A Bear in the Desert
by Tadir West
Sometimes you get stories from the most unexpected places.
My dear readers, you all know me. Youâve read my articles and stories. Iâm a coast dweller, through and through. Given the option, I firmly believe Iâd never leave the coastal areas. The smell of the sea is in my clothes and the wet sand of the shore is in my veins. However, being forced out of your comfort zone can, at times, be a good thing.
My editor recently sent me on a bit of a journey. Frankly, when I set out I hated the thought of the assignment, but sometimes we need to do things for work which we would rather avoid. I was to go out to the deserts south of Ul'dah. Not the ideal place to relax, but work is work. He wanted a piece on the nomadic lives of the Dunesfolk tribes that travel the area.
I didnât get that story.
For almost a week and a half I sat at the Al'Mian Oasis and traveled the surrounding areas before I found anything worth committing to paper. The area does not seem to be a huge hub of activity, but I chose that location because I believed, as one of the few oases in the area, it would be a natural gathering place for the desert dwellers who lived around it. I searched in vain. It wasnât until my last day in the Oasis, the day that I had finally made the decision that this was a waste of time and that I was going to head home in search of more promising stories, that something interesting happened. Actually, too much interesting happened to include in this short article. The inn at which I was staying, which housed maybe two other people until this day, exploded with activity. People from all walks of life showed up to have a few drinks.
I was relaxing in the tavern, wondering how much long I would have to stay in that desert, when a commotion from outside caught my attention. A Hellsgaurd Roegadyn had staggered into the trading outpost, bloody and injured. That fact that he had managed to walk out of the desert in that condition, no mean feat at any time, was a testament to his hardiness. The man, his name is Bear, was in bad shape. It seems he had been working as a mercenary for group of merchants. The merchants were attempting to travel to a mining site several miles outside of Ulâdah on a tip from what seems to be an unreliable source.
âA strange Hyur tipped us off about a large new mining project to the east, so we set out,â Bear reported of the departure conditions.
They arrived at the camp with nothing more than a few minor bandit run-ins, which Bear dealt with handily. Instead of the camp they expected, they came upon a massacre. Bodies everywhere, blood covering everything and in the center of it all an ogre, sitting in the middle of the gore, gorging himself on the spoils of the battle.
After one of the merchants attracted the beast's attention, Bear, as was his job, took up his axe to defend the caravan. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any details of the battle after that. The shock of the ferocity of the beast, coupled with the severity of the Hellsgaurdâs injuries made it almost impossible for him to recall the moments leading up to his defeat.
When he woke he was alone in the desert outside of the mine. His employers were nowhere to be seen. Their bodies, if they were dead, were gone, along with all of Bearâs money and personal belongings, including the new axe created from a revolutionary metal that had been created for Bear shortly before.
While Bear is reluctant to agree, this reporter believes there may have been more going on than the Hellsguard is willing to admit. The incident has been reported and Iâm sure the local authorities will be looking into this theft, and possible attempted murder.
