Niten D. 064 a.k.a. N64

Originally the human Cayde Sikeston, NITEN (Ned's Invention To Eradicate Nuisances) D. 064 was a warforged created to do battle against the Moloch's devil army in an ancient war. However, the war ended before he made it to the battlefield. Dormant for years, he was later reactivated and sought a new purpose. N64 was a logical-minded individual who showed little if any true emotion, largely from drawing his power from the plane of Mechanus. Despite that outward demeanor, he did appear to have some sort of purpose that kept him bound to the rest of the Venture Boys. N64 was ultimately killed by Captain Elgar in the group's final battle against the Argus Pirates. His corpse was stolen by fellow warforged N36, who intended to harvest pieces from N64's body to upgrade himself.
Table of Contents

History

Creation

The ancient war against the devils was long. At some point, they were fighting not for victory but just to survive; and there weren't many survivors. With total annihilation approaching closer with every loss, the country's greatest mind (Ned Torobik) came up with a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of battle. An experimental procedure to empower 100 soldiers with abilities that could tip the scales in their favor. Frontline soldier Cayde Sikeston was one of those who volunteered for the experiment. He had seen it all and somehow managed to come out alive but that wasn't enough. He wanted to do more than survive, he wanted to win. To avenge his fallen comrades and bring peace back to his homeland.
He didn't know any specifics, and he didn't care; this was his chance. The procedure was a success but the cost was great; Cadye was no more. Now he was Niten D. 064, one of 66 soldiers to survive the procedure. However, in the time it took for him to fully complete the procedure, the war had been lost and those few survivors had fled to the nearby archipelago. While most of the earlier Nitens aided in the fight against the devils, N64 and a few others were completed after the decisive battle. With the war at an end, there was no need for more weapons. Never to be used for his intended purpose, and deemed insufficient for any non-combat purpose, N64 was locked away.

Reactivation

Captain Reynolds purchased the inactive N64 in several pieces, believing him to be some sort of gnome construct, and tinkered with the mechanical man until he was working again. Not receiving any sort of orders he recognized, N64 rebooted into standby mode. When Captain Reynolds tried to make additional adjustments, N64 responded by shocking the Captain and informing everyone present he did not like to be touched. While he wasn't what the Captain expected, N64 quickly proved to be a beneficial addition to the crew when he helped fight off the attacking Argus Pirates.
He jumped ship with the rest of the crew (save Captain Reynolds) as it crashed onto a jungle island. As the party ventured towards the crash site, rescuing civilians and battling a different group of pirates, N64 assisted when needed but remained fairly quiet. If the mechanical man had any opinion when his traveling companions argued, he kept them to himself. When the group engaged the pirates at their hideout, N64 once again demonstrated that he was built for battle. His magic was the only tool in the party's arsenal that could match the range of a pirate sniper and he proved adept at attacking multiple targets simultaneously. After a few more minor scuffles, he accompanied his new friends to another island.

Lawful Man in a Chaotic World

When the party decided to look into the fishmen (kuo-toa) that had attacked Mirebol Village, N64 scouted their settlement along with a friendly kuo-toa leading the party. He fled when several kuo-toa heard his metal body scraping against rocks and informed his friends of the "potential hostiles". He assisted as the party fought and talked their way through the cave, ultimately accompanying Fast James "Jimmy" Deric and Althea Filanes to meet Gibbidubbus. The trio made a plan to present N64 as the deity's new high priest, which succeeded in removing the current bloodthirsty archpriest from power. This action allowed the group to broker peace between the kuo-toa and villagers before heading to a new island and their next adventure.
In Nassau Town, the group took a job to harvest magic crystals from inside a dead beached kraken. In the belly of the beast, they were attacked by Vypra and N64 displayed a capability for creative combat tactics by using levitation magic to avoid the stomach acid and shoot over his friends' heads. On their next job, an unexpected detour to the Feywild proved his magic did come with downsides as well. The chaotic creatures of the Feywild and the wild magic of the land itself viewed the lawful warforged as an enemy. This made him a primary target when the Venture Boys battled a monstrous wolf that N64 fled with his levitation magic. In the end, they were victorious and returned to town triumphant.
A week later, the group followed a map found by Althea hoping to discover treasure at the end of the trail. It led them to a bunker from the ancient war filled with nesting monsters and hostile furniture animated by magic. After a bit of exploring, they found the NITEN unit N28, who was inadvertently reactivated by Guu the Slime. N64 was surprised to meet another like himself and N28 filled her newfound brother in on their people's history in the old war. She also offered to complete Captain Reynolds ramshackle repairs, which N64 accepted. But first, he would join his friends in investigating the ruins N28 had originally come to the island looking for.
The group managed to talk their way past the kobolds living in the ruins and continued deeper to find an Abyssal Shard. N64 was among those cursed by its power and found most of his systems locked up. He briefly tried (and failed) to stop the fleeing Arachnor while his friends battled demons before finding holy water to remove their curses, allowing himself and Jimmy to join the battle. Returning to the ship, N28 asked for a report of what he found and began his repairs while listening. With her assistance, he soon found his wand sheath back in working order with a wand of web already inside.
Staying behind the help finish fixing up the Venture II, N64 joined his companions when they had to quickly marshal to battle an incoming Sea Devil frigate. He served primarily as a gunner, switching out his usual magic arsenal for roundshot as the group sunk the pirate vessel. Afterward, he used his magic to assist N28 with ship repairs.

New Allies & Enemies Alike

A short time later, the party sailed to Hopewell Harbor to deliver supplies to an orphanage. Learning about a murder investigation, N64 soon found himself helping the sheriff alongside Althea and Charles "Chuck" Ling. N64 used his magic to examine the crime scene from the sky and later to fly after a fleeing suspect. The running dwarf suspect, truly a doppelganger, slipped into a ruined storehouse and turned into a goblin. When N64 entered, the doppelganger claimed the dwarf had pushed him and fled. N64 thanked the goblin and tried to find the dwarf to no avail. After meeting back up with his friends, they followed another trail left by a suspect Althea chased.
The trail led to the local orphanage and the party met a sister who begged their help, saying she had noticed something strange happening to the children. The party agreed to return and meet her more discreetly the following night.
When they arrived, the party quickly discovered the sister being kidnapped by doppelgangers and a fight broke out. After killing two doppelgangers and taking the third alive, the group learned a hag had been abducting children through a gateway to the Feywild in the basement. It would soon close, leaving limited time to rescue the kids. The party made their way forward to the hag Nightwhisper's hovel where she sicced her monsters on the group before pulling Ürek Thëch Ösen and Chuck underground to deal with them herself. Using his fly spell, N64 provided aerial support during the fight, flinging fire magic at the monsters below. He also saw Nightwhisper escaping and tried to stop her, but despite his powerful spells the hag proved to have enough fight left in her to make a getaway.
After digging Chuck and the kids out of the underground chamber, the group summoned animals with their bags of rust to serve as mounts. They raced back through the gateway, making it through just as the portal closed. When Chuck chose to stay and pursue Nightwhisper to avenge Ürek's death, N64 explained the situation to Xaeyruudh, the captured doppelganger Chuck had freed from Nightwhisper's magical control. He offered Xaeyruudh a place on the Venture II's crew, which Xaeyruudh accepted as a form of repayment for saving him.
As the party headed back to the Venture II the next morning, a beam of light shot down from the Jeweled Eye on the docks in front of them. Mathayas had come with Arachnor and offered to purchase the ship's engine, which N64 immediately refused. Mathayas warned the party that this wouldn't be the last time they saw each other before beaming away.

Pirates, Lizards, & Ghosts

After heading back home and getting ready for their next job, the Venture II came under attack by the pirate Captain Xendros. Xendros and her men rammed the Venture II with their vessels and boarded, engaging the crew in mortal combat. Xendros was seeking to avenge her father's death and N64 found himself unable to use his usual firepower due to the damage it would cause to the Venture II. He relied instead on support magic that hampered their enemies while his companions engaged in more direct combat. After the battle, N28 questioned him about the ghost she saw dive below deck and N64 informed her Vinnie had been the one to summon it. She later returned and informed him she had successfully convinced Vinnie to renounce the ways of necromancy.
Shortly afterward, the ship continued its journey to the Hircona Isles and delivered a massive cask of dwarven brew to a festival. It was a fun event until an injured halfling stumbled in and people realized no one from his village was there. The party went to investigate, finding signs the villagers had been abducted to the neighboring isle. lizardfolk had taken the villagers as the main course for a festival of their own and N64 wasted no time using his air superiority and extensive firepower to destroy his enemies and help free the captives. He and his friends were hailed heroes as they returned with the surviving villagers.
Sailing back home to Allisyos, the Venture II entered a thick fog and nearly crashed into a massive ship blocking their way. Boarding to investigate, the party found it to be haunted by malicious spirits under the command of vampires. The close-quarters combat prevented N64 from utilizing his full firepower out of concern he would damage his allies, though his utility spells both hampered their enemies and provided much-needed healing for his friends at a key moment. After the prisoners (and treasure) had been rescued from the hold, the ship began to break apart as the dark magic sustaining it faded as the Venture II sailed home.

Secret of the Porvenir

After taking a little R&R in Allisyos, the party set out for the town of Fidanza for their next job. Xaeyruudh had heard a shipping company was looking for someone to recover one of their vessels captured by pirates. N64 helped resupply the ship while other crew members got the details of the job. The Venture II set sail the next morning, aiming to recover a merchant ship seized by pirates.
The voyage went smoothly until Captain Reynolds discovered they were working for the Sonavellas, enraged that the party had already agreed to a contract with people he described as "sharks in humanoid skin". He angrily locked himself in his cabin to avoid being seen by Lady Sonavella, much to the party's confusion. Despite the lack of detail, N64 and his comrades concluded there must be some sort of bad blood between Captain Reynolds and the Sonavella family. The Venture II eventually arrived at the isle of Fellcay. Since the previous mercenaries approach from sea failed, the party opted to cross the island from its opposite end and approach the ship, the Porvenir, by land.
Coming to the cove and boarding the Porvenir, N64 joined while Althea searching the ship for clues. They didn't find much before Bakris found them after he located the captain's journal, detailing how Lady Sonavella ordered the ship to this island on purpose and something in the hold started devouring the crew. While they were reading it, Vinnie showed up with the ghost of Captain Deze himself.
The ghostly captain was enraged when he learned the Venture Boys were working for Lady Sonavella and was prepared to kill them or be destroyed trying. Althea managed to persuade Deze back to calmness so that he could explain the situation to them instead. Deze informed them how his crew had unknowingly been carrying some monster on the ship that then became the ship before attacking and devouring him and his crew. He also spoke of a traitor onboard who was still alive and his thirst for vengeance against the man. He offered them a reward of gold and jewels for the traitor, who he believed was in the cargo hold.
As they descended deeper into the ship, a telepathic voice bade them come down into the hold to speak to it. It was there they met the heart of the ship, revealed to actually be a massive mimic. The mimic explained its history, how Lady Sonavella orchestrated its creation and put it on a ship to control what form it took and allow it to feed on the crew. It regretted killing the crew but had no more than animal intelligence when it did so. It was only by consuming the crew and their traits that it became self-aware enough to feel ashamed of its actions. They left the creature in peace after it promised to raise its children away from inhabited areas and teach them not to hunt humanoids.
On their way out, they did find and capture the traitor working for Lady Sonavella that Deze wanted dead. The party knocked him out and allowed Deze to strangle the man, despite Althea's failed attempt to convince the ghost otherwise. The ghostly captain paid them for their services before departing to the afterlife with his unfinished business concluded as the party resolved to confront Lady Sonavella, the real monster of this entire event.

The Sonavellas (and a Magic Swap Meet)

The group went back across the island and found their crew evacuated to the beach in distress. Something or someone had been killing crew in their sleep and they feared either plague or curse. Father Costa ruled out plague and N64 accompanied his friends to check out the ship. He searched with Vinnie and the pair didn't find anything, though Erica discovered evidence a stranger had been onboard. Vinnie deduced their culprit was likely a night hag and his theory proved true when she attacked again the following evening, driven off by Althea using a magic sword found aboard the Porvenir.
With the hag dealt with, for now, it was time to confront Lady Sonavella. N64 agreed that lying would likely be necessary during the confrontation and chose to remain silent during the talks due to his inability to lie. Vinnie led the conversation and it was going well until the rest of the group was asked direct questions. Althea, unlike N64, caved to the emotional pressure and confessed everything to Lady Sonavella, who promptly paid the party for the job and went on her way. The job completed, the party sailed for their next destination, a magic swap meet in the aarakocra homeland.
N64 found himself in charge of Gibby during the event, who quickly took off when he spotted a stall selling candy. N64 purchased some candy for Gibby while the two continued to explore the stalls, eventually handing Gibby off to Althea so he could sell some crystals to a spell components vendor. While waiting, he was surprised by a literal bear hug from his old friend Moose. Moose was ecstatic to see him again and explained he'd come to attend the auction the next day. N64 inquired if Moose could get him and his friends inside and Moose said he'd be happy to bring them along. Unknown to N64, the tiefling David had seen him walking around the event and taken note of N64.
N64 won two items at the auction the next day, a magical laser pointer and a docent dating back to the great war. David approached N64 as Falzar Sonavella's group was leaving the auction, offering to come to an arrangement with N64 to acquire it. N64 bluntly refused and David commented he understood as N64 was "just a kid", saying that his behavior is to be expected from a recently activated NITEN unit. N64 did not give any indication that David knowing what he was surprised him as their conversation gave Lord Sonavella a chance to recognize Captain Reynolds and reveal the Captain's past to the rest of the crew. Leaving the auction house, the group heard an alarm bell ringing and followed the city guards towards some kind of disturbance at the docks.
The group returned to the Venture II just as the local guards were driving Mathayas and Gyaos off it, the pair having attacked the ship looking for the spelljammer engine in the party's absence. Unable to take direct actions against the perpetrators at this exact time, the group decided to go look for a lost treasure ship belonging to the Sonavellas that Vinnie had overheard something about. It was only then that the group noticed Gibby sniffling and starting to look sick, having spilled a half-finished magic potion on himself earlier when Althea briefly left him unattended.

Sirens, Pirates, & a Sea Serpent

Gibby's sniffles soon turned into a full-blown cold. Each time he sneezed it created some kind of magical side effect for a member of the crew. Gibby's second to last sneeze turned N64 human, specifically into his pre-warforged self Cayde Sikeston. Cayde had no memory of his time as N64 and believed he was still in the middle of the war against the devils, panicking & asking who the other Venture Boys were and for a status update on the war. Before the rest of the party could try and sort out that situation, Gibby sneezed again and turned N64 back into his usual self.
He then decided to ask his docent for information on anything that could help Gibby. The docent provided him with a spell that would summon a being called Machina that could presumably help. N64 relayed this information to Vinnie who said the magic words, "Klaatu berata nikto," and summoned Machina, the sphinx. The group answered his riddles three and were rewarded with an Orb of Machina, which could fixing any broken or breaking magic item. This cured Gibby's illness instantly as the sphinx took his leave. With that situation handled, the Venture II continued onwards towards the Sorrow Shoals to find the missing treasure ship.
Their first stop was the town of Eishum, the closest settlement to the shoals, to see if they could pick up any information from the locals. Vinnie said there was one place in every town that was guaranteed to have information: the bar. The party found a tavern called the Sailor's Delight and N64 sat down while his companions looked over the menu. He noticed the barkeep seemed to fear Althea and that the fork he provided for her salad was made of iron. N64 surmised that the barkeep mistook her for a fey but did not voice his observation to the rest of the party.
When Althea approached a ship's crew getting the stink eye from other bar patrons, N64 and the others joined her to ask what that was all about. Captain Molly explained that her all-female crew were the only ones who could fish the rich waters near the Sorrow Shoals because they were the only crew completely immune to the songs of the sirens that lived there. The rest of the party came over and started to negotiate for Captain Molly to take them towards the Shoals, learning she saw the missing treasure ship enter the area fleeing pirates a few days beforehand. They eventually settled on a deal and set out the next morning on Captain Molly's ship, the Crystal Wave.
Captain Molly would go no further than a quarter mile from the Shoals and the party took rowboats in, N64 riding with Bakris. They were quickly attacked by a group of sirens, which fled after half their number were killed. Soon after, Vinnie's familiar found a siren nest nearby and saw a man in a cage among them. Althea insisted they save the man, despite arguments from Erica and Vinnie that they should leave him since he was either a pirate or one of Sonavella's men.
The Venture Boys snuck up on the sirens and the battle began, this group being led by a more powerful siren queen. N64 provided his usual long-range support and used his flight to stay within range of sirens that attempted to flee. Once the sirens were all dead, the now free man, Todgar, told them how he was a sailor on the missing treasure ship that was grabbed off the deck by a siren. His ship was still fleeing the pirates that had chased them into the Shoals, so they couldn't come back to help him. He was also able to provide the direction he last saw his ship sailing in, giving the party a general direction to head in.
They did come across the treasure ship, but it was half sunk. The pirate ship was also there, temporarily trapped in a small cove barricaded by rocks until the high tide finished coming in. The pirates yelled at the party, getting them to row over just as a sea serpent tried to snatch up one of their rowboats in its jaws. Pirate Captain Ward explained the sea serpent had sunk the ship and was staying underwater to avoid their cannons. He told the party that if they could lure the beast into firing range, they'd kill it together and split the treasure 50/50. Erica, planning to betray the pirates, agreed on the party's behalf. The sea serpent was a powerful draconic opponent, but in the end the party was victorious through a combination of their own efforts and support fire from the pirates.
When Vinnie tried to lie to the pirates to keep most of the treasure, Captain Ward saw through his deception. However, Ward had heard about how Althea had spared a member of the Sea Devils and gave Vinnie a chance to come clean rather than turn the situation to violence. Vinnie very reluctantly agreed since he was unsure they could win another fight after being banged up by the sea serpent. After the pirates left, Vinnie's familiar managed to locate the sea serpent's treasure horde and the party looted gold, jewels, and mithril onto their boats. The lair also contained several magic items on a shrine to @Bahamut, which Erica eagerly grabbed despite Althea's warnings that taking the items could potentially anger a deity. After heading back and giving Captain Molly her cut, N64 and co. boarded the Venture II to find Gibby once again ill.

Death Against the Argus Pirates

This time, Gibby's situation was his own fault. The party returned to find him surrounded by empty candy wrappers while rubbing his swollen tummy. Gibby asked N64 to pray for him but N64 was unsure if this would have any real effect towards alleviating Gibby. Seeking a cure for his tummy ache, Gibby asked if they could visit the nearby kuo-toa village where he was born to get them to pray for him. Decided some R&R sounded nice, the crew set sail for the island and just as it came into view, they saw beams of light, globs of Gunkers, and trails of smoke coming down from the Jeweled Eye as the Argus Pirates launched a full-scale attack on the island.
Once they got close enough, Gibby teleported all the officers to the beach on the outskirts of the burning village. People were fleeing & hiding as Gunkers swarmed the area looking for them. N64 remained on the beach and used long-range blasts of magic to destroy Gunkers at range before the party saw a running kuo-toa killed and Gibby became transparent a moment later. They realized why the Argus Pirates were here: to kill the kuo-toa and remove the source of Gibby's godly power. The fires from one building turned into an immolith demon and approached the group as Mathayas, murderer of the kuo-toa, started coming up the street firing spells at them. These foes proved no match for the Venture Boys and were dispatched with fairly minimal effort.
The group then split up; N64 and the other Venture Boys would cut straight through the forest to get to the main kuo-toa village while Gibby, Captain Reynolds, and Xaeyruudh would follow the road around the woods. Halfway to their destination, the group was ambushed by the revenge-seeking Vengeance Coven. N64 stuck to his usual strategy of keeping his distance during the fight, which was only partially successful when the hags took notice of his firepower and responded by shooting lightning at him. In the end the group was victorious against the hags with Vinnie killing two and the third fleeing. After taking a brief moment to bandage their wounds, the group pressed forward.
Standing at the tree line, they saw Gunkers entering the pond leading to the tunnel entrance of the kuo-toa village. Beyond that, on a hillside, was Captain Elgar using his disintegration ray to dig straight down into the village caves. The party split up and went around the pond to surround Captain Elgar and his minions on all sides before attacking. N64 hid behind a tree for cover, only for the tree to be quickly destroyed by Captain Elgar's disintegration ray. N64 kept his distance during the fight but unfortunately Captain Elgar could match his range. Additionally, Captain Elgar's magic hit much harder than N64's. Though N64 did release a powerful lance of psychic energy that momentarily incapacitated the beholder and played a key role in his destruction, it was not enough to save himself. Worn down by several blasts already, N64 was struck by a ray of necrotic energy that ended his life.
Before his surviving friends had the opportunity to recover his cadaver, it was teleported away by N36. Shortly thereafter, N36 contacted the surviving Venture Boys and stated he planned to harvest N64's parts to upgrade himself, as he had done to many other warforged before. N64's body could be seen laying behind him on a table as he made this declaration.

Circumstances of Death

Killed by Captain Elgar's enervation ray

Aligned Organization

The Venture Boys

Related Plots

• Campaign 03: Adventures Ahoy

Magic Items (stolen by N36 )
Clockwork Amulet
Docent
Ring of Presentation
Wand of Web
Wand Sheath
Winged Boots