As Naren's horse is not a warhorse, and knowing the poor reactions normal horses have to battle, he gets down and ties her to a branch. (If AD&D riding horses somehow do not have this real-world problem, skip this. )

After that, he goes over his spells in his mind, examining, but not touching the stored energy and making sure that it is ready, should he need it.

If there is time after these preperations, he'll take out one of the oil flasks, put a rolled strip of cloth tight in the opening and light a candle. He will hold them ready to light the cloth and throw the flask.

From atop of Sander's horse, Heathcliffe looks inquisitively as Thraim and Kagan move stealthily ahead, curiously as to what they will find.

The loud noise startles Semina for a moment, and the whole party comes to a stand still.  Thraim walks quietly over to her, and advises her of his plan to scout ahead with Kagan, and see what all the commotion is ahead.  

Listening to his request to stay back until needed, Semina calms Icerick down, and prepares him for battle.  "They will need a quite cover my dear one," she whispers. "Once they howl, I will need your strength to charge the enemy."

She glances around Icerick to make sure everything is secure, and positions her axe and daggers for drawing, not deciding which she will use if an encounter begins.  Looking over at Naren as he decides to tie down his horse, she smile at the thought of battling beside him once more.

Thraim returns to the waiting group from the forest, and motions to everyone to gather close to him.  He wishes to speak with everyone, but in hushed tones.  

Once everyone gathers fairly close, either by dismounting or remaining mounted, Thraim says to everyone, "there's a group of brigands about twenty to thirty yards up trail.  There are at least six men, most wearing leather armor, and they're armed with missile weapons.  They're arguing about a death among their ranks, and who gets first pick at looting the dead man's gear.  They should be wrapping up in about five to ten minutes, and then they are moving again.  I heard one say that they are supposed to be meeting up with the 'piggy leader and taking him back to the Boss'.  Who or what is the 'piggy leader' and the 'Boss,' I don't know?"

Pausing for a moment only, Thraim speaks again, "I recommend that we hide off trail, wait, and then follow this group to this meeting.  We'll see where this leads us?"

"Possibly an orc chieftain. Some orcs have a distinctly piggish look." Naren says quietly. "That plan sounds logical."

Should Thraims' plan be accepted, Naren will keep flask and candle in hand, but hide off the trail at the back of the group - The thick underbrush (5 to 10 feet visibility) will easily hide the candlelight in broad daylight.

Kagan-Zur appears again once the group is together. He nods in agreement at Tharim's words. "It seemed to be a squabble between two of the brigands, not uncommon amongst rabble like this." he says, then adds. "It's a good plan dwarf."
He nods again at Naren's words. "I agree it seems they're taking one of the orc leaders to their leader for some kind of meet, I'd guess."
"Come" he says to the group. "We'll show you the good places to hide."

Semina watches Thraim approach the group in a quiet manner.  She can tell by his body language that he needs to speak to everyone, so she quietly dismounts Icerick.  

She listens to Thraim and Naren discuss options and agrees with the plan.  Semina now looks over to Kagan as he talks about a hiding place they found.  "What of the horses?" she whispers.  "Will there be enough room for hiding them, and will we be following by foot, or will they be too loud to take?"

Thraim nods gravely at Semina's excellent questions, and says, "we should be able to hide the horses in this forest with us.  I think that if we're careful, we can still probably follow them by horseback for a while yet."

Kagan-Zur stares into the forest, looking deep in thought.
"He's right," says the hoarse voiced half-orc, eyes still scanning the woods. "But with all that foliage and under growth we'll need take extra care not be heard and give them a decent headway."
"Also if they are smart, they may well have a rear-guard scouting behind them." he says, turning to the group. A brief uncertain smirk crosses his porcine lips as he shrugs slightly. "They didn't strike as being all that trained, but best not to underestimate them, and keep our eyes peeled. Is there a tracker amongst us?"

"I'm no good at sneaking. If we're to follow them, it would seem like sense for the most skilled forester to follow at a close distance and keep the rest of us from giving away the plan."

Heathcliffe pouts, "I would prefer not to waste time trailing the bandits but, for the sake of decisiveness, I will side with the majority so we do not dawdle here for long."

Doesn't want to waste time trailing bandits?  What does he think that we were hired to do?  Thraim thinks to himself in amusement as he looks at the strangle halfling.

Addressing the group, Thraim says, "well, I'm no ranger, but I should be able to follow this lot's trail.  Snorri's right, the main group should hang way back while Kagan-Zur and myself trail them ahead of you.  Are we all in agreement on the plan then?"

Kagan-Zur nods in approval.

As you finalize your plans, you hear a shout from much closer than you expected, apparently a few yards past the bend through the copse of trees in front of you.

"You two louts!  You aren't getting paid to sit in the woods and look at the trees!  Were you thinking the Western Road was going to watch itself?  Get over there and stay out of sight while we clean up this mess!  The General is expecting us in less than an hour, and we don't need interlopers stumbling over us!" you hear in alternate tones, indicating the speaker is turning back and forth to yell.

"Ey!  Take it easy, Colin, we have the new patrol routes, they aren't due this way until close to dinner!" comes a voice through the woods directly in front of you, from the direction Thraim recently emerged.

From the other direction, you hear a rejoinder, "Jerrik's right, no patrols, no travellers...  pickin's are slim this close to Festival.  We'll watch behind, don't you worry about that."

"You shut your mouth until you are in charge!  I said get over there and watch the road, and I meant get over there and watch the road!" bellows Colin.

"Fine, fine!  We'll watch your damned road!" Jerrik replies, with irritation in his voice.

(The conversation takes about ten minutes, you guesstimate it will take Jerrik less than five minutes to get to a point where he can see you.  The other man on the southern side, where Kagan was, might take a few minutes more, depending on where he decides to set up.  You can act at any point during the dialogue.)

Semina listens to Thraim and Kagan plans once more.  Then her attention is caught off guard by the loud voices ahead of her.  "They are much closer then before" she looks to everyone, "either we advance to hiding, or we make a stance now."

Semina then grabs the Icerick's reigns with one hand and her hand axe in the other.  "So, what are the plans again?" she says with a hurried look.  She readies herself to mount Icerick.