1.2 - Cragmaw Cave

Alex, there are piles and crates of useful supplies. Most of them are marked with the image of a blue lion. Indeed, there are so many supplies that you will need a wagon to bring them with you. They are likely worth something. Probably 50 GP, even if "sold" to their rightful owners.

There is also an unlocked chest with copper and silver coins equivalent to 17 gold, two healing potions and a jade statue of a frog.

---

Nott, the Queen, slips back into view—shoulders hunched, steps light and erratic, as if she might bolt at any second.The makeshift bandage is wrapped crookedly around her face, already stained through, one eye squinting while the other darts rapidly between the party, the corpse of Klarg… and the wolf.

She freezes when she sees Klarg lying dead.

Then—slowly—a grin spreads beneath the cloth.

Wide.

Crooked.

Vindicated.

"Yes… yes! Good!" she hisses, a nervous, breathy laugh escaping her. "Stupid brute. Thought he was… pff—"

She raises the middle finger, then immediately glances at the body again, as if expecting it to rise.

It doesn’t.

That seems to reassure her.

She straightens—well, as much as she can—trying to gather what remains of her dignity. One hand presses against her bandage as she speaks, voice half-mutter, half-declaration.

"Nott is queen."

Her gaze snaps to Nelly, quick and intense.

"You want your people, yes-yes. Nott knows." She taps her temple rapidly. "Dwarf—important one—taken away. Sent to Cragmaw. To King Grol." Her lip curls slightly at the name. "Far from here."

She gestures back toward the west.

"But not all gone." A quick, eager nod. "Human still here. In barracks—west side. Yeemik has him. Yeemik and his crew." Her expression tightens briefly—resentment, maybe fear. "They think they’re clever. With Klarg gone…"

She trails off, then leans in slightly, lowering her voice.

"Nott can help." A twitchy smile. "Show you path. Help you deal with Yeemik. You get human, yes? Maybe more. Be my Champion, yes?"

Igrem is still not sure he trusts goblins, but given the situation he figures there is little alternative to what Nott offer if they want to avoid direct confrontation. His interest is triggered by the mention of a king, though. "King Grol, you say? Whose King is he, exactly? Is his kingdom nearby?" he asks, curious.

He is still petting the wolf while talking, wondering if the wolf will be tame enough to follow him.

"My thought would be to find this Yeemik fellow and take him to Phandalver, as we were tasked to go. We should sketch the designs on the goods as well. Perhaps the coster who funded that expedition will pay a finders fee for its location. I would not recommend taking on a castle of bugbears with just the three of us; we were lucky to take down one".

lets go
Nelly is carrying Krarg's mace, a quiet symbol of the warlord's defeat.

Igrem still has trusting issues, but could be convinced to trust Nott. "Maybe we could meet this Yeemik? What do you think?" he asks his companions, not quite decided himself.

---

Guided by Nott’s quick steps, the party moves west through the twisting caves. She pauses often—listening, sniffing, glancing back to make sure you follow her path, not your own—before finally raising a hand for silence.

"Careful," she whispers. "Yeemik’s place."

Ahead, the tunnel widens abruptly into a larger chamber. Again, the smell hits first—thick cooking smoke, rancid hides, damp fur, and too many goblins crammed into too little space.

The cave opens in two levels. A ten-foot-high rocky rise splits the room, with the lower northern section spreading out before you. To the south, a steep natural staircase climbs to an up.

Five goblins gathered around a small, smoky fire near the far wall. A dented pot hangs above it, something foul bubbling within. Bedrolls, bones, and piles of half-rotten hides are scattered everywhere, marking this as their den.

On the upper ledge to the south stands another figure.

Bigger.

Fatter.

A goblin with a heavy gut and a mean, self-satisfied posture—Yeemik, no doubt.

And beside him—

Two humans.

Bound. Bruised. But alive.

Redhawk eyes the big goblin holding him. He has been in stinking cave for what has to be at least a week. It is hard to tell time trapped down under the earth. He doesn't understand how dwarves do it. He misses the outdoors especially the woods. He thinks of his small village of Raven Tree that lies in the edge of the Neverwinter wood across from the Starmetal hills. He was part of a hunting party and got distracted by what looked like an albino boar. He had never heard of such a thing and was so intent on tracking it he got separated from his group and ambushed by these damned goblins. He has been working on his bindings for the past couple of days with a small piece of bone he found and it is slow going. Redhawk is a decent sized human of around 5'10" 175 lbs.

Alex does his best to blend into the shadows behind his party and Nott [Free Action: Hide]. "Once Yeemik's attention is on you folk, I will try and sneak in and free the captives," he whispers to Nelly and Igrem.

Igrem does not feel at ease with the situation. He tries as much as he can to keep his cool and not show his natural defiance against goblins by keeping his hands in the opposite's arm sleeves and his mouth shut. He looks at Nott expectantly, waiting for what she is going to say.

Alex slinks along the the outside wall as quietly as he can. Creeping up behind the three trussed humans, he puts his finger to his lips in the universal shushing symbol and whispers while my friends engage Yeemik, I will try and free you. He will starts with Sildar, given that Sildar is supposed to pay him, and will then proceed to the two strange humans.