Once Imsh was slain, the group mopped up the situation. West calmed Imsh's warhorse and took it into custody, while Gronk searched Imsh's body and Oleg kept watch against further trouble. There were no clues on Imsh's body, so the party pondered their next move as West slowly worked the spines out of himself and his bear. The group decided to return Voimli to town, head West to investigate the wizard, and then leave in a day or two for Ker Bazainn.
The next morning, as the gate opened, the group returned to Irongate. One of the guards recognized Voimli, and mentioned that his immediate family turned up dead the previous evening. He offered to return the body to his clan for funeral rites, and the party gratefully accepted. The party went shopping, acquiring a map of the South Province and selling most of Imsh's gear. With some quick computation, they discovered that even on horseback, they'd have to leave immediately to catch the cart out of Ker Bazainn.
The party rapidly changed plans. They acquired more horses, with gear and feed, gave Oleg the morning to scribe, and left that afternoon for Ker Bazainn. The trip was a mostly uneventful four days, though the party did notice several pantherlike beasts prowling the hills. The third evening, one attacked the camp in the early hours of the night. It was a light gray color, with two long, odd tentacles sprouting from its back. It fought fiercely, but fled before it could be slain, despite the party's best efforts. Even West's summoned bears had trouble connecting with the beast. The group also noticed a reflection off of one ankle, presumably a bracer of some kind. Unfortunately, since it escaped, they were unable to examine it further.
The party hid on a hill overlooking the gate of Ker Bazainn, southernmost city in the evil South Province of the Great Kingdom. A large wall sourrounds the city, with six large towers looming above them. A stout inner keep completes the defense. A strange white mist was flowing from the walls to the south, towards Brotherhood-controlled lands. As the party watched, a large demonic figure swooped down into the keep. Shaken, they retreated to camp and retired for the evening.
The next morning, as the note predicted, a single cart, pulled by two horses driven by a lone old man, left Ker Bazainn at daybreak. The group intercepted, and the old man, Suth, mistook Gronk for Imsh. Oleg and West decided to play along, and kept mostly quiet, acting as mercenary associates of 'Imsh'. As they traveled, Gronk attempted to convince Suth to let them examine the cargo, a set of tapped barrels. The fact that they were tapped already disturbed Oleg, since barrels usually don't get tapped until right before they're used. Suth told them they could do whatever they wanted, but reminded them of how powerful and frightening the man who hired him was.
When the group stopped for lunch that day, Gronk tested the contents of the barrels, and determined that they appeared to carry some sort of alcoholic beverage. West detected poison, and discovered there was some sort of posion associated with the cart and its contents. West detected magic, and got stunned by an extremely powerful emanantion from the bed of the cart. Closer inspection revealed that the cart bed was much taller than it ought to be, leading the party to believe something was hidden within it.
The next afternoon, as they traveled, the group spotted a patrol of orcs heading towards them from Zelradton. The party members had some misgivings, but Suth kept close-lipped. The orcs had closed with the cart by midafternoon, a good score of them. Suth offered them the 'expected bribe' ... all of the barrels of alcohol! This explained why they were all tapped. West detected poison again, and was able to clarify that the posion also came from within the cart, and not from the containers. Nevertheless, the orcs proceeded to get extremely drunk. One harassed Gronk, calling him human, taunting and pushing him. Soon, all the orcs were surrounding them, elbowing, yelling, and rooting. With some minor difficultly, Gronk managed to subdue the orc without killing him. Much money changed hands among the orcs, making Oleg rue not wagering on the outcome.
By nightfall, all of the orcs had passed out, and Suth had retired away from the festivities to get some sleep. Boldly seizing the opportunity, the party absconded with the cart, kidnapping Suth in the process. They rode it north for an hour in the hopes of fooling the orcs, then turned west into the hills towards Irongate. The horses only had enough energy left to get the cart behind one of the first hills before they needed to rest for the evening, so the party stopped and made camp. They kept close lookout, but no pursuit was forthcoming. Over the next two weeks, they slowly made progress towards Irongate. They pumped Suth for information, but were unable to learn anything useful from him. They were also forced to scare off a couple of the gray pantherlike beasts, but none actually attacked their camps.
With only two days of travel left, the party noticed a large group of humanoids chasing them. Oleg surmised the owner of the cart must have scried out its location, and sent a group after them to retrieve it. The group decided to send Oleg ahead to warn Irongate of their impending arrival, and the pursuit behind them. Oleg rode hard for town, burning his horse out to arrive that evening. Gasping for breath, he called out for Tebur. Once Tebur arrived, Oleg explained the situation. Tebur told him they could bring the cart to the walls, but they wouldn't be allowed inside with it. He also assured Oleg that whatever was inside wouldn't be able to harm or penetrate the walls of the city. Oleg got some rest that evening, and then rushed back to the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, West and Gronk were riding the cart at best speed towards Irongate, trying to stay one step ahead of their pursuit without killing the horses. Their pursurers continued to close, but it looked like they wouldn't quite catch up before the party got under the city's walls. The next day, after Oleg caught up, the party did indeed manage to drive the cart to the walls just before the humanoids, revealed to be orcs, caught up. They lined the hills about 400 feet away, yelling and shouting. They broke into a charge, heading straight for the party. About fifty feet into cheir charge, though, the whole group fell into the earth, and none emerged.
The party still had the not-insignificant problem of the cart to deal with. They called up the walls, yelling for Tebur or a guard, to no avail. They also tried pounding on the gate, but there was no reply. Extremely frustrated, the party dragged the cart away from the walls, back into the hills. Examining it closely, they discover a wooden plug in the cart bed. Oleg uses magic to open it, and a viscous black fluid starts ebbing out onto the ground. Within seconds, all the grass in 150' had turned brown and started dying. Oleg quickly used another spell to replug the cart. As the party watched, aghast, the grass went from brown to black, and then turned to powder.