(I vote to go to the arboretum next)

Syd agrees, "Yeah, let's go to the aborigine... carburetor... arbalest... anorectum... uh, that other room."

“To the arboretum then”. Cerlinde says, and starts heading that way.

Quote from Great_Axeblade >>

EVERYONE!

Saucy speech is unofficial material, and is a homebrew spell, made by me for craps and giggles for my sauce cult! (TLDR you probably shouldnt use it)

https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/103106-supreme-court-of-sauce

 (Hahaha this is the best! )

Huzzah the tree room!

" Everyone, be on the lookout for *healing root*. I am missing fresh supply to brew more healing potion; with the way I'm chewing through my magic in a few short hours, I don't want to be caught out if we need healing when I'm out of energy. I will brew another draught tonight for unexpected emergencies."

The party bravely marches on, determined to explore every aspect of this magical mansion.  Back down the hall toward the kitchen and dining room they tread and as they approach the door at the end of the hall, they see it is slightly ajar.  Peering in, assumedly with some measure of caution, they see an arboretum with open, arched walls.  Flowering shrubs and small trees grow between paved paths that meet in a semicircular patio.  There’s no sun, but two glowing globes hang above the plants, bathing them in light.  There are colorful blossoms everywhere, filling the air with their perfume.

Syd wrinkles his warty nose in disgust.  "Smells like a she-elf in here...." then he freezes, remembering present company.  "Uh, I mean, lovely... it smells lovely.  Lovely elves, lovely flowers.  Yeah."  His voice drifts off into embarrassed silence.

Ollezall searches around passively as they walk (perception 15) looking for ingredients for the potion he would like to brew tonight.

Ollezall would also like to conduct the detect magic ritual. " You know, Cerlinde and I have been attacked by trees.... Never thought I would say that seriously... Might be best to be on guard; they pack a mighty wallop."

Dyumi will snoop around for the *healing root*. Survival:25

Cerlinde will search as well, looking for plants and herbs useful for herbalism or alchemy, but also watching for attacking plants, she has experience with those.

18 investigation.  (She has proficiency with herbalist and alchemist tools) 

(I survived NYC and I'm back in Ontario behind the keyboard!  Let the adventure shenanigans resume!)

Dyumi, with his superiour knowledge of the natural world, is able to identify some herbs in the garden that should serve quite nicely for brewing a healing potion.  He is able to obtain enough for 2 potions without doing the plant any lasting harm.

Cerlinde also has some success in finding herbs that will be of use in her magical practice.  She comes across 1 plants of interest to her.  (Feel free to describe what those might be.)

Ollezall settles down to initiate his ritual for Detect Magic.  As he does so, he perceives an unexpected sound.  Coming from over his shoulder, Ollezall can hear childish giggling.  Slightly stifled, but it is distinct enough that he can tell that the source of the sound is moving toward him and then passing over him, several feet above.  He sees nothing.

Syd, in his embarrassment, fails to notice the laughter.  Ollezall then sees a small, orange puff of gas appear around Syd's head.  Another burst of giggling occurs in that general vicinity, this time loud enough for the entire party to hear.

(Syd, please make a Wisdom saving throw.)

Ollezall stashes the root/plant/thingy (and creates 2* custom item to track the material cost of creating a potion)

" There seems to be giggling in the ai-ARRRGH!" pointing over Syd's head as his voice crescendos, the end of the sentence cut off. 

Ollezall will ready sacred flame if the entity fully reveals itself, AND the effect on Syd is harmful. 

The roll for this condition is as follows: sacred-flame for 1 damage; Dexterity 15 save 

(Wisdom save 16)

Startled, Syd reflexively breathes in sharply, which has the unfortunate consequence of drawing a fair amount of the orange gas into his lungs.  Immediately, Syd is overcome with a feeling of vibrant buoyancy that also fills him with frenetic energy.  Overall, the effect is probably quite foreign to the orc and results in him feeling compelled to rapidly wander about the arboretum in something between a frenzied stroll and an interpretive dance.

Ollezall observes this transformation and, despite the absurdity of it, does not discern any physical threat to Syd in his current state.  The party can all hear some very loud giggling now, coming from somewhere above them in one of the trees.  Ollezall also notices that there seems to be a second giggling voice joining with the first.

(Syd, from a mechanics perspective, you will for the next minute use all of your movement to scurry/prance in random directions.  You can speak, but you can't otherwise take actions, etc..  Depending on what the party does, I'll let you know how that changes.  Enjoy the cardio!)

(crap I'm out of spell slots, I can't cast faerie fire to find the invisible laughing thingy.)

"Look at those daisies!  Aren't they just gorgeous? Oh, and what's this over here...? Kingsfoil!  I hear it's good for poultices... My what a lovely shrubbery... Oh I simply must get some ferns like those for my room in the inn.... 'fern'  is such a strange-sounding word... fern... fern.... rhymes with burn, turn, learn, urn, tavern... boy, I could really use a tankard of ale right now.... ale, it's good for what ails ya... get it?  ails ya?.... Hey Ollie, did you find some plants for your potions? what are they called? do they taste bad?  will they make my tongue numb?... one time a bee stung me right on the tongue, and I started talking like this:  Hewwo, mah name eth Thyd. How thoo you thoo?...."

(Lol).  (Cerlinde finds a rare magical herb she needed as a  component for a hat of wizardry she would like to make one day)      She says “who’s there?   We mean you no harm- but show yourselves- and let us be!”  

Cerlinde's inquiry is met with more laughter, now clearly coming from two distinct sources, which are not stationary.  From one of the trees, several small spheres of light emerge from the leaves and appear to coalesce in the form of a small humanoid.  It drifts slowly toward Cerlinde, then begins dancing in a manner reminiscent of a marionette.

As the lights dance, Cerlinde hears one of the sources of laughter stop.  This is followed by some babbling, which she recognizes to be in Draconic.  It sounds like a children's song.  "Welcome friends, to our trees!  Stay with us, if you please.  We are fun, you are too!  Run, sing, and dance, just like we do!"  The marionette twirls merrily as the song repeats, bobbing up and down in mid-air.  Throughout the song, the other voice continues to giggle.

(Can Cerlinde please roll a Perception check?)

In the meantime, Syd continues to buzz about the arboretum, enraptured with the beauty of the place and bubbling over with enthusiasm for life!

"what are your names spherical phosperent poltergeists?"

Ollezall served Hermitage in the groves of a forest sanctum. With his passive perception (15) and passive insight( 17) does Ollezall have any idea what these spectral puffs are? And does Ollezall see any malice past their jovial attitudes and (hilarious) prank on Syd?

Mohdrak had followed the others to the arboretum. The greenery made for a welcome change from the confined structure of the manor. If he ignored the obviously magical orbs in what he presumed to be the sky, he could imagine he was actually walking in a well maintained forest glade. He might even position himself against a tree trunk and enjoy the shade. Yet there were several occurrences that kept him from doing so. One was a fit of laughter. Not that unusual but the minotaur had spent enough time with the others to know it was not one of them that laughed. The sudden outburst of their resident orc into a flight of fancy was the second omen that something was not up to snuff. The orc was many things but Mohdrak was reasonably sure giddy as a goat was not one of them. Finally the emergence of little dancing orbs of light sealed the deal that something was off, let alone that they seemed to speak in something tongue he did not understand.

Preparing for when push came to shove, Mohdrak cautiously took his morningstar in hand and lifted his shield to cover his left flank.

'What's happening?' He called out to Cerline who seemed to be in conversation with the lights. 'Can you understand this? Them?' He added a bit unsure. Most things went down after a good swing of his weapon but lights? He doubted he could affect those. But he did recall a theatre play he once saw that dealt with a similar situation.

'Tell them we come in peace.'

But for the life of him he could not remember how that play had ended...

OOC: Apologies for the infrequent posting. I'm preparing to move and due to tardiness from others, I've been forced to cram four weeks of prep and moving into two. I'll try to get back to being a more consistent party member.