Chapter 4 - Back at Elias's House

35 to 45 minutes (including time to plan for Chapter 5)

Objectives

The characters and Elias return to Elias's house to find it ransacked, Barnacles killed, and Elara taken hostage, with a note to Elias stating that he needs to come alone to the Portly Porter's Trading Company warehouse before dawn, with the Leviathan's Tear, or Elara will be killed.

The main objectives for this chapter are:

Establish hatred for the villain - Darius attacked Elias's house, killed his dog and kidnapped his daughter without any real provocation. The party should HATE him for this, and wish to see justice done upon him.
Set the stakes - Elara's life is at stake here, if a rescue attempt or other gambit fails, she may die.

Return

When the characters return to Elias's house, read or paraphrase the following:

The left-side of the double-doors at the entrance to the De'Costa household has been smashed off its hinges, and beyond you can see the household itself in a state of terrible disarray, with smashed furniture and items covering the floor.

The right-side door stands closed, and pinned into it is a plain dagger holding a hastily written note. Walking up to the note and reading it, you note it says:

If you want to see her again, come alone to the Portly Porter's Trading Company warehouse before dawn, and bring the Leviathan's Tear.

"Oh no," says Elias.

The time of the characters' return to Elias's house would be approximately 11 pm, though you can make it earlier or later depending on how long the previous chapters took and whether the characters did anything else particularly time consuming, or proceeded quickly through the vents.

Allow the players a little while to respond or investigate. Investigating the household will reveal that it has been ransacked, presumably in search for the Leviathan's tear. There was a struggle at the household, though it's effectively masked by the other vandalism and mess. As the players venture into the kitchen, have Elias join them, and read or paraphrase the following:

The kitchen has clearly been ransacked the same as the rest of the house, however with one notable exception. Lying motionless in the middle of the room in a pool of its own blood is the body of Barnacles, who has been killed by what appears to be as heavy blow to his head and a crushing of his torso. Elias runs over and kneels before the body of his dog, and weeping he says "Barney, no! Why did you fight them, you stupid cur."

Searching the rest of the household will reveal very little, though you may like to give small clues that elude to the events described below.

What happened?

Darius Thorne remained convinced that Elias has the Leviathan's Tear (either that, or he knows where it is). He set loose the fire elemental and bilge golems at the docks near to where he knew Elias's ship to be, in order to draw him away from his household long enough to search it for the tear. Once he knew Elias had left his house, he, Obliteron and some other henchmen broke in and captured Elara. Barnacles fought them, but was killed by Obliteron. Darius and the henchmen then ransacked the house searching for the Leviathan's Tear, but when they didn't find it, they instead decided to take Elara, and leave a note for Elias to bring it to them at the Portly Porter's Trading Company warehouse, convinced that Elias will give up the Leviathan's Tear to get his daughter back safely.

The Leviathan's Tear

If questioned about the Leviathan's Tear, Elias says the following:

I wasn't completely honest to Darius, or to you: I know exactly where the Leviathan's Tear is.

When she was young, Elara was struck with a terrible sickness which gave her a weak heart that was at risk of failing at any moment. We searched everywhere for a magic that could cure her, but we were told that none existed. It was - in the end - an artificer who was able to help, creating a device that could be implanted next to Elara's heart and would ensure that it continued to beat steadily, strongly and indefinitely. The only issue was that the device needed a source of considerable magical power to ensure it kept running for Elara's whole life. The only thing I had which would work, was the Leviathan's Tear, and so I handed it over without question. It was built into the device that was implanted in Elara's chest, next to her heart.

You may have noticed a very faint glow in her skin, well it's the Leviathan's Tear which causes it.

So, you see, I can't take the Leviathan's Tear to Darius, because he already has it, and I can't tell him where it is because I'm not certain he won't just cut it out of Elara there and then. I'm hoping against hope that he doesn't notice her glow and figure it out for himself.

Conclusion