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drift.
    Coupled with that we have always taken great pride in the warrior code we live by. We fight not only as a way of life but also for survival too. Up to now the clans have never been able to grow too large or spread beyond the mountains because of this. There is an equilibrium within the confines of our world here, the mountains and all that is on it. That includes the orcs. Now that the orcs are becoming more aggressive and are working together the losses in numbers of men out there has started to increase, it isn’t noticeable yet to the casual eye but if you look at it, it speaks of a dangerous situation arising.”
    Wollfen mulled this information a bit but still wasn’t getting it,
    “I am not sure I am following, what is it you are driving at? Surely a change in tactics is all that is needed to compensate for this change?” Ironside shook his head,
    “No no, it's not about tactics or a change in methodology or anything, let me try to explain a bit better.” Again he paused, thinking before going on, “As you know the women in any clan outnumber the men by many because as soon as the boys grow old enough to wield a sword with confidence they are deemed men and become Rangers patrolling the outskirts of the encampments and also do guard duty too. This of course means the men are at the front line whenever there is a clash between marauders or orcs and they are the first to fall in any fight. Our numbers are kept in check by this and by normal mortality amongst the rest. Older women become rangers too once they can no longer bear children and so there is no one 'spare' so to speak. Everyone is important to the health and well being of the clan, no one is expendable.” Wollfen understood this and agreed so far with what he was hearing. He bade Ironside go on,
    “Okay as you also know to keep the numbers up of the clans the men have to keep as many of the young women pregnant as possible, without that the clans would shrink and die, there simply is no other way. Originally it was out of choice, we chose this life in the mountains. But now we are outcasts in the eyes of the people to the west and can no longer move into those lands if we decided to leave the mountains. We can't move further east into the larger mountain range for there is even greater numbers of orcs there than there are here. We live the life as we do because we have no other choice. Personally I wouldn’t have it any other way but there is a change coming and I fear for the future of the Nightclans.”
    Ironside stopped again, he reached over and took a swig from a mug on the table. Wollfen looked to Raven and wondered if what he was hearing had played a part in Ravens decision about her future? Ironside spoke once more,
    “Here is the cold hard truth, we can't change the way we send out individual patrols or sentries to watch out for orcs because we don’t have the extra numbers, there are no more people to spare. Everyone right now fills an important role. Do you see what I am driving at?”
    It was finally starting to dawn on Wollfen what he meant and he nodded at the question,
    “What you mean also is this, because there is no one extra to go out with those individuals when patrolling it means they face greater danger  because the orcs are organizing into groups and hunting more effectively.”
    “Exactly and because there is greater danger it also follows that our losses in fights when defending the clan will go up. We can't afford to lose more people than we already are. If we do then the clans will shrink over time and will finally die out.”
    Wollfen shook his head as he realized the seriousness of it all, the Nightclans could be lost totally.
    “Do you think you can call upon anyone to help? Maybe if the clans banded together into greater numbers that might fix the problem?” Ironside shook his head,
    “No the clan leaders all agreed this would not solve the problem, we still couldn’t put greater numbers of people out to