Captain Artias nods. "I guess we won't even have to go through the council rigmarole if I just let you out the side way." He sounds a guard with you to escort the group to the north gate. Said guard gives you decent instructions on how to find the ruins, and warns you cryptically about plants or something. You leave him behind as you exit the town through a small tower door, much like the one Delf must have used during your arrival. Outside the gate, the road stretches northward, running right through a clearing of fields used for farmland. You begin to suspect magic must have been involved in clearing away a town sized section of the forest.