Murder x3, Love Triangle Gone Wrong, Are They Back?

Well, as if things weren't already getting intense, yesterday evening took a rather unexpected turn.
 
I was sitting with my new acquaintances at the Geldenstag's Rest, I needed to speak with Myrtle, and was also waiting on the mayor to get back. While waiting, I got a better look at the hilt of the dagger that was used on the attack on Silifrey. There were two symbols on it, the first was that of a castle over a fish. This one I did not recognize, but Lady Evelyn did. It is the sy,bol for the ton of Caer Dinival. But the second one, I've seen more times than I would like. It was the symbol of Levistus. His cult must be involved in this somehow. I was hoping to be rid of them, at least for awhile. I also recognized the crystal that Verrick said he received from his friend, Callista, I think he said was her name. It was a piece of Chardalyn. This is the same crystal I found in the town of Lonelywood, when the followers of Levistus were trying to corrupt the glade. Its magical, but the risk to be cursed by the nine hells is too high for my liking. Verrick eventually gave me the crystal to hold for now, more on why later. I don't trust any one with this crystal, the ability to use it for evil is to great a risk.
 
Myrtle arrived shortly after, and as I knew she would be, she was more than eager to discuss JanJan's murder. Of course she had to wildly embellish the details. Apparently in her version the guards had to pull his body from Shrekky's mouth as he was trying to eat him. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes, although I couldn't keep the heavy sigh from escaping. If anyone knows Myrtle, they know how she loves to tell tales, she will of course tell you the truth, but she adds her own little details into it. She was able to shed a little more light on the matter though, and provided me with the names of a couple suspects, Ymgarl Broadaxe and his wife, Brunda. Apparently Ymgarl was having an affair with JanJan and they would rent a room at Myrtle's Inn. About this time, Karla arrived to let me know the speaker had returned. I asked her if she would like to accompany us to the Broadaxe residence and explained what I had learned on the way. She's good at her job, she'll go far if she keeps working hard.
 
On the way to the Broadaxe's we came across Shrekky being accosted by some men, I wasn't going to step in, they weren't going to kill, just wanted their coin back that Skrekky somehow managed to swindle from them, or better yet steal. Verrick however, decided to intercede. Somehow he managed to chase the goliaths off. Apparently Shrekky was on his doorstep this morning when he opened it found a pouch, thought he was the messenger. Had I known it was Shrekky he saw, I could have told him he was most likely itching to steal it. He tried to interrogate Shrekky, but of course he knew nothing. Verrick then gave him 3 gold, two to pay back the goliaths and one for him to spend. Shrekky took off to a nearby inn. He definitely isn't giving the money to them and most likely will gamble it away or spend it on ale.
 
As we approached the Ymgarl's house we could hear an argument. I could just make out him shouting "more woman than you" or something along those lines. Then heard a loud crash. Rhodri saw movement down the alley, but by the time I got down there, no one was to be seen, however, one of the windows was open to the house. When I looked in I saw Brunda sprawled on the ground with a broken chair over her, and...two bears? It was then I remember Myrtle's warning to watch for the bears. Apparently these people keep bears for pets! Eliodiel heard me shout about the bears and came running. She bravely entered the home with me and was able to calm one of the bears. But by the time we got in, the other had broken out. I couldn't hear what was going on, but at some point, Lady Evelyn and Eliodiel were able to calm the second bear. But not before he knocked poor Karla out. Rhodri managed to get her away from the bear from what I was told. I feel bad I wasn't out there to help. I was able to heal Brunda enough for her to come to and we had a nice little chat. She only just learned of her husbands affair with JanJan. They had an argument which led him to knock her out with the chair. She did mention she hadn't seen JanJan for a few days now and it was also mentioned that her husbands brothers live directly next door. So, we paid them a visit. They were not cooperative at all. But Lady Evelyn was able to notice a floorboard loose and upon jumping on it fell through the floor onto Ymgarl. Thankfully she was ok, he padded her fall. We arrested Ymgarl and took him with us to Mayors office where jail is. Verrick insisted on going his own way though, said he had to meet up with his contact. The rest of us though went to see the speaker. We were able to fill the Speaker in on what we found at the wizard's house and that unfortunately, he wasn't able to control those spirit things and was killed. We let her know it was all well now though. She did confirm they are trying to find a new way to heat the town. Guess they can scratch this one off.
 
As we were waiting though, Vesstan entered, having arrested Verrick! Apparently he was found standing over the body of a freshly killed body, which I learned was killed in the same manner as the other two. I pulled Vesstan aside to speak on Verricks behalf. I've only just met him that day, but I sense I can trust him, and he did good work in the basement and in helping with Broadaxe's. I made sure Vesstan knew I would respect his decision no matter what he chose, but I laid it all out for him. He spoke with the speaker and she agreed he could continue to help us, so long as we turned him to spend the night in a cell. It was a rough night for sure for him, even with blankets, its very cold down there. I spoke with the Speaker once more in the morning, pleading my case and requesting that Verrick be released into my charge. That I would take full responsibility for him. She obliged, but there will be a trail.
 
Oh, before I forget to note this, the elf who Verrick is accused of killing, is from the same family whose member was pulled in the last lottery for sacrifice. JanJan was in charge of this lottery. And I forgot to ask about the third victim, Tento. I'll have to look into that and see if they somehow tie into the lottery as well.
 
There is so much going on, things I don't have time to write about here, but there is a lot to investigate.
 
1. There have now been three ice murders
2. This mysterious dagger and the assassination attempt on Sillifrey, this will lead us most likely to Caer-Dineval and the Levistus cult. I am not looking forward to dealing with them again.
3. Verricks innocence, if we can gather an alibi for the other two murders and prove this one is related, we might have chance. It would also be helpful if we could locate his contact
4.Verrick is interested in finding what happened to his parents, I believe that would take us to Bremen
5. Eliodiel mentioned the owner of the inn she is staying at managed to brake her workstation, might be an easy thing for us to help with
6. Apparently there are these mystery potions? Genny stopped by Eliodiel's place and gave her one to research, Rhodri managed to identify it, its a really strong healing potion, it can even revive someone who has been dead for up to year. Apparently it was sold very cheaply though, only like 30 gold. We could possibly use it on the dead elf to prove Verricks innocence, but also, there could be something very wrong with this potion and it could have devastating side effects.
 
I personally think the most important is proving Verricks innocence so that we can avoid trial. But I guess we will see what the others think.
 
What is happened in Bryn Shandor? It seems like everything bad, or at least inconvenient is happening at once.