Red Sand

You open your eyes and spit red sand. You find yourself lying in a desert staring up at a pair of orange suns that struggle to illuminate a darkened sky.

Rising to your feet, your Company at your side, each of you instinctively draws your weapons at the first sense of approaching danger. You are clearly not in the Deepwood any longer.

"You're new," observes a tiny voice behind you. Whipping around, you see a girl where there was only sand a moment ago. Her clothing is similar to the style worn by the villagers around Cistercia.

Curiously eyeing your group she smiles pleasantly, revealing a charming set of dimples. "I'm Lina," she continues. "He's got you too, now…"

She then giggles and skips away. "Come with me!" she calls back, kicking up sand as she dances away.

Unless you want to wait around, you have no choice but to follow the child into the desert. Her tiny feet barely break the surface as she flits effortlessly over the sandy terrain while you struggle to keep pace under the weight of your armor. An uneven patch catches you unaware and you stumble face first, placing a hand to the ground to stop your fall. The loose silt does not feel like sand as you quickly realize you are now walking through an ashy waste of burnt, pulverized bone.

You continue to walk for what feels like an eternity. It is impossible to get a sense of time or distance in this place, but oddly, you do not tire or crave sustenance. You wonder if this is what death feels like?

Finally you arrive at the edge of a forest, which like the girl, seems to appear out of nowhere.

"This is new," the girl says, motioning toward the trees. "You brought this. Nothing ever changes here, but this appeared when you arrived."

You follow the child as she ducks beneath low hanging branches and pushes herself through the underbrush.