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I've recently freed Norglade and defeated Snorlax. But what now? The only unexplored locations that remain on the map are the fire pit, for which I don't have the key, he fortress at the center, with the magical barrier blocking me, and the passage at the north east, for which I don't have the key.

I'm confused. A fortress with a magical barier sounds like the Hill Giants lair. To get access to that you first need to defeat the Slaver lords in Taneliz.
It goes like this:
- defeat the slavers in the Orc Fortress, the male as well as the female one in the second layers
- that gives you access to the mountain pass (you have to find the key/scrolls whatever, so search the underground layer of the Orc Fortress
- after your through the mountain pass you can reach the city of Taneliz, free the slaves, defeat the slaver Lords
- you get access to the Hill Giants lair now (the one with the magical barrier)
- there you get the hint how the reach the Frost Giants
- in the Frost Giants lair you find a way to access the Fire Giants
- then you move towards the endgame

Hope that helps, if not ask more specific

In case you already have been through the mountain pass: at the end are 2 stairs, one leading back, and another one leading to Taneliz, maybe you got the wrong stairs

Ha, a fellow Codex poster.

I already defeated the Slaver Lords at Taneliz but I still can't enter the Hills' Giants lair, the magical barrier still repels me. Is there some NPC in Taneliz I need to talk to? I already talked to everyone I saw in town and it didn't seem to make a difference.

Then you most likely missed the key or scroll that gains you access to the Hill Giants lair... afair quest items are either keys or scrolls (maybe encrypted, then you have to go to the knights keep to have the decrypter chick ... eh... decrypt it for you), so if you missed that (quest items are indesctructable and don't disappear if you didn't loot them) you have to go back to the Slaver dungeon below Taneliz and search for it, but I don't remember what an item it was or where it was, but I'm pretty sure it has to be in the room where you fought the slavers+dragon

Did you free Costello? The guy the captain told you to seek? He's in the prison (normal townmap a bit northwest)

OK, I found out. I talked to the elven girl at the keep, she didn't help me before because I didn't agree to kill the elementals for her. Then I went to see some mage in a remote village about the dragon message, and only then the barrier of the Hill Giants' lair did open. I'm not stuck anymore. Thanks.