Roger led his army to a site where food and water were scarce, requiring constant foraging: they camped at the Field of Blood with 700 knights and 3,000 infantry. His movements were observed by Ilghazi's spies selling birds. Roger sent men from the army to help the garrison of al-Atharib, which was under attack (a feint?). In a preliminary skirmish Alan of al-Atharib fought well, while Robert of Vieux-Pont and his knights defended with great determination and stamina, Arrangements were made for Peter of Narbonne, archbishop of Apamea, to have the whole army (and Roger) confess at dawn. A lunatic prophetess predicted disaster for the Antiochenes, and her skill was confirmed. He told Mauger of Hauteville to send forty men on reconnaissance and ten to a nearby hilltop. He met with his household, had a private discussion with Walter the Chancellor and arranged for valuables to be sent to the bishop of Artah. On the morning of the battle, his hunting was interrupted by a messnger who told him of many hostile columns approaching by unknown and inaccessible paths, one following the other. This made Roger concentrate on defence. After the planned confession to Peter of Narbonne, a second messenger reported the enemy closer, making the enormity of the danger clear. A priest was told to keep the True Cross contantly in Roger's view. News arrived of Mauger's forty scouts: Alberic his deputy steward reported the deaths by decapitation of of Jordan Jordan and Eudes Forestmoutiers, then Mauger himself and a companion arrived, badly wounded on dying horses, bearing even closer testimony to the danger. Roger's last act before being engulfed in the battle was to sent Reynald Mazoir with strong forces on a spectacular diversionary attack