The Night Raider’s Hunt (Parts 1 & 2)

How quick and tireless they are!

The Night Raiders have taken to the hunt quickly this time, learning a great deal about the fiery explosion, what caused it, and why. They even have been able to reveres some of the damage caused, bringing the gnome back to life and securing a way to save their half elf friend Tally as well.

Their investigation brought them to House of Inspired Hands, a temple to Grond the Wondermaker. They learned of a construct there, Nim, who, though he has no soul of his own, has the initiative to create constructs modeled after himself. One he has made fled the temple and is believed to be the one who, now allied with the Gralhund's, dropped the fireball which destroyed part of Trollskull Alley and took 7 lives.

This other construct, apparently with no soul or specific personality built into it, has somehow come into the control of Lady Gralhund. The priestess Valetta agreed to raise the gnome Dalakar as well as Tally for a reduced fee and asked the Night Raiders if they would seek and destroy this construct.

But I wonder...what if there was something else that could be done with this soulless thing? What if another soul could somehow be interred into its body?

However, it must be found first, thankfully Nim has constructed a device that will aid in this endeavor.

Before the Raiders were able to use it, they took on a job for the Zentarim, paying a visit to my old companion, Skeemo. After surviving his normal abuse, they took a number of potions from him to a noblewoman who supports the Zents. The Raiders detected something off about the potions, an enchantment laid on the bottles, possibly misdirecting observers to what was inside. They delivered the bottles anyway as the consequences matter little if some random noble becomes mind controlled, or poisoned, or transformed by whatever magic is actually contained within those bottles.

Shortly after the delivery, the Raiders were ambushed by a Wight and a cadre of zombies in the streets of Waterdeep. The Wight called itself Famine and though it seemed confident in its ability to slay the Raiders, they made short work of it and the zombies it controlled. The more concerning part is how this attack is connected to the rest of the mystery the Night Raiders have found themselves at the center of. How and why this attack occurred is a matter of debate, but something tells me is vital to know if the companions are to survive the dangers of Waterdeep.

After Raising the gnome Dalakar, the Night Raiders gleaned a great deal more information about the attack in Trollskull Alley. They learned that Dalakar, an agent of Lord Dagult Neverember, made his way to Waterdeep to secure the Key of Golorr. He tracked it to the Xanathar and made his way into their lair in a dungeon deep below the city and stole it from them. The key itself provides the bearer a great deal of information, including the location of the vault and knowledge of the items needed to open that vault and of its guardians. Dalakar warned that the knowledge provided by the stone fades from memory if the stone is taken. He also informed the Raiders that he was coming to them as potential supporters of Lord Neverember, thinking that if they had saved his son, they may be willing to help him find the Lord's treasure and return it to him, for a suitable reward of course.

After gaining this lore and tracking the last surviving Zentarim attacker to Gralhund manor, the Raiders had to defuse a potential fight as Yagra showed up unannounced to deliver a map to the manor she had promised in return for their delivery of the potions. The Raiders, diplomats as well as warriors, managed to resolve the situation and gained Yagra's aid in their return to Gralhund manor as they received a winged snake with a message proclaiming there was trouble there.

Upon entering the manor, the raiders immediately found the corpses of several servants, guards, and a few Zentarim, before finding themselves in a fight against first the Zents and then the Lady Gralhund and her guards, realizing she must be a member of some sort of devilish cult. The Raiders killed Lady Gralhund and Urstul Floxin, one of the Zent generals under Manshoon. They kidnapped Lord Gralhund, hoping he could explain the location of the construct, the key, and the existence of the teleportation circle. Fleeing the manor before the watch could apprehend them, the Raiders returned to Trollskull Manor and using a clever ruse, donned a pair of gold masks and red robes found at the manor and questioned Lord Gralhund.

He revealed a great deal, including the fact that Lady Gralhund has been funding Zentarim enterprises for some time now, trying to use that connection to gain power within Waterdeep. Indeed, she was involved in the plot to kidnap Renaer Neverember which was foiled by the Night Raiders upon their arrival to the city. She was housing Urstul Floxin and partnering with him in the hunt for Dalakar so they could steal the Key of Golorr. But her impatience with his progress and fear of him double crossing her lead her to have her construct attempt the murder of both Dalakar and Urstul so that the Key could be stolen and brought to her.

Urstul survived the attempt and with the Key in hand, returned to Gralhund manor. When Lady Gralhund returned to the manor, a tense confrontation allowed her to wrest the Key from him and send it with her construct through the teleportation portal to elsewhere within the city.

The last bit of information Lord Gralhund provided was that he felt the Key was alive...some sort of sentient being that reached out to the minds nearby...

Tyaa took the Lord away from the manor and resumed his hunt for the construct while the rest of the companions were questioned by the City Watch, revealing some part of their connection to the events of the evening, limited as luck would have it by a nearby fire the watch and the companions helped extinguish.

But the night ended with one last surprise as a woman arrived at the manor, asking for the companion's help in finding her son, Krentz...