anyway to know an item is special?

[Jednj]

I have begun looting chests and barrels and things, and have found various gems (emerald, ruby, Kathorn Crystal) . . . 1st I am a little disappointed at how little they bring at the merhcants (60 - 111) . . . but I am worried about the Kathorn Crystal. In other games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale) items with names often (not always) have special purposes. I'd hate the screw up the game because I sold a Kathorn Crystal!!

Any suggestions?

[Deadalready]

Kathorn, Rubies and all the rest are in quite common commodity. Move along nothing to see here...


~

There are some locations like shrines, which will require a gem offering to be placed on them but other wise gems and the like are almost all just items for sell.

Sometimes blacksmiths and technologist type stores will pay extra for them.

[Mordred]

You might have need for kathorn crystal in one quest concerning the wheel clan. But, as Deadalready said, gems are quite common. 'Cept maybe for the black diamond and some gems given to you by npc's.

[Lonelypilgrim]

Very many different gems are needed for different altars.My advice would be that you keep atleast 1 gem of each sort.You might want to sell the other one but you could just collect them for fun But yes,better keep atleast one Katharon Crystal.And other gems even more like Black Diamond or such.

[Opalescence]

If you're worried about inventory space, you may want to dump extra (especially heavy) items in containers from which you can easily retrieve. My suggestion is the rat-infested warehouse in Tarant. The gnome in front will ask you to clear his warehouse of rats in return for whatever you might find inside and a hefty experience boost. What he DOESN'T tell you is that he really could care less if you put everything you own in his crates and leave it there; nobody will take it, and it'll stay there forever. Essentially, it's a storage space and that's why I refer to the place as the "Bank of Tarant". My advice, then, is to pick some random crate, and put one of each type of gem you collect inside, and sell all the rest. One of each is all you'll ever need, trust me.

[tom the terribl]

If you want easy access store extra items in Black Root or Stillwater. The entry point is close and the items last forever in the chest.