogation one Wyatt seemed to be going fairly well. He quickly dropped his attitude once Angus cut his throat a little and he gave them important information about their employers. A mage type it seems, using some sort of magic to draw out the truth from others. Orchid remember that some types of Mages could use a spell called Zone of Truth, and she knows the likes of Paladins and Clerics can use it. She doesn’t remember what other types of Mages use that sort of spell. He also mentioned a lizard that helps with the questioning, which Orchid assumes he means a familiar, but Orchid wasn’t too sure how exactly a familiar helps. Intimidation value? And finally something about a rope but Wyatt passed out when he started talking about it. Was the boy fainting?

Listening in on the teifling girl, Celeste, Orchid quickly started not to care about Wyatt’s fate. Though it’s possible this girl may still just be lying to tug their heartstrings, practically speaking it doesn’t truly Chan he the outcome: the group still needed to get out of here. And that’s when Angus executes Wyatt. Orchid didn’t really flitch, but she grumbled when he tried to charge our ahead. ”Barbarians...” She called for her glaive back into her hand as she walked over to Angus and tried to stop him.

”Hold there, Angus. I wanna bust out of here as much as you, but we don’t know enough about our enemy to just go charging out there like we own the place. Let’s go with Najila plan and let her owl get some information about what we’ll be expecting. Knowing is half the battle after all. Once we figure out what we’re up against than we can go with the violence.”

Aron was about to say something that he just barely saw out in the room. But the highlander shoved the man to one side, pushed the metal door open and charged out into the spacious, but cluttered, room mostly filled with crates and barrels, two sounds of crossbows could be heard. However, both bolts would miss as they could be heard hitting the wall beside. They jumped in panic as their shots missed and ducked behind their cover, keeping a distance and prepared reloading their crossbows.

Azzen was quickly growing frustrated with people, and it seemed to affect his thoughts. Oh how he wished he had a spell to control them all.

The young girls reply was lacking, Azzen thought he was good at drawing out information but he got little from her, and he wasn’t even sure if it was the truth. Still he would use what he could.

More so he didn’t understand Najila’s opposition to his gentle questioning. Celeste reluctance to speak in details was only more suspicious.
Still ‘Celeste Darkh’ he pondered on that name.
She may be the reason they are all here and their, or at least his key out.

Azzen barely noticed the barbarian charge out as it all happened so fast. The girls story didn’t seem to effect him the same way it did others. The twang of bolts quickly caught his attention though.
He would finish putting on his armour and check the dead guard and his disguise.

Najila gasped when Angus just outright murder the unconscious Wyatt. Such brutality! She made sure to adjust her veil and robes to make sure that Celeste did not see that. She watched as Angus simply charged ahead, ignoring her words. Orchid at least tried to reason with him, but the larger man was clearly out for blood. Then bolts were fired. Thankfully they missed, but it was clear there were enemies...hiding behind crates and barrels.

She had an idea. Other than the good old Eldritch Blast, there was another spell she took not only for defense, but also to have a warm campfire every night without worrying about flint. That spell might come in handy here...but it might be risky.

She looked down to Celeste, and she told her, "Stay close, and stay behind me, Celeste," She then moved forwards. Once she had the barrel the attacker was hiding behind in her sights, within 60 feet, she would rub her hands together and utter some strange words under her breath. Once the incantation was done, she cupped her hands around her mouth and blew into them, much like how someone would warm their hands on a cold day. The hands would unfurl and she would blow her breath outwards. The air from her breath was alight with a reddish orange glow before it faded. The glow would reappear underneath the barrel, and a spark would snap into existence from the light. That spark then soon grew into a fire and began to consume the barrel, and thus take away some form of cover.

Hopefully it would do some damage to the attacker as well.

Hearing shots fired and twang against the nearby wall, Aron could be seen rushing out to the spacious room to join Angus in the confrontation. With Orchid's shortsword, dashed to one of the kobolds trying to hide, swung the blade and slashed deep into its thin draconic body. The remaining kobold panicking, fired another crossbow bolt at Angus, only to just miss Angus's shoulder. Seeing as it is out numbered and powered, it motioned behind the barrel it was behind to get some cover. But as barrel that Najila magically lit on fire collapsed, the kobold was gone. But the flames would help to expose kobold trying to move to the far corner of the room. Anyone already in the room could see easily see it and make their way to it, but those still in the jail room would have to move into the spacious room to see the kobold. However, it can easily be seen by all that the initial flames of the bonfire spell is catching the neighboring wooden containers on fire as black smoke begins to slowly fill the room.

"Dragon-like scum!" Angus snarled as he evaded the bolt sent his way by the kobolds. "I'll rip yer fuckin' 'eads off, ya wee bastards! Come 'ere!" With that said, Angus charged the kobold that shot at him last - heedless of the flames, the smoke, or the fact that he was recklessly leaving himself open to attack - and began hammering blow after blow into the diminutive reptile.

It wasn't a sense of camaraderie, worry or concern for his friends that drove Azzen forward, no. It was a simple act of greed. He was quite content to just sit back and let the carnage unfurl in the next room until he realised what was happening. The spell, the light and now the smoke, fear that his belongings were in those barrels drove the bardic tiefling forward.

Quickly assessing the room he would rush over to the fire and move any other flammable objects away from it.
He wasn't concerned about getting too close, just minimising the damage.

Perception 5 1st time in the room

With all enemies in the room dead, Angus grabbed one of the light crossbows from and collected all 9 of the bolts that could be found on each corpse. "Imprisonin' folks is one thing." Angus growled to himself "But torturing innocent children? This place deserves to burn! An' so does every bitch and/or bastard who runs this place! Especially that knife eared sod in charge of the whole thing! When I find 'im, I'm gonna force 'im to watch as I tear that rope o' his to pieces! And them I'm gonna force 'im to eat it!" With that said, Angus charged onwards in search of further foes to destroy.

Sure enough, there was an ambush waiting for them. Orchid sighed miserably; maybe if Angus didn't announce their escape they might've had a chance to sneak up on their captors. Maybe if they didn't spend so much time interrogating Wyatt, they'd be better prepared. A lot of what-ifs and should haves. Orchid was quickly finding that she can't really rely on some of these people to actually cooperate with each other, so at best Orchid will just have to watch out for herself. She can't save stupid after all. "Najila, cut your fire spell! You're going to smoke us all out at this rate!" Orchid went over to try and help put out the flames, using her glaive to hack off burning parts and stomping out the flames afterwards. "If there was an ambush waiting for us, I guess subtly and stealth are out of the question. Not that it seems like such things were an option in the first place... The rest of you will need to hang back and let me and Angus take the lead."

Down below in the room right outside of the jail room. Orchid and Aron quickly tried to put out the fire that spread from the initial fires of the bonfire spell. Special thanks to Azzen's quick thinking of moving the nearby wooden containers away from the growing fire, thus preventing a bigger fire that they would have been more to contend with. But with those that he moved, they felt quite empty and a simple inspection of those moved, would reveal nothing or some hay within. The other containers appear to still be okay with the fire reduced and no longer spreading, along with the table of 4 pile of small bones, with one of the pile only being on a plate. Celeste looked around in the new room and had a slight cough with remainder of the smoke. After hearing Orchid, she tugged on Najila's robes and spoke up softly seeing as the situation appeared to relatively calm down once again. "Yeah, like what the orc said. With Ironbane in the front and with your spell Desert Rose, we can easily charge and knock down our way out." Saying with a bit of excitement in her once nervous voice.

Meanwhile ahead, Angus, would have walked up 20 feet of steps, and would find the hall making a sharp turn to the right and a open wood door on the left leading to a room. Just from looking out from the door to this well lit room, he could see a few large chests and crates nicely organized with parchments attached to them. Looking to the closet papers he could see, he could see the two beside the door simply listing out some foods and the other listing padded and leather light armors. For the lists attached to the large chests at the end of the 30 ft room, they were a bit too far to read unless stepping closer. But overall, this looked more of a proper storage room than the containers near the jail room below.

EDIT:
Added a bit more detail to the room that Angus found.

Azzen searches the room, corpses and studies the bones. He’ll let the others charge ahead, after all he still appears as a guard and might be able to take advantage of that later.

14 Investigation

Angus charged on ahead of the group, crossbow at the ready to shoot anyone the highlander deemed an enemy. He made his way up a 20 foot flight of stairs and stopped when he encountered a fork in the road. To his right lay the path to vengeance and freedom. But to his left was an open door, through which he could see a storage room. Although eager for revenge, Angus was also eager to reclaim his belongings. And of all the places he'd found so far, the storage room looked to be the most likely place to find his things. At the very least he'd probably find some good loot. With crossbow locked and loaded in case of unseen enemies, Angus entered the storage room.