Iron Gods: Forged into Legends

Game Master polyfrequencies

Two large blasts from Basil's gun rip appart the entire room. Killing all of the cultists, as well as the half orc Cleric in the back.

Uuug.. Touch attacks with bane

The 3 remaining cultists swarm Basil. Getting into position then striking.
[ooc]A1 would trigger AoO if you had one)

A1 vs Basil: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 2 = 10
A3 vs Basil: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 2 = 7
A4 vs Basil: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

"For Hellion!"

The face on the screen gins wide. Seemingly uncaring that his clerics are dying.

Round 2
Basil (-6)
A1, A3, A4
Thawm (-6), Gauntlet (-24 or -29, slow 6 rounds) <--
A2 (Shield of Faith)
Hellion?

Abundant ammunition is also minutes per level :D

Thawm finishes summoning 1d3 ⇒ 1 Earth Elemental(s). She then bolsters the surrounded Basil's defense.

+2 sacred to your AC, Basil ^^

The small elemental swings at one of the people surrounding Basil.

slam vs A1? +flank +earth mastery -power attack: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 6 + 2 + 1 - 1 = 27

bludgeoning + earth mastery + power attack: 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 1 + 3 = 14

Might have to pick a different spot for the summon (and a different target) if A1 dies from Basil's cestus. Er, she still has that, right?

Stepping up (5 foot step) to the closest enemy, Keldor raises a fist.

"Cowards...Heretics!"

Slam Attack!(slowed): 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 10 - 1 = 24
Damage(Magic): 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 4) + 4 = 10

The earth elemental is brought into existence and it crushes the cleric.

Gauntlet's attack also strikes true, but doesn't quite fell the Half-Orc

The Half-Orc next to Basil lashes out with her gauntlet at the Android, who dodges.
A2 vs Basil: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

The screens arround the room all flash and show the same sharp toothed creature yelling then they all go black.

Round 2
Basil (-6) <--
A4 (-10)
Thawm (-6), Gauntlet (-24 or -29, slow 6 rounds)
A2 (Shield of Faith)

@Touch Attacks with bane: Funny thing is that doesn't even need gestalt, any inquisitor could invest a bit into firearm proficiency :D)

Also, I do have an AoO, technically. But that's 1d4 damage only, and mostly there so I provide flanking and e.g. threaten actions like casting. Also I think you missed A3 in the list. It was 4 in the listing before, then the elemental killed one and Keldor hurt one. Now it's only 2?

Making good use of the Abundant Ammunition that Thawm provided, Basil rotates out of reach in a smooth motion that places her a bit away from her assailants, facing them, then blasts them twice more. "Your so-called god has forsaken you."

Paddlefoot Pistol A4: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 2 = 11 Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Paddlefoot Pistol A2: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 8 + 2 = 17 Damage+TB: 1d6 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 6 = 15
Paddlefoot Pistol A3?: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 8 + 2 = 28 Damage+TB: 1d6 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 6 = 14

Paddlefoot Pistol A4: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 2 = 7 Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Paddlefoot Pistol A2: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 3 + 2 = 14 Damage+TB: 1d6 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 6 = 11
Paddlefoot Pistol A3?: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 3 + 2 = 17 Damage+TB: 1d6 + 4 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 6 = 16

No bane this time. I included A3 just in case he is still there.

Basil shoots the remaining 2 down dead. The room goes quiet for awhile.

To the east there are 3 different room entrances. The doors to the north and south are open. The room straight to the east are closed.

Items of note on Clerics
+1 spiked Gauntlet
Gray Access Card
Scroll of unholy blight

Perception checks to look over room if you wish to pause for awhile

"Basil, while you still have unlimited ammunition, would you be a dear and smash all the screens?"
Thawm heals her allies (for 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7 hit points), orders the elemental to stand guard (for his remaining 48 seconds of presence on the material plane), and begins looking through the bodies for anything of use.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Keldor looks around then at Thawm.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

"We should not tarry here long dear Thawm.

He then tends to Gauntlet's wounds and his own quickly.

I should have 3 Lay on Hands left for the day, 2x 2nd lvl Spells, and 4x 1st level spells left + Both my Paladin spells still.

Lay on Hands(Healing+Fatigue/Diseased Mercies): 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7
Rejuvenate Eidolon(lesser): 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Better than nothing: I get 7 back and Gauntlet gets 10 pts back.

Basil does not need prompting - as long as her ammunition replenishes, she destroys what screens are visible - clearly Hellion needed some recovery time between his assaults, but was quite capable of doing his thing repeatedly. Thus making it a sound tactical choice to eliminate all monitors he could use as focal point for his presence.

Once done, she joins Keldor in searching the immediate area, handing the gray access card to Thawm.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24

Both Basil and Gauntlet notice a secret wall door to the south west of the room you are in. Not sure where it would go though.

This is a dumb secret tunnel

All of the screen panels get destroyed. No face shows up on the panels.

Keldor moves to investigate the secret entrance.

"How do we open it?"

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Thawm pulls out the gray card and her adamantine dagger.
"I have a couple of keys we can try." she offers, alternating between waving the keycard all over the wall near the secret entrance and pressing different parts of wall will the dagger.

The door itself slides open without difficulty. It seems like its mostly stealthly hidden in the wall. Once opened you see a long tunnel that leads to the other room.

Its almost like it could be used to pincer someone, but with the doors open its a dumb tunnel :)

Updated Roll20. This map is odd. I need to double check doors. Also prety sure Basil will be more available starting next week. So we should be able to get it moving again then. Partly my fault for not updating. I will try to post another more detailed post soon.

"Interesting design choice. It seems pointless, or at least very niche in its potential application. Shall we proceed?", Basil asks after they find the short tunnel circling back into the open area.

I suppose the open doorways on the map are not actually open, which is why we don't have vision there. If so, since Keldor takes point, he is welcome to pick a door we can o to first. For clarification: there are 3 sets of stairs - the one we used, one opposite of us, and one in lower right corner. Ours go up - but what about the other 2?

Yeah this map is confusing for me for some reason. The 2 sets of stairs (the one you went down and opposite you) both go to the same place. The top floor had 2 methods of going down. The other set of stairs was actually behind a door, but you now have the keycard.

With a new keycard in hand the group moves through this area quietly checking things out.

To the south is a door which behind is a set of stairs leading down, but before heading down the group checks some of the other rooms here.

To the north is another small room. This one looks to be filled with twisted metal and debris, a weird combinatino of bedroom and personal shrine.

Looking through this room you find an open book. It looks to be a Prayer book. Quickly flipping through it it looks to be a Journal and Holy book dedicated to Hellion. The language seems like Orc, thankfully Keldor/Gauntlet can read it. Scanning through it, it is written in dense crabbed writting. Looks like a combination of prayers and lots of description of Hellion and plans.

Keldor would need a DC 20 Linguistics check and 2d4 hours of study to get more out of it.

The final room is also locked behind a white lock. This room has 4 large pillars with glowing bands of purple light pulsing down their sides. They look to be holding power of some kind. Scurrying around these pillares are 2 scrapped together machines of some kind who seem to detect you and scurry your direction.

Both Basil and Gauntlet see them approach and are quick to respond.

I put Gauntlet at the door, Basil and Thawm just behind

Round 1
Basil, Gauntlet <--
R1, R2
Thawm

That is some unfortunate positioning - I can't step forward because Keldor is there, so I'd need a move action. I'll let Keldor act first, then re-consider based on wether he holds/readies or advances, and depending on wether the purple pillars do something except glow.

Leading the way around the pillars, Gauntlet/Keldor move into position to push back the enemies.
"Forward! We shall not be deterred by orc nor machine!"

Slam Attack!: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23
Damage(Magic): 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 1) + 4 = 9

Know (Engineering) - Identify Robots?: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30

Gauntlet crashes into this robot, but the strike hits hard material absorbing some of the damage.

He recognizes some of the features of these machines. They seem to be made of hard material, so they will absorb some damage (hardness 5). They are also are vulnerable to hard hits and electricity (crits and electricity).

Getting a bit closer to the purple towers, Gauntlet notices a port you could plug in some sort of cable. There is also a striking similarity to battery technology, on a huge form. Similar to silverdisks contained and glowing inside the containers.

Round 1
Basil, Gauntlet <--
R1(-4), R2
Thawm

Basil follows Keldor into the room, using the predictable nature of his slam to shoot past Gauntlet, using one of the Adamantine Bullets due to her earlier experiences with machines.

Ranged touch, into melee, past soft cover: 1d20 + 10 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 10 - 4 - 2 = 18 Damage, Adamantine: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

pew pew

Basil's shot strikes trough, and true to her memory the adamantine goes straight through the creature's exterior plating. The creature keeps moving and going toward Guantlet.

One of the appendedges starts to spin and lashes out at Gauntlet.
R1 vs Gauntlet: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Damage: 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 1) + 4 = 6

The other robot climbes behind the strange pillars and runs up to Basil spinning a similar blade at her. Pushing in harder than the other

R2 vs Basil: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 8 - 2 = 23
Damage: 2d4 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 4) + 4 + 4 = 13

Round 1
Basil (-13), Gauntlet (-6)
R1(-11), R2
Thawm <--

"Return to dust, automata." Thawm commands.
She casts Eroding Ray on the one going for Gauntlet.
Touch Attack vs R1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Damage (which bypasses hardness): 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

Keldor silently pulls back his fists again to pummel the robot.

Slam Attack!: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Damage(Magic): 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 3) + 4 = 8

Slam Attack!(Iterative): 1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (11) + 10 - 5 = 16
Damage(Magic): 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 4) + 4 = 10

basil is next, huh?

Thawm's ray erodes into the metal of this machine Destroying a chunk of it.

Both of Gauntlets strikes hit, but so much is absorbed into the hard surface.

Round 2
Thawm, Basil (-13), Gauntlet (-6) <--
R1(-25), R2

Hm, that is undesirable. I could pistol-whip a normal enemy, but with their hardness, it's unlikely I would do damage. And in close quarters, I provoke.

Concentration DC 15+1: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 6 + 1 = 18
Basil focuses on not getting hit, then vanishes from sight with her optical camouflage. Of course, there was a good chance these creatures had additional sensoric systems, but it was worth a try.
Invisible, she attempted to pass by the one that assaulted her previously.
Moving through his square, provoking if he can still see me. Where I go depends on if he hits me, either up and right if it doesn't, or towards Thawm if it does.

Basil is able to deftly move around the creature who seems to have lost her in its sensors.

The robots continue their assult against Gauntlet, with the previous one stepping into Basil's old square before turning on the Summoner.

R1 vs Gauntlet: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
R2 vs Gauntlet: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Both small machines seem to buzz their blades against armor, they shift and twist looking toward Thawm, who seems to not have as much hardness around her.

Round 3
Thawm, Basil (-13), Gauntlet (-6) <--
R1(-25), R2

"Uh oh." Thawm explains right before she casts Fly on herself. She flies very far back. 50' back and up to 10' up, depending on room dimensions...

how high is the ceiling and that green thing in the middle there?
Em might just hang out around the ceiling where it's relatively safe xD

Ceiling is about 10 feet. Not very large. The green thing is a strange platform/stage/pulpit only a few feet up.

kool, Thawm's feet will be 5' from the ground, then. Her head right by the ceiling xD

Cursing, Keldor/Gauntlet reaches back and draws his long Elven Curved Blade from within Gauntlet's bulk somehow, then swings at the robotic monster.

MW Silversheen Elven Curve Blade: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
Damage Slashing/Silver: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Better Crit chance...didn't help this time.

(Oh, sorry, I was sure I had posted last week.)

Basil moves until she is on the other side of the wounded machine, encircling it with Keldor. Making use of her invisibility, she fires another Armor-Piercing Bullet at the thing.

Into Melee, Invisible: 1d20 + 10 - 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 10 - 4 + 2 = 27 Damage, Adamantine: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Gauntlet's strike hits true, scratching the armor with the blade!

Basil's shot launches straight past the armor of the creature into its core. It starts to grind and smoke a little, but keeps moving and attacking.

The robot creatures wirr and bur to eachother. The one attacking Gauntlet waits a bit for its other to flank successfuly. Then they both attack together.

R1: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
R2: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (12) + 10 = 22

Both missing, they turn their heads to look for Basil, seeing Gauntlet as a too hard of a enemy.

Basil. Is this greater invisibility or normal? ie are you visible now?

Round 4
Thawm, Basil (-13), Gauntlet (-6) <--
R1(-35), R2

Keldor swings again...

MW Silversheen Elven Curve Blade: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
Damage Slashing/Silver: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

...and again...
MW Silversheen Elven Curve Blade(Iterative): 1d20 + 11 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 11 - 5 = 21
Damage Slashing/Silver: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

So close to a possible crit!

Visible. It's just regular invisibility for level rounds, but 3+Wis times per day. So short-time invis 5 times a day. Handy, but I'm not a Ninja, unfortunately :D

"These are sturdy. They seem more well-maintained than the constructs we encountered previously. But Hellion is unlikely to be able to create more of them, or we would have met their kind earlier."
She takes aim and fires another shot. Her supply of Adamantine Ammunition was limited, but she did make it for exactly such foes.

Attack, into Melee: 1d20 + 10 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 10 - 4 = 21 Damage, Adamantine: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

is R1 still up? If so, I think I want to finish it off.
If not, maybe I'll just help gauntlet's to-hit xD

Gauntlet connects hard with the robot, and Basil's attack brings it down fully. It fall its into a hump of smoking debris.

The other one spins and turns looking around for other targets?

Round 4
Thawm, Basil (-13), Gauntlet (-6) <--
R2

Thawm flies into range to boost Keldor/Gauntlet's attack.
+2 sacred bonus to your to-hit ^^

Thawms spells for the new day after defeating Hellion in discord xD

All right, thanks all for the patience! Let's go ahead and get things rolling again!

After destroying Hellion's chassis, Basil, Keldor, and Thawm find some way of being comfortable in Hellion's redoubt. With Thawm's promise of removing her curse, Zagmaander the xill promises that she will watch over the party through the night to ensure that none of the other residents of Scrapwall come looking for them. True to her word, when the three outsiders rouse in the morning, they see the bright red xill staring at them, her mandibles lazily shifting back and forth. It is moments from dawn, the customary time at which Thawm has long prayed to the All-Seeing Eye.
"You are awake," Zagmaander says in chittering Common. "Good. I expect my reward now. Pray to your god." And so she begins pacing impatiently.

Thawm, go ahead and make a caster level check to remove Zagmaander's curse when you're ready. Keldor and Basil can do as they please!

After an hour's worth of supplications and then visions, Thawm finally gets up and clears her throat.
"I have asked for as much power for the removal of curses as Nethys deems me worthy of. I still don't know the strength of yours, but I'm sure yesterday's fluke won't recur." Thawm explains as she casts a spell and holds out a hand glowing softly yellow.

d20+Caster Level: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Is it DC 18, by any chance? I can try 4 more times...

Keldor waits patiently out of the way but with Gauntlet summoned and ready, and near enough in case the Xill suddenly changes its mind and decides to attack.

"I trust Thawm's magic any day: She will do right by you. I personally guarantee it."

Basil attempts to retrieve what raw materials she can of the ammunition she used, and checks to see if any parts of Hellions chassis were specifically reinforced with any metal - sky or otherwise - that would be worth retrieving for crafting-purposes.

Not expecting anything, but worth a shot to take a look. That Adamantine Ammo was invaluable against all the stuff with hardness...When the Xill starts pacing near Thawm, Basil attempts to reassure it: "Worry not, Zaagmander. You kept your word, we'll keep ours. A curse, by its nature, is hard to overcome. But we will remain with you and attempt to release you until the deed is done, as we promised."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 Just to ensure there's some patience and it doesn't freak out in case the attempts fail. If we need a high roll like 17+ to actually break it with that CL, it may take a couple more days. But it should still realize we are it's best hope and not throw that chance away carelessly because it became impatient.

Zagmaander allows the Nethysian theurge to cast her spell and then waits, eyes closed and breath held. After a few moments, she exhales, the sound coming out in exasperated hissing. "The paaaain. The pain issss sssssstill here. Your god seemsss no better than Hellion."

There is a moment of tension following the blasphemy before Basil speaks her piece. Zagmaander considers her, mandibles clicking unnervingly.

And she remains seated, making no movement to draw her laser torch. Yet.

"Very well. Tryyy again. I have waited thissss long. Your god has granted you moooore, so I will waaait a little looonger."

Zagmaander looks expectantly at Thawm, but gives a sibilant aside to Basil. "You sssssound like Meyaaaaanda. Ssssheee said the sssame thing before she left. Yet you ssseeeem stronger, if by a bit." The xill pauses and makes a sound that would almost sound like a laugh, were it not for the hissing and clicking. "Yooou look like her, toooo."

That was close to the DC, but not quite there! With a +13 in both Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft and rolling with a take 10 to move us along, Thawm knows that...

Most rudimentary curses are bestowed with a spell of the necromancy school available to both arcane and divine casters: quite possibly one that Thawm herself has prepared.

If the curse was inflicted by the greater version of the spell, then unfortunately Thawm would not be able to remove it at her current state of power. If the curse was a conditional one, then Zagmaander would know and be able to state the conditions for removal. But the nature of this curse, as Thawm understands it, suggests that this is more of the rudimentary type: still powerful, but not qualifying as a major or greater curse.

Reasoning it out, Thawm knows that at the level of abjuration that she just commanded, she should have been able to undo the necromancy of the average spellcaster. It suggests that...carry the one, cube the red sphere, point with the finger of the scorched black hand aaaand...

Yes, a caster of this caliber would either be one of the most intelligent people in Golarion, nearly prescient in wisdom, or possessed of a remarkably charismatic wit. Powerful.

Mechanically, Bestow Curse is most commonly cast as a Level 3 or 4 spell, with a slight lean towards 3. If DC 18 had been successful, then it would suggest a caster with a casting stat of 20 or lower (10+3+5), or an arcanist, wizard, or sorcerer (or bloodrager technically) with a casting stat of 18 or lower (10+4+4). However, the DC is clearly higher, meaning that the person who cast this curse likely has a casting stat of 22 or higher.

Also, what an interesting question, Basil! Reviewing the second book of the AP, I cannot find an explicit indication of what Hellion's arachnid robot chassis was made out of. However, lore suggests a term that y'all probably haven't heard in a while...

While waiting for Thawm to prepare her spells, Basil looks over Hellion's chassis and determines that it is made entirely out of Numerian Steel: glaucite, an alloy of adamantine and iron. In fact, there has been a tremendous amount of glaucite throughout Scrapwall, the same as in most ruins throughout Numeria. Unfortunately, it probably won't do her any good without the proper tools, and even then would probably be a challenge to scavenge much from.

Thawm opens her mouth and closes it again.
"No ordinary thaumaturge cursed you. Do you know who-?

She then shakes her head and she tries again.
remove curse 2: electric bugaloo: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
"Sorry, that wasn't quite right either."
Thawm scrunches up her face in concentration and tries a third time.
remove curse 3rd time is the charm?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

The third time is the charm!

Thawm's second attempt to remove the curse fizzles. Zagmaander remains calm and answers the question. "Iii remember her wellll, but the Ghooost Wolf witchhh is likely looooong deeeead."

The theurge concentrates on the curse, and her vision focuses down. She sees the necromantic energy criss-crossing in runic patterns all across the xill's flesh. The runes are Hallit in origin, and their energy is hundreds of years old. They seem to tell a story. The way to undo the curse, Thawm realizes, is to trace the story back, as though the original caster wanted to ensure that any who tried to undo it would know the reason behind the curse. So Thawm follows the story.

Long ago, the Ghost Wolf tribe of the Sellen Hills were preyed upon by a blood-red ghost with four arms. This ghost would appear suddenly and attack the tribe members, who would fall still. Before anyone could respond, the ghost would disappear. Sometimes the victims disappeared with the ghost, but sometimes they were left behind. Every victim appeared to recover initially. But within a day they would fall into sheer agony. The tribe's shamans were vexed--none knew why the tribesmen in their care suffered. But within hours they were dead, their bodies appearing to have been consumed from the inside out.

This went on for generations. The legend of the Blood Ghost was passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, with the warning to always be prepared. Some thought it was a witch tale meant to frighten them, until the Blood Ghost struck again. The warning eventually passed on to a young woman who grew to unite the Ghost Wolves. This young woman, Xol-Nalur, worked for years to lay a trap for the Blood Ghost. In her late years, her hair grayed and her skin weathered, she finally succeeded. After a long battle, she was unable to kill the Blood Ghost, but she cursed its flesh, binding the ghost to always be seen.

After hundreds of years bound to the Material Plane, the Blood Ghost Zagmaander, huntress of the Sellen Hills, oldest living denizen of Scrapwall, breathes a sigh of relief. "Yoooouuu have keptttt your woooord. And Iiii will keep miiiine."

The xill stands up to her full height and stretches her four arms to the ceiling above and the sky beyond. She reaches those arms up and undoes the clasps on her bracers, which clatter to the ground at her feet. She also drops the laser torch, which spins gently in place on the ground.
"Theeeese are yooooursssss now. Fareweeell, mooortaalsssss."

Zaagmander's flesh begins to become translucent as she slowly fades away to return to the Ethereal Realm from whence she came.

The mithral bracers are worth 800 gp and this is the laser torch.

What do you do now?

Keldor gathers the bracers and places them in his pack. He then offers the strange weapon made of light to the others.

I have plenty of melee weapons now, including the chainsaw which I'm now proficient with. The laser torch is a melee touch attack weapon, and is not penalized for low strength.

"We have many people to see before heading back to Torch. We should let them know that the city is safe from that monstrosity. I wonder which gang will take the lead from here?"

As Keldor mentions, the others consider the truth of that statement. There were many people between Scrapwall and Torch that would be worth checking in with. Dinvaya, the fluid-addicted alchemist, Sevroth and the Steel Hawks, and Redtooth and her ratfolk all come to mind. Who will you seek first, if any of them?

I think Redtooth and the ratfolk are the best to speak to first. They are closer and more 'family' oriented I think. But that's just speculation on my part.