[Previous session]

Al-Zaki took the young women to meet the caravan's leaders: the caravan master, Tashfin al-Dukash, and the senior merchant, Wadibash ib-Najih. These two questioned them about their language, survival and animal skills, and reassured them that the desert posed few dangers (beyond sandstorms) that their alert, well-armed caravan wouldn't deter.

During the two days before the caravan left, the women prepared for their journey. Laylah visited the temple of Rashira, explained her visions to the senior priest, and asked whether anything of note had occurred on "the longest day" (the date on which the goddess had instructed her to be in Tel Yuli). The priest, Nathor, promised to make inquiries. His report the next day was that there was no special event, and that the goddess merely wanted her here by then (perhaps to meet the caravan in time, Laylah guessed).

Laylah and her friends met the caravan as scheduled. Wadibash met them briefly to point out the caravan's guide (Sadir al-Rashid) and guard commander (Siddig al-Ghazi), and to introduce them to two fellow travelers: Afla, a colorfully-dressed desert woman, and Alastair, a Krithian (who they recognized as the scarred man they saw in Quikara).

The caravan reached the desert proper by late morning. (Naima and Ruqayyah welcomed it; Laylah and Darra missed seeing trees.) The terrain the first day was hilly and rocky, and became more sandy the second day. This second day was interrupted by a sandstorm, which late from late morning to sunset. The caravan spent the evening digging out, making camp, and tending the injured. (Ruqayyah was bruised when the tent partly collapsed; Darra got sand in her eyes, which Ruqayyah relieved with her spells.)

The next day, the caravan continued to Hanitan, the Antelope Tribe's central oasis. While camped there, Darra and her friends spoke with Alastair. He seeks to study the desert tribes' magic and hopes to become a retainer to a chieftain. He, too, remembered them from Quikara, and asked about their journey. Rather than their true mission, they told him that Ruqayyah was going home, and they were accompanying her. When he learned that Ruqayyah's cat's eyes were the result of a spell not working properly, he pointed to his burn scars and claimed some understanding of the problems with mastering magic. They then spoke with Afla, who they learned was a houri dancer returning to her family. The conversation soon turned to comparisons of dancing styles.

The next day, they reached the cliffs at the edge of the Highmarch plateau. They climbed a trail up these cliffs, and made camp about an hour's travel beyond them. When Darra saw Alastair in camp, she realized that she had not seen him at all during the climb. She got nosy and asked him where he had been. "Climbing," was all the answer she received. She asked if he was a mage, and he answered by starting his cook fire with a jet of flame. After his statement, "It's a bad thing to distract a mage," she decided to leave. Naima followed her to keep an eye o her while she brooded. Back at camp, Laylah fumed about Darra foolish nosing into a mage's business.

Meanwhile, Ruqayyah spent the night in caracal form. She maintained the form for too long, and was trapped in cat form. By dawn, her IQ had dropped to that of a cat. [Next session]

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