Abishai and the Mysteries of the Morgue

After stumbling upon the page of Abishai's journal in Sesuad'ra Rift I've been playing around in Abishai's Morgue trying to figure out the link between the two areas. The morgue is a rather small area but it has some puzzles in it. The first one is to do with the cultist priest. If you walk into his room and are not invisible the following happens:

(Red Aura) A black-robed figure carefully studies the east wall.
The cultist priest shimmers beneath an aura of dark energy.
The priest turns sharply as you enter, dropping to a crouch.
The priest hisses 'The secrets of the rift you shall not have!'
You yell 'Help!  I am being attacked by the cultist priest!'

It's a mystery as to what he has to do with the rift... The second mystery of the area is where is Abishai? His journal pages are scattered through the Realms of Despair. One page can be found in the morgue as follows:

 This leads me to the questions of:

1. What are the cultists plans?
2. Who is Gartock?
3. Which hole are they meeting at and when is the Day of Awakening?
4. Where is Abishai? Will he make it back?

But it's not just me trying to figure out where Abishai is. One of the mobs has the following to say when you enter his room:

A hideously twisted creature attempts to claw its way out of the hole.
You float easily over the black pit below.
The twisted creature gazes wearily at you from the darkness.
The broken one says 'I have no quarrel with you. I seek only the one called Abishai.'

Why is this broken creature looking for Abishai? Is he Gartock?

There is also a further mystery to the pages of Abishai's journal. His journal can be found inside a locked desk in one of the rooms in the morgue. To unlock the desk you need to find the whisper thin rapier. It is hidden behind a painting in the room where the cultist priest appears. Sometimes the cultist will drop a ladder and then you can look behind the painting to get the rapier. However, when you get the journal it is empty of pages:

>exam journal
You take a closer look at Abishai's secret journal in inventory...
There are no pages between the thin leather covers, they have all
been ripped out, leaving only jagged bits of parchment.

So my next mystery is where and how many pages of the journal are scattered through the Realms?

Looking around the rest of the area I have two more puzzles to solve. The first is in this room after examining several items in the rooms descriptions:

Done With Mirrors
The south wall is completely covered by a pair of shredded, red drapes that
seem to stretch on indefinitely to the east and west, though the alcove is
in reality quite small. There is no evidence of the somber stone walls and
floors of the morgue proper here, instead a bank of mirrors make up the
boundaries of the confine with an unnerving and dizzying effect. A counter
stands in the middle of the enclosure, each item upon it is set in an exact
and precise fashion. Above, the rafters are clean of cobwebs and dust, the
wood gleaming and a scent of newly cut timber filling the dusky air.
Exits: none

>exam counter
A simple glass bowl is placed exactly center of the counter. A white
bar of soap, the center worn thin, lies a few inches from the bowl on
the right side. To the left of the bowl, a shaving razor has been
placed, the sharp edge folded neatly inside the handle. A thick,
leather strap is draped over the side of the bowl, one end of which
is secured behind the counter. Standing straight on end inside the
bowl, is a silver-handled foam brush, used to apply the soapy lather.

>exam brush
The brush stands within the bowl, with no apparent means of support,
almost as if it were frozen in place. The beautiful, silver handle
looks solid, expensive, and out of place.

>exam handle
Upon close inspection, the letters S E E K can be seen
engraved near the bristles of the brush.

My question here is what is the deal with the brush? The work "seek" has popped up earlier in this area so what is it's meaning? I tried pushing, pulling, breaking and searching the brush but haven't had any luck. What do you need to do to it?

The next room has got my stuck but I also did manage to solve one mystery here.

The Circle of Ravens
Tiny specks of light dance over the smooth, stone surface of the walls; like
fireflies caught behind glass, or distant stars winking in a night sky, it
casts a faint, eerie glow around the chamber. The domed ceiling is ringed by a
shelf where black statues are perched, each a careful distance from the next
on either side. The underground chamber is perfectly round, and with the
walls glowing so strangely, any sense of direction quickly vanishes.
Exits: none
You drop down into the chamber.

>exam statues
The statues are ravens, the mythical birds of ill omen. They are carved
from solid obsidian and detailed to life-like perfection, right down to
their clawed feet that seem to cling precariously to the ledge of the stone
shelf. In fact, they look as if one good jarring would send them falling
from their perches. Each of the seven statues are an exact replica of the
next, set at every lateral direction upon the shelf except north. Beneath
each raven, on the walls of the chamber, their reflections are cast in
giant relief, barely noticeable unless looking directly up at them.

>exam reflections
Very close scrutiny of the walls reveals minute fractures in the
surface. Once the outline is traced, the silhouette of a large
raven is evident, with a line dissecting it from top to bottom.

I'm not sure how to open the walls with the statues but I do know there is an item called a stone raven from somewhere within the area. The statues had me stumped as to how to get them. I tried searching, breaking the shelf, doorbashing the wall and then I had an idea. I made myself a druid (been on my to do list for a while now) and levelled it up to level. After taking it to the above room I got it to cast the earthquake spell and the following happened:

 >c earthquake
You gain 1600 experience points from your success!
Your spell causes the statues to sway on their perches.
A statue falls from above, landing at your feet.
With a hiss, a new statue appears to take its place on the shelf.

> g rave
You get a stone raven.

>exam statue
You take a closer look at a stone raven in inventory...
The raven's wings glisten where the black marble of the statue seems
to be alive, almost as if the wings were about to spead and the statue
take flight. Small pin points of red light in the center of each of
the raven's eyes make it appear aware of everything around it.
As you look more closely, you notice that it is in need of repair.
It appears to be within or below your level range.

>c id statue
Object 'a stone raven' is infused with your magic...
It is a level 15 armor, weight 10.
Locations it can be worn:  hold
Special properties:  evil magic
Alignments allowed:  evil neutral
This armor has a gold value of 5000.
Armor class is 5 of 10.
Affects luck by 2.
Affects hit roll by 4.
Affects damage roll by 2.
Affects armor class by -15.

It's a pretty handy hold item for evil low level characters and has me now thinking about what other places is this spell going to be useful in exploring?