GM Challenge - What’s in the village?

[OldTrees1]

It is very rough but the idea was stuck in my head and I needed to put it somewhere.

From the bridge you can look out across the valley towards the village. If you have exceptionally long range vision and weather permits it you might be able to see the mountains on the far side of the valley. However more likely you can only see part of the valley. You see a steep decent into the valley. There is a forest at the base of the mountains. Further in you see farmland. Then a river. A small market sandwiched between the river and the village walls. Then the village walls. The village is dense with buildings but they get shorter the further into the village you look.

When you ask locals about the village they appear aware the village exists, and hear rumors of an entrance somewhere else, but the locals seem unconcerned and uninterested in the village.

If the party searches for a pass/tunnel/path/bridge they find none.
If the party scales down the steep mountain cliffs they will reach the forest edge.

As they trek through the forest they might come across some miners or woodsmen. They have a few scars but otherwise nothing unusual. They seem unsurprised to see strangers. They warn you the cliffs are unstable and prone to rockslides. They offer you a place to stay. If asked about the city they seem rather unconcerned and uninterested in it. However they will talk about the nearby farmers. In the late morning a couple of the woodsmen cart wagons to the forest's inner edge.

If the party travels through the forest they will discover several tables set up where dirt roads meet forests edge. This appears to be a communal gathering place where the farmers and woodsmen trade and talk. If the party joins in they notice a few details. The farmers have some manufactured goods from the city that they trade, it is not only crops. Additionally the farmers and woodsmen will occasionally remark on the dangerous beasts in the woods. The farmers stressing the danger and how brave the woodsmen are. The woodsmen downplaying it as not that bad. If the party asks about the city the farmers will mention the market right outside the gates, but seem unconcerned and uninterested about anything inside the walls.

If the party continues onwards the farmers will offer places for the party to stay at their farms. Around mid morning some of the farmers travel inwards across the river to the gate market and others travel outwards to the forest edge.

As the party approaches the river they notice there it is a wide river and there is no bridge. The farmers carefully ford their carts across the river. There is a market here is plenty of goods. The party even sees some farmers put in requests for less common items. If the party joins in they hear the merchants and the farmers having some good natured banter about the river. The merchants playing up the danger of the river and the farmers downplaying it.

If the party continues they notice the gates are guarded by golems rather than guards. If they continue through the gates they notice the ground slopes downwards. The buildings further in are not shorter, they are lower.

...

The pattern continues a couple more times unless the party turns around (or makes it to the center). If the party turns around they realize all the warnings were accurate (except the most recent warning). The cliffs are prone to rockfalls and their rope has already been dislodged. The forest is full of seriously dangerous beasts. The river is a raging torrent. The golems block their exit. Etc Etc. On the other hand if the party makes it to the center, then they find a maw that extends down into the earth with a faint red-orange glow (a magma pool). I did not make stats for Curiosity, but that might not stop the party from trying.