The Orc Bands
Orcs have grown more common around Phandalin, according to Adabra Gwynn. Dax says the ones he fought were agitated by something they called a dragon. The seven that came to the excavation wanted a fort; the party has not established a common motive or command structure for every band in the region.
Encounters so far
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Dax was found wounded amid five dead orcs on the road to Gnomengarde, carrying their rumors of a dragon in the area (Session 2).
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Day-old tracks of a sizable band led Sage and Hamish to a large orc encampment down a split trail near the excavation. The party bypassed it (Session 5).
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Seven orcs came up the canyon to the Temple of Abbathor at a raider’s pace, scouting the ruin as a fort — “This’ll make a good fort. Good new base.” All seven died in the entrance hall, but three of the party went down first (Session 6).
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Six dead orcs lay on the approach to Mountain’s Toe Gold Mine. Bean, Hamish and Rut examined them together and read the cold injuries as apparent white-dragon work. The party did not see the attack or the dragon; no tie to a particular band was established (Session 9).
What they know about the party
The war-leader of the seven stopped dead when it saw Dax and asked whether he had been near Gnomengarde. So you killed our men. Whatever passes for word of mouth among the bands, Dax is in it — and his answer was to promise more of the same. Nobody in the party has any idea how many bands are out there, or whether the encampment down the split trail has noticed yet.