Howdy All!
First, it looks like Zazu's spirit will be staying in the Spirit World, Dave and I will be getting together so he can generate a replacement character. Said character will be 4th level, very close to 5th. No suggestions as to type of character, please! Dave already has some plans in the works and I know what will be happening to some extent, but the rest of you will have to wait for the details. Zenako will be handling the interment at Waterstone Temple...and probably handing out some of Zazu's estate to Zazu's companions so they can have something to remember him by (and use will respect for his spirit)...
Now, experience.
Advancing to 6th level are Miya Hatori, Soshi Ashiko and Noku the Wu Jen.
Nobody is quite halfway to 7th, but both Zenako and Mulan did manage to cross the 17k mark. (18k would be halfway to 7th.)
And finally, loot from the brigands' complex. There were a couple of interesting rooms that were explored after the last few brigands surrendered, and all the rooms previously entered were explored thoroughly -- in Zazu's absence, Kiko proved reasonably adept at searching for (and actually finding) secret compartments and such. At Zenako's request, I am itemizing most of the non-standard stuff in some detail. However, there may be some inability to extract ALL the valuables -- so it is postulated that the bulk of the party will return again a few days later with the means to extract the remaining valuables. (Being within a 'civilized' area, which has had its one major danger (the brigands) eliminated, there is little need for worry about encounters and such for this purpose...) Lots of the brigands had single or low double digits worth of gold on them, and a few had trinkets or other stuff, a few extra valuables were found in the room shared by the Ronin and the Wu Jen (who were both male in case I slipped up in descriptions(), and the bulk of the coinage was found in a triply-locked vault.
Okay, here it is.
Magic:
Crystal Ball (big winner of the item value award, at 42,000 gp!)
Pearl of Power (3rd level)* (9,000 gp)
Katana +2 (normally enchanted) (8,400 gp)
Sack of Carrying (= bag of Holding type 1) (2,500 gp)
* The pearl is in an amulet but it doesn't actually have to be worn to work, just has to be within the owner's aura. The amulet itself isn't anything special, the original owner just wanted a way to carry the pearl without leaving it loose in his pocket.
Cash and cash equivalent -- gems and jewelry which can be considered cash:
65,912 copper coins -- just over 1318 lbs. of copper! (~659 gp)
14,421 silver coins -- just over 288 lbs. of silver! (~1442 gp)
997 gold coins -- almost 20 lbs. of gold!
4,435 gold worth of bills, mostly in 1s, 5s, and 10s.
necklace worth 1,150 gp
6 jade amulets* worth 100 gp each
5 gems worth 50 gp each
gem worth 190 gp
ring worth 60 gp
silver urn worth 40 gp
helmet with 8 gems in it, each worth 100 gp
(it is gaudy, should just pry them out and toss the helmet, which has
some pretty nasty dents in it...)
* These jade amulets were being worn by the 6 brigands who were with the Wu Jen, perhaps they were like badges or something...or simply lucky charms?
A storeroom worth of stuff -- 18 salvageable flasks of lamp oil, several packages of herbs, spices, and salt, 2 jars of fine brandy, and a stack of untanned leather, and a few random other similar items -- the entire contents of which can be sold for 610 gp. (Just take the gold on this batch...you can keep the oil and still get the 610 gp for the rest.)
A room with a drunken brigand in it, which appears to contain just miscellaneous mundane stuff that Boombar claims much of, and the rest seems to have belonged to Blossom before, Zenako allows both of them to reclaim their gear.
A locked room with a major supply of consumable alcoholic beverages:
8 large barrels (5' diameter by 7' tall!) of cheap wine worth ~100 gp each
34 smaller barrels and kegs of various cheap beverages worth ~20 gp each
210 small bottles worth ~1 gp each
(The total worth of the contents of this room adds up to 1690 gp, but the transport is NOT trivial, especially for the 8 large barrels, 'industrial sized' as it were, and the actual goods are not very high quality.)
Other stuff worth something but which cannot be sold at their 'real' value (such items can be sold normally for half the listed values below):
wakizashi, worth 300 gp
masterwork scimitar with a gold gilt hilt, worth 335 gp
2 ornate (but not masterwork) whips worth 20 gp each
2 combat nets worth 20 gp each
5 naginatas (see O.A. for price)
16 light crossbows worth 35 gp each
45 yaris (short spears) worth essentially nothing*
67 yumis worth 75 gp each
70 shortswords worth 10 gp each
96 scimitars worth 15 gp each
140 light crossbow bolts worth essentially nothing*
560 short arrows worth essentially nothing*
* These weapons have half their normal range increments, the spears have a 10% breakage chance each time they are used and the missiles are only recoverable on a 40% chance after a miss. Obviously poor quality...
masterwork lamellar armor (see O.A. for price, +150 for masterwork) 3 sets of masterwork leather scale worth (IIRC) 35 + 150 = 185 gp each 90 sets of ashigaru armor (see O.A. for price)
And finally, the item Noku is drooling over, with no specifically determined value attached since its value to any one character is so variable -- the Wu Jen's spellbook! It has all standard 0th level spells that all Wu Jen learn, plus the following spells:
1st level: ---------- Animate Wood Charm Person Comprehend Languages Elemental Burst Endure Elements Magic Missile Shield Spider Climb 2nd level: ---------- Entangling Scarf Fire Shuriken Hold Person Invisibility Misdirection Protection From Arrows Protection From Charm See Invisibility Warp Wood 3rd level: ---------- Greater Magic Weapon Magnetism Remove Curse Steam Breath Summon Monster III Thornskin 4th level: ---------- Anti-Plant Shell Ice Storm Poison Needles
And there you have it! The loot in total...
Zenako, if you want to hire a labor party to help retrieve the contents of the 'trade goods' rooms, there are probably plenty of reliable porters available in that nearby 'labor union' village...and they can give you a decent price on the stuff too! It would beat trying to carry it all the way back to Marike... :)
-- Ernie III / DrakaraGM
Note that the kitchen help is almost useless for carrying stuff -- they are exhausted, frail, and battered women and girls with not much strength... But the prisoners are another matter -- making them carry bundles of weapons which encumber them makes perfect sense, it both restricts their chances to flee and tires them out. Kiko, Blossom and Boombar will GLADLY help oversee this effort, and keep a VERY sharp eye on the prisoners...so they don't get any ideas about trying to escape...
Disposal of properly obtained spoils of battle does not require a license, as long as you are dealing with merchants who DO have a license to buy and sell such goods, or with agents of such merchants. There just 'happens' to be such a merchant in the large village which handles the offloading, storage and reloading of goods for river and road traffic...his name being Ho Chan Bing. Indeed, you believe that this merchant is probably the unofficial head of the village. Though he has no official rank as such, he probably commands the tong which controls the warehouses and docks here, and the miscellaneous dock laborers and porters and such all pretty much work for him. He makes the bulk of his income from small fees on large quantities of a variety of goods passing briefly through his control, but is licensed to handle independent purchases and sales as well, as some merchants just bring their goods here to unload in more ways than one.
Indeed, given that you are not merchants per se, he offers to take these goods off your hands in bulk at 1/2 their normal sale price -- subject to a suitable appraisal of their worth, of course (Kiko says don't worry, I'll make sure the appraisal is reasonably accurate) -- and after a little discussion, he says he will absorb the cost of transport from the source to the village (since it is within a day's walk), as a courtesy to the fine warriors making the roads and river safer for mercantile endeavors... :)
He does mention that as the licensed receiver of these goods, he is also responsible for the appropriate paperwork and taxes, but as that is part of the normal cost of doing business, you need not worry about it, all the forms will be properly filled out and given to the proper authorities.
It appears you wish to take the 'good' (i.e. not inferior) weapons with you, and that is fine, you should be able to carry them out okay. As for the ashigaru armor of normal quality, its weight vs its value as you indicated means that it should probably be brought out by the hired help -- but did you plan to have that sent too Marike rather than selling it to Mister Ho? If so, he would charge a mere 5% of its list value to have it delivered to Marike for you, rather than buying it for resale.
And as you suspected, the Chief of Constables later confirms that donating a hoard of captured weapons and armor to the armory of Marike would indeed be very helpful in financing the rebuilding of Marike's garrison forces...which is one of Lord Isaka's goals. Indeed, although of no 'real' value, the inferior yaris, bolts and arrows would make acceptable practice equipment for training purposes, and Hatori could certainly convince Mister Ho to transport those as well, as part of the deal, for only a few gold more. This occurs to Kiko during the bargaining, as she remembers just how many arrows she fired when learning to use her own yumi, and with 50% breakage normally... Also, the range increment reduction is not significant enough to cause problems in training, as initial learning of the bow involves shooting at pretty close ranges anyways.
All for now... -- Ernie III / DrakaraGM