Bob, chosen headhunter of Mork, led the scouting mission.

"You really think that this is a good idea?" Sophie said, entirely unconvinced of the merits of Bob's amazing plans.

Sophie, Bob and Stella had gone out on a scouting expedition to try and figure out what the death knight was doing. They had taken three horses and promised to turn back if there was a quest or if they got close to making contact. It was Anthony's only requirement. Bob knew that he was irreplaceable. It was getting in the way of his plans.

The scouting party was close to where the savannah gave way to the forests. They had been riding, trying to get a ping, but had nothing to show for their time.

"It's probably good that the death knight isn't moving. Maybe we can do the sensible thing and leave. You know, make like a tree and all that?" Sophie said.

"We have to determine if it's a threat," Bob said, pulling up alongside her. He had asked kindly for one of the bay mares. Both were pleasantly surprised that she had chosen to come along. Stella was her partner in crime. The adventurous duo hadn't spent this much time away from Finley in years. He appreciated how much both mares vibed together, and hoped that Stella and he could grow to be closer. She was gripping her reins a bit tighter today, but it was to be expected. They were out ahead of the group.

"Bob, we're getting nowhere fast. We have a general idea of their location, but at this point I don't think that they're tracking us at all. Otherwise-" Sophie said. "Are those orcs?"

Somewhere in the sea of grass, two figures were walking along without a care in the world. Their tough green skin was visible from a far distance, even under their cloaks. They approached the three mounted scouts keeping their distance.

Bob had an idea of the distance that they could shoot crossbows from and was fairly certain that Sophie had just stopped around there. None of them had ever met an orc before, so this was entirely unexpected.

"They don't look like zombies. They're not acting like zombies, either," Stella said.

"Let me give them a little wave and perhaps we can talk?" Sophie said.

Bob nodded. His favored enemy skill would have told him if they were zombies.

Sophie waved at the orcs trying to convey that they meant them no harm. The orcs looked unarmed. As they got closer, it was clear that they were carrying heavy packs over traveling cloaks. They lowered their hoods to reveal tattooed faces and tall shaped Mohawks. Bob didn't know the difference between orc genders and wasn't keen to make a summary judgment. One had blue facial tattoos on both cheeks and the other had a single red face tattoo on one entire side.

"Good day to you," Bob said, lowering his cloak off of his head. It was probably a good idea to appear open. "I'm Bob and these two are Sophie and Stella. We're heading away from the undead horde which has gripped most of this continent."

The two orcs looked at each other. Perhaps they hadn't heard the news? There was a lot of space in between the dwarven settlements and they weren't entirely certain how the zombification spread so quickly.

"Ah. Well met, humans. This is Song," one said, placing a hand on the other's shoulder, "I am Borgan. We are both members of clan Green Fang. We are here to attend a clan gathering. Please tell us more about this horde."

Bob was taken aback. The orcs smelled like they had been walking for days. And the group was upwind of the orcs. He had to steel his resolve and keep his face on a mask.

"The... Where have you been? We have been to several dwarven villages that have all been overrun to a dwarf. All were turned into zombies," Stella said.

Borgan and Song crossed their arms. Their nearly two meter tall frames made it so that Sophie was eye level with them from atop the horse. After a short look between the two, they turned back to the scouts. The short distance felt like a giant rift between their two groups all of a sudden.

"Is this certain?" Borgan said.

"I'm sorry. Chances are that whatever gathering you are going to might be overwhelmed. Do you know which direction your gathering is?"

"Orcish gatherings are not for outsiders. Such secrets are not given to non-clan members," Borgan said. "Allow us to close this gap. We come in peace."

The horses all watched the short procession. Bob could feel his mare tense up and he gave it several head pats.

Up close, the size of the orcs was even more impressive. They looked like they ate nothing but the jerky of strong animals with a smattering of greens from time to time. Their smell was particularly strong this close and Bob regretted his many choices.

"You're saying that there is a horde of zombies?" Borgan said. "What proof do you have of such strong accusations?"

"Back at our current camp, there are dozens of dead dwarves that clearly were taken by zombification. That would be the best proof I could muster. You are welcome to return with us to Arva, though the walk will be long for you. It took us over an hour to ride here. The town is no secret though, as it is right on the road."

"You can see it from here," Stella said. "There are the walls that we put up yesterday. Only because we're a bit higher from here."

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As they looked, Bob was reminded that they had left Plainsmount going directly towards the death knights icon.

"That explains where you were," Borgan said. "If we weren't already late, then we would investigate."

Song made a complicated sign to Borgan, using both hands. This close it was clear that Borgan's blue tattoos were parts of a seascape. Song's tattoo was clearly a red hand print.

"Song wants to tell you-slow down brother-that he believes you. You're sure about that? Okay. I don't know that orcs would be so easily turned into zombies."

Song slammed his fists on his chest. Borgan nodded.

"We have been traveling to the gathering. We took our time here but strayed a little from the path. We have been going by our clan markers, and have been avoiding dwarven settlements. Song agrees that this is unusual but is willing to see your evidence."

Bob's eyebrow twitched.

"You both want to follow us back to Plainsmount? To be honest we were looking for more undead out here. We have a strong suspicion that they are further out this way," Bob said pointing in the direction of the death knight.

It was probably enough to give them an idea that he had a tracking power. They didn't need to know all of the details. He wasn't going to volunteer much more than that and since he had the ranger class it should be sufficient.

Song slapped his hands, pointed, then did a complicated wiggling motion with three fingers of his left hand.

"Song regrets to tell me that is the direction of the gathering. Are you sure about that? One of the markers is by there?" Borgan said. "I really don't think we should-okay, okay."

The more that Borgan spoke, the more animated Song became.

"Is there a problem? Anything we can do to help?" Bob said.

"May I offer you a use of the cleanse skill in these trying times?" Stella said.

"She's really quite good at it. You'll be smelling great in no time," Sophie added.

"Ladies, I don't think this is the time for that. Maybe once we are on the same page?" Bob said, turning to look at them.

Borgan and Song were in a heated silent battle. Neither orc seemed ready to slow down anytime soon.

"So do you want to ask why the other one doesn't talk?" Sophie said. "Or do you want to ask them if they want to smell like teenage boys?"

"Nice one Sophie."

Bob rolled his eyes. They smelled awful but he had gotten accustomed to it. It was unfortunate. The dead bodies that lay strewn around where they had camped had a specific smell that he did not want to get back to. Cleanse only did so much. It wasn't like the girls didn't use it all the time; they did. There was just so much death and carnage that finding himself irritated because two people who needed a shower badly didn't even register in his top ten problems.

It was certainly Stella's top two problems. If she used a card power on them without asking them and getting their full permission, that might cause an incident. However, if he told her that she shouldn't use it on them that would also cause an incident. Bob thought about a way to distract Stella from the problem that she thought was pressing.

Borgan and Song's silent diatribe ended.

"All right, we've decided," Borgan said. "We walked all this way to meet up with the clan. We're not that far from where we're supposed to meet them. If we want to circle back, we will head to Plainsmount. Is it possible that you could help us?"

"I feel like we can-" Bob began.

"Absolutely!" Stella said. "Bob, don't look at me like that. We always have room for more."

"Do you have any guesses as to how far his gathering is from here?" Sophie said.

"Without giving too much away, not too much further," Borgan said. "Though I don't know how far, I expect to be there by the end of the day."

Bob wondered how much he was going to have to do to entice them to come with him. He did not feel like this was a hardtail at all. Having two orcs to help them would be a massive Boon. It wasn't his place to tell them what to do. He was fighting every fiber of his being to tell him to come along with them. If they wanted to throw themselves straight into danger, he wanted no part of it.

Stella had helped him to see where he could fit in. He wasn't running a bakery right now. He wasn't trying to order the girls around. He definitely wasn't going to tell the orcs, who were bigger than him, what to do. But the urge to do so was strong with him. He took the urge and crushed it in his hand, imagining it going away. He then just waited for the orcs to figure out what they wanted to do.

At least they finally smelled like two teenage boys trying to impress the popular girl. Bob briefly wondered about the size and range of the skill. He also noticed that he was clean as a whistle as well.

"Pardon me, but what are your thoughts? We were considering heading back to our people now. Right now. I understand neither of you has a horse and I'm not sure that there are any orc sized horses out here but who wanted to make it back and report in. We can talk as much or as little about you both as you want. So long as you don't mean us harm, we have no quarrel with you."

Borgan clapped Song on the shoulder. "I think we need to check ourselves out. If we find something out, we will tell you. We will find a way to tell you. How long is your group intending to stay here?" Borgan said, sniffing himself.

"Probably for as long as the salvage lasts. We are trying to make our way south off of the continent," Bob said.

"Off of the continent?" Borgan said. "Also this smell is wonderful, thank you miss."

Stella beamed.

"There are too many undead," Bob said. "Staying here would mean a long slow death."

For various reasons, he didn't want to mention the death knights. Different reasons made him want to tell them about how they were probably walking into a trap. He didn't know them but he didn't want to fight them as Undead.

"Would you consider coming to Arva? We have a very strong reason to believe that there is an undead legion in that direction. I can't tell you why or how but this is just something that I know. I'll be completely honest with both of you. Complete transparency? I feel like both of you will be turned into Undead and you seem like good guys. I don't want to fight you."

Both of the orcs shuddered. This brought another barrage of hand talk between the two. Bob wondered if he could learn that. He would probably just use it to pass innuendos to Stella. She appreciated a fair bit of dirty talk when they weren't on the job. She just didn't want to appear like she did. And he loved that about her.

He looked Stella straight in the eye and winked. She smiled back at him.

"What would make you guys feel better if we offered you some of the best stew you have ever had?" Stella said.

"And cold dwarven beer?" Sophie said, ice swirling around her hand. "If nothing else, we understand hospitality."

The orcs looked a bit resigned.

"Guys, whatever you're thinking just give us two hours and we'll prove our point. I promise you that we'll even bring you right back here if you need us to do that."

Borgan grunted.