Alright, starting this back up again, and what better way to start than with loot? On the defeated Kobolds you find:
A total of 5 gold and 20 silver
A hide armor, light shield, and spear on the skirmisher
Three scale armors, heavy shields (each made from a dragon scale, AFAIK this does not affect the stats), and short swords on the Dragonshields
a crimson hide armor, spear, bone mask (shaped like a dragon's skull), and an obsidian necklace carved in the shape of a dragon. On the bottom of the figurine is etched an outline of a skull with ram's horns.
Aleph seems to become visibly paler at the sight of the necklace, muttering something about "not him... I must warn them..." before taking off into the woods on his own.
((basically Aleph is dropping out, but this leaves open a way for him to mysteriously return))