[center][hr][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/pA5zM8Y.png[/img][hr][hr][h1][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hLspkoOXE8]♫[/url][/h1][hr][hr][/center][color=D2B48C]All who have been to Inner Torragon know it well: the place may pretend to be Avincian, but it is not. From the buildings to the language, to the people, its soul is that of old Zaqhoria and, when the sun rises over the desert, it knows no mercy. After promising to discuss matters at length with Ayla later on, Amanda led them down to the stables. It was still early morning, the rooftops of San Agustin silhouettes bathed in dawn's harsh light. The handful of people about inclined their heads respectfully towards her and her guests as they passed. [color=ffffff]"Madre,"[/color] murmured more than one. Coasting smoothly down the smooth old stones, she greeted them in kind but did not stop. Jocasta and Isabella followed in her wake, all three pairs of arms moving in almost perfect synchronization. Then, they turned off of the main path and were there. There were two stablehands about, feeding and preparing the animals. They bowed. [color=ffffff]"Madre."[/color] [color=c4df9b]"Luisito."[/color] Amanda returned his gesture. [color=c4df9b]"Mauro."[/color] She eased herself onto the hay-covered floor, rolling up to one of the horses and and patting the side of its head. [color=c4df9b]"As I explained upstairs, we are a bit short on horses just now,"[/color] she advised, twisting to face the others as she adjusted one of the animals' bridles. [color=c4df9b]"But I suppose you have other ways of getting where you're going now. Am I wrong?"[/color] Glancing Zarina's way, Jocasta turned back to face the woman who had been the closest thing to a mother she had ever known. [color=ffdead]"You are not,"[/color] she admitted. [color=ffdead]"I may save us a day's venturing out into the desert by means of magic."[/color] Finished with the horse, Amanda gave it a final pat. She smiled, businesslike. [color=c4df9b]"Just as well,"[/color] she admitted with a shrug. [color=c4df9b]"We did not have enough for you anyhow."[/color] With that, she rolled over to the horse's saddle and, from a long pouch, procured a rolled-up map. [color=c4df9b]"Over my shoulders. Come."[/color] She unrolled it and held it across her lap as a few of them leaned in. [color=c4df9b]"He left two days ago, for the ruins of Zarfan, down La Boca."[/color] Amanda pointed it out on the map and shook her head. [color=c4df9b]"He's out of our sensing range, but he [i]should[/i] be well set up there by now."[/color] Her eyes flicked between the members of the group. [color=c4df9b]"If you can teleport, then you can get there and relieve our rangers. We need them for defense."[/color] [color=ffdead]"And I'll send them back?"[/color] Jocasta inquired, though it was more statement than question. Amanda nodded. [color=c4df9b]"I don't imagine it should take long,"[/color] she decided. [color=c4df9b]"So I'll only keep one of you behind."[/color] She smiled softly and some colour rose in her cheeks. [color=c4df9b]"You wouldn't begrudge a mother some time spent with her child, would you?"[/color] Marci started. [color=598527]"I um... I don't wanna be deadweight I can - [/color] [color=a187be]"Stop acting tough,"[/color] chirped Isabella, [color=a187be]"and go see your mom while you still can. Besides, you'll be guarding San Agustin, right?"[/color] Was she suppressing an ironic smirk or was she not? [color=c4df9b]"You're mine, little calabaza."[/color] [color=598527]"Seriously!? Are you [i]trying[/i] to make me die of embarrassment, mom?[/color] Amanda [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Trollface_non-free.png]grinned[/url]. [color=c4df9b]"[i]Never,[/i] precious!"[/color] [color=598527]"You're making me [i]wanna[/i] fight a sand wyrm."[/color] In short, she stayed. [hr][hr] It was early in the morning when a portal glowed bright and rippling in the courtyard of the refuge. Amanda sat in silhouette, with Marceline at her side, hair whipping like black snakes in the wind coming off of it. They waved and then, with a little salute from the last of the five, Ayla, Zarina, Yalen, Isabella, and Jocasta were through. It was always as if she had blinked, so sudden was the change in reality. Reddish-beige cliffs rose to either side of Jocasta and she was on the hard, gravelly dirt beside a small watering hole. In the near distance rose the weathered ruins of Cervan - or Zarfan, to its original inhabitants - carved partially into the cliffside. She could [i]see[/i] anyone here, so she reached out with her magic senses for Escarra and his rangers, only to find... Nothing. They weren't there and, in fact, neither was [i]anyone[/i]. A pinch of worry invading her insides, Jocasta twisted to look up at Yalen and over at Isabella. [color=ffdead]"You guys drawing a blank too?"[/color] she prodded, and their answers were affirmative. It was time to reach further, and so she spread her senses out, sweeping the region at ranges only her fellow tethered could come close to reaching. There were the usual energies: arcane from the sun, kinetic from the wind and the shifting sands, and the agglomerations of both combined with chemical that denoted living things. Yet, as she searched further still, an invisible mass settled itself atop her stomach and she felt her pulse quicken. [hr][hr][center][h1][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tfGjnV7g9U]♫[/url][/h1][/center][hr][hr]She found a group seven people about three kilometers to the northwest, close to where they'd found the aberration a year ago. Only, they seemed to be on top of some kind of rock promontory, or so the kinetic energy of the wind lashing against it told her. However, they were not alone. Jocasta's gut wrenched itself further and her hands tightened around her wheels. [color=ffdead]"It's a sand wyrm,"[/color] she rasped, voice barely above a whisper. She twisted to take in the others. It was... at least... [color=ffdead]"A fucking [i]alpha[/i]."[/color] damned near three hundred feet in length. It was [i]circling[/i] them. This didn't make sense. Sand Wyrms were supposed to be rare, and they rarely went after something so insignificant as a human unless it was opportune. In her entire life up until last year, she had seen precisely one: breaching the sand about half a mile distant, from the refuge walls. That was the day that monsters had become real to a twelve-year-old Jocasta. But [i]she[/i] was a monster too, she remembered. [color=ffdead]"It has them trapped on some kind of rocky outcropping, two miles north-northwest!"[/color] she shouted, already drinking a massive amount of energy in from her surroundings. The winds went still, the sky darkened, and the air grew colder. If it was clear that they were trapped and could not harm it, the Wyrm would emerge from the sand and pursue them overland. She had no idea how long it would be until that happened: it could yet be hours; they could be mere [i]moments[/i] from death. [color=ffdead]"We need to go right now!"[/color] she screamed. [color=ffdead][i]"Right now!"[/i][/color] A portal tore apart the air before them. Dimly, she could feel the leviathan in the distance as it broke the sand and belched white-hot fire. One of the little human energy signatures, too slow to react, was consumed. [color=ffdead]"Wait! Yalen and Isabella: keep your range!"[/color] she commanded, [color=ffdead]"I'm only going there to port them out."[/color] She suited words to action, barrelling through. She emerged right into the eye of the storm: a maelstrom of 2700°F fire. [hr][hr] The portal swirled and warped and then, as if they'd just been thrust from a popped bubble, five young men emerged into the burgeoning late morning heat of Torragon's Dune Sea. They were Evander, Desmond, Fiske, Benedetto, and Tku. Not all of them stuck the landing but, when they looked up, there was a man and a woman waiting for them, looking more than a little bit anxious. Their eyes, seeming unfocused at first, quickly snapped to the group. They were Yalen and Isabella and they didn't waste any time upon recognizing who the five. [color=a187be]"It's a Sand Wyrm."[/color][/color] [hr][hr] [hider=Action Opportunities][color=D2B48C]Welcome to Primitive, Chapter Two: Into the Fire! Already, mystery and danger threaten to kill not only the party's as-yet unmet allies, but the party itself. Why is the sand wyrm attacking Escarra and his rangers? Why are they two miles to the northeast in the first place? Why have the five boys been sent through and what can they do to help? Below are some action opportunities. [indent]1) The new arrivals can and [i]should[/i] talk to Isabella and Yalen. Finding their way to the fight might be a good idea. 2) Jocasta, Zarina, and Ayla will need to defend a massive jet of white-hot fire from the Sand Wyrm. It's rolled a 46! This is an alpha and is every bit as strong as the monster that you faced at the end of Deserted, even without being tainted by an aberration. 3) They should try to make up a quick plan on the spot. There is a [i]lot[/i] of pressure and little time, so nothing too detailed! They can fight it or try to distract it while Jojo rescues the stranded rangers, or try to get to the bottom of this first mystery right there on the spot! 4) Feel free to play out your first moves. I'd recommend discussing them on discord first, however. 5) Good luck, and happy posting![/indent][/color][/hider]