Steal Cockatrice Food quest

Someone keeps cockatrices in her apartment and has everlasting provisions to feed them. Can the PCs steal the everlasting provisions for the starving people in the city?

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The PCs are walking through the city when a voice from a dark
alley whispers to them.
The whispering person wears rags for clothes and looks famished.
There are other like her sitting and sleeping in the alley.

She talks to the PCs
"I know a person near the market that owns 4 everlasting provisions,
but will probably only sell them at an insane profit marge.
We heard rumors of her selling them.

We can rob her ourselves, but many of use are tied up or too weak so we need all the help we can get.

She stays up late at work, so you'll find her apartment without anyone home and in complete darkness.
As for security, I've heard she has a pet, probably some kind of dog."

While pointing at the people behind her, she also asks
"Do you have everlasting provisions or decanters of endless water?
That would help these poor people immensely."

Apartment

The owner of the everlasting provisions is named Thava, a female Dragonborn.
She sells items to nobles and city officials, although her official job is as a clerk in the town hall.
She lives alone in an apartment in the second floor.

It takes Thievery and Stealth to get into her apartment.

On the table are several books (Perception to notice):
"Medusas in their natural environment"
"Petrification"
"Diary"
The apartment is complete dark, so reading them requires a light source or dark vision.

The diary tells of Thava's fiancee, some kind of accident that happened to him
and her despair in trying to help him.
There are notes in the diary of several bids for everlasting provisions.

There is one locked door behind small creatures can be heard moving around (Perception).

Cockatrice room

After they open the door the PCs see the following:

• 2 strange chicken-like animals wearing name tags (Chloe and Lewis) on a stack of hay.
• 2 metal snakes
• a statue of a male Dragonborn
• There is fresh fruit in 2 small cups, fruit that isn't native to this region.

The everlasting provisions are hidden under the hay in her apartment.
It is guarded by an 2 Iron Cobra and 2 Cockatrices. They wear name tags
-- Chloe and Lewis -- and their feathers are well taken care of.
There is some food to eat for them.

There are 3 Cockatrice hatchlings in the room but they are quiet during a fight.

Encounter (level 5):

• 2 x Cockatrices (see monster manual 2)
• 2 x Iron Cobra (see monster manual under Homunculus)
 

 

Aftermath

There is a statue of a male Dragonborn in the room. He was transformed
long ago by accident (Nature). He wears heavy armor and is quite hard to carry.
The petrification hasn't been reversed yet as Thava would lose her
favorite (but hostile to anyone else) pets.
To reverse to petrification are 2 known ways:

• petrified less than 24 hours: feathers of Cockatrice and Heal check.
• petrified more than 24 hours: blood of a recently killed medusa or Remove Affliction ritual

If any cockatrices survive, what will the PCs do with them?
If only the cockatrice hatchlings survive, what then?
Will the PCs contact Thava or cure her fiancee?
There are 4 everlasting provisions, but only one is needed to feed the cockatrices.
Thava's diary spoke of selling the other 3.