If not for Hun's white scales, the kobold might've visibly blanched seeing the 8ft tall behemoths. Instead, he visibly trembles and clenches his jaw, torn between fear and hatred for all things avian. In the end, the former somewhat wins the fight, as Hun more pointedly slipped behind Yulmiath as the birds approached, yet peeked both a head and shield arm out in a vain attempt to look brave and protective of the dragonborn.

Still, ground had been held after a fashion, and at some point in whispered Draconic just loud enough for Yulmiath(as well as any party member close enough), Hun started to say the following: "The feather fiends approach. Ready yourself, Mr. Yully. When they get close enough, we'll-..." The rest dies in his throat as a choked gasp. "They..! What?! What the fudge?! ...  Wait a minute...." He squints suspiciously up at the birds, and made a show of slightly adjusting the lenses of his goggle through a nodule on the rim. Unfortunately, he didn't dare buffer himself further, leery of the creatures quite possibly taking too much interest or misinterpreting the hand as some kind of attack.

Bird Watcher Identification: 10.

(@All: The goggle adjustment was purely flavor, as they are mechanically limited to investigation checks)

If anything rings a bell, Hun is sure to pass along in Draconic out of continued wariness of the birds.

Taking in the approach of the birds, Yulmiath wonders exactly what it is with this place and things with feathers!  Preparing himself for another fight, his knuckles tighten on his hand axe.

Once it speaks, Yul tries to hide his obvious shock, but likely doesn't make a very good job of it.  Regaining his composure slightly, he relaxes his grip on his weapon and slides it back into his belt.

In common, Yulmiath responds: "Umm, we go there..."

Before turning to Karius to do the necessary translation.

And now talking birds! Not that he never saw one before - the boatswain had a parrot that could say quite a lot of swearing, but that birds look intelligent. Kairus gave them his best smile, though tried not to show teeth or look anyhow aggressive.

"Greetings, fair folk. I am Kairus, these are Yulmiath, Hun, Krodhen and Rhogal." (Kairus was not sure the birds cared but manners are manners) "We are but the travellers on this island and came to check the ships that crashed at the tipping point over there. We are searching for the man - a friend of one of us - who could be either on one of the ships or also visit the place. We mean no harm to anyone around." He said it first on Common and then repeated in Aquan hoping the phrases were not too complicated to understand.

Very surprised to be confronted by talking birds he mutters "This place is just full of surprises............" before falling silent as Kairus goes on to introduce the group and state their intentions.

He relaxes a bit, but looks to the other birds in the flock to see if they are giving away any aggressive intent (Perception check: 19)

"An' now they kin talk..." Rhogal says under his breath as he rubs his brow, his sense of disbelief slowly eroding.

(@Ori: I'll say that 10 just meets the DC for the nature check.)

(@MuggsHill: I think that's more of an insight check.)

Most party members end up murmuring to themselves in surprise as the crane-like birds talk to them intelligently. Sure, there is some difficulty in there given the lack of lips and a less muscly tongue relative to those of humanoids, but it is still intelligent speech. It reminds Kairus of parrots and other birds that engage in mimicry.

Yulmiath is the first to utter a response, brief as it may be. All five cranes seem to understand the dragonborn without the need for translation. They all look at the direction toward which the barbarian pointed. Kairus immediately follows up with a more formal introduction, and all five birds turn to pay attention to the bard. One of them, one who had not spoken until now, repeats after the triton, in Common: "No harm. No harm." Another adds: "Trade. We trade." A third one continues: "Information. We sell information." the fourth one jumps into the conversation: "Treasure. Treasure for information." Finally, the fifth one, who was the one who initially spoke and sounds somewhat more eloquent than the others, speaks again: "What would you like to know?"

@Krodhen:

@Hun:

@Rhogal:

There were three questions Kairus could ask right away. In fact, he did: "Have you seen humans around lately? Would you mind if we check ships over there? Is there any danger around those ships?" But he had to stop himself - the birds were expecting something in return for their help. "Treasure for information... What would you count as treasure?" Kairus still had a couple of rations with him but was not sure the birds would call it a treasure.

Yulmiath can't help but feel that his empty wallet is going to be of zero interest to these birds.  In considering their offer of information for treasure, he decides that he would prefer not to run up a debt he might not be able to pay...at present anyway. 

If Karius' questions are delivered in common, Yul's ears prick up at the mention of the third.  If these birds accept birdfeed as payment, he suspects he might be able to engage in a little trade.  If they are given in Aquan, Yul waits patiently for the gibberish to cease and for the translation service to begin.

(Since birds did not indicate preferences and seemed to understand Common, Kairus would continue in Common)

Hun squints at the flock of Eblis in clear lingering suspicion of them. Yet after side-eying the rest of the group, he cautiously steps out from behind Yulmiath to stand beside the Dragonborn, rubbing his chin. "Information you sell, is it, Eblis? In exchange for treasure? Hmm... Hm! Perhaps an arrangement can be made! Yes, yes! As Young Blue here-" He gestures over to Kairus. "Has suggested, we are search for one man in particular by the name of Volo." He then goes on to describe the writer using whatever details extrapolated from either eye witness accounts, or the rare book that might've contained an illustration of the man.

"No doubt he would've been interested in speaking with you all, as you are... even I grudgingly have to admit, magnificent creatures." He said, prior to trailing off grumblign under breath. "And if he hadn't spoken with you, if you had at least seen him somewhere, or humans within the past month, I would ask for this knowledge in trade. IN exchange, I will give you-...." He pulls out a gold piece, a rag, and what appeared to be a small pot of glue from out of his satchel. He also pulls out some vial filled with a greenish liquid that, after layering the glue on the coin, sizzled for a bit when poured onto coin, before both appear to be wiped clean by the rap, releasing a lemony scent in the air.

By the time Hun is down, not only had the gold piece had been polished to glistening perfection, but even glowed softly. "I call it the 'Lime Light Solution'. Just say the words 'Dadadoey', and the light will go away. Say Bababoey when you want the light back on. A Perfect night light, if you be in need of such. And-..." He glances up to Kairus. "Well! I'm sure Young Blue, er, Kairus here can give a glowing review, as I've made one for him once before. Take it away." He holds the coin to Kairus, entrusting him with sealing with sealing the deal.

After the pitch from kairus, Hun adds, "If you don't know anything about the human or the wreckage, but perhaps about the island itself. And perhaps I'd have a bit more 'treasure' for ya for anything you might wanna volunteer that even we might not have thought of, hm?"

(@Lerus: Up to you if the Magicial Trinket's light can be turned on and off. The description doesn't elude to it, but if possible, Hun would make sure it had that function as well.)

 "You did?" Kairus scratched his head trying to remember when did Hun create some "night light" for him. But realized it was not the time and place for discussions of someone's ...um... memory flaws and instead plucked the coin from kobold's hand, tossed it in the air, caught, flipped and finally presented to the birds in all its shining glory. He let Eblises get the good look and then waved his hand above the coin, dramatically exclaiming  "Dadadoey!" "In the darkness, this looks more effective but still, see the difference. Bababoey!" The coin caught the sunlight and shined like a tiny star on his blue palm.

"This is what is called "treasure" among people. But if nothing in our possession looks interesting to you... perhaps there is something we can retrieve for you from the place easier accessible to us than to your kind? Just name it!" It did sort of work for the mud creature, who knows, birds could be in need of something as well.

Rhogal is getting more intrigued by the concept of talking birds that know how to barter. He tries to recall if any of the tortles have talked about them before.

History: 20

(@Ori: Nice piece of flavor. I'm fine with a magical light toggle.)

While most of the party just watches attentively, Hun and Kairus respond vividly to the birds' proposal. The kobold goes into infomercial-mode while the triton thinks aloud about a few questions he could ask. The birds pipe up when they hear something they can respond to, though they are not ready to delve into details just yet. "Humans. Yes, humans," one says. "Many ships," adds another. "Many dangers," a third one continues. A fourth seems impressed by Hun's trick and Kairus presentation: "Shiny treasure!" It tries to say the magic words for the coin but a lack of lips hinders the pronunciation.

The fifth bird, the one that perhaps acts like the leader, lays down their terms: "Thirty more shiny golden coins. You pay for information now. Then we answer." 

@Rhogal:

"Thirty golden coins?!" Kairus gave a low long whistle of surprise. "Do we really look like someone who has that many coins? Or is there a place around where we can get them and you want us to retrieve it for you?" There was still hope the birds meant a hidden treasure and not a blind robbery of the strangers.

At the mention of such a steep fee, Yulmiath quickly decides that these birds are definitely his least favourite of all the others that they've met so far on this island.

Almost as if to answer the questions asked by Karius, he adds his own question, narrowing his eyes: "How do we know the information you're offering is even worth thirty golden coins?"

Suspecting this conversation to shortly lead to some kind of stand off, Yulmiath lets his hands drop to his belt, all the closer to his axes.

Doubting that the group has the means to pay the hefty sum, and seeing the posture of the birds, Krodhen readies himself for action (the Dodge action) should the birds become aggressive, but does not take any action that would seem aggressive himself.

The rumors of these things' greed gets Rhogal to almost immediately him not trusting him, "Their reputation precedes them... Not that that's a good thing."

He puts two hands on his quarterstaff, in anticipation of some ugliness.

 Hun's own look of surprise quickly turns into a look of anger and disgust. Yet try as he might, all he can do is sputter and look incredulously to the others while gesturing at the Eblis for a good while there. But eventually, he closes his eyes and takes a breath, only to open them glaring up at birds. "Young blue, and Mr. Yully both have raised good points. Thirdly! I didn't just make it shiny, I -enchanted- it with a powerful concoction and magic that I can't just do willy nilly. As Gond as my witness, that coin there is easily worth Fifty Gold pieces! You... you... Bah! You know what. Forget it! Let's go. We're burning daylight." He suggests/urges the others.

(@All: I like how most of us have turned up a noise at the trade. But, if we'd been more experience adventures just loaded with gold, there would be no way at least a couple of us be like 'ah fudge it. Here's ya coin. Now tell us what ya now)

(@Blue: Please give me a persuasion check with disadvantage.)

As the ringing of surprise and disgust washes over the party, the birds continue to tilt their heads as if analyzing the situation. Kairus tries to save the negotiation, suggesting the party can help the Eblis in a different way, perhaps by finding another source of treasure or retrieving a MacGuffin or some-such. The birds don't seem too keen on it, at least no initially.

One of the birds says: "Fifty. It oughta be fifty coins." Another adds: "Only thirty because they are so shiny." The next one agrees: "Magic coin discount!" The fourth one simply repeats a word it heard from Rhogal: "Reputation!"

The leader looks at Hun as the kobold signals his desire to leave: "We are not done talking."

Despite most of the group readying themselves from a fight, the crane-like creatures do not initiate it at this point. That said, they tower over each party member, looking down on them menacingly.

Yulmiath steps to the biggest of the big stupid birds and looks up into its big stupid beaky face.

"Actually, I think we are done talking. My friend was clear on that point. You want more coin than we're willing to pay. You've given us no information. There's no debt to fulfill  Now, I'll say again, we're done here and will be on our way. Got that?"

(OOC I strongly suspect an Intimidation check is going to be asked for, so... 6)

(Edit: Burning inspiration... 12)