Prologue:
Sharae of The River, a human wanderer from the Riverlands, and Criek Prisil, a native ratfolk of Numeria, were roped into trying to save the town of Torch when the mysterious pillar of light that gave the town its name and reason for existence, mysteriously vanished.
Delving into the tunnels beneath the town Criek and Sharae, along with some other adventurers, including a gnomish Professor from Absalom, followed in the footsteps of Khonnair Baine, a wizard and popular town councilor. He had not returned from his second expedition and the town was growing increasingly worried, not least because the forging of sky metals in the flame of Torch's light is how the settlement earned its prosperity which the tyrannical Technic League taxed the town heavily on. Without the Torch, and without Khonnair Baine, the very existence of the community was at stake.
In the tunnels the three friends found a mysterious metal wall and managed to bypass it and discovered, as Khonnair Baine had suspected, that under Torch lay the remains of an ancient starship which had crashed down onto Golarion during the Rain of Stars millenia ago. While exploring the ship the three found many technological wonders still functioning even after all this time. They found Khonnair Baine trapped in a mysterious pod and managed to rescue him. Then returning into the ship they managed to explore and fight until they reached the heart of the vessel where they discovered that a mysterious priestess calling herself a 'Lord of Rust' Meyanda had been redirecting the power from a still operation fusion reactor to a power relay in Torch and then onwards. The party defeated the robot guardian left by Meyanda and ended the theft of power which reignited Torch and brought hope back to the residents of the town.
Back on the surface Sharae, Criek, and their friends discovered that Meyanda had recruited corrupt helpers in Torch that were protecting the power relay that was sending the power on to a tough scavenger settlement known as Scrapwall. The party defeated these and recovered the power relay, ending the threat to the town.
The town councilors urged the party to travel to Scrapwall to discover what Meyanda and the Lords of Rust even wanted with the power of Torch!
After arriving at Torch, Sharae, Criek, and Anody were convinced by a tough gang leader named Sevroth Slad to 'take care' of a rival gang leader named Birdfood in exchange for her cooperation. The party agreed. Birdfood attacked them and as they fought back a mysterious demonic figure appeared on a tech screen and mocked the party while disparaging Birdfood. Then lending Birdfood demonic strength the visage vanished. The party defeated and killed the maddened Birdfood and now they return to Sevroth Slad for answers...
Sevroth, a tough looking human woman with short cropped white hair and tattoos and scars spread over her face and body in equal measure can't help but grin as Sharae and Criek return from their dirty work.
Word travels fast 'round here. And Word is you took care of the damn Smiler that was put in charge of us and cleared out our HQ in the bargain. Sevroth stands up from her stook at the entrance to the scavenger settlement to slap Sharae on her back. You're both alright, though you're 'farmers' about as much as I'm a fairy princess. You've got friends in the Steel Hawks. I'll tell you that.
Then she gets an appraising look.
But that's not what you're here for right? What're you two looking for anyway?
Anody fiddles with his glasses nervously Ah, yes, it was... a largely violent encounter I fear. We've been having quite a few of those lately. Almost the whole time I've been in Numeria actually now that I have a moment to think about it. he looks up at Criek and Sharae.
Sharae inwardly smiles at the over-familiarity of Sevroth, after the slightly austere council of Torch the informality and slightly rag-tag nature of Scrapwall felt welcome, "The Smilers won't be troubling anyone around these parts anymore... do you mind if I ask a question? How did they acquire the power to exert dominion over all of those here? There was something, whilst we were in their 'HQ', that was troubling... the suggestion of another influence here".
Smiling at the professor, Sharae agrees with Anody's observation, "It is a wild place, and much that has needed to be settled has needed to be persuaded with steel... we have endured much, that is for sure".
...and then, having skirted around Sevroth's question somewhat, "We have travelled from Torch and it is fair to say that we are no farmers... please excuse our earlier deception. We are seeking someone that we believe to have travelled here before us.
Sharae leaves the details loose for now, hoping to gauge how trustworthy this Sevroth is...
Sevroth snorts at Sharae Birdfood was just a Smiler lieutenant. They're still around, rust take 'em.
She rubs her eyes in a tired gesture. Right so, to make a long story short. Us Steel Hawks used to be in charge around here. That changed when the Lords of Rust came about. They killed our leader and got that Smiler Birdfood to take us over.
Her mouth turns into a tight grimace as she continues They're deranged psychos, The Smilers, we used to keep 'em in control but they allied themselves to The Lords and now they're the second most powerful gang in Scrapwall next to 'em. There's also The Thralls of Hellion though they don't seem to be doing much recently, and also RedTooth's Raiders. From what I hear they're doing almost as badly as we are... were.
As for your other influence. That's Hellion. I have no bleeding idea what Hellion is but its damn voice booms out over loudspeakers here all the time. You'll hear it soon enough. The Lords are its pets.
Sevroth seems to be honest to Sharae. Certainly admitting to weakness isn't easy for the proud ganger.
As if on cue the loudspeaker closest to the entrance blares out in a deep rumbling voice that has hints of steel to it and more than a hint of malice.
THE THRALLS WERE WEAK! THEY ARE DEAD! BIRDFOOD WAS WEAK! BIRDFOOD IS DEAD! ONLY THE STRONG ARE WORTHY TO SERVE HELLION SO ONLY THE STRONG ARE WORTHY TO LIVE! REMEMBER THE WORDS OF HELLION!
"I...assume that's He-Hellion?" stammers Criek, rattled by the unexpected broadcast. "The name certainly fits, doesn't it?"
He frowns, trying to piece together the various factions that Sevroth describes. "Has Hellion been around a while? Or is...it?...new?
And it controls the Thralls, the Lords of Rust, the Smilers, and has been trying to take over the Steel Hawks and Redtooth's?"
He looks to Sharae and Anody -- "If Hellion is consolidating power here, then do you think it is behind...what we followed here?"
Resting a reassuring hand upon the nervous ratfolk's shoulder, "It certainly seems that this Hellion holds the power around here... and I agree, the woman that we are seeking must surely have been in thrall to this disembodied voice".
Stroking the reassuring sharpness of her starknife, slung low around her waist and an ever present reinder of Desna's curiosity, Sharae asks Sevroth, "The woman we are seeking goes by the name of Meyanda and would have been a day or two ahead of us... have you had much traffic in the last few days? Does the name Meyanda ring a bell?"
Meyanda? Sevroth says incredulously That witch is the one who runs the Lords. Well until lately and then that Barbarian Kulgara took over. So she wasn't even in Scrapwall huh? But she's back? Sevroth grimaces. You two seem to be tangled up with things that are more than us Steel Hawks can handle. I ain't getting us involved in that right now. You're more than welcome to bunk here or at our HQ but other than that...
As Sevroth finishes speaking a raven flies in the window. It has a metallic sheen to it as it lands gracefully on the table. Sevroth is startled by it and stares at it suspiciously.
My word Anody says That's a Silver Raven bearing a message. Items like that certain don't grow on trees, let me see now
Anody retrieves a tiny scroll attached to the leg of the Raven and reads it out loud.
To the newcomers. It seems you have struck a blow against a stooge of Hellion. Come see me at what the locals call The Clockwork Chapel - DL
Like I said... word travels fast Sevroth says Lanlei wants to see you eh? That half elf is crazy but she's a neutral. Heals folks for cheap sometimes so we leave her alone. Those following Hellion don't show her respect though.
Criek peers at the silvery bird curiously - "What's a silver raven? You said 'item'--so it's not alive, then? How does it work?"
Looking up at Sevroth, he continues, "Where is this clockwork chapel? I suppose anybody who's not a friend of Hellion's is going to see us as their friend now? Or tool, at least? So we may as well meet with her."
Criek, you can tell this is a work of magic, not engineering.
It's not far at all Sevroth says explaining the way there Head into Scrapwall from here and then hug the Western wall and you won't be able to miss it
Ah, the answer is magic, Criek Anody says adopting the familiar tone he uses when explaining something Animate Object would be the spell a crafter would use for it
"A place to rest? That would be very much appreciated", Sharae bows courteously, "And do not worry, we shall keep our business with Meyanda... and the rest of these Lords of Rust, far from the Steel Hawks. This Kulgara though? What can you tell us of him... or her?"
The moment that the silver raven lands, Sharae's starknife is in her hands...
You cannot be too cautious... if Sevroth was not expecting it then it may bear ill tidings.
She relaxes soon enough as the good professor reads the message it was bearing, and when Sevroth elaborates, the Desnan suggests to her companions that now is a good a time as any to pay this 'Lanlei' a visit.
Kulgara Sevroth says grimly Is a vicious orc who got a chainsaw from who knows where. She killed our leader in the Scrapmaster Arena when he went one on one against her to try and scrap the rise of the Lords. Now they hold 'auditions' for new recruits there every few days and more and more members of the other gangs are taking up the offer. Give 'em a few months and they'll take over everything here.
Anody is willing to go along with Sharae's plan.
"Yes, the offer of a safe place to rest is most kind--and we shall try not to overstay it."
Criek agrees that visiting lanlei should be the next stop. "should we take her, uh, bird back with us? Or will it find its own way?"
"I am sorry to hear of the loss of your leader... we have endured our share of death whilst we have been following Meyanda's trail - and it does not get any easier", Sharae considers things for a moment, "Now is not the time to be direct against Kulgara, her Lords of Rust nor Meyanda... we must determine the lie of the land and find any vulnerabilities. But, you have our word, the Lords of Rust will not seize power here..."
I hope I haven't committed us to something that we cannot hope to prevent
"For now though, I bid you a good day - if you should need us, we shall likely be with Lanlei"
As they talk the silver raven smoothly springs off from Sevroth's ramshackle desk and, with a sharp snap of its metallic wings, flies out the window where it came from and soars away.
Sevroth nods at Sharae, Criek, and Anody Right, I'd wish you good luck but the only luck around here is the type folks make for themselves. Show you're strong and you'll get respect otherwise you'll have a hard go of it. You've made a good start by taking out that hawk lover Birdfood but he was low on the food chain. Kulgara and Meyanda are a whole different breed With that last bit of advice and warning she waves you goodbye and starts giving orders to the most loyal of her gangers, telling them to spread the word that The Steel Hawks have their home, and hopefully some of their broken spirit, back.
Criek follows Sevroth's directions well as they head deeper into the chaotic junk strewn interior of Scrapwall. Anody's attempts to assist aren't helpful at all though and the ratfolk tunes the good professor out
The name of the community is incredibly accurate. The most notable features of the place are always giant mounds of junk and scrap metal. The town seems deathly quiet at first as if everyone is digesting the meaning of the sudden shift of power at the southern end of the community. They see scavengers, who Sevroth called 'Scrappers', picking over piles of junk for anything of value that might have been missed by others. They keep their heads lowered as the well armed and equipped intruders from Torch move past, not wanting any trouble.
Things change as they pass between two giant mounds of junk that mark the end of the Southern part of Scrapwall. They start to see more ganger activity as Criek guides them around another mound of junk to start travelling NW in parallel to one of the giant walls of twisted metal that mark the border of Scrapwall. A group of a half-dozen orcs bearing a symbol of a vicious looking mechanical talon spot them. Two of them move to threaten the three with menacing shouts and but the other four pull them back. It seems like word is starting to spread.
Soon enough the three enter the narrow valley described by Sevroth. The tumultuous sound of metal grinding on metal issues forth from a constantly churning, grinding wall of gears that blocks off the western portion of the valley. At the end only two larger gears remain motionless, situated at ground level in the center of a wall where one might expect to see a pair of doors.
Ah Anody looks at the moving gears with interest I can see why Sevroth might consider this Lanlei to be eccentric. He peers at the gears closer This quite reminds me of the place I grew up.
"Oh?" Criek responds, somewhat absently as he continues scanning the valley for threats. "I daresay the trash heaps we just passed through brought back memories of my own upbringing -- a great melting pot this Scrapwall is?" he jokes somewhat anxiously. "A great way to learn hiding and running, it was; I hope your sense of, er, nostalgia is a little more pleasant."
Sharae muses aloud, "What a curious place!!! It seems like nothing goes to waste here... everything is repurposed or re-used in some way... yet it seems so very unwelcoming - maybe because the resources here are so limited? Power is everything..."
Seeing the wall at the western end of the valley, and frowning slightly, "Is this where Lanlei is to be found? It's hardly welcoming... and those large gears? Professor, do you think they could be doors?"
Anody checks over the gears with his quite considerable knowledge of Engineering. Hah, well my memories were more pleasant than yours Criek, and most of these gears seem to do not very much at all! Much like what my family gets up to. Not sure I told anyone here that I come from a family of Gear Gnomes. It was always interesting but my passions were far more fired up by more academic pursuits rather than mechanical. Though... the little fire haired gnome taps the wondrous tablet device they retrieved from the starship wreck underneath Torch perhaps I just had to find clockwork of a different sort to tinker with. Hrmm... shaking himself he says No these Gears are just for quite impressive show.
The Professor humms to himself as he checks around the gear wrought facade Now if these noisy gears are for show then... there must be.. Ahah! he finds one of the 'gears', the only one of the smaller ones that isn't turning, to actually be a cleverly disguised switch. He pushes it in and the two giant gears slowly grind open.
The trio move in to a small atrium which contains three stone steps that lead to another pair of smaller gear doors. These ones open into a chapel. They go in and find themselves in a gear shaped room which contains four quite artfully carved statues built from junk and rubble. Each depicts the same giant woman made of clockwork in the act of creating a different clockwork creature, a spider, a boar, a lion, and finally a wyvern. A gear shaped central altar sits in the middle of the room, while three regular doors allow access to other rooms.
My word Anody breathes The Whisper in the Bronze!
"Power is everything, mmm, yes--in all sense of power. Most of the choice items that my family was able to scrounge were claimed by the--" Criek glances around nervously and drops his voice to a whisper, "Technic League. I don't know how they fit in to the gang structure here, but they must? Somehow? They have their hooks in everything, it seems."
He falls silent as Anody opens the door, looking around in awe at the fixtures of the shrine.
"The Whisper...?"
Sharae's voice is reverential, "I had heard tell of worship for Brigh here in Numeria... I suppose of all places in this world, this place of technology would be somewhere where the Whisper in Bronze would find belief. This place is holy ground my friends..."
Anody inspects each of the four statues closely, as he gets closest to the one with the Wyern it suddenly rumbles to life. The woman gets up from her work and turns with clockwork precision to stare at the little gnome. The completely expressionless white and gold mask with lidless and pupil less eyes makes it a very unnerving experience.
Andoy scampers back exclaiming My word! It's a golem! A Junk Golem!
The junk golem, that in construction looks more like a work of art then junk, advances!
"Of course, Brigh! Khonnir had me read her holy texts as part of my alchemical studies! I don't believe I've ever seen her likeness, tho--oh!" Criek starts as the golem begins to move, then attempts to address it.
"Yes, er, hello? Lanlai asked us to come see her, and, well, here we are?"
"It is a thing of beauty, much removed from the junk of Scrapwall... the artifice to construct something like this - surely it must have been made by a master craftsperson. And, to see it in a temple of Brigh... our journey is a thing of wonder my friends"
All the while, Sharae is watching it move... looking for any sign that it will respond to Criek - or attack.
And attack it does. It advances on Criek and impassively brings one beautifully crafted arm down on the surprised ratfolk.
The arms slashes down but Criek manages to get away from the worst of it and only receives a slight nick on his arm.
Anody falls back stuttering Ah, yes, junk golems are quite hardy and can actually repair themselves if they're in a place with a lot of debris about so I don't think we have to worry about that but they are just as mindless as any other golem and I don't think that we can reason...
Criek 5
Fretting about the injury to Criek, Sharae dances in with her starknife brandished before her...
Sharae gracefully slices into the golem. While she doesn't do as much damage as the well aimed strike should have the group can see that the golem is damaged with bits of wire and coils spraying out from the point of impact.
Criek 5
Golem 6
Criek shies away from the golem with a squeak of fear and indignation -- "Some welcome, this!"
He then pelts the thing with bombs--trying to use electricity to shut the thing down with a minimum of physical destruction out of respect for the goddess it represents.
Caught off-balance, Criek fumbles one of his bombs, and it drops short of its target, hitting the floor directly between himself and the golem!
Criek knows, due to Khonnair's extensive tutelage, that clockwork constructs and robots are vulnerable to electricity. Most golems like this one are neither and so aren't either vulnerable to it, or immune.
Criek's first bomb causes minor damage to everyone in the room except Anody. His second however explodes with a massive shower of sparks that seems to consume the creature. When they clear the golem's stoic visage is the only thing that doesn't seem to be damaged. The true nature of the statue is revealed as massive rents show the bits of scrap and junk that it has been created from as they lies scattered about the construct. Still it attacks, turning to Sharae and swinging its metal arms at the Desnan.
Both of them barely miss the daring cleric of the star goddess.
What is the meaning of this disturbance! A voice rings out from the other side of the room from the fight. The golem goes completely still at the sound.
The party turns to see a beautiful half elf woman staring daggers at everyone in the room. She is wearing an artisan's outfit and gripped in one of the hands is a beautifully engraved hammer. Her blonde hair is pulled back from her face by a pair of goggles that are pulled up to her forehead. Her eyes are light coloured and seem very very angry. It seems she has just come out of a door.
Who are you three? she demands to know with her hands at her hips
Anody gapes open mouthed at the woman and his lecture session on junk golems fades away into thin air.
Criek 13
Golem 39
"I'm, er, Criek Prisil, uh, from Torch?" the ratfolk offers uncertaintly in response to the woman's angry query. "we got a message from a--a silver raven? Asking us to call upon a 'lanalei'. And we were directed here. Are--Are you she? And, um, sorry about your creation here...I was a little startled."
Sliding the blade of her starknife back into the sash around her waist, Sharae steps away from the inert golem, "I am so so sorry... we were just admiring the artistry of your statues when your automaton attacked us. It was a fine piece of work and I am sorry that we have damaged it so - if there is anything we can do to restore it to its previous glory, then we would be glad to help"
Sharae wipes away a smear of oil which has deposited itself across her left cheek - in doing so, she spoils the image of the butterfly which she had only this morning delicately painted there. Bowing awkwardly, Sharae was never one for social graces, she introduces herself, "I am Sharae... of the River and of Desna".
...and then pointing to Criek and Anody in turn, "These are my companions - the wild-haired one is Professor Gearon". Sharae pauses for a fraction of a second before continuing, "I was led to believe that we were welcome here... that we were invited guests".
The half elf woman raises an eyebrow for a split second before realization seems to dawn on her. Ah, the newcomers. She brushes past the three of you and turns her attention to the damaged golem.
Wyvern! Present! she commands and the golem, barely holding, together, creaks to attention. She starts examining her creation closely You three did quite a number... Let us see here. Shrapnel suggests.. she turns an appraising eye to all three of you. Alchemy? Clever. Quite clever. Wyvern! Workshop!
The golem turns and, trailing debris as it goes, thuds to the door on the north side of the temple and disappears inside.
The woman follows it saying Well, you may as well come in then. to Criek, Sharae, and Anody.
As she goes she says Lanlei did you call me? Yes I am Cleric Dinvaya Lanlei, devotee of The Clockwork Lady. It is, perhaps, a pleasure to meet you Alchemist Criek of Torch, Sharae of Desna, and Professor Gearon.
The room she leads you into is large and cluttered with all manners of tools and work benches. Clockwork mechanisms clank in harmony as the golem makes its way to a plinth equipped with harnesses and what look like mounted magnifying glasses. In various areas there are piles of all manners of things that seem to be either junk, crafting materials, and even technology of the sort you last saw in the crashed spaceship underneath Torch. On a bronze perch you see the silver raven that brought you to this place. It is as still as a statue.
Dinvaya pulls her goggles down to her eyes as she starts to examine the golem closely Please excuse me if I work while we talk. I find it helps my concentration on other things if I perform devotions to Brigh at the same time.
Anody for his part is fascinated by the piles of almost random items. My word, are you a scavenger? Some of these things are almost as wondrous as the items we discovered under Torch. Look! The little gnome pulls out a slab excitedly that looks a lot like the 'computer' he's been carrying around. Another one!
Dinvaya spares Anody a glance. I am not a scavenger. These things are payment from the denizens of Scrapwall for mainly healing services. I would ask you to please contain yourself.
Oh dear. I do apologize Anody says, he doesn't let go of the tablet though and goes into a cross legged huddle to compare it to the working one that he has.
Dinvaya lets this go and turns to the two of you. Why are you in Scrapwall and why did you kill Birdfood? she asks bluntly. It's only then that she seems to notice that Criek is wounded. Ah, it did actually manage to get something done. she says and with a wave of her hand and a muttered prayer Criek feels his wounds close
Sharae, in another pile your eye catches something that looks like a pistol, not a gunslinger's weapon, but some sort of alien design..
Criek leans forward eagerly to watch the half-elf's work. "Yes, of course...Cleric Dinvaya Lanlei?" he replies, guessing this is her favored means of address. "I too find craft--alchemical mostly, as you noted?--to be calming. As to why we're here, er," he pauses briefly and glances at his companions before deciding to trust Dinvaya in hopes of a lead.
"You see, someone nearly destroyed the town of Torch by attempting to take control of an energy source...buried underneath it? We followed the saboteur--a cleric named Mayenda who called herself a 'Lord of Rust'?-- here, to Scrapwall. And--say, what is it you're doing there? Is this golem powered by both magic and electricity? The interconnections are fascinating!
"Uh, where was I? Oh, yes, we arrived here and attempted to talk with this Birdfood, as the apparent leader of the Lords of Rust? But he set his gang upon us--forced a fight--and even when we had him cornered and offered him surrender...where did you get those spanners? They're lovely!...er, surrender, he was driven on by an image on a screen. ...Hellion, we think? And fought us to the death.
"And, well, then your raven found us and we came here, and...the rest you've seen." he finishes. "Um. Is there anything we can do? To help with repairs, I mean?" he adds, a mix of apologetic and hopeful.
Feeling the familiar healing of the divine - although not quite as euphoric as Desna's blessing - knit her wounds together, Sharae smiles at Lanlei, "My friend has the truth of it... that someone could be so cold that they would see a town destroyed for their own ends - such evils cannot go unchecked. Meyanda's trail led here... only now it seems that she may be part of a larger cabal".
As her eyes wander this place of clockwork tinkering, and alight upon the technological weapon, Sharae continues, "I fear that it has not taken us very long to make enemies within Scrapwall - it would be pleasing to be able to call you friend".
Dinvaya pauses in her work quite a few times as Sharae and Criek relay what they've been through. When she finally responds her fingers and tools seem to fly across the surface of the golem in a flurry as she responds.
The golem is completely powered by magic.... constructs of magic and clockword lie within My Lady in Bronze's domain which extends only weakly to the Numerian wonders that run on tamed lightning... Cleric Meyanda went to Torch? To control an energy source?. That one is a devotee of this Hellion that has made itself a larger and larger presence in Scrapwall and it is her display of 'divine' powers granted by Hellion that... concern me. I used to maintain a quite clear picture of the happenings of Scrapwall with my creations but with the rise of Hellion my view of what is happening in this place has become constrained and that is Not. Acceptable.
Pausing her work for a moment she turns to the group. Uncovering what Cleric Meyanda was up to in Torch will put you in direct opposition to Hellion and his minions. If you are serious about doing that, then you can certainly count me as a friend. So, are you?
"Meyanda is a cleric... of what faith? You say that she is a devotee of Hellion... could it be that Hellion is ascending to godhood? How else could he grant powers to its followers", Sharae muses aloud, "I think that, whatever happens from here on in, Hellion will consider us foe... and I shall consider you friend".
"Now... would you mind telling us a little of when Hellion first came to this place".
As far as I can tell Cleric Meyanda's source of power is Hellion itself. Divaya replies without turning about It is most certainly not a god, but powerful enough to have granted her profane powers. Maybe it is a demi-god, or a demon lord of some sort perhaps. Whatever it may be there have always been murmurs of it for the twenty years that I have been a resident of Scrapwall and a small cult to it, the Thralls, have always been about. About a year ago however it has made it's presence overtly felt with these 'Lords of Rust' that started to attack and take territory and prestige from the gangs that have always run Scrapwall. They decapitated The Steel Hawks, pressed Redtooth's Raiders to the brink, made willing servitors out of The Smilers, and the Thralls and the Lords essentially now rule, or at least The Lords do. I do not know what happened to the Thralls but they have not done anything for a few months now which is another mystery that I find quite curious. In any case I think it is only a matter of time before they consolidate control and sweep away anyone who does not kowtow before them. I would certainly be a target of that. Your actions with taking out Birdfood is the first time that anyone has struck back successfully at their expanding control.
Finally deciding that her repairs are done for now, and she has made quite a lot of progress in repairing the damage inflicted by the three of you, the cleric of Birgh raises her goggles and swivels around on her cunningly made stool to face you. All I can say for certain is that the base of their power is the Scrapmaster Arena, at the very center of Scrapwall, it is where the bulk of The Lord's forces are stationed. They have been bolstered by quite a few gangers who have jumped ship from the other gangs as the Lords have ascended.
Dinvaya gets up from the stool and dusts herself off Your answers are there. However if you go now you will find it heavily guarded. Scrapwall has always been ruled by fear and Hellion commands almost all of that now. You three have started to make names for yourselves. If you continue to do so then I believe you will find that the cowards who attached themselves to the Lords like bits of rust will shake themselves free rather than face you. That should make any expedition into the Arena quite a bit easier. I have a task for you that would aid you towards that objective.
Sharae, having spent enough time in Numeria with the good professor to appreciate Lanlei's artistry, smiles, "Divide and conquer... let us pick away at the weak edges of Hellion's domain. Tell us, where should we start?"
Criek watches in rapt attention as Dinvaya works, occasionally murmuring to himself. "...incredible..." The melding of craft and magic -- so much to learn here! Would that we can wrap up this business with Meyanda quickly and I can return to my studies.
"Meyanda -- yes, we have to find out what she's about and make sure there's no further threat to Torch. And it should be nice to have a friend here in Scrapwall while we investigate."
His mood dampens considerably, his whiskers drooping as Dinvaya goes on about the extent of Hellion's forces at the Arena, until she offers a side task.
"Why, yes -- what is this task you need done!?" he fairly leaps at the chance to both please the cleric of Brigh while also delaying a showdown at the Arena.
"Er, and, speaking of friends, and these various gangs, what do you know of Sevroth? We seem to have helped her in our encounter with Birdfood -- is she one whom we can rely on?"
That Sevroth did not turn coat and join the Lords speaks well enough for her I judge. If she had the Hawks would have scattered for certain and the Lords would have rewarded the betrayal richly. As for
As Dinvaya responds she's suddenly interrupted.
I got it working!, Look! Anody suddenly leaps up as he waves the black rectangular device he'd discovered in Dinvaya's piles of junk payment. The 'front' of it is no longer black, but lit up like a torch with icons on it very much like the one they found under Torch. It was just a matter of ahah, turning it off and on again, acutally, and my word... this one seems to have more functions.. let's see here.. it's actually detecting other technological items in the vicinity! It can create a remote link with the other computer, oh my word this is wonderful and it's detecting another charged item.. Anody practically skps around the workshop holding the tablet up like some sort of viewing portal. Ah Anody grabs the pistol Sharae had noticed and starts waving it around. It looks like a mini cannon on his small frame I think I can link into it with a remote diagnostic function and...
ENOUGH! Dinvaya says striding over to Anody and yanking the pistol out of his hand. This is My workplace and I will not have you wandering around conducting repairs that stink of The Technic League!
Oh dear! Anody says in a very small voice at Dinvaya's anger. I uh, assure you dear lady, that I am in no way affiliated with The Technic League. I just seem to have an affinity for technology that I've been aware of since I first ran across some Numerian refugees in Absalom and especially when I first started to teach myself..
Be that as it may! Dinvaya shuts the gnome's ramblings down My trust of you is considerably diminished by this turn of events. I insist that at least one of you remain here as a 'guest' to ensure that you do NOT go running off to the League and informing them of my whereabouts. This is not negotiable. Dinvaya states flatly staring daggers at the three of you. You grow aware that she is quite probably a very dangerous person to cross.
Anody for his part slumps back down to the ground, cross-legged and starts tapping surreptitiously away at his new prize.
A flush of embarrassment colours Sharae's cheeks as Anody is scolded - and the implications of travelling onwards as a pair, when the group had started out as more than a handful, are slightly sobering... even though there was a new found confidence about Sharae and Criek recently.
Addressing Lanlei in a voice that is soft and appeasing, "Let me reassuring you, the good professor is about as far from the League as it would be possible to get... I do understand your concern though. This is a dangerous place... it would be better to travel as three - yet, if those are your terms?"