179 Dream

Ivo crossed his arms as he sat back in his chair, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. 

"The harpy girl told of a force fifty strong, and judging by the stony skin of the orcs, they are of Spikeridge variant," said Ivo. 

Li noted that Spikeridge orcs were around level thirty to forty, averaging ten levels above regular orcs and possessing hardened, stone-like skin adapted from living in a harsh, dry environment which in this case would have been the arid and rolling plains of the hinterlands. 

"From the hinterlands, then," commented Old Thane with a surprised nod. 

Understandable surprise. 

The hinterlands were far from the Winterwoods. Essentially an entire country's worth of distance away, separated from the Winterwoods not only by several smaller forest systems, but also by a vast elevated ridge that needed either a dangerous days' worth of climbing to pass or several days of arduous uphill trekking.