Have you tried potions?
Don't want to give too much away, but there is a potion called something like 'speak with animals'
I do agree that the DnD on this is pretty sketchy as the wording of the potion would make you assume it would only act on 'animals' but _hint_ it works on the owlbear which is _not_ an animal and is actually a monster as previously mentioned.
Last edited by sorphus; 30/11/20 04:21 PM. Reason: more clarity