Dragon!

Stepping over the beholderkin corpses, the party moved on down the Expressway. In the distance could be seen a soft glow with no obvious source. As they moved further down the tunnel, the walls turned to clear glass and their path extended through the open air of an underground cavern, the sides of which were covered in patches of phosphorescent lichens. The crack in the rock was pretty extensive, stretching maybe half a mile to either side. Sharp eyes could make out the occasional beholderkin floating in the distance. Over the party's head was a piece missing from the tunnel, showing where the miniscule beholders managed to get into the travel system.

Crossing the glass section, the adventurers discovered the site of a fiery battle. A pair of ogres and numerous goblins lay dead and roasted on the floor of the flame-scorched tunnel. Beyond them a red dragon lay sleeping quietly. The smell of dragon and cooked flesh was quiet strong in the air.

To the left could be seen a gaping hole where the ogres must have broken through from their own hand-hewn tunnel complex. Having become disheartened with the miles of expressways without any sign of life, the party leaped at the chance to explore the new possibility before them. Maybe it would lead to the surface when the beholder's tunnels did not?

Unfortunately the red dragon resting in the expressway was creating quite an obstacle. For some reason it had not moved since the party had approached so the adventurers decided to sneak past it. The swashbuckler did this with ease and panache but the lumbering paladin decided to stand on the dragon's tail instead - or rather through the tail and onto the floor. The dragon was in fact an illusion and not physical, despite the sounds and smells it emitted. The party then surmised that the flame damage was that from a fireball and not the fiery breath of a dragon. Curious.

The new tunnel appeared to be a horizontal mining shaft dug out by the ogres and goblins. Further down, a make-shift anti-dragon trap had been set up with hastily sharpened wooden pit props facing the perceived threat. Behind this a barricade could be seen, constructed from whatever was available to the terrified humanoids.

The party approached the defencework and fought their way through - or over - it. Being designed to slow down a large dragon, there were ample opportunities for smaller creatures to get through around the edges. A handful of goblins tried desperately to protect themselves but soon died. The defending ogres stepped back from the ballistae and started fighting with long spears instead. This didn't help them and the pair was soon felled to the ground, alongside the goblins.

Moving on, a junction was reached and soon an elevator shaft which took them up to a pier beside an underground lake. A moored punt was stolen and clumsily steered into the lake and the currents flowing through it. The boat was designed to be controlled by four ogres, one at each corner, so a handful of adventures, none of them with any great strength, found the work arduous.

Steering into the flow, the punt exited the lake and moved up a river within a tunnel. After some distance, a waterfall fed into the river, making further progress by boat impossible. To the side of the plungpool was a staircase carved in the rock. The flow of water and the churning caused by the fall made approaching the stairs difficult but in the end, using grappling hooks, rope, and a good run-up, everybody was eventually up the stairs (some drier than others).

The staircase lead to a walkway carved along the edge of the river tunnel above the waterfall. The party paused to consider its options.

"You are all going to learn to swim after this..."

Pulling himself up through the waterfall, the swashbuckler found another pool of water which was this time fed by a tunnel in the wall. In the middle, rising out of the gurgling water rose a white dome which the adventurer touched to investigate. The boney surface started to rise out of the water, revealing eyeless skeletal remains of a beholder, dripping teeth gnashing in expectation. Ill-equiped for such a battle, the swashbuckler dived down the waterfalls he had just climbed to reach the safety of the rest of the party with floating undead in tow.

Bursting through the second waterfall curtain, the swashbuckler had just enough time to raise the alarm before the giant skull followed him through the water. The undead, although menacing in appearance and seemingly imprevious to the divine powers harnessed by the paladin and the cleric, was no match for the mighty fists of the monk (blunt weapons are good) and was soon just fragments of bone scattered across the floor.

Next area to explore was the large lake in front of the main waterfall. The swashbuckler was chosen to go first by virtue of his swimming skills. Below could be seen the bottom of the lake, five to twenty feet deep with the occasional bones of a demised creature. On the opposite side, just beyond the reach of the rope securing him to the party, could be seen in sunrod-light the far edge of the cavern. Strange symbols and faces were carved into the wall sloping over head; to the right could be seen an arrangement of levels and wheels.

The swashbuckler returned to discuss what he had seen. The party decided to send him back with the monk to try out the the mechanism. Both were soon on the other side of the lake again trying to work out what what they could achieve. To their left, excess water could be seen pouring over a ridge like an overflow; as soon as the pair turned the wheels, the ridge turned into an opening gate and the overflow became a vast torrent of water.

The monk quickly grabbed the metal wheel and the arm of the swashbuckler who was at that moment being swept past him. Their cries for help were drowned out by the rumbling of water rushing past them. back at the waterfall, the remaining party members thought they detected a change in the sounds from the vast cave. Sticking their heads through the waterfall, they realised they could see nothing in the darkness - not a good sign as the explorers had been equipped with sunrods.

Now able to hear faint calls for help, the cleric reacting immediately and sent a pair of fiendish squid to pin the pair to the mechanism before they were washed away. Safely secured - at least for the short while that the squid would remain - the swashbuckler quickly tied himself and the monk to the metal wheels to wait it out until the lake had drained away enough for them to escape.

The tunnel behind the gate plunged off into the darkness carrying the water away to the depths, now at a much slower rate then before. Still not a safe exit for anybody unaccustomed to water.

Nothing of interest could be found on the lake bed. Returning to the top water pool where the beholder skeleton had been found, the swashbuckler rooted around with his rapier and hooked up a belt, ring and set of lens in a harness, all later confirmed as magical.