Though Leander didn't believe the orcans capable of the magical feats necessary to corrupt Demonbane, he wasn't willing to make assumptions. He dispatched you to the south, where you spoke with Kirash, who explained about the presence of mekonari marauders—magical mercenaries. You crept into the bivouac, killed a dark marauder, and escaped with a scroll of demonic script. Leander translated part of it and learned the location of the mastermind—in the Tainted Gorge. Orcans have some magic, but nothing of the level we're encountering. There's something else we're missing here.<NEXTPAGEBUTTON>"Perhaps the orcans have allies."</NEXTPAGEBUTTON> Exactly. Not just any ally, but someone more than magically adept. Kirash is keeping watch on the orcan bivouacs. Speak with him and find out if he knows anything about this. Oh, we're watching the orcans, but they're not what's interesting. Look out there—see those bird-headed creatures with the large staves?<NEXTPAGEBUTTON>"Bird heads?"</NEXTPAGEBUTTON> Those are mekonaris and most of them are magical adepts. Who knows why these {@LinkCreature:13#601#dark marauders} are working with the orcans, but it won't be to our benefit. We must remain at our post, but sneak closer and capture or kill one of the marauders. Perhaps there are clues to be found. A scroll, eh? Intriguing. With luck it's their operational plans. Bah! This scrawl is illegible. Let Leander earn his reputation. Take it to him, <PCNAME>. We remember tales of the mekonaris. While their god sleeps in a great golden egg, they sell their magical prowess to nearly anyone. Mercenaries of the worst kind. Pah! It's not surprising they'd work with these orcans. See what you can learn from one of them! Marauders? More like carrion eaters. What are they after? Why are they here? Let us look more closely at that scroll. It's not scrawl, it's demonic script. It's hard to translate, but one description is familiar. The rift to the east—we call it the Tainted Gorge. The mekonaris' master is there.