Anoria Campaign / The Rose of Jumlat pt. 6 / Nulen the 1st through the 2nd, 3592 CE / 11-24-2021

Cyla and Thesk have traveled across the breadth of the Karakett desert in search of a cure for Thesk's curse of False Djinn. They now stand in the bar room of the seaside hideout of the notorious pirate known as Akbar the Sea Mage, fighting off animated skeletons. They have come in search of a jewel and a woman, both of whom have been dubbed the "Rose of Jumlat." As Thesk and their companion, the sneaky peddler Waqary, attempt to fend off the skeletons who are coming at them from the citadel's crawl space, Cyla has been working on disabling the lock on one of the bar room's exterior doors. Just as the lock clicks free, something recalls the skeletons, and they climb back into the darkness of the crawl space. As Cyla prepares to investigate the grounds surrounding the cliffside fortress, they are joined by Talgu, brother and caretaker of the kidnapped girl Samia. Talgu, who was taken at the same time as his sister when Akbar's corsairs assaulted the caravan that was to take Samia safely to the Temple of Ishtalar in Ganara, was himself just recently freed from captivity by Cyla. Cyla proceeds into the dark night, followed by Thesk, who is compelled to "watch [her] back." Cyla hopes that an external storage tower may contain one or both of her quarries, but to no avail, her search of the storage rooms finds no sign of the jewel nor the girl. As she and Thesk return to the retrieve their companions, Waqari alerts them that there are noises coming from the keg room behind the bar. A secret door beneath the largest keg has been opened, and a squad of corsairs, led by Akbar's vicious first mate, flood into bar room. They prove to be no match for the assembled force of Cyla and her companions, despite the fact that Thesk's eidolon Tenere is forced to return to his own realm to recover from the vicious blows of the first mate's cutlass. Akbar's right-hand man escapes the melee to alert others to the party's presence, and they proceed back into the depths of the citadel warily, knowing the opposition they face will be expecting them. When they confront the mate and more corsairs, after quickly dispatching the remaining skeletons, in the citadel's common room, the battle is joined by Akbar himself. Cyla attempts to bargain, but her words are answered by the sorcerer's fireball, which badly burns Waqari and forces Thesk to retreat back into the cursed jewel of the Ring of False Djinn on Cyla's finger. As Akbar barks out a threat of death to the interlopers, Cyla's satchel reacts by jerking violently, upending the sand she collected from the haunted gravesite of one of Akbar's victims. The sand coalesces to form the image of a revenant spirit, that of Mustafa Mustafar, the patriarch of the Mustafar clan, of which Talgu and Samia are descendants. The sand ghost uses its powers to cut through the ranks of Akbar's corsairs, finally reaching the evil sorcerer himself, who screams in terror as Mustafa enacts his final revenge, after which, the spirit dissipates, its quest for justice fulfilled. The party must still deal with the remaining corsairs and Akbar's first mate, but the latter flees to a hidden escape hatch, causing the former to give up their arms and surrender. While Waqari rushes to locate the coveted jewel in Akbar's personal study, Cyla is rejoined by the dwarf Anwar, who had been hiding in a barrel. He shows her a section of cliff he believes holds the missing Samia. To reach it, Cyla must dive into the water and enter from beneath, but after doing so she is able to secure the missing girl, who has a joyful reunion with her brother. Meanwhile Waqari has secured the other "Rose of Jumlat," a massive ruby carved in the shape of a flower. He seems to be communicating with an entity within the jewel, stating it is his master, a genie known as Enambo the Gambler. Enambo has informed him that he can be freed by touching the ruby to the emerald jewel in the Ring of False Djinn, as both are magical creations of the legendary artisan, Iago the Proud. After negotioting with Enambo herself, Cyla agrees, freeing the efreeti, who offers Cyla a wish. When it turns out that freeing Thesk outright is beyond even Enambo's power, a frustrated Cyla instead wishes to attain the knowledge to free Thesk herself. Enambo reveals that when Thesk read the Scroll of Liberation which put the curse upon her to reside within the ring, another Scroll of Liberation was manifested a mere 25 feet away. A flabbergasted Cyla realizes they will have to return to Specularum, where the curse was first enacted. But first, she offers to bring Talgu and Samia the rest of the way to Ganara, to the Temple of Ishtalar, where both Roses of Jumlat will be hidden from the eyes of men, cared for by the exclusively female priests of Ishtalar's most sacred temple. Enambo has already absconded with the hapless Waqari, and Anwar says his goodbyes as well, as he begins his trek back to the Zann Monastery to check on the status of his friend, the injured half-orc Umar. After depositing Talgu and Samia (and the jewel) in Ganara, Cyla mounts her flying carpet to return with haste to Specularum, hoping it is not too late to retrieve the scroll which will free her companion.