[Good Morning, Todays date is 2nd Autumn 12, the Time is 0600, weather forecast calls for clear skies]
[Fielders Corn: Ready to Harvest]
[Dragon Bell Peppers: Ready to Harvest]
Alex opened his eyes, nearly falling, as he jumped out of bed. As per the farmers standard routine he moved to greet the new day. Walking to the window he watched the Fielders corn sottly radiate their display of colors, as the little peppers danced to their normal personal tune, gently swaying on their vines of gold and crimson. As much as he hated those little devils, they were now key to his plans. Today was the day!
Three days ago, Alex decided to reach out to Libra concerning the Goblins, seeing if she had any thought about them invading their home, he wouldn’t be able to fight them like Evelyn, without attempting to use the berserker form that seemed more trouble than it was worth. He found that the Goddess had plenty to say about the jolly green menace.
* Alex, How are you? Im so happy you finally reached out, I'm still working on the last item we discussed.
* What… Goblins? Yeah, of course I know about them. What's up.
Alex proceeded telling Libra about the events of the prior morning, the red moon, the wave of goblins, and how Eve has been fighting them off since Alex Started harvesting from the field.
* Sounds like a System Event.
* With you trying to get everything in working order once more, the system probably generated a Goblin themed quest. Considering that the have continued to attack every morning since, this could be an issue.
* Thankfully, Goblins are easy to handle.
* They have low HP
* Low intelligence, save for some higher evolutions.
* They do have an acute sense of smell and hearing though.
* On the note of the red moon, once a week between the hours of 0030 and 0530 a second moon reveals itself casting a red glow, causing all monster type creatures to enter a berserk state.
* So with everything going on my recommendation would be possibly finding the spawn camp for the Goblins, more than likely you are dealing with a Goblin Shaman using a summon stone.
* Oh, btw still no word on Lauranna, Apparently she left her post as a Goddess of Reincarnation. No one has really seen her since.
* Good luck with your Goblin Problem, Keep me posted
* ~Ciao~
His conversation did answer some questions, one being that they had two moons, magic world ok. Another that they would need to find the goblins home, that bridge they can cross later. The question concerning Lauranna would need addressing. Most importantly though, was something else Libra mentioned about the goblins. A weakness that he knew a great way to exploit. They have an excellent sense of smell.
Changing into his standard wares for the day Alex made his way once more into the kitchen. Finding himself welcomed by the inviting smells of Bacon, Bread and Fennel, the farmer turned the corner to see Evelyn on her box hard at work preparing breakfast. Coming up behind her, he wrapped his arm around her in a warm hug, quietly embracing his dear friend.
“Morning roomie” Alex said, before getting shooed away with a smile on both of their faces.
“Morning, you big goof. Any big plans for the day?” Evelyn responded. Skillet in hand, Alex couldn't help but admire the level of dedication the elf showed towards mastering the kitchen.
“Oh, I’ve got a few” he couldn't help but laugh at the thought. “It should be a very productive day today.”
A look of worry crossed Eve’s face as she loaded the table with plates of fresh rolls, sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs. Wasting no time, the two of them each dug into the welcoming spread, Alex making miniature sandwiches out of the bacon and eggs, the rich buttery flavor of the eggs always paired nicely with the strong smokey profile that the sliced bacon provided. Evelyn in turn added everything together to create her own ultimate scramble combination, before hollowing out individual rolls and stuffing them with said mixture.
It was adorable watching the amount of focus and dedication those emerald eyes of hers betrayed in her personal quest of breakfast. Returning to his plate, he found a few of the sausage links that seemed to ‘magically appear’ on his plate. Upon further inspection, he looked back up to find said pair of emerald eyes looking away in innocent nonchalance.
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“Hmmm, I wonder where these mysterious sausages came from?” Alex mused, a smile on his face as he held the sausage pointing it in different directions.
“No telling, could be a sausage ghost on the loose…. wooOOooo…” Evelyn responded back, imitating a ghastly specter herself.
“Oh no, what shall I do against the horrors of smoke and fennel…” Alex laughed, near tears.
“What are ye two yappin about… Sausage ghost, what nonsense are ye…” Flint started yelling before turning the corner, to see the two of them hunched over on their chairs, each holding sausages like they were floating in the air.
They all looked at each other a long moment, before the dwarf backed away slowly, turned completely around, and walked back upstairs. He was way too old for haunted sausages invading his breakfast. Now spectral bottles of ale would be more his speed. Or maybe an army of… Watching as Flint talked about the possibilities of ghostly cuisine, the two remaining in the kitchen could only laugh.
Several hours later Alex finished picking his final pepper, the Jade jewel danced in his inventory, unaware of the fate that would befall it. Transferring his allotment of corn to the shipping bin, he kept hold of the spicy pods. Their services would be needed elsewhere. Now finished with all of his important chores, The farmer looked around the farmstead for any sign of Evelyn he made his way back towards the Farmhouse. She was going to be searching for the goblin's camp today, So he should have plenty of time to prepare.
The Idea was simple, if he couldn’t attack the goblins directly he would use other means to defeat the miserable monsters, and with senses like what they have, he knew a fantastic way to turn the tides. Best part of his plan was that he already had all the pieces to the puzzle needed. Stepping into the kitchen once more, Alex took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves, and smiled. “Alright Alex, Lets make some Magic”
Finding the biggest pot that they had in the house, Alex Filled the pot with a generous amount of water, brought it to a boil. After chopping all the Dragon Bells making sure none attacked, added them to pot, seeds and all. He wanted to make sure he kept all the heat these little guys can provide. Placing the temperature at a lower setting and covering the top. He let the mixture cook down and reduce until most of the water was gone and the peppers meat was soft and able to form into a paste, before cutting off the heat and adding several bottles of high proof alcohol into the mixture, as well as a decent amount of Oil.
Alex had made this mixture several times before, it worked quite well as a natural deterrent, and with a final ingredient he received from Phaestus, as well as a few other Items he learned to add in from his past his magical Pepper Bombs will help in many ways.
“Now this needs to sit for a few hours, when is he coming down with the supplies?” Alex muttered, opening the backdoor to help air out the Kitchen.
“Hey, Old Man!!! You ready yet?” He yelled up the stairs hoping the old dwarf could hear him, and right on cue he watched as a mane of bright red hair behind a collection of boxes slowly made its way down the stairs,
“Hold yer ‘orses Lad, or I may drop these blasted things.” He yelled back to the impatient farmer, “Sides we still need ta add the fireglow powder before throwin’ in your hellish monstrosity.” Flint covered his mouth trying not to go into a coughing fit inside the kitchen.
“Do I wanna know what devil brew ye made in tha pot?” He asked, taking small breaths, “and how can ye breath down here?
“Years of practice, and Probably not. Just know its going to really help Evelyn out with the Goblins.” Alex answered. “Ok no time like the present, let's get these bad boys made. I wanna see how they work out.
A smile formed on both of their faces as the pair worked on filling the glass orbs with the combination of Fireglow powder and Dragon Bell oil. Fireglow powder acted as both a magical catalyst as well as the crafted items incendiary propellant. Great care would be needed, so that the pair didn't just accidently drop the glass orb. After several hours of intense stress and focus a notification popped up confirming the hard work they accomplished. Validating the two friends in their quest to help a third.
[Item Crafted: Dragon Bell Hellfyre Grenades]
[Description: Using a weapon concept from another world in conjunction with the use of fireglow powder as a catalyst. These incendiary grenades create a white hot smoke that burns everything it touches. Directly breathing in this gas will cause severe damage to the target's respiratory system. Extreme caution must be used in handling this weapon.]
[System Message: I will only allow you to use these bombs once to handle the Goblin Raid Quest, and that is only because you wanted to genuinely help your friend. I will not allow you to make any more of these, nor will I allow you to create any more WMD type weapons for reasons you can already guess being an Other Worlder.]
“Wow, I just got reprimanded by the system about making such a powerful weapon.” Alex explained, not everyday something like that happens.
“Aye, lad.” The old dwarf answered. “Nor is it every day someone makes a bomb capable of destroyin’ a whole city. We should count ourselves lucky it dinna just blow us all up for tryin it in the first place…”
Flint had a point, Alex would need to be careful with ideas he brought over from his old world from now on. He agreed with the system about having more crazy things causing chaos everywhere just to solve a problem as simple as goblins.
Thankfully, though, he now had a tool to help Evelyn. Now they just needed to form a plan, but first they needed to find the encampment. Which she should be back any moment with…
Looking towards the back door, Alex and Phaestus noticed a small figure laying hacking in the doorway, trying desperately to breathe within the household, “What… *hack*.. Are you…*Hack* doing…*hack hack hack*... that requires… *hack* you to nearly… Kill me”
Alex decided he may have made a mistake today…