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Well, we were of course suspicious as to why the labels had been changed—that someone was purposely trying to screw up communication. David decided to ask about the guard rotation, “When was the last rotation? When can the next rotation come?”

The response came, “A day or two ago. They didn’t report in when they got there.”

We wondered if they had arrived and if not who the dead men in the tower were. “How many were in the rotation. Could we get a roster to identify the bodies?”

“10–12 people.” That matched the number dead. “We are sending new people now. Will take one week. How bad is damage?”

“One ballista and one gate destroyed,” we reported.

“What is the status of the second outpost? When will the orcs arrive there?” Gateway questioned.

We discussed the possible timetable. “About an hour. Warn Barrenstone too. We’re on our way to Black Tower.”

We decided to send a message to Black Tower as well as Gateway to tell them we were on our way. However we added that we might not make it in time due to our injuries. We didn’t have any injuries, but David and I thought we might need more time to solve the mystery of the switched labels.

However, no more evidence presented itself and the group agreed to head off for Black Tower. We figured we would have to work it out carefully so that we could defend the tower if needed, but not make the orcs that were going to call for peace think we didn’t trust them. David volunteered to sneak ahead and find the orcs. He returned shortly explaining that there were orcs ahead in the trees having an argument that he could not understand. The argument appeared to be between the orcs we had sent and the orcs we had not yet encountered.

Cuthalion agreed to accompany David so that he could interpret what the orcs were saying. Fletch and I waited, trying to determine how long we should stay put before thinking something had gone astray. At last, the two rangers returned, and Cuthalion announced that the majority of the orcs had been swayed to meet up with Grumbach. David suggested we bypass the tower alltogether and start heading for Barrenstone in case the orcs decided to attack there, because it was their meeting spot. But the rest of us were worried about the few dissenting orcs that were sure to attack Black Tower.

We snuck quietly toward the tower. Unfortunately, I always seem to trip when I’m trying so hard to move silently through the brush. The orcs heard me, and we took off running for the gate. We made it to the tower and explained the situation to the guards inside.

David asked the lieutenant to take us to the message box, and he did so without hesitation. The labels appeared to be in firmly in place; communication here had not been compromised. Fletch and Cuthalion reported that the orcs had retreated.

We communicated with Gateway, and Lieutenant Parros received his orders. He was to leave three men to man the ballista while he and the remaining nine followed us to Barrenstone.

As time was now quite short, we decided to run toward the town, taking only short breaks to rest. It was a tiresome journey, but we made it intact and appeared to have beaten the orcs. We immediately located the town official and informed him of the situation.

Cuthalion and David again decided to check on the situation with the orcs. I’d been practicing the art of invisibility and offered to make them both invisible. I called the energies around me, recited the words, and suddenly Cuthalion and David were gone. Fletch and I waited in town for them to return and convinced Lieutenant Parros to start evacuating the town.

After more than a bit of nervous waiting on our part, Cuthalion and David returned. They were again visible but in one piece.

“I spoke with Grumbach,” the elf explained. “I told him that the magistrate knows what he’s been up to and that we have plenty of soldiers in the village to challenge him; therefore, if he attacks the village he would be greatly weakened for his battle with Skullbash. I asked him what his reason for wanting to take the village was.”

“What did he say?”

“He