55 to 65 minutes

Objectives

The part attempts to save Elara (though there are a large number of possible ways they could go about this). Objectives for this chapter include:

• Rescue Elara, alive.
• Ensure Elias isn't harmed in the rescue attempt.
• (optional) inflict pain or retribution upon Darius and his associates.

The Portly Porter's Trading Company Warehouse

Darius is at the Portly Porter's Trading Company Warehouse, awaiting Elias's arrival with the Leviathan's tear. He is aware that Elias is resourceful and wily, and so is suspicious of a direct or stealth attack, and therefore has placed henchmen about the warehouse to guard and protect himself. Refer to the map below for the warehouse layout.

The following map should be viewed only by the DM, it displays the Portly Porter's Trading Company warehouse (as above) but with the starting positions of Darius, Elara, Obliteron, Kira and two additional henchmen that Darius has enlisted to help him. Th location of skylights is also indicated by dotted squares. Darius and his crew will focus their attention mostly on the doors at the top of the warehouse on the map, however they will occasionally glance around at windows, they generally won't bother to look up at skylights, however.

Elias has been inside the warehouse on a few occasions, and can give a rough layout to the players to help with their planning (though obviously he won't know the location of Darius and his crew).

Enemy stat blocks

Stat blocks for Darius Thorne, Kira Molby, Elara De'costa and Elias De'costa can all be found as homebrew monsters on DnD beyond.

Darius Thorne (DnD Beyond Link)

For Darius, use the scout stat block, but instead of a longbow, he has 4 throwing daggers.

Obliteron

Obliteron uses the shield guardian stat block, without any modifications.

Kira Molby (DnD Beyond Link)

Darius's Henchman, Kira Molby, uses the pirate stat block, however she also wields a scimitar (+5 to hit, 5ft reach, 1d6 + 3 slashing damage)

Henchmen

The two additional henchmen enlisted by Darius use the bandit stat block, without any modifications.

Elara De'costa (DnD Beyond Link)

Elara De'costa uses the commoner stat block, except she has 7 hit points (instead of 4) and she has no weapons available to her.

Elias De'costa (DnD Beyond Link)

If he is present for the battle (he will insist on being included), Elias uses the spy stat block, without any modifications - he collects the shortsword and hand crossbow from his house before coming.

Responses to character strategies

Allow the players to attempt any strategy they like to rescue Elara. In general, Elias will think more favorably about strategies that involve less risk to Elara (though he cares less about risk to himself or the party). He is quite pragmatic however, and he recognizes that it will be impossible to save Elara without some degree of risk. It would be impossible to exactly describe Darius's response to every possible player strategy, but some likely ones (and a general indication of Darius' response) are given below:

Negotiating with Silas

Instead of attempting to rescue Elara directly, the party may seek an audience with Silas Thorne, and ask him to intervene on their behalf. Silas is likely at his main place of business (a back room in the Stonecutter's Solace tavern, not far from the docks). Getting access to Silas without a fight will likely require a good convincing story, and a suitable Persuasion or Deception check. Silas will listen to the story and ultimately agree that Darius shouldn't have done what he did, however he is unwilling to intervene on Elias's behalf, because doing so would undermine his son, which would in turn undermine himself and his family's authority - he does wish the party well in rescuing Elara but warns them not to harm Darius. If the party states or implies that if Silas doesn't act, then Darius may come to harm, then he will say something along the lines of "now why did you have go to and say that?", before calling in a number of his associates and henchmen to attack the party. There is no encounter planned for this eventuality, so you may need to come up with one on the fly. It should be a very challenging encounter, however, as Silas is much more competent than his son, and is much better protected.

Darius detects the party

If the party openly visits the warehouse with Elias, or if they are spotted / noticed, Darius will become incredibly nervous. If the players aren't actually hiding, Darius will tell Elias that he failed, and order Obliteron, Kira and the two other henchmen to kill the party. Holding a knife to Elara's throat, he will then "usher" her to the office in the bottom-right corner of the warehouse map, keeping her alive for the time being as 'insurance' in case the party wins the fight. If the characters are spotted while attempting to sneak into the warehouse, Darius will give a small alarmed shout, then order his henchmen and Obliteron to attack while he retreats to the office with Elara.

Decoy gem

The characters may correctly deduce that Darius hasn't seen the Leviathan's Tear, and as such may attempt to have Elias give him a fake. Darius is not a complete fool, however, and is not planning to hand Elara over without confirming the Leviathan's Tear is legitimate. He has - in his possession - a magical monocle which when placed over his left eye, can case identify three times per day. Darius will use this monocle to determine the Leviathan's Tear is legitimate. If the party has some means of fooling an identify spell, then the ruse is successful. If the party imbues the gem with some form of magical energy that is not an exact match for what Darius would be expecting, then have one of the players roll a Deception check (+5) for Elias. This will be a difficult roll, the DC for which will depend on how convincing the magical energy is likely to be. Use a DC range between 16 and 25, the less convincing the magical energy the higher the DC.

Stealth

The party may wish to sneak into the warehouse and take Darius and his team by surprise. The warehouse itself is very brightly lit, so access via stealth will be challenging. There are a number of entry-points to the warehouse that should be considered:

Front doors

The only entrances to the warehouse itself, one of these doors is slightly ajar (enough to allow a medium humanoid to walk through) while the other is closed and locked with a padlock which is outside of the warehouse. Darius and his team are watching these doors closely, so opening a closed door will alert them, and entering with anything short of invisibility will be impossible.

Windows

There are a number of windows scattered about the warehouse. These are at about chest level and are lightly frosted such that it is impossible to make out any detail when looking through in either direction. Two of the windows have small cracks in them which have created holes large enough to be peered through to gather information about what is inside the warehouse (DM can decide which two windows). The windows are locked (and can be unlocked using thieves tools (DC 12)). If within 30 feet of Darius or any of his henchmen (excluding Obliteron) the character must also pass a stealth check (DC 15) to avoid being heard. Depending on the window chosen (and the proximity of the enemies) the characters may be able to stealthily enter the warehouse to launch a sneak attack on the enemy. The stealth roll made when picking the locks on the windows can be used for that character to enter the warehouse itself, however any (and every) character who then enters the warehouse must succeed on another stealth check (DC 13) or be heard/spotted by a member of Darius' crew.

Skylights

There are a number of skylights on the roof of the warehouse (something Elias is aware of). The roof of the warehouse is 40 feet tall and climbing onto the roof without being heard may be quite difficult. Skill checks to access the roof unnoticed will be as follows:

• if characters elect to use 'Athletics' to climb onto the roof:
• climb DC = 13
• stealth DC (to avoid being heard while climbing, and once on the roof) = 18
• if characters elect to use 'Acrobatics' to climb onto the roof:
• climb DC = 15
• stealth DC (to avoid being heard while climbing, and once on the roof) = 15

If the characters fail their stealth checks, refer to "if Darius hears something outside" below.

The skylights are located in positions indicated by dotted squares on the DM's version of the map. These skylights are unlocked and can be climbed through. There are rafters in the ceilings which the players can access from the skylights, however there is a 40-foot drop to the floor from the lowest point of the rafters. The highest stacks of crates are 3-high, extending 10 feet off the floor (therefore there is still a 30-foot drop from the lowest points of the rafters to the top of the highest crates).

If players move about a lot in the rafters, consider making them make another stealth check (DC 15) to avoid being heard or spotted by Darius and his crew.

Ambush

If the party attempts to rapidly overwhelm the enemy with an ambush attack, then give them advantage on their initiative rolls for the encounter. Darius's crew will fight back, while Darius himself holds a knife to Elara's throat and ushers her towards the office (bottom-right of the map), hoping to barricade himself inside until the fighting is over, and keeping Elara alive as insurance.

If Darius hears something outside

If Darius hears the sound of someone sneaking about outside the warehouse, which may include climbing onto, or walking about on, the roof, he will send Kira outside to investigate. If she is attacked she will call out to Darius, warning him. If she doesn't return within 1 minute, Darius will grow suspicious and will move to the office space (in the bottom-right of the map), ordering Obliteron to move with him and guard the door to the space whilst ordering the other two henchmen to start a moving patrol inside the warehouse (moving together).

If Darius is cornered

You may reach a situation where Darius's henchmen and Obliteron have been defeated, and all that remains is Darius, who is holding Elara at knife-point. Darius doesn't believe he will be allowed to live, because of how "powerful" his father is. He'll tell the party to completely leave the warehouse and then once they have departed he will release Elara. This is a lie, however, and in truth his plan is to kill Elara, and then sneak out through one of the warehouse windows (you choose which). The party can discern this lie with a successful insight check (DC 13). If the party claims that they will let Darius live if he lets Elara go, then allow them to make a Persuasion or Deception check (persuasion if they are being truthful, deception if they are lying), DC 18. If they succeed on this check, Darius will release Elara and slump in the corner. If the party attacks him at that point, he will be genuinely shocked and will die cursing their names.

If Elias is present, he will ask Darius to promise that there will be no retribution against him, to which Darius will agree (and he will believe that this is the truth - though a few days later he will be so angered by the events of the night that he will change his mind and come after Elias and Elara, if they haven't left town).