Anchor stopped mid chew, looked to Kella and then around the room to the others.  Swallowing a mouthful of peanuts a bit too early, Anchor responded.

[color=7FFFD4]"My apologies if my silence came off as anything other than attention towards the situation at hand.  I agree with my friends, though.  Keeping hold of this town is assuredly too much for the forces at hand."

"My original mission to Nightstone was to oversee talks between the people of the town and the Elves of Ardeep.  Warfare is not my forte, but perhaps I could help negotiate with the orcs for safe passage from the town, if they are agreeable to that as Marcon suggested?"

"As to the matter of finding the town's previous inhabitants, I fear the orc band has made that situation more complicated.  The guard in the keep said that the townsfolk may have retreated to the caves in the north.  Hopefully the orcs have not found them before us.[/color]

Anchor thought for a moment after that.

[color=7FFFD4]"Oh, that would be embarrassing.  If the escaping townsfolk found a band of orc mercenaries in their retreat, who then took the job of taking the town back from the attacking giants.  Very unlikely, but almost as unlikely as a town being beset by giants, goblins, and orcs all within such a short period of time."[/color]