"Well a million is probably an over exaggeration," Ambre laughs as they enter the garden. "This is pretty."

Arvol, your investigation proves fruitful: While inspecting the greenery, you find that some of these shrubs possess more life than others - they are awakened! Aelyn discerns this as well as he is looking for beautiful flowers, which he does manage to find. There is no shortage of them in this book garden.

The bespectacled orc looks over in Aelyn's direction. "Yes, you may pick the flowers, but only take as many as you need. Nature is generous in her bounty, but one should not deprive her of all of her resources."

Arvol, a little unsure of the protocol for dealing with awakened plant life, tries to gently pat one of the plants. "Umm, hello? Are you supposed to help us with our scavenger hunt?" 

Arvol pats a shrub on its heads wreathed with crowns of leafy foliage and the shrub looks up at him with their "eyes" that are no more than small holes in their bark. A wrinkle in the wood stretches to form a mouth.

"Ya-ha-ha, you found me!" They say with a chirpy little voice. The leaves on their head part, revealing a small plush toy underneath. It appears to be a doll in the shape of a Spirit Statue mascot. The shrub chirps some more. "Take your prize! Take your prize!"

"Well, thank you! Thank you very much!"  Arvol says.  He reaches down and picks up the doll, giving it just a momentary glance.  He looks back at the awakened shrub. "Do you have a name then? Very kind of you to be a part of the orientation fun." 

"My deepest thanks good sir." Aelyn says to the bespectacled orc and searches out the most beautiful flowers he can find to pick.
(Is it possible for him to make beautiful flower wreaths for his beautiful new friends? Otherwise he will just take a beautiful flower for them each.)
As he is searching for flowers to pick Aelyn accidentally pats an awakened shrub. "Oh dear, my sincere apologies Mr. Shrub." He says, patting it again for good measure.

"I am Elmo!" The shrub giggles. "Yay, prizes! Congratulations!"

Aelyn's shrub comes to life as well. "Ya-ha-ha, you found me! Take your prize!" It chirps, revealing a small, black plush doll with shiny purple eyes and an adorable grin on its face. It looks quite like one of Silverquill's Inkling mascots!

Seeing that Aelyn has found one of the prizes as well, Arvol turns to look for where the others have gotten to. "Come on guys, I think everyone is supposed to find one of these awakened plants. And get their prize!" He holds up the stuffed Spirit Statue mascot that he received to show them. 

Aithne gaped as they entered the garden area. In her estimation, not much could rival the beauty of an ancient library filled with books and scrolls, but this place certainly made a valiant attempt. Keeping Makyra hovering slightly above her shoulder, she walked through the vibrant space, head swiveling from one side to the other to take in the sights. She didn't pat one of the awakened plants so much as she tripped over it.

Pinwheeling her arms to remain upright, Aithne only succeeded in calling attention to herself as she toppled over. Thankfully, the Mage Hand spell kept Makyra safely aloft and only Aithne ended up with grass stains on her robe. "I'm sorry!" She apologized profusely, brushing hair out of her face to allow herself to see. She gently reached out to straighten a few of the more crumpled looking leaves and branches. "Genuinely. I'm terribly sorry for falling over you. I really didn't mean to..." She continued on in the same vain for a while, making it impossible for the shrub to respond. 

"Oh, thanks, a doll?" Aelyn says, picking up the plush doll. "Well, you're a cute one aren't you. I think I will call you Blottie" He says with a smile and puts the doll in a side poket of his backpack where she can have a good view of the surroundings. "Hey everyone, say hello to Blottie." He says to the others with a wide grin, pointing to his doll.

"Hey, let me help you up." Aelyn says to Aithne with a chuckle as she falls over into the vegetation, gently brushing off some leaves from her as she gets up again. "It is hard to spot them really. I sort of stumbled into one myself." He adds, trying to comfort her.

"Well, thank you again Elmo," Arvol says to the awakened creature.  He then notices how Aithne stumbled, and Aelyn right there to help her up.  "Hope you're ok, Aithne."

He then looks about for Ambre and Hendrix, wondering where they might have gotten to. "I hope we didn't lose anyone amongst all these plants!" he jokes. 

"Oh?" Ambre looks around for one of the shrubs and tries petting it. "This is... odd."

The shrub Aithne tripped over comes to life and laughs. "Ya-ha-ha, you found me! Take your prize!" It sings, parting the leaves on its head to reveal another Spirit Statue mascot doll, its design unique from the one that Arvol received. "And remember, a half-cup of vinegar, a cup of water, and a tablespoon of dish soap can remove grass stains! Or, ya know, use magic!"

"Miss Dresar, watch yourself! You're responsible for both your wellbeing and mine now, remember?" Makyra huffs from her Mage Hand pedestal. 

Ambre awkwardly pats another shrub, which animates in the same way the others did. "Ya-ha-ha, you found me! Take your prize!" 

The foliage parts to reveal a shimmering blue and red quadrupedal creature, similar to the Elemental mascots of the Prismari College.

While waiting for Hendrix, seemingly in vain, Aelyn finishes his flower wreaths for Ambre, Aithne and Arvol, and himself placing them gently on their heads, if they'd let him. "Now you're all even beautifuller my friends." He says, smiling widely, clearly pleased with his creations. 

"So, the last riddle, sounds like we should head for that amphitheater right? There we will all become stars, perhaps we should perform together, sing maybe?" Aelyn suggests, ready to go and find their last prize.

Aithne accepted Aelyn's hand, pulling herself upright and biting her lip over the state of her robes. They'd been clean to start the day. Now they were ink splattered and grass stained. Typical fare for her, she supposed. Well, the grass stains were new. Normally it was varying shades of ink. In fact, she didn't think she owned a single piece of clothing that didn't have some kind of staining on it. Mostly on the sleeves, but there had been several instances where she'd overturned entire inkpots onto herself through simple clumsiness.

"Thank you." She said to Aelyn, releasing his hand and offering a smile to Avrol. "I'm fine. Just embarrassed."

Mentally chiding herself, she bowed her head to the little shrub. "Again, I'm terribly sorry." Reaching out, she plucked the doll from its leafy hold and found a smile for Makyra. "I promise not to put you at risk, but I can't promise the same for myself. I'm far more likely to end up head-over-heels outside than in a library. It's rather difficult to trip over something when you're seated and reading!" She held up the doll for the statuette's inspection, then took a more extensive look at it herself.

It was darling. Everything they'd been gifted on this scavenger hunt had been so dear. Fun, novel items that she would never consider purchasing for herself. She'd feel far too guilty spending the money on such frivolous items, but since they were gifts, she could enjoy them without worry. 

"Oh! Thank you." She smiled at Aelyn and accepted the flower crown, reaching up a hand to lightly touch the petals now adorning her head. "It's lovely." Fragrant and colorful too. She felt it was a bit like putting pearls on a hog, considering how rumpled she undoubtedly looked, but feeling silly wasn't reason enough to turn down the blossoms. 

"Ooo, thank you!" Ambre says to the shrub, picking the mascot. She doesnt seem to notice the flower crown being put on her head.

Looking over at Aithne, she thinks for a moment. "I think I can fix that too!" She goes rummaging through her bag again

Makyra lets out a singular, frustrated laugh. "Is that Yashara Torzregg? They made a doll out of one of the most feared warriors of the Blood Age?! It was enough of a blow that she got her own amazing statue on Effigy Row, but now they make a doll?! Where's my damn doll? I'm a pseudo-living record of the entire Blood Age, all she did was kill people, write poems, and cook mediocre soup! Why I..." She takes a deep breath (or at least, the spirit statue equivalent of one), then sighs. "Whatever. She was a decent enough person, I suppose. Kind. Efficient. Witness to many historical battles. It's always the 'heroes' that go down in history, isn't it? Never the scholars. What a thankless life I led. No point dwelling on it now."

Aithne's spirit statue appears to be a female orc dressed in chain mail, holding a sword in one hand and a scroll in the other. There are shimmering "cracks" running through the entirety of the figure, as though magical energy is holding the fractured statue together. 

Makyra's voice dwindles down to a stage whisper. "Look out, everyone, I think that musician is attempting to flirt with all of you! Or at least curry favor with those now-dying plants of his. Never trust a bard. They're always up to something. I'm watching you, Allison. Or whatever your name is."

Arvol looks at Aelyn with a grin after receiving the crown of flowers, "Just what I always wanted! How did you know!" He then notices Ambre going through her bag once again.  To Aelyn he says, in a slightly lowered voice. "Wonder what she'll come up with this time.  I can hardly wait to see, I'm sure it will be interesting."  

As Aelyn mentions the last clue, Arvol says, "Ampitheater does seem to make sense for acting.  Although didn't someone have a chest of costumes somewhere else when we passed by?" He shrugs, "Darned if I can remember where though."

The bespectacled orc looks over to all of you. "Forgive me for eavesdropping, but I believe I saw several first years head to the Ampitheater after they were done with the shrubs here."