After a bit of discussion and swapping around, the party eventually settled on this list of looting:
Pierre -> Malakai's hat
Greenmoore -> Earth Book
Frenz -> Mace
Claire -> Shadow Demon Contract
Zathyran -> Ice Summoning Contract (traded to Greenmoore for Pearl Ring)
Malleus -> Ice Book
Wymar -> Shadow Book
Once everyone had pocketed their preferred loot, then turned back to the gate. There was still the problem of getting it open, after all. Frenz and Malleus tried to push it open, but even after Claire and Pierre joined their efforts the gate refused to budge. Greenmoore observed the the sun was almost gone and if they didn't get the gate open soon, they would really be in trouble. The party gathered again to talk over ways to get it open when their attention was drawn by the awful noise of metal shrieking, a sound as high-pitched and grating as nails on a chalkboard. They turned to the gate and saw a huge man pulling at it from the inside, bending the left-hand gate in half far enough that they could walk through.
They made it through and took a look at the newcomer. A huge man with a shaved head, so large he eclipsed Frenz and Malleus in height and width quite easily. A long chain was wound about his torso and hanging from his left shoulder was a sturdy iron ball; tucked into the chains around his chest was a flintlock pistol. His clothing was tough leather, probably the only kind available for a man his size. He gestured with his head. "This way," he said, walking off into the darkness.
As stated in the turn title, this is kind of a transitional turn to get Riccto in and give him a chance to introduce himself to everyone. Next turn you'll be in the shop to prepare for the next area. Also, everyone now gets a chance to pick a class evolution.
Knight Lv2 (+2 to defense; stackable)
Knight Warrior (Movement penalties for armor are negated)
Knight Crusader (Holy items, such as the cross, receive +1 to the damage roll; a 4 becomes a 5, for example)
Knight Protector Lv2 (When taking damage for other party members, defense increases by +2 and damage actually taken from an attack is reduced by 2)
Fortune Teller lv2 (+2 to sense danger (aka defense against nonstandard attacks like Traps and Called Shots))
Talented Oracle (Can choose to auto-hit or auto-dodge once per combat)
Warrior Oracle lv2 (Can choose to auto-crit twice per combat, but still has to roll to hit; doesn't count as an 8 for leveling purposes)
Guardian Oracle lv2 (Twice per combat you can negate any damage dealt to a party member for the next round)
Weirding Oracle lv2 (Twice per combat may activate this ability, causing your next attack to hit, dodge to succeed, hit to crit, or struck ally to take no damage, chosen at random. You do not know which ability is active until it occurs.)
Fated Oracle (Wymar draws a card from his tarot deck, with the effect depending on the card drawn. After rolling for the card, a d4 is rolled to see whether it's reversed or not. (3 or 4 on 1d4 means it is) He can do this once per battle.)
Mercenary lv2 (+2d with Throwing Weapons)
Elegant Mercenary lv2 (Pierre now counterstrikes whenever an enemy fails their damage roll OR his defense roll is four points higher than the enemy's attack roll)
Precise Mercenary (Throwing weapons now do 1d6/1d8 depending on enemy weaknesses)
Well-Dressed Mercenary (Pierre can wear hats to get benefits related to the hat; for example, a priest's hat could make any holy type damage he inflicts more powerful.)
Priest lv2 (+2d with Holy Subweapons like the Water and Cross)
Virtuous Priest (Holy Subweapons now inflict 1d6/1d8 on hits, depending on enemy weaknesses)
Studied Priest (Magic Books now take 1MP instead of 2)
Holy Priest lv2 (Twice per battle can either heal 2d6 of an ally/your own health or auto-Massive Damage an Undead enemy with 4d6x2 damage.)
Pirate lv2 (Starting Artifact weapon gets a slight boost to stats)
Bounty Raider ('Named' foes - usually bosses - will always give Claire a bag of gold upon victory.)
Trophy Raider lv2 (Claire has a 50% [3 or 4 on 1d4] chance to get a random powerful enemy-related-item upon killing a foe. These items can be used in ways that relate to that enemy.)
Booty Raider (If a standard enemy is below 10% HP, Claire can attempt an autokill as a standard roll to take his/her heart, which automatically restores 1d4 HP.)
Skilled Caster (Once per battle can bypass the accuracy roll, although it's still possible to fail the damage roll.)
Skilled Caster lv2 (Twice per battle can bypass the accuracy roll and deal damage, although a die is still rolled to determine degree of damage.)
Defensive Caster (When choosing to defend for a round, Zathyran can expend MP at a 2 MP = +1 defense rate.)
Defensive Caster lv2 (When choosing to defend for a round, Zathyran can expend MP at a 1 MP = +1 defense rate.)
Melee Caster (When attacking with melee, can apply any element you have a spellbook for to your attack for 1 MP)
Melee Caster lv2 (When attacking with melee, can apply any element you have a spellbook for to your attack for 1 MP; Zathyran also now has a 25% chane to inflict an elemental status with that attack)
Nobleman lv2 (Starting Artifact becomes slightly more powerful)
Steadfast Nobleman lv2 (Twice per battle, Frenz can choose a turn to completely ignore all incoming damage)
Vigorous Nobleman (When countering a foe, Frenz has a 50% chance of having his damage doubled.)
Brutal Nobleman (Frenz's melee damage die rank increases by 1)
Hunter lv2 (+2 to all attack rolls, stackable with skills & equipment)
Iron Hunter (Physical status effects, such as Swamped or Frozen, last one round less when inflicted. Physical SE that normally last until cured, like poison, have a 1-in-4 chance [4 on 1d4] of ending each round)
Iron Hunter lv2 (Physical status effects, such as Swamped or Frozen, last one round less when inflicted, and Beirnat also has a 50% chance [3 or 4 on 1d4] of completely stopping the effect from happening. Physical SE that normally last until cured, like poison, has a 50% chance [3 or 4 on 1d4] of ending each round)
Destructive Hunter (+1 to damage rolls; stackable with skills & equipment)
Destructive Hunter lv2 (+2 to damage rolls; stackable with skills & equipment)
Fearless Hunter (Mental status effects, such as Curse or Fear, last one round less when inflicted)
Fearless Hunter lv2 (Mental status effects, such as Curse or Fear, last one round less when inflicted, and Beirnat also has a 50% chance [3 or 4 on 1d4] of completely stopping the effect from happening.)
(Creature) Hunter (Beirnat inflicts an extra 50% damage to his chosen enemy with each successful hit)
(Creature) Hunter lv2 (Beirnat inflicts double damage to his chosen enemy with each successful hit)
Swift Hunter (+10 to initiative; stackable with skills & equipment)
Swift Hunter lv2 (+25 to initiative; stackable with skills & equipment)
If you pick (Creature) Hunter, just tell me what kind of enemy you want like Ghost or Vampire or whatever and it'll be titled that. Also, you get to pick 4 quest rewards from the next spoiler; remember you can pick the same thing multiple times. Finally, you can pick four of the class evos, so if you want the level 1 of everything you can have it, or you can get two evos at level 2, or one lv2 and two lv1, or whatever. :3
5 HP
5 MP
New or Improved Weapon
New or Improved Subweapon
New Skill
Random Artifact
I'll update everyone's statuses to include loot and upgrades once all this stuff's been sorted out. :3 Also PMing Riccto now to let him know he's in.