We decide leave to leave our mounts in the good care of the survivors of Fort Awesome (I think it should be renamed in the exalted honor of Sarenrae), and ford the river. But, being a weak swimmer, I cling on to Aakpesh. Not only is he a great swimmer, but while crossing he catches a big river eel with 3 eyes, kills it, hands it to me to carry for food later. We all swim over, except Tenlow -he just walks along the bottom of the cold river.
After a while, we see Scrapwall in the distance. It – well, how do I put this nicely – it looks like someone added an S to the beginning of the name as a kindness. From here, it mostly just appears to be one big mound of refuse and rubbish. Up ahead to the left, we see half a dozen people heading up a rough road. To the right, a white mist/fog.
We check out the fog. I try to concentrate my senses on the middle of it, and it sure seems like something is going on there, but actually discovering what’s happening would take hours and I don’t trust this fog. Perhaps it’s trashfire exhaust? Perhaps something more nefarious? It smells damp like fog, but feels off. My hackles are raised – something’s just not right about fog. We decide to leave well enough alone.
Heading up to Scrapwall, we see a huge dish in the middle, pointed at Torch. Perhaps this is what the other dish was pointing to? The one we disabled?
As we get to the gate, we’re questioned by a guard behind it. After speaking with the guardsmen, a woman of authority arrives – Sevroth Slaid. She is most intimidating, and not so much invites but commands us to follow her to her office.
Upon entering, she dismisses her underlings to talk frankly. She is a member of a gang called the Steel Hawks. The Lords of Rust murdered their leader and installed a smiler named Birdfoot as their new commander. She is not happy with this situation. After learning Hatchet Hand‘s fate at our hands, she offers an alliance, but with just her. She doesn’t want to let others know about our relationship. I try to reach out and sense her motives, and they are true: she genuinely hates the Lords. If we take out Birdfoot so she can gain control of the gang, she’ll help us in return.
XP: 880xp
Sevroth informs us that on the West side of town in long thin cavern, is where we may find Dinvaya – the person we told Joram we contact for him. She also says that the fog may be ghosts – I was right to advise we avoid it. She then points us to large clearing – a huge, largely empty area. In it though, are sporadic groups of young toughs – some are playing dice, other skating on boards. This would seems to be the domain of the Steel Hawks.
We head that way, and quickly find trouble. Of the 9 that would do us harm, 7 are quickly dispatched and one runs, leave only one in our midst: Mak. I heal our newly expanded group, and we camp in Mak’s hut.
