Were they that bad?

[Canadanne]

I don't see any evidence that the quest objects were rightfully Lord Fears, especially considering they were around in the dungeon long before LF came along.

No, but then I don't see any evidence that Treguard had a right to them either. And as they were in Fear's possession, and Treguard was effectively trying to steal them, the morality was even at best.

I seem to recall talk of "redeeming" the quest objects - certainly Lord Fear mentions the possibility of Barry "redeeming" the Shield. To me, that suggests regaining possession of the items in question. So either Lord Fear had originally stolen them from the Powers That Be, or they'd been loaned to him as part of the game.

[HStorm]

Possible, but there are many different definitions of the word, and I always took it to mean 'obtain the release of'.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redeem