Chapter 4: Pastilla
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As before, in the morning, Vitae will give you another Harvest Goddess Strawberry a few days after the Halo Halo party.
After you collect your third Medallion, Doc Jr will call you in the morning to tell you about his brand-new invention. Bring him 5 Bronze to learn more about it. You can find Bronze Ore in Dva's mine on the way to Halo Halo, and then have Doc Jr process the ore into Bronze. Doc Jr will then install a workbench inside of your farmhouse. You can now restyle your kitchen, cabinet, and bed into a Stone style (or back to wood). You will unlock more styles and functionality as you progress through the game.
The bridge on the north side of Halo Halo is our next stop. The environment quickly changes from tropical to arid and desolate. Oh, it's so hot! You quickly find that the heat is too much and pass out into the sand.
You wake up in a strange house with a very concerned fellow nearby. Jamil gives you water and explains he found you collapsed on the ground and brought you to his house to recover. He insists that you stay indoors until you've fully recovered, as it is too hot outside. It's a good thing you fainted underneath the shade of a tree. You don't remember? Maybe your memory of what happened will return in time.
Jamil feeds you a tasty meal, which is suddenly interrupted by two villagers barging into his house. They noticed that Jamil had brought a stranger into his house, and, well, there are rules relating to that. The villagers tell him to see Saeed, the village leader. Jamil apologizes and asks if you would accompany him.
Saeed welcomes you to their village of Pastilla, where they hold guests in very high regard. Since there are few natural resources in the area, they must prepare themselves before they can adequately host guests in the most hospitable way. Unfortunately, receiving an unexpected guest puts them at a humiliating disadvantage. Despite the town customs, Jamil still invited you into his home. Saeed expects Jamil to gather food and materials to receive you as a guest properly. He expects Jamil to collect 3 Watermelons.
Back at Jamil's house, he admits that he doesn't have the items Saeed is requesting. Jamil understood that he was going against the village customs when he brought you back to his house, and now he's in a bit of a pickle. Jamil would have helped you anyway instead of leaving you out in the desert. That's why Saeed is giving him the chance to redeem himself. You volunteer to collect the Watermelon for him. Jamil is hesitant to accept your offer until you tell him about your farm. Surely you're the best one for the job!
Walking around in the heat is very straining on your stamina. You'll pass out quickly if you don't counteract the scorching heat! Several cold dishes will have a cooling effect on your stamina. Holokai sells Iced Coffee recipe and Coconut Milk recipe for 3000 G. You can make either of these dishes using your kitchen. As you walk into the desert and your health icon denotes an excess heat situation, eat the cooling food to counteract the heat. An Iced Coffee will keep you cool for about 2 hours, and Coconut Milk lasts about 4 hours. The face icon next to your stamina hearts will indicate when you're feeling the scorching heat of the desert.
You can find Watermelon Seeds on the path between Calisson and Halo Halo. There is a Watermelon wisp in the south pond area right before entering Halo Halo. You can also use your wisp tracker from within the World Map app of your DocPad to locate the Watermelon wisp if you happen to have shipped the fruit before getting Jamil's request. The trick is trying to get the Watermelon to not mutate into Mellow Yellow during spring and summer, which happens when planted in the Halo Halo area (either the beach or the coffee tree field). Try planting the seeds in the desert to avoid crop mutation.
Bring the 3 Watermelons back to Jamil. He tries to pay you for your crops, and it takes a lot of rejection for him to accept that you're doing this for free.
You and Jamil bring the Watermelons to Saeed. The village leader is glad to see that his request has been complied with, though he is also somewhat puzzled about how Jamil was able to complete this task. Well, no matter - the next job is to fetch him 6 Hibiscus.
While Hibiscus at the feast would spice things up, Jamil feels this task will give him some trouble. He rejects your offer to do this for free but does agree to your offering of a trade. If you can bring him the 6 flowers, Jamil will trade them for something from Pastilla.
You can find Hibiscus Seeds along the shorelines of Halo Halo. They take 4 days to grow and have a chance of mutating into Striped Hibiscus if you're growing them on the beach during summer. Try growing them in the desert to avoid mutations.
Return to Jamil's house to give him the 6 flowers. Since the agreement was for trade, Jamil gives you 6 Pumpkin in exchange for the Hibiscus.
Saeed is, again, surprised that Jamil was able to complete the task given to him. Now the village can prepare a proper greeting to make you feel welcome in Pastilla! Soon a sumptuous feast is before you. Saeed hopes that you can forgive them for the delay with the meal. He also complements Jamil on gathering everything that Saeed requested.
Jamil leaves to talk to some of the other partiers, leaving you with Saeed. The village leader learns about your quest to visit all the lands of the world. Saeed explains the desert has its beauty, and there's an oasis just beyond the sands. Even a mine with rare jewels within it, though it under the control of a cartel that might not allow you access to it. If you do happen to head in that direction, would you mind delivering something to the young woman who lives near the mine? She should be carrying a lute and has a flower ornament in her hair. Saeed gives you a letter for the mystery girl.
After the festival, Jamil is happy and full. He noticed that you and Saeed were discussing something. You tell him about the western mine, but Jamil explains that you will need to cross the desert to reach it. Ah, he has an idea! Jamil asks you to return to his house. He doesn't like the idea of you heading out on your own across the desert, but he has to care for his animals in Pastilla and can't realistically accompany you. Jamil wishes you to be careful.
If you catch Jamil outside his house in the early morning, he'll ask you to fetch him 6 Chickpeas to use as food for his animals. Giving him the veggies will unlock Calico Cat, Brown Tabby Cat, Golden-Eyed Black Cat, Blue-Eyed White Cat, and a Goat in his mom's animal shop inventory.
Head west across the desert until you come to the oasis, or what is supposed to be an oasis? The whole area is burnt! Vitae spots a sacred tree and recognizes it as another Harvest Sprite shrine. But who would try and destroy it? You promise your fairy friend that you'll restore the Spirit Tree.
There's nobody inside the nearby tent by the Dead Forest, so continue west until you find a small pond and the young woman Saeed described. Her name is Malika. She likes to spend her time with the animals and collect flowers. Have you seen any blooming flowers on your travels? Malika explains she's specifically looking for Chamomile, though she hasn't found any yet.
You hand her Saeed's letter. She doesn't seem too thrilled to receive it, but Malika tells you not to worry about it. She does have a request - can you find her the Chamomile? Despite Vitae's objection to taking on too many tasks, you agree to bring her the flowers.
If you continue west, you'll find the mine Saeed described. Raz and Tri of the Mole Brothers clan stand outside the mine's entrance, blocking your access. Raz asks that you bring 10 Material Stone so he can teach you about higher-level ore processing. Break stones with your hammer, and then take the stone to Doc Jr to process into Material Stone. Return to Raz, and he'll unlock Sapphire, Diamond, Jade, Emerald, Garnet, and Ruby in Doc Jr's ore processing options. Also, talk to Dva at the Halo Halo mine to unlock the task of tool upgrades. Bring him 5 Bronze to learn the bronze tool upgrade functionality in your farmhouse workbench.
Three wisps give Chamomile Seeds behind village leader Saeed's house. The wisp on the right-side behind his house is available from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm, the one in the middle is from noon until 3:00 pm, and the one on the left-side appears from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm. You may need to collect the left-side wisp before the other two wisps appear. There is another Chamomile Seed wisp by a large rock in the northeast quadrant of the desert, but Saeeds' are easier to locate. Chamomile takes 4 days to grow.
Bring the flowers to Malika. She'll be amazed that you grew them! You explain that you came in this direction to check out the mine. Since you helped her with the flowers, she wants to help you with the mine. The Mole Brothers happen to be passing by, so she asks if they would grant you access to their mine. Alas, the mining clan is not interested in allowing any 'ol person into their mine. Malika gives them a little bit of sweet talk, and they quickly change their mind. The brothers remind you that they're only doing this at the request of Princess Malika!
Now they recognize you as the person who fainted in the desert. Malika found you passed out in the desert and had the Mole Brothers move you to under the tree, where Jamil found you. Since now you've helped her, they're willing to help you too! You all leave for the mine while Malika stays behind. She wonders if perhaps things have changed in the village.
After dealing with the brothers, head back to Pastilla. You'll find Malika talking to the villagers. They think her ideas are outrageous. She asks them why they insist on living the same way; the forest is dead, and the town needs to move forward. It needs innovation! Saeed notices that Malika is in town and thanks you for delivering his letter. Milika was hoping that things in the town have changed, but they haven't. Malika gives up and leaves to return to the Dead Forest.
Jamil is nearby, so talk to him about what's going on. He says he doesn't know why Malika left Pastilla. For that matter, he doesn't know much about her! Jamil suggests you talk to the other villagers.
Talk to the other townsfolks. You'll learn that the Dead Forest was once a lush forest filled with flowers. Malika liked the local flowers and moved to that area several years ago. She often visited Pastilla, but not so much anymore after the fire ripped through the forest. The forest burned because of an old tale that prohibited outsiders from entering the woods, or a dreadful calamity would occur. That is what happened - a stranger got into the sacred forest. While the villagers were worrying if the dreadful-part of the tale would also happen, Saeed and Malika got into an argument about their outdated customs and stories. That's why she left.
Return to Jamil and tell him what you've learned about Malika and the old forest. He remembers the day the forest burned, as he was trying to help as many animals escape the fire as he could. While a traveling vet healed some injuries, many animals could never fully recover or return to the wild. Jamil is sad because there isn't a home for the animals to return to anyway.
The old tale was important because it intended to ensure the villagers protected the forest and its limited resources. Over the years, the villagers started to misunderstand the tale's true meaning of preserving the forest's resources. When outsiders got into the forest, the villagers panicked. In an attempt to prevent the foretold calamity, the villagers of Pastilla proactively burned the forest down. But, as predicted, disaster did happen. Now Pastilla has few natural resources. After the forest burned, Jamil started researching the ancient story and learned the true meaning of the tale, as he explained to you. He isn't sure if Malika is aware of this, but he hopes she understands that it was a mistake to burn the forest.
Head back to the Dead Forest and talk to Malika. She tells you she never wants to move back to Pastilla. There are the local animals and the Mole Brothers, so she's not lonely at all!
Talk to Raz at the mine. He is sad for her too, as she had tried hard to save the forest. Malika blames herself for the forest burning. Raz explains that she loved the flower festival, but that can't happen with the forest burnt to the ground. With no forest, there's no festival. Raz feels the villagers are too stubborn to accept responsibility for the mistake they made.
Vitae wonders if maybe a flower festival would help the villagers open up and talk heart-to-heart again. Talk to Jamil about holding a flower festival. He doesn't think it is possible because, well, there are no flowers that bloom here anymore. There would also need to be a feast prepared for the entire village. Jamil things for a moment and then admits he has been hoarding goods if things in town fell apart, but a flower festival feast is a good time as any to use them. Jamil says the next step is to get approval from Saeed to hold the festival.
Head to Saeed's house. He is not convinced that this is possible, as the flowers needed for the festival no longer bloom in Pastilla, and there isn't enough food to prepare a feast. Jamil tells Saeed about the stockpile of goods he wants to use for the festival; he'll use it all if it brings happiness to the villagers! Saeed understands and instructs Jamil to work with you on setting up the flower festival. After you leave, Saeed homes that maybe this will result in something finally changing.
Jamil will handle the food, and you'll gather the flowers. You'll need to collect 8 Red Roses for the festival. You can find two Red Rose wisps just south of Pastilla, right between the town and the desert farming area. There are also two right by Malika's tent. Red Roses take 4 days to grow.
Bring the flowers back to Jamil. He's been working on the food side of the festival along with the other villagers. They're almost ready! Jamil asks that you tell Malika about the flower festival.
Talk to Malika outside her tent. She is delighted to hear the flower festival has returned. Malika wants to search for a flower to bring to the festival, but that'll be her surprise.
Head back to Pastilla to join in the flower festival. There are flower carts everywhere and flower wreaths decorating the houses. The villagers haven't been this happy in such a long time! The festival's custom is to give a flower to the person you love; poor Jamil's mom gives him a hard time because she wants him to find someone special by the next flower festival!
After you talk to all the villagers, head to Saeed's house to speak with the village leader. He had his doubts that you and Jamil could pull it off, but he's amazed at what he sees. Saeed thanks you for helping to restore Pastilla's beauty and its wonderful smiles. As the village leader, he is responsible for keeping to customs, but even he recognizes that sticking to outdated traditions caused a lot of suffering. Jamil says the blame isn't entirely on Saeed, as the villagers never spoke up when they felt things weren't right. He explains the true meaning of the old tale about the forest to Saeed. The village leader wants to ensure that future generations understand the importance of protecting the forest. The village must learn to embrace change!
Malika arrives with her flower and hands it over to the one person who hasn't talked to her yet: her father, Saeed. She made a pressed flower from the Chamomile you had given to her, as it is his favorite flower. He promises his daughter that he too will change!
A bright light shines over by the Dead Forest. Lignum, the Harvest Sprite of Trees, appears in Pastilla. He woke up by the burnt-down forest, but then he sensed Malika and followed. Vitae wonders if it is because the bonds between the villagers of Pastilla are healthy again. She asks Lignum to give you the Medallion of Wood, but he admits that he doesn't have it; he gave it to Malika as a thank-you gift. Despite Vitae's demands that he get it back, Lignum can't because Malika can't see him.
Talk to Malika about the Medallion. She explains that someone had put it in her tent, so she still has it. If she hands it over, you'll have to promise to hang out with her all day! Malika gives you the Medallion of Wood as thanks for helping Pastilla.
The next morning, Doc Jr contacts you through the DocPad to announce he has invented a Sprinkler. He needs 5 Silver to show you how to use it. You can find Silver Ore at Raz's mine and then have it processed at Doc's laboratory.
Samantha will now sell the French Onion Soup recipe, Corn Chowder recipe, Minestrone recipe, Gazpacho recipe, Watermelon Gazpacho recipe, and Pina Colada recipes. Holokai will also ask you to fetch him more ingredients, this time he wants 6 onions.
Vitae will also reward you with another Harvest Goddess Strawberry in the morning.
Now let's go explore the rolling hills of Lebkuchen!