tl;dr
Bodies lie broken and scattered on the field of battle, but the stony grinder of mountains lies defeated. I send his head to my largest Town to boost Gildar and Growth. A troop of bruised and bloodied cavalry render salutes and a ragged cheer as their Captain points out a roughly squarish hole at the base of the nearest peak. Two wagons wide, it must be the lair of Torax.
Surely an Elemental Lord would have accumulated unique magical artifacts of great potency. I draw my long sword and gesture for my Torch Bearer to follow. I am 20 paces into the shadowed crevice when I stumble over some rusty scraps of armor and nearly impale myself on a broken spear shaft. Cursing, I rise unsteadily to my feet and bend over to pick up the rusted bracers that nearly defeated me where Torax had failed.
I shake my head in disgust and stalk back into the light of the fading day, clutching the rusted prize I earned with the lives of the men who trusted me to lead them to victory.
Summary:
Is loot completely random, or are there treasure lists the game checks for certain loot drops?