>>6109968Something seems faintly familiar about the mae of that man's boots and the lines of his uniform. Poor fellow. Some other fortunefinding luck seeker. Must have tried stringing out his wind-shelter or tent beneath the crystal pillar. Rookie mistake. You can still see the metal bit meant for security a flap punctured into the crystal facade, but the wind must have roared out quicker than he thought. He's gone to Wrack now.
The stories always draw them in. The daring and the soon to be dead. They say there's a star out there in the sands, for the plucking of the first finder. They say there's a merchant in a scarf that trades sand for souls. They say there are leviathans, roaming the deeper wastes, vaster than forests. They say there's a lost city, the only city, the one city.
They say a lot of things. You ain't seen none of that lot in all the time you've been here, and most of the scavenge is just archeological artefacts, weird bits of rock and natural ressource deposits mapped and sold to the highest bidder for later exploitation.
That backpack looks vanadian make. Army isse. Probably full of expensive kit worth bringing back to camp. Or coin. Coin is nice. Any lonely soul with boots that good out here could afford the fine stuff, though apparently not caution. Judging by that, that man was light infantry, of some description. Which is curious because your thoughts turn back to the fact his uniform otherwise seems so faintly familiar. It looks . . . No. It <span class="mu-i">is</span>, you can tell form the cloak and the colours. That's a Pytherii style longranging uniform. That dead poor ill fortunate is a well equipped and well stocked long-ranging scout. By your guess from some Nobled House of the Pytherii realm. That would explain the expensive looking boots too. What the void is a Luperni or Cesteriphon or Cerco doing out <span class="mu-i">here?</span>
The wind is picking up. The dice rattling a little harder. Your long lost brother looks out at you from the sands to your right and then ceases to be and wait do you even have a brother?
Could chance it. Get that backpack. Guy might have more stuff on him.
Could try not risking things more than you've already risked today.