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[Morrow]

From the journal Of K. Garnham apprentice Seeker. Translated from the Vallossan.

I have in my possession a number of letters written by Vanthus Vanderboren to Rowyn Keilani. In between honeyed promises and lustful comments he tells Rowyn how he arranged the deaths of his parents. He boasts of the brilliant way in which he had arranged their new ship to burn with them on it. His parents were a stumbling block for what needed to be done and he writes of their death in the same manner a hunter might describe a successful expedition. I don't understand this man. Loyalty to family is the first loyalty. Above church, state or guild. Family defines us. What Vanthus has done defines him as a twisted man. We obtained the letters from the Lotus Dragons' lair.

The assault went better than I had expected. The entrance to the stronghold lay beneath the Taxidermists Guildhall. I used a potion of invisibility to enter the shop with my visible companions. Elyosha spoke to the guildmaster about having Bolk stuffed, Dexter and Maggie made sufficient noise to help cover my footsteps as I searched for a hidden door. Elyosha and I had found the door at just around the time that the potion wore off. The guildmaster started to attack, but we rendered him unconscious before he could do any serious harm to us.

The door led to the Lotus Dragons. There were obvious signs that a thieves guild was here; practice areas for pickpocketing etc. We killed eleven Lotus Dragon thieves. They were novices, but very well equipped. Hand crossbows don't come cheap and they were all carrying one as well as two vials of poison and a healing potion. There was also a large humanoid undead used to guard the way to the inner sanctum.

We then came to a richly appointed room with a well turned out woman and some sort of dragon-dog creature. She appreciated the ability it took to get to her and offered us positions in the guild.

We declined.

An earth elemental summoned from a magical bauble forced her to retreat. The dragon dog died trying to give it's master the time needed to escape.

Then we found a sizable stash of money and the letters from Vanthus. In them we discovered that the lady we fought was Rowyn Keilani. Further scrutiny of the room showed that it was furnished like a brothel. Better carpeting, nicer decor, but it still could have passed as a room at the Mermaid's Secret. The few books on the shelves had such titles as "Paladin Prostitute," "The Naked Barbarians" and "Virgin Sorceress."

There is one area of note that I haven't gone into at this point. A strategy room. In it was a map of the city with various colored flags pushed into different buildings. The Vanderboren estate was marked in gold, the Taxidermists Guildhall and Keilaini estate (among others) were in blue, the Islaran manor and the temple of Maal in red. The harbormaster Lord Islaran was killed that night and the temple of Maal has never been friend to thieves so red would seem to indicate a target or an enemy. Blue appears to be allies.

Now for some speculation. Islaran was on the Dawn Council representing Azure district. His children have either expressed no interest in continuing the family legacy or HAVE GONE MISSING. His death opens up a seat on the Dawn Council. The Keilani family hails from the same district and are prominent enough that they might be considered for the position. Especially if the port was in chaos from numerous ship sinkings (a planned list of which we found in the strategy room) took place after the harbormaster's death. Heldrath is rumored to be in poor health. Rowyn has no problem working with someone who killed his parents for personal gain. Could Rowyn be behind this "illness?" Her thugs certainly were well supplied with poison. Islaran dies. Heldrath takes over than succumbs to her "illness" leaving Rowyn on the council.

Very speculative.

We have a lead on Vanthus' next move. He claims in one of the letters to Rowyn that he is set to betray Brissa and steal a cargo from her. A location and date are mentioned and I believe that we can make it if we hurry. Lavinia will need to go to the authorities with what we have.