The Dragon’s Throat has turned out to be a dangerous place. Once down the lock’s vertical shaft, the Players are let out into and underground river. Most of the tunnels are natural, but there is a lot of evidence of shoring up and expansion in the form of ornate stonework and a black and greasy type of iron. Fallingblood has disappeared down the black caverns downstream.
They were in pursuit of Fallingblood’s ship, and there really was only one direction to go. The main decsion was to be: how fast? They had a couple of lanterns, but no way of knowing what was up ahead. The river’s current was rather strong, so the ship would need to reverse engines, or face upriver if they wanted to move more slowly than the water. The decision was made to stay at the current’s speed, and try to stay centered in the tunnel. Several characters were devoted to controlling the boat, and others to fending off from walls and obstructions.
At certain points, the walls of the tunnel went through changes. In one location was a shaft of crystal that channelled light from far above, but the party did not take the time to go ashore. Another place had its walls honeycombed with small tunnel openings. The party saw eyes glinting in the lantern’s wan light, but nothing attacked the boat. Further on, they heard a pathetic whimpering from on the shore in the darkness. They saw a dark trail leading to shadow huddling in the dark, but they did not stop to investigate.
Eventually, they came to a broad cavern with a small harbor to one side. The main tunnel cintuned through a heavy iron gate that came down across the water. The only way to open the gate seemed to not be functioning. The engineers checked the equipment to find a critical section of chains were missing. These chains were of odd, flattened links (like a bicycle chain) so the ship’s chains would not suffice. The small harbor did not reveal any proper chains either, but did reveal a set of heavy doors.
A noise from the doors caused the Players to take cover, and the doors opened to reveal a huge, noisy workshop. Dark industries were at work and they caught a glimpse of dismantled helljacks. A graceful figure retrieved something from the harbor, and returned to work. The Players decided the workshop was noisy enough to risk sneaking in for some chains.
The stealthy Players took their chance and almost made it out, but the workers rolled very well on their final Detect. The Players held the line at the doorway on the harbor side, while a few engineers ran back to repair and open the gates. The Priest set up a Wall of Fire across the door, which prevented most of the smaller bad guys from joining the fray. A few helljacks were enough to do damage, and their heavy armor proved too tough for the Players’ Skirmishers.
The engineers opened the gates and got the boat moving, so the rest of the party broke the line and ran for the docks. Everyone made it on board and got through the gates before they could be sealed. They all escaped, but there was heavy damage to the party’s ‘jacks.
Three XP for everyone! They are now up to twenty-four Experience Points. Players got to add +1 to a Statistic, keeping within their race’s Heroic level maximum.