I Re-read everything and no one else seems to have my problem.
I have 2 qualis gems, plenty of bag room, a strange rune axe and access to Al-Aziz.
I enter Al-Aziz (I already cannot leave without quitting without save)...OK
I got to Hermit
I talk to him, leave
I give him my unit of wine, he drinks it and falls asleep.
I have no more wine, so he tells me to go away.
I tried again with 5-9 wine, no change. just falls asleep whilst I've got 2 qualis gems, the axe in my inventory, wine and plenty of bag space.
I cannot see any solutions in this thread, i'm sorry if this is getting redundant, but i even tried buying a second rune axe, but no change.