If the dead fellow had a key, it must have washed into the sea; he doesn’t have one now. But a key proves to be unnecessary, as the lock seems to consist more of rust than metal and breaks apart when Takahaan strikes it.
Inside the coffer are two fat ledgers, written by someone named Avret Kinkarian--the very man that Jade suspected of being in cahoots with the one who framed him. The ledgers unfortunately seem to consist of nothing but abbreviated items with dates and figures, and after a brief perusal, you learn only that the contents are indescribably boring. Perhaps they will be of some use to Jade, who may know what to look for.
The coffer contains a few other interesting objects: a nice feather pen, a gold locket on a gold chain, and a carved statuette made out of some sort of black stone with green flecks. It depicts a mammalian creature, but it isn’t very detailed.
Kane, Hú Lí, and Gelik can tell that the pen and the statuette are in some way magical. The locket is not, but it is finely made. The back of the locket is engraved with an unfamiliar name, “Aeshmara.” Inside the locket is a portrait, very detailed for such a small picture, of a beautiful young woman with red hair. From the looks of her, she is also rather wealthy: her hair is arranged in a manner that normally requires both a maid and a considerable investment of time, and she wears an expensive-looking gown.
[sblock=Treasure?]The pen is an Eternal Pen, which is like Eternal Chalk (a level 1 wondrous item), only it’s a quill pen (it stays sharp and never runs out of ink). This item wasn’t intended for anyone in particular, but if someone actually wants to claim it, go ahead.[/sblock]
[sblock=Kane]The little stone figurine intrigues you. You can’t tell what sort of creature it’s meant to be, but you’ve heard of magical figurines that become large animated creatures that must obey the person that activates them.[/sblock]