A Cloud of Confusion

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 5041

Fred stares at the cloud of dust of the horizon. He and Astra have been travelling for several hours now, and they're both exhausted; he isn't sure he's ready for... well.. for whatever this may signal.

"What is it?" Astra asks?

"I don't know," Fred says. "I've heard stories about winds in the desert that can whip up the sand of the desert... 'sandstorms,' I think they're called. It could be one of those."

"But there's no wind," Astra says.

"Well, no, not here," Fred says, "but that doesn't mean there isn't any there. That cloud is still miles away."

"Maybe you're right," Astra says. Then, after a moment, she says, "Well, whatever it is, it's approaching pretty quickly. It'll probably be here soon."

"You're right," Fred says. "Let's keep moving."

Fred and Astra continue walking. Unfortunately, the path that Vincent has indicated on the map takes in the direction of the cloud; it seems there's no way to avoid it without straying from the path and increasing their risk of getting lost in the desert.

As Fred and Astra draw closer to the cloud, they begin to see shapes moving in the cloud. It looks like the sand is being kicked up by a number of figures running through the desert.

"I think it's a caravan," Fred says after a while. "This may be good. Maybe they can lead us out of the desert. If nothing else, maybe we can buy supplies or horses from them."

"...except that we don't have any money to buy anything..." Astra says.

"Oh," Fred says. "Well, maybe we can at least get directions."

"But what if they're raiders, or a way party?" Astra says. "What if we can't defend ourselves against them? From the size of that cloud I'd say they probably outnumber us at least ten to one."

"And so what should we do?" Fred says. "If we try to evade them we'll have to stray fairly far from the path on this map. It's hard enough to keep track of our position out here as it is; if we travel a couple of miles off course we could get lost."

  1. Fred and Astra decide to try to evade the approachers. They can't risk fighting them.
  2. They decide to continue on the path they're on now. Whoever these people may be, they can't be so dangerous that it's worth getting lost in the desert trying to avoid them.

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The Seeker (Hmm... a nobleman and an amazon warrior on an epic cross-country journey... such an original plotline...:))

10/24/1999 1:40:58 PM

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