"Ahem, yes, as I was saying. Daest and my companions... Well, I believe I'll give you some backstory. I run a trade caravan that travels to many parts of this continent. Daest will sometimes join me when he feels like it. I don't object, really, he comes in handy for when I look for mystical items. This was one of those times, in case he didn't tell you before he left."
Simoc walks over to the counter, leans on it, and inspects his hands before continuing. "I had found a tomb in Isaem. It's a decent little settlement, not a very long journey into the desert. In any case, there's something important to me in there, and so we went in to acquire it." He looks around, and then continues, saying "I'm probably boring you pretty badly. I'll make a long story short and well, Daest and my companions got trapped. I tried to help the best I could, but my powers were rendered useless, and so Daest told me to enlist your help."