I need a mcguffin!

[poolio]

Greetings all, I have a group who is helping a vampire lord rebuild his kingdom and regain his rule over the land, I have an idea for a mission that involves them going to one of his old mansions to raid an armory for something, and part of that is they'll get to keep some stuff he doesn't need, the problem now is what is it that he needs? What does it do?
So any ideas out there?

And if anyone's curious about it, the team is 3 level five characters, a warlock, a rogue, and a druid, the rogue and druid are currently vampire spawn of the vampire lord, and if anyone would also like to pitch ideas for encounters, dungeon layout, or items that could be available to them as rewards, I'm all ears =)

Thanks in advance to everyone taking the time to help me out.

[Aett_Thorn]

A fancy, but non-magical suit of half plate armor. While ornate, from the outside it seems fairly unremarkable otherwise. However, on the inside is inscribed his family tree and/or lineage. It proves that he's the rightful heir to his kingdom.

His crown, hidden as he fled as a sword on a normal rack in the armory. Only the third one from the left will do.

A suit of armor which allows him to travel without penalty in daylight so that he can rule his people (who I am assuming are not vampires) when they are awake.

A blood-red sickle, which can be used by vampires to increase the yields of farms within a certain distance, which has led to the people being willing to put up with a vampire as their king in the first place.

A cold-iron axe that is deadly to vampires. He needs it to slay his foe, but yet can't be the one to get it for obvious reasons. May require the future services of the party to actually wield the thing in battle against his enemy.

Whatever he sends them for is actually a ruse. In truth, he had to leave his child behind, thinking he/she was dead. Turns out, they've been alive this whole time, living in the abandoned castle mainly in the armory. But he's afraid that his child will hate him for abandoning them.

[loki_ragnarock]

A legal document that shows that he has the legitimate claims to the lands he desires.

In short, a deed to the kingdom.

Vampire wants it to provide casus belli for the upcoming and perhaps gain some legal allies.
Current heads of state want it to eradicate the evidence that the one and only true heir happens to be an undead abomination.
The party is caught in the middle.

[ThornTheDruid]

A fancy, but non-magical suit of half plate armor. While ornate, from the outside it seems fairly unremarkable otherwise. However, on the inside is inscribed his family tree and/or lineage. It proves that he's the rightful heir to his kingdom.

His crown, hidden as he fled as a sword on a normal rack in the armory. Only the third one from the left will do.

A suit of armor which allows him to travel without penalty in daylight so that he can rule his people (who I am assuming are not vampires) when they are awake.

A blood-red sickle, which can be used by vampires to increase the yields of farms within a certain distance, which has led to the people being willing to put up with a vampire as their king in the first place.

A cold-iron axe that is deadly to vampires. He needs it to slay his foe, but yet can't be the one to get it for obvious reasons. May require the future services of the party to actually wield the thing in battle against his enemy.

Whatever he sends them for is actually a ruse. In truth, he had to leave his child behind, thinking he/she was dead. Turns out, they've been alive this whole time, living in the abandoned castle mainly in the armory. But he's afraid that his child will hate him for abandoning them.

Love the story and ideas!

A few of mine:

A wrought-iron knife, that stores the blood of its most recent victim. The vampire may need the blood of the victim to absorb power of some sort?

A ring, with the soul of his familiar, or just a signet ring showing his status.

A Darkwood staff (INCREDIBLY hard wood. Stronger than steel, but born from evil,) with a ruby topper, carved in the likeness of an eye. This allows him to spy anywhere in his kingdom.

Good luck!

[dragoeniex]

Famine threatens regions throughout the kingdom. Because of this, the party must retrieve the lord's Sickle of the Harvest Moon.

This sickle's only notable feature past the engraved autumnal designs is its resistance to wear and tear. No truly remarkable properties, until its wielder conducts a blood ritual requiring four executions- one for each season. Sounds grisly, but when you've got prisoners slated for execution anyway, it's only practical. Once the ritual has been completed in a barren field beneath a full moon, wheat shoots up to fill the area. The moonlight tinges red. Then, if the sickle is used to harvest a bundle of the blooded crops, the growth spreads to fields throughout the kingdom.

A true lord earns the support of his people by providing for them. The people are sure to rally behind his claim! The party, of course, will be invited to the harvest feast afterward.

Ever gracious, the lord lets them share the royal portion of wine. He'll be sipping on leftovers from the ritual.

Waste not, want not.


Edit: One of Aett_Thorn's suggestions included something similar, haha, so I suppose I'm seconding and expanding on the concept.

[poolio]

These are all really good so far, I should mention he's been gone a while, around a millennium give or take, so any claims he might have to the land would likely not be upheld, especially sense it's the Paladin who slayed him that rules a good portion of the land now, but it's interesting and not entirely out of the question, the story is a work in progress while the players go, I don't like to pin anything down cause my players are the most unpredictable bunch loons you could ever meet, so it pays to leave some wiggle room story wise, but some thing that let's him walk in the day light and the scythe could work really well in both hiding the fact he's a vampire, and in trying to win over the people to become a lord again and start working his way up to a most "hostile" of take overs. Thanks everybody,
But please if anyone else would like to add more ideas that would be great, I always love to see what y'all come up with =)

[Temperjoke]

Well, if he's attempting to return and take over again, perhaps what he needs is something he didn't have the first time he fought the Paladin? Like something that would have negated the Paladin's power? Perhaps it's an evil artifact that hurts any living creature that touches it, and causes regeneration of any undead bearing it, which it why it was securely locked in the Armory for safe keeping? Bear in mind, if it's too cool-sounding, there's a good chance your party might decide to take it for themselves, so it should be something that would be useless to them.

[KillingTime]

A magic ring.
At first it seems to be a simple ring of invisibility, but as the story progresses it appears that the ring contains a significant portion of the vampire's soul and power. It seeks to corrupt those who weild it and also gives the wearer influence over the weak minded.

[Phhase]

Hmm, depends on the lord's alignment, really. I'm proceeding under the assumption of Lawful Evil.

-Blood of the Dire: A vial of enchanted blood consisting of all blood types mixed. If poured into a water supply, it makes those under its influence much more susceptible to a vampire's dominations and suggestions. Perfect for securing a hold on the populace.

-The Charheart. While it looks like an oddly shaped bit of coal, this is, in fact, the heart of an efreet, treated with the ichor of a demon prince and bathed in the Lake of Molten Iron. The lord intends to replace his own heart with it, making him immune to sunlight, immune to staking, and imbuing him with a significant elemental affinity for fire. However, it will also make him vulnerable to cold iron and cold damage. It may also open him up to corrupting influences...

-Rod of Lordly Might, but with more power.

-An item that grants him effective lichdom (Will shelter his soul in the event of death, then regenerate the body).

-An item that allows him to raise undead on a mass scale

-An extremely powerful disguise tool that gives him great power in the capacity of espionage and duplicity, to subvert others to his cause.