Ever since the elves and the Wildhammer Dwarves' gryphon riders had left, Proudmoore's long-range reconnaissance had gone downhill. They did not even know whether the two orc legions on the border had made any moves.
The orc legion that had halted at the Gourd Grounds blocked their path. They had sent several small light cavalry squads through the marshes to scout the movements of the two orc legions, but not a single squad had returned. Every scouting squad they sent vanished without a trace, so all the officers agreed that their chances of survival were slim.
Early the next morning, the five elven gryphon riders aboard the sole remaining aircraft carrier took off to scout the orcs' movements in the Wetlands. That evening, they brought back grim news: the two orc legions on the border had entered the Wetlands.
Besides the regular Orcs Forces seen in the previous war, two new types of troops had appeared in the orc army this time. One was ogre warriors. The other looked much like human heavy cavalry, except that white flames rose from all four hooves of their horses.
Those flames did not burn the dry grass on the ground. On the contrary, they were bitterly cold. Wherever this human heavy cavalry passed, the marshes and mud pools turned into cold, solid ice.
Each of the two orc legions advancing from the border had a unit of these troops serving as its vanguard. The Orcs Forces marched along the solid ice left in their wake, allowing them to advance quite quickly.
The gryphon riders suspected that these unusual human cavalrymen had wiped out the scouting squads Proudmoore had sent. These strange riders could ignore the terrain of the Wetlands, turning marshes and mud pools into solid ice and moving freely through the swamps