Lair Assault: Talon of Umberlee™ - Background

About a month ago, Dagult Neverember, the Lord of Neverwinter, learned of an artifact called the Talon of Umberlee, which has the power to protect his city against threats from the sea. Lord Neverember hired a reliable privateer, Captain Szart Tilhavar, and his ship, the Floatin9 Cask, to travel along the Sword Coast to Waterdeep with a sizable purse and acquire the artifact, which had found its way onto the black market.

After paying an outrageous sum for the artifact and plotting a return trip to Neverwinter, Szart and his crew were set upon by Tidescourge pirates. The Floating Cask went down with all hands, but not before Captain Tilhavar used a sending stone to inform Lord Neverember of the attack and his misfortune.

Lord Neverember knows that the merciless Tidescourge pirates use Port Llast (a ruined settlement north ofNeverwinter) as a base, but he doesn't have the ships to mount a serious offensive. Instead he plans to send one ship, the Neverwinter's Pride, with a strike team ofadventurers as its crew. The strike team's goal is simple: snatch the Talon of Umberlee from its captors and return it and the Neverwinter's Pride safely to Neverwinter. In exchange, they'll earn Neverember's gratitude plus a generous payoff.