((There actually is a toaster right behind me right now, but it's too scared to do anything.))
Follow along and perform antics as unnecessary. Internet's down for now (I feel your pain Tir) so just that.
HNNNNNNNNNNNGH
Food geyser! Beef of all kinds!
You throw a single glowing packet of minced beef at Nikolai that disappears a few moments after hitting him.
Nikolai stops working on his tent and turns around to question you.
"Hey! What's your beef?!"Of the highest quality!"What's he smiling about? I wouldn't be so happy if my head fell off."
As Theri leaves he says "I'm setting up camp here. Call if you need help or if you find anything interesting."
Set up the tent at the base of the statue. Stab ground with sword, apply curtain, apply rocks, tsar.
"Hey Alan, could you get summoning some food? How about lots of beef jerky."
((NAV made beef jerky yesterday. It is delicious.))
You go close to the throne, on the opposite side from the head, and start working on your plan. You manage to arrange your miniature tent perfectly... Or, well, as perfectly as you can be expected to be able to arrange it. The dashed circle of rocks, half burried in dirt, hold the piece of fabric down, preventing it from getting blow away, while the sword keeps it upright in a slightly conical shape, its point embedded deep enough and at a slight angle so as to better resist the slight wind hitting it from the side, while its hilt passes through a hole in the fabric so as to keep it in position.
That done, you grab a rock with one hand and the hilt with the other, both hands touching the cloth. You focus your will on tsaring the entire thing, trying to hold it in your mind as a whole instead of a combination of parts. The transformation works. Perhaps a bit too well, since you quickly have to let go of the hilt to avoid getting carried away.
The end result is a heavy and impenetrably thick cloth forming a cone and surrounded by a circle of heavy stones that look more like small fortifications or barriers meant for vehicles. Unless a large rock or lots of sand falls from above, it should be fine. You can't see what happened to the sword, but you can hear something metal creaking inside as the occasional gust of wind hits it.
Only then, as you think about what happened to the sword, do you realise the problem with your design. You forgot to make an entrance. You've got a perfect shelter and yet you are locked outside.
The effort has also exacerbate your tiredness and hunger. You feel like you really need a place to crash. Which only makes the fact that you are locked out that much more irritating.
I circle round the statue, inspecting the area around it (and hunting any food animals that might be hiding here), and then, assuming area is safe and the ground is good for it, I go to the protected side, set my clothes aside to avoid ruining yet another set, and begin digging a shelter.
You can't really circle the statue (the back of the throne and part of the back of the statue are merged with the cliff face the statue was carved out of) but you can look around it and you can climb on parts of it.
"Good start, I guess!"
Try to sneakily examine the animals behind the statue and determine if they're up to no good. You never know around here.
Ike and Irine help each other and manage to climb up towards the neck of the statue. As Ike pushes Irine up on the neck, there is a fluttering sound and three dark shapes fly out from behind the statue. Irine instinctively lunges and swats at the things, managing to grab one of them awkwardly by the wing, but has to let go of the struggling thing to help steady herself when she almost falls off the edge of the statue's neck.
The other things attempt to fly away from the statue, but seem to reconsider when they encounter the powerful winds further away from it. The struggling thing Irine caught continues its rapid flapping, joining the two other things in hiding in a hole higher up, close to the roof of the arched alcove the statue resides in. From what Irine and Ike saw and felt, they are small birds with a large wingspan and dark colour, but they can't tell more than that.
Despite signs of habitation (you find what looks and feels like a shed snake skin and some droppings, for example) there's not much else near the statue right now beyond some insects, hiding in cracks.
Several minutes of walking later, the path starts going upwards and the wind abates as you begin approaching a large, solid dark thing, contrasting the blurry darkness of the approaching storm.
((I love this writing. :3 Hello Ozymandias figurine))
Noting the opportunity, Theri took the idea before really thinking about it. "I'll keep looking around. This looks like a nice spot to camp. Though, River? Do you recognize this person?" she said, pointing at the statue head.
I shall keep exploring, or will continue leading the rest if they so wish to go along.
((I always wanted to have that giant statue there. But when I went to a museum and saw a giant Egyptian statue of some Pharaoh with its head resting close to its legs and smiling, that surreal smile of a decapitated giant and ancient stone head made me feel... I don't know how I felt, I can't put it to words. But I liked it, it intrigued me and inspired me, so I tried to recreate that feeling here. Even though it's probably much harder to convey that feeling of scale and surrealism through text.))
River approaches from his position in the back of the group and goes near the head. He touches it, letting his fingers feel its surface and its features, smoothed and partially erased by the elements. He looks at it thoughtfully for a few seconds.
"It is old. Humans do not live long. We probably have not met this human. "
"Maybe a god or a master. Forgotten or not important."
"No powerful spells on it. Little magic."
"Maybe there is something else. But I do not want to tire myself examining it with magic right now. Maybe later. Unless you feel it is important."You follow the road as it climbs up the hill, River following a few steps behind you. When you reach the top you are once more hit by the winds of the approaching sandstorm, much stronger this time. It is even closer now. Almost upon you.
You continue following the road on a relatively flat part of the hill, but it's hard to maintain awareness of your surroundings. You are hunched forward to make walking against the wind easier, looking down with only occasional glances up to make it harder for dirt to get in your eyes. Even so, one or two particles make their way to your eyes, causing them to water as you attempt to get the dirt out.
It is during one of those glances that you spot something in the distance. A light. An yellowish light, like the light of a fire. It shines like a beacon in your night-vision, despite the dust in the air between you and it intermittently obscuring it. You're not sure how far away it is, but you think you could reach it before the storm hits. The problem is that you are not certain you could reach it and then go back to the others before the sandstorm hits. And when it does, it won't be very safe to be without shelter. Even if you do find shelter, you will probably be cut off from the others, it would just be you and River.