The crew of The Demon's Mercy spent a few weeks in Second Chance, allowing for repairs to the ship, resupplying, and downtime for the crew. Both Sacha Cresswell and Amos Black found that their changed appearance drew strange looks from anyone that they chose to speak to; people were not actively afraid of them, but did not choose to continue a conversation longer than necessary, and looked at the pair out of the corner of their eyes at all times.
In the meantime, they discussed what their next move was. Intrigued by rumours of vampire pirates, they decided to investigate. El Graeve in particular was interested in the ship, as it was said that it was constantly surrounded by fog; he thought that this would be valuable, and could easily sell for a high price. So the crew met at The Bottomless Mermaid for a drink, an invited Coreen with them, so she could tell them what she knew about her former comrades. Coreen was particularly gratified by El Graeve sneaking in a hip-flask of blood, which he had purchased from a willing street-urchin for a silver coin.
Coreen started by telling them where the The Dreadsails had come from, along with the key members that the crew would have to destroy if they wanted to take out the fearsome vampirates. The Dreadsails were former members of the Emerald Claw, who had fled south after the defeat of Lithri the Smiter in 1001YK, four years earlier. They were led by Harkness, a vampire who had been a member of the Emerald Claw for decades. As a reward for those that had stayed loyal, Harkness had turned any that came south with him. Coreen wasn't entirely certain what Harkness' goal in Shargon's Teeth was, but he was building a power-base for himself, and searching for ancient necrotic weaponry. He's even spent some time recently interested in the great storm that ravaged the archipelago to the north-east.
When he had come south, Harkness had captured the island of Hion'ator from the Drow. It is an island consisting of a single large red sandstone pillar, several miles wide, with a temple nestled in the northern side, with an accompanying village. As the temple was on the northern side, it was permanently shrouded in shadow, the perfect location for vampires to reside. When Harkness was out at sea on his ship, he left Hion'ator to the rule of his right-hand and seneschal, Maurag. A vampire even older than Harkness, Maurag was rumoured to be his sire. She was fanatically-loyal to her vampire son, and served him as ably as she could. Finally, Coreen mentioned Ulrika, who was the sorcerer that Harkness depended on at sea. When they set sail, she would cast a ritual version of Fog Cloud, that would shroud the vessel in a permanent fog, protecting the vampires on-board from sunlight. This required her to maintain concentration constantly without rest; so whenever they returned to port, Ulrika would gorge on blood before slumbering until the next voyage.
Coreen told the party that there were thirty to forty vampires overall in the crew, plus a number of slaves - both Drow survivors from when the island had been originally captured, along with pirates, merchants and other sailors that had been captured over the intervening years. Removing Harkness, Ulrika and Maurag would cripple the vampirates, and render them no longer a threat. She also said that she knew of a back way onto the island; the Drow temple had some catacombs beneath it, and there was a rear entrance that the vampires had not fully explored. The party also asked Coreen about potential weaknesses that vampires suffer from. She told them what she knew - sunlight, garlic, running water, holy water, and magical weapons. The party therefore spent some of their money on magical weapons; even if they didn't do any additional damage, the magic imbued in them would mean that the vampires could not resist the attacks.
The ship then departed Second Chance and headed to Hion'ator. It took them approximately nine days at sea due to rough weather; nothing that challenged the crew, but enough to slow their progress by several days. They arrived at the island and saw what Coreen had described. In the south-eastern corner, they saw one part of the island where the cliffs did not meet the sea directly; there was a small beach with several palm trees on it, in front of a deep crevice in the sandstone. Amos Black, Sacha Cresswell, El Graeve and Tregin set out in one of the ship's rowing boats, and pulled it up onto the beach. There they found a pair of canoes; each was notably a Drow design, and contained an Explorer's Pack, though the rations were rotted and mouldy. This led them to suspect that the canoes had been unattended for several years. They entered the crevice, and found a stone door, that had carvings showing a giant scorpion, with several smaller humanoid figures bowing to it. This seemed to be Vulkoor, the scorpion god that the Drow worship. Kuven picked the lock, and they were inside. Finding themselves in a small corridor with several doors, they picked the one on the right, but it led to a corridor that was completely collapsed under a pile of rubble.
They then chose the door on the left, and Sacha Cresswell led the party down a narrow corridor, sad at having to leave his spectral steed behind. The corridor smelt of decay and death. He triggered a trap twice, stepping on two different pressure-plates that each fired an arrow at him, but only the second hit. The rest of the party followed his directions to leap over them plates and avoid getting hit themselves. Around a corner, a doorway to the left led them to a large room. In it there was a table covered in tools - mostly long rods with curved hooks on the end, but also surgical knives and saws. There was also a pile of empty stone jars next to the table, each about the size of a forearm, with the lid carved into the shape of a scorpion. However the most noticeable thing in the room was the corpse of a Drow priest, surrounded by arcane sigils. Amos Black inspected the body, and realised that the priest had been dead for several years, and likely cut his own throat with one of the rods with a curved hook, which was still clutched in his dead hand. He also found an iron key and a wand on the body. El Graeve inspected the arcane sigils, and was able to work out that a Necromantic spell had been cast. Amos Black theorised that the tools were used for mummification, though they could not glean what the priest had been doing when he died.
The party moved on, and next found a library. Several rats ran through a hole in the wall as they entered, but other than that the room was quiet. The party spent some time searching the shelves, but most of the books were not in a language that any of them could read. However there were some that were written in the common tongue - “The True History of Vulkoor”, “Seven Rituals of the Scorpion God”, “Khorvarian Interpretations and Understandings of Vulkoor”, and “The Mockery and Vulkoor; Aspects of the Scorpion in Other Religions”. El Graeve also found a satchel that contained some magical scrolls - one Remove Curse, two False Life, and four Gentle Repose. Leaving the library, the party headed up some stairs to a larger room. This room contained several bodies lain neatly on tables, waiting preparation; however two of the tables were empty, and stood next to each of them was a Mummy. The two Mummies immediately charged at the party, and a battle started.
Sacha Cresswell and Kuven took to the front, but were both hit with a Mummy Rot curse, that sapped their ability to heal. While the party struggled to cope with this, a pair of giant skeletons leapt out of a pool of water in one corner of the room, and also swarmed over Kuven. Kuven struggled to cope with the onslaught and fell unconscious; he was unable to be healed, but El Graeve was able to at least stabilise him to prevent death. Sacha Cresswell proved to be incredibly resourseful, his greatsword doing heavy damage to the Mummies, while El Graeve and Amos Black attacked the two skeletons from afar. Finally, the battle finished, with Sacha Cresswell badly hurt but still able to stand. They decided to take a rest, and used the one scroll of Remove Curse that they had to help Kuven; Sacha Cresswell would have to carry on as he was, as best as he could.
They continued to explore the catacombs. First they found a small bedroom, which contained a set of priest's robes and Weaver's Tools. Next, they headed down a corridor with another trap; Kuven, newly healed, failed to notice that the centre of the corridor was worn with heavy footsteps, but the rest was not; he stepped where others had not, and found himself in a spiked pit. The rest of the party pulled him up, and proceeded onto a second bedroom. Here they found the body of a Drow priestess, with two holes in her neck that betrayed the fact that she had been killed by a vampire. They found several sets of priestesses robes in her room, that were similar to the robes that they had already found - but more revealing, and with a more flattering cut. Amos Black also found some magical beads in a hidden pocket in her robes, but was unable to discern what they were. Their path then led them to a chamber that split into several paths, each with alcoves in the walls where mummified corpses were lain to their eternal rest. Ruthlessly searching the bodies, they found a magical dagger, which Amos Black also took.
The path led them to a spiral staircase, but the stairs down were blocked by rubble, forcing them to find another way. A more ornate doorway than the previous doors was quickly found; this appeared to be the door that the iron key that they had found would be used on. However the party did not head through it immediately, preferring to continue searching the catacombs first. Sacha Cresswell stumbled across a Cleansing Stone in one room that was able to clean the dirt and grime from their clothes, and they also found another set of alcoves full of mummies. In this second set of alcoves, they found a ceiling-to-wall painting of a Drow belly-dancer, surrounded by adoring fans in the forest. Kuven tried to steal the painting, but Amos Black noticed that the dancer was raised slightly; touching her, the painting swung open, revealing a secret door back to the room where they had fought the Mummies and skeletons.
Satisfied that they had found everything that they could, the party proceeded back to the ornate door, and unlocked it with the iron key. The doorway led to an open room with a giant statue of Vulkoor on one side, and the floor was streaked with dry blood. Amos Black and Kuven entered carefully, with Amos Black spotting a pipe within the stone scorpion's mouth. However Kuven misinterpreted this as an arrow trap, so was surprised when he activated a poison gas trap when he touched the statue. Fortunately they were both able to shrug off the gas, and suffered nothing more than a nasty cough. The party headed through the room and up the stairs beyond, when they found themselves in a temple. This was clearly also dedicated to Vulkoor, though the fact that there were several lit torches demonstrated that it was currently being used, if presently vacant. Proceeding through the double-doors at the end, the party found themselves emerging outside, near to a stone amphitheatre where there was a crowd waiting. The crowd was composed of both Drow and sailors from other races. The Drow were dressed in silks, though they were all tattered and worn; suggesting that their elegant clothes had not been repaired or replaced in years. The sailors were wearing similar clothing to what would be seen in Second Chance, leading the party to be confident that they would be able to join the crowd without attracting much attention. El Graeve did briefly try to disguise himself as a Drow by covering his face in soot and dirt; however the attempt was deemed unsatisfactory, so he washed it off.
Entering the crowd, it was clear that everyone was waiting for something to happen, so the party simply stood to watch. A Drow slave was setting up an ornate chair and accompanying side-table at the centre of everyone's attention, and soon enough the crowd parted to see an elderly woman approach the seat. Although she looked incredibly old, the spring in her step seemed to be that of someone decades younger than her appearance, leading the party to quickly realise that this was Maurag. She took her seat, and two Drow were brought before her for her judgement. The first was Ferren; a loyal handmaiden to Maurag, it was announced that she would be turned into a vampire at midnight in the Vulkoor Temple, as thanks for her service. The second was Merrik; a labourer that was struggling with an injured foot, Maurag showed him no mercy as she lifted him off the ground with one hand, before biting his neck and draining him dry. Following this, Maurag spent some time talking to various members of the crowd, and occasionally consulting the paperwork on the table. Eventually, she returned to her quarters.
The party tried to galvanise the crowd to launch into open rebellion, but their words fell on deaf ears - the denizens of this place were broken slaves, not warriors. They no longer had any spirit to fight, they were simply trying to survive. Deciding to take the risky option of attacking Maurag, the party followed her to her chambers and launched a surprise attack. El Graeve cast Spirit Guardians in the centre of the room, causing damage to both Maurag and the two handmaidens that attended to her. Kuven charged in, only to find himself wounded by Maurag, as she bit into his neck and uses his blood to heal herself. Sacha Cresswell was more cautious, as the Mummy Rot meant that he was still vulnerable, but the warrior bravely stood his ground as Kuven was forced to pull back. Amos Black and El Graeve weaved in and hurt the handmaidens, but the battle was won by Sacha Cresswell, as he managed to dodge an attempt by the elderly vampire to drink his blood (an attempt that would have almost-certainly taken him out of the fight), and decapitated her with his greatsword. With their mistress defeated, the two handmaidens proved no match. The party searched her quarters, taking a large pile of gold, along with some interesting documents. In particular, there were treatise on the Draconic Prophecy, musings on Erandis Vol, and the lineages of various members of the nobility of Karrnath.
With one of their three targets defeated, the party decided to rest, while they planned their next move.