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Haafiz looks around himself, drenched in visible and invisible gore. Eventually, the blood from the sorcerous gnoll appears along with her friends' red mess. Through it all, the Keleshite is grinning a broad smile like none here have ever seen before.
"We have defeated them, my friends!" he exults, "And not a single drop of innocent blood shed. Miro, as the most eloquent among us, perhaps you would like to go back down and convince the slaves to come up? The password, you may recall, is 'Desimire'... they will likely need it to pass by Jairo."
Haafiz pokes around the room a bit, "Well, let us turn this place completely over in the meantime."
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Among the books on the bookshelf are several hundred pages of notes written in Kelish. These are al’Jakri’s scrying records, a cross-reference of the slaves whose blood samples are in the chest (and which noble houses they serve), and a timeline of specific events she observed while watching them—all written in her own shorthand and describing only a fraction of the observations suggested by her marked map of Absalom
Her desk also contains several large blocks of beeswax dyed a variety of colors.
Behind the rotating bookshelf is a small, unlit room carved out of the hill. Haafiz sees a glint of reflected light in the room.
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"Well, it looks like we have everything we need to justify killing, holding or otherwise avenging ourselves and these slaves upon Pasha al'Jakri," Haafiz says with grim satisfaction before searching the rest of the room - having no interest in nobles of any kind or in the geography of Golarion.
"There is something in there, my friends..."
Haafiz casts detect magic and cautiously analyzes the room before moving inwards to investigate further.
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The old man looks at the map intently, recalling years of lectures and pouring through dusty tombs. As his eyes fall across the map of Absalom, and the multitudinous markings scattered across its surface, Ibid tries to correlate some hint of understanding.
"Lead the way, my friend," Ibid says, nodding to the keleshite warrior after pulling his eyes from the documents and map. "In our short time together, I have already grown quite accustomed to trusting your sword..."
"Should any danger yet remain."
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Ibid determines ascertain major patterns in the placement of pins and string suggesting al’Jakri has found ways to spy on not only a dozen Absalom families but also a large number of the city’s more prestigious institutions, such as the Forae Logos and the Arcanamirium. Decoding
the map entirely would take days and would still rely on considerable speculation without additional data—especially thanks to Chau’s removing a large number of pins—but your discoveries provide an essential first
step in cracking the pasha’s plans.
Haafiz finds a book called The Slave Master’s Mirror which triggers the secret door (the bookcase). When Haafiz looks into the room, he sees a mirror, and does detect magic in there. However, when he sees his reflection on the mirror, for a moment, he feels like the mirror stealing his soul or something like that.
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Pooka sifts around the room carefully, allowing Luna to roam and sniff as well. When Haafiz shakes something off that seems to have been caused by the magical mirror, he commands her to stay out of the room, lest something happen.
"We can search in here girl. Let's not take any chances."
He inspects the bodies of each of the dead gnolls and their leader, looking for whatever might be useful, but also for a particular ring.
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Ah yes Lady Darchana
Finarin prepares his magical response. After discussing it, his companion Ibid hands him a small sheet of paper to read. They can see him mouthing the words to their response.
Slavers Routed. Slaves free. Mirror located. No sign of Pasha. Slavers mentioned "veiled Lady" run off by gnoll chief. Map of Spy Network Found #Valsinisatool #don'ttakemyshitnexttime
"Haafiz, care to throw a ... bag over that mirror? I ... dislike it."
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Haafiz finishes covering the mirror with the curtain.
"Yes, friend Amaranti," he says, wiping hyena off his boot and onto Pasha al'Jakri's plush rugs, "We have found the mirror. It is safe. Let us take it back to Lady Darchana. I am thoroughly sick of the sight of this place. If it were not for Jairo down stairs, I would very much like to burn this place to the ground."
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With Chau defeated and the mirror of treacherous sight in the Pathfinders’ hands, the remaining members of the Red Ridge tribe scatter into the wilds of Stonespine Island and gradually regroup over the course of several weeks. Jairo informs you as you leave that he remains bound to
perform al’Jakri’s will but hopes to meet them again under pleasant circumstances. A day after you depart the fortress, Jairo returns to his home plane and awaits the pasha’s summons. You have little difficulty securing enough basic provisions to get youselves and any liberated slaves to Okeno. There, a ship awaits them to take them back to Absalom.
Once you return to the Grand Lodge, Ambrus Valsin debriefs them and lets them know that they have accomplished a great deal despite al’Jakri’s escape.
"So," Ambrus Valsin asks in an excited voice (something quite rare in your experience), "how did the chest work? I hope that its magic did what it was supposed to?!"
"Please stay in Absalom for the next several days, as Lady Darchana and I determine what our next step will be. We have a lot of information to go through, in order to predict the Pasha's next step. Ibid, would you mind helping us in this?"
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"Of course, Sir. I would be happy to help in anyway that I can." he says, bowing slightly and smiling toward Ambrus Valsin, at the same time the old man produces and cracks the spine of his journal. "I was able to get a good look at some of the notes while we were on our mission, and deciphered what I could of the map and its locations. But I'm sure there is more investigation to be done before the information we have gives up all of its secrets"
The old man proceeds to tell Ambrus Valsin all that he has learned from their last adventure.
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"To be honest, sir, it was cumbersome. It did the trick, our gear was transported as intended, and without it the mission would not have been successful. But we were exposed for uncomfortably long without any of our gear, and awkward and slow access to it. Without the shrink item spell, we might have been slaughtered before we even got started. Thank the gods for Haafiz, Finarin, and Amaranti's prowess or things would have gotten ugly."
Pooka finishes his honest, and not totally flattering assessment. Valsin was a soldier though, so hopefully would understand the brutal truth. The lives of the men came above all else.
"It's good to be home."
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"While I agree with Pooka, I believe the assessment necessitated the chest and was happy for my shrunken weapon," Haafiz grabs himself in the spot the weapon was hidden in, "Also, I am not sure if word of our deeds has reached Major Maldris yet, Venture Captain Valsin, but I would be most appreciative if you copied him on your report to the Decemvirate. While it was not our primary focus, a good number of slaves were rescued here and there is still one enslaved djinni that needs taking care of. I am sure he would be willing and able to lend our faction's support to future missions looking for the Pasha."
Haafiz realizes that he is suddenly very tired. "Thank you again for the opportunity to prove ourselves. Now, if there is nothing further, I will be retiring for the evening."