We find out in book 2 that Aroden took the Aeon Orbs from the Xulgath. That is one of their primary motivations for revenge. In Book 6, under the entry for the NPC Kirosthrek is says the following.
The heroes may feel they owe the xulgaths some form of reparations for Aroden’s theft millennia ago, and Kirosthrek is willing to entertain reasonable offers to benefit her people, in lieu of the aeon orbs. The details and repercussions of such an arrangement are beyond the scope of this adventure
I wanted to see what ideas you all had. I know my players are going to want to do something. They may even want to give one of the orbs away. What ideas could I (as the GM) propose?
I would suggest something like a safe haven on the Kortos Isles for any xulgaths that wish to live in peace with the surface world, giving them a new home to replace the one that Aroden stole from them. Letting them enter settlements on the surface without issue and teaching the people of the surface the true history of the xulgaths would also be good steps.
Giving the xulgaths an orb probably wouldn't be a great idea, as discovered in book 5 they don't really live in Vask anymore (nor could they without the power of likely all 6 orbs) and because the surface people and environment depend on the orbs to exist.
True. Although it does mention that their power at the end of book 6 is "increased". I do like the idea of a colony and educational steps. We are just finishing book 3 but I was prepping for the future.
Spoiled myself with this thread more than I expected to; if I was to play by "fair is fair", I'd offer the Xulgath the majority of the Isle of Erran as a safe haven for those willing to move forward from the past. It's unpopulated except for two settlements (Escadar being a pretty important one), and is so because it was considered "Aroden's stomping grounds" and off-limits to everyone but his most devout. Welp, he's dead, so...
I've been thinking a lot about this problem, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one! My group immediately balked at the coding in this adventure, and I know that they will want something more substantial than the AP has written in. They are in the middle of book 2 right now, and I am already setting up some pieces to lead into what I hope will be a more satisfying reparations arc.
Remember the four faceless stalkers who show up in the lower level of Moonstone Hall? I've decided that they'll be xulgaths who honestly want to leave Sarvel's forces, and will quietly join up with the circus (probably not as performers, just to give them a safe place to be on the surface).
Over the course of book 3, those four will infiltrate the xulgath forces camped around the Swardlands towers, and the group of deserters will grow little by little. At the end of book 4, they will stay with the Empty Stones while the heroes journey into the Darklands. I'm predicting that my players will choose to leave the 6th orb in the vault.
At the conclusion of book 6, I'm planning for Kirosthrek to join the band of deserters as a leader. After Sarvel's threat has been dispatched, the remaining xulgaths will negotiate to set up a settlement near the Welt, where they'll work with the Empty Stones and use their powerful earth-shaping magic to bring life back to the land without the missing aeon orb. Conveniently, one of my players is a cleric of Nocticula, so I just need him to stay alive through the whole AP and they even have a new thematically appropriate demon lord to convert to haha.
Still working through the details, but I'd love to hear what other GMs have done.
My party's druid plans on looking into ways to keep the cradle of worms alive, either through transplanting things to the surface or by creating some new plant/fungus that can survive the radiation. Possibly working with the fungus leshy bard's muse, the mushroom queen veranallia that created him.
They've been pretty sympathetic to the xulgaths story, so offering some reparations for Aroden's theft seem very likely as they close in on the end of the campaign. Leaving it up to them for the specifics, I'm sure they'll have better ideas then I could come up with on my own considering their own character abilities. I plan to offer some grounding/helpful advice from whatever xulgath leader remains about their solutions.