Leaving the stockade (see ST10. Chaos at the Stockade), the party decided to head back to where the rowing boat was stored, and met up with Amos Black, who had stayed behind to hide it. Discussing their options, the party agreed to go to the caves to see if Reinhart was there. They headed north, over the bridge where they had fought the Boromar Clan prisoners, and climbed the hill towards the cave. There was a sail that was draped across the cave, taken from a Brelish ship; beyond that, they saw that the stalagmites had been carved into faces, though it was difficult to tell whether it was pain or pleasure on their face. El Graeve looked at the last one, and realised that it had been recently carved.
They stepped into the next chamber, and saw Reinhart, asleep in a bed. They were unable to wake him, however; he just thrashed around in the bed. The cave itself contained a sofa, some tables, and braziers; an attempt to make the squalid location seem somewhat luxurious. A voice purred at them from behind the sofa, and they saw a succubus stepping forward to them, with two Boromar Clan halflings accompanying her, though they were dressed in loinclothes rather than the usual suits worn by the mobsters. The succubus inquired about their reason for entering her abode, and invited them to join her harem of pleasure. When the party declined, Tregin pushed the issue and launched an attack. He shouted that he was going to launch a Fireball at the succubus, but the rest of the party failed to heed his warning, forcing him to switch to Magic Missile. Ying and Sacha Cresswell charged towards the succubus, while Amos Black and Kuven focused on the two Halfling, and Tregin and El Graeve attacked from afar.
The succubus tried and failed to Charm Ying and Sacha Cresswell, but she finally succeeded with Kuven, telepathically commanding him to kill his friends. Kuven immediately turned on Amos Black, who was distracted by the halfling next to him; spotting this, Tregin launched another Magic Missile, with one bolt hitting his friend and shrugging him out of the Charm. Sacha Cresswell smote the succubus for heavy damage, and then the succubus flew over to Tregin, first Charming him, and then draining most of his life essence with a passionate kiss. Despite being at short range, this give El Graeve the opportunity to shoot her with his crossbow, and eventually she succumbed to the onslaught. One of the halflings was already down, and the second soon followed.
With the succubus dead, Reinhart awoke. He was able to tell the party what he knew; that there was one of the three obsidian towers on the island called Tor Draneth. He was also able to reveal that the tower was invisible, and could only be seen in reflected moonlight. He had been captured there after the Dark Lanterns had also been there, as they had been trying to find a way in due to an aspect of the Draconic Prophecy that they had uncovered:
When the Pact of Iron open a doorway,
And allow lost travellers to return home,
The crownless Prince will reclaim some of that which has been mourned.
A storm-sealed servant of the mad will awaken,
And the storm’s strength will fail,
Should the three moonlit-keys each open obsidian.
The wave will reach the flowing dagger,
And the upheld sky will fall,
Crushing the Bear King and his heirs forever.
With this information at hand, the party decided to leave the island; they also took the opportunity to drop off both the kidnapped deckhand and Hale Vown Cannith,who both ran off into the jungle. There was much discussion as to whether they were doing the right thing or not, but none had a better solution for what to do with the Leviathan Key, and they wanted it to be placed somewhere where they would no longer be hunted for it by the Sons of the Leviathan. They set sail for Tor Draneth, a journey of about five days. On the last day, they were beset by a storm; lightning struck the main mast, causing the main sail to burst into flames. While the crew were busy cutting the sail away, Amos Black steered the ship into a large wave that was oncoming; unfortunately in the chaos, Tregin and Kuven were swept overboard, and had to be recovered. They continued on, and reached the island without further incident.
They landed on the island, and sat and waited for the moonlight to appear. Using Kuven's newly-polished shield, they were able to see the tower and the door in the side of it in the shield's reflection. The door was surrounded by glowing runes, and in the centre of the door was a smaller set of runes, set around a circular indent. El Graeve put the Leviathan Key in the slot, and the door smoothly opened. Inside the tower was a single large room, centred around a golden column that rose as far as the eyes could see. On the floor surrounding the column was a arcane blue circle. Ying went closer, and saw that the column had a circular indent similar to the one on the door. There was a brief conversation about the purpose the blue circle, and whether the party should wait inside or outside. They decided to hedge their bets, and wait in the edge of it so they could step either way as necessary. El Graeve used the Leviathan Key once more, and the blue circle began to rise.
Realising it was a lift, everyone stepped securely onto it. The lift rose for several minutes, and the party could hear the sound of machinery grinding away in the tower walls. Suddenly, a large construct lept from a hidden crevice and landed on the rising lift, immediately attacking the party. Parts of the lift also started to glow with arcane power, as it discharged lightning across the lift, causing the party to have to keep moving.
Ying and Kuven decided to immediately try and shove the construct of the side of the lift, but it swung down, grabbed onto the underside, and scuttled over to the other side, reappearing to attack from range. The construct proved to be capable of delivering brutal blows at both melee and range, and it held its own against the sextuplet for some time, knocking both Kuven and Tregin unconscious before El Graeve finished it off with a well-placed crossbow bolt.
Eventually, the lift reached the top, and the golden column had yet another circular indent in the top. For a third time, El Graeve used the Leviathan Key. A section of the wall fell away, and the party saw an arcane line of energy eminating from the tower fade away. A presence was felt in each of their minds; something beyond their comprehension was pleased with their actions, and offered a boon in recompense. El Graeve, Ying, Tregin and Kuven all rejected this, but Sacha Cresswell and Amos Black accepted. The Leviathan granted each of them a portion of its power, as it had offered to the Sons of the Leviathan. In addition, they were both transformed; Sacha Cresswell found that his hair had changed to look like tentacles, and Amos Black found that his arms had shifted to look like those of a crab.
With the Leviathan Key secure with the tower and the threat of the Sons of the Leviathan seemingly gone, the party returned to Second Chance. There both Maddox and Reinhart left to return to their old lives; the crew of The Demon's Mercy settled in for some downtime, while they decided what to do next.