The Scour

Red dunes, wind-cut mesas and a sunken bazaar under burning awnings. Kitecrest is a caravan town on a mesa top where the wind never stops, and its caravans pay the Galeweaver for safe winds.

Areas

• The Ember Dunes: Dune Burrower, Glasstail, Squall Kite, Sandwright, Duneshrike
• The Wind-cut Mesas: Dust Imp, Squall Kite, Glasstail, Duneshrike
• The Sunken Bazaar: Pot Mimic, Dust Imp, Glasstail, Silkshade

Notable places

The Sand Gap, The Breathing Dune, The Mantis Chasm, The Burning Street, The Griffin's Market, The Wind Tower, The Floating Shards, The Wind Cave, The Wind Hollow, The Caravan Door.

Bosses

• Guardians: Kite Ray, Gale Mantis, Bellows Toad, Bladefeather Griffin
• Dragon: Squallwing
• Wizard: The Galeweaver

Dungeons

• Kite Ray's Mesa: dungeon, Kite Ray
• The Mantis Canyon: dungeon, Gale Mantis
• The Breathing Cave: dungeon, Bellows Toad
• The Griffin's Aerie: dungeon, Bladefeather Griffin
• The Wind Tower: wizard's stronghold, The Galeweaver
• The Bazaar Cellar: hidden chamber
• The Buried Tomb: hidden chamber
• The Shard Hollow: hidden chamber

Spells

• Taught by its bosses: Gale Slash, Cyclone, Updraft, Vacuum, Feather Storm, Sky Lance
• Found at shrines: Air Bullet, Wind Wall, Gust Trap, Tailwind

Creatures

Dune Burrower, Duneshrike, Dust Imp, Glasstail, Pot Mimic, Sandwright, Silkshade, Squall Kite.

Quests

• Idris's Wind-Rose
• Tesk's Kites
• Oru's Spice Cart
• Tesk's Pattern
• Hasna's Pepper
• The Great Feather

Pieces of heart

The Scour has 2 challenges out in the open that pay out a piece of heart (ambushes to survive, lamp runs against the clock, buried hearts). More pieces wait in its dungeons, hidden chambers and quests.

Notes and inscriptions

The Kite-makers' Wall (The Wind Hollow)

The hollow behind the gust-door is carved with every kite the mesa ever flew, each named, each with the wind that carried it furthest. The last is left blank, for whoever comes next.

A Caravan Ledger

Water: six skins. Salt: two sacks. Kites: one, torn. The rest of the page is a map of a well that the sand has moved since.

The Surveyor’s Note

Measured the far mesa three times and got three answers. The stones over there will not hold still to be counted. Left my best rod. It is welcome to it.

A Kite-Maker's Pattern (The Ember Dunes)

Paper cut in the shape of a ray, its seams marked in three colours. Kitecrest children learn to fold this before they learn to write their names.

The Builders' Names (The Wind Tower)

Wind fills the tower's pipes and they sing, three notes rising. Cut into the lowest pipe: the names of the builders, every one.

The Welcome Sun (The Sunken Court)

The sand lifts off the middle flag of the court. Cut into it: a sun with a lamp at its heart, the old sign for a place where travellers were always welcome.

The Kite-flier's Chart (The Wind-cut Mesas)

Light finds a kite-flier's chart buried in the dune, every wind on the Scour marked in gold.

The Wind Ring (The Wind-cut Mesas)

Stones laid in a ring to tell the wind, one set apart for the wind that hardly ever comes. Pinned under it, a nomad's note: when it blows, the dunes sing for a whole day.

The last page of a ledger (Kitecrest)

The wind is free, they say. Then why did it bury my father's caravan? I sell safe passage. I am only the first one honest enough to put a price on the sky. - G.

A Seat by the Road (The Ember Dunes)

A shaded stone in the lee of a dune. The sand rolls away toward the Burning Street in long gold waves.

A Shelter on the Road (The Wind-cut Mesas)

A lean-to of rough timber and a fire ring still warm. Scratched on the post: Sleep in the heat. Walk in the cool.

Hidden things

Some spots answer to the right element. Cast it there and something comes back.

• The Wind Tower (Wind): Wind fills the tower's pipes and they sing, three notes rising. Cut into the lowest pipe: the names of the builders, every one.
• The Sunken Court (Wind): The sand lifts off the middle flag of the court. Cut into it: a sun with a lamp at its heart, the old sign for a place where travellers were always welcome.
• The Wind-cut Mesas (Light): Light finds a kite-flier's chart buried in the dune, every wind on the Scour marked in gold.
• The Wind-cut Mesas (Force): Stones laid in a ring to tell the wind, one set apart for the wind that hardly ever comes. Pinned under it, a nomad's note: when it blows, the dunes sing for a whole day.