" it's gone the top of the mountain is gone " max said flabbergasted " well the orcs that lived here wanted a safe home so for the last three generations we goblins and hobgoblins have been removing rock so we can make walls and defenses there is even a storage vault to keep food preserved " Toby informed
" orcs I thought we was here for a hobgoblin warlord " max asked " yeah well the clan of orcs the big horn clan wasn't a lot of orcs because they are hunting that pesky dragon youngling after the raid on the larder the hobgoblins and goblins where starved and my family escaped as the hobgoblins rose and killed the ten or so orcs left to guard them " Toby said
" ok so corvi says there are about three hundred hobgoblins and goblins they have stolen a forge by the looks at it and there are human slaves " max said checking in with his spirit companion .
As the party where discussing the operation when the sky opened and the first winter snow floated down on to the top of maxs head by the middle of the night the party was Berried in ten feet of snow luckily max had cast a barrier over the camp making a odd ice cave .
" the fortress is untouched by the snow I'm guessing they have a spell caster or two or the orcs invested in rune protection " max said veiwing the structure though the eyes of his companion .
the group stayed close to the fortress max had come up with the idea of ambushing hunting or raiding party's using ice tunnels and traps thinning out the number of hobgoblins but also slowly making the leader a now very large hobgoblin decked out in extremely thick plate armour redesigned from a set designed for a orc now reckless and want to move out from there stronghold this is when max though corvi over heard a weird conversation " great zippo the orcs keep ambushing the party's we put together the human smith he cannot make armour and weapons quickly " a warrior hobgoblin in remade armour said " then we wait for him to make all hobgoblin's weapons and armour " zippo the leader replied of corse they where speaking goblin but as a linguist and a occasional goblin trader coming down the mountain ,ax understood goblin and hobgoblin diolects
" ah I have a idea " max said " let's see if the orc hunting party has retuned I can guess they are on the other side of the mountain because we're only stoping one side and they are apparently not being able to make any progress .
Max started sculpting the snow in to tunnels heading around the fortress as he surveyed the area from the air though corvi .