“You’ve tried everything. Look, he clearly won’t crack under pressure. Can I stab him now?  Maybe pull out some feathers from a sensitive place?”  Dewey asks as he rubs his paws together in anticipation. 

Sol frowns, feeling a little patronized by her party member. " It can wait...". She then gives Dewey a stern look. "Violence produces more falsehoods than truths, friend.". Sol kneels down at the Kenku's side. "Wake up now..." she says soothingly to the creature.

Sol Rhea's gentle voice awakens the Kenku. It looks around at the hostile faces of the party (especially Dewey's) and it starts to shake with fear.

If someone wants to attempt to interrogate it, ask it a question and make an Intimidation check.

Randy calmly says out loud, while screeching into the bird's mind, "Why did you attack us?"

Intimidation = 5

Randy: The Kenku opens its beak and the sound of a large lady laughing comes out. It does not seem to be intimidated.

Anyone else want to try?

Sol looks to the kenku sympathetically. " Now, they all want to kill you. They'll pluck out your feathers and throw you in the sea. Your corpse will sink down so far that your soul will never taste the freedom of the sky" she tells him earnestly, her brows furrowed with worry. "...But I won't let them, because we're going to be friends... Aren't we?" There was no mistaking the threat in her tone as she finished, though she smiled kindly. "Now, what were you doing here, dear friend?

10

Sol Rhea: The Kenku gets your message loud and clear. The Kenku can't answer your questions directly, due to their inability to speak, they can only mimic. Throughout your interrogation, it keep repeating the same three phrases;

1. In a deep voice with an orcish accent: "Xanathar sends its regards."
2. In a thin, nasally voice: "Tie up the pretty boy in the back room!" and "Follow the yellow signs in the sewers."
3. In a scratchy voice: "No time to loot the place. Just get him to the boss."

What do you want to do?

Randy says in his monotone, "I think we may need to enter the sewers. Before we do anything else though, we should finish searching this warehouse. I will check upstairs." With that he cautiously goes upstairs.

Dewey yanks out a long feather from the Kenku.  Its fibrous root drips a bead of crimson blood.   As the Kenku tries to shy away, he grasps its beak between two sharp claws.  

"My friends may have more questions."  His voice is a massaging purr filled with menace.  "But now, I've got your scent.  I will be able to find you from miles away.  If you answer the questions well, and they decide to let you live, you got an hour to leave town and never return.  Otherwise... well, you don't want to know what happens then."   

Dewey gently rakes a single claw against the length of the bird's beak.  Then he walks away to clean himself having grown bored.  He cares little for its answers.  

Randy walks towards the stairs up to the second floor, and Dewey finds a quiet spot and begins licking himself.

What do the rest of you do?

Kevin decides to search the warehouse.

Sol makes certain the Kenku is secure before going to search the closet.

 Randy: You walk up the stairs and see the following.

The second story is covered in more boxes, but to the north is a closed door.

 Dewey: lick lick lick

 Kevin: Make an Investigation check.

Randy starts rummaging through the boxes and chest to see what is being stored.

Dewey horfs up a hairball. 

Kevin's investigation roll: 11

Kevin: You take a good look around the ground floor of the warehouse. Based on what you've seen of the boxes, the bodies and the gear; plus what you learned from the Kenku, this is what you've pieced together:

This warehouse is a Zhentarim hideout, a sanctuary where The Black Network can practice its main business; recruiting, training, and equipping sellswords.

This safe house was raided by a rival criminal organization; Xanathar's Guild. They seemingly kidnapped someone from here and took them to the sewers. The Kenku must have been stragglers from this group, looking for loot.

Randy: You search through the crates and find all sorts of junk, including moth eaten bolts of cloth, bottles of spoiled olive oil, and hundreds of pairs of wooden-soled sandals that were all the rage last summer but are now out of fashion. None of this junk is valuable.