"The sand you sink in"
"That- You didn't do anything with it, right? You didn't throw anything in it, right?" the Ersta'la visibly paled at the simple thought of it.
"What is in there?" Ir'Houwl asked, the living seemed to have the bad habit of not directly answering questions.
"Hum… The center of the desert, which were on the outer edge of, is where us humans and other semi-intelligent species reside as it is safest, the area has been cleared of dangerous monsters and creatures for a long time now… Outside the center, there is what we sometime refer to the wilds, it is more dangerous, but that is where we typically hunt for larger beast to eat, otherwise it is mostly sablerelle that we would be eating…"
Sablerelle being the name they gave to the locust-like creatures that Ir'Houwl had seen been cooked over the campfire of the orcs/
"...And then, beyond the wilds, thing take a turn, we have not gone so far in ages as it is too dangerous, wide areas of 'quicksand' as you call it, are the first signs that we are entering the farlands, those are easy to avoid if you are careful, but they are home to solar beasts"
The minor lord signalled for him to keep on explaining.
"Solar beasts are believed to be ancient creatures that are especially in tune with Undeviginti, it is said that these pits of strange sand simply manifest in the farlands sometimes and stay until the solar beast associated with it perishes, which apparently only occurs if it is slain, but that is all hearsay, I doubt that we have actually ever slain such a creature, we did disturb one in the past, and as proof, a wide span of the desert to the east was turned into glass completely"
"I see, and are these beasts attuned to a specific Undeviginti like you people follow one in particular?"
"I do not know, it is said that the solar beasts followed one Undeviginti, but once again, it is all hearsay, legend and probably pure invention for the most part, all that I am confident in, is that the one that was disturbed was, or rather, is a linked to Prime Undeviginti considering what it did, but whether or not they all are or not, no one can know…"
"Unless someone goes out and wakes them up, right?"
"Y-Yes…" the living was looking livid, one could just feel how much Ir'Houwl wanted to go and poke the legendary creatures, naturally, the prospect of such creatures serving the empire was enticing, but now was not the time just yet, it would be meaningless to go and hunt them down when they could not yet raise anything as undead.
After a few more rounds of questioning regarding the way the followers of each of the Undeviginti lived and how the ranks worked, all arm-bearers, without exception, were sent to begin their work for the empire.
As they were all sent to travel through the unforgiving desert, each and every one of them were able to see the extent to which the city and its surroundings had changed, the tree-bush, or sollock, as they called it, was no longer alone to shield them from sunlight and heat, trees with ashen bark now stood tall, looming over them and dwarfing even the solar temple in height, the uninhabited homes had been taken over for various purposes by the undead.
The new oasis expanded even beyond the walls, allowing for tents of beast hide to be erected as well, effectively, everywhere an oasis stood, undeads were as well, even if you couldn't see them.
'Now, the question is when the livings will notice that this city and the surrounding towns have had plant growth, and when they will decide to investigate what is it about…'
Ir'Houwl had a few ideas as to how to proceed, but which one she would deem best depended on what her temporary scouts would bring back, and how the locals would react to the oases, if they sent scouts to watch from afar, she would let them be, if they sent scouts to explore the oases, she would capture them.
But for all she knew, they might not even notice before a long while, this particular city was apparently rather secluded, the desert was large, no human could very well pass by for days, if not weeks.
The matter of the solar beasts was also interesting, until now, she had not quite suspected that the desert would be home to what seemed like an equivalent to divine beasts, and the fact that they apparently just appeared out of the blue alongside the quicksand they stayed in was certainly odd, making it seem like they were not actual creatures that lived and eventually became such beings, and more like they simply manifested into existence.
Somewhat how natural undeads were created, simply emerging from the ground or forming out of thin air and taking on the appearance of beings who had died in the area.
Staying inside of the solar temple, Ir'Houwl pondered over the new information she had pulled from Ersta'la for the next few days, waiting from the servants of Illusory Undeviginti to come back, and it took them a week to all show their faces again, none seemed to have been caught prowling around.
"The closest other city, headed by servants of Watchful Undeviginti, have already taken notice of the changes that occurred here, and are planning on waiting for the next time as sovereign of their sun to properly investigate the matter, they don't seem to be attributing to us, followers of Illusory Undeviginti creating a mirage, and instead suspect that something else it at play" spoke one, before another that had been spying on the same city continued where he left off.
"Watchful Undeviginti's pale blue vapour can allow one to gain insight on matters, and the fact that they could not get a proper grip on the cause for the tall trees is putting them on edge, and although we can counter that power with our illusions, they since long know how to recognise signs of our interference, and thus, they know that we have nothing to do with their visions not telling them much"
"I see, anything else?" asked the minor lord, a small arm-bearer raising their hand like they were in class and had the correct answer, Ir'Houwl signed for them to speak.
"I went alongside the orcs to help them subjugate other monster tribes like themselves, and found a small camp hidden in between tall dunes, there are servants of Cleansing Undeviginti close" this living's words caused the rest to shudder, clearly, the followers of the sun that had yet to make an appearance were both reviled and feared.
They had much less arm-bearers or even members in general, but it seemed like the vapour granted by their faith was a rather potent one.
"Let's go and greet them then"
If she could force them into signing her binding contracts, that would allow her to start building some sort of cohesion between the different worshippers, as of now, whether they were on good or bad terms, it was clear from the Ersta'la's explanations that everyone much preferred to stay amongst those sharing in their faith, and this could prove problematic when this realm become a territory of the empire, this sort of rivalry was a breeding ground for negators to pop up.
"Tell me more details about this camp"