You step through the portal and find yourself in a somewhat different environment. The oasis you have been living the past weeks is very lush in a rather barren environment. This oasis is less rich in plant variety. Also, you do not immediately see a source of water around. The gathering of trees you are currently standing in is too small to be called a forest. It is a small patch of woodland in a surrounding of grasslands. In the near distance you spot a few more of these small woodland patches. As such, it looks a bit like some of the terrain you passed in captivity.

Given the large amount of grass and the spines between the small, thick, rubbery leaves on the trees, Vrischika and Tralkor figure that there are a lot of herbivores here. That also means there might be large predators here. Normally, you would not be on the menu of such beasts but it might be prudent to be a bit careful and not disturb them.

In the far distance, in the south, you see the mountain range the bugbear had described. It is hard to estimate distance on these plains, but thirty miles to the foot of the first hills sounds reasonable. The higher peaks, behind the first rim of hills are decidedly bright green with vegetation and crowned with massive clouds. Clouds, you realize you had not seen many of those in the past weeks.

Depending on how well you estimated the distance and the roughness of the terrain in between, you estimate it will take you two or three days by foot to reach the mountains, and perhaps the mine.