sandbox_1

*huff*... *huff*...

Are you overheating? You're sweating all over.

At this rate, we're going to have a whole oasis under your feet in no time.

There's no end to the desert.;Grains of sand strike the wheel hubs.

If we're lucky, we'll reach the clearing near the legendary Eclumui Oasis by nightfall. If we're not...

If we're not lucky, we might be swallowed up by the wind and sand and never find it at all.

Enough downer talk. That clearing is the very best place in Arsalan to serve as the Rhodes Island branch office and Foehn Hotlands observation point.

If we don't manage to find it, then we just need to try harder. Assuming our intel is correct, we don't have much time left.

*sigh*... Even though there clearly aren't any Originium industrial facilities in this area, why do the number of Oripathy cases increase each year?

The raging sandstorms might be able to answer that for you.

Hey, what are you staring out the window for?

Look. What is that...?

Tuye, stop the car!

Through the sandy haze, you see the vague outlines of several enraged needleflies attacking some wobbly person.

Effendi, needleflies make their nests in this desolate desert. It's extremely dangerous, why are you out here alone?

Th-Thank you so much... I, I got caught in a sandstorm while out hunting, and ended up losing my way.

Where do you live? We might be able to take you back home.

My tribe and I fled to these parts, and we're still not familiar with the desert. All I know is that my home was near a jungle.

Rabum-Arakeeshtu Jungle?

What...? There are so many jungles around here. How am I supposed to know which one you're talking about?

Whether or not it's the same one, we should get going before the next sandstorm kicks up.

Thank you for back the lost man, young ones. Had it not been for you, he could've spent his entire life wandering out there.

But this isn't exactly the promised land. What brings you here?

We're looking to establish a branch office in the Szubat-Arsalan region, as well as a site for observing the Foehn Hotlands.

Szubat-Arsalan? That's a long-defunct name. But yes, this would be the place you people call Arsalan.

However, very few people ever mention the glorious name of the 'Lionpride's Ancient Throne'.

What about now?

Now? It's exactly as you see.

We once lived along the shores of the Narotabati River to the south, but the Foehn Hotlands gradually cut off the river's flow, turning the coast into salt flats.

Our homeland was buried in a sandstorm, my predecessor lost his ameeri title, and conquest continued to eat away at his territory.

Our autonomy was supposed to be the last thing we had left, but in recent years, rumors started going around that Arsalan still hid a treasure of some sort, prompting the nearby lords ameer to return with their troops.

They pillaged and looted everywhere they went, forcing our people into their mining camps to the south, where many of them contracted deadly diseases. *sigh*...

We were forced to move north, and here we are.

There is no such thing as the 'Lionpride's Ancient Throne'. It is nothing more than a place where a bunch of refugees have gathered.

Figures... So that's why so many Oripathy patients have been showing up around here.

On top of the fact that it's hard enough to stay alive in this place, it seems that the lords ameer spell serious trouble for our operational objective.

There has to be a solution.

Let's set that aside. The location you marked isn't too far from us. It's in the vicinity of this part of the jungle and the oasis.

We won't get in the way of your work. If there's anything you need, come and find me.

We can help you as well.;We can also fight against the ameeri army.

We'd truly appreciate if you're willing to help us, but we have nothing to give you in return.

As long as you share some local wisdom with us, that's payment enough.

In that case... you might be here a long time, young ones.