The Captain's Noblesse Cache

After defeating the Pirate Captain—a former privateer who had been skimming taxes from a noble house and hoarding a portion of their levies—the party pries open a hidden strongbox beneath the captain's captain's desk aboard his flagship. Rather than crude pirate trinkets, the box contains items appropriated from the noble house: finely made goods, heraldic pieces, and items meant to curry favor at court. The spoils suggest the captain was selling influence as well as plunder, keeping a reserve of easily liquidable goods and a few higher-profile pieces meant for black-market transfer. The haul is suitable for a level 8 party: a mix of valuables to fence, a minor magic trinket of interest to an NPC courtier, and materials that a craftsman or alchemist could turn into something useful.