Quote Originally Posted by Melamoto View Post
I disagree. Just because they don't have as many facilities doesn't mean they lack any real power.
What makes you think they have any facilities appropriate for keeping a prisoner? They are holed up where they can. It's quite possible that they need to move on a regular basis. Keeping a prisoner under those conditions, where it will impact on your mobility, would be an increased risk, and for what?

Caves are big places, and having 2 guards keep him safe for just long enough to verify his claims would hardly be a particularly high cost, considering how much use a spy would be to a resistance group.
Verify what, exactly? That he doesn't like goblins? That's hardly of much use to the resistance. And the likelihood of him having any information of any importance is vanishingly small. And the possibility of him turning coat to help them is also vanishingly small - he would have no reason to do so. While possibly he doesn't like goblins, it's unlikely he also hates hobgoblins. He may not like Redcloak for having jailed him, but that's not likely to be a reason to turn traitor.

And even if that wouldn't work, they have elves who could easily take the goblin away to another prison and be summoned back afterwards, if not out of mercy then at least for purposes of interrogation.
For which they'd have to escort him a long way out of town, again wasting resources on an escort. And increasing risk again also, since the most vulnerable time for a prisoner escape is during transportation. And again, the likelihood of him having any useful info worth the effort and risk is minimal.