These delightful gardens are home to a fellowship of tree elementals, who act as representatives of Ostaria’s ecosystem. They are guardians and inheritors to a consciousness stretching back to the origins of life. Some are so ancient, they don't recollect a time they did not exist. The roots of these trees extend deep, mingling with the roots of all plants throughout the region. The gardens are self-maintaining, the grass grows perfectly even, and everything functions as intended. Gardens such as this can be found throughout Aquilus, each with varieties of plant life reflective of the region in which they’re situated.
What's makes the gardens enigmatic?
- Close observation will reveal the gardens appear to rearrange themselves. They cannot be mapped or remembered. Visitors who return on another occasion will find their recollections of the gardens are useless.
- Fragments of the trees can be used to create +2 wooden weapons such as clubs, spears, and arrows. Visitors will face wrath if attempts to remove any wood. They will be attacked by leeches who attach themselves, draining hit points and possibly levels from everyone, and additionally, magic itself permanently from casters.
- Visitors spending time here discover their deeds — both good and bad — are widely known by the elementals.
What else will visitors find here? (d8):
- Cave-entrances hidden by illusions which PCs of a lawful alignment can detect. They lead to other places.
- Tree elementals attempting to make babies.
- Numerous garden mazes, which are highly complex.
- A small pool of black water. Visitors looking in will see their reflections showing the deepest darkest evil within each of them. Clerics of lawful alignment feel wrath from their god and must make a WIS check, or lose abilities until they atone.
- Hundred or thousands of statues, possi- bly petrified by nature or otherworldly powers.
- Enchanting birds weaving new sections of the gardens.
- Fruit never falls from trees, but is ripe for picking and eating. Some fruit possesses magical properties, a few varieties are deadly.
- Anything which dies immediately turns to dust.
