Outside the Forest of the Hermitage

Before them lies a dense pine woodland, the floor free of undergrowth and leaflitter due to the thick canopy of the evergreen trees stopping sunlight from reaching the ground. There's a fair distance between the trees, however, so besides the dark there's little to slow any journeys beneath its boughs, even with carts and wagons. There's a faint wagon-trail, and it seems to be at the point where the forest's edge is closest to the Hermitage, judging by the size of the grim stone fortress towering over the surrounding trees. There is plenty of materials for torches, however; it's wintry and cold, so the wood of the trees is dry and flammable, lacking the wet sap to prevent any blaze from catching. There's also a fair amount of ethereal-appearing thin white scraps of material, feeling like silk, draped on the lower branches of the trees.