Leaving the House of Pleasure (see ST02. Arrival at Second Chance), Amos Black separated from the group to organise the transportation of the silks from The Demon's Mercy to The Courtesan. The rest of them went to the residence next door, to see what the crowd was doing. They saw a drunken group of sailors out to enjoy a show, as they saw a woman trying to break into the manor-house. The woman triggered the trap on the front door, and was stabbed through the hand, with poison spreading from the wound, killing her within seconds. A man stepped forward, asking if there were any more volunteers.
Sacha Cresswell stepped forward and asked what this was about. The man introduced himself as Felix Ravenson, cartographer and scribe to Adira the Bloody. The manor in question was the home of the newly-deceased Roland Whitelock, a wizard that had also been in the employ of the pirate queen. Roland Whitelock had been killed by a cursed magical object that he had handled, and his unexpected demise had led to some concerns from Felix Ravenson of a threat to Second Chance. Roland Whitelock had been interested in demons, and in particular the recent activity in The Mournland (see SYE: Epilogue), where the defeat of a horde of demons had led to part of The Day of Mourning being reclaimed by Cyre. As part of this interest, he had created a summoning circle for demons within his home. Felix Ravenson was concerned that someone with the same interest but less magical ability could summon demons to the pirate town, but be unable to control them, to potential lethal effect. He therefore needed someone to break past the house's defences and dispel the circle.
Sacha Cresswell, Kuven and El Graeve agreed, on the proviso that they could try in the morning, after they had rested. Felix Ravenson agreed, and the crowd gradually dispersed as the entertainment was over. The trio headed back to The Bottomless Mermaid for a night of rest. Before they headed up to their rooms, Sacha Cresswell spoke to Jacinda and the other priests of the Church of the Silver Flame. She explained that she was looking to hire mercenaries to hunt down a Drow wartribe that had recently stolen the Mirrored Chalice from a nearby island, where it had been entombed for more than a century. A previous band of warriors from The Necrodome had been hired, but scrying suggested that they were now dead. Sacha Cresswell told Jacinda that they'd consider the job.
After a night's rest, the party returned to Casa Soleada. El Graeve wanted to know about the fate of the others that had tried to break into the building, so Felix Ravenson took them to a nearby warehouse, where a barber-surgeon was looking at the bodies. They confirmed that the woman they had seen the previous night had been killed by a needle or spike going through her hand; two other bodies were there, who appeared to have been killed from falling from the balcony.
Returning to Casa Soleada, the party first decided to have a look at the front door. Kuven used a javelin to trigger the trap; as best as they could tell, the needle was magically poisoned, and with no obvious way to disarm it they decided to try another entry point. After a few failed attempts, Kuven managed to lodge a javelin with a rope attached to the balcony above; Sacha Cresswell climbed up the rope, but upon reaching the balcony, activated a Rune of Fear that caused him to try to get away as quickly as possible, and so he tumbled back down to the ground. After this, the party decided to look for an alternative route.
They headed next door, and knocked on the door. A Drow woman answered it, and introduced herself as Talice. They paid her some gold if they could use her roof, to which she eagerly accepted, and led them up to her rooftop garden. Once again, a javelin with a rope attached was thrown; this time, it went through one of the windows in Casa Soleada, easily letting the party zip-line across to the first-floor roof on half of the manor, letting them access the four-story tower. Smashing the rest of the glass, the trio made their way inside. They found themselves in a library. A quick search of the books led them to discover that most of the books were about demons or history, though there was also a section dedicated to orcish smut. El Graeve investigated a chest, to see if there was anything in it; unfortunately for him, the chest turned out to be a mimic in disguise, and it latched onto his hand. A brief battle ensued; the mimic found itself overwhelmed, and tried to run and hide. But it was not successful.
The party continued to explore the room, and Sacha Cresswell found a secret door that was hidden behind one of the desks. He pulled it open, and led his friends down the stairs within, that wound down and down around the building. As they walked down, they discussed the possibility that the summoning circle was in a hidden basement. But instead the stairs led to an underground passage, that proceeded for about fifty feet before reaching a door. El Graeve inspected the door, suspecting a trap; but instead he heard violin music from the other side. They crashed through the door, but were quickly embarrassed to find themselves in the changing room of the next-door House of Pleasure, much to the surprise of the scared ladies within. They ran from the shrieking, back into the passage, and tried to block the door before they could be discovered. They headed back into the library, musing that this might have been an easier way to break in; and wondering whether the staff at the House of Pleasure were aware of this passage.
Heading up to the next floor, they found an alchemical laboratory and Roland Whitelock's bedroom. Sacha Cresswell found a cloak, though he was unable to identify it, and El Graeve pocketed an alchemical component pouch. They then headed up the stairs again, to find the summoning circle on the top floor. A trio of Quasits were within the circle, seemingly trapped. The demons asked to be released, and for flesh to be provided. Sacha Cresswell used the scroll that Felix Ravenson had given to them to dispel the circle, but before he could complete the ritual the three creatures vanished. The runes and arcane sigils vanished as the scroll was finished, but the party quickly realised that the three demons hadn't disappeared, they had just turned invisible. Fortunately, while their bites were sharp, the demons were not hardy creatures, and the element of surprise did not save them. With the job complete, Sacha Cresswell called down to Felix Ravenson and told him how to get in via the House of Pleasure; upon arriving, the cartographer was pleased with their work, and paid them the agreed 150 gold. He also said that he had more work for them, if they were interested; when their ship was repaired, he was looking for someone to investigate a House Cannith dig site at the nearby island of Tokomara.
With the work complete, the party decided to return to The Bottomless Mermaid and accept the job from Jacinda. She explained in more detail that the Drow warband were known to visit three spots further inland, so they could lay an ambush at an oasis, a ruined watchtower, or a large skeleton that the Drow used for religious purposes. Selecting the watchtower, the three rode out on borrowed horses. El Graeve hid himself in the watchtower's upper levels, while Sacha Cresswell dug himself a foxhole, and Kuven lurked inside the tower walls. This also gave Sacha Cresswell the time to attune to the cloak that he had found, which was a Cloak of the Manta Ray. They were there about a day before the Drow arrived; they sprung the trap, and attacked the band of four hunters. Two of them fell almost immediately, but the lead Drow cast Darkness and used the ensuing chaos to escape. El Graeve saw him emerge from one side, but his arrow met the reply of two devastating Eldritch Blasts, that nearly killed the elf. While Kuven held off the last Drow, Sacha Cresswell ran to save his friend from death. After the battle, they collected the Mirrored Chalice and returned it to Jacinda. She was pleased, and asked them if they were interested in further work, she was looking for an escort to Innsbrook to see what had happened to the tomb that the Mirrored Chalice had been stolen from.
The party had now gathered enough gold to pay for the repairs to The Demon's Mercy, but decided that they still had a week to fill before the work would be complete, so the extra money offered by Orlan Nezumi to hunt a crocodile in the sewers could be useful. They approached the barman and accepted his offer, so he led them to a trapdoor at the back of the inn, and showed them how to get down to the sewers. As soon as they had lowered themselves down the ladder, the trapdoor shut and was bolted, and the sound of a heavy object being dragged over it could be heard. El Graeve used Thaumaturgy to try and attract the attention of Orlan Nezumi, but there was no response, so they assumed that they had walked into a trap. But seeing no other choice, they headed onwards.
They soon came across a pile of bones, which an inspection by Kuven established had not been made by a crocodile, as the teeth-marks were too small. While idly speculating what could be down here, they carried on until they reached a crossroads of sewers. Here, they were attacked by three were-rats that emerged from holes in the walls, one of whom was dressed in the same clothes as Orlan Nezumi. Realising that they had been lured down here as food, the trio attacked the were-creatures. Kuven focused on pushing them into the flow beneath the platform that they were all stood on, while El Graeve used Guiding Bolt to help Sacha Cresswell Smite the were-rats. Soon all three were dead, and they reverted back to human form. But Kuven had spotted something in the water. A white and billowing shape, that seemed to be in the shape of a person.
Sacha Cresswell used his Cloak of the Manta Ray to breathe while he was in the flow, and realised that the shape was a woman, bound and gagged and lying at the bottom of the water. She turned to look at him, and he realised that she was not dead. He pulled the gag out of her mouth, and saw that she had the teeth of a vampire. He also saw that she was covered in burns. He surfaced and told his companions; Kuven speculated that the burns were from the constant running water that she was enduring. They followed the sewer until it reached the sea, and then headed back into town, while still debating what they would do with the vampire that they had found but left behind.
Sacha Cresswell decided to see what he could find out about vampires from those drinking at The Bottomless Mermaid. Eventually, he struck up a conversation with Marta. She appeared to not believe him that they had encountered a vampire in the sewers, but she divulged that there were rumours of vampiric pirates known as The Dreadsails that roamed Shargon's Teeth, but she didn't seem to be aware that any members of that crew had made it to Second Chance. Armed with this knowledge, Sacha Cresswell returned to his friends so that they could decide what to do; leave her there, report it to someone, or pull her out of the sewer themselves.