Salahuddin had expected some complicated ritual to free the Al-Aeshma. But what the Al-Aeshma said made some sense. If a Sha'ir was needed to free them then the words would need to come from the heart. Salahuddin turns to the two whirlwinds that separated from the others. He would need a good look at those he is to pardon before he could speak those words.
"Ashtigal and Yehiena please come closer and reveal yourselves. If I am to speak words of pardon from my heart I will need to look on your magnificence."
Upon hearing Salahuddin's bidding, and seeing the elder Al-Aeshma nod in agreement, the two whirlwinds rapidly dissolve down to the silt and sand of the
wadi (dry riverbed) at the outskirts of Khaldun Oasis.
Ashtigal appears kneeling, dust whirling about his frame, legs barely visible amidst the windswept sand that shrouds his lower torso. Rising up to his full ten feet, he is a genie of fearsome aspect, with prominent horns swooping above a mane of white hair dressed with sandstorm-burnished brass braids. His skin, the color of storm clouds at sunset, appears perfectly hairless as if he were blasted by sand into a figure worthy of polished marble. Worn jewelry adorns him along with twin sashes of yellow (about his chest) and saffron (at his side). He wears a massive scimitar in a scabbard tucked into the saffron sash. Eyes blazing with the intensity of signal fires, he rumbles a greeting and bows awkwardly before your party, clearly unused to such displays,
"I am Ashtigal, and I have heard your words." Looking to his left, Ashtigal grows quiet as the other whirlwind takes shape...
Yehiana takes shape more slowly, smoke rolling off her skin which is a hue like a sullen sky after storms or ash after a fire. Like her male counterpart she dresses immodestly, wearing worn silks of tarnished white and adorned with serpentine bracers and fire opal jewels. Framing her unruly black hair, which hangs down over one shoulder all the way to her waist, is an ornate headdress decorated with fangs of some massive creature and brass serpents intertwined at the headpiece. Eyes opalescent like stars or mother of pearl, she elegantly bows to your party, revealing her palms are marked with henna designs,
"O Wind Called, I am Yehiana, once of the Winds of Creation. You will not regret your decision." Though she stands only eight feet tall – nearly the same height as Salahuddin's genie valet Sinjin – Yehiana possesses an air of authority nearly rivaling the elder Al-Aeshma himself.