Noah's Desert

Lore

Spoiler warning! This section contains plot details about the game.

Over half the kingdom was barren land. It was said that none who entered this forbidding desert would emerge alive. An ancient war, fought with terrible sorcery, had brought the once fertile land to ruin, or so the legends claim. The desert had become an unforgivable wasteland, beyond the reach of any king's law.

And yet there was one man who saw opportunity in this.

He was a merchant, and he traveled with a single companion, his loyal camel. He was poor, and could hope for little more than to survive until the next day.

But one day this merchant made a bold decision. But necessity makes a man bold. The merchant swore that he would be the first to cross the desert and grow rich establishing a trade route with the neighboring land.

No hardship, though, prepares a man for such a journey.

On he walked, across the dunes. One week. Two ... First his stores of food ran out, then his water. He could go no further.

The man and his camel were lost - marooned amid a sea of sand.

Hope also dried up under the desert sun, and the reaper's footsteps drew close.

Yet it was a strange chalice, and not a pale rider, that appeared before him. It spoke in a voice that echoed from within his head.

"If you would have your wishes granted, offer up a fitting sacrifice."

There was no room for doubt. No time for hesitation. The only thing left for him to offer was his faithful camel. Even now, the camel stood behind the man, using its shadow to shield its master from the brunt of the sun's rays.

A kaleidoscope of memories flashed though the man's mind. He drew a deep breath. He had his answer. No. His other half had served him too loyally to meet such an end.

If they die here, they die together.

It happened the moment he reached his decision.

A blinding white light enveloped the gentle beast beside him. The animal was claimed as a sacrifice, though not by the order of its master.

It was the camel itself, determined to save its master at any cost. Such was the strength of the bond between them.

The camel grew in size, taking on the form of a galleon. Stricken with grief at the loss of his companion, the man crawled aboard the vessel with the last of his strength.

There, sleep claimed him.

He awoke to the sights and sounds of a foreign city.

The ship born of the camel's sacrifice had seen its master cross the sands safely.

As the only man to manage that feat, the local merchants were all too eager to fill his ship with their wares for sale abroad.

Upon his return home, he was met with a plethora of trade propositions.

He was inundated with a flood of coins that promised to wash away every trace of his impoverished past.

Even his memory of those meager days grew dilute. Over time, the years he had spent with the camel were forgotten.

The man did not know the truth. How could he know that even now, in dramatically altered form, the camel watched over him, still?

The camel ship sailed ever on - fatigue was nothing compared to the beast's desire to please its master.

But even that simple, heartfelt wish was lost upon the now wealthy man.

Love of coin saw the merchant accept any work he could, and the hold of his ship was stacked higher and higher with freight.

One day, that ambition reached its limit. And so, midway across the desert of death, the camel ship ran aground.

The force of it sent captain and cargo alike flying from the deck. But even still, its hulking frame work and broken, the camel thought only of the man. Slowly, the ship began to list. One degree, then another. And then it stopped. Its shadow now enveloped the merchant's battered body, shielding him from the sun.

The camel ship would never move again.

In that moment, the man knew. Despite its appearance, the ship he'd sailed so heedlessly had been his faithful partner this whole time.

Regret flowed through his every broken bone, and he too came to a silent, final stop.

One corner of such a vast desert looks much the same as any other. Yet this was a place the two of them had seen before.

The circle was complete, they had found the very spot where a poor merchant and his trusty camel had once been lost - marooned amid a sea of sand.

Quests taking place

.....?^{[citation needed]}

Quotes

Heard during memory quests:

• At first, it seemed ridiculous.
• A camel turning into a ship? Come off it!
• And the thought of getting rich off the back of it.
• It was too much. But that's what happened.
• Till I overloaded the poor thing...
• In the end, its stomach split.
• Now it's all over.
• My life's run its course.
• All I see around me is endless desert.
• I am lost...

Gallery

Camel Ship in the background.