Rapid Recap
- Urstul Floxin sent N8 Unit and Ziraj the Hunterto Neverwinter to recover a stolen magic item — a black oblong pearl — from Dagult Neverember's headquarters, a mission quietly sanctioned by Open Lord Laeral Silverhand.
- The two traveled north on the High Road, with N8 covering 108 miles a day on foot and Ziraj burning spell slots to keep Phaethon competitive.
- Inside the Protectors Enclave, a Shield Guardian triggered a black tentacle trap; Ziraj fought the construct while N8 maintained invisibility under fire and used Mage Hand to crack the safe, retrieving the pearl and an unexpected shard of an unidentified larger item.
- The escape went badly — both were struck mid-air jumping from the second floor window. They were surrounded by guards until Ziraj scared them off by unleashing Dreadful Aspect and the pair dove off a bridge into the Neverwinter River.
- On the journey home, N8 and Ziraj agreed to keep the shard for themselves since it hadn't been part of the briefing; N8 tucked it into his wrist compartment among his spell components.
Full Version
Urstul Floxin tasked his two best stealth operatives — N8 Unit and Ziraj the Hunter— with traveling to Neverwinter to infiltrate Dagult Neverember's headquarters at the Protectors Enclave and recover a magic item stolen from Waterdeep: a large black oblong pearl. The mission was quietly sanctioned by Open Lord Laeral Silverhand, who couldn't risk the political fallout of sending her own agents.
The two slipped out of Waterdeep at night and headed north on the High Road. Ziraj rode his conjured black percheron stallion, Phaethon. N8 declined a mount entirely, set off on foot at a jog, and covered an estimated 108 miles per day. Ziraj pushed Phaethon hard through the night and made camp at sunrise, only to be woken mid-day by an acorn to the head as N8 came trucking up the road. Unwilling to be outpaced by a warforged on foot, Ziraj spent a spell slot to resummon Phaethon fresh and gave chase.
Inside the Protectors Enclave, the pair moved invisibly until a Shield Guardian in Neverember's office detected them and triggered a black tentacle trap that filled the room. Ziraj was grappled and took significant damage before breaking free. N8, somehow maintaining concentration on his invisibility spell while dodging sword blows, used Mage Hand to navigate the tentacles and crack the safe — retrieving the pearl and a mysterious shard of what appeared to be a larger item. Ziraj battered the construct with a thunderous glaive assault, buying time as the alarm wailed and guards closed in.
With no clean exit, the two jumped out the second floor window. The Shield Guardian hurled its sword after them mid-air, and both crashed hard onto the cobblestones below, surrounded by twenty guards. N8 failed his concentration check and Ziraj reappeared — but rather than run, Ziraj stood to his full height and unleashed Dreadful Aspect. Dark mists swirled, torches snuffed out, and in the final moment of light the guards glimpsed something that made their blood run cold. They fled.
N8 and Ziraj sprinted to the Sleeping Dragon Bridge and dove eighty feet into the warm waters of the Neverwinter River — N8 sinking straight to the bottom and walking south underwater, Ziraj swimming along the shoreline. They reunited on the far shore, laid low for a few days, then made the journey back to Waterdeep at night.
Examining their haul, the pearl was deeply unsettling — unnaturally smooth and glossy, radiating powerful magic neither could identify. The shard appeared to be a piece of a staff or rod, equally powerful and equally mysterious. Since it hadn't been mentioned in the mission briefing, N8 and Ziraj agreed to keep it for themselves. N8 tucked it into his wrist compartment among his spell components before heading to debrief Urstul.