Screaming Mace Quest
 

Tried to turn in my Brass Earring and Shiny Brass Shield into the Dwarven Smith in the building, and he just ate both. Is the quest broken or something?

no, I believe you need to give him the shield and dwarven ringmail tunic

thats not how the quest goes

you only need to give him the tunic the shield part is optional and skippable

give him tunic for mace then give high elf bracer of battle for prayer cloth then combine cloth and mace for screaming

Yes, going by the wiki page for the quest, the Shiny Brass Shield turn-in is just storyline/lore. Looks like Mercius laid out the facts. Here's the page for more info.
http://wiki.project1999.com/Screaming_Mace_Quest

I just did the quest and 100% did not have any shield.

Gave the Dwarf the ringmail tunic that I got from Emperor Crush (Dwarf vanished after the fact) and he gave me back a mace .

To the right of the Dwarf was High Elf to whom I gave the bracer that I got from Warlord. He gave me a shoulder pad with 3+ Wis I think.

I gave back to the same High Elf the Mace (got from 1st turn in) plus the Shoulder piece he had just given me and BOOM got the Screaming Mace.

At no point did I ever get or give anyone a shield.

The Brass earring is given to the various wood elf, high elf, and dwarf slaves. Each one gives you a note in return to take to some other NPC on Faydwer for your final reward, which is dependent upon the gender/race salve you gave the earring.

When I read "Screaming Mace Quest" I immediately thought "Sacramento".