'Choice' Pieces of Treasure

Within the interior of a battered leather satchel [4 cp] you find a slightly chipped flat box. The surface of the box is inlaid with ivory and seems to be somewhat serpentine in design. A small silver catch forms the head of a snake, the upper and lower jaws locking together to hold the whole thing in place. Fitted into the box are three daggers with curious X-shaped blades. Each one is made from silver and has an ivory hilt carved in the shape of a serpent set with a green-colored gemstone [jade] between its fangs [set including box 315 gp; individually these items will sell for 5 to 10% less to a discerning collector]. Also in the satchel is a green velvet bag [5 sp] holding a cut-glass phial with a silver stopper [1 gp] containing a dubious-looking brown liquid [poison – bloodroot; 100 gp]. A leather pouch [1 gp] contains some small cut gems of various shapes and sizes [carnelian, 12 gp; chalcedony, 14 gp; citrine, 21 gp; jasper, 18 gp; moonstone, 15 gp]. Rolling around the satchel you also find some loose coins, each one is minted from a different kingdom [3 gp, 15 sp, 35 cp]. [Total 501.94 gp]

Click to expand...

Carefully placed on a large piece of heavy black wool cloth [3 yards by 4 yards, 48 gp], you find an enormous solid silver mirror [18,000 gp], a water clock [1,500 gp], a silver spyglass mounted on a tall stand [5,000 gp] and a square chest [500 gp] overflowing with silver pieces [44,520 sp].

The mirror is oval-shaped and stands as high as a horse’s shoulder; at its widest point, the mirror is as wide as a man’s arm is long. It is mounted on a four-legged stand allowing it to pivot in the center. The ends of each leg are carved to look like dragon’s claws, ending in wicked points dimpling the cloth on which the mirror is sitting. The frame of the mirror is as wide as a halfling’s palm, and every inch of it is covered in silver leaf. The lower half of the frame is carved to look like a windswept sea, while the upper half is covered in storm-tossed clouds. Raindrops, each made of a teardrop-shaped piece of aquamarine, dot the upper portion of the border.

The mirror’s glass is flawless, backed with a thin sheet of silver, reflecting your faces perfectly. Examining the back, you see it is covered with a painting of a large black dragon. The dragon’s tail coils around itself as it winds around the frame, and its eyes (as well as many of its scales) are set with tiny bloodstones. The dragon is beautifully painted and exceptionally lifelike; it clutches a human skull in each of its fore claws.

The water clock sits on a marble pedestal, and a piece of chrysoberyl is set into the center of its face. It is currently empty [the clock requires water to tell time], but appears to be in perfect working order [which it is]. Each number on its face is made of a tiny mosaic of multicolored chips of marble, and all of its tiny gears are of brightly polished brass.

Next to the clock sits the spyglass on its tripod. The legs of the tripod are made of polished cherry wood and capped with brass, and each is covered in stylized carvings of stars. The body of the spyglass is made of solid silver, and its surface is delicately etched with different constellations. The stars which comprise each constellation are picked out with inlaid gold, and three of the brightest stars are marked by pieces of golden topaz.

Surrounded by small heaps of silver coins, the chest stands off to one side from the other objects. It is made of oak, with inlays of ivory and white pine. Its curved lid bears a carving of a manor house, the windows of which are made of mother-of-pearl. There is a tower at one end of the manor house, and it looks as though it once had a figure standing atop it. That portion of the tower has been chipped away, though, leaving gouges in the wood; only the figure’s feet remain. [Total 29,500 gp]

Click to expand...

The pocket contains two copper pieces and a small round yellow stone [heliodor, the yellow variety of beryl]. The gem is a rather dull yellow but shines in the sunlight [or torchlight]. It has several scratches on it, as if it may have once been affixed to a ring or some other form of jewelry [10 gp]. [Total 10.02 gp]

Click to expand...

A latched oak and iron chest [50 gp] is carved with dancing monkeys and chaotically flying parrots, whose feathers and fur are highlighted with inlaid soapstone and rock flecks. After opening the chest, you discover a trio of colorful wool scarves decorated with embroidered forest scenes [5 gp each]. Wrapped in the red and white scarf, you find a cylindrical magnifying glass just big enough to fit a man’s palm with its handle decorated with painted peacock feathers [230 gp]. A coin-sized wooden box [3 sp] nearby contains a set of replacement lenses for the glass [50 gp]. Under the scarves, you find a heavy floorlength winter cloak with a deep hood sewn from soft white pelts and decorated with bone fetishes, which has a pale blue, floor length inner cloak sewn to the underside [110 gp]. A smoked glass jug with a fish-shaped handle holds potent vodka [20 gp]. A net bag [1 sp] is filled with white-gold coins, imprinted with leaping stags [172 gp]. A small linen tube tied to the coin purse holds six fine round pieces of malachite [30 gp each]. Beneath the heavy cloak, you find an old and tattered red cape [3 sp] wrapped around a scimitar with a carved ivory hilt [55 gp]. The hilt is longer than those of most swords, the ivory yellow-white inscribed with strange hooked designs. A piece of leather [caribou hide] is wrapped around the lower part of the hilt to give a good grip. A pair of snowshoes [45 gp], their ribs carved [walrus] ivory lashed together with [caribou ] leather strips, rests beside the fur cloak, along with two pairs of warm foot coverings [stockings or boots] sewn together from rabbit pelts [4 gp]. A polished ivory ring [82 gp] is stuffed into one of the foot covers. [Total 1,013.7 gp]

Click to expand...

Here is gleaming breastplate armor bearing a stylized oak tree in a raised design with its branches reaching out toward the shoulders and the trunk extending down to the navel [mithral armor; 4,200 gp]. Near the armor is a matching shield [mithral; 1,009 gp] and a black leather scabbard holding an elegant longsword with beautiful and lethal lines. The sword has a black hilt, an acorn-shaped pommel set with a glowing green emerald and a leaf-patterned cross guard [masterwork longsword, 1,915 gp]. A red linen cloth [2 gp] lies between the front and rear pieces of the armor, wrapped around a small leather pouch and a golden scepter. The scepter’s design forms into an orb at the top which looks like the crown of an oak tree. The handle of the scepter is the trunk, and its branches are set with a subtle sprinkling of tiny glistening emerald chips [scepter, 1,200 gp]. In the pouch [2 gp] you find platinum pieces and a few gold pieces [27 pp, 6 gp], and a gold signet ring bearing the same tree design as the armor with a dozen tiny emeralds set around the outside of the seal [1,400 gp]. [Total 10,004 gp]

Click to expand...

You find sitting in full view a leather-bound book with a cover that suggests that it is devotional in nature [15 gp]. However, opening the cover reveals that all the pages are quite blank and the inside has been hollowed out. The hollowed-out area contains a silver hip flask [31 gp] which, if sampled, will be found to contain a very serviceable apple brandy [4 gp]. [Total 50 gp]

Click to expand...

While it might be hard to imagine how it arrived here, there before you stands the largest sleigh you have ever seen [mithral sleigh, XX,XXX gp]. It is easily the length of ten horses, its runners wrought of steel and coated with mithral. Upon closer inspection you discover most of the sled itself is fashioned of steel, with decorative elements and panels of brilliant, gleaming mithral. It is hard to imagine what beasts could pull such a large, heavily weighted object. The runners curl upward and back into huge, ornate patterns of filigree behind the sled. Large brass bells, the size of a man’s hands cupped together, hang along the bottom of the sled and from the lantern poles in the front.

There are eight rows of seats within the sled and each seat is lined with white fur. In a pile at the front of the sleigh is an enormous length of heavy chain. [If stretched out the chain is twice as long as the sled; it attaches to a ring at the front and is included in the value of the sleigh. ] Sitting on one of the fur-covered seats inside the sled is what appears to be a priest’s headdress [1,130 gp]. Embroidered onto the fabric covering the back of the head and the shoulders are winged horses, eagles, and human-headed winged beings. Many hollow, silver pendants adorn the crown of the headdress, in the form of feathers set close together to create a musical jingling sound appealing to the ear. A framework of willow twigs supports the tall cylindrical cap of the headdress. The shoulder cloth is made of pale gray velvet.

You also discover a hempen bag [2 sp] on the floor of the sled’s interior, within which are more incredible objects. The largest of these is a shallow, wide copper bowl [70 gp], grown slightly green with verdigris but expertly fashioned. Next you find a large diamond [3 inch diamond; X,XXX,XXX gp] of gray-brown hue. The diamond is the size of a small plum and is perfectly cut. Within its smoky depths you can see your surroundings refracted to infinite proportions. Along with the diamond is the largest pearl [4 inch pearl; XXX,XXX gp] you have ever seen, and you could only imagine from what sort of oceanic terror such a treasure was plucked. The pearl is a deep, brash silver in color, and is the size of an apple. It is so precisely formed that when rolled across a smooth surface it moves in a perfectly straight line, never wobbling. Last you discover a long, highly polished ebony box [64 gp] holding what can only be a gilded peacock feather [1,000 gp], light and delicate, as if every filament and strand had been coated in a gentle aureate mist. [Total X,XXX,XXX.2 gp]

Click to expand...

A gigantic skull rests in the middle of the room. It appears too large to be real. As you near it, you catch a glint from one of the huge front teeth. Upon closer examination, you find, it is a real skull [skull of a fire or stone giant, 50 gp] and the glint from the tooth is actually a diamond set there [1,000 gp]. A little examining shows the skull has been turned into a treasure chest. The top of the skull is hinged in back, and secured in the front with a small brass clasp. The skull brainpan houses a mass of gold and silver coins in roughly equal amounts [672 gp, 504 sp]. Through the nose, you see another glint of more silver. Opening the jaw reveals a deep silver chalice lying on its side [250 gp], filled with a wadded woolen cloth [1 gp]. When the cloth is unfolded, you discover several items of jewelry. A very nice platinum comb set with coral is present [300 gp[/i]], as is a gold bracelet with three green stones [spinels; bracelet, 500 gp]. You also find a wide gold ring set with a gleaming red and white gem [fire opal ring, 1,250 gp] and another ring bearing four small blue-green stones [aquamarine ring, 700 gp]. Finally, sitting in the bottom of the cup is a twined gold bracelet made of dozens of strands of golden wire woven together [300 gp]. [Total 5,073.4 gp]

Click to expand...

In the sack, under linen shirts [8 shirts; 2 sp each] and heavy wool pants [6 pairs; 3 sp each] lies a dagger [17 gp] in a sheath [70 gp]. The sheath is fine deep brown leather, sewn with invisible stitches. All over its surface a master has tooled leaves and flowers. Peering out from the shrubbery on the sheath are small comic figures, capering [leaping] and making faces. Along the sheath carefully inset so they do not catch on things, are several [4] green, lentil-sized stones [malachite]. In the tooled design, the stones appear as fruit on the plants. The well-balanced dagger has a hilt wrapped in silver-colored wire, with a large bluish gem [blue quartz] on the pommel. A long black velvet ribbon [2 sp] and several worn coins [9 gp, 5 sp, 6 cp] are loose on the sack’s bottom. [Total 100.16 gp]

Click to expand...