The text mentions caves in the plural sense. What Forest would be big enough to have multiple caves and not appear on the map? I'm going to guess this is the Ermine, and be so bold as to guess Avon's Grove as the site of Andir's home. Here's why:
1) Andir's mother told stories of beasts that would feed on young boys. Just story to frighten children away from the forest? I think not. She might have been referring to the Bre'Unor. They do command wolves, do they not? And the Bre'Unor look enough like beasts with the bones that they wear as armor. They might like Andir's head as a volleyball.
2) When Andir enters the forest, it is said that the thick branches don't allow him to see the sun, and that only a little light comes through. In GURPS (yes, I know) it says that the forest makes a canopy and that travellers there claim that they can never see the sun.
3) A lot of caves. The Ermine banks against the Cloudspine. And anyone that lives near a mountain range will tell you that the mountains don't just abruptly stop. There are hills that stretch forth, sometimes for miles. There may be some hills that stretch into the Ermine where there can be caves.
4) During the first Great War, Phelot killed the people and turned them into thrall. But it doesn't say anything about the town being destroyed. The Prologue text states that some of the people in the village were veterans of the Great War. It's most likely that these men were out to war when Phelot arrived, and after the war, returned to their homes to an empty village, and might live there still.
5) The people in the village speak of the war as if it ended sixty days ago instead of sixty years and in hushed tones. If I lived in a village that had the residents all slaughtered and turned to thrall, I would either move, or have some kind of quiet respect for what happened there. Think of New York City. The tragedy happened over a month ago, but if you're living there, you might feel as if it happened just the other day.
6) The 'something nameless for a thousand years' that stood behind Soulblighter was most likely (Yes, I know we're still debating) a Myrkridia. Where do we first see the Myrkridia in Myth II? Madrigal. Not too far from Avon's Grove, and just a short march north to the Scamander River which would take you right into the city.
7) Avon's Grove is the only village on the map that is close to the Ermine. I do accept the fact however, that there may be smaller villages not on the map. But Avon's grove can't be that big either, but from the text I feel that there are a decent number of people in town, enough to populate a village big enough to be on the map.
Now while I know that some of these arguments could be used for Forest Heart and Tallow or Willow Creek, I think that the one biggest clue that it is the Ermine is the presence of the Myrkridia and where we first see them in-game.
Zandervix
