As you make your way out of the building you come across a large room just before the entrance/exit. The middle of this room is dominated by a large stone platform about 3 feet high and the surface is covered in glazed tiles. There are 4 green crystals and 1 yellow crystal, along the western edge, inset into the pattern. As you look at the platform you see faint word glow over sections of the tile pattern.
As you step outside you are faced with an scene much like the one from your visions.
[ +- ] Vision 1
A voice in your mind says
Behold a vision imparted by a spirit of the city to one who could commune with them.
Emotion | Scene
|
Joy | The city, bright and vibrant, full of people working in harmony with nature and fey.
|
Sorrow | The city troubled as more soldiers are trained and taken away
|
Grief/Rage | A crumpled letter. Families crying and raging at soldiers.
|
Fear | A massive elemental walking through the city casually shattering most buildings
|
Relief/Hope | An archdruid restoring the heart of the city making it safa again
|
Fear | The sky shattering as storms rage, people flee to the heart, a flash of green
|
Weary | The city in ruins, animals do not stay here, the plants grow |
[ +- ] Vision 2
Again the voice The experiences of an intrepid adventurer who sought out the city but failed to help heal it.
The sun is low on the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow over the sprawling Ruins of Eldergrove, the air is filled with the gentle rustle of leaves and the distant hum of unseen creatures. At the edge of this ancient city, now reclaimed by nature, you stands gazing over the city, once vibrant and alive with the laughter. Now it lies forgotten and overgrown with plant and beast alike. Vines drape gracefully over time-worn buildings, and moss blankets the cobblestone streets. It's a place where time itself seems to have paused, preserving the beauty of the past.
In the distance, a soft, ethereal glow emanates from a towering tree, its roots coiled around an intricately carved archway. This, you knows, is the entrance to the Heartwood Chamber, the sanctuary where the Heartwood Crystal is rumored to rest. Standing there you feels a profound connection to the natural world around yourself. You can sense the presence of awakened plant guardians hidden within the ruins, watching and waiting. They are ancient protectors, bound to defend their city against intruders.
As you take a deep breath, your senses picking up the subtle scents of blooming flowers and damp earth. You knows that many have sought to reach the Heartwood Crystal and unlock its power. Few have discovered, and fewer still lived to return and warn other of the treacherous labyrinth of the Eldergrove ruins, the awakened guardians, and mysteries of this forgotten city.
A crumbling city set into the forest and now overrun by it greets your searching gaze. Wide roads wander between massive trees that reach well over a hundred feet tall. Fountains have become ponds and thick vines have grown over most buildings. As your step outside you hear the rustling hissing sounds more clearly. The sound is nearly constant but it's source changes from moment to moment and comes from multiple directions at once making it hard to pinpoint.
To the east you see a tree rise above all the others. Barley stretches out his senses but only senses a strong sense of life, with a pulse, slow and calm. Localizing the pulse is not possible at this point.