A cruel sun blasted its heat across the wastelands of Anfauglir, and any shade found within the god-forsaken place was crawling with small desert creatures trying to find refuge from the blistering heat. A spotted lizard scuttled out from under a cactus and snapped up a small fly before turning round to retreat again, no soon had it done so though than a pair of chalk white mandibles shot out of the ground and locked around the creatures belly, dragging it down underneath the sands.

A few miles away, an old ruin sat beneath the sun. All that was left was a few pillars and an altar half buried in sand and rubble. A group of men were walking up the steps, wide brimmed hats on their heads to protect their exposed skin against the sun and fairly light clothing made the heat slightly more bearable.
"Well, looks like we've arrived," the first man muttered, a black bear adorned his chin.
"Yeah, I still say we should've got the Hobbits to do it, they're good at digging," the second man said.
"Yeah they're also good at breakin' stuff," the third and final man said "I ain't trustin' a hobbi' wit' no treasure."
"Suit yurself," the second man sighed "So what 'd' we do first, Alf?"
The man named Alf gave his two companions a stern look.

"Well, there's s'psed to be a hatch underneath that alter," he explained "If we can shift that, then we can get inside. That's where the treasure is."
"Shift it?" The second man gaped at the rock and sand covering the mound "With all that on it?"
"That's why you's is digging," Alf sneered "I ain't getting my hands grubby."
The two workers grumbled and moved forwards, hefting big rocks out of the way and dumping them a few meters away. Once the rocks were cleared they began digging out the sand, however since the ruin was half buried in the side of the sand dune, the more sand they dug out the more fell back on top.
"Pitiful," Alf sighed "Stand back!" He ordered.
The two men looked at their leader and promptly took several steps backwards, almost in fear.

Alf raised his hands and muttered something under his breath. A blast of magical energy soared out of his hands and struck the mound of sand, blasting it aside easily.
"Easy when you know how," Alf said, tilting his hat back a bit.
"Show off,"
Together the three men heaved against the alter, and slowly it shifted out of the way, revealing a small pit with a ladder going down.
"There, what I tell ya?" Alf said, triumphant.
"I'm not going down there. It might be cursed,"
"Pansie," Alf grunted "You get down there or yer not gettin' payed."
The man gulped and slowly lowered himself down the hole.
"What's it like down there?" Alf called.
"Dark!" The man called back up.

In a few minutes the rest of the party were down the hole and Alf had lit a fireball in his hand. He scanned about them for a few moments.
"Where's the treasure," one of the men muttered.
"There's nothing but junk down here," Alf muttered "What kind of treasure is this?"
One of the men bent down and shifted some of the junk out of the way.
"What the? Argh!"
"Nej?" Alf turned round to see his companion struggling with something "What the blazes?"
Alf rushed forwards and knocked the strange object off his companion. It hit the ground with a squeak and bounced back to its feet.

"Ha! Too scared to face me yourself, eh Nazguard? Sending giants to fight for you now, huh?" The teddy bear roared at nothing "You yellow bellied coward!"
"Boss, the bear is speakin'," Nej muttered.
"Silence cretin!" The bear yelled "I am Angulaut, lord of fear and nightmares and.....Did you just call me a bear?"
Nej bent down and plucked the bear up, eying him.
"Okay Ted, where's the treasure?"
"Treasure? I have no idea what you're talking about! There's no treasure here. Let me go I command you!" Angulaut roared.
"Pft, what a waste of time," Nej sighed, tossing the stuffed toy aside.
Angulaut bounced twice before hitting the wall with another squeak.
"Let's get out of here," Alf muttered "This place is starting to bug me."

"Oh? Leaving so soon? But I haven't even heard all the juicy details about this treasure of yours." Fendrel said with a smirk riding on his lips. The trio of men turn around to see Fendrel leaned up against the underground chamber's wall with his arms folded loosely against his chest. He was watching them with a toying expression. They stood there for a moment, trying to figure out when exactly he had appeared behind them, when Alf suddenly tossed his fireball at Fendrel. This caused Fendrel to frown in disappointment and he easily deflected the mana-filled orb of heat with an upward slash of his rather rusted longsword.

"Now that was just rude, man."

"Who the hell are you!?" Alf demanded to know. Fendrel blinked a few times before laughing slightly. It was quite rare to find people who didn't know him by appearance. Seems his reputation wasn't as grand as he had once believed. The better for him, in any case.

"The name's Fendrel. Fendrel Cheshire. Just a curious bystander wanting to take part in this little treasure hunt of yours. So, what's the treasure?" Fendrel asked with an almost child-like curiosity. Alf, Nej, and their partner narrowed their eyes. Alf looked back at the two others and motioned towards Fendrel with killer intentions. They nodded and both drew short swords from their sides. Grinning from ear to ear, Fendrel lifted off the wall and held his longsword at the ready.

"Suits me. I'll just force the information out o' ya! Try not to die before then!" Fendrel taunted before shooting off to engage the two men with swords.