As you stepped onto the platform of the portal, you felt yourselves suddenly pulled away... and momentarily found yourselves elsewhere.
The change of scenery was quite pleasant. Rather than stunted grass and jagged rocks, you found yourselves now surrounded by trees, and you could see fields ripening before harvest time in the distance under a warm summer sun. Further away, you could see faint trails of smoke rising into the clear sky from the village. Quite an idyllic picture, all in all. Birds chirping, sun shining...
"Don't get too comfortable there. Remember what your task is," the Overlord's voice sounded, this time directly in your heads.
It didn't take you long to find your way out of the woods and out onto a dirt road. From there, it was a simple matter of following it to the village outskirts. Your arrival didn't go unnoticed, of course. Some of the workers in the fields spotted you and had told the rest of the village by the time you'd reached it, and giving them time to prepare a proper heroes' welcome.
"Welcome... welcome back, mighty heroes!" the village elder called, coming out to meet you. "It's been a long time since we've seen you in our humble village, but Denach never forgets its saviours! Surely your return here means the evil overlord is no more... this will call for a celebration," the man announced with a big grin.
From what you saw coming in, there wasn't much in the way of guards here, just a few peasants with hand-me-down armour and ill-maintained weapons...
