Grandfather Favarro, Lich

In the Ironguard campaign, in Ironguard Keep, is a merchant shop that traffics in luxuries and curios.

And magic items.

Of course, as I believe easy access to DMG items is tantamount to driving a minivan, the only items they have are custom (and by that, I mean lifted from a variety of blogs - some listed to the side) and almost all have ...interesting... quirks.

This shop is run by the Favarro family, merchants who have been dealing (trafficking?) in such items for generations.  If they cannot find and/or acquire something you want, they commission it and (eventually) deliver it to the family member you ordered it from.

In Ironguard Keep, that family member is Mario Favarro and his younger sister, Lucreza Favarro.  In their employ is the minor magician Constanzo Stregone, and a handful of servants and guards.  The PCs are regulars at the shop, and have even been invited to dinner with the Favarros, who in turn offered them the opportunity to pick up some items.

The pay was acceptable, so off the PCs went, several days upriver to a dilapidated keep, wherein harpies controlled the courtyard.  Ethan's sorcerer fell to (and was eaten by) the harpies, but the rest made it into the great hall, where they met Old Granddad, Grandfather Favarro, lich and item crafter extraordinaire.

Also, senile and maybe batshit crazy, with a sadistic streak, as his created items demonstrate.

See, Grandfather Favarro creates unique items (keeping detailed journals and workbooks and sketches of them - so he can easily scry the current wielders) that all mostly do what is asked of them, but at the same time tend to something more.  Something unfortunate and dark and vastly amusing to Grandfather Favarro when he chooses to scry them.

Anyhow, the PCs picked up the items while avoiding annihilation at the lich's hands.  Returning to Ironguard Keep and politely interrogating the Favarros over dinner, the PCs learned that Grandfather Favarro is in fact a great-great-great-great-great-great-Grandfather, but it is simpler (and safer) to play along with the mad lich's belief.

Beyond family ties, the Favarro family relies on the lich to create items because the lich has hunted down and slain (awfully and efficiently and completely) competition.  Granted, this was centuries ago, but legends remain, so item crafters are careful to keep such items and knowledge to themselves.

Grandfather Favarro is mostly loyal to the family line, but only because he thinks they are all his grandson.  So far, no one has corrected him, so the items keep flowing (as payment in ingredients continue).  In a pinch, the lich might be pulled into a trade war, but the last time that was done, an entire city was laid to waste, so even the Favarros are leery of asking his help.

The players figured out that he was a (crazy) lich, so played along and did not provoke him, which is probably smart, on their part.

The items picked up and delivered are as follows:

Longsword – Green and red and gold colorings.  Mocker. (sentient, Vicious Mockery on 1 or 20, limited telepathy and tongues for mocking others; wielder messes up, Mocker lets them know).  A sarcastic bard was used in its crafting.

Longsword – Blue and white and silver colorings. Cool to the touch. Rimefang. (glows blue brighter in the presence of heat – elemental plane of fire is nearly blinding); deals extra damage vs fire creatures. Wielder takes extra damage from fire creatures.

Ring – bluish metal, cool to the touch. Ring of Fire Resistance, Cold Vulnerability.

Ring – verdigrised copper. Invisibility, but only self – not clothing or equipment.  A naked person in just the ring may be revealed by a high enough perception check (ring is seen floating in space).

Ring - Two golden snakes intertwined. upon donning it, the snakes bite down on the wearer and their eyes flash red as the wearer takes a point of permanent Con damage as an immediate attunement.  Removing the ring requires removing the finger.  Once attuned, the wearer’s skin toughens and grows scaly, improving his AC and granting the ability to (slowly) regenerate limbs.  

Staff – 5.5 feet long, whitish wood (ash) and bound with iron. Head carved to suggest a dragon with gemstone eyes. (the gemstone colors seem to change depending on power used).  Can provide wielder with absolute protection from dragon’s breath in a 5’ radius for one round.  When used in this fashion, the wielder gains a level of Exhaustion.  The power of the staff alerts dragons to its presence

Amulet - Oval cloudstone on a gold chain. Amulet of the Winds – Cloudstone (skyblue with white patterns that seem to shift and drift when stared at) on gold. Wind Wall, Wind Walk, Control Winds, Gaseous Form – user may spontaneously turn into Gaseous Form under certain conditions.  (from Manowar's Master of the Wind).

So there. Someone (thing?) to pull into your campaign.