Now that the survivors are accounted for and Darrik is conscious, the group agrees that there is little reason to stay. While Saros goes over their best two options for escape routes, Khan takes a moment to let Bleep stand on his own again and drink a Potion of Healing. (Khan recovers 8 HP.)

Ang shows a preference for the main gate and Khan reminds the group to avoid scaling the walls. After the orange grung throws Blip over her shoulder, the group is ready to move. Saros takes a quick look to see if he spots the Deck of Many Things on the ground but can't find it. It seems safe to assume someone got a hold of it.

Reopening the main gate and exiting is no trouble, and neither is heading down the hill and reaching the fork on the road. Knowing the exit leads away from the mining district, the party heads toward the commercial district instead. 

This part of town is completely destroyed. Every shop, without exception, has been ransacked and effectively emptied. Bodies fill the main and side streets, as well as the interior of the larger shops. As the group walks, they recognize Nard's body. The human huntress and town butcher who had been somewhat rude to OGA + Watchers went down with a fight, as evidenced by the three three arrow-pierced goblins a few paces away. The local tavern, The Bucket's Bottom, has mostly collapsed and it is hard to imagine anyone left inside could have survived. A peek inside the sundries shop also reveals that the other town's gnome, Balick, was killed while holding on to some of his goods (bags of grain).

The group continues to make their way toward the main gate, passing through the residential district now. There are piles of corpses here, as well as slaughtered animals. Judging by the number of bodies around, there could not have been many survivors, if any. There are no signs of life in the area, be it goblins or anyone else. The main log gate is left open and splintered. Some of the homes still burn but the flames are low now that much of the town has been burned. Looking toward the top of the hill, the party can see the large flames coming from the manor rise above the canopy. 

The chances that this isolated outpost in the middle of the Chultan jungle will recover, if any, must be quite small. 

(OOC: We are heading toward the conclusion of this adventure in the next IRL days. Make sure you do whatever you'd like to do before then.)

Darrik spits in the ash, growling in disgust.

”Murderous goblin bastards.”

"I wish we could have done more for them....but we have sent something much worse to its grave -  killing Weirding will prevent this from happening again....and perhaps the jungle should be left untouched by outside hands"

OOC: At what stage will we 'officially' finish that long rest?????

Stoically, Khan walked past the destruction and death. Her only concern being to keep an eye out for stragglers along the way. As the full weight of their abandonment of the village the night before settles into her heart... the corner of her lips curl upward in the faintest of smile. Hearing Saros at all immediately sours her mood, as she still had yet to forgive him and Ghee.

Yet, upon glancing back towards the burning mansion she sighs and shakes her head. "Yes. Much simpler outside hands stay way... But not happen likely," She'd say as much. "... Khan need comeback. Someday. Retrieve or set right the fallen. As is way." She admits, then look to Saros. "But you.... You remember Khan's requests?" Khan ask, and upon meeting his gaze, she'd look between him and Celeste, before gesturing with her head in the likely traumatized girl's direction. "Khan.... rescinds promise if return after. Gnome...did stupid at end... but, Gnome useful. Saved effort burning house...And... If still fix comrade after rest soon, then... Next visit, Khan repay debt."

While a smile never touches her lips again, nor was a hand offered to seal the deal, her words were genuine, and expression devoid of the usual underlying distaste or anger at the gnome.

Religion: 11.

"There's no a thing we can dae fer tha dead. Aye, we could find tha ones what did it and make sure they cannae dae it anymair... But day comes when their kith an kin come a knockin'."

Looking round the group, Ghee checks to make sure no one is falling behind or dropping too far back.

"We keep movin' an' we dinnae stop until we've put this place well behind."

Ang have a look over her shoulder as well, and sees the village burning. Less civilisation, the jungle is back to the Grung. "We'll still have to deal with these goblins at some point" she thinks to herself. She watch her companions and smiles,  realising that the party survived, that's what's important. They rescued some green ones, Khan seemed to have grown as a leader and the two from the land are quite friendly when she thinks of it.

She suddenly realised that she still had the magic card in her bag. She reaches Saros and gives the deck of cards "Saros, I think this might be better in your hands. Enough magic. We need to go back to our old ways for a while": She leaves a few seconds of silence and adds "I always liked to study other civilisations, for knowledge, for good tactics. If Khan doesn't need me anymore in the future, I might come see you in your Castle of Candles. I wonder how that is..."

Religion: 23

Feeling guilty for not having been able to do more for the village, Saros withdraws into himself somewhat as they walk thorugh the village, and goes back over the choices made over the last few days and after some time realises that despite the losses, this was always a frontier town and its inhabitants knew the risk, and that having found both the missing grung and Cawkrin, recovering the tome, saving Celest and putting an end to the creature that was Weirding was actually an amazing feat, despite the mistakes that were made.

As Khan comes up to speak to him, Saros comes out of his reflection to give the brave grung his attention, and in response says "Don't worry, I do not think there is anything here that would give cause for Celest to return, but we will make sure that your warning is remembered"  then, in return for Khan's begrudging 'praise' a smile comes to his face and a glint forms in his old eyes as he continues "I think that neither of us could have done this alone and I am glad we could put most of our differences aside for this task.......and as soon as we can find a safe place away from the town I can set to the final task of trying to reverse Blip's condition....and as for the fire....well lets just say that I don't have a good eye for art and leave it there"

As Ang approaches to talk as well, Saros accepts the cards "Agreed...fate is fickle enough without taking chances on the turn of a card" and tucks the deck into one of his pockets, and as Ang asks if he can visit he glances at Khan before replying "Any who seek knowledge are welcome, and indeed there are many who would like the chance to understand the Grung ways more deeply.....it has become clear to me that your culture has many complexities and nuances and it would serve our races to better understand each other in the future....but the decision is for Khan to release you as you say"

Hopefully we can make camp somewhere in relative safely, and if so, AFTER COMPLETING A LONG REST (portent rolls from previous attempt at rest 14, 17) Saros will cast Comprehend Languages once more and take to studying the tome once more.  If a check is needed he will use the 17 portent role which will give him a 24 for the skill check.

"A lot happened in past days..." Bleep says with a shrug.

"Bleep will say Leader Khan made right choice in working with non-Grung. The heads of goblin leader and tentacle wizard shows."

"Will be long journey back..." He says looking at Blip's condition.

Khan opens her mouth as if to interject, realizing the meaning of the reminder got misinterpreted by the gnome. However, a moment's hesitation for a little too long leads but to the Orange Grung carrying on in silence for a while.

"..... Much to discuss we have, Ang. Very much." She eventually says without look to Ang. "Much in due time. Much work to see through... But, if truly wish go after then.... Ang has blessing at time." With that likely hope provoking word, Khan is quiet until they were well away from the village. At which point, she alongside B'leep were to scout a fairly defensible point by the river again, and eventually lead the group there to hopefully finish their long rest, as much as one could...    

As the group takes in all the damage that the Batiri tribe was able to deal to the village in the absence of heroic interruption, most lament not jumping into the role of such heroes. It is too late, however, to undo such decision, and it is not clear all members of OGA + Watchers would have made a different choice to begin with. Finding no obvious sings of any survivors, the group agrees to move on. 

Darrik curses the goblins while Ghee reflects on the impracticality of bringing revenge upon the Batiri. Saros and Khan share a rare moment of mutual agreement. Ang hands over the magical deck of cards to the gnomish wizard once again, while Bleep contemplates the journey ahead and leads the way as requested by his commander. 

Almost absentmindedly, the group hovers back to their latest camping sight, just an hour or two away from the farthest wall encircling the town's mining district. They notice that the goblin raid and continuous fire have scared away from the general area many beasts that might have otherwise normally prowled this vicinity. This means their walk back to camp is quite uneventful. Once camp is re-erected, the group settles down for what is likely going to be their last downtime all together. They gather that another two or three hours of rest should be enough for everyone to recover from the interrupted night/morning.

Most take the opportunity to catch up on sleep or enjoy a daily bath. Cawkrin prepares a light meal out of the supplies he carries which, somehow, are still quite fresh. Bloop volunteers to keep watch, and Saros takes advantage of the downtime to finish studying the tome, at least in general terms. The book mostly focuses on all the studies and preparations needed to successfully complete the ritual that transforms an illithid into an alhoon. There is vast knowledge to be extracted from this tome, but that would likely require years worth of careful study within the walls of Candlekeep. Tinkering with living brains as Lord Weirding did does not seem to be part of the extensive ritual detailed in the tome. Nonetheless, it seems Lord Weirding couldn't resist taking some notes on his favorite pastime towards the end of the tome. This alhoon was trying to create a group of obedient subordinates that had the power to emanate psychic waves on command to bring down his enemies. He was still far from his goal, with Celest being the only subject that survived the application of runes to the scalp. To even get to this first successful development, Lord Weirding had to learn a lot about humanoid brains without eating them, and thus, tinkered with many people's head. It seems Blip and Blahp were among his most recent lobotomy victims, with the latter failing to survive the experiment. 

Once Khan awakens, Saros shares some bad and good news with the her. The bad news is that the tome contains no effort whatsoever in explaining how to revert the lobotomy processes, either magically or through more traditional medicine. The good news is that now that Saros understands that a small part of Blip's brain has been removed, he can actually suggest a potential cure. Being a well-learned gnome, Saros is aware of the general existence of clerics powerful enough to have earned the ability to regrow body parts and even organs from their divine patrons. This piece of information gives Khan some hope, and perhaps some of Nangnang's own high priestesses could perform such divine favors. This just makes Khan's desire to return to her village even stronger.

(OOC: You may all go ahead and click on the "Long Rest" button in your character sheets. If there is anything else you'd like to accomplish as a group, now is the time. Otherwise, I'd like to encourage you to start RPing your goodbyes in your next posts.) 

"High Priestess... They demand much for this." Khan states softly, and looks over to Blip. "Tempting Fate.... tempting... But, Ang speaks right of things." She adds, nodding slowly and sagely to herself. "Seek High Priestesses, Khan will. Restore warped... Set things right. Not worthy of future if not do this much for those below." Khan then looks to Saros for a long, quiet moment. "Saros... On behalf of tribe, and behalf of Khan... You have Khan's... grati... gradey..." Khan looks away sharply, rubbing her scalp while grumbling and croaking.

Seeing her like this might be a new thing for Saros or anyone but the grung's paying attention enough. But, he could probably guess embarassment might be involved in some way. Eventually, she huffs through her nose, and looks sharply back to Saros. "You have Khan's thanks. And... and if return or not, this for you." She pulls out from a sidestrap of her battle fundoshi a hollow tube with holes cut through it and a cord dyed orange attached to it.

"Only for you. Special design so when played, all know you the Great Khan's.. rrribbit... rrrrespect... Grudging rrrespect." She smirks at that. Hopefully if taken, she then calls Darrik over next. For him, she pulls out her silvered Battleaxe. The sides of it look pitted and well worn upon initial inspection. But to the trained eye, the markings were intentional details made as part of the weapons forging. And if looked at just the right angles, one can make out the dwarven runes etched within it for the word 'Endure Until the End'.

"You...Deaarrik.. Darrik... Khan did dishonor not speak more before of thanks. Without you, none survive as long as had. For that, Khan wish restore honor. Bestow, Khan will, 'D'Ahken'khar' to Darrik." She holds up the weapon to him. "May when Fang and Claw fails, D'ahkenkhar see Darrik through in future."

Waiting for Khan to finish to say her goodbye, Ang finally approaches the non-grungs. "Well, this is where our paths separate. I wish you all farewell. I hope we will meet again and as Khan said, you will always be welcome in our tribe". 
She takes a small parchemin from her bag and gives it to Saros. "Here, during our rest I drew a map of the jungle around this place, with places to avoid and safe paths. I did also place a small dot that show the area of our tribe if you are to come back, as well as a mark of our clan. This should give you safe passage if you meet other Grung.... I hope"

Not used to display too much emotion, Ang steps back and bows "May Nangnang protects you during your journey home."

At the quite unexpected comments and gifts from Khan, Saros is speechless for a while, dumbly accepting the gifts with a solemn nod of his head, wondering what he has that he could offer in return "Khan....I don't know what to say.....your words of acknowledgement warm this weird looking goblins heart" saying that with a smile "your bravery and that of your fellow grung deserves accolades amongst your kin, so anything that I or the watchers at large can do to support any claim you make, just ask.  As an immediate gesture, perhaps you would consider taking Weirding broach as a prize....your grung wizards will be able to support any claim you make about besting this monster and rescuing Blip and Bloop....but if it offends for me to make the offering then please accept my apologies, I am only trying to strengthen your claims when you return"  Saros holds it out for Khan to take if he so chooses.

Then to all of the grung "It was strange circumstances that threw us together.....but I am grateful for the chance meeting and the bonds that we can take away from our journey together.  Know that I will tell your story to the Watchers and your deeds will be memorialised in our histories.  If you ever have need or face threats from outside, call upon us and we will do what we can to assist.  And", taking his cue from Ang's request "should any wish to visit the keep, send word and I will ensure that you are welcomed within its walls"

"I wish you good fortune and much honour on your return Khan, indeed all of you, until we meet again...."

With a nod to Khan that says much more than any words could, he falls silent and waits on any parting words from Darrik before the watchers take their leave and begin the trek home.

Darrik grunts.

”Huh.  What’d you say it was, Dirkenkur?  Strange name for a weapon, but thank ye anyways."

(Unless DM allows some handwaiving, Khan does sadly not have either the bugbear or wierdling's head. Though I suppose she could've jury rigged out of some ropes a net for the heads to carry on her back...)

Khan smirked at Saros for the initial comment, but otherwise respectfully listened to the rest without a word. As for the ofter, she considers it for a moment, even going so far as to start reaching out for the broach. But then, the Orange grung softly shook her head, rejcting it in the end. "Even trapped, Wierdling not trusted. Wierdling maybe corrupt less mindful leaders. Perhaps...." She pauses at that, scrunching up her face in thought, before then shaking her head again. "No. Too dangerous right now.... But, Khan not worried. Has other ways to convince if need be." A flashes sinister smile at those last words prior to moving on.

Back with Darrik, she sighed, but wouldn't bother correcting the dwarf. She was confident enough Saros heard, and would hopefully correct the Dwarf later. Finally, she lays eyes on Celeste. ".... Your path now with them." She gestures to Saros. "May Saros, the watchers grant you peace." She offered plainly. Almost immediately after though, she looks to Ghee saying, "Khan trusts you guide them back safetly, yes? Good... Take Care, Sensei." With that and a final smile, Khan waits a little while longer for any of her Grungs to say their goodbyes, before then signaling in a final croak for the grungs to move out for home. 

"Non-grung have done admirably, Bleep has respect." Bleep prefaces before adding. "That only is for those present, Bleep has not decided on non-grung as whole."

"This will be experience Bleep will not soon forget." He says before returning to his spot behind his leader.

The last little bit of business comes to an end as Saros shares enough information with Khan for her to realize she might have to work her way up to gaining favor with Nangnang's high priestess, a task that might take some time and a lot of political capital within the tribe.

A period of awkward silence follows as the group slowly realizes that whatever force was keeping them together has now come to its natural conclusion. The realization seems to turn the adventurers' mood to a more mellow and friendly one. A natural leader, Khan breaks the silence and leads the way in initiating messages of gratitude and sealing the gesture with an exchange of gifts on behalf of the members of One Grung Above. In turn, Darrik accepts the gifted weapon and Saros the delivered message as they respond in kind. Saros even presents Weirding's Periapt of Mind Trapping but Khan refuses it, knowing that the artifact would be in better hands with the scholars.

Being more fluent in the Common tongue, Ang builds on top of Khan's message and delivers an open invitation for these Watchers of Candlekeep to come visit. In return, she receives an invitation herself, should Khan and the grung society at large find it suitable. Blip can't say much and Bloop choses to remain silent, so it falls to Bleep to close out the farewells speeches on behalf of the grungs. He keeps it short and sweet. On the Watchers side, noticing that Darrik and Saros had already said their goodbyes, Cawkrin Jones turns to the froglings and wraps it up: "You've got a friend in me."

In classic Ghee fashion, the albino dwarf was apparently lost in drink-induced daydreams up until the moment Khan calls him out by name. He nods, not being entirely sure what was said or what needs to be done next, but manages to reassure the orange grung that he will indeed lead the non-grungs out of the jungle.

And with that, Khan leads her grungs back toward their home village while Ghee guides the Watchers back toward non-jungle-based civilization. 

EPILOGUE

An undetermined amount of time passes...

After leading her hunting party back home with proof of their many deeds, Khan is rewarded with an immense gain in notoriety. Some still disapprove of her killing fellow grungs in her way to fame, but most understand that dishonored hunting parties, even if just temporary, have the right to defend themselves from other hunters. Furthermore, no one can deny what One Grung Above achieved when they dealt a severe blow to the Batiri Tribe in the process of putting down another evil within Chult. For her contributions to furthering the accomplishments and well-being of grung society as a whole, Khan is granted the honor of becoming a gold grung, finally gaining the noble status she has craved her entire life. She is among the elite of grung society now, right where she belongs.

Ang had naturally stepped into the role of second-in-command when fate demanded it of her. She had also served as One Grung Above's face in many occasions during their redemption adventure when interactions with non-grungs were unavoidable. In recognition of her talents and as a reward for her crucial role in this great victory against the Batiri and other evils, Ang is granted a transformation of her own. She is invited to become a red grung through a promotion ritual, which will permit her to begin studying magic (either arcane, natural, or divine). She is also granted a new title: the First Grung Ambassador to the World Beyond the Jungles of Chult. With that, Ang is allowed to visit and remain with the Library of the Castle of Candles (as she says it) to learn about the world and its magic.

Bleep's role in the success of One Grung Above is, at least initially, diminished narratively somewhat by the higher castes of grung society. The hunter expected as much, being a lowly green grung and all. Nonetheless, Bleep's prowess begins to be greatly celebrated among the lowers castes of grungs (greens and blues). His story of great personal loss and revenge passes on from mouth to mouth, gaining renown as it grows into a folk tale and possibly a legend among greens and blues. It gets to the point where grung leaders cannot ignore it and, given his participation in the remarkable One Grung Above events, it is eventually decided that Bleep too is deserving of a promotion. He is given the opportunity to become a purple grung and help train the next generations of green hunters in the likeness of a local hero. It also helps that his two most fiercely loyal hunters are Bloop and Blip, the latter of which does indeed eventually go through the necessary restorative rituals blessed by Nangnang herself. 

Saros is also celebrated upon returning to Candlekeep. The acquisition of the tome "Brain Dead, a Psionic’s Guide to Necromancy" goes a long way in furthering the research into the ritual that transforms illithids into alhoons, which in turn may itself provide valuable information on a much more dangerous transformation responsible for the creation of the infamous illithilich. The fact that he recovered an active Periapt of Mind Trapping in the process serves as further proof of Saros' undisputed qualities as a dedicated researcher who is willing to put his life in danger to further arcane knowledge. The Svirfneblin is showered with newly-found academic respect and granted the great honor of leading new research into the illithids' search for immortality. Many previously inaccessible halls of the vast libraries of Candlekeep are made available to Saros and his new endeavor. 

Although many in Candlekeep always regarded Darrik as a curiosity instead of a scholar, his role in recovering the "Brain Dead, a Psionic’s Guide to Necromancy" tome and the active Periapt of Mind Trapping are undeniable. Taking more pride, however, on the safe return of his dear friend Cawkrin Jones, Darrik does not let his success lead him into the continued life of a cloistered scholar. Although many fail to understand him and his motivations, some higher-ups in Candlekeep deeply value the type of unorthodox learning that Watchers like Darrik bring to the table. These are the leaders that decide to reward Darrik not with more research duties but with an invitation to trace his own path. The dwarf is freed from his academic duties and allowed to roam the world alongside his friend Cawkrin, as long as they agree to stop by every now and then to bring in new knowledge, rare tomes, and perhaps a handful or unique artifacts.

Ghee's contributions to maintaining the natural and social order of Chult do not go unnoticed by the Ytepka Society. Eventually recovered, the marked but beheaded body of Lord Weirding made for an incredibly effective warning against evil doers and peace disruptors all across the Chultan region. In recognition of his contributions, Ghee is granted the unique honor of serving as a Master for a second time, although he is made to promise that he won't forget to recruit his new pupil into the Ytepka Society as he did with his last one, a certain grung. Speaking of Ghee's previous pupil, his new one promptly ignored the grung's order and did not follow the Watchers back to Candlekeep. Instead, Celest in now well underway into her monkish training. Ghee's tutelage on understanding her internal Ki has even begun to help the girl achieve some newfound control over her psionic abilities. She will certainly grow one day to be a great asset in safeguarding the well-being of every Chultan, whether they are aware of it or not.

(OOC: This post effectively concludes the great story we weaved together. However, please feel free to add your own flare to these epilogue tidbits if you are so inclined.) 

Alright, folks. It looks like everyone was happy with the epilogue so this will do it for this campaign. I am going to go ahead and call it scene on this adventure. If you haven’t yet taken a look at my farewell message in the OOC chat, please do. Let us move any other concluding messages to that thread as well. Thank you for playing this game with me over the last eight months! It was a pleasure running this game for you guys. 

THE END

(THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED)