The desert by air: marrakai medina, pyramid valley and caravan crossroads

Where to find it

Fly from the Skyport to any of the three desert destinations. You land at the airport on the south edge of each place, and the departure desk for the flight back is at the airport too. Type /desert to open the desert menu anywhere, or open the game menu, choose Village life, then More to do, then The desert by air. Everything below is also done by standing in the right place and pressing shift enter.

Heat

From 9 to 17 o'clock game time the sun is fierce on open ground: the dunes, the great square, the dig trenches, the caravan trail. Heat builds up while you stand in it. You are told when you get hot, then dizzy, and then sunstroke hurts you and makes you thirsty. Shade, buildings and the covered souks cool you down. A glass of mint tea cools you at once and protects you for ten minutes. Carrying a desert scarf halves the heat. The heat makes you very thirsty, but it never kills you on its own: it leaves you weak.

Sandstorms

Every hour or so a sandstorm sweeps over Pyramid Valley or Caravan Crossroads for about four minutes. Out in the open the sand cuts you, unless you carry a desert scarf. Go indoors. The desert menu tells you when the next one is expected.

Marrakai medina

A walled city. The south gate, the Gate of Seven Lanterns, opens onto the Square of the Storytellers. The spice souk runs along the west side, the carpet souk along the east side, and the Street of Lamps leads north to the Riad of Oranges and the madrasa library. The saffron garden is in the north east corner, the dyers' quarter in the north west, the watch post by the east gate.

Saffron: pick it in the saffron garden, up to 6 bundles a day.

Haggling: Souk trader Yusuf at his stall in the spice souk sells mint tea, saffron, desert scarves, tomb torches and archaeology kits. His first price is never his real price. Make an offer, praise his goods once, or walk away: he may call you back cheaper. Offer too little and he gets angry; every merchant has a secret lowest price and only so much patience. If his patience runs out he ignores you for three minutes.

Carpet weaving: Master Zahra's loom is in the House of Carpets. A carpet has five rows. For each row Zahra sings the colours of the knots; remember them and choose them in order. Each row is longer than the last. Mistakes and asking her to sing again make the carpet plainer. You weave with a silk bolt for a fine carpet, or with her wool for 150 points. Three carpets a day.

Selling carpets: Carpet merchant Hakim, also in the House of Carpets, buys carpets. He offers low; you name your price and haggle the same way. A better carpet is worth more. Two sales a day, paid in points and one Voyage Token.

Spice blending: Spice master Idris in his shop on the spice souk describes what a customer wants. Add ten pinches of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger and black pepper, smell the bowl (three sniffs are free) and bottle the jar. It uses one bundle of saffron threads. The closer the blend, the higher the score and the pay. Three blends a day. You keep the jar of medina spice blend.

Lalla Amina in the Riad of Oranges sells mint tea for 40 points, and lets you rest in the shade of her courtyard with a free glass of tea, which cools you, quenches your thirst and gives you some energy. A full rest every two minutes; before that she only refills your glass.

Pyramid valley

The dig camp is north of the airport: Dig foreman Selim's tent, which sells archaeology kits for 700 points and tomb torches for 80, and Doctor Nadia's field museum. The trenches with six dig squares are west of the camp, the clay banks along the River of Reeds in the east, the western cliffs full of jackals to the west, and the Great Pyramid to the north.

Digging: you need an archaeology kit. Dig foreman Selim gives advice if you ask him. Stand on a dig square and press shift enter. Scrape with the trowel to go fast, sweep with the brush to go slow and safe (two sweeps a layer), or tap and listen. When the ground sounds hollow, the find is right below: brush it out, or the trowel breaks it. Each square can be dug once a day. Finds: pottery shards, oil lamps, clay tablets, old coins, and rarely a scarab amulet.

Doctor Nadia pays Voyage Tokens: 4 pottery shards for 1, a scarab amulet for 4, 5 lumps of clay for 1, up to 10 tokens a day.

The Great Pyramid: light a tomb torch before you go in, by using it from your bag. It burns ten minutes. In the corridor of pressure plates, a loose stone clicks when you come close: step around the click, or jump over it. The gallery of the swinging blade has a blade that whooshes past every three seconds: cross straight after the whoosh. In the antechamber read the carvings of the sun, the jackal and the scales. They answer the riddles of the three sealed doors north of the antechamber. Press the right sign on each door and you pass through; the wrong sign drops hot sand on you and the door ignores you for half a minute. To go back, press shift enter at the back of a door. The burial chamber holds the sarcophagus of King Nebu-Ra, the treasure niches (search once a day for tokens, points and sometimes a scarab amulet) and the robbers' tunnel back to the entrance hall. A scarab amulet in your bag halves all trap damage. Traps never kill you, but they hurt.

Caravan crossroads

The caravanserai stands north of the airport, around an open courtyard with a well: the tea room, the trading hall and the camel stables. The caravan trail runs north to the Oasis of Seven Palms. The sea of dunes lies west, the red dunes east, and the stargazer's dune in the north east.

Guarding a caravan: ask Caravan master Batu in the camel stables for a caravan to the oasis, or Oasis keeper Leyla for one back. Go to the caravan, and it sets off. Follow the camel bells and stay close; if you wander off it halts, and after a minute it turns back. On the way a camel may break loose: follow its bell and press shift enter beside it. A sandstorm may roll in: get close to the camels and press shift enter to make them kneel. Jackals may attack: drive them off before they tear the bales. You are paid in Voyage Tokens, points and silk, more for a whole cargo. Two caravans a day.

Stargazing: at night, old stargazer Temur on his dune gives you a star reading: the direction and distance of a hidden cairn in the dunes, in stars and in plain compass words. Walk there and press shift enter where you think it is. From the desert menu you can check your position against the stars three times. Found without hints pays best. Three cairns a night.

Merchant Farrukh in the trading hall sells desert scarves for 600 points and tomb torches for 90, and pays Voyage Tokens: a silk bolt for 3, two spice blends for 2, ten dried dates for 1, up to 10 tokens a day.

Tea master Dilnoza in the tea room sells mint tea and dried dates, and lets you rest with a free glass of tea, which cools you, quenches your thirst and gives you some energy.

Water: at the caravanserai well and at the oasis spring, press shift enter to look and drink. It quenches your thirst and cools your head.

Dates grow on the date palms on both sides of the oasis pool, up to 10 a day.

Quests

Twenty five quests, each paid once in Voyage Tokens, points, pass experience and often items. Start with Lalla Amina in the Riad of Oranges, Dig foreman Selim in Pyramid Valley and Caravan master Batu at Caravan Crossroads. Your quests and their progress are in the desert menu.

New items

saffron threads, medina spice blend, woven carpet, medina mint tea, tomb torch, archaeology kit, scarab amulet, pottery shard, dried dates, silk bolt and desert scarf.

Commands

/desert opens the desert menu. Staff: /dscadmin, also in the desert menu under Staff controls.

Standing, titles and trophies

Every place by plane remembers you. Your first landing each day, every sight on its sightseeing card, every postcard you send from there, every quest and every victory over its great beasts raise your standing in that place. Three quests done in one place earn the title Friend of that place, six a trophy as its honorary citizen. Your first victory over a great beast such as the Temple Guardian, the Reef Queen or Old Kuma puts a trophy in your cabinet. See the page The travel planner and your travel companion.