A Mysterious Relic was stolen from right under the nose of a shadowy crime lord called The Overseer while he was presiding over a meeting from afar via the magic mirror staff of his key advisor N'arl. The relic had been stolen from Palace of Waterdeep during the recent transition of Government administrations. The dubious Zhentarim mercenary company, headed by Davil Starsong, had offered to trade him a massive diamond in exchange for the relic. The Overseer could only assume that the Zhents were behind the theft, having caught him distracted. Only a few people would have known about this meeting. The Agents of the Overseer and the Zhentarim are now at war after their longstanding truce erupted in violence.
Our new characters escaped a life of slavery (or worse) thanks to a Githyanki Sorcerer named Gyk'raal Wvrnili and a magic chicken named Poofy 52. The pair infiltrated what seemed to be a smuggling and slave trafficking base, attempting to secretly observe the clandestine meeting with the Zhentarim.
Poofy 52 disrupted the ensuing battle with a magically enhanced fart cloud. This gave her secret ally, a Zhent warforged unit named N8, an opportunity to snatch back the massive diamond that the Zhentarim had offered in the trade. The diamond itself was a great threat, something Gyk had been warned in a dream.
In the chaos, Gyk'raal ended up catching the diamond, but both he and the stone were promptly banished to another plane by a powerful enemy mage. Gyk disappeared with an explosion of wild magic which disrupted all enchantments in the vicinity, and revealed the mage to be a mindflayer in disguise.
The wild magic also awakened a dormant mining construct, which flew into a frenzy and tore through the battlefield, aiding the escape of the freed captives, Poofy, N8, and the injured Zhent leader Davil Starsong. The mining construct secured their getaway by sealing off the mouth of the tunnel with a cave-in.
Post session events: The group emerged from the tunnel at the base of a tall cliff, with the injured riding in the back of the sentient mining construct marked TMM05. They made their way south along a rocky beach until nearing the majestic seagates of Deepwater Harbor. An injured Davil grimaced and remarked, "Don't worry, I have some pull with the guards." Poofy rolled her eyes and flew up to a guard tower, and shortly thereafter, several oddly behaving guards arrived with Poofy in a boat and ferried the group to the docks. A few did seem to recognize Davil and didn't ask any questions.
Davil brought the rescued captives to a large tavern in Castle Ward called the The Yawning Portaland was greeted warmly by at least half a dozen patrons and staff. He quickly presented the group with the keys to four rooms to share among the eight, prepaid for two weeks. They all took a good hot bath, put on some spare clothes, and shared a quick meal before getting some much needed rest. Except TMM05… it didn't need rest, or food, or water… It waited outside in the rain patiently… with a creepy smile on its face.