Alternative to using a mod is to trigger the Rite of Thorns deliberately so you can recruit Halsin immediately (he loses interest in Goblin leadership if Kagha has already sealed off the grove). You can then go to Moonrise and recruit Minthara there. This comes at the lives of the Tieflings, but I RPed it by having the evil Shovel familiar budge the idol as an "act of mischief" while the party wasn't at the grove. From my characters' perspective, one day they went to the grove and found it sealed off then told Halsin when they found him.
Alternative to using a mod is to trigger the Rite of Thorns deliberately so you can recruit Halsin immediately (he loses interest in Goblin leadership if Kagha has already sealed off the grove). You can then go to Moonrise and recruit Minthara there. This comes at the lives of the Tieflings, but I RPed it by having the evil Shovel familiar budge the idol as an "act of mischief" while the party wasn't at the grove. From my characters' perspective, one day they went to the grove and found it sealed off then told Halsin when they found him.