So I finished the DG MQ for the Dawnguard and couldn't help but notice that everything in the castle was marked 'STEAL' if I tried to take it. I really don't want to steal anything but there is a lot of good loot around there. Why is everything coded to indicate stolen if you take it?

I did take a diamond, now every diamond I pick up is marked at stolen. Why the heck!

You need to be "friendly" before most items are free to take. Doing vampire side missions will make you "friendly" with the other vamps and allow you to take most stuff. However anything thats very expensive will always be marked for stealing, since it obviously doesnt belong to you and its cost is higher than the items NPC's will allow you to take.

As for the diamond; The entire stack is marked "stolen" until the actual stolen one is removed from the inventory.

But in this case the NPC is dead. Everyone in the castle is dead. Yet I can't take their stuff?

I suppose I could steal it and no one will see me, but then I got that stupid carrying stolen loot bug to deal with. Plus being a good guy I really didn't want to steal anything.

And to make matters even worse a couple quest later three thugs attacked me and nearly wiped me out (I actually had to reload a few times) and they had a note from one of the dead vampires telling them to teach me a lesson. Well they are all dead so how the heck did he do that? Course granted they were already dead, but I made them more dead, or deader.

It must be a bug, because after you've killed someone, the Steal tag on any of the previously owned items doesn't disappear.

Example:

Go to Anise's Shack, enter the basemant then exit it. As you'll exit the shack, Anise will start fight you. Kill her. Now look how the Steal tag didn't disappear from any of Anise's previously owned items.

It's very annoying indeed!

What? I have never stole anything from her because the STEAL tag always is on her stuff. Course I never checked to see if it was off after killing her though. Dang got to check that out. Course doesn't help with the vamp castle though, it may be a bug then.

Checked, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Anise%27s_Cabin. ^[Notes]

Oh well. Yet another bug then.

Indeed! Have caution, fellows, there appears to be an insect in the vicinity! *searching for a big shoe*

Don't know if its laziness, or a design decision. I don't think it is a bug. Happens anytime you kill someone: taking their stuff even after their dead, unless it is on their corpse, is stealing. Death does not change ownership. Try going into Drela's Cottage and see what happens.

Why do you think that it is not a bug? When someone dies, all the items they used to own should be stealfree.

It seems too logical in a world with spy-chickens and cows

One thing:

'setownership'

It may be a bug but it may not be too. After all if an old woman died in her house, someone comes in and just starts taking things, I'm pretty sure that'd be stealing in the laws eyes. Unless you're family or something.

Thats a fair enough reply, the only buggy thing is that dead people can hire thugs, like WTF!

Under the law eyes? Uh, if I take items from a dead NPC, and there's nobody there watching, how is it 'under law eyes'?

Chickens..

*http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/24860761.jpg*

I would not mind if the stuff never respawned, I would just grab everything get rid of it and move into the castle. They were the enemy of the Dawnguard, we killed them, we should get their stuff! Without having to steal it.

And certainly dead vampires should not be able to send thugs after you for stealing their things. Aussie helped herself to what she wanted, will wait and see what turns up. I think she already had thugs for something else she stole though, maybe she will not get them again? It was a shock when my third character got three thugs sent after him for stealing a book, been so long since it happened I forgot that might happen. He immediately went and dealt with the complaint, he killed her for sending the thugs after him, anger management problem that character has.