After a night’s rest, following King Codrus’ duel with Yeenoghu, the king and his entourage made their way to Black Roost, the largest settlement of Kenku in the Nentir Vale. It was the king’s hope the Kenku there could be rallied into the cause of Ruul against the Yuan-Ti. Upon arrival, they discovered the community facing a coup of its own—the leader of the Black Roost Kenku had died the night prior under mysterious circumstances. One of the Kenku, called Bleak, claimed to have proof of treachery in their leader’s death. Before Bleak could reveal his knowledge to the community, he was attacked by mysterious aberrations before everyone’s eyes. The king’s entourage helped defeat the aberrations, and then decided to track the one which had fled with Bleak all the way to its lair.
Before leaving the settlement to locate Bleak, they underwent some information gathering. During this process, they discovered that Tetsuoko—none other than the twin brother of their fallen comerade Jinsoku’s nemesis, Kenzukuo—was most poised to lead the Kenku of Black Roost in the prior elder’s wake. They also came to understand that Kenku were resistant to the idea of entering into any form of open conflict, preferring to skulk in the shadows and profit from its back-and-forth unseen. The king and his entourage began to face the truth that it would be highly unlikely they could drag the Kenku into the war without a truly willing leader.
It came as little surprise to the king and his entourage, upon tracking the aberration to its lair, to discover that Tetsuoko was behind the elder’s death. Arriving just moments before Tetsuoko could kill Bleak, they entered into a dialogue to get to the bottom of everything. Tetsuoko revealed he had grown weary of waiting for the elder to die, and had merely taken matters into his own hands. As they talked, Codrus’ came to realize that under Tetsuoko it was far more likely the Kenku could be made to take part in the war. Tetsuoko agreed to commit the Black Roost if the party would let him kill Bleak, silencing the truth of his treachery forever, so that his power over the community could remain secure.
A long debate among the party ensued, before the king made his decision: they turned a blind eye as Tetsuoko cut Bleak’s throat, silencing his one and only critic forever.