Ben looks westward for a place to dispose of a Jabberwock. There's a murky bathing pool next door that might be deep enough to hide a massive body. And just beyond that is a yawning hole in the wall with nothing but open air and a long, long drop beyond it. But the corpse is huge and undoubtedly very heavy.

Meanwhile, Matilda returns to the ballroom, leaving a confused but relieved Mercion in the hallway behind her.

"HrrrrrAUGHT!" comes the urgent call from the east.

Pud flinches and covers his ears at the sound of the screech.

“Does anyone speak bird? That screeching sounds like it wants something. Let’s take it some food. Maybe we can earn its trust with some food.”

Having disposed of his boomershank, Pud digs out his small pocket knife and tries to cut off a hunk of flesh from one of the numerous deep gashes in the jabberwock. He’ll then take it over, wave it in front of owl to get their attention and then toss the meat into the cage. 

Ben:

”Normally, I could cast a spell to speak with animals, though I would need to rest first now,” replies Ben, having depleted all his spell slots.

Titaani shakes her head sheepishly at Matilda. "I don't know how to talk to it - I've only ever spoken to small animals, and to Tiny. I think it would be best to wait until Ben - I mean, Ben the slayer," she corrects herself, winking at Ben, "Has recovered enough to do it."

" Ok. Well lets just go say hi and feed it some dragon so it quiets down while Ben Drakesbane has a nap."

"Ooh, Drakesbane, that's a good one!" Titaani responds excitedly, following Matilda. "Names are very important in gnomish culture! We should give Ben a lot of them. How do you feel about Ben Drakesbane, the formidable former stonecutter turned Jabberwocky slayer?"

"Why not Jabberfang? He could take one of the fangs and make a necklace out of it as proof." Horatio offers with a grin on his face, a hint of tease towards Ben as he sees the other man shy from the attention. 

Ben:

The tips of his ears reddening once more, Ben says, "Alright, you've had your fun with me.  Let's get some Jabber-meat to the owl and unfreeze Ringlerun.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I am worn out.  Maybe we could rest a short while before we go to find the secret library and learn Zybilina's true name."

The party makes its way through the eastern marble corridor, turning north to the aviary.

Bloodybeak, the gargantuan owl, takes up most of the room. It struts and cries, clearly hostile toward the party. It eagerly gobbles down the chunk of Jabberwock that Pud throws through the bars.

The wall of iron bars stretches from floor to ceiling as a protective barrier around the chamber’s entrance, it seems, keeping visitors separated from the owl. The exterior wall across from the double door has a twenty-foot-wide, circular opening sealed with hinged, semicircular windows in wrought-iron frames. The marble floor is littered with the bones of giant rats.

The bars are a foot apart, leaving gaps wide enough for a Small character or a thin Medium character to squeeze through. The aviary’s great windows – big enough for the owl to enter and exit – are currently shut. 

Bloodybeak screams for more meat – whether from the Jabberwock or your party, it doesn't seem to discriminate.

A twisted grin crosses Horatio's face as he looks at Ben, Elkhorn and Strongheart. "Come, help me drag that Hill Giant over here, it's not far."

" Ben should rest.  But between the lot of us we should be able to feed him enough cow, dragon and giant to make him so full he won't even want to eat us.", Matilda quipped.

Matilda inspected the closed window and walls to see if there was some switch to open and close them without walking through the bars.......or even to open them quickly if she did walk through the bars.

Investigation- 13

Pud searches the ground for a tiny pebble or maybe even small piece of bone. He’s sure not to get too close to the cage.

”Hey, Riz. Can you try and make the owl get all excited so it screeches again. I wanna use some tinker magic to record the sound and imbue it on this tiny object.”

With that, Rizzo comes to life, flutters and chirps in hopes of riling up the owl.” 

If it screeches, he’ll use his magical tinkering to record the sound for future use. 

"What's that for, Pud?" Titaani asks curiously. 

There's plenty of fresh meat nearby, but any of it would require butchering to fit through the one-foot bars. Elkhorn and Strongheart join Horatio in trying to procure some.

Matilda concludes that she fits neatly through the bars, but would also likely become owl food if she tried to do so in order to open the massive windows, which are directly opposite them, some 40 feet away. (She is welcome to try an Animal Handling check, though.)

Getting the gargantuan owl to screech is easy enough, as it continues to do so regularly and emphatically. Pud captures the sound successfully.

"Ringelrun is skilled at magically opening things," ruminates Mercion. "Will that horn work on him? We should awaken him. He is our friend and a powerful ally."

Ben:

Taking the advice, Ben rests while the others deal with the owl and move on to unfreeze Ringlerun.

He suggests, “Maybe just lean the cow against the bars and let the owl pick away at it.”

Pud turns to Titaani.

“Huh? What? Oh, I used some of my magic to record the owl screech to this here tiny pebble. I can make it play back play back on command.

Ya never know, we might be able to use it as a distraction.

Plus, I like birds.”

"I prefer bunnies," Titaani responds to Pud with a giggle. "But that's a good idea."

Turning to Mercion, she says: "If you point out which one Ringlerun is to me, I can unfreeze him."

Matilda moves up to the bars of the 'cage' holding the giants thumb, " Now......if you promise not to eat me I will open that window for you. Deal?"

She holds out the digit with trepidation........

( Animal Handling- 24

Mercion nods to Titaani. "Loooong white beard. White and red robes. Big staff. I'll show you." She leads Titaani back out into the hallway. 

Meanwhile, the massive owl cocks its head and takes a step back, as if it has been trained on giant thumbs for years. Matilda slowly and gingerly slips through the bars and crosses the room as the owl watches intently, waiting for whatever cue it imagines might come next. But the huge, hinged, semicircular windows in the wrought-iron frames are sealed shut, Matilda finds. They will not budge.

Matilda looks deeply annoyed but walks calmly back through the bars again and addresses the others, " Um, does anyone know a way to open those.......I'm guessing we don't want to use the chime thing but theres no lock or handle or anything so I guess it needs magic to open."