((Apologies for the delay.))
Fortunato would not have to wait long to find a guide â€" or at least, a man willing to act as one. Of course, given the fact that the man was wearing an awfully showy outfit for the desert â€" although not the huge robes he had been wearing when he arrived, even the arrogant had to make concessions to nature sometimes â€" and walking around town aimlessly, muttering to himself and looking just a bit out of place.
Chadur had been here for seven months now, though, and was well on his way to going native, but he still retained much of his old confidence, enough to walk up to a stranger and offer a friendly greeting.
"If my eyes are not mistaken, I take you to be a traveler! Tell me, what brings visitors to this forsaken land?" Well, it was friendly in his mind, at least. Possibly it didn't sound that way.