Keep in mind that due to the presence of the two Artificers, the cost of all magical items that either of them could produce would be reduced to 37,5% (self-made + extraordinary artisan). This would give us a fair bit of additional wriggling room.
Depending on how
@DragonParadox wants to rule/judge it, it's possible that the same discount of (could have produced this themselves) might also apply to mundane items such as tools.
We'd ideally need much more than one pair, in order to avoid issues due to inbreeding.
The mundane animals we can (theoretically) give a pass, since they'd be easy enough to come by on most of earth, unless we choose to start in the Americas (not many good and easy to domesticate animals there, for some reason).
Magebred is a template we might be able to recreate on our own. Best to inquire what the GM says in that regard.
Not sure about getting Dire Animals. Their usefulness seems pretty limited to me compared to the price. And if any of them slip out it'd turn into a nightmare for the ecosystem.
Pegasi seems the only really useful animal option to me.
Things we can buy that technology has yet to catch up with
Spyglass, as well.
Additionally, we'll definitely want at least 1 Alchemy Lab for our Artificer. Potentially more, due to Unseen Crafter shenanigans.
Lastly, we'll want books, filled with knowledge about various crafts and whatnot, in order to prevent us losing access to that knowledge, in case we happen not to have a master in that area with us, or can't use the skill(s) in question for a while. For example, losing access to more modern ship-designs because we don't have a shipwright, and/or we arrived far away from land and had no chance to expand to the sea for centuries.
Not sure the pigments can create viable seeds, though it might help with other stuff. Still, it would probably be cheaper overall to just get the various mundane items outright.
Hand of the Mage is reather "meh"; it's nifty for adventurers, but not really all that good for civilization/settlement-building, IMO.
Items/constructs we'll definitely want:
- Dedicated Wight (100 gp each)
Can take over the creation of magical items, thus saving their creators time. Additionally, could also act as additional crafters with some modicum of skill.
- Quill of Scribing (~800gp)
Can automatically scribe any spell that the user knows. Ie, automated scroll-production. Possibly/likely truly limited to "spells known", though, meaning it might not work for Artificers (save for making scrolls of artificer infusions). Would potentially be very useful for the druid/cleric if either of them had Scribe Scroll.
- Circlet of Persuasion (~1900gp)
+3 on all Charisma-based checks. Basically a must-have for our Artificers (UMD is Charisma-based), but also handy for the druid (Animal Empathy is also Charisma-based) and of course our diplomats and the like.
- Amber Amulet of Vermin (~200-1200gp)
Summons various monstrous vermin for 1 minute per day. Mostly useful in order to get some quick and cheap combat fodder. We could only produce the Giant Bee version ourselves, though.
- Arcanist's Gloves (~200gp)
+2 CL to a spell 2 times per day. Might not seem much, but it could translate into 2 additional hours of work from an Unseen Servant, or 2 additional days from an Unseen Crafter.
- Boots of Stomping (~260gp)
3 times per day, can create a 5m-long cone potentially causing creatures in the AoE to fall prone. Might not seem like much, but it could easily disrupt a charge by a horde of barbarians or a roman legion.
- Chronocharms (~200gp each)
Various minor trinkets that work 1/day. Often allowing to re-roll skill checks such as listen/spot, balance/climb/tumble, and so on. The most interesting one is the one that allows the wearer to cast a full-round spell as a standard action. Potentially handy for our druid, or anyone making use of summoning spells.
- Pearl of Speech (~260 gp)
Grants the ability to speak a specific language for as long as it's in use.
- Symbol of Transfiguration (~200gp)
Purify Drink and Food 3/day, and align weapon (good) 1/day. The former is particularly interesting, since it means making our food situation a little easier.
- Wink Brooch (~200 gp)
+2 competence bonus to Bluff/Diplomacy 3/day. Doesn't stack with the circlet of persuasion, but it's obviously much cheaper; enough that we should be able to provide them to most, if not all, of our diplomats and the like, giving them an additional advantage during key negotiations.
- Bag of Endless Caltrops (~370gp)
Produce 5 handfuls of caltrops per day. Good for preparing the battlefield against enemies, and might also be able to act as small source of metal, since there's no mention of them disappearing.
- Blessed Bandage (~4gp)
Automatically stabilizes any dying target they're used on. Hopefully we won't need them, but better safe than sorry.
- Elhonna's Seed Pouch (1400gp)
3 goodberries per day, plus some fairly powerful extra-effects if used by someone either sacrificing an 8th level divine spellspot, or being level 15 with the True Believer feat.
Reason to buy this; flavor-wise it might allow us access to the seeds of all kinds of plants, which might come in handy.
- Eternal Wands
Various spells that we'd be able to use 2/day.
Of particular interest:
- Magecraft (~360gp)
+5 competence to crafting-checks, which stacks with masterwork tools. It's limited to "You" (ie, the caster), meaning the only ones who can really put it to use are our Artificers (since other crafters would have to use UMD), but it means they can share one of these.
However, we might be able to create a Custom-version that doesn't require UMDs for use by our normal craftsmen. An enchanted version of their typical artisan tools would be most thematic, obviously.
- Unseen Crafter (~1700gp)
Unseen Servant that lasts for 9 days and can craft items. Would work very well with our Artificers, especially in conjunction with the Magecraft wands, allowing them to produce large quantities of high-quality equipment fairly quickly.
- Charm Animal (~360gp)
For our Druid, allowing her to basically capture and potentially tame 1-2 animals per day when used in conjunction with her Handle Animal, Animal Empathy, and some prepared enclosures. Would make it very easy for us to acquire herds of deer or boars for food, wolves for training into guard and combat animals, and so on.
- Field Provision Box (~780gp)
Produces food and water for 15 humans or 5 horses (or, presumably, creatures of similar size) per day. Won't be able to feed our people on its own, but it would help stretch any food supplies we bring and/or acquire, and also make it much easier for us if/when we launch expeditions in the future. Also much more cost-efficient than everlasting rations/feedbags or everfull mugs.
- Sending Stones (~650gp)
Allows the sending of messages between the two stones 1/day. Useful for letting diplomats or exploration parties stay in contact with the main settlement.
- Tome of Worldy Knowledge (~700gp)
+5 competence on a single Knowledge-check 3/day. Ties in with what I said about books under mundane items, ie allowing us to preserve knowledge. Especially due to the item's fluff-text.
