Elder Evils

CHAPTER 5
THE LEVIATHAN
66
Most scholars consider the Leviathan to be little more than
an entertaining myth.
Timeline
Unfortunately for your characters and for the world, enemies
of civilization are conspiring to use the Leviathan for their
own fell purposes. Following is a suggested outline of a
campaign involving the Leviathan and those who seek to
awaken it.
EL 5: A coastal region that includes a major port city is
experiencing earth tremors and wild weather conditions.
Movement into and out of the city is seriously impeded,
and many believe the freak weather conditions to be the
work of evil magic or angry deities. A few madmen or
old sailors insist that “the Leviathan is stirring,” but they
are ignored.
The characters distinguish themselves by helping the
city survive a great tsunami or similar extreme weather
event. They attract the notice of the city’s leaders, who
ask them for help in seeking the source of the strange
weather conditions.
EL 10 (Faint Sign): As tales of natural disasters in other
parts of the world begin to spread, rumors abound that a
“Cult of the Leviathan” is behind the disruptions. The PCs
are asked to investigate.
The characters follow a suspected cult member to a ritual
that is taking place on a windswept rocky isle a mile or so off
the coast, where they see High Priest Enshaddon (actually
Axihuatl the ixitxachitl priest in human guise) leading the
worship of the Leviathan by summoning aberrations and sea
monsters to ravage the city. The party must stop the cultists
and any creatures they have summoned, but Enshaddon
escapes in the confusion, diving back into the sea to keep
his real identity secret.
Knowing that the PCs now represent a threat to his plans,
Axihuatl directs Marcus Hape to stop them. Hape and his
thugs harry the party for the next several adventures.
EL 15 (Moderate Sign): The sage Mytus contacts the
PCs with alarming news. Although most scholars believe
the Leviathan to be nothing more than a myth, Mytus tells
the PCs that he has translated ancient documents and tablets
that prove that the Leviathan is a real creature, and that the
cultists seek to awaken it. He appeals to the characters to
help prove his theories.
Mytus has access to water-breathing spells and an amazing
dwarf-crafted diving machine that allows him to plumb the
sea chasm nearby, where he will try to view at least a portion
of the Leviathan.
The PCs accompany Mytus on his expedition and
encounter various undersea perils, including aspects
of the great beast that now glide through the depths of
the ocean. Eventually, the party encounters a massive
underwater mountain and discovers that it is a portion
of the head of the sleeping Leviathan. When the beast
stirs, the adventurers’ ship is destroyed. The sage’s magic
allows Mytus and the PCs to escape and make for the
surface, pursued by Axihuatl’s minions and by aspects
of the Leviathan.
EL 17 (Strong Sign): Captured cultists tell of a final ritual
in which High Priest Enshaddon intends to awaken the
Leviathan. The ritual is to take place in a temple located inside
one of the great hollow spines that rise from the Leviathan’s
back. The adventurers must make their way into the sea once
more and confront the cultists.
Once at the place of the ritual, the characters attempt to
stop Enshaddon, but their intervention causes the ritual
to go terribly wrong—the Leviathan stirs, and the temple
begins to flood. As the cultists drown, the party sees Enshaddon
change to his true form, an enormous ixitxachitl. The
PCs are swept away from the raging Axihuatl when a wall
of the temple collapses and a massive tidal wave created by
the Leviathan’s awakening separates them (encounter 5–1,
page 74).
EL 20 (Overwhelming Sign): The climax of the campaign
begins with the PCs back on land, washed up amid the ruin of
civilization. Entire cities have been sunk, islands destroyed,
mountains collapsed—and the Leviathan is only now stirring
to full wakefulness.
As the PCs debate what to do, Axihuatl appears in human
form. The Leviathan now threatens to destroy the entire
world, and even the evil ixitxachitl doesn’t wish to see that
happen. He offers to teach the PCs how to put the Leviathan
back to sleep. Since he is the one who awakened the Leviathan,
he says, another must put it back to sleep, and the party
is the only group that can be trusted. Axihuatl says that once
it is returned to slumber, the Leviathan cannot be awakened
again for a thousand years.
Axihuatl might even be willing to accompany the party,
though given his nature this might not be the best alternative.
The PCs must find the Leviathan, enter the temple,
and make their way to the lowest level, where they can
dispose of the Abyssal Shard (encounters 5–2 and 5–3, pages
76 and 78).
If the party succeeds, the Leviathan goes back to sleep.
Though seriously damaged by the Leviathan’s movement,
the world survives. Your can end the campaign here, restart
in a new, remade world as civilization struggles to rebuild, or
move time forward a century or two and set a new campaign
in the rebuilt world.
THE LEVIATHAN IN EBERRON
The Leviathan has exerted its influence on the world of
Eberron since the Age of Dragons. Some very old draconic
legends suggest that the progenitor wyrms used the power of
the Leviathan against each other and in so doing shattered the
world, leaving the broken remains to the hags and rakshasas
of the Age of Demons.
Dragon lore further implies that other disasters might be
attributed to Leviathan’s restless slumber. Myths about the
Leviathan are told throughout the Lhazaar Provinces, but
no one truly believes that it exists. The Shadow Network
has begun to hear rumors about a cult that worships the
“true” Leviathan and is eager to learn more about this
potential foe.
The Spine Temple rises from the sea after a ferocious
storm, about 20 miles northeast of Regalport. Mariners
report the strange object, but most are reluctant to sail
close to it. The Lhazaarite authorities would like to
investigate, but they have their hands full with the severe
weather conditions.