The Fern Flower
Rumours
They say a wise owl lives in the hollow of an old oak, and she knows the forest's secrets of the night. Only don't bother her by day - she grumbles that nobody lets her sleep.
Who: Owl
Hints
Open them one at a time — from a gentle nudge to plain advice. "Good to know" is about what might trip you up.
Hint 1
The owl can't sleep by day — a noisy neighbour keeps her up. Help her, and she'll tell you a secret of the night.
Hint 2
You can't lure a woodpecker with words — you lure him with lunch. They say he goes nuts for sunflower seeds.
Hint 3
Seeds hide in a sunflower. And the woodpecker wants his feeder on a dead tree, far from the owl's oak.
Hint 4
Without a rowan charm you can't get near the night flower. A rowan can be shaken.
Hint 5
The telescope in your attic tells you when the full moon is and where the fern will bloom.
Good to know
- A rowan gives bunches once a day: if you're short, shake another rowan or come back tomorrow.
- The flower lasts only till dawn: without the charm the wisps won't let you near, and you'll have to wait for the next full moon.
- In a shared world only one player takes a quest at a time: if someone else is helping now, wait your turn; if someone already helped today, come back next morning.
Full solution
Show the whole solution
This is the whole story of the quest, to the very end.
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Find an old oak with a hollow — an owl lives in it. Walk up and press E ("Owl"; on a phone, the glowing action button): by day or by night she complains about a woodpecker who won't let her sleep and promises you a secret of the night.
From Cubby's diary
Met an owl in the hollow of an old oak. She can't sleep by day: a woodpecker comes and drums on her oak - rat-a-tat! She asked me to lead him away, and then she'll tell me a secret of the night. Hoo!
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By day the woodpecker drums on the owl's oak (at night he sleeps). Walk up to him and press E ("Woodpecker"): he agrees to move if you hang a feeder full of seeds on a dead tree far from here, and tells you which way such a tree is.
From Cubby's diary
Talked to the woodpecker. "I'm not drumming - I'm eating!" Only the bugs in the oak are running out. He'll move if I hang a feeder full of seeds on a dead tree far from here.
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Make a Bird Feeder at the workbench. Seeds come from a sunflower — cut it with your sword (left click; on a phone, the action button). Take the seeds in hand and right-click or press E (on a phone, the action button), or lay them over the feeder at the workbench — you get a Feeder with Seeds.
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Take the feeder to the dead tree, far from the owl's oak, stand by the trunk and press E ("Hang the feeder"). The woodpecker moves in at once.
From Cubby's diary
Made a feeder, filled it with sunflower seeds, hung it on a dead tree. The woodpecker moved in at once: "Tap-tap! Housewarming!" And the owl had her first good sleep all summer.
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Come to the owl at night and press E: she tells you the secret of the fern flower and asks you to make a rowan charm.
From Cubby's diary
At night the owl told me the secret: at full moon, at midnight, a fern blooms in the spruce wood. Pick its flower and you see treasure underground! But without a rowan charm the wisps won't let you near.
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The Rowan Charm is made at the workbench from String and three bunches of Rowan Berries. Stand by a rowan's trunk and press E ("Shake the rowan") — two or three bunches fall; pick them up. String is made from grass at the workbench.
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The fern blooms at full moon, once every eight game days. At night, go up to your attic and press E at the telescope; turn it with ◀ ▶ (on a phone, drag a finger): it shows how many nights are left till the full moon and where the bud glows red.
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On the full-moon night, from midnight until dawn, go to the flower in the spruce wood with the charm in your backpack and press E ("Pick the fern flower"). Wisps circle round it, but with the charm they let you through.
From Cubby's diary
Midnight, full moon, the spruce wood... and the fern bloomed, red as fire! The wisps circled, but the charm kept them off. I picked the flower! Now no treasure can hide from me.
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Go deep underground, take the Fern Flower in hand and right-click or press E (on a phone, the action button): chests and keys around you glow with blue fire through the rock for half a minute. The flower burns away, and you can pick a new one at the next full moon.
Reward
Go deep underground, take the fern flower in hand, right-click or press E - chests and keys all round glow blue through the rock for half a minute. The flower burns up; a new one blooms every full moon, at midnight, in the spruce wood.