"...mercenaries? We ain't seen no mercenaries—"

    "What are you talkin' about? They was here just yesterday—"

"Yer not meant to say it idjit—"

    "I ain't gonna fuck with squirrel girl, nearly broke me legs last time—"

Oh. Of course. Why would they tell them that.

… maybe if she also pretends to dislike them? Common enemies and whatnot?

“I’m asking because if you’re fucking them up, we want to see and help,” she says, flatly. “They pissed us off, too. They’re a bunch of dicks.”

    "Cowards, too, shoulda seen them squeak. Had some fun with them afore killin' them..."

"They's all dead. Well, not all 'em, three got out and we captured one and they 'ad a bear too, like."

    "But we ain't sayin' more, we're good Absolute-fearin' folk."

The… same people that consider those with tadpoles in their heads True Souls and who are meant to rule over all.

Well, there is an obvious way to spin this information.

“… yes. Us too. That’s why you’re alive,” she says, like she’s talking to children. Because that’s the only thing that makes sense, right? As the characters they’re playing. Though, she’s getting in too deep for her current level of deception skill, time to call for help from the expert.

“My lord?” she calls, to Astarion, going with ‘I am a cultist too, yep, and I am doing what my True Soul boss man says, like a good minion.’ “These ones don’t seem to have realized our allegiance. Is yours over there the same?”

"...aw shit? 'E's a True Soul?"

    "You's a True Soul?" squeaks the goblin Astarion had been interrogating on that roof.

"—of course I am," he says, adopting a very similar tone of voice as the one Ivy used.

That goblin squints at him and glows a bit...

...and he glows right back with a bite.

The goblin screams and then falls to her knees. "O-of course, so so sorry, I shoulda known..."

Having psychic torture powers is fun, actually.

"And the amount of information you were giving me even without knowing that I am a True Soul is most interesting."

“Oh, forgive me if I interrupted your questioning, I thought it would be obvious to them,” she demurs to her apparent boss, all regret at being a bad party member, she means cultist. Look, getting yelled at is still a bit fresh, it’s not hard to come up with the proper emotions.

"Well I believe I was in fact quite done with my questioning, and I'm not altogether pleased with how easily all of you surrender information to strangers. I suppose it would be too much to ask of mere goblins, that you keep any secrets for the Absolute. She will remember this, you know."

And on that menacing note he jumps down from the roof and walks over to join the rest of the party.

(...aaaaaa?)

Okay, so clearly what she should be doing is being a good pet druid that does what her True Soul says, so. She will lower her eyes respectfully and look like a good cultist. Or something. Whatever. Interrogation successful. She did in fact get information out of them! One mercenary is alive and if they have a bear that’s probably Halsin! Now to get the fuck out of here, which is not her area of expertise.

There aren't so many goblins at the village that they can't find somewhere quiet to debrief.

"Sorry about that, I got a bit distracted and who knew that acting threatening and dangerous at people was so much fun, I hadn't even mentioned anything about the Absolute..."

"Did you get any information?"

"—oh, that particular goblin wasn't here yesterday, she didn't know anything about the druid, but I seem to have heard something from your direction?"

“You mean my interrogation was more successful than yours?” says Ivy, a little delighted. “Yes. They have a survivor from the mercenaries and a very convenient pet bear. Who is almost certainly Halsin, pretending to be an ordinary animal so as to avoid attention. And probably plotting his own escape.”

"Marvellous! I did catch that they have quite a large contingent at the temple, and the Absolute gave them three shiny new leaders. Seems like their, ah, uncharacteristic levels of coordination come from them."

"...so we have to go to the temple? We knew that already."

"I also seem to have spotted a gnome tied to a windmill's blades from up there," he says, pointing northwest in the direction of said windmill. "Probably unrelated but they looked very perturbed."

…. Well now he has a very unhappy druid who wants to go save a guy!!! Look at her and her sad puppy eyes. So sad. So Good-aligned.

"We will support you if you wish to go on a gnome-rescuing mission," he informs Ivy. "Since you've been such a good girl today. The best minion a True Soul could hope for, really."

(...huh. Shadowheart approves.)

(Lae'zel disapproves.)