Swamped

"It's a shame," you muse. "If only we hadn't been separated from Stacy and had to leave Tom behind to wait for her, we'd have seven. Could have sent someone back after we were sure we'd been noticed, so they'd realize our numbers were going down."

"Too late for that, I'm afraid," Dean says, shaking his head. "We'll have to rely on the inherent uncertainty of patrol reports."

"We've had three run-ins with Marshguards, not counting Corvus," Walter points out. "Three reports is enough to take seriously."

"I think they'd still try it," Jackson says. "They might not search the place top to bottom, but they'd still do a quick sweep to confirm they didn't miss someone."

"What if we could get them to think they see six of us here?" Mary asks. "Make a decoy out of sticks and such. Someone runs with it, gets spotted from a distance, drops the decoy while they're busy with the rest of us."

"Hmm. Kind of risky," Walter says. "But if we make a plan for five people, and the runner headed for the fortress has the decoy, that gives us a backup plan if the runner doesn't make it."

"So it would be a mix of the two plans." Dean nods. "In that case, we want to use an approach that assumes we have two runners to use. Of course, we'd also have to make the decoy..."

Jackson pulls out some rope.

"I'll handle that. You work out the details."

"I'll keep an eye out for patrols," Walter says. "They've got enough troops around here that they'll likely send someone to check the bushes sooner or later."

"Right. We don't have the luxury of a very detailed plan," Dean says. "So, quick thoughts. What's the best way for four of us to make a distraction?"