Here's a cool little tactic I did when I was nearly finished with the Stout Mine:
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The Stout King has several treasure vaults but are heavily gaurded. If you attack the king to get the treasure key all the stouts will attack you and I just didn't feel compfortable killing the king who gives you the dragon armor. So, I saved the game while standing in front of him after getting the armor. Then used the character with the highest pick pocket skill to try and steal the key. Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to steal the key without being caught or getting a different item. You may need a fairly high lock pick skill though. With the key you can raid all the treasure boxes guilt free. No Stout attacks you and feels no ill will toward you. A great way to get some excellent booty and still have the integrity of a hero. Although if you want a real prize you have to kill the stout king to get his war hammer. A great weapon but if you sell it you get tons of gold. Hope you enjoy trying this out.

Well, certainly a profitable tactic, but whether you get caught or not, you still don't have the integrity of a hero. Stealing is not an honorable behavior.

+Dr.Pick

Question for Dr Pick....
How did you enter the vaults?
My characters have little Steal skill, the only way seemed to be to "do in" the king. He certainly wasn't going to hand it over willingly. (I'm trying to play without spoilers, but failing most of the time.)