If she doesn't know about the existence of a way in, any physical way in must be hard to notice. There might be no physical access, but if it was meant to be entered only by teleportation that probably would have been mentioned in Yanor's uncovered notes. The access points could have sunk, though, and underground paths aren't easily detected.

"And what does live around here? I can see there's something you're warning off," she nods in the direction of the skulls, "but I didn't recognize what those skulls were from."

"The xulgaths and boggards. Right bastards the both of them. The skulls of their unwise decorate my bridge. They've bickered over the land around here for years."

"Xulgaths live in caves, if I remember correctly. Is there a cave system somewhere around here?"

"They've got a cave. There's a larger system but some sort of terrible beast lives there. The boggards have a surface village. The trogs and the bogs usually kill each other up top."

A larger system behind a terrible beast sounds like exactly where they need to go.

She nods sympathetically. "And run directly into your perfectly good island while doing so, of course. Some idiots can't be counted on to even attend to their own self-preservation. ...I'm afraid I'll lose track of things like this, though. Perhaps a quick map, so we can actually talk about places without getting all confused. Tomas?"

Tomas unrolls a scroll. "We think the entrance is somewhere around here..."

Maroux helps Tomas sketch out a map of the local area.

The soup takes a while to cook. It's finished in time for lunch.

She will trust in Yanor's cooking skill, or at least she will trust that if this was poisoned he would have noticed and mentioned along the Message connection. There's no real way around eating it, not without being incredibly rude. Soup!

The soup tastes alright. The ingredients are mostly nothing to speak home about. The seaweed is good. Yanor's a decent cook.

Better than she expected. Maroux does have good taste in seaweed, definitely worth the Burst of Radiance.

Over lunch, she keeps letting Maroux talk at her. Being alone for a long time might be how she is happiest, but what must be at least a year with minimal social contact means she has to be at least a little pent up with frustrations and gripes. Tencednil can listen and nod sympathetically as well as anyone she's met. It's all information, and all information is useful, especially going in as blind as they are.

What recent events does Maroux bring up? Possibly with a little prodding, if that seems like it would help.

"Not much in particular. The most notable recent event was a large battle between the trogs and bogs. It's marked on the map. I'd avoid it. The bodies are rotting."

She smiles, a little relieved. "Good to hear."

Eventually the soup, her conversational gambits, and Maroux's patience run dry.

"It was good to talk, but now I think we shall be off and bother you no more. And I believe I speak for everyone here when I say I hope this will be the last time we need to cross your doorstep? If for some reason we are required to return, I will ensure we bring with us some of the seaweed. Thank you for your aid!"

And out the door.

Out the door they go. The tide has lowered. The fog has burnt off by now. The Lady's Light is visible in its full half-ruined splendor. The cove is a beautiful sight.

"Right. There's three entrances to the caves. The first leads into the troglodyte dens. It's the closest from here. The second is supposedly unclaimed but according to Maroux nothing that enters ever returns. It's a little further away. The third contains a boggard shrine of some sort. It's on the other side of the cove."

"Leaving foes behind us unopposed is a risk. Of course, so is provoking unnecessary fights. From her description, the two groups must be sufficiently evenly matched to have no clear victor to their clashes. Does anyone feel a strong preference for which to strike at first? We may or may not finish the job. Or does anyone believe diplomacy is practical with one of the two? I know the cultures only poorly."

"I'd rather not go for the boggard shrine, if only because it's far away. Lugging all this stuff around will tire even me out eventually."

"Boggards and troglodytes are both usually chaotic evil. I'd expect diplomacy to go poorly with either but we don't know what these specific tribes need or want."

"We could send Lhín ahead to scout the 'unclaimed' cave? I commune with my spirit animal to prepare my spells so risking him could go very poorly. If it's something we can't handle we could probably just leave. Unless the mystery monster is fast."

"Lhín cannot go very far from me, and cave exploration will likely require quite some distance. She can scout ahead, but only to a quite limited extent. A well-planned ambush or an angered and rapid beast will quickly travel from her to us. The troglodytes, then? A location at least temporarily secure would be convenient, to leave some gear behind if nothing else. If you believe diplomacy unlikely to succeed, perhaps we should strike first from stealth and attempt to bring them down group by group, though to not at least attempt negotiations does sit ill with me. ...well, we have no true way to trust any accord we reach, and retreating from the defenses inside the Lady's Light may yet leave us weakened and easy prey for hungrily waiting troglodytes. Strike first it is."

"Ah. Then the troglodyte caves seem like our best option."

They leave Maroux's isle and follow the coast south. Fish and other aquatic creatures are visible in the cove. Soon enough, their route takes them inland. It takes a couple thousand feet of trekking through light marshland to reach the cave entrance.

If they're going to be murdering their way through an entire tribe of xulgaths (troglodytes? Is there a difference?), her Invisibility won't last long enough to matter. All she can do is set up her cantrips. She makes an effort to stay quiet, at least. Hopefully they can avoid having an alarm raised immediately, and pick off a few at a time.

Everyone else is also trying to be stealthy. They reach their destination.

A wide cave entrance opens in the side of a rocky hillside here. The cave’s exterior shows clear signs of habitation, with much foot traffic in and out of the entrance, which has been barricaded crudely with mounds of brush and branches. The interior is dark, and a deeply unpleasant odor issues forth like the exhalation of some carrion-fed beast.

She does still have Message active, so she can whisper to the others. "If I can get around the barricade I can try a Color Spray or throw a Burst, but they might be too spread out. They must have at least some guards if they're blocking themselves in like that."