New Toys and Old Lies

It had been a full day, and we all felt the need for sleep. I left the group and went upstairs in Egert's house, finding a small study on the second floor. I tried to draw to calm my nerves after everything that had happened, but I fell asleep at the desk after only a few minutes.
 
Zarruk also ventured upstairs and fell asleep in the music room, casting magehand to play the instruments as he drifted off. Mirielle passed out on the couch, but Dru decided to investigate the house before going to bed. He found a magical staff above a doorway, and was draw to it (literally). He noticed as he took the staff that Egert began to levitate. Egert woke up and Dru panicked, and in his attempt to fix the situation he ended up knocking Egert unconscious again. I came downstairs after all the ruckus, helping him to place Egert back in his chair. Dru was still transfixed by the magic staff and decided to keep it for himself, hiding it in his bedroll and putting a broom above the door in its place. But before he drifted off to sleep, the staff spoke to him. It is apparently called Singul, and the magic associated with it is similar to a black hole. Hopefully this magic item's intentions are not nefarious, or I may have to stage an intervention for our new friend.
 
We woke the next day in the mid afternoon, and met together in the kitchen. Egert and Bevil were no where in sight (probably for the best). After eating a hasty breakfast, we gathered all the items we had obtained over the past few days and I cast Detect Magic to try to identify them somewhat. The cube Dru found radiates a strong magic aura, as does the staff. Interestingly enough the tassel of ears we found on the goblin captain also has a faint magic aura (giving me the satisfaction of telling Zarruk "I told you so" it may be a part of a summoning ritual. I remember reading of a ritual that involved gathering 6 ears and enchanting them somehow, and this tassel has 5. Notably missing are any goblin or fiend ears. I am interested in what we may be able to summon using this ritual. The dagger was the last item, and it gave off a hint of magic, possibly some poison coating or enchantment. To be honest, the whole house gave off a magical aura; I am wondering if it possibly has wards on it similar to what our mage friends said were on the Wolf'sbane and Graymare Inn
 
We decided to head to the Churches to look for the House of Ataraxia and speak with this Father Briar about a purification ritual. As we gathered our things, I noticed a cloak in the study gave off a magic aura, and Zarruk found a magic dagger in the music room. We decided to borrow these in case they may be useful against whatever devils or fiends we may face trying to cleanse this well.
 
We were able to find our way to the Churches and eventually found the House of Ataraxia, and compared to the rest of the buildings in the area it was a dingy shack. We knocked on the door, but there was no answer. We were about to look for another way in or see if we could open the door (discretely of course), when a farmer named Trevor approached and informed us that no one had entered the building for 11 years. Apparently this Father Briar took a few priests or followers with him and entered the House 11 years ago but they never came back out or were seen again. Upon further questioning, he also told us that our contact Myria Highhill is something of a nutjob. She is barely a member of the city guards and holds no influence here. She is paranoid and obsessive, which has led to severe sleep deprivation, and he mentioned something about a possible affair with or crush on the brother of a fighter. She not only gave us bad information about the House of Ataraxia and Father Briar, but also failed to mention that there was a second well in town that has suffered the same strange damage as the other. The water from the river seems to be fine, but the water from the wells are "bad". Finally he told us that his donkey transformed into another creature after drinking from the well, a creature which stood on two legs, had wings, and ate other animals. After a brief discussion we learned the location of Trevor's farm and told him we'd meet him there after we took a short rest.
 
Personal thoughts:
So the danger of an infestation of demons or fiends of some sort is real, but Myria gave us a load of complete bullshit. Due to this change in circumstances, in my opinion we need to reevaluate our involvement in this matter. I am willing to help these people, but I don't wish to risk my neck without some compensation, and I don't want to stir up trouble with the locals by poking our noses in their business uninvited. We seem to have enough problems to deal with without making the leaders of this city angry at us. However this Myria has a great deal to answer for. I don't take threats to myself or lies to coerce my involvement lightly, and if I don't get a satisfactory answer from her she is a dead halfling.