From one ridge to the next came the obvious differences in lands. To the east the ridges were lush forest and pure streams, interspersed by occasional farmsteads and relatively rudamentary elven villages. To the west, though, the forest grew sparser, with the occasional dead trees for no reason that could be seen. The streams held the faintest hint of ash or sulfur when they came from the mountains, and there were fewer villages, with those that existed having palisades or other hasty defenses. Even the sky seemed darker across the invisible, but unmistakably present border to the Stolen Lands. From the human kingdom of Orvad ventured forward those who resisted the plague of darkness that extended from the dark citadel of the Labrynth.<br/><br/>Just across the border was a small encampment, one that was evidently periodically used. Around the camp were a number of low stone walls and a couple of firmly built palisades blocked a few of the entrances into the encampment. A fieldstone and wood home stood just in front of an old, abandoned mine where a pair of human guards in ragged leather armor were keeping watch. The group was obviously not expecting trouble, for they didn't have any other guards aside from the pair at the entrance to the cave.