Author: Vibrato, Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 4:03 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

Looking around, he thought it over. "I'd say we've been in this arid morgue long enough. Let's bring the seeds with us back home through a portal. We'll be able to clean and dress your wound better too. I don't want to even see sand for at least another year." He grumbled at the last bit, having had his fill of deserts. Gerard was already missing the coolness of the forest and Kelpie's antics. Being in Aysut had been more draining on him than he had thought, with him having a near scare when Talise had gotten injured, the impromptu proposal, and Talise accepting in a heartbeat. "Let the dead bury the dead. We have seeds to tend to."

When the portal was ready, he would bring the sealed urn filled with ancient seeds through into their hideaway in Feeorin. He was excited and eager to start planting, but perhaps he could begin tomorrow. The air rushing through from the other side was revitalizing, giving a great contrast against the pyramid's stagnancy. Pulling the urn through, the seeds of the past were now in safe hands. However as he did so, a thought which slipped his mind struck him. His face turning into a scowl, he realized something rather important. "…Confound it! We were just in Canelux! And only miles away from your mother no less! Gods, I bet she saw everything." Having gotten caught up in the moment with his proposal, he didn't think of where they were then. The goddess would definitely be hounding them for dates and times now, especially after that. At least they lived in Parvpora, so she didn't have absolute authority there. 

Speaking of holy matrimony, that was one thing they would have to work around. As long as they were on Canelux, the goddess could show up at any moment. If they didn't want things to become troublesome, they had to find a place out of the Mother's grasp. "We'll need to be on our toes now that she's aware. At least we don't need to cross over the Nyella any time soon." Talise knew her mother better than he did, so he was sure she'd come up with a plan. Although he had only met the Mother once, she was a well-meaning, if rather enthusiastic woman. Since he and her daughter weren't social butterflies, this was a problem. "No use worrying about that I suppose, first things first–planting." He sighed. 

Author: Talise, Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:38 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

“Hookah isn’t too bad… I swear.” Talise gave him an amused look as they continued on their journey. Together they brought down many things and even the Lich was forced to retreat for a time.

Once they were in the seed room she was glad that he was receptive to her idea and nodded to him. “I would hate to leave them to rot too… It would take us forever to even dig through the sands to find this damned place once it is back under…” She groaned a bit thinking about it. “No one cares if we take the seeds because no one thinks long term… At least we could keep growing what we find and make a nice profit off of it for the rest of our lives… Gold and silver is such a short-term solution.” Hardly creative.

She helped him condensed the seeds into the bigger urns and was going through them trying to see if she could identify any of them. She couldn’t of course but there was no harm in at least trying. She tilted her head and watched what he did with the water next. The seal was quite ingenious. “Good idea Love.” She entwined her fingers with his and smiled at the work. “We should… Though I don’t care how the smelly Lich feels. We should have caused enough damage that the rest of the people should have an easier time bringing him down.”

Tilting her head she smirked. “Should we just gate out of here… Gate the seeds out of here and create more damage… or maybe walk out with the seeds creating as much damage as possible as we leave? I am actually all for gating out of here with the seeds and just enjoying our peace and quiet back home. We have a lot of planning to do.”

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:18 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

"I'll get back to you on the first one. For the second, that's a yes." He gave her a wink as he stepped over the dismembered arm of a mummy who had been unfortunate enough to be hit by the wall's shrapnel. But did it really matter? It was already dead, so it would just be put out of its miserable existence. They began blasting through the walls with the combined forces of gale-force winds and the freezing hail of blizzards. One by one the pyramid's structural integrity was being lowered as they steadily approached their goal. When the lich came down to intervene, they blew him away and kept him occupied. If he didn't want people breaking down the walls, then he should've placed a directory.

When the final wall came tumbling down, they finally came upon what they had all been looking for. It was a storeroom for crops, and as expected there was seed saved for next year's plantings. Jars and urns full of ancient varieties now lost to the world were sitting before them, waiting to be reintroduced. Gerard held his breath as he tried to see how many types he could recognize. Talise was just as awed as he was. "Oh… look at all the seeds… Maybe we should take a lot of them back with us and experiment." She turned to him and smiled. He was feeling his face become a little warm as well, and added: "Yes, we should. I'd hate to leave any behind, but I'll at least take a handful of everything. Actually…nobody will mind if we just pour them all into a larger jar. Later on when we replant them we can guess what each one will be." Finding the largest container, he consolidated the seeds from the smaller urns into it. Pouring carefully, he made sure not a single was left to waste. For all the hassle they had gone through to get here, it was worth it.

When the last kernels were in, he began to shape a small stream of water. Molding it like clay, he spread it out like a layer over the lip of the container, then froze it into a plate of ice to seal it off. The seeds would stay inside without being damaged. "That's everything in here. I wager he'll be here any minute. It would be a shame if that lich were to interrupt us… After tearing up his little project I'd almost feel pity for him. …Almost. Shall we go?" He interlaced his fingers with hers as he took her hand. 

Author: Talise, Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:49 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

She was feeling a bit too good. It was almost a drunk feeling. “I swear I’m going to inhale all of my hookah when we get home… You are welcome to join. We can have a relaxing bath.” She floated over all of the body parts and broken wall as they moved. She was calming herself down so that they could focus on why they were here.

“None… I am not that good with direction if I cannot feel the wind.” She gave him a frown as she thought about it more. Maybe there was a way to make it easier. This was disorienting, to say the least as they took care of any scarabs they came across.

“Not a fool… a damn genius. Not many would think to use artifacts in such a way.” Looking at the wall she understood where he was going with it. “Oh well… don’t mind if I do. It might help the case.” She took the fan and began the assault on the pyramid.

Walls crumbled like nothing as she made them entrances and exits. There was one pissed off lich coming down the corridor. She smirked. “Ready my Love?” It was combined effort, from her she unleashed a hurricane right inside the larger room the lich was. It would at least give them time to get away from him.

While that distracted the creature they went deeper into the pyramid until the light slowed to a crawl. It didn’t take her long to bust that wall down as they made their way into what appeared to be a food storage. “Oh… look at all the seeds… Maybe we should take a lot of them back with us and experiment.” She rubbed the ring on her hand now as she blushed and smiled at Gerard before looking at the seeds.

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:15 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

If there was a ranking of the happiest people in the world, he likely would've made it to the top ten. His head was spinning when she said yes, and when she asked him to make a promise he didn't refuse. "Absolutely, without exception. Even if it's Bertram." Somewhere in Feeorin, a large crow sneezed and cawed. It looked around, then resumed its disgruntled posture. Holding her, he turned to see the gaping hole created thanks to their combined efforts. Kissing her back he returned the smirk and they left what should've been a rather nasty rigged treasure chamber. He was on cloud nine, and though he was hiding it–had his heart racing. Of course he had to keep himself contained, they weren't safe quite yet and they still were missing the seeds they were looking for. 

"This place is a headache of a maze. Do you see any clues to where they'd store seeds or grain?" Inspecting the walls for any hints, there was a mural where scenes of daily life in Aysut were depicted. The land was truly fertile back then, with agriculture flourishing and fishing plentiful around the central structures which likely served as places of worship. All of it wasted by a massive temper tantrum. Come to think of it, where would they keep those things? Treasure made sense in this situation, but how was he supposed to find something most people would ignore? Seeing another scarab scuttle by, he froze it solid and left it out for its kin to see as a reminder. He hated pests and this pyramid was full of them. The special 'exit' they had made disrupted the normal layout of the corridors, so he had no idea where they were or in what direction things would lead. 

Then he got an idea. "…What am I, some kind of fool? Of course, I have something in here for that." Pulling out a small prism of pink crystal, he held it in his hand and willed it to show him where the ancient seeds were kept. It took a few seconds, but a thin beam of light then shone from it, pointing to its location relative to where they were standing. The beam of light stood out from the flickering green fire torches, and his gaze followed it. "A wall. Well that shouldn't be a problem, right Talise?" He said, giving her a cheeky grin.

Author: Talise, Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:54 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

“It’s almost too beautiful… for me to comprehend…” She had never seen this much raw gold even in Sularia… The sparkling from the dim lights made it look like golden starlight. Talise was distracted so she didn’t see what Gerard was up to. She was going around looking at the piles of gold and admiring the different things she was finding. The pearls, platinum, silver, and other things stuck out to her the most.

Once he told her to look her attention snapped back to him and she walked over to him tilting her head. When she saw the ring she was enthralled. He was pouring out his heart to her and she could hear her own up in her throat. Her mouth became dry as she anticipated what he was going to say. She had been to many outings and had heard these words and watched couples from afar. She knew where he was going with this as her purple eyes lingered in his.

She was so distracted that she didn’t hear the mummy until it made a noise. “GOD DAMN IT CAN’T YOU SEE WE ARE BUSY,” Talise screamed as she took the fan in her hand and slammed it with a mighty force. The wind propelled the icicles in such a force that was incredibly scary. Why did people always want to disrupt their special moments!

It took a few heavy breaths but she was back in the moment as he held out the ring to her and she started to shake just a bit. “Of course I will…” She took the ring and slid it onto her finger. It was odd that it was the perfect size, meant to be. She only lingered for a moment as she jumped onto him and kissed him fiercely. “I would never say no to you… But promise me something.” She paused but for a moment. “The next asshole who interrupts us dies one hell of a painful death…” She smirked at him. “Happens way too much for everyone’s own good.”

Looking over she noticed that they had put a hole in the wall from their combined force. "Found the way out of this room… by the way." She kissed him again and smirked.

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 8:51 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

He was holding onto her, and the sudden chill was slowly dissipating. "It's fine, as long as you're alright." It was obvious he was more scared at seeing her injured than she was, to where he didn't even realize the glittering treasures around them. "Gerard… Gold…" Talise said softly. Gold? About to ask, he turned where she was looking and saw them–piles of treasure lost to time when Aysut was buried. He was silent for a while, taking it all in. "This is incredible…" They must have been incredibly lucky to find this place instead of another of the other rooms. 

There were trinkets everywhere, glowing. Aysut had been prosperous in its day, as nowhere else had he seen this much gold in its purest form wrought into jewelry. There were ceremonial vessels, pins shaped like animals, even statuettes with gems inlaid for eyes. Heavy pendants and bracelets dangled from gilded staves and swords. It was almost dizzying. Approaching carefully, he looked at the gleaming relics. Most of the items were incredibly weighty for the amount of pure gold used. If it weren't for that, he would've taken a few cups and pitchers to bring back home. Inspecting the myriad piles of precious stones and rings, his eyes fell on one that stood out from the rest. It was the large violet-blue diamond that caught his eye. Beside the large stone were two star sapphires, all set onto a platinum band. He was sure it wasn't silver, as it would've tarnished after so long. 

Talise would love this. That was his first thought as soon as he set eyes on it. The color matched her favorite dress and the band complemented her hair. Cupping his hands around it, he scooped it up. Going over to where Talise was surveying the golden hoard, he hid the ring in his hand behind his back. His mind was still racing from that close call a few minutes ago, and his thoughts had him taking slow, deep breaths. He was nervous.

"…Talise, look." When he had her attention he would pull his hand from behind himself and present her the blue diamond ring. "I saw it in a pile of gold necklaces over there. I thought you'd like it." His heart was pounding, and that anxiety he was feeling had ratcheted up a notch. "Back there when we were running from the beetles, when I heard that trap go off I was afraid to turn around. I was scared, seeing you bleeding and not having a clue of what to do. I–" His words were coming faster than he could think, and it felt like he couldn't breathe. "–I was afraid of losing you, of not being able to do anything." He breathed in, putting one hand over his left eye as he tried to hold himself together.

Meanwhile from behind, stone panels were retracting into the ground, revealing stone sarcophagi. As he struggled to express what he was trying to convey, the red jewels on the lids began to glow and something was coming out of them. A shriveled, bandaged hand began grasping at the edges, pushing them open. At this point Gerard felt like his heart was going to burst. "Talise, what I really want to say is…" Mummies began to shuffle forward as he gathered his resolve and as he was about to say it–the undead began to let out a groan. 

Whipping his head to face the walking corpses he shouted "GODDAMN IT CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO DO SOMETHING?!!" With a swift motion, he materialized a large icicle in his hand and proceeded to nail the nearest one in the head. The force of the thrown spike of ice pinned it to the wall, leaving its body to writhe in an attempt to reach them. The next few seconds were punctuated by the sound of the rest being nailed to the walls of the stone chamber. 

There was silence as he regained his composure. The moment had been soured, thanks to those blasted undead. Turning back to face Talise, it took him a few moments to pick where he had been so rudely interrupted. Holding out the ring to her again, he said: "…Talise, will you marry me?"

Author: Talise, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 7:18 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

She was in pain but his shriek wasn’t something she didn’t hear. Her eyes went up to his almost too calmly, probably from the shawl she had on herself. The room was coated in a thin layer of frost and she knew from his panic that it was him. She could feel him all around her and before long she put the shawl around him. She let the calming effects of the shawl have at him. “Only one of us can panic.”

It was her right now as she took heavy heaves in and out. The pain was overwhelming and it showed on her face as she shakily took the potion and drank it. She was doing a good job keeping her whimpering to a minimum. Taking his bandage she wrapped it around her arm several times before having him tie it. She looked down at the blood on hands and for a moment got dizzy before getting up. She hastily took the water and washed it off her hands in a panic. She did not like her own blood.

Once she took a few hard breaths she got up and lunged herself at him. Burying her head deep into his chest she was trying to calm herself down. Her arms wrapped around his waist and frowned deeply. “I’m sorry… I just don’t like the sight of my own blood.” She turned his chest to look around and her eyes got wide. Her mind distracted herself due to a number of glittering objects in the room. “Gerard…” This time astonishment left her lips. “Gold…”

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 6:34 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

The air was terribly stale inside, like powdered books that had been mildewed for ages left to rot in a locked room. In fact, this was exactly why it smelled like this. While Talise sent the undead back with gusts of wind, he would smack any that got too close with his sitar. When she started to cough from how awful the air quality was, she asked him how he was holding up. With a grimace he answered, "I'm currently breathing through my mouth. I can't stand this stagnant smell either." The heat abated, the chambers were lit in a sickly green light. In a way it reminded him of of the ghost lights that followed the arrival of banshees back in the Highlands, and this place felt claustrophobic.

"Gerard…" Talise tapped him on the shoulder with urgency. Turning to look at her he saw worry written all over it, and beetles crawling out of the stonework. "RUN!" She shouted, and they bolted as fast as they could when an entire swarm of scarabs were coming after them. It was a mad race against the encroaching horde of crawling, flesh-eating pests. Dodging and ducking as fast as he could, things were getting triggered all over the place. His mind couldn't keep up with them, but thankfully his body covered that part with instinct. A clang rang out behind him and he heard a yelp of pain from behind him, and his heart went straight to his throat. "Talise?!" He looked back to see her fall to the ground as the walls closed up behind them–sealing them in. The only silver lining was the scarabs were locked out.

Rushing over to her he saw the cut on her arm and that she was bleeding. The adrenaline in his system, the shock of seeing her hurt, and the blood all over her hand caused the room's temperature to drop several degrees, coating all the stone surfaces with a thin layer of frost. The bleeding, he had to stop the bleeding! Fumbling through his bag he searched for anything and only came up with a bottled potion. "–Here, take this." Handing the healing potion to her he began to rip off the bottom hem of his shirt as a makeshift bandage for her. He was cursing himself in his thoughts for not having any healing spells or medicine on hand.

Author: Talise, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 5:58 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

“Nope, I remember how pissed Mother was when Dalanesca was accidentally killing people… Gods don’t take kindly to those who tread on their toes… Especially the older ones. I wonder how Xunatar is handling an old chaos god being back…” Couldn’t be going overly well but then again Talise didn’t know him that well now did she?

Talise nodded to her lover when he agreed and they made their way to the pyramid blasting away as many of the undead as they had to. The old stagnate air of the pyramid made Talise cover her nose at first as she coughed. It was truly a historic place and it was choking her to death. She took a swing of water and held it up to him. “Hopefully you are handling this better than I am.” She waved the wind fan and caused the musty smells to go further into the pyramid giving them a breath of fresh air for the moment.

They wandered around for a while looking for a way down before Talise noticed something skittering. “Gerard…” She tapped him on the shoulder and after a few moments, she breathed heavily. “RUN!” Thousands of scarab beetles were now after them. She pushed him as they began to run as fast as they could through corridors and triggering traps. Both of them were nimble as ever. Talise got hit with a spear but luckily it only grazed her arm. She collapsed on her hands and knees as they triggered the door to seal them into a room. “Fuck..” She flopped and cupped her arm as blood got all over her hand.

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 2:57 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

Ah yes, Lorelei. He had Talise well-informed of the mermaid's capacity for folly, and it was a contributing factor in the safeguards around their new home. He hadn't heard from the blonde for a while, which either was very good or very bad. He gave her a smirk as she brought up their first meeting. It was funny how things went, a simple coincidence ended up turning into one of the best things that happened to him. Her mother did give them the initial push, but they had taken the steps to create their relationship. Couldn't let the goddess take all the credit.

Speaking of the Mother, he wasn't surprised that she was involved in creating the blue roses. That was something he did respect about her. The world would be a less colorful place otherwise. "That would be a wonderful arrangement…the fairy grass would contrast against the forest's purple and the white would make the blue and seafoam green stand out better. Adding some of the red trees from the Virens and the golden grass from Jasumin would make a perfect Venti wreath or garland." Gerard had been thinking of adding plants that would change colors with the seasons to create new landscapes all year round. As rewarding gardening and planting was, he didn't want to put in something only to be forced to tear it out or replace it when it no longer matched. 

The entrance to Aysut was unwelcoming, stark red and white stone structures abandoned for millennia were a grim reminder of a past the world mostly had forgotten. Seeing souls struggling against the snares of the necromancer within the pyramid as they were dragged to continue his dark work was chilling. It reminded him of the circles of Infernos, but without any higher purpose. He had learned Dalanesca was the goddess of death back when Adeluna had descended into madness. "I wouldn't blame her if she was. No deity takes kindly to having their property stolen." 

In situations like this keeping their attackers at bay was the best option, so he had his sitar ready. When Talise voice her desire to speed things along he agreed. "Just what I was thinking. This isn't something we should be dealing with. I'd love to see the Reaper give the soul-thief a piece of her mind. …Though preferably from a distance." Glancing up at the blood-red gem shining with a sinister light, he thought this would be over faster if somebody blew the top off this pyramid.

Author: Talise, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 2:21 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

“Aye, normally the desert is a peaceful place with a tiny amount of death… Now it is a moron filled graveyard filled with annoyance.” Talise was still getting used to the words of affection that the two of them shared now. It was hard to go so many centuries being alone to being with someone every day like they had. They made a life together so easily compared to humans. “If you got too soft I don’t think you would be Gerard anymore.” She chuckled as she referred to their tender moments alone when they weren’t getting interrupted.

“No hearts or brains is a big problem… Dealing with Lorelei is enough in the brains department.” From what she heard about the mermaid it was enough to make her chuckle. “The gutless thing just reminds me of fey hunters.” Which pissed her off a bit. “Green… to remind me why I hate that color.” There was something about green. She shrugged a bit, “If you need another refresher I could always poke you in the rear again.” She chuckled a bit as she thought about how they met.

She pulled her white hair over and looked at the blue roses. “Sularia grows them up by the Oracle houses but my mother was the one who made them. They are special only to Arri. We could get some for the farm if you would like… They would look pretty growing by the front door.” She knew what was on his mind once in a while when he was asking questions. He particularly liked the color blue or rare and interesting things. “I want to get some seafoam green fairy grass for around the pathway to the house… I think it would look pretty paired with some white peony. The blue roses would add a final touch to it.”

She took his arm and held it close as they found the entrance to the city. Wandering in she took an unsettling gulp as she looked at the high pyramid visibly sucking souls in. “That is a tad unsettling. I knew it was bad but this… This is too unnatural. Dalanesca must be pissed about this.” She could see the unsettling red light from the gem her mother told them about. “Let’s get the seeds and get out of here. Leave it to someone else to destroy that thing.”

She had her fan ready to go for attacking as she held it up. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be…”

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Mon Oct 2, 2017 2:45 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

He took the canteen thankfully, and took a mouthful. Returning it to her, he felt his irritation go down after re-hydrating. "Having the sun less of a desiccating fiery orb does help…though thanks to this undead upstart the desert is becoming too crowded." Thank the Nyella that Talise was here to make this bearable. He had a cotton dress shirt on and dark brown slacks, carrying only the bare essentials in the form of his sitar. If he brought his violin here the aridity would wreak havoc on the wood, and a sitar would give him more flexibility than the former. "I'll tough it out, love. Can't let myself get too soft over some dead man's doing." Speaking of the dead, even if the necromancer was no longer alive Gerard had half a mind to send his regards via an ice spear through the cranium. It was his fault that they were dragged into this, and that others were getting dragged into it too.

To the fey's remark on the lack of intelligence of wrapped desiccated corpses, he had to agree. "They don't have any heart or brains, that's to be expected." He joked dryly. "Not to mention being gutless." The sprawling necropolis was growing closer and the red granite pillars stretched up against the backdrop of a green-tinted sky. "Of all the colors to dye the heavens, why green? I've got a container for the seeds with me. Hopefully this will be over quickly." 

They both were doing their best to not complain about everything each passing second, begrudgingly having come for this purpose alone. Looking at her outfit, he was curious about the flowers in her hair today. "Blue roses. Now where did those come from? I've never seen them in that color without the use of coloring and paint." Those would be a good addition to the garden back in Feeorin, and he was curious as to how rose hip jelly made from them would look like. 

Author: Talise, Posted: Mon Oct 2, 2017 11:44 AM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

Talise had grown in the desert for the most part. It didn’t bother her and it showed by how the fey easily walked the desert sands. Her bare feet hit the sand and she stared up at the sky with ease. “At least the sun isn’t as hot as it normally is.” She took out a canteen and drank from it a bit before offering it up to Gerard. “You especially need to keep water in you my Nokken.” She winked at him softly. “I’ve never seen you this far from water before.”

She got a cloth and floated up to wipe his forehead lovingly. “I’m sure that we’ll get this over with sooner or later but we should probably also map out the pyramid as we go so we can understand where we have been.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek before floating down. She was in a light dress as always with a soft sheer blue shawl around her shoulders. “Do you want my shawl?” She knew that it had a calming effect. “It doesn’t make the area any hotter.”

She saw some mummies making their way up to them and she held out a seafoam green fan decorated with various pearls that Gerard had gotten her. With one swipe she watched as the mummies were quite literally blown away. “Honestly, mummies have to be the dumbest creatures on the planet.” She could see the City of Death ahead. “We’re almost there Gerard… Then it is get in, get the seeds, and go the fuck home.” Talise grumbled softly. The half-fey had rare blue roses decorating her hair today, a gift from her mother to match her blue outfits.

Author: Vibrato, Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 11:18 PM, Post Subject: A Hell of Sand [P/R][Event]

Gerard never knew he would come to hate sand so much in such a short amount of time. "Gods, this place is blistering." The nokken grumbled, covering his face partially with his jacket. The only time this much sand was acceptable would be within the proximity of a large body of water. He wasn't fond of deserts, and this wasn't improving his opinion of them. Really the only reason why he was here out of his element was because Talise was with him. She had told him of the discovery of ancient seeds found in the corpse-infested acropolis of Aysut which were still viable, meaning they could possibly revive an ancient cultivar of a crop once grown by the people who lived here prior to being cursed into its current state. Hearing the history behind what was now the Harena Desert, he thought it was a pity that a fertile land had been reduced to a barren pile of sand–all because somebody didn't want to die for a god. He didn't blame the woman for running when she had the chance though.

Well that god was long gone, so frankly the deity's thoughts and views didn't matter anymore. As expected, Talise's mother was working hard at what she did best in the outpost of Aestas. It was more like a shantytown built out of a set of re-purposed abandoned settlement, but at least it offered protection from the dry heat. Literally anything would desiccate in this climate within hours, and water was precious. This made someone with strong ties to water, like him, to be more cross than ever. Forget freezing Itjivut; give him that over this any day. With the sun beating down from above, he was forced into wearing lighter colors as his typical all-black ensemble would guarantee heatstroke. Using water to cool down wasn't much of a solution either, as it would simply evaporate. Ice only held up for a few more minutes longer than that. Now if only there wasn't so much blasted sand everywhere, getting into everything. Every few meters he walked he swore there was a handful of gravel that would make its way into his boots.