The Noblemans Curse

A nobleman that lives in a farmhouse is looking for adventurers to help him lift a curse that has been afflicting his family. He explains his grandfather suffered a curse that would kill every men of his family when they reached their 40 year birthday. Being a skeptical, the noble never believed in the curse, but after his cousin died in his mansion, by "spontaneous combustion" in his birthday, he started looking for a way to lift the curse. Mages used dispel magic and dispel curse, to no avail, as they said themselves they felt nothing change, so probably nothing happened. When looking for other ways to break curses, he met an old druid that told him about a ritual that can break any curse, but he would need various rare items, and they would be hard to get:

1. A goblin's left ear
2. Fire serpent eggs
3. Aarakocra tail feathers

He knows of the possible location for each of them

A goblin's left ear

He heard rumors of green creatures lurking in a cave to the west
Approaching the cave, there is a goblin at the door, sitting down with a sad expression, guarding the entrance. He has no ears. Getting close, the goblin looks at them for a second, then slowly gets up and points the spear at the party shouting ("Leave, now!") in goblin. If a player knows goblin, they can interact with him, to which he will introduce himself as Mako, and explain that he is guarding the cave he lives in, and asks what they are doing.

• If asked about why he has no ears, he tells how some months ago a bugbear invaded his home, and enslaved his friends, and that one day, the bugbear just snapped and cut out everyone's ears, for no apparent reason, and wears the ears around the neck.
• If asked why he is sad, he will explain how hard it is to live as a slave to a creature multiple times bigger, and wishes he can one day live in peace as he used to.

If they talked to him, he will become docile, and says that if they can kill the bugbear he will be eternally grateful, and wont mind them taking the ears, but if they manage to get the ears without killing the bugbear, he will understand them. Getting inside, it is dark and a lot of goblins are sitting down, also sad, ignoring the party. None of them have ears, or weapons. In the end of the cave, a bugbear is sleeping with an ear necklace. If woken up, he will be furious with the guard at the door, and will ask the party to bring him, and help him kill the goblin in front of the rest to show what happens when they don't do what he says.

• If the party do what the bugbear says, he will kill the goblin in front of the other goblins, and will then attack the party
• If they refuse, the bugbear attacks them.

If the party kills the bugbear and didn't bring the goblin to the bugbear, the goblin will be happy that the bugbear is dead, but he doesn't have money to pay them. He then asks if they need help fighting monsters, and that because he has a spear and a bow, he could be useful. If they accept his offer, he will join the party.

Fire serpent eggs

To the east there is a farm in the middle of a forest that got attacked by a weird fire creature. After some time wandering in the woods, they find a burnt house in an open field. When getting near the house, they hear a noise coming from inside. If they get inside, they will see the fire serpent in front of the fireplace, hissing. If they approach, it will turn hostile, and combat starts. After killing the serpent, the eggs will be behind it, in the fireplace.

Aarakocra tail feathers

The nobleman once saw a weird human like figure flying on top of the mountain to the north. The mountain has a trail which can be used to climb it easier, and at the top, a small and old building stands. Inside it two Aarakocras are standing, and in between them, a cyclone barely bigger than them. They tell the party to stop, as they cannot get near the portal they protect. Upon asking for the feathers, they will say not for free, as the tail feathers help them fly, and even though they grow back, it is too awkward to fly without them. They will refuse gold and jewels, but will say they are hungry.

• If Mako is with them, they will comment they like goblin meat. If they refuse to give Mako, they will still accept regular rations.
• If they offer rations, they will accept it.

One of them will then approach to get the food or Mako, and then remove the feathers and give them.

• If they have the serpent eggs with them, the one bringing the feathers will smell the air and claim they are fire elementals in disguise, and they almost fell for the trap, and start the combat.

Back to the nobleman

Upon delivering the items, the nobleman will thank them, and say he hopes it will work, as its his birthday, so he will find out the next day. He then pays the promised amount, and offers them to stay in his house for the night, as its getting late, and its too far from any Inn. If they accept, he offers them food and then takes them to a room with enough beds for everyone, next to his own bedroom.

During their sleep, someone wakes up by a noise coming from the stairs. If they look through the door, they see a hooded man going towards the nobleman's room. If they stop him, the man will be scared, and confused about who they are, then he will look through his bag and pull a scroll written fireball, and attempt to cast it on the nobleman. If he is stopped he will surrender. He then explains his story: he was a mage initiate, and the nobleman's grandfather said he was a loser and would never become a powerful mage, to which the old man "cursed" him. In reality, he did nothing, as he really was bad at magic, but he couldn't let the nobleman's grandfather know that, so he used a scroll to kill him, just like how the "curse" said, then started killing all the men of the nobleman's family to fit the curse. He will then offer the scroll to the party if they let him go