Salahuddin looks at the Al-Aeshma he had made his decision. It might be the wrong choice but the secrets the Al-Aeshma dangled in front of him were to important to let slip past. He bows his head when the Al-Aeshma asked for his judgment.
"Yes you have made your case and I will make my judgment." Salahuddin pauses for dramatic affect. "I will pardon a pair of your brethren. They will be allowed to return to the winds of creation and plead your case before the Lords of Air. Is this acceptable?"
Salahuddin waits patiently for the Al-Aeshma's reply.
There is a sudden stillness in the night air, and even Amina and Harun who are apart from the rest of the party can feel a shiver run down their necks as the temperature drops slightly. The cool of night comes swiftly in the desert, it is true, but this supernatural chill goes down to the bone. Even the smaller dustdevils that Amina kept an eye on seem to spin slower, as if placated somehow by the negotiations between sha'ir and Al-Aeshma.
"It is acceptable indeed, O Wind Called," responds the Al-Aeshma, his voice still a rumbling stormfront, the only sign of his satisfaction in the outcome of the negotiation a clearer more intense light in his eyes.
"The ones you shall pardon are named Ashtigal and Yehiena... Tell me, which of my secrets do you wish to know first? I have heard many secret truths carried across the Badu al-Kabir..."
"I know the fate of Sheikh Ja’afar-al-Din al-Shakari, his banners broken and his faith betrayed by red robes..."
He speaks of Sheikh Ja'afar-al-Din al-Shakari, the sheikh of the Shakari jann tribe, anti-urbanists to which the jann Usqual belonged. According to Usqual, the Shakari were defeated in battle against the Khalduni jann and their sheikh was supposedly taken captive.
"I have witnessed the hazards of the desert from the Badu al-Kabir to Rukh Mountain and the Valley of Mists..."
The Badu al-Kabir is the current desert region you're exploring, a forlorn and inhospitable desert viewed with superstition by desert tribes. However, Rukh Mountain and the Valley of Mists are unknown to you.
"I know of the winged death, who the jann call Zu'l Janah, and where it dwells..."
The "water bearer" at Hakim oasis made fleeting references about Zu'l Janah being a flying monster the Khalduni jann fear.
"I remember when the Awamîd al-sharîr, the Pillars of Wickedness, were erected, and how one may circumvent them to reach Khaldun..."
The Awamîd al-sharîr, the Pillars of Wickedness, were mentioned by Usqual as surrounding Khaldun oasis with "wicked" magic.
"And I know the three secrets of the red robes that lie within the Badu al-Kabir, hidden from mortal minds..."