Very Early on the fourth day of their quest for the Eye of the Basilisk, Remus and his party of unlikely adventurers made their way to the vine-covered ruins of Genesis; a combination of an abandoned fortress and settlement on the border of the Human Kingdom and the Badlands where the Orcs inhabit but what they found shocked them.
In the keep of the castle itself, they found the magic core and just one eye of the slain Basilisk surrounded by stone statues of petrified adventurers who attempted to defeat the monster in the past.
"What does this mean?" Gregory asked.
"It means that someone beat us here and slew the Basilisk," Andrea said. "My only question is why go through all that trouble and then leave one eye as well as the magic core? These two items will be worth a fortune."
"I think that I can answer that," Leo said. "I found some bodies of Orc soldiers in the next room. They look like they died fairly recently."
"Orc soldiers?!" Gregory exclaimed. "The Orcs wouldn't dare send soldiers this far east unless they were looking for a fight."
"Indeed, it would be interpreted as an act of war," Andrea said. "Hypothetically, if they were planning an invasion then the first town they would encounter would be Dirtmouth. We should investigate there."
"Oh no," Leo said. "We have to get there quickly and check if they're alright," Leo said.
"I thought that you were too ashamed to face them," Andrea asked.
"We should move quickly," Remus said. "They might be in danger."
It was almost nighttime when they got to the town of Dirthmouth but most of the townspeople had been turned to stone and the rest were locked in chains. The Orcs had also set up camp in their homes. Remus observed them making supper in large blackened iron pots on wood fires.
Remus and his party regrouped just beyond the town to avoid getting spotted.
"If I just abandoned my pride and went to the town then none of this would've happened," Leo said.
"I think those people had been turned to stone for a few days at least," Remus said. "Even if we went there yesterday, it wouldn't have made a difference."
"What are we going to do now?" Gregory said. "We can't let them get too far. We have to send a message to the King."
"We should kill the orcs," Andrea said.
Remus thought for a few moments.
"What poison is both undetectable and potent against Orcs but not humans?" Remus asked.
"That would be Reekus root," Leo said. "It is used to treat metal-based poisons in humans but is toxic to Orcs and it can't be easily detected without advanced tools."
"Where can we find it?" Remus asked.
"It grows in old ruins," Leo said.
"Like the one in Genesis..." Remus said. "This is the plan; Leo and Gregory are going back to the ruins to get some Reekus root. Andrea and I will scout the Orcs and figure out where we can place the poison without getting caught."
As Leo and Gregory left to locate and retrieve the Reekus root, Andrea scouted the Orcs using her special espionage skill.
"What did you find?" Remus asked.
"The survivors are chained in the Town Centre but are heavily guarded," she said. "The Orcs seem to be congregating around the food. It seems like it's almost supper time."
"Good."
Leo and Gregory arrived after dark with plenty of poisonous Reekus root. Leo prepared it into a green liquid and Andrea infiltrated the town of Dirtmouth and poured the liquid into their stew without a moment to spare.
After a few hours, the Orcs collapsed all over town. Remus and his cohorts strode in and freed the rest of the townspeople. A frail old man came over to thank them.
"My name is Octavius and I'm the leader of this town," the old man said. "On behalf of the people of Dirtmouth, I would like to thank you for your bravery."
Andrea was able to identify the leader of the Orc troops and Leo gave him the antidote to the poison.
Once he was awake, Remus attempted to interrogate him while his hands and feet were chained to a tree.
"If you tell me what I need to know then I might spare your life," Remus said. "What are your plans for the invasion?"
The Orc merely smiled before biting his tongue and choking to death.
"Well that was a waste of time," Gregory said. "We still have no idea how many Orc soldiers crossed the border and what their plans are."
"I found something," Octavius said. "I don't know what it is but perhaps you may find this useful."
He handed over two items; One of them was the second eye of the basilisk covered in a linen shroud and the other was a small flag attached to a long piece of wood. The flag had a strange black symbol painted on a field of red.
"I speak a little Orcish," Andrea said. "I believe that's a military standard denoting the name of the Orc division. It means 'scout'."
"Hmm," Remus said pensively. "So this was just a scouting party."
"Their main forces may be just beyond the fog canyon," Andrea said.
"We need to alert the king," Gregory said.
"By the time we do that the Orcs may have crossed the border," Leo said.
"Not if we delay them," Remus said. "Gregory and a few men from the village will ride horses to Newtown to alert the King while the rest of us will set up fortifications to hold back the Orcs as long as we can."
"I can't leave you behind to face a horde of Orcs," Gregory protested.
"Once it looks like they will break through I will flee with the rest," Remus assured him. "If we don't try to delay them here then by the time the army comes, they will have no chance."
Gregory relented and left in a hurry for Newtown the next day.