Pascorel

Pascorel is a village of humanoids allied with bandits, and lies within the upper Welkwood where there is no clear control of territory. During the Night of Terror, Pascorel’s orcs (some 20% of the 150 residents of the village) were not slain, since they were deemed thoroughly reliable, black-hearted bandit scum like everyone else there. The ruler, “Sir” Diarmeck Halkadon, decreed their lives should be spared, and the orcs have not forgotten (orcs are lawful, after all). They’re thus very loyal to him, and they resent the intrusions from the south. Their attitude toward invading orcs is “who the heck do these upstarts think they are? We were here raiding and pillaging fust!”

Pascorel is home to the Cockatrice Riders, led by Halkadon (a 9th-level fighter known to own a flametongue broadsword). They ride light warhorses, and wear black masks (pointless since everyone knows where they come from) and a single cockatrice feather pinned to the brow of a wide-brimmed hat. Their base within the eastern Welkwood is well hidden and defended, and they take care not to offend the elves to the west (though they would happily kill and loot a small party of elves if they came across one), preferring to pillage north and east.

This group, and thus the village, looted some fair gold during its occupation of Castle Sulafrait and also on a raid south into the orc lands. During the latter, they freed a dozen human slaves, of whom three have made excellent additions to the horsemen (and one, a Hardby merchant, has been kept for ransom).