The Trap

The adventurers traveled along the tree-line, headed east towards the mountains, as they had decided that the source of the trouble would be found at a site marked "Oblivion" on their strange map. One afternoon, the Sylinnea spotted a column of smoke rising up from the prairie to the north. It was too stable to be a brushfire, and too large for a normal campfire, so the group decided to investigate.

As they crested the rise, they discovered a large bonfire, and a box-type cart, similar in construction to the one that had disgorged the "demon bug" at the Anhkeg ravine. The party approached cautiously, as whoever had been tending to the fire was nowhere to be seen. Mira's sharp eyes picked out two ropes that were tied to the cart on its bottom, but she lost them in the tall grasses. Suddenly, as the group drew near the cart, the ropes were pulled taut by orcs that had burst forth from blinds in the grass. The cart fell apart as supports were pulled free, and a swarm of enormous angry snakes assailed the party! At the same time, Sylinnea noticed that other blinds were revealing their occupants as well - more orcish warriors with a pair of basilisks in the vanguard were rapidly advancing on the party.

Since basilisks were famous for their ability to turn creatures to stone with a glance, the adventurers opted for a cautious strategy, hiding their eyes behind shields and such as they fought. This made fighting harder, but the orcs and snakes were at the same disadvantage - in fact, one of the snakes caught the gaze of a basilisk and was instantly petrified. The battle was very tense, but the basilisks were put down before one of the party could be turned to stone, and the orcs were quickly killed afterwards - save one, who was knocked unconscious.

Sylinnea was startled at the obvious proof that the orc clans were working together - as these warriors were clearly from the Serpent Strike and Stone Gaze clans. Historically the orc clans warred more amongst themselves than any outside people, and thus were rarely a threat to the kingdom. When the prisoner awoke, questions were asked about why the clans were allied together, and the vague response was that the "masters" taught them to be strong. Further pushes for information on the identities of these "masters" were unsuccessful, as it became apparent that the prisoner feared for something more important than his life, should he talk. Through auditory illusions, Mira was made disembodied noises in an attempt to coerce the orc to speak, but the conflict and pressure snapped its mind, and it ran off, gibbering.