In the shelter of a stand of tall palm trees by a small oasis, five friends are sitting down to dinner as the sun sinks past the horizon.
The easiest to spot is the tallest, a broad-shouldered man in a sleeveless vest and long loose pants with a solid, muscled build and a mane of bushy blond hair. He is currently laughing uproariously at a story being told by a twiggy girl with her tight-curled hair cropped so close it barely stands out from her skull, while she gestures wildly in support of her tall tale. The two of them sit on opposite sides of a small cookfire; to the girl's right and the man's left, a short round woman leans past her overstuffed backpack to begin serving dinner from the common pot into individual bowls, while opposite her, to the girl's left and the man's right, a lanky fellow leans back against a rickety carriage with the broad brim of his hat pulled down over his face, and a stocky woman sits next to him fidgeting with a dented tin cup.