A few comforts allowed for extra preparation as the clan travelled through the last of the green lands. Tzirret and Ma'tanza's relationship had become apparent rather quickly to everyone, provoking the predictable responses. Sabine made a note of the pendant Ma'tanza wore as looking nice on her, but though she knew Tzirret had crafted it, she did not know the significance. Gallus had taken Tzirret aside an conveyed pride that he had taken this chance. Tzirret was visibly happy much more of the time, but the pressure not to push Ma'tanza made him tense sometimes. They had not kissed, let alone shared a bedroll. The pace was manageable for Tzirret, but sensitive. The last thing he wanted to do was make a mistake. Thankfully, Ma'tanza was a forgiving sort, knowing of Tzirret's anxieties by now. Overall, however, Tzirret was glad. Getting to know Ma'tanza beyond just a friend was interesting to him as ever.
A day later, Tzirret took Ma'tanza's advice and tried to learn some magic from her and Irenya. He had intended to learn healing magic, but casting any magic at all proved a challenge. He was progressing even slower than Peiter had been.
As the forests made way for dry badlands and eventually rocky deserts, most people were unanimously pining for the cooler temperatures of Cyrodiil or even just the shade of the tropical jungle. Sabine thought too late to devise a salve to protect against sunburn and found that she would run out of ingredients in three days flat if she tried to make enough for everyone. However, snakes were plentiful in this land, so those that could catch them were referred to her to be taught how to use the skins to keep cool. In light of the scarcities, only Sabine's snake skin was filled with a potion that stayed cool. Everyone else's was filled with re-purposed urine, frozen by mages in the clan. The beating sun meant that the snake skins were refrozen often, but it provided some minor relief, and some protection from heatstroke.
Funnily enough, the danger of heatstroke meant that most of the clan's clothing was being used to shelter the upper body. Sabine had managed to source a pair of breeches that she had wrapped around her head and neck appropriately, but she was just as red as Peiter was. Skin on her arms and shoulders was peeling off like thin paper, or otherwise blistering in the worst areas. Sabine was frustrated, and it wasn't just because she couldn't cuddle up to Peiter in recent days. It was painful to move, painful to sit..."It is painful to speak," Sabine said, trying not to move her reddened and sweat-glistening cheeks. She tapped her shoulder bag, which appeared to be stuffed with long, thick, pointy, succulent leaves. "There are not many plants out here. Just keep an eye out for more aloe."
Despite not have the ingredients to protect against sunburn, treating it with magic when it was so widespread was also infeasible. That meant that the alchemists in the clan were inundated with a demand for soothing balms. The clan's path through the desert, therefore, was reaped of all plant matter that could be used in such balm. Unfortunately, such plant life was becoming less common as they ventured further.
Tzirret had one hand full of aloe leaves and his other around Ma'tanza's hand. The heat was taking its toll on all of them, but he was not envious of his bald-bodied friends. Their trials were the only thing that made him forget the idea of shaving off all his fur to escape the extra heat, other than the fact that it would look ridiculous. Regardless, he had naturally moulted off much of his thick fur since he landed at Senchal, so it probably wasn't getting better. He spoke up after Sabine and Peiter, "Tzirret does not understand. Human skin does not protect from the sun or the cold. Why do they not have fur?"
Uthri, Gallus, and Janius were all clearly jealous of the natural protection that their fellows had from the sunburn. They all marched through without outward complaint, but their fuses were collectively short. Unbeknownst to Fendros until everyone else was debilitated, however, was that he was comparatively unbothered by the sun. He was aware that his race had a resistance to flames and the heat of volcanic ash, but that it extended to the desert heat made him count himself fortunate. This was especially true of Janius as he carried a tired Newt on his back.
"Ow-ah! Ah! Child, please do not pull on dad's skin there." Janius winced as Newt failed to find a spot to hold onto with his hands on his father's shoulders while he was carried.
Fendros was relegated to keeping Leaps in check, but the creature was slow without much water. In an effort to keep him from overheating, he had three snake skins around his neck. "Janius, if you need some spots healed before we set up camp, go see a healer," Fendros recommended.
Janius' eye twitched as he responded to Fendros. "No point, Fendros. It just comes back in-ah! Less than an hour."
"Would you like me to carry Newt for a while?"
"No," Janius said stubbornly, "If I don't endure this now, I won't have a chance later on."
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