The Tainted District and Pieces of a Puzzle.

I had dreams the night before I was to meet the three of them again at the Turquoise Tavern. They were vague, mostly colors distorted as if through glass that is being rained on hard. Everything was fuzzy. Somehow I knew I needed to bring clarity to these dreams. Which is why I have decided not to drink that concoction for a while.
 
The next day was most eventful. I started by going to meet with Florian Lybloom, my mothers old business partner at his apothecary. We spoke of a few things, I asked if he would be able to acquire any type of medication that would help me bring clarity to the dreams. He told me that he would see what he could do. Since he helped create the concoction for sleep, I figured he would be able to help with this as well.
 
Next I went to see Elizabeth and my sister. In speaking with her, I let her know that we would want to see the body of Lavina Riverlight, so we could get a better idea of what was going on. I also spent some time with my sister, she seems so ... frail. Not what I am used to. There must be something that I will be able to figure out to help! The last couple days have brought forth a lot of information.
 
I headed to the wall to check on that little kobold that took over the watch for me. Poor little fellow seemed to be holding in there. So that was good.
 
Finally, I arrived at the Turquoise tavern where I was to meet my compatriots. Morrighan seemed to appear right as I did, so we entered the building together. We went and took a seat. It was then, that I saw Gnarlis scrunched under the stairwell trying to extract himself. It did not go to well, but he finally did get out of there.
 
We waited a while for the bard Travian, but he never showed up. So, we took it upon ourselves to look around. We inquired at quite a few different places, only to wind up at the Sapphire Thorn where he had decided to stay. We were given the key to his room, so we went to go look in on him. Unfortunately, like so many others, he had fallen into the same coma that had stricken my sister.
 
We then went to see Elizabeth as a group. Both to let her know about Travian, something she was very unhappy about, and to see the body of Lavina Riverlight. After some inspection, Elizabeth finally got irritated and told us the cause of death, vampires. This took us all a little by shock. Vampires were not something to be messed with, yet, it looked like that was going to be a part of our mission.
 
After saying goodbye to Elizabeth, we finally made our way to the Tainted District. As soon as we crossed the threshold, a miasma seemed to bear down on us, making us feel ill, even forcing us to retch. We started by going to my mom's old shop, in hopes that something there might be useful. Unfortunately, the nostalgia hit me too hard and I was unable to investigate very well, my compatriots did not fare any better. Leaving the shop we started to head towards the crypts when we heard voices.
 
The crypt was creepy, I am not going to lie. Then there were the voices that we could hear within. We made our way through the crypt and were faced by some challenges. There were cultists, zombies, and doors. The doors worst. My combat training helped me do well against flesh and blood. Wood and stone were a different story altogether. Alas, we made our way through, painfully.
 
The last pair of cultists ended up being a pair or twin elven girls who spoke sylvan. Valina and Vivian. Valina was a little more animated than Vivian and assisted us with some of the locks, it appears she is quite the little rogue. They were not very talkative, but did lead us to a room that was basically an armory. There was also some coin that we distributed amongst each other.
 
We decided to bring the girls to Elizabeth. First, we decided to bring them by the Turquoise Turtle and get some food in them, as well as ourselves. Gnarlis had the great idea of getting them some ice cream to go. Which also loosened their lips a little. We found that there are more of these cultists outside the wall in a temple several days away. We also know that these cultists are intent on finding something. What that is, we do not know, but this may be a piece of the puzzle, so we are going to investigate.
 
After that, we headed back to the Turquoise for a drink. Morrighan and Gnarlis got a room. I headed back home to get some sleep after an exhausting day. Once again I decided not to drink the medicine that helps with sleep. This time, I did not dream the spooky dream of blurred images. Instead, my mother came to me. There she was, as beautiful as ever. Sparkling green eyes radiating with a keen intellect, he long red hair curling every which way from her head. She was in refined white robes and it was as if we were back in the apothecary and she was teaching me a lesson. But this time, it seemed different. It was not just a lesson on history or the arcane, but a lesson of how to allow the arcane energy to flow through me. She also alluded to her journal/spellbook. She told me to find it. I think I know where to start ...
 
That is when I awoke and I instantly understood that it was more than a dream. I knew, because I could feel the arcane energy coursing through my veins. There were also spells floating in my head, almost all of which were destructive in nature. Something I knew would work well for me.
 
This time I went directly to my companions and we all went to sell the equipment that we did not need as the first part of the morning. That is when we decided it was time to do some investigating. First we went to see Kyler Riverlight to see if he could shed any more light on what had happened to his wife. At first, it did not seem like we would get much information. But then he told us about how she had a secret loft, one we suspect is in the tainted district. That she was working on what she referred to as her best painting. I wonder if she has a patron? As we were about to leave, I asked Kyler for permission to speak with his dead wife, something Elizabeth needed for her order. Kyler gave me a writ of permission to bring to Elizabeth.
 
That is when we decided to go to my family home, where we started our research in the library. A few hours passed, but we were unable to find anything of use. That is when one of my eldest twin sisters, Celentia, reminded me of where all the good information was. Without thinking about it, I took her up on her offer to trespass into the tower. It is once she disabled the first of many traps and I walked through the front door that I thought better of it. So, we waited for Eleanora to return.
 
Oddly, we survived. Meaning she was actually somewhat nice - very strange. Though it was kind of nice. She gave us three hours to investigate the tower, just not the top floors. After about two hours, Gnarlis came upon a book that fit exactly what we needed. Unfortunately, it was in a language none of us understood - Deep Speech. Yet, Eleanora knew what the book was and what it represented, but she would not say. There is something strange afoot here, she will let me get access to the book again, so I guess it is incumbent that I learn or gain access to Deep Speech.
 
We stayed for dinner, all of my sisters were there along with Eleanor, except Queleanna of course, she was still in her bed, in the hospital, in a coma. The dinner went well enough and we all left to see Elisabeth.
 
We met Elisabeth at the hospital, where she always was. This is when I presented the writ of approval from Kyler. Seeing this, Elisabeth prepared the spell and allowed us five questions to ask of Lavina.
 
Q1. Where is her hidden studio
Q2. Who was going to buy her latest painting
Q3. Does she know who killed her
Q4. Is the Tiefling woman also the mistress
Q5. Do you have any other type of information for us
 
A1. Lost, broken, hidden - Is this the tainted district?
A2. Tiefling woman
A3. No
A4. Don't know
A5. What was lost, has been found
Whispering Shadows, mournful cries
There your answer lays
 
Although the information that we got is cryptic, it does shed some light. There has to be more information in that book. Two days and we can get access to it again. Talking with Elisabeth, she has agreed to teach me to speak Deep Speech. Two days is not enough time, though. I need some way to decipher that book. Which is why I think I am going to try and get a couple scrolls of comprehend languages so I can read it.