Curing Eldergrove

A surge of energy temporarily blinds you. As you blink back your sight you see a dim, overgrown, and dilapidated chamber. You stand in the middle on this chamber on a square of tiles. A grey stone box covered in runic etchings encases black and white tiles that forms a checker pattern. You feel old traces of magic from the tile floor that hint of greater power. The tiles feel receptive to magical senses, as if awaiting a command.



The tile grid is the only relatively clear area in the room. Though no plants grow through it a few have tendrils that grew over it. However they have been shorn clearly though and are drying or healing over. The sound of a forest can be faintly heard outside. The only sounds you hear inside are the rustle of leaves and a few insects.

Though the plants now cover much of the room it looks fairly simple. The room is about twice as big as the tiles with several open doorways. A few rotting and crumbling doors partially fill a few of the doorways. Through one doorway you see sunlight streaming in through an arches.

Date&Time(Beta): 1@09:15
Upon further investigation you realize the black and white tile grid with the grey border is identical the the platform that send you here. You take a rubbing of a corner section, just in case and for comparison. As you do this the others look around the room and see one of the wall has some words carved into it behind some of the vines and plant leaves. The words are in the old "High" script that Vaun and Barley are familiar with. It says

Eldergrove Matrix Node / Craftsman's Burrogh

The room is fairly plain, other than the tiles on the floor. A couple of doors lead into the building interior gloom. Though you can tell there are windows in the other rooms the thick foliage blocks out most of the light. The looking down the connected corridors the building appears quite extensive. Walking a short ways down each you note that light spills into several of the rooms. You also find several staircases, two leading up and one down. (no sign of any creatures, or spider web). As you explore you occasionally hear a soft hissing noise but you can not isolate its source.

The air is thick with the smells of nature including a variety of pollens and the subtle scents of blooming flowers and damp earth. Standing there you feel a thick life energy of the natural world around you. As you explore the room you note that some of the plant seem to shift, but somehow never when you are watching. Still the leaves and vines shift and you suspect there will be stronger and larger plant guardians hidden within the ruins.

Moving off the cleared tiles you crunch across the leaf strewn floor down the hall and cautiously peer outside. You see tall trees, plant covered ruins of a large city. Though you hear forrest sounds, birds, wind in the leaves, insects buzzing, it all seems oddly muted. As you listen you feel oddly oppressed almost as if you are sad and don't know why.

Most of the plants are common and easily recognizable. The odd thing is that they have grown in atypical ways. As you look about the room you note that most plants seem to be slowly moving away from you while others move to fill spaces emptied by the other plants. So they do not approach you but almost shuffle themselves around to keep specific plants closer to you and others further away.

Rhidon recall the ranger talking about how many dangerous environments while have methods to determine newcomers place. Probing attacks, observation, deliberately obvious but misleadings, all of these methods and more are often pitted against adventurers and other foreign entities. The ranger though it was interesting that even normal environments without any magical control or coherent overwatching consciousness had the same feel and effect. He cautioned against wanton destruction as you never knew how this might be interpreted by the local food chain.

Vaun nots that the plant growth is unusually diverse and prolific. Plants were blooming and had thick green leaves inside beyond the reach of most wind and sunshine. Though the air feels thick with an odd feeling he decides the air contains no more pollen and spores than he would expect with the abundance of plant life in the city.

The are is safe enough while you examine the room and you are left with two basic paths forwards. Head towards the daylight and the obvious path outside or explore the building further.

Barley senses only faint traces of small minds.

Other than the odd growth patterns and rapid stealthy shifts in position the plants are normal. Some look bigger than the ones you are familiar with but besides that they are normal, ish.

The familiar quietly moves down the darkened hallways. The wisp of light Barley created following reveals damp and dusty corridors and rooms. Malachi finds scraps of wood, dust, dried leaves, dirt, mischievous scraps of the virus former life, and mud. A set of stairs are found a ways down one of the halls and a set of stairs leading down in a side chamber of that range hall, you now assume to be the main hall. Malachi has to stay through the dark much of the time, as Barley's light can not leave his line of sight, but there is enough light to make out most rooms. Barley gets the sense this is either a private estate or public facility based on the buildings size and composition.