I tried giving the rhino beetle shield to Orrick, but he seemed uninterested.
perhaps you do need to make a second one? though, i never tried talking to dirty lew about rhino shields after he made the first one...

though, you can get a nice set of umberhulk armor if you have a MALE with very high charisma and all the umberhulk hides from the previous battle (for trade)

One requirement of being a true Paladin is being humble (in fact, in the PnP games, Paladins were required to give up all worldly posessions), and the sword was a gift from one very proud church's God. After sitting on the alter for many years, with but one priest still praying for it, he discover that the enchantment had taken long ago, an attempt to make the order more humble. When a visiting priest of Helm scoffed at it, the sword's abilities were shown, but the sword has no idicators of being magical, or holy, which explains why there is no blue border.

Spoiler
>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
The Paladin sword is a must have since it is one of the the most effective weapons when you fight the head "greater than mortals" dude at the end of IWD....Its a definite must have

What I think you are all missing is that the Umber Hulk Armour and Rhino Shell Sheild are not that good when compared to *metal* items. There non-metal, which means if you have a druid in the party, if they are strong enough to carry the weight, then their AC is going down significantly. AND the armour is non-magical, so your druid can use a +2 ring or cloak of protection. I always have both a druid and a cleric in my party, as they have different spells.

I think the sword is easier to explain then that. It would appear to be a "player's lore" item, the sort of thing only a very few would ever bother to check thoroughly and upon discovery: brag about. Thus, sending the rest of us apoplectic with rage (and greed) and making us check old saves to see how far back we'd have to go to get it!

Think of it as the programmers having some snigger-time at our expense. :(