Akyra continued to glower at the elf, she had expected such an adamant reply.
"I don't expect you to help me obtain a magical tool for the sake of overtaking the other tribes." Akyra bluntly stated, "I am currently accomplishing that without magical augmentation. Besides, the Elders are the only people of my tribe capable of wielding magic, and they are shaman practitioners, they have no experience wielding necromantic magic."
"You are an outsider," Akyra spat, "to those of you who dwell in the northern regions, the desert is probably just a shitload of sand and desolation with the occasional rattlesnake and road. Do you know what exactly what it is you are searching for? I'm sure you have a general idea, but do you actually know, specifically, what you want?"
"You obviously want treasure, seeing how unnecessarily elaborate you are dressed." Akyra with her free hand gestured to all the gold jewelry that adorned the clothing of the elf. "The desert, my friend, is not a place you just walk into wanting treasure, walk out having treasure, and nothing bad happening to you in-between."
"Oh-no," Akyra laughed shaking her head, "The desert gives life to those resilient enough to life, and takes it away from those unfit for survival. Scattered across this desert are numerous ruins. Everything from the buildings of ancient civilizations to the bones of those who have died can be found if one looks in the right places. Seeing as you chose to explore the Moravian Dunes as opposed to say, the Thanite Cliffs, you are probably looking for the fabled lost caravan laden with treasure."
"Sure," Akyra changed her tone to cautionary, "it has gold, plenty of it, at least it may still have gold." Pausing to gather herself, Akyra continued, "It is more than just a fun little pile of gold you can go out there and collect, if that was the case, it would not still be there anymore. Do you think you're the first fool to come wandering through here looking for the 'Lost Caravan'?!" Akyra mockingly spat the name some had given to the particular caravan that she was sure this elf was looking for.
"No my friend, you're not," Akyra said combatively, hoping the elf was intelligent enough to register what she was saying.
"My people don't call it the 'Lost Caravan', we call it the 'Death Caravan'." Akyra put emphasis on the "death" part of that moniker.
"Do you know why?" Akyra demanded, "because it was once a caravan belonging to a powerful mage and his followers fleeing persecution in a kingdom that existed long before the Essyrn. In it are not only unimaginable riches, but also some tomes, and more importantly, his scepter. This mage never made it to whatever city or village he was trying to flee too. Something, probably a creature of the desert resilient to magical attacks destroyed this mages caravan. This scepter originally was meant for healing, but if the legends are right, the caravan was destroyed in a place over the underground Well of Despair. This Well of Despair draws energy from the demonic plane, corrupting the desert around it. Over the ages this Well corrupted this healing staff to a staff of death and necromantic power."
Trying to summarize this lengthy amount of history as much as possible, Akyra was relieved she was done with the exposition and getting to the part that mattered to her and this elf.
"Everyone who has tried to obtain the caravan's treasure has died because of the radiating necromantic power of the scepter. However, one nomadic Warlord to the west, who is capable of necromantic magic, was spotted by my scouts recently obtaining the scepter without any negative effects."
"We call him Durash the corrupt, and not only is he a rival lord, he recently killed off an entire tribe with this scepter recently. I'm not even sure there is any treasure in the caravan, he very well could have collected the gold to recruit the Thanite Mercenaries to the west. If he combines the power of the scepter with the ground might of the Thanites, he could cause havoc across the whole south of the continent!" Akyra had remained calm until ushering the last sentence.
"I don't care about using the scepter, I want to destroy the scepter!" Akyra half-yelled.
Retracting her scimitar, Akyra went on, "Listen, I know you're selfish, after all, I've never seen anyone treasure hunting without companions before. You clearly are a talented rogue, brash, maybe, a pain in the ass, definitely, but talented, I can smell talent from miles away, and right now you reek." Akyra said.
"I have a simple proposal," Akyra said, "assist me in destroying this mad Durash. If the rumors are true, your kind is resilient against magic, and so am I, but my warriors are not. If my Sand Dragon People engage Durash's forces and distract him, you are stealthy enough to slip behind his lines unnoticed and kill him."
"We will help you scavenge the caravan for any treasure that may still be there, and you will help me against Durash. If there is no treasure to be found in the caravan, chances are Durash has it. If we find no treasure, I have a potential gift that someone as vain as you would not be able to refuse." Akyra said with confidence.
Akyra backed away, then said, "So, Faelis Gindein, what say you?"