Charles runs, but a swarm sees him and converges, dealing 1 damage and infecting him.
The team combines to bring down the swarm on the upper level.
The rat king, an intelligent being, decides the jig is up and flees! But as he passes Charles, Charles strikes out with his dagger and crits him for 19 damage! The critical cuts the rat kings tongue and gives him an arcane spell failure percentage. :)
The rat king is still alive, and keeps running, but the party might still be able to bring him down.
EVERYBODY GO!
Garfaulk reloaded his weapon taking a step to line up his shot, watching the exit like a hawk. Aiming Crescendo down at the way out, he readies, preparing to shoot the rat king the moment he steps into view. Looking briefly at the stock of his gun, he gave his little bauble a flick, making it spin in the stock of the gun, listening to the whirring to steady himself.
Charles runs after the rat king.
Jolga moves and sees a new rat swarm from his angle and sends the flail after it.
"Don't let the big one get away!" He runs forward stopping only when he sees another large swarm of rats.
With one large swing, he cleaves at the smaller rats and then shouts out at the larger one. "Why are you running!? You want this place you've got to fight for it!"
Jolga's flail and Wulf flatten the last rat swarm!
Ton and Zeke can go!
Well, one doesn't attempt regicide. Got to follow through.
You strike it hard, but it is still alive.
Zeke rushes forward to where he can see the rat creature at which Wulf is bellowing. He quickly weaves his hands in the air and recites the words to a spell, which he throws at it.
It resists the blindness spell!
Ton hears the commotion and runs out past Garfaulk on the balcony. From that angle, he has a shot on the king, though it is difficult to make.
He manages to hit it in the head! The rat king's brain fly out its skull and it collapses. The complex is once again free from squeaking and chittering.
Jolga nods in satisfaction to the others. "That is well done. I will clean up then shall we leave? The Heavens have not yet granted me the power to truly honor these dead" he points to the rats "but they are mere animals so it is not pressing." He piles them up quickly and burns them on a rough, uncareful fire. Then he examines everyone who was bitten "Hmmm... have you taken a sickness from the vermin?"
Zeke, Garfaulk, Charles, and Wulf have all been bitten and infected; their wounds already red and raw. Wulf, though, was the only one bit by the rat king...
Charles will search the king.
The rat king is wearing a little vest, and in one pocket Charles pulls out a small crown. It could also function as a ring for any small or medium sized creature.
Charles stares at the ring. "Garfaulk. This magic?"
Wulf watches as the Rat Kings brains end up outside his body. Looking around for anything else to move to all he hears is silence.
"Nice shot." He shouts up moving toward the body. Wanting to make sure nothing else is going to happen.
He when turns to Jolga whos looking over his wounds. "It's just a bite, I've had worse. Do what you need to do and let's get moving. I would hope we don't get anything else moving in here." He says wiping away the blood from his cuts and bites.
56/58
"It's likely we're infected, those of us who got bit," says Zeke, nodding to Jolga. "If we get someplace safe, we can look everyone over and treat the wounds, as that might lower the risk of infection. That will take about an hour to tend to everyone." He looks around. "I take it we're not staying here any longer?"
"Nice shot." He shouts up moving toward the body. Wanting to make sure nothing else is going to happen.
"Wasn't that good." Ton grumbles as he fiddles with the laser sight atop his pistol. "I was aiming for his leg."
Jolga nods to the others as he finishes up with the corpses. "That sounds well to me. You mentioned a destination earlier before the disturbance?"
"Taking out Birdfood was an entrance job. Now back to the one who gave it."
"Yeah, let's go tell Slaid the job is done." Ton agrees
You head back through the maze of passageways to the south, past where you found Jolga. Just like before, heads pop out to study you, but this time, there is a little recognition in their eyes, and people disappear again. Certainly there are scrappers living in the area, but they want no confrontation.
Sevroth Slaid is surprised to see you, but pleased. "I... I didn't think... Birdfood is dead? Ha ha! Unless the Lords of Rust make an appearance with another replacement, that puts ME in charge of the Steelhawks. Bwa ha! And a deal is a deal. I said that I would tell you about the other gangs in town and I will. Let's see that map."
She draws a square over where you are up to where you fought Birdfood. "This is Steelhawk territory. Our gang rules and gets tribute from scrappers. We control the front gate, and are very fair to those that deserve it. Of course."
"This section here... is the territory of the Redtooth Raiders. Intelligent rat folk, led by Redtooth and her brother Whiskifiss. Fairly reasonable folk, we've never had any trouble with the Redtooth Raiders. They stay out of our territory and we stay out of theirs. Recently a whole bunch of them were drafted by the Lords of Rust for some out of Scrapwall excursion. That happens now and then. The Lords of Rust are in charge, so when they say jump we have no choice but to jump."
"Up north past the rats and Steelhawks, there is a section of no man's land. Good place for a scrapper to hide out, but technically speaking, the whole city is under control of the Lords of Rust, so... no where is safe."
"Up north past no man's land, that is Smiler territory. Cannibals and sick twisted fiends. Led by a hobgoblin by the name of Marrow. Sick folk. Just nasty. Scrappers do not even dare to dwell in that vicinity of Scrapwall."
"Out to the east, that is the Thralls of Hellion territory. Like the Lord of Rust, they worship this new god Hellion. Think of them like a junior gang to the Lords of Rust. It's been quiet over there for a couple of weeks now. Not sure what is going on."
"And then to the north and east, around the arena, that is where the Lords of Rust dwell. There are a whole bunch of powerful gang leaders called Lords, the whole lot of them led by the orc Kulgara, and they all worship Hellion. Of course the Lords of Rust are a whole gang too and not just the bosses; their name is confusing if you ask me. Full of orc mooks and low ranking cleric of Hellion... they wield strange powers straight from their god. With such power of a god, how could us non-magical folk hope to fight back?"
At the mention of ratfolk, Charles looks to Garfaulk.
"We keep hearing this name Hellion. How long have they had worshippers here? Also, you ever hear of someone called Dinvaya around here?" Ton asks, leaning against the table and poring over the map
Wulf scratches at his bite, he doesn't like to make a big fuss but he will have to get someone to look at it when their done here.
"I'd like to hear about Hellion too, but wait rats... We get up this morning with swarms of rats after we killed birdfood. There was this massive one and seemed to be controlling them. Could that be these rat men your talking about?"
The old man takes a look at the ring. "Interesting. It fits on just so." He points out any features he can distinguish and hands it to Zeke for his evaluation.
When the group arrives with Slaid, Jolga stands around listening and observing. Curious. I wonder what our next path will be... It is certainly useful to have this guidance...
Jolga recognizes the ring as a ring of sustenance!
Slaid comments about the rats. "I'm don't know where you folks are from, perhaps lording it up high and mighty in an ivory tower somewhere. This place is basically one big garbage dump and there are rats here. Lots and lots of rats. Sometimes for some reason or another a particular rat gets really big and powerful. But as for the ratfolk themselves, no, there is no connection really. I think the Ratfolk like to keep the dumb rats as pets. But this whole city is really just crawling with the damned dumb vermin."
She rolls her eyes at the mention of Dinvaya. "Yeah, there is some crazy hermit cleric that lives up in no man's land at the end of a junk heap ravine. She doesn't take kindly to visitors, and at this point the gangs in the city just leave her alone. Not worth it."
"Oh, and Hellion? Hellion is just rumors and stories, but the Lords of Rust all worship him. Or her? I would say it is just rubbish but there is no denying those Lords of Rust have clerical powers."
Garfaulk grunts, going back over to grab Slagbreather where he'd dropped her, wiping off bits of rats from her and Crescendo before holstering them, nodding in agreement "Aye Parker, gettin back to er would probably be the best idea. Tha it is, Shady. Tha it is" he reminds them of their aliases, given where they were going. The dwarf reaches for his bottle of brandy, then remembers they don't get free refills anymore and thinks better of it, following the rest back to where they started, grinning a little at the fact they were recognized. Good. Maybe tha means they'll leave us alone fer a bit
---
Back on front of Slaid, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Course we took care of im, said we would, didn't we?" now that they were back here, Garfaulk quickly looks around the building, mentally comparing it to the scrap of map he'd found, though doubted finding the place would be that easy.
"Whiskifiss is now than just a goon, eh? Well good fer him. Maybe he'll be happy to see us again-we'very had a run in with em once before." he could feel Charles' stare and elected to ignore it, but couldn't stop himself from grinning. He shouldn't be excited to know a gang leader may have him on a list, but it was exhilarating. "And they'redifferent from the other rats? Place gets crazier and crazier...
"Say, Ms Slaid, any dwarves in the area? Always nice to find kin Despite his words, his tone was a bit more focused and serious than he had been.
"Dwarves, elves, halflings, and others of those so called goodly folk wouldn't be caught in our trash heap of a city. Orcs, humans, and rats control this place!" She holds her home in contempt but seems proud of it at the same time.
Out of earshot of Slaid, Ton says: "I think we should find Dinvaya."
Zeke asks Slaid, "What's going to happen to Birdfood's lair? Is that Steelhawk territory now?" He itches the bite he suffered from the rat swarm. "We're going to need someplace safe to camp, so I'm wondering if you have access to anywhere that we could lay low for a spell. Birdfood's lair might do for us, if the rats don't keep attacking it."
"That is now my seat of power, and I'm heading back to claim it. You will be welcome visitors, but you are too dangerous to stay there overnight. After all, you did just murder the last Steelhawk Captain."
Jolga looks quizzically at the woman when she seems to blame them for killing Birdfood. Then it clicks in his mind Ah it is one of those "joaks" which people speak about...
Jolga eyes the woman with curious regard but remains silent. He looks to his comrades questioningly, wondering if they wish to go find this Dinvaya now.
"Not murdered a captain. Deposed a pretender. Better narrative for you. We are allies. Played right, that ends with you in great position."
Wulfs cleans up his hammer as they all talk, jumping in here and there. Ay, Dinvaya is next on our list. We still have questions that need answering." He then grits his teeth. "Look here Slaid, we helped you. You wanted control of the Steelhawks back and you got it." He nods to Charles. "Like he said we got rid of the protender, your men should be looking up to us."
---
When they start to leave Wulf steps in front of Charles. "Charles, Sam, Parker whoever you are right now, im done with these fake names. What you did back there, it needs to stop. You don't just run off away from us." He spits out. "We're in this together, I wouldn't have a seconded thought putting my life on the line for you. But I have to know I can trust you, now I don't understand all this stuff with your brother but I'm not one to call anyone out on their grief. But don't do that again." He points down at the small man.
Then turning to Jolga. "My name Wulf Torstein, I think we can more than trust you now. We decided to keep our names to ourselves but with me talking about trust…" He offers his hand to the old shaman, wanting to start over.
Garfaulk sighs, stepping up from his seat. "Now now, not everyone appreciates it when you come in and clean up all their problems for em. Some folks see ya do tha and wonder if the new folks are an even bigger problem. Hard to blame her fer not wantin to keep us around. Tha said, if ya need any more help, maybe our services will be sumthin we could offer once more, so long as ya dont give us any more trouble goin forward."
---
"Look lads, I know they were a bit ungrateful, but maybe not go burnin the one bridge we got in this ere town, ey?" The dwarf said once they were outside and in private, away from prying eyes. "Not everyone is gonna call us heroes and let us drink fer free regularly and have a parade fer us. Specially ere." He reached for his bottle once more, but refrained.
Which was good, because Wulf announcing his name wouldve made him spit his drink. "Pup, what're you-... Alright, fine. No more nicknames with Jolga ere. Maybe at all, once that ratfolk whose tail I nearly burnt off sees us. But I stil think we ought to keep up some sort of guise, dont want ter piss off someone then have em go huntin down yer gal back home, ey? Tha's the reason we did this with the names in the first place." He looks over to Jolga. "Garfaulk. Garfaulk Sharpstone. Though in ere, I still prefer Mr. Slag."
"Ahh, your right Garfulk. I think I just got use to the easy life back in Touch, it's just something that keep pulling me back." He pauses a moment, smiling and remembering Torch with all its reasons to go back. "In the real world nothing comes easy. Don't worry about me I wont loose my edge, that thing back in the church it was a one off." Hes reminded of ghost and shudders.
"But I think Jolga has proven himself. But yes, I would rather we don't send any of these lunatics back to torch. So I wont give them a reason to and if I give them a reason I'll make sure they wont have the means to get there and hurt the people I love." He hefts up his hammer.
Jolga nods solemnly to Garfaulk and Wulf. With a faint smile he places his old, bony hand on his chest and states "Jolga Krak. But I agree that false names among others are the way of caution. Perhaps call me Stargazer in front of the rest?" Then he too picks up his gear and prepares to head to Dinvaya with the shining scorpion in his pocket.
Sevroth Slaid considers what Charles says and nods. As you leave... "I shouldn't appear ungrateful. You have done a great favor for me and the Steelhawks... Know... that if you have a need of a favor from me, that we are here. Though I doubt you want to spend that favor for a safe place to sleep. I would imagine people will be trying to sleep safe from YOU."
The party starts wandering north through the maze of towering junk piles. You were given some general directions toward Dinvaya, but nothing specific.
Charles watches Wulf with a deadpan face. "I was right. Besides, you're not one to talk about running away."
"Those of us with family in Torch got more to lose from any of us bein found out. Let's just make sure, if it comes to it, these gangs know we are not people to f*ck with. Parker, Hammer pack it in, I've got a headache as it is." Ton grumbles, thinking he hasn't had a drink since they left Torch.
"Right, where di she say we could find this Dinvaya....?"