[Evans and the others soon disappeared into the distance, leaving only you and the sand bandits.]
[You led the sand bandits aboard the landship, then started it again and set off in a grand procession. Following one bandit's directions, you headed toward their hideout deep in the desert.]
What followed was a journey with the sand bandits.
He did not know whether they feared being followed, but the directions they gave veered left and right without any pattern, as though they were going in circles.
After circling through the scorching desert for several hours, the sand bandits finally gave the correct directions, but only once the landship had reached the desert's depths and they had confirmed that no one was following them.
Another half hour passed before the group finally arrived.
[Under the lead sand bandit's guidance, the desert landship finally stopped before a seemingly unremarkable dune.]
[You followed the others down the dune. The lead bandit climbed to its crest, bent down to brush aside the yellow sand, then reached into it and felt around.]
[The ground trembled beneath your feet, and a dark entrance suddenly sprang open in the sand beneath the dune ahead, with the surrounding sand pouring inside. You approached to investigate. Beneath the entrance was a flight of stone steps leading deep underground.]
[The sand bandits showed no surprise and filed through the entrance. You put the landship into your backpack and followed them onto the underground stairway.]
[After feeling your way through a narrow passage in the dark, the space ahead suddenly opened up.]
[You emerged into an enormous underground palace with a ceiling over thirty meters high. Rows of burning torches hung on the surrounding walls, illuminating stone reliefs rich in desert folk imagery.]
[Only after entering the palace did you discover that