Osman Hamdi Bey’s House keeps a library that has been looted, though with a discerning hand: certain items are gone and no others, among them Osman's Journal and several books upon ciphers, upon charm-magic, and upon the archaeological digs. Osman himself has not come home, and the library's security is left in the keeping of Ashraf, a tortoise, whilst the Imperial Guard stands watch without. The house holds, besides, secret compartments and an artifact vault, as a letter addressed to his friends makes plain.
A hidden compartment was found in Osman's desk, holding a folded and sealed letter that bore his seal; and Osman's Journal was found besides, concealed behind an open book held aloft by a bust in the library. The letter gave it to be understood that Osman was in all likelihood dead, and bequeathed his manor to the company, saying that his journal holds the whereabouts of the sister of the Padishah’s Consort, a diviner of great power. It owned too that the journal is locked by mundane and arcane means alike, and left a clue to seek the help of an ally in the deciphering of it.