Almost certainly- remember, this world doesn't seem to have any magic. It's possible that they don't even understand what they did. One of them made a bargain- possibly to try to revive the town, given what Alenko learned, even though the orb was either unable or unwilling to restore the people to true life.

Which raises the question- what was the price? The orb tried to drain me, but I'm not sure it it was to sustain itself or to keep me from learning something.