While Yuan was off handling some Zhentarim business, Enigma and Sigurd decided to pursue their own mission of creating a special, permanent set of Goggles of Night for Enigma's use in the field. However, in order to do so, they had to fulfill a mission for the House of Inspired Hands, under the directive of Valetta, who asked them to destroy a construct known as an Iron Cobra. She got a report it was potentially being moved into a warehouse in the Southern Ward and if it could be destroyed, she would provide the special lens needed to complete the goggles. With their mission in hand, and Ray also joining to assist, the three headed south to follow the lead provided by Valetta. They would make their way to the warehouse at night, and while the place look largely abandoned, there were signs of activity that Ray was able to pick up - muffled conversations and glints of light from what seemed like a patrolling guard. The team decided to sneak in, finding a bandit asleep at his post, luckily for the team. Covered by Enigma's shadows of his Pass Without Trace effect, he was able to effectively sneak up and terminate the poor sap without raising an alarm, but getting into the building without attracting attention was going to be difficult. After mulling over the plan, they ultimately decided to try and sneak in through that same back way, with Ray and Enigma using a combined Minor Illusion to make the guard look like he was still at his post. However, the jig would be up with another guard finding the seemingly asleep man and attempting to stir him awake, and the team had to take him out, which was spotted by yet another guard. The scene descended into chaos and crossbow bolts started flying, with Ray trying to beat them back with his Gust of Wind spell. It worked for a time, but he got a bit too overzealous and found himself caught in an ambush, though he got lucky and avoided taking too many hits. Sigurd and Enigma joined the fray, and helped to take out the rest of the guards, though one escaped to a back room, although Ray managed to put him to sleep. Another guard was put to sleep by Ray and knocked out by Sigurd, but soon enough the bandit boss, a woman dressed in a fine black martial arts gi with snake tattoos, confronted the team and took them head on, proving to be quite difficult to handle! She showed Enigma she was not to be trifled with, landing several solid hits on him and knocking his weapon out of his hands temporarily, but Ray managed to interrupt her with a Dissonant Whispers spell and Sigurd took advantage by shooting her with his pistol, which she was not able to deflect. Unfortunately for him, she returned the favor by clobbering him and his steel defender with several powerful strikes and nearly felling him in one fell swoop. Enigma was there to save the day, though, with a precision strike of his own and a final knock-out blow to finish the job. With that done, Enigma claimed the boss' gi for his own as a trophy (and it looked good, too) and the team checked the back room, finding the sleeping guard, who was attempting to open some kind of trick lock. After Sigurd got Io back online, he checked the room and found a blank sheet of paper that radiated some kind of magic. He deduced there was some kind of hidden message perhaps, masked by illusion, but was unable to identify how to read it or make it produce the words. Setting that aside, and after the team rested, they checked the trick lock on the trapdoor. When Enigma wasn't able to pick the lock, Sigurd was able to deduce how to unlock it in a matter of seconds, taking it apart easily with a bit of logic and reason. However, what sprang forth surprised them as a literal iron cobra popped out and attacked the party! With its jaws dripping poison, it lashed out but fortunately wasn't able to strike anyone, and the team, having prepared for this foe, was easily able to dispose of it with a volley of strikes, Io getting the finishing blow by biting into it and tossing it to the floor. Clearly, this was a warehouse operated by the Zhentarim, which might be of interest to Yuan. With the prize in hand, and the mystery of the blank note lingering, the team reported back to Valetta to claim their reward, and Sigurd and Enigma were able to finish their item, allowing Enigma to see with eyes glinting in darkness. What secrets does the note hold? How will the Zhentarim - both sides of the snake, at that - respond to this? And what lies in store next for the team? Find out next time, on Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!