Chapter 166: Chapter 149 – Hospitable Hosts in a Harsh Homeland

"Despite appearing otherwise, the desert nomads are amongst the friendliest people in the region. They welcome strangers to their homes, offer to freely share their food and water, and even bedmates, though most declined.

 

They were amongst the rarer breed of therians, a rather insular people mostly only found in the desert itself, though these days some might be present in the neighboring countries as well.

 

Their way if life in the harsh lands were as harsh as the lands that had bred them however, and it must be noted, that just because they were hospitable to strangers, does not mean they would not reply to violence kindly. More than a few bandit bands had discovered this truth the hard way." - Dolos bin Zaeed, veteran desert guide operating out of the Hassid Caliphate.

After the welcoming meal, their hosts, a couple of the serpent therians - Cal was unable to tell their gender, as they had no secondary sexual characteristics she could notice but guessed them to be female considering Dan had told her that these people were usually ran by matriarchies - offered to take the group to a dip at the oasis.

 

Cal was surprised at first that they would take a dip in their precious water source, at least until one of their guides laughed at her query and pointed to a group of people by the shore of the oasis, who were working and packing water into large jugs, which they they packed into storage artifacts.

 

She noticed how many mages were working together there, water mages moving the water from the oasis in a steady stream, through a multi layered filter made by earth, mud, and sand mages, to then be heated to a boil by fire mages, before it was stored in a jug, pretty much as clean as it would get at that point.

 

As storage artifacts go, they were amongst the favorite items of the desert nomads on the rare times they went out to trade. Each tribe basically had sets of large ones which helped them carry their belongings and needs with ease, having passed them down from their ancestor's times.

 

Since their concerns were addressed, the party happily went towards the oasis, where they shed their clothes and put it into neat piles by the shores. Most of the girls were either from Al-Shan or were raised in the Great Emerald Forest, so they saw nothing unusual in bathing together with strangers.

 

Leila used to be shyer about it, but she didn't hesitate in shucking off her robes and joining them in the waters either. The oasis water was surprisingly cold, not so cold it would be uncomfortable for most, but definitely colder than one would have expected from the climate and environment.

 

The water was crystal clear, allowing them to see all the way to the sandy bottom of the oasis, and it was utterly devoid of fish and other animals. A small sip instantly told Cal why that was the case. The water had tasted metallic, probably holding enough concentration of it to poison most things when consumed in quantity, which explained why the pack animals of the nomads only drank from their jugs, and also why they had so stringently purified the water first.

 

Even if the water was undrinkable as it was though, it still allowed them a cool dip, and seeing one of her serpentlike hosts happily swim through the waters in her own way, she followed suit as well. The cool water helped fight off the harsh shine of the sun, and the whole party happily relaxed in the oasis until it started to darken as the sun slowly went down over the horizon.

 

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Cal chuckled as the girls teased each other over their pruney fingers while they dressed themselves, their hosts happily leading the way to the nomad's temporary settlement. Apparently to swim and relax in the oasis was an honor they reserved for their elders… or guests, and normally the rest of the tribe would only enjoy that privilege on their final week of stay at one.

 

Returning their hospitality, Cal happily shared some fresh meat with them - she always brought enough spare food to last her a good while since she received her current storage artifact just in case - which the nomads happily received, and set about to cook it for their dinner.

 

Considering the size of the nomad tribe, Cal had offered them two whole bull carcasses. Fattened, meaty bulls, castrated since young and raised entirely with the purpose of making their meat more delectable. It was a delicacy in Levain and she had considered it as probably the safest to offer since she was unaware if the serpent people had any dietary restrictions.

 

She need not have worried, as they were all too happy to receive her gifts, and quickly set to work cooking. Some of the meat were cut into individual portions in long strips, then wrapped around some preserved vegetables and root tubers, before the whole thing was wrapped with some large leaves into parcels. The parcels were then shallowly buried in a pile of sand, and a large fire was set on top of the sand pile where they were buried.

 

Other parts were cooked into a very thick stew, thickened heavily with dried, crushed oats. Flour made from the same oats were used to make unleavened bread, which were cooked directly in hot sands. They were then patted until no sand remained on the bread before they were served with a thick bowl of stew.

 

It was quite a flavorful meal, hearty and very filling, and a lot of extra flavor was presented when Cal added a multicolored powder made from dried, foraged herbs and spices that one of their hosts pointed out to her. The spice mix gave the stew a pleasant spicy kick, and greatly enriched its flavor.

 

The meat parcels were brought to their tables soon after, and were carefully unfolded to reveal well-cooked, tender meat within. The vegetables wrapped by the meat had stewed in its juices during the cooking process and thus had gained a lot of flavor, and it proved to be a favorite for the party.

 

That night they slept in their tents, set in the middle of the nomad encampment, with satisfied stomachs and relaxed minds.

 

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