[lithrel]

If you can, give the mysql vb user access to your eqdkp_items table, you won't need to create another connection to your database.

Don't echo anything in your plugin. You should just use the template system.
So, put a variable in your FORUMHOME template, where you want your table to appear; let's call it $winners.

<if condition="!empty($winners)">
<table class="tborder" cellpadding="$stylevar[cellpadding]" cellspacing="$stylevar[cellspacing]" border="0" width="100%" align="center">
<tr><th colspan="2">Latest loot</th></tr>
$winners
</table>
</if>

Then, your plugin should look like this:

PHP Code:

$winners="";
$result = $vbulletin->db->query("SELECT item_buyer, item_name FROM YOUR_DB.eqdkp_items     ORDER BY raid_id DESC LIMIT 0,7")
while( list($buyer, $item_name) = $vbulletin->db->fetch_row($result) ){
    $item_link = "[item]".$item_name."[/item]";
    $myMessage = itemstats_parse($item_link); // want to parse bbcode ?
    $winners .= "<tr><td>".$buyer."</td><td>".$myMessage."</td></tr>";
} 


Hook: forumhome_complete

$winners will be replace by its value during fetch_template('FORUMHOME') in index.php