After giving Eighter, Maya, Ebba, and Hake a tour of the underground complex, everyone returns to the surface. You notice that the narrow passage and the rough steps leading down to the chambers is much tighter than it was previously—it seems the oak is sealing off the entrance.
The Grove is noticeably brighter and livelier than before. The plants look healthy, and the human and animal corpses are abuzz with insects, breaking down the bodies and returning them to earth. Simon and Bürd take particular note of the standing stones in the Grove. They are now clear of the slathering of black oil, and also of several centuries of lichen. There is writing there, and it is clearly of a magical nature. Given time to study, spells could be derived from them.
Maya and Ebba head back to the Village to get a cart to make hauling things back easier while Eighter prepares a fine lunch for everyone over a campfire.
Returning to the Village, you learn that Larea, a young girl about your age whose father had disappeared in the swamps to the South, and whom Marcus apprehended at the campsite, died in the night. People are a little cagey about exactly how she died.
Bris Miller has been appointed the new Reeve of Herebury, after Hag Sal killed the previous one during her escape from captivity.
Hake makes a big stink about how the buckets of trinkets should be divided, insisting that he should receive a full share. In the end, Bris has to step in between the blacksmith and the dwarf, and announce that, by the Lord's authority, the proceeds of the buckets will be divided among those who lost family during the recent events. This loss is ameliorated by the announcement that the Lord has bestowed land upon all those involved.
The Old Reeve's estate was rather large, and has been broken up. Most of it was returned to the Lord's holding, and another large chunk is apportioned to the new Reeve, Bris Miller.
Hag Sal, Bürd, Marcus, Simon, and Gizzy each receive
five acres of land downriver. Most of the land is broken into fields that rotate barley, wheat, oats, turnips, and clover for grazing. You each receive a small herd of sheep, and there's a scattering of goats and chickens about.
Eighter, Maya, Ebba, and Hake, and a few men involved in the guarding of the town receive smaller portions of land. Eighter and Ebba immediately rent out their land to tenant farmers so that they can return to their own businesses, and just collect the occasional income from the land. Maya's parcel is close enough to the land she already tends with her husband, Victor, that she decided to keep it and work the land, herself. Hake insists that his portion should include the land awarded to Simon, or, at the very least, he should manage the land until Simon is older. Everyone who is not Hake objected strongly, which set the man into a blind rage, and he disgraced himself in front of the Villages most prominent citizens. He officially disowned Simon, following this, and offers his parcel up for sale.
Assuming you also take on tenants on your farm land, you would expect an annual income of 75 to 250 silver a year, which is enough to live on comfortably if not lavishly. There is also room to build, should you care to.
Although the buckets of trinkets were lost (to a good cause), the party had collected a small fortune that no one knew about:
Bürd had pulled 33 silvers and 305 coppers out of the paralytic cave.
Simon has the scarred warriors purse, which contains 20 silver, and an astounding five gold, along with the mysterious variegated coin.
Assuming you split it evenly (and not counting the variegated coin), that's
32 sp and 6 cp each, with one cp left over.
Other loot:
Bürd:
Large chalcedony (gem)
Small magnet
Simon:
Masterwork Mandolin
Bag of burned teeth (magic)
Hunting bow
Variegated coin (magic)
Marcus:
Brand, the burning sword
Gizzy:
Long sword
You can attempt to sell any of these things, if you'd like.
Also, you are all heroes, and find it impossible to buy a drink for weeks.
It takes awhile for the Village to find it's feet again, and there is a lot of work to do, setting things back to right. Marcus and Gizzy spend a busy period helping out one family after another, while Bürd and Simon research in Ravengard's library and prepare the most secure way of banishing the remaining dire spirits. In the end, it proves fairly easy, if time-consuming, to banish them.
The birds are the first to return to the forest, and the entire Village celebrates their reappearance with an impromptu festival. Musicians stream in from all the nearby villages to perform.
One of these performers catches sight of Simon's mandolin and tries to steal it, but is quickly apprehended by Gizzy. Apparently, it is worth a fortune. You also hear from people coming down from the North about a similar devastation of the wildlife in forests farther afield. It doesn't last too long, however, before whatever malady migrates further North.
Soon, autumn is upon you, and harvest time. This is always a busy time around the Village, and all the moreso now that you are landowners. Nevertheless, you remember your purpose, and the four of you make several forays into the North, looking for signs of whatever it was that stalked away from the poisoned oak that terrible night. You have no luck, and realize that it is going to take a mighty undertaking to pursue this mysterious beast, which appears to have covered great distance.
When the harvest is in and you collect your rents (again, assuming you rent out your land), you each receive 150 sp. Let me know if you want to make other arrangements with your land.
And then it's winter. Winter is harsh and a poor time for travel, but a great time to hone your skills and make plans for Spring.
XP!
Bürd, Simon, and Marcus get 2500 XP! Gizzy gets 500!
Marcus: You are now a second level warrior. You get another hit die (1d10), and your Base Attack Bonus is now +2. Next level, you'll get a new knack, too.