As you work your way north, the stone constructions of the buildings give way to rocky ground that even stubborn grasses won't grow in more than patches in. Quite quickly, though, the path to the north cuts into a crevice in the stone of the hills. By the time you have traveled a mile out of the village, you have gained about 100ft of elevation, and the rock faces on either side of you go about 50ft above you, though from the looks of it the climb would be quite easy, if you had to. The path itself is wide enough, though, at just under 25ft.
Before long, you start to come upon the external signs of where the miners had been staging their work products. Areas to tie up beasts of burden, basket saddles, even some of the more basic mining gear.
When you finally come up to the entrance to the mine itself, across from it, against the opposing wall you see two men. They are wearing simple chain armour, with solid metal caps, and in their hands are halberds. The bases of the weapons seem to be in dug-in divots, to make it easier to hold them slightly forward with how the men are seated on large rocks that seem to have been put there for them to sit on. The men are seated only barely, edged forward as if ready to pounce if anything does come out of the mine entrance. They seem very focused on watching the 30ft man-made hole in the western wall, too.
When one of them finally notices your approach, he turns to the other and seems to say some quick words, and the other man gets up and hurries off in the other direction from you, running north on the path. The one who spoke stands up from where he was sitting, but otherwise does not leave the immediate area. Even as you walk up, you can see that he keeps glancing over at the mines entrance.
As you close the distance to him, he speaks.
"Whell, Now. What do we h've here? Are you here to relieve us? .. And if so, in which way?"