Against the cult: the Forest Ruin (1.5)

There's no trace of anything else in the room, but after about a minute, Aanbo notices that the old human's chest has moved very, very slightly...as if the breath of sleep was happening impossibly slow.

The old man is no more interesting to watch laying there than Devek was back where you left him in the Temple of Rao. Less so, perhaps, given that you know something about Devek from his family, and you know almost nothing about this human. As Theran watches, the chest rises infinitesimally further...or did he just imagine it? Whatever movement there is, it's so slow as to be imperceptible. It's like watching an oak tree grow. "You think he might not be one of the what-do-you-call-'em, the guys in the journal? Heralds?" Joseph asks Aanbo. "That's an interesting thought. I suppose we could wake him and ask..." The halfling sighs heavily. "...How do you think we could wake him?"

Albertus backs out of the room and walks past the part of the wall with the switch that deactivated the trap - probably all the wall between the two bedrooms was taken up with the mechanism for firing the spear trap and the spear itself - and over to the unopened door in the north wall of the hallway. The paladin pushes the door open and two things impress upon him immediately:

- very bright light shines from the room within, so that he has to blink despite the torch in his hand, and
- the repeating sound of a ringing handbell clangs every second or so, echoing off the stone walls throughout the building

The third and fourth impressions, as the ringing continues, is the fresh smell of growing vegetation and the sight of many, many shades of green. The room beyond is filled with many varieties of plant: vines, flowers, shrubs, grasses, small trees, with foliage so thick that it's hard to make out the contours of the room.

As their eyes adjust to the brightness, Kragga and Albertus are able to resolve more detail from the mass of fresh-smelling green in front of them.

Two boot-wide globes emitting light, too bright to look at directly, hang suspended just below the ceiling. Clinging ivy has rooted itself on the walls and ceiling but the globes remain uncovered. Clay pots and stone planting beds peek out from amongst the thick foliage throughout the room, showing where the plants started growing long ago. A stone table is just visible under many vines that grow over and between several objects on top of the table. Bits of broken glass and pottery shattered the growing plants lay scattered about the room, shards sticking out of a thick carpet loam made from centuries of decaying leaves. This loam is thick enough that other plants have rooted in it, a carpet of green growth that waves slightly in the air of the party's movement. In addition to the clean smell, there is a surprising humidity to the air.In addition to the ivy, there are many other types of plants. Anyone who wishes to can roll an INT Nature check to identify some of the plants that are present. Everyone who is in the room - at least Kragga and Albertus, but anyone who joins them - should roll a WIS Perception check.

"Hello, old one!" Joseph calls to the supine man in the white robe, despite the fact that he's probably older than this human by several decades...then he realizes that, if the human is one of the Heralds and has been asleep since the journal was written, he is actually much, MUCH older than any of them.
If the man hears him, there is no sign to indicate it.
The halfling calls a bit louder: HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU! WAKE UP!"
There is no response, nor change in the human's condition.
Joseph shrugs. "Somebody want to shake him?"

In the Green Room, Albertus and Kragga attempt to catalog some of the plants as they move warily into the room, bits of pottery and glass crunching underfoot. They chuckle; botany wasn't Albertus' focus, and Kragga is currently too focused on possible dangers to bring his broad knowledge of plants to bear. They both nod and recognize: Theran would know...Aanbo too, probably."

Moving further into the center of the room, Kragga notices that the shapes on the table are the overgrown remains of alchemical equipment. Miraculously, one alembic is unbroken and intact: the source of the moisture in the room is a bubbling pink mist that rises from this. Kragga and Albertus can attempt INT Arcana checks here to ascertain the purpose of the magical solution.

Finally, Kragga notices a strange pattern in the grasses and smaller herbs that grow thick under the coiling ivy on the table. Tufts are growing in a long rectangle. Feeling around, the wizard is certain that this outlines a closed pull-drawer in the desk.

Aanbo is quickly able to find all the herbs that he needs to completely replenish his herbalism kit; this was clearly a conservatory for just such salutatory herbs.

Joseph inspects the drawer and finds no traps...but he's still extremely cautious when he opens it. Nothing happens other than the thin clumps of grasses falling out as they are uprooted by the drawer being pulled. Inside, the drawer is clean and dry: another testament to how well-skilled the masons who built all the fixtures in this place were. Joseph finds another bundle inside the drawer, pages of parchment tied together with raffia which falls apart as he touches it. The halfling glances at the pages, shrugs, and hands the pack to Kragga, who gingerly turns over each page to scan for anything of interest. Realizing that she needs to actively assert her supervisory position, Xana advises, "You should read those." Mostly they seem to be alchemical notes. "What is the delay?" Ogbar grumbles with impatience. "None of this is helping my return to claim the hand of Olga!" Despite this outburst, the half-orc wizard takes his time, and finds two passages of interest:

"I have been working on refining my concoction to magically speed healing. Some of the brothers complain about the appearance of this pink liquid, but they are so accident-prone that we need to keep a supply always on hand."

and

"...of the sleeping draught have proven successful, though the Hierophant has insisted (and I agreed with him) that our testing needed to include an antidote, in case something went wrong. I've managed to refine this, as well, reducing the ingredients to just simple ones found in any garden: leaves of blackvine, rosemary, and sundew, moistened with a drop of mammal blood, ground into a paste in a spotless silver bowl, and left to cure in the glorious light of Pae for five hundred heartbeats. This we have tested, and have found effi..."

(Edited to improve the appearance/legibility of the passages)