desert tidings
They said a god was roaming the desert.
Of course, modern folk didn’t truly believe in gods anymore. They heard the legends, listened to the priests, saw the murals on old treasure and old ruins. Maybe some people had even seen a dark silhouette in the desert, one taller than any man, said to be one of the lost gods, searching for his home.
But most people didn’t really believe in the gods. If any of them ever did walk the earth, then they had since long disappeared.
And then the real Sun Disc rose from the sands.
It was like time started flowing backwards. The paths of the winds changed. In the southwest an ancient river flowed through the sands. Old ruins emerged from their desert tombs, and people again began to whisper of gods and Emperors.
To tell the truth, people could keep their legends. It was the water that drew the nomads in.
The natural consequence of large amounts of people travelling with their valuables in a desert is that raiding forces would seek to make a profit out of it.
Directly above the Sai Kahleek, the Sandthrashers had staked out their turf. They occupied one of the most vital routes in Eastern Shurima. Though the Kahleek River had retreated from the west, its old riverbed still led travellers across the desert. Trade moved on this route, basic materials, treasures, contraband — and now, sojourners.
The Sandthrashers settled in the region after the fall of Vekaura. Where once they roamed, now they guarded territory. And yet, occasionally some would break apart from the main body of the pack and drift west, north, sometimes for weeks at a time.
If you were caught by the Sandthrashers, you probably wouldn’t walk away. But those who did spread the whispers: a god wanders in the desert.