With temperatures rising over 143°C (289.40°F) in most areas, the only relief is during the nights when it is much cooler. All travelers are advised to keep to the local towns on the desert's outskirts and avoid traveling too far from civilization. (+3 Endurance, +2 Defense)

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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 04/27/2017 3:30 AM

Thus began their week-long journey on the final stretch to Armid. It was an unremarkable leg of the journey, much the same as the rest had been. Dante didn't know what he expected, though he registered enough disappointment within himself to know that he had expected something. But no news was good news, he supposed. Better their journey remain uneventful than that it be fraught with peril.

Maybe he was just restless at the thought that the town was so close. He felt rather as if he had been living in a sort of limbo until their arrival, stuck on hold until he reached it. There would be no doing anything significant until he did reach it, after all, and thinking on it would merely drive himself to distraction.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby .:Random Event:. » 06/08/2017 1:37 AM

The desert air was stifling. The group could almost see forever as they wandered over the vast desert. As they passed small gatherings of shrubs, small reptiles skittered over the sand, startled by the noise. However, they were of the common species, one that could be found literally anywhere.

It seemed like there was nothing out this way for the moment.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 8:52 PM

The only occurrence of note happened on the penultimate day. The mood of the caravan, which had been that of steady forbearance throughout, was already beginning to lift at the thought of their destination being so near. The first elder called out when she spotted the barest hint of a tower on the horizon, and word passed from mouth to mouth all along the length of the train. Their steps quickened, as if even the camels understood, and shared in their excitement.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 8:54 PM

Dante himself, heat-struck and sun-addled, couldn't see anything besides the sand and sky, both of which seemed to shimmer dangerously, threatening all the while to buck him from his camel and make him sick. If it had been night... but it wasn't. The elders' eyes were sharp, however; another few hours and even he could make out the darker outlines of buildings in the far distance, not that he had ever doubted the news. He allowed himself a sigh of relief, though knowing his misery would soon be at an end didn't do much for him at the moment.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 8:56 PM

Relief came, however, earlier than he had anticipated. It crept up so gradually that he did not at first notice that the sun was beginning to abate. He attributed the ebbing of his nausea to the coming evening, and it was only when his judgement was sufficiently unclouded that he realized it was much too early for that. Abruptly, he came to himself with a start and looked up, astonished at what he saw: clouds. Clouds as he had not seen them since he'd set foot in this blasted desert.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 8:59 PM

He could hardly believe it. He didn't believe it. The heat was still terrible--- though as he thought it, he had to admit that even that wasn't as bad as it had been just hours ago. And for the first time, his skin didn't sting beneath his cloaks, except for where the burns were sore from contact.

One of the other stragglers caught his look, and smiled. "Rain," he said. "A fine welcome for you, who hates the sun so much."
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 9:02 PM

He laughed, and Dante mustered a weak smile of his own in reply. It still felt impossible, that the relentlessly blue sky could be now obscured, and the idea of rain less plausible yet. And yet, true to the man's words, an hour later saw the first drops scattering across the backs of their camels.

Cries went up along the caravan again, some in consternation and others in celebration. One of the elders was singing; Dante could catch snatches of meaning, mostly in thanks, perhaps to some god whose name he didn't know.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 9:04 PM

Dante peeled back his hood and shed the heaviest of his cloaks so the rain could touch his face, and whatever other parts of him he had managed to bear. The camel, who had grown used to the motionless lump of Dante on its back--- and who, perhaps, had begun to think of its rider as more akin to baggage than person--- turned its head back to eye him reproachfully. Dante patted it absent-mindedly, and the camel subsided with a grumble.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 9:06 PM

It was a cumbersome process, but at length Dante had stripped himself so he lay bare to his waist. The rain felt almost unbearably good, wondrously cool against his skin. He had attracted more attention since the man riding beside him had spoken to him last, and he could hear a few murmurs, likely over the stark paleness of his skin. The man beside him whistled in what might have been appreciation, but it might well have been a jest from the way he laughed, again.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 9:23 PM

"You're not afraid the sun will come back?" he said, eyes dancing.

Dante glanced sidelong at him, wondering if this was a hint. He was a stranger to the weather patterns of the desert, as far as precipitation was concerned. Frowning, he said, "Does it return so quickly?"

The man shrugged. "Sometimes. It came on quickly enough." This much was true, and Dante began to reconsider his sodden garments, still arrayed about him like the crumpled petals of a graceless flower.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/10/2017 9:34 PM

Sighing, he pulled the thinnest over his shoulders, grimacing a little at the feel of damp cloth. He never did like to wear wet clothing. Still, the rain had put him in such good spirits that he didn't dwell on it for long. The rest could be thrown back on if the sun did decide to come out; presently he didn't want to be weighed down, and it was entirely possible that the man was making a fool of him anyway.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/24/2017 1:07 AM

Fortunately for him, his luck held. The rain didn't stop before they got to the city, and he was able to ride into the outskirts of Armid still in its cool, comfortable embrace. It was fortunate, too, that the desert air was so dry; it didn't hold onto heat, and just the absence of sun was enough for it to turn to a more comfortable temperature. Though it did beg the question of what things would be like tomorrow, if the humidity stuck around.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/24/2017 1:10 AM

Dante appreciated the chance to take in the town while it was still day, however. Perhaps the man had been right; it did seem like Armid was welcoming him, strange as that might be. He wasn't the religious type, despite some of his experiences, but the desert folk had their own myths. Now he wondered what they would make of this, and whether those words had been a mere jest, or something else.

Was this a sign that he had come to the right place after all?
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/24/2017 1:12 AM

For a good omen, it did seem a little dramatic, a little heavy-handed. Perhaps it was just good luck, and nothing more. Still, rain in a desert had to be auspicious, and he felt buoyed by it, regardless of what it was.

The town itself was nothing much to look at, really. He didn't know what he expected. Distance had given its buildings a veneer of grandeur, but drawing close, he had realized that they were just stone buildings, many of them quite squat.
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Re: Rosewater Rain [self]

Postby crow » 06/24/2017 1:16 AM

The windows were large, very few of them paned. Thieves weren't a concern for the locals, apparently--- or they had other methods to warn them off. A few of the buildings, unusually low, were actually dug partially into the ground, where there was enough purchase for them. Dante recalled the dungeons of his father's castle, where the underground had been damp and enclosed, but this wasn't like that, not at all. The taller structures existed toward the center of the town, well away from where they were now.
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