"You can say that again," Todd said, looking as surprised as you are.  "Staget is going to be so angry at himself for this one," Todd said nervously.  Having a look around the warehouse, you notice a door behind the staircase to the north that leads to somewhere under the stairs, perhaps a cupboard of some kind.  Apart from that, there are boxes of sandals that were in fashion during the summer but quickly became less popular when the colder months drew close.  

When Briga looks around the room,  she finds another door on the North Wall behind the west of the Staircase.  

Noting the weapons littered around the dead bodies, Tyrus says, "I'm thinking we need this Staget of yours here and now—with reinforcements. If those four killed this many armed fighting men, then no one's safe until they're captured or killed."

[OOC: Tyrus still has his dust and needle in his hands, but his held action is still a Dodge.]

"Looks like there's Xanathar and Zhentarim here, looks like the place got raided," Todd said, looking at the various bodies.  Taking a closer look, you do notice that while five of them bear the mark of the Zhentarim, the other 7 all bear a symbol of a circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating out from it.

Tyrus quickly checks the bodies to see if there is anyone matching the description of Floon, as well as taking a look at the marks Todd mentioned. He then relaxes a little, though he is still keeping an eye out for the missing Kenku.

"So, have we stumbled into some sort of a war between two gangs of criminals?" he asks. "And are Xanathar and Zhentarim the names of the gangs or the leaders?"

Then he has a thought. "Wait," he says, "could there be some third party involved? Wouldn't the winners of this fight have taken their fallen away with them? Even if they didn't care about their dead men, they would be wanting to keep the information about how many and who they'd lost secret."

“Briga, Todd, y’all are from here. You know this symbol?”

Griff looks around the scattered weapons. Looking around for a new blade to carry.

If Arlon sees nothing else he will go inside and help. 

"I'm not very well versed in criminal underground gangs." he smiles in answer.

Briga moves to investigate the door she spotted, at the North Wall behind the west of the Staircase.  She will open the door and see what is inside.

Todd sighs "Those are the two gangs that are currently fighting each other.  Gods know why," Todd replied.

Looking into the secret room, you can hear the faint sound of a bell coming from upstairs.  

Inside the room, are two wooden crates. One of them contains four wood-framed paintings wrapped in leather. Each painting was of a different city.  One of Luskan, one of Neverwinter, one of Silverymoon and one of Baldur's Gate.  An art specialist may be able to tell you how much these are worth.  

The second crate contains fifteen silver trade bars, blackened from corrosion.  They still have worth however and are worth 50 gold each.

"Hey guys, there's some paintings and some silver bars here, probably stolen.  Guessing this was a Zhent place and they lost the skirmish, since they cleared out without taking all of their loot," Briga says. "Could be those kenku are just scavengers, they could be working for one side or the other, or just some opportunistic type thieves who saw - and heard, based on their mimicry - the whole thing go down, then came in to look for low hanging fruit type loot."  

Briga grimaces at the silver. "The silver is corroded but it's still worth something.  I'm no art critic, but the paintings are better than I could do, might have some value, too.  Sometimes there's a reward for returning stolen goods.  We'll see.  Saving Floon comes first."  

"Good find. Grab it on the way out, I heard some chatter upstairs..."

Did Griff find a sword or anything he could use in tandem with his shield? Just a simple longsword or something?

Next, Briga goes to the door behind the staircase to the north that leads to somewhere under the stairs, and opens it. 

"Sounds good, checking this out next."

Briga will describe what she sees in this room to the others, as she did the other room. 

There is a basic longsword, seven shortswords, and 10 daggers between the twelve bodies along the side of the wall.  

When you go to the door behind the stairs, the door hangs loosely on broken hinges. There's a strong smell of sour fish and vinegar that wafts out of the room as you continue opening the door. Filling the room are discarded ropes, canvas tarpaulins, and splintered wood from some smashed barrels. You can hear ragged breathing coming from under one of the tarpaulins at the north end of the room. 

Griff picks up the longsword. As he pushes the door with the tip of the blade and begins to enter, hearing the breathing he asks gently, "Floon?"

Briga makes eye contact with Griff, nodding, and says, "We hear you there.  We've been sent by Volo Voledetho...mordek...otti...vanderthorpe.  Volo.  To rescue, uh, you?  Come on out.  If you're with the Zhents, don't worry, they didn't find you.  If you're Floon, you're in luck, they didn't find you. Either way - good hiding."  

When you lift the tarpaulin up, a man who is well dressed is hiding. He speaks gracefully and with full articulation of his words, befitting a noble station.  The blond man is unarmed and takes a moment to catch his breath.  Though his words and clothing befits a noble, his face is marred by grime and you can smell the lingering stench of rancid pickled herring.  "They took him," he says, through his ragged breathing, which begins to improve now the tarpaulin is off and he doesn't need to hide anymore.  "My sincere apologies, thank you for finding me.  Alas, I am not the one you look for - though I know him.  And I feel partially responsible... you see, we do look quite similar," he says, as the breathing becomes less laboured. Todd's attitude literally changes and he stands at attention.  "We had no idea you were in the city, sir," Todd says to the man.  "If we would have known, Staget would have..." Todd begins.

"Staget would have what?" says a man's voice, entering into the main door of the warehouse.  

"Oh, Sargeant, you made it," Todd replies, while Staget looks at the bodies at the other end of the room.  "So what happened here?" Staget asks.  "Looks like a gang fight - got at least five Zhents, the other look like Xanathar thugs to me, plus well - these citizens said they heard about a missing person," 

Turning to the four of you, Staget looks at you and is about to say something, when he sees the man and instantly goes from looking like he's going to tell you off to respectful of the person you are with.  "Master Neverember, sir - what are you doing in a place like this?" 

"Not my father's work, if that's what you think, Sargeant" Neverember replies.  "These fine folk are the reason I'm here alive - and it took them to even get your guards to look at this place," Neverember complains.

"I knew it!" Staget says "I told the city it was a bad idea to pull the watch but it was this or the... never mind," he says, trailing off towards the end.  "Well, in that case, it looks like we have you to thank for rescuing the son of nobility.  Renear, how did you end up here?" Staget asks.  

"Simple, Floon and I were kidnapped by the Zhentarim and bought here from a tavern in the ward.  I got a little bit concerned that he had one too many to drink, so I offered to escort him back home.  With all the snow on the streets, a nasty fall in the Dock Ward, and you could end up in the harbour," Renear replies. "We got assaulted by five thugs," he continues, indicating the five Zhentarim guild members as he does so that is sitting up against the wall, "as we came upon Zastrow Street coming out of Fillet Lane.  While we were here, the Zhentarim were attacked by the Xanathar and they took Floon.  I think they were looking for me and took him by mistake. We do look quite similar."

"I'm glad we could rescue you... mist- Master Neverember. I'm sorry I'm not from around here, I am not familiar. As that may be -- we were tasked by finding Floon for Volo. And our night isn't over until we find him. Things look a little too brutal for us to waste any time. We could use some help though." His sight scans across the three men. Griff then puts his shield on his back and tucks the longsword into his belt. 

"My friend, Griff, is right on that.  You said the Xanathar people took Floon?  Do you have any idea where?"  Briga uses the man's first name, apparently guilelessly, as she adds, "I'm glad that you're safe, Renear, that's your name, right?  Anyway, I'm glad you're safe.  I don't know if Floon is in more or less danger.  If they mixed you guys up, either Floon will be safe since he's a valuable hostage, or someone will figure out the mix up, and then he's, like, really really not safe."

"Seems that the Xanathar gang might have a holdup somewhere here where they could stash Floon." he looks at the sergeant "Any idea where we should start?" 

Tyrus, who is still on full alert looking out for the four Kenku, is quite frankly amazed that Sergeant Staget appears to have arrived without any men.

He approaches the sergeant and says, "Excuse me, Sergeant Staget, but there's a strong chance that there are four armed bird monsters upstairs right now." He then indicates the man that Briga and Griffdar found and adds, "And, if this man really is that important, I suggest you get him out of here right now and come back with some men. Those four monsters must have some part in this massacre and should be dealt with before they do any more killing."

“At the very least they did this.”

he pulls his armor away a little to reveal his neck wound.