60 to 70 minutes

Objectives

The party accompanies Elias to the docks, which are ablaze with a fire ignited by a Fire Elemental, and guarded by a Bilge Golem. The main objectives for this chapter are as follows:

• Working with Elias, the party saves Needle (along with the surrounding docks and civilians) from the fire and the resulting smoke powder detonation that would result if Needle were to burn.
• Have the party preoccupied with fighting the fire and saving Needle while Darius Thorne and his associates raid Elias's house, kidnap Elara and kill Barnacles (looking for the Leviathan's Tear).

Arriving at the Docks

When the players arrive at the docks, read or paraphrase the following:

A fire at the docks is not the most common of sights, so you perhaps were not completely certain of what would await you when you arrived, however the actual sight that greets you is one you clearly hadn't expected.

The docks to the West of Port Llast consist of two main piers. The left-most (and largest) is brightly lit by an inferno towards its rear. The flames leap about from the timber pier to wooden crates as though they have a life of their own.

"There, that's my cog," Elias shouts, pointing to a mid-sized ship half-way along the larger dock. "The flames haven't reached it yet, but we don't have a lot of time."

It's then that you notice a distinct lack of people working to fight the fire, and the cause is immediately apparent. At the base of the pier stands a huge monstrosity. Roughly humanoid in shape, it's body appears to be constructed of a fell mixture of driftwood, bilge water, seaweed and fish guts. It stands around 12 feet tall; its bulk taking up the full width of the pier and making it impossible to move past. A ship-hand, daring to be brave, attempts to dodge around the creature but it extends a massive arm, both striking and engulfing the man, then throwing him back roughly onto the pier. All remaining onlookers seem to have concluded that further attempts to access the docks and fight the fire would be fruitless, and they stand back watching in awe as the bright flames leap about the end of the pier.

"Everyone, get out of here," shouts Elias. "Needle is loaded with enough smokepowder to level these docks and take you with it."

While some onlookers appear to heed his advice, others ignore it entirely and continue to gaze at the spectacle, seemingly having concluded for themselves that the danger from the smokepowder is not as severe as Elias has claimed it to be.

Seeing that his words have had only limited effect, Elias turns to you, a look of desperation in his eyes, "we must get past that thing and move the ship, otherwise the damage will be catastrophic."

The creature barring access to the pier is a bilge golem (homebrew monster - see its stat block below, or on DnD Beyond at "link"). The flames leaping about the pier are actually not real flames either, but are in fact a fire elemental, a successful perception or investigation check (DC 15) will reveal this to any character to wants to look more closely at the fire. The fire elemental is currently content moving about the end of the pier, setting fire to as many wooden things as it can, however before long it will start to make its way towards Needle, and once the flames reach the cog, it will not take long for an ember to reach the lower cargo hold and the entire vessel to detonate in a terrible explosion.

The following is a map of the docks which can be used as a Virtual Tabletop image:

The following is the DM version of the map, it shows the location of the Fire Elemental, the Bilge Golem and Needle, in addition to identifying which parts of the docks are currently ablaze when the characters first arrive.

The characters may choose to go about protecting Needle a number of different ways; two examples include choosing to do battle with the Fire Elemental to reduce the damage it is causing to the docks, or ignoring the fire elemental and helping Elias to move Needle away from the docks before it catches fire. Elias will suggest the latter. In that situation, there will be a number of jobs for the characters, including:

• casting off (slip the moorings) - in this case Elias will suggest the characters simply cut the ropes. There are two ropes; one at the front and one at the back. The ropes have an AC of 12, 15 hit points, and resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage.
• slip the anchor - whereas usually the anchor would be hauled in, Elias tells the characters to knock out a pin that will release the chain and drop it to the bottom of the dock. This can be done with a successful DC 13 Athletics check (with advantage if the characters are using something heavy and blunt to aid them - i.e. a hammer or club of some kind). This athletics check takes an action to perform. A character who fails an athletics check may attempt it again the following round.
• fend off - using large long poles, the characters must push the boat away from the pier. This task will take three character-rounds (i.e. it will take one character three rounds, or three characters one round, two characters would take two round).
• man the sweeps - two characters can man oars to guide Needle away from the docks. This can only be done once the previous three tasks are completed.
• douse spot-fires - embers from the burning docks are floating onto the deck of Needle, at which point they may catch fire and burn. A fire takes one character one turn to put out, for every two turns it has been burning (round up). Putting out the fire takes only the character's action on the turns they are attending to it, their bonus action and movement are still available to them. Each turn, roll a number of d6s equal to the turn number (i.e. on the 5th turn, roll 5d6). On a roll of a 1 or a 2, a spot fire starts somewhere on the deck of Needle (multiple spot fires can start at the same time). A spot fire left unattended for 5 consecutive turns will reach the size where it is at risk of igniting the ship's cargo. Once Needle has pulled away from the dock, the number of d6s rolled remains consistent, and it reduces by 2 d6s for every turn that two characters use their actions to row the cog away from the docks.

An unwelcome passenger

Note that if you are running behind time in this adventure, you can bypass this encounter entirely and skip straight to the "Aftermath" section below.

As the characters deal with moving Needle away from the Port Llast docks (at which time all jobs should be completed except manning the sweeps and dousing spot fires), another Bilge Golem climbs up over the railing of the cog and onto the deck, attacking the party. Characters must now divide their efforts between fighting the Bilge Golem, dousing spot fires, or rowing Needle away from the docks to prevent further fires taking hold. The following is a map of Needle which can be used in a virtual tabletop. You, as the DM, can choose where the Bilge Golem climbs onto the deck of Needle.

Aftermath

After the characters defeat the Bilge Golem, read or paraphrase the following to the characters:

The Bilge Golem de-materializes into fetid water, driftwood and fish guts on the deck of Needle as you drift beyond the reach of embers from the burning piers.

The relief that washes over you is short-lived, however, as glancing over at Elias you see a look of sheer dread upon his face, his mouth agape as he stares back towards the shore. "We have to go back", he says softly, then shouting louder he says "we have to go back right now!".

Elias reveals that he had a permanent 'Alarm' spell cast upon the major entrances to his manor, which would alert him whenever the entrances were opened by someone other than himself or Elara, and the alarm on the front door just triggered. Someone is at his house.

The party should accompany Elias with all haste back to his home.

Unexpected outcomes

If the scene doesn't proceed according to plan, it may have been due to the following:

The party brought Elara to the docks...

If the party insisted on bringing Elara to the docks, Elias will have her wait on the banks nearby while they deal with the monsters and fire in the docks. While the party is furthest away from Elara, and most heavily engaged in activities or combat, Darius will arrive with Obliteron and steal her away. Upon arriving back at the docks, Elara will be nowhere to be found and asking around the characters will find a local who saw her being carried away by Obliteron, with Darius following closely behind. Arriving back at their home, they will find a note pinned to the door with a dagger (the same note that they find in the next chapter if things proceed according to plan). If this course of action is taken, then Darius doesn't actually break into and ransack Elias's home, so one positive side effect is that Barnacles will still be alive.