Plunder

[Sierra]

Madeline retrieved the following from Reeves, the ghoul butler:

-1x Ring of Protection +2
-1x other magic ring she wasn't able to identify

[Sierra]

Randolf and Antonia were carrying the following:

-1x Ring of Protection +1
-1x Ring of Protection +2
-1x Phylactery of Negative Channeling
-1x Rod of Withering
-2x Eclipse Robes: Stylistically the inverse of a traditional golden-sunburst-on-white Norusk robe, these black vestments are magically enhanced to protect the Duke's vile servants. Undead wearing them are granted a +4 armor bonus to AC, spell resistance 15, a +2 bonus to any innate channel resistance they might possess, and a 20% chance to be unaffected by any spell possessing the light descriptor. Non-undead donning the robes immediately suffer two negative levels which persist until the robes are removed.

[Sierra]

Anna Orlov, slaughtered dungeon mistress, carried the following items. (Items without comments are as per SRD.)

Bloodlust (+2 keen rapier): Perhaps it's a case of malevolent design, perhaps the enchanted sword acquired a taste for blood over years of use, or maybe something of its master's temperament seeped into it. Whatever the case, this gleaming, crimson steel rapier sharpens the senses and actively guides the wielder's hand to better seek out and eliminate wounded opponents. When engaged in combat and while in the presence of an enemy suffering from bleed damage, the wielder gains the following benefits: a +1 insight bonus to attack rolls and armor class against bleeding opponents; a +1 resistance bonus to all saving throws.

Despoiler (+2 scorpion whip, corrosive): This bladed lash was designed with every intent of leaving upon its victims an indelible mark of the wielder's cruelty--any opponent struck and damaged by the acid which seethes from the whip must pass a DC 20 fortitude save or suffer 1d4 charisma drain due to the scarring effect of its caustic touch.

-1x set of armor (which looks like chain when not worn): spellcraft check failed. Radiates moderate illusion and strong abjuration, however.
-Amulet of Natural Armor +3
-Gloves of Dueling
-Boots of Springing and Striding
-Ring of Protection +3
-Ring of Retribution
-Dungeon Ring (Jailer's)
-2x Potion of Cure Serious Wounds

[Corwin]

The amulet could be nice, and while I wouldn't begrudge Eb if he wanted to buff his AC it seems he already has the exact one. I'd be happy to grab it since our elf wizard assures us it is safe. (Although Eb seems to have an empty ring slot and no ring of protection? So the +3 one here might work well for that.)

The gloves of dueling seem to be decent by buffing a fighter class feature so Rat would get the most use out of them (+2 attack/damage with bows, I think). As long as I have RAGE on my side I'm pretty hard to disarm anyway, and good luck successfully sundering my insanely magical adamantine blade.

I could go for the boots of being a fast barbarian again since I think everyone's wearing something while I came in sandals or something, but only as long as they are PROPERLY MANLY. Whatever strange magics may be on those boots, I won't be wearing them if they are in any way fashionable.

And the prettiest woman around (Elena?) should wear the fanservice armor to lift everyone's spirits while we go kill the Duke.

[Ebiris]

Eliaphas disdains the artifacts of sin. You guys are welcome to whatever you want, although really he'd prefer if stuff went to the prisoners so they have a better shot of fending off any attacks coming their way.

[Carthrat]

Let's see.

<-Stuff we should take->

The Gloves of Dueling would be pretty sick for me, so I'd cheerily take them and incidentally boost my CMD against mean stuff. I don't think anyone else can actually use them.

The boots of striding and springing are worthless to people fighting defensively, so Corben should grab them, I agree.

<-Stuff villagers get->

The Ring of Retribution should be worn by some brave villager willing to explode for the sake of protecting his comrades- we don't need it.

If we stack the armor and both protective trinkets onto someone, that's actually going to give them enough AC to not instantly die to any enemies, and thus be able to hold down a choke or something like that, so I'm totally cool with all of them going to the best guy the villagers have. If they in fact have anyone remotely skilled at fighting, this stuff is all worthless if they can't in fact fight at all.

Potions can go to these guys since we have Eliaphas, for all that I doubt any of them will live long enough after getting hit to drink them.

<-Weird Stuff->

Are any prisoners wearing dungeon rings themselves? If so, one of us can wear the jailer ring- that way, we'll instantly know if they get hurt due to the status spell, and thus be able to hurry back if they're in trouble.

[Corwin]

There is presumably at least one. If so, the manly guard dude can wear it and we'll know.

[Sierra]

None of the prisoners you've freed are wearing such a ring.

Few among the crowd admit to significant martial prowess--most of the town guard was slaughtered when monsters raided the town, they say--though one burly, graying man (the town smith, apparently) tries donning the various magical accoutrements the heroes have opted not to take. The armor takes on the form of a series of leather straps that do little but emphasize muscles, though a few experimental jabs demonstrate that it still functions perfectly well as protective gear.

None of the villagers seem to have the knack for using the whip without incurring self-inflicted injuries, however, and few enough want to touch it anyway.

[Sierra]

Found at the end of the prison tunnel corridor:

-1x potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
-1x potion of Fly
-2x coil of silk rope

[Sierra]

Taken from the clock tower basement storage room/Useless Contraption's workshop:

-1x seemingly empty bottle, magical but unidentified
-Rod of Reconstruction: This enchanted rod was created to facilitate repair of artificial lifeforms. When held, the wielder may freely employ healing magic on constructs as though they were living beings. It also allows the use of the following spells: Mending 3/day, Make Whole 1/day (CL 10th). If wielded as a weapon, the rod functions as heavy mace with a +1 enhancement bonus. It is constructed of cold iron.

[Sierra]

Notebook found in the gallery office's desk:

The notebook begins as a dry accounting of inventory. Entries are dated, and the earliest exceed three hundred years in age. In neat and precise script, the writer outlines the contents of an art collection divided into five galleries: Landscape, Devotional, War, Portrait, and Eleran. Titles and artists, purchases and sales are noted. For several months, entries are regular and undistinguished. Then, abruptly, the Devotional gallery's contents--paintings with titles bearing names of saints and angels--vanish, to be gradually rebuilt with contents of a more ominous nature. "The Pit," "The Wretched," and so on, until the gallery is restocked in full.

Thereafter, the entries proceed in identical fashion. Months into years of identical inventory noted again and again in writing so regular as for one page to be nigh indistinguishable from another. Flipping through the pages, you see that this continues for several decades, and then there are several entries of note, often dated a few years apart:

1: "Enough. I play at this charade of madness no longer. And madness it is to recount for so many years inventory frozen in time. I leave the crazed mantra of diligence to Captain Vorela, for there is madness inherent to such adoration of the routine, however much he might claim otherwise. Ewan is past gone and I lack the natural talent to replicate his work. There will be no more additions to the gallery and my last entry may stand for all time. There is a strange gravity in the galleries now. I feel roused as if from a long sleep, and I wake with two questions: how did we come to this? And why am I still here?"

2: "Young Lady Stanja visited the gallery with her latest playmate in tow. It would seem the mortal girl vanished whilst the lady gazed upon The Muse Unveiled, as she is wont to do. Given her build, it is perhaps unsurprising she have such interests. I've little doubt the mortal used her mistress's distraction to make good her escape. Even if a leap from the parapet be the only freedom she found, I call it a better fate than her predecessors. Of course, the young mistress spun another thread, that her companion had vanished due to some malign influence afoot in my gallery. Spat curses and worse, swore her lord father would take me to task for negligence in letting mischievous magic take root in the castle wing under my authority. As though he took as much notice of any of us as he would a ball of dust under a cupboard. Still, I let her rage. It is her only heritage, after all. And I cannot wholly discount the possibility she spoke true. There have been times, since Ewan's disappearance, I fancied myself being observed while alone in the gallery."

3: "His Grace's newest pet demon took a stroll through the galleries today, evidently from boredom. She expressed most appreciation for the contents of the devotional gallery. I admit to no surprise. Obvious disappointment from the creature that her charms held as little sway over myself as they did over Lord Varas. Better luck plying your wares with Larchmont's get, lass. I'd not last a moment before falling into her arms were I a younger man. Or a living one, alas."

4: "I witnessed it this time. One of Larchmont's young thespians, a girl taken in the last raid, stood in the devotional gallery, agape at the abominations put on display there after His Grace demanded all divine homages destroyed and Randolf's foul commissions filled the room. (My one act of rebellion in all this time, to hide them away instead. Though there was no saving the portrait of King Marcel that Mary slashed to ribbons.) Horror writ on the face of an innocent. She didn't belong here. None of them do. And now she is gone, I know not where. Erased. I suspect taken by whatever hunger now rules the gallery. An expression of the Duke's will? Or Mistvalken's? Is there any longer a distinction to be made? If I walked to Wretched, would I see that girl on a spike, or offering a beseeching gaze from The Pit? But I will not, not and risk falling after her. For I am a coward, and the only justice I will meet rests on the point of a sword."

5: "I am leaving. It was a mistake to accept His Grace's offer (but what man facing his last years could refuse such, trapped as he finds himself with the similarly ravenous?) This is not a revelation. The knowledge has been with me many years, curled in the corner like a dog whimpering from neglect. Hunger will drive a man to tolerate so many wrongs, and we do so slaver now, don't we? For what have I persevered since Mistvalken's isolation? For my regular taste of the nectar from Randolf's foul ceremonies. The humble worker ant boasts a dignity I lack. Enough. Of Randolf's divine slaughter; of Larchmont's preening, adversarial arrogance; of Mary's lust for carnage, and of Cain's surrender to the blind god of obedience. I leave them all to their manias. I will walk the galleries until one of them takes me. If a shred of justice be found, my place waits in one of the accursed hellscapes befouling my halls. But I would not lay coin on finding such, not in this castle."

The final gallery inventory is as follows:

Landscape Gallery

North wall: Varas Ancestral Lands at Dawn
East wall: Barren Arthanon, Procession of the Circus
South wall: Respite of Nature, The Tyrant at Rest
West wall: Gate of Tir Na'Tolan, Far Strider

Devotional Gallery

North wall: Lord of All
East wall: The Pit, Ritual
South wall: The Wretched, Justice
West wall: End, Offering

War Gallery

North wall: Vilna
East wall: Legion, Judgement
South wall: Redoubt, Cavalry
West wall: Yazgid's Surrender, Truce

Portrait Gallery

North wall: Lord Tadeusz Varas, Lady Romanja Varas
East wall: The Muse Unveiled, Queen of Birds
South wall: Steward of the Forest, Portrait of the Artist
West wall: Captain Cain Vorela, Mary Belona at Work

Eleran Gallery

North wall: Eleran Funeral Urn
East wall: The Death of Mitocretes
South wall: Purification of the High Priestess
West wall: The Whore of Nicia on the Night of Elera's Fall

[Sierra]

The animate statues wielded the following weapons:

Ultimatum: This heavy, stone +1 greatsword allows the wielder to apply 2x their STR bonus to damage rolls. Wielders with less than 20 STR suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls, however.

Fiat: A +1 composite bow (with a STR rating of 20) that fires arrows with such force that 2x the wielder's STR bonus can be added to damage rolls. All arrows fired with this bow shatter and cannot be reused.

[Sierra]

Cain Vorela, Mistvalken guard captain, carried the following:

-1x enchanted greatsword Madeline failed to identify.
-1x suit of +1 adamantine heavy plate with improved cold resistance.

In his office were found:

-1x potion of fire resistance 10
-1x ring of minor fire resistance

Eliaphas also found a couple potions in the barracks that no one identified.

[Sierra]

The two items picked out by Kisantha are:

+2 ghost touch longsword
+2 ghost touch & shadow mithril chain shirt

The rest of the assorted stuff brought you is as follows:

+2 undead bane greataxe
Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location
Belt of Incredible Dexterity +4
Bracers of Armor +4
Cloak of Displacement (minor)
Helm of Brilliance
Mantle of Spell Resistance
Ring of Counterspells
Ring of Mind Shielding
Robe of Runes
More Rings of Protection +1/+2 than anyone could possibly need

Potions: Barkskin x2, Cure Serious Wounds x4, Gaseous Form, Haste

You can safely assume a masterwork version of any common weapon is sitting in the armory. Kisantha can 'port over and retrieve whatever's needed.

[Carthrat]

So offhand...

Might want the amulet of proof against detection/location. I think the Mantle of Spell Resistance is cool too.

Apart from that, only the Helm of Brilliance has appeal for me; if someone else wants it I'll concede, since I already have amazingly good ranged options.