Is it Felix’s intent to get inside the mine?
Finding a nearby rock, Felix picks it up and hurls it well over the lodge so that it lands a good ways beyond, hopefully distracting the goblin long enough that Felix can dart out of the tree cover and put himself between the sentry and the mine entrance before the goblin knows what's going on. If he spots an easy way up the building (such as a ladder) once he's in position, he'll take it.
The goblin drops his own pebbles as Felix’s rock distracts him. The goblin intently peers into the darkness, giving Felix his opportunity to slip past. Around the building, he sees a knotted rope hanging from the lodge’s roof eaves.
Managing to hoist his bulk up to the top of the structure, Felix sets his sights on the goblin. Drawing his sword he moves forward and attacks.
Felix slashes the goblin, but doesn’t quite take him down. The
Goblin spins around, draws his mace, and swings back.
The effort is too much for him, however, and the goblin wordlessly passes out.
Felix raises his sword for the killing blow... and then lowers his arm with a sigh of exasperation. He can't kill something who's so scared that it passed out.
Sheathing his sword, he tends the goblin's wounds as best he can so that it won't bleed out, and then uses some of his rope to tie the goblin up. Finally, he gags the goblin.
He searches the unconscious form for keys or anything useful or interesting, and then he leaves the goblin lying on the roof while he searches the lodge below. After he searches the lodge, he heads towards the mine entrance.
Felix stabilizes and ties up the goblin. Searching the lodge he finds nothing of interest, and no signs that the goblins have been using the building.
Making his way up to the mine entrance, Felix finds no opposition or resistance. The ground has been cleared of any debris or mining equipment and there are signs of lots of traffic in and out. The main passage heads straight into the valley wall for several hundred feet before branching at a T.
At each intersection, it takes a DC 10 Survival check to identify the direction of most traffic. What are you looking for inside?
Felix follows the direction that seemingly has the most traffic.
What are you looking for inside?
Adventure.
Following the trails of obvious traffic as best as he’s able (getting lost several times), Felix makes his way to a large open cavern. The cavern doesn’t look natural, as if several mine tunnels were hollowed out to create this large underground nest. Several large beams (crudely trimmed trees) have been setup to support the ceiling, though evidence abounds of rockfalls and mini-collapses, suggesting that it’s been luck more than engineering skill which has kept the roof up so far.
Filthy possessions abound where goblins just sleep on the ground. A poker game sits abandoned on a flat slab of downed ceiling. To one side, a large canvas mattress rests against a wall, surrounded by several small chests. Dirty blankets covered in greasy green goblin hair suggest the goblin chief sleeps there.
Felix inspects the blankets to see if there's enough green goblin hair to collect for the dispelling potion.
Adventure ahoy.
Felix does indeed find plenty of green fur for his potion.
Noice, Felix thinks to himself. He gathers the green fur and then makes his way to the chests. He checks behind the mattress before trying to open the chests.
There are no spare keys if that’s what he’s looking for and the chests are locked.
As much as he'd like to get at the potential loot inside those chests, Felix is conscious of the fact that he found a key ingredient to Nerissel's dispelling potion, and that he should get out with the treasure he's found. He starts trying to make his way back out of the mine.
Felix is halfway out of the mine when he hears a huge commotion near the entrance. It would seem that the party is over and the goblins are returning home to sleep. From what he can hear, none of them seem to have noticed the missing sentry yet.
Felix tries to find a place to hide, perhaps a side tunnel that doesn't look like it gets much use.
Felix ducks into a side tunnel and presses himself against the rock as dozens of cavorting goblins roar by. When the sound has quieted and he hears them ensconced in their cave, Felix makes his way out of the mine with his prize. The goblin on the roof wakes up as he passes, tries to raise an alarm, but the effort is too much, and he passes out again.
Dawn has broken and the old road heading back to town is before him.
Having been awake all night, Felix heads back to town. He didn't have much to show for this excursion, but hopefully it will pay off soon.
It is an exhausted Felix who drags his feet towards town late that afternoon. He passes the town graveyard on his right just before town. It’s a decrepit, crumbling affair, choked with overgrown weeds.
On his way to the gate, he would pass the healer’s hut, so he can stop in and drop off the green fur and fairy dust if he likes.
Any plans for the evening? Drinking at the tavern? Sleeping like death at the inn?
Felix decides that he'll hang onto the potion's ingredients for now.
As much as he'd like a good drought of ale, he is mindful of the shady characters he encountered there whom he promised special mushrooms to, but has since decided he won't meet that request. He does need to deal with that, but he's too tired for now.
Instead, he'll have a nice dinner and tea at Shameen's and Shema's inn, see if there's any news to hear about, and then head off to bed.
The tap about the inn is a second giant sighting, though this time non-violently, out in some of the abandoned orchards to the north.
Felix sighs at the news of another giant sighting. After the information the forest guardian gave him, he figures he should try and meet the giant(s) next.
It's just that if things go wrong, the giant is much bigger and stronger than a goblin.
Felix tries to get directions to that abandoned orchard, and then retires for the night. In the morning, he heads out of town and sets his path north. If he was able to get directions to the abandoned orchard where the most recent giant sighting was, he heads in that direction. Otherwise, he heads back to where he saw the giant's footprint the other day.
He can get directions. Heading out the next morning, he soon finds the giant's trail, once again heading east. Following the footprints, Felix arrives at the eastern wall of the canyon, finding a gently sloping area where the giant obviously climbed up and down. The air gets chilly as he ascends, and he's soon walking through lightly falling snow, though not enough snow to obscure the giant's enormous footprints. Footprints which soon lead to a cave.
As Felix works up the nerve to go inside the cave, a huge shadow moves within the threshold and out steps a massive, blue-skinned humanoid, wielding an axe bigger than Felix is tall. The giant swishes the axe menacingly through the air, but doesn't approach or otherwise threaten the adventurer.
"Hello!" Felix doesn't move any closer, but he does smile and wave.
"I've heard a lot of people talking about how you're a newcomer to Spielburg Valley! I'm also newly arrived, so I thought I'd come and meet you. My name is Felix Riffin!"
Fifteen-feet tall, with arm muscles the size of Felix’s whole body, his voice booms low, with the sound of a distant avalanche, albeit one quickly getting closer.
”Far have I come, from the snowy peaks of home. Hunger has driven me far and wide. Bargain with me, or bargain with blade’s clash!”
Felix spreads his hands to the side to show he's not reaching for his sword.
"Yeah, sure, we can bargain! I'm just hear because some of the soldiers who live here say you've attacked them, and I wanted more information."
"Braugi came from far away lands, seeking new foods for his people. Long have the winters been, and the orchards have failed. Food I sought, and I crossed the lands. Heard of the mighty Baron of Spielburg, mighty in deed and mighty in heart. To his ears, Braugi brings the pleas of his people, but before the words can reach his ears, arrows and pain come to this hungry wanderer. In defense of his life, the rage came, and strike he did, till he could turn and flee. If no food can be found here, Braugi's people will starve. Bring me food to fill the fists of my people, and to you, I will give the fire gem of Jotunheim."
The frost giant pulls out a glowing ruby the size of an egg. It pulses with a warmth that belies the cold surroundings.
"Oh, wow. Um, the people of Spielburg have probably only encountered giants as enemies, and they have a LOT of enemies here right now, so hopefully that explains why they attacked on sight.
"Not that you shouldn't have defended yourself!
"Tell you what. Let me go and talk to one of the leaders of the soldiers you had your run in with, and we'll see what can be done. What do frost giants like to eat?
"And, um, is that thing magic?" Felix indicates the gem Braugi is holding.
”The mighty orchards of my people have failed, the trees lie barren and empty, and no fruit fills our barrows. This land is warm and lush, and the summers are long. Great must be the bounty of your orchards, at least I supposed it so, though now I see a blight has befallen your orchards as well.”
The giant pauses, and the tone of his voice becomes much less bombastic
”And, uhhh, it’s warm and glows, so yes, I’d say it’s magical.”
Felix nods sagely at the discussion of the warm, glowy rock.
"Okay! Let me see what I can do! Try not to kill anyone or be killed while I'm gone!"
With that, Felix heads back to town. If he can make it in time, he wants to talk to Zara at the magic shop.
He certainly can.
”Again, you return to my shop. What questions can I answer this time?”
"Hi, Zara!" Felix says when he sees her.
"Hi, Damiano!" Felix waves in some general direction over Zara's shoulder before turning back to the proprietor.
"Have you ever heard of something called the 'fire gem of Jotunheim?' There's a frost giant in the valley who is asking for help to feed his people, and in return he's offering this ruby... which is about yay big," Felix uses his hands to approximate the size of Braugi's gem, "glows, and gives off a fair amount of heat.
"But the guard captain at the castle is leading giant hunts to kill the giant, which seems dangerous and could end up starving out this giant's people. I'm going to go and talk to the guard captain, but I want to know if the gem is something that could be useful and that I could use to persuade the captain that it might be in the Valley's benefit if he helped me help the giant."
”The Weapon Master is loyal to the baron, not the barony, and certainly not to the giants of Jotunheim. It is not likely that a gem of any value would convince him to call off his hunts. If the giants need food, there is not enough food in this valley to sustain them, even before the blight that ruined our orchards. Only one of our farmers has been able to sustain the fertility of his orchards: Heinrich Pfeferdern, the centaur.”
"Oh, I've met him! And his daughter! Hmm, maybe he'll have some advice on how to satisfy the giant.
"But have you heard of this gem? Even if the captain doesn't care about the valley, maybe he cares about the soldiers under him and would be up for solving this conflict without risking them."
”I have not, but I know that giants do not part with their gems lightly. For this giant to offer you this gem for help would be a very personal thing.”
"Okay, thanks! You've been very helpful!"
If the castle gates might still be open, Felix heads there to see if he can talk to the guard captain he sparred with, earlier.
The guard captain is not at the castle at present. He must be out hunting.
Felix asks what time the guard captain is expected back. He heads back into town to see if Heinrich Pfeferdern is at his market stand.
The guards don’t know when he’ll be back.
Heinrich and Hilde are at the market stall, packing up for the evening. Hilde smiles warmly at Felix, though her father doesn’t seem best pleased by her forwardness.
Felix returns Hilde's smile with an innocent one of his own. He addresses both her and her father as he talks.
"Hi again! I was wondering if you have a moment to talk.
"I've heard that most of the farms in the Valley are suffering from some sort of blight. You're the only farmer I've met since I arrived. Do you know what's causing the blight?
"And I've also heard that you're one of the few farms that are still successful. Why is that? Don't the bandits bother you?"
”Bandits? I had my run in with those brigands for sure. Late last fall, I was bringing produce in to town when they set upon me along the road. I am a strong fighter and my hooves are deadly, but there were too many of them. They nearly killed me, and if it were not for the unlikely intervention of their leader, I would be dead.” Hilde’ sees glisten and she lays a hand on her father’s arm.
”Their leader approached and ordered his men to not hurt people from the town. Then they gave me a healing potion and had me carried to the healer’s hut. He had a impassion unlike a brigand.”
”The blight to our orchards and farms is the latest result of Baba Yaga’s curse. The witch used ancient Sylvan magic to curse our fields—it is just fortunate for me and for the town that as a centaur, I possess my own Sylvan magics, enough at least for my fields to produce though not thrive as usual. Sadly, I could not help beyond my own fields, so the other farms have failed. The only way to restore them now is to end the curse on the valley completely.”
The gears in Felix' brain audibly turn as he absorbs this new information and he tries to make connections. He suddenly starts regaling Heinrich and Hilde with the story of how he's been tasked with making a dispelling potion to counter Baba Yaga's curse. And then he tells them about the hungry giant, and how if the can undo the curse, maybe the valley might have enough food for the giant to leave. And then he frantically goes back to the topic of the potion.
"...and so I know where to get the flowers from Erana's Peace, but I'm less sure about the 'flying water' that Nerissel wants me to get. My guess is water from the waterfall at the lake to the south, but maybe not? I don't want to waste the magic acorn and goblin fur if I'm wrong!
"In your experience with Sylvan magic, is there something about waterfall water (or water from that specific waterfall) that would be good for this sort of potion?"
Heinrich patiently listens to Felix’s tale, but shakes his head. ”Even if the valley’s farms were restored tomorrow and all the farmers returned, it would be months before food was produced, and even then, we would never make enough to support a clan of giants. To save the giants, they need a new food source now, and one that would satisfy and sustain them somehow with even small quantities. That is Sylvan magic of the highest power, beyond even mine.”
”As for flying water, the water from the falls sounds as likely an answer to that riddle as any, though I’d make certain you took it from the falls themselves, and not the lake.”
Felix looks crestfallen at Heinrich's thoughts about how long it would take to restore the orchards.
"But... magic!" he thinks.
Aloud, he thanks the centaur for sharing his wisdom and then tries to decide what to do next.
He probably has enough time to head back to the castle and see if he can talk to the guard captain, but what's the point? Even if the witch's curse is broken, that's no guarantee that the man will stop seeing the giant as a threat. (And he may even be right.) What's more, if Felix reveals to the guard captain that he has talked to Braugi, he may be asked to reveal the giant's location so the guards can go there to attack.
It would be best to focus on completing the potion, and then seeing what the situation is. Maybe even breaking the curse will earn him some good will that will help him convince the guard captain to not attack the giant, if that's his disposition.
So, he probably couldn't make it to the waterfall and back before the town gates closed. But he could head out to Erana’s Peace to collect more flowers, stay in that safe place for the night, and come back tomorrow morning. That's what he decides to do.
The moon is already up when Felix arrives back at Erana’s Peace. The flowers glisten in the silvery light, their scent heavy in the air, and the magical peach tree entices him with more of its other-worldly fruit, a single piece of which seems to completely satisfy him.
Felix camps for the night. In the morning, he gathers up more flowers and heads back towards town. He stops by the healer's hut to see if Amelia is home.
In the night, Felix has strange dreams of a beautiful, otherworldly woman in flowing white clothes calling to him. He can tell that she’s in pain and distress, but she reaches out to him, grasping his hand in hers. When she removes her hand, Felix sees a glowing peach, like from the tree. ”Take, eat, feed,” the woman says before fading away.
Shortly after leaving the meadow, it starts to rain, although as Felix looks back, he realizes that it’s been raining for awhile now and should have been raining in the meadow where he slept exposed to the elements. Turning up his hood, he prepares to make his way back to town when he notices a series of puddles crossing the clearing from west to east: deep heavy footprints that wouldn’t otherwise have been noticeable in the thick spring thatch, but are obvious in the rain. Not as big or heavy as the giant, but something large and bipedal walked through this clearing in recent days, heading east.
If Felix can eat the peach in his dream, he does so. When he wakes, he'll breakfast on another fruit from the tree in the center of the clearing. Finally, he'll gather another bunch of flowers before heading out.
When he comes across the muddy footprints, he's torn. He really needs to get this potion made, but those footprints look very intriguing. In the end, he decides that since the footprints could already be a few days old, he should follow the trail before it gets even more cold.
He can’t eat the peach of his dreams and when he awakens, he finds he really has no desire to eat a peach now: the peach he ate last night before sleeping has left him completely full and his appetite sated. He guesses he won’t need to eat again until that night.
The footprints lead east for several hundred yards into a large clearing at the foot of the north cliffs. A large crack in the north wall has made a deep cave. Sitting on the “front porch” is the ugliest humanoid Felix has ever seen, eight feet tall with massive arms. And an enormous club. The creature lurches to its feet with a roar upon seeing Felix, brandishing the enormous club.
And you’re up.
Upon seeing the ogre, and especially the ogre being aggressive, Felix responds in kind.
"Oh yeah? OH YEAH?"
Felix secures his shield, draws his sword, and charges.