Episode 186 - Bon Voy-Artis

## Synopsis

**Disclaimer:** The first part of this episode was a series of vignettes showcasing the feats each character took after the battle on the Moon. As such, each student has been given their own section, before the episode transitioned to a chronological order.

The students spent their week at Artis' Cottage helping with his research and learning new abilities they had picked up since the fight against the corruption.

### Winsler:

While helping Artis carry his books, Winsler picked up the entire pile in an unprecedented show of strength. As he walked away, Artis chucked a small journal towards him, hitting him in the back of his head. Winsler fell to the ground as the pile of books toppled back onto him, and his friends watched in amazement as he vanished from sight.

Winsler scrambled to his feet, confused as to why his friends didn't seem to know where he was. Serinepth reached her hand towards the pile of books, trying to find their invisible friend. Winsler reached to tap her hand to let her know where he was, and popped back into visibility. At the same time, Integrity threw a bag of flour at the books. It burst open, covering all the students and books in a thin layer of white power.

Artis sighed and started picking up the torn and stained books. After the students talked about this new power Winsler had, they helped their mentor.

### Mira:

Mira took a break from organising Artis' belongings, and went outside to practice tricks with her *Mage Hand*. When Serinepth came outside, she asked for a favour.

*"Hey Serinepth, what's up? Is it ok if I ask for your help with something?"*

*"Oh, yeah sure, how can I help?"*

*"Well I was just practicing some of my magic here as a break um... Ok this might be a weird question, but you know how to change your magic right? Like I've seen you cast fire spells then turn them into ice and stuff. How do you do that?"*

*"Uh, I'm trying to think about how my instructor explained it."* Serinepth took a moment to think. *"Um, it's sort of like the different elements of magic have a different feeling in your chest when you're about to cast it, and so what she taught us is that we are in control of that feeling. So for instance, sometimes what I'll do is change magic to a different element, and what you're doing is you're sort of... I guess it's kind of like a type of meditation, to kind of change it, and then let it flow from your body in this new natural way."*

*"Ok, it's kind of like a key change then, that kind of makes sense to me. Hey Serinepth, just out of curiosity, because I know you've felt this way in the past, do you still feel like it's all on you to keep us all safe?"*

*"You guys like to ask me very strong questions sometimes I've noticed."*

*"You don't have to answer, I was just curious."*

*"I guess it's less a feeling that I need to, and more a feeling that I have to. I care about you guys, you guys care about me. It makes sense in my head that I would go above and beyond to make sure that you're ok, and in cases where I'm not able to help in that way, to at least try and stop what's hurting you. Whether emotionally, physically... I don't know, I just really care about you guys."*

Mira and Serinepth spent some time talking, and Serinepth showed her friend some techniques to help change her magic so she could help SWIM more. Eventually, Mira felt able to control the flow of magic in her body, learning how to split the focus of some of her spells, and cast others more subtly.

### Integrity:

Integrity walked into the shed, and grabbed the remaining wooden cane. She went outside and began sparring against a tree. Suddenly, she had an idea, and ran to Artis' Cottage.

*"Hello, does anyone there want to cast magic and get hurt?"*

Winsler shouted back, *"I like to cast magic, not so much about the getting hurt part."*

Integrity brought Winsler out, and the others came outside to watch them. Integrity asked Winsler to cast a spell, and explained her frustrations at not being much help against magic users, and she would like practice hurting people. Winsler started sweating. Integrity told him she wanted him to cast various spells towards her, which she would react to and attack him.

Artis looked towards Mira. *"You still have diamonds right?"*

*"Oh yeah, right on hand."* Mira sipped some lemonade.

Integrity and Winsler spent part of the afternoon practicing her new technique, and over the next week she sparred with her other friends to refine her mage slaying abilities.

One day, while she sparred by herself, Artis walked over to Integrity and asked her to come with him for a moment. They went a little further into the woods, and Artis explained his concerns about her practicing to hurt magic users, and asked if she was doing this at the request of the Progenitor. She assured him that it was purely her own desire, so she would be more able to help her friends. She then asked Artis how he had stopped himself from listening to the Progenitor's demands. He told her that before SWIM came along, he had never been in a position where the power offered was necessary, and after a moment's hesitation admitted it had been close when they offered to bring someone back from the dead. Despite how unlikely it was, Artis had to believe that Fidan was still alive, it was what kept him from making a deal with the Progenitor. He told Integrity that the reason he was so shocked when the students said they had fought a piece of them was because he truly believed they had no power outside of the Hatch. He again begged Integrity to ignore anything they asked, and walked back to the cottage, leaving her with a flock of shrieking crows.

### Serinepth:

One evening, Serinepth went outside to meditate for a while. Just as she started to settle down, the birds started squawking again, destroying her concentration. Frustrated and sleep-deprived, she stood up and walked to the centre of the clearing.

*"Would you shut up! Just shut up!"*

The birds fell silent, and looked very judgementally at Serinepth before flying to the front of the house.

Serinepth walked further into the woods, finding a quiet and shaded spot before sitting down to meditate for a bit longer, feeling a deeper connection to the land around her.

### Chronological:

The night before Artis left for the desert, he brought back another pile of books about giants from the Archives. After staring at them for some time, he sighed in frustration and looked at his students.

*"You all have brains right? You all learned how to research, and you're quite competent at this right? You're much more hip with these things than I. Does any of you speak Giant, or can any of you help me with this, I'm losing my mind in silence over here, and I know you're all relaxing you start before the semester, and I hate to spring a surprise research project on you, but I'm trying to find anything about giants in the desert or anything of the like, and I can't find a single thing in all of these books."*

Integrity told him she could read and translate, and the others told him they would help go over the translated books to help with the research.

As Integrity looked over the pages, she was able to roughly translate some of the texts. Winsler helped her polish them up by cross-referencing the language and syntax with gnomish literature. Serinepth, Mira, and Artis looked through the translated pages for anything of note.

Over the evening they found the following information:

* *"Southern architects needed badly"* (Southern is possibly a mistranslation of Sheoran)
* *"Getchula, the Paradise City of Giants"*, mentioned in both literal and metaphorical contexts, with a possible location, *"Southwest from the Bay of Nests, south of the Highlands, east of the sea"*
* The biggest danger in the desert appeared to be around some mountains to the southwest. The sand around them looked to be rumbling as though unstable
* There were magical defences in place around the *"Southern"* (Sheoran) city, and *"The Sunken Valley, the Paradise of Giants"*

Artis asked what they had found, saying that his book only talked about old fossilised trees. Serinepth gave him a rough map she had made of the western part of the desert, and Mira told him of the dangers she had found. Artis told them that the places marked were much further out than he had planned to travel, and asked if they thought it would be worth visiting them. The students suggested that he only visit them if he had time after his current plans. Integrity gave him 200 gold from her savings to help him in case he decided to follow it up. Serinepth brought out a necklace she had made from the broken-off pieces of Virgil's crystals, and also gave it to their mentor. He thanked them both, and apologised for not getting them any gifts.

For dinner, the students decided to cook Artis a farewell dinner. They foraged the surrounding forest for mushrooms, spring onions, nuts, and more. Integrity returned with a rabbit for meat. Together they sat around the table, ate, talked, and said their final goodbyes. During the dinner, Artis slid the key to the cottage to Mira, and asked her to keep it locked up while he was gone. As night began to fall, the dinner came to an end, and Artis grabbed his things. The students and their mentor walked to the nearby teleportation circle, and Artis looked at them one last time.

*"Well, I hope that your second year at Wildcliff is peaceful and productive, don't forget to check in, and I will send you anything that I find interesting, relevant."*

The students said their farewells, thanked him for being a great mentor, and hoped he would enjoy the expedition.

*"Alright, I wish all of you well in the new year, and I will see you—hopefully—this summer, or sooner."* Artis held up his hand, the circle began to glow, and he left for his expedition.