The dwarf grows impatient, breaking his invisibility to strike out.
"We're taking out the crazy scum following crazier gods, that's what we're doing!"
plus
"A cannibal calling himself master of lands. I swear by Torag's bushy beard, the inmates are running this city! Grab you weapons, and I'll keep him busy."
Birdfood gives his crazy grin again as Taran makes your intentions known. The dwarf pops out of invisibility and digs his blade into the crazed ranger!
Mefindio curses as the fighting breaks out, runs back to retrieve his pistol and weapons.
Mefindio tries to move back but finds his way blocked by orcs!
Taran grunts and swings again.
He breathes heavily and talks as he circles. "How did you end with a name like Birdfood anyways?"
Birdfood dips away from Taran's blow and responds, "Oh, like this."
He steps back from Taran and pulls out a bow as he whistles to his three hawks. As he looses his arrow the hawks dive in on the dwarf!
Meanwhile the orcs try to block the rest of you from getting back to your weapons.
Taran bats away the hawks and barrels into the gangster once again. "I'm quivering in my boots, boy." Taran laughs as he grows into something distinctly undwarf-like. He steps in and swings.
Taran smacks Birdfood hard in the side.
----
Taran steps back up to Birdfood, ignoring his annoying hawks, and gives him another blast in the side. Jorac then incapacitates all but one of the orcs!
Mefindio ducks under a swinging falchion and keeps running toward the wagon!
The orc slashes at Mef as he pushes past:
Birdfood keeps backing away from Taran to fire arrows at the dwarf!
The bird keep scratching at Taran:
And the last orc tries to block Mef from moving further:
Taran winces as he's hit thrice.
The dwarf's fervor for his god is strong. It staunches his wounds slightly. He steps in and swings with the same anger which marks his battle style.
Taran swings and misses and Birdfood keeps a grip on his bow despite the butter now dripping from it.
Grabbing his pistol, Mef turns and fires at the nearest orc.
Mefindio nearly brings the orc down with one hit. With his last ounce of strength the orc moves in on Jorac!
Birdfood continues to loose arrows at Taran:
The birds attack the dwarf as well!
Taran drops unconscious from the sustained assault.
Libri rushes in but misses Birdfood in her haste! Jorac then blasts the archer and his foul fowl!
Mefindio reloads and fires at the nearest attacker.
Mefindio takes down the orc, leaving just Birdfood and his birds! Birdfood laughs as Taran falls to the ground and steps away from Libri, focusing his ire on Jorac!
And then switches to Libri as Jorac falls .
The birds then try to distract Libri!
Taran stirs restlessly, but his robust dwarven physiology means his bleeding wounds quickly scab and stop.
Mef's mouth fall open as his companions begin to fall, quickly reloading, he fires at Birdman!
Libri swings and misses but Mefindio puts a bullet in his side! WIth a snap of his fingers, Birdfood sends his hawks after Mefindio!
Birdfood, meanwhile, continues to stay mobile. He leaps back from Libri and fires at her point-blank!
Mef draws a bead on Birdman, and fires his pistol!
With a well-aimed shot to the head, Mefindio kills off Birdfood! Without their master to command them, the hawks fly about his body for a few moments before scattering off.
In addition to his gear, Birdfood has managed to keep a small stash of treasures that once belonged to now-dead Steel Hawks. It consists of 234 sp, 188 gp, 11 pp, 4 silverdisks, one batter, a wand of grease (11 charges), a scroll of sound burst, a mwk hand crossbow with seven +1 bolts, a white access card, and a timeworn fire extinguisher.
Mefindio begins rummaging through the party's gear, looking for a healing potion.
Finding the potions and the nanite guns, Mef runs back to Taran and being more partial to guns, shoots Taran in the arm with one, then moves to Libri.
Taran groggily wakes up and looks around.
"Ugh, did we win lad? By the burning sun, the last thing I remember was a swarm of feathered things flying in my general direction. Arrows, birds, I'd be surprised if the bastard hadn't thrown a feather duster at me." He scratches his chest. "Ach - feels like one of those shafts got stuck inside." He looks around, and then down at Jorac.
He'll pull out the wand and use it on himself and Libri, and then turn his attention to Jorac.
"Poor human... right in the eye. Not a great way to go, but quick."
You can return to Sevroth Slaid, the former leader of the Steel Hawks, (carrying Jorac's body for now I guess) and we she shows some polite remorse over the death of your companion, she is clearly ecstatic about the death of her rival and overthrower. "You'll have quite a reputation with the other gangs now. You need to get to know this place and the major players."
She gives you an overview of the other gangs and their leaders:
The Steel Hawks were formerly led by Sevroth Slaid until Birdfood, a former Smiler, showed up with his orc bodyguards at the command of the Lords of Rust. They ousted her and took over the Steel Hawks until you defeated them.
The Smilers are no well-loved, but they're particularly hated by Redtooth's Raiders, with whom they are in an ongoing conflict. Some of the Smilers recently left to find new territory elsewhere. They are still the most numerous gang in Scrapwall and hold a lot of sway over the area.
Redtooth's Raiders are led by Redtooth, of course. They are a group of ratfolk who were once the second most powerful gang in Scrapwall, but have fallen on hard times of late. Their territory is a mere shadow of what they once held.
There is a gang of chokers who worshiped Hellion as a god until of later when the technological god took out his anger on some of the leaders and all but shattered the tribe. While they are essentially disbanded, small groups of chokers who venerate Hellion still lurk about.
Sevroth also gives you some information about the Lords of Rust you have heard so much about. She refers to them as "The most powerful gang to ever take root in Scrapwall."
Lords of Rust: This gang comprises a motley group of creatures, but the majority are orcs, androids, and ratfolk. The bulk of these gang members dwell in the rubble and ruins throughout the Lords of Rust territories or in the nooks and crannies of Scrapmaster’s Arena—few actually live in the gang’s headquarters. In all, the Lords of Rust number several hundred strong. Every few days, the Lords of Rust invite those who have caught their attention to audition for membership in the gang. Such auditions consist of fights in Scrapmaster’s Arena, usually against groups of gang members or captured monsters, but sometimes against the troll Helskarg herself. Those who survive these fights are granted membership in the gang, while those who don’t are generally eaten. The arena fights are known to be unfair and cruel.
The troll Helskarg is a garrulous creature and something of the front face of the Lords. She guards the entrance to the gang’s lair, but more importantly, she orchestrates the fights in the Scrapmaster’s Arena.
The ettin Draigs wields two spiky chains with unnerving grace in combat. She’s the thug and executioner for the leadership—the one Hellion calls upon to mete out punishment to those who sin against Hellion.
After Meyanda’s loss, Kulgara seized control of the gang as its commander, and now ranks just under Hellion. She increasingly sees the Lords of Rust as her own gang.
With the loss of Meyanda, Nalakai is the most powerful cleric of Hellion remaining in Scrapwall. Vexed by Kulgara’s cocky attitude and growing hunger for power, Nalakai hopes to find proof that Kulgara intends to betray Hellion so that he can engineer her demise and replace her in the role of commander of the Lords of Rust.
The most mysterious Lord of Rust is the crimson-skinned monster Zagmaander, who is something of a local bogeyman. Zagmaander serves Hellion as an enforcer and assassin, and even the other Lords of Rust leaders fear her.
Hellion is, of course, the lord and god of the Lords of Rust. Many have heard its voice or have seen its fiendish visage on the monitors found throughout the excavator, yet none can say they’ve seen Hellion in the flesh. Most believe Hellion to be a powerful fiend (a demon or devil), while others suspect it of being a Technic League agent using a fiend’s facade to sow fear. Others believe it to be an alien, the ghost of an ancient crew member from the Silver Mount, or even a trickster posing as a god.
"Thanks for the rundown, Slaid. Since you seem to know so much, know anyone around here who doesn't blindly follow this Hellion? We could use a healer, a powerful one. Else... " he pauses, unhappy to voice his next thought "Maybe you know someone all keen for these "technology" artifacts. This human knew more about these gewgaws then the rest of us put together. We'll need someone to take his place, at least for a bit. Anyone but a greenskin, really. I've got no use for those."
"Only the Lords of Rust can be said to truly follow Hellion blindly, although you'll find his follows mixed in just about everywhere. And everyone knows a bit about technology, although Redtooth's Raiders are probably the best. Ratfolk just seem to have a pension for that sort of thing, you know? Besides, you won't be finding any friends among the Smilers now that you've taken down Birdfood and Redtooth's Raiders aren't too keen on the Smilers either."
The dwarf poses a question to Sevroth. "Are you connected enough to set up a meeting with the Redtooth Raiders? I got no bone to pick with the rats, and they sound like a useful bunch to know."
-----
Later, when he's alone with his allies, he'll pose a question to them. "Well, I don't have the brains Jorac did, but seems to me that best way to deal with this situation is to get some of the groups on the outs to do some of the dirty work for us. Maybe this ratfolk gang just needs a push to do the "right" thing."