-----Caranip is there at Raven's shoulder while he sits on the ground. She seems to listen intently on what Raven says to the humanoid. One little hand digs in one of her pouches and draws forth something small and fluffy.
-----The orc already stares at the hunter with eyes large and tinged with a bit of fear. Raven looks down at the ground and the humanoid follows his line of sight.
-----Suddenly, the ground just off to the ranger's right seems to be moving or rather crawling! Looking closer, a mass of reddish ants swarm from among the blades of grass and steadily move toward the prone orc. The swarm continues to grow and it appears as if there are thousands of ants approaching steadily with their front line only yards from Caranip, Raven and the orc.
-----The orc suddenly looks back at Raven with a very nervous pleading expression. It rasps out something in a voice high with fear.
-----Meanwhile, the small gnome stares at the ants with an intense concentrated expression.
-----Raven looks back at Caranip with a bit of shock, but Raven tries to hide his surprise from the orc. Raven grabs the orc by the tunic and lifts him roughly to his feet, growling out more in the orcish language.
-----Still eyeing the creeping mass of insects, the orc answers Raven with its frantic tone.
-----A look of frustration comes over Raven's face. Raven turns to the group and says, "This orc says the best way into the keep is through the front door." Raven snarls with anger and than continues, "He also says the keep will send out more orcs to search for him when it gets dark out. I'm running out of patience with him, anyone else have a question? Should I ask him to draw us a map of the keep? He is so stupid I don't know how much help it would be. One thing we might want to do is to hide the dead orc bodies or maybe setup an ambush..." Raven stops in mid sentence and then smiles, "Just an idea, but how about if we arrange the dead orcs so they are sitting around a camp fire. We get a good fire going to get their attention. We then wait to ambush the next bunch of orcs."
-----Strolum speaks up and says, "How 'bout we also put some o' th' orc armor on n' walk round jest ta throw 'em off?!"
-----Sarah wrinkles her nose in distaste. "There is no way I am putting on anything that an orc once wore." She says, holding a hand to her stomach as if to ward off nausea at the very idea.
-----Raven wrinkles his nose also. Raven then says, "Some of us could just wear some of their cloaks. In the dark that might be enough." Raven looks around, "Well, let's find a clearing and start to setup the bodies."
-----Raven turns to Caranip, "Thank you for your help. Nice touch."
-----Sarah's grin to Caranip showed her inner enthusiasm. "Yes Caranip, very well done." She said.
-----Sol scratches his head for a few seconds as he reshifts his thinking of the gnomish girl. He then nods to Raven's suggestion and replies, "Sounds fine t'me, we'll do it that way."
-----The gnomish girl smiles effectively dispelling her magic, and causing the ants to disappear. "Thank you!" She says beaming up at Raven.
-----Looking at Sarah, she brightly adds, "That's better than that frog you first saw me with." Caranip then ponders inwardly and says, "It seems like the spells work better when there's a real purpose to cast them."
-----As the afternoon progresses, the party finds that it is best to use the eastern ridge to set up the "orc's campfire." That way, they can prop up the bodies of the humanoids while still using the cover of the ridgeline.
-----Strolum, Dilton and Pil pick through the dead orcs' belongings grabbing up cloaks and helmets to help disguise them. All three men seem grim and a bit disgusted even though Strolum had volunteered themselves in this way. The smell that rises from the clothing as well as the bodies soon gives an answer to the dour moods. Still, the three warriors set about helping in the arrangement of the orcish remains.
-----Garrison quickly races back and forth between the forest and the ridge. After a few hours, the woodsman has accumulated enough wood for a fairly good-sized bonfire. He occasionally chuckles at the three warriors in their orcish getups.
-----For now, Lovan seems to be at peace with the current events. The storm priest even helps Garrison and the others with the placement of wood for the bonfire. He frequently peeps over the ridge, nodding toward the keep as if satisfied to wait for nightfall.
-----All the while, the captive orc lies on the ground while Raven's wolf stands guard over the bound humanoid. The orc makes no sound and seems to be effectively cowered.
-----In the late afternoon, Rinda takes the form of a magnificent bird of prey. She quickly takes to the air and soars high over the stronghold. After a while of circling, the bird of prey is seen alighting among the towers. For the better part of an hour's time, she is gone.