The party pulled themselves together and descended from the tree. The dryad waited for them at the bottom of the ladder seemingly impatient to be off.  She lead the party off into the woods generally heading in a north-east direction.

After about four miles the forest began to thin out. Lauriana said that the area had been mined by gnomes in the past and the forest was slowly reclaiming the despoiled land.  Finally she halted. Ahead they could see that the forest now gave way more to bush than trees. Finding some clear soil, she traced the layout ahead with a stick.  The mine was about 50 yards ahead to the north with a ruin some 75 yards beyond to the north east, an ancient burial mound was located a similar distance to the north west.  From what she had seen and Riker told her, the ruin seemed the most likely location of the ogremage's lair though she was not certain.

"I will leave you here as I am no match for the abomination, please destroy it and release Riker." she concluded.

OOC: there is time for a couple of questions of the dryad before she leaves if any have them.

Dryads sketch in Technicolour....

OOC: Which is the high ground? The right or left side of the map?

The left (west) side is higher ground. The approach (from the east) is a fairly moderate slope partly built up from mine tailings.
To the west and uphill, the slope increases and becomes quite steep. The burial mound is well located to receive the early morning sunlight, perhaps as a sign of respect to those buried within, or due to another relatively obscure religious significance.
The ruin, what there is left of it, appears to have been associated with the mine although it's exact purpose is lost within the rubble - could have been an office of some type, storage shed, bath house or something else entirely.

Cedric adjusts his grip on his sword and shield then points toward the northeast.

"Shall we go that way?" he whispers. "Northeast across the low ground to the right of the mine then north through the trees to the ruin? That seems to offer the best tree cover all the way there."

He gazes ahead intently, scanning for any indication of evil ahead of them.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:43, Sun 11 Apr 2010.

Gwythe sits quietly at the head of the group, looking out over the terrain. He turns his head slightly at Cedric's comment but simply sneers and turns back to look out.

Kalador nodded and replied, "That is a good idea Cedric. Best to keep under cover for the time being."

The party circled the old mine works, even this distance they could tell the works were long abandonment. Approaching the ruined buildings they managed to get close but the undergrowth was too thick to see the majority of the area.  Some tumbled stone works could be discerned but they would need to get much closer to see the area properly.

OOC: thanks assistant for keeping things going! Party currently 25 yards due south of ruins.

Gwythe hovers at the back of the group, looking around at the terrain doubtfully. At some stage he pulls a dagger from his vest and holds it by his side.

Cedric's concentration is mostly taken up by trying to move quietly while still scanning ahead for any taint of evil.

He doesn't say a word but tries to communicate by gestures alone. His hand points forward, curving around toward the ruins from the right, then a second gesture curving around toward the ruins from the left. He also mimes pulling a bow and points to the trunks of trees that offer a good vantage point to observe the ruins.

With bow in hand, Ronalt quietly moves from tree to tree to the the right so to cover the ruins.

Iviana nods to Cedric, taps her own chest and points to the left.  She waits to see where everybody else is planning to go before she starts walking again, though.

Yesil watches the paladin's mime, nodding in agreement, but saying nothing. As Ronalt deploys she moves out in the same direction taking a slightly wider route that will bring her further around the ruins.

Kalador nodded and drew his sword. He followed Ronalt to the right. Looking towards the ruins, he wondered if they were heading into an ambush.

Iviana looks a little bit disconcerted, as if wondering if it was something she said.  She gives Gwythe a hopeful look before she begins actually following the course to the left.

Cedric nods back at Ivinia, taps his own chest and points straight toward the ruins. However as the left and right groups head off he gives them time to move into position before he starts to move forward too. Meanwhile he continues scanning ahead for evil. [Private to DM: Can he detect any evil auras yet?]