Red-Eye

**Red-Eye** was a dwarven smuggler and the captain of *Wicked Gaze*. He was originally an independent criminal in Skullport until he was bought out by the Xanathar Guild and became one of Xanathar's lieutenants. In 1490 DR, he led a joint operation with Florina DuRaal a rogue Zhentarim Viper and captain of the *Flying Adder*. In this plot, both the Xanathar Guild and DuRaal's rogue cell sought to smuggle exotic goods and cultural artifacts out of Port Nyanzaru to be sold on the Black Market of Waterdeep. Additionally, Red-Eye was under orders to sneak intellect devourers into the heads of the merchant princes- starting with Jobal. He was stopped by agents of the harbormaster Zindar, with most of those agents being Harpers.

Red-Eye was an NPC in the completed adventure *All Eyes on Chult*, where he had the role of being the primary antagonist.

## Description

Red-Eye was a male shield dwarf with pale skin, greasy black hair, and distinct heterochromia. Though his left eye is a simple dark brown, his right is a blood-red, glowing whenever he causes harm to someone he can see within 30 feet of himself. This eye is surrounded by an unnerving tattoo of the Xanathar Guild's emblem: a circle with ten spokes radiating out from it. Red-Eye stands tall at 5 feet and 2 inches (1.5 meters) and weighs about 210 pounds (95 kilograms). He was most commonly seen wearing a chain shirt under a black leather overcoat.

## History

Born and raised in Undermountain, the dwarf who would become known as Red-Eye was seemingly destined for a life in crime. He quickly advanced from a street urchin in the upper layers of Undermountain to a thug in Skullport, valued as a minion due to his unsettling appearance and his cursed eye's abilities. After many long years of being a thug and enforcer, Red-Eye found his true calling as a smuggler- very rapidly becoming one of the best above and below the City of Splendors. It wasn't long before Red-Eye drew the attention of the Xanathar Guild, who saw the dwarf as a possible asset rather than a threat. Red-Eye was kidnapped and brought before Xanathar himself, and there he was made an offer he couldn't possibly refuse. He would be paid handsomely for his services as a smuggler, and if he proved his loyalty, he'd be able to consider himself one of the beholder's lieutenants. Red-Eye accepted, and was given the *Wicked Gaze* as well as a new crew of goblins, dwarves, and lizardfolk all loyal to the Guild.

In 1490 DR, after half a decade of service to the Guild, Red-Eye managed to turn a rogue cell of the Zhentarim in Waterdeep into possible allies by appealing to their leader Florina DuRaal's greed. Together, Red-Eye and DuRaal hoped to plunder Port Nyanzaru of exotic goods that their organizations could then sell for a fortune on the Sword Coast. Under orders from the Guild, Red-Eye also intended to use Intellect Devourers to control a majority of the Merchant Princes of Port Nyanzaru- though this plan went awry as soon as the ships sailed to Port Nyanzaru. Without the illithid Nihiloor to command them, two of the five devourers were unruly and hostile- resulting in the crew of the *Wicked Gaze* needing to put them down- especially after one of the devourers targeted Red-Eye himself. Now having control over just three of the brain stealers, Red-Eye turned one against the Captain of the Guard at the city docks, one against a member of the Grand Jobal's Honor Guard, and eventually one against the Merchant Prince Jobal.

The third attempt only came after a Harper party found evidence of his misdeeds under orders from Harbormaster Zindar, leading to his ship the *Wicked Gaze* being impounded. Together with the bulk of his crew, Red-Eye snuck into Jobal's villa, taking him hostage to both ensure his ship was released and to make the prince's replacement far easier. Zindar's agents eventually caught on to Red-Eye's intentions and came to the Merchant Prince's rescue, ultimately resulting Jobal's death and short-lived replacement. Even after Red-Eye was successful and managed to have his devourer steal Jobal's body, his plans were ruined when the Harpers put the devourer to sleep and seriously injured the dwarf. Although he attempted to flee, Red-Eye was slain after by an arrow from the Harper Therpora's bow.

His victory was short-lived, as the Harpers removed the devourer from Jobal's head safely, allowing the Prince to be resurrected. The remainder of his crew was then slain by Honor Guards and the sorcerer Zindar, putting an end to the operation to an end. Unbeknownst to most though, the last devourer escaped the situation with its life, having been in the body of an Honor Guard. Now disconnected from its guild ties, it slipped under the radar to become a problem for future adventurers in Port Nyanzaru...