Episode 115 - Murder, She Boat

## Synopsis

Ferdinand thanks SWIM for saving her and for following her suggestion of going to seek sanctuary at the Loft of Elders. When prompted by the students asking why Seltie wants to kill her, Ferdinand only said that she would explain everything later.

The students asked how Ferdinand came to wear Ava Redding’s skin, worrying that the school librarian had suffered a horrible fate. Ferdinand explained that she had simply met Ava in the plane of Isathil, and swapped skins with her because she was “pretty.” Ava was apparently thrilled to be able to walk freely around Isathil. When asked why *she* was in Isathil, Ferdinand replied that she had come to atone for past sins at the Loft of Elders, but did not know where the real Loft was. The students were able to find it on Ferimel’s map, on which was written “avoid, lots of Elders,” a day and a half’s travel from their current location. Serinepth Sinderman was worried about going there, having previously made a series of social blunders, but Ferdinand insisted she would be fine, claiming that the Elders had to protect anyone who asked them to.

On the journey to the Loft, Ferdinand told the students why her three assailants were after her. She and Seltie had been part of the same witches’ coven, where they had done blood magic, pooling their powers “like a study group.” The students were shocked at this dig, but the Devil Witch snorted and said that their smugness revealed their student status. Seltie had proposed that she and Ferdinand kill the other five witches to gain their magic, exclaiming “We did! And then she tried to kill me!” Winsler Wallaby doubted this part of the story, but kept quiet.

Ferdinand went on to explain that she had been tasked by Laud with finding the body of a Death Slaad for him to eat in order to gain its powers. Not thinking this was a good idea, she took his money and cheated him, giving him something else and running. After chasing her for seven years, Laud killed her. When she arrived at Purgatory, the process of listing her crimes lasted an entire week, after which Ferdinand went straight to the Hells.

Mira Marchand asked if Ferdinand was shipped there by the Ivory-Masked Woman, prompting the witch to shout “She is the worst of them all! I can’t believe Integrity Idleberry marked me with her magic. Integrity protested, claiming she had no control over what happened, and Ferdinand chided her for trading one life (her own) for another’s (Integrity’s), calling SWIM “pretty cruel” before concluding that IMW was scary, and that they had better stay off her radar. Mira, having previously met IMW, agreed. Serinepth stayed out of the conversation to focus on rowing their boat, being put off by all the talk of murder. Integrity, curious, asked how Ferdinand got out of Hell, whether by bribe or charm. Ferdinand resentfully explained that all her money was taken from her, but that she stole her devil watcher’s soul through his eyes (hastening to add that she no longer did this), before taking his skin and simply walking out of Hell. Mira asked if this was how she came by the nickname of “Devil Witch”, which Ferdinand confirmed, complaining that this was rude. She further warned the students not to turn into animals, because it was “gross” and “Druid stuff”, which confused the students since there are no Druids in their world.

Having previously had some strange conversations about planes of existence shifting and not being what they seem, Mira asked what Ferdinand knew about the subject. She explained that the Fates and the gods will planes to shift, but that some witches tamper with this magic as well. She neither confirmed nor denied that she had “scooped up some divine magic here and there” to make her own private demi-plane, “Ferdinand land.” She and Seltie killed the beautiful and prestigious Desert Witch Rebecca, gaining her knowledge. Mira tried to gain some more information on why SWIM appeared not to be from the Prime Material Plane, but Ferdinand deflected and probed the students for some personal information. Winsler volunteered that they had “probably” done “many war crimes”, which delighted Ferdinand who was no stranger to the concept, asserting that she and SWIM  were sure to run into each other again later. Winsler said “cool” and shook her hand.

Integrity and Ferdinand continued to ask each other questions while Mira moped with her lyre, unhappy about “literally everything.” Serinepth, still rowing alone, reflected on her conversation with Aira Allaro, how their mentor, Artis Artisian, was probably all alone, and how angry she was with WIM for freely giving away information to the Witch.

Integrity broke the ensuing tense silence by apologizing for keeping her Warlock pact a secret, explaining how she had been motivated by fear, and how embarrassed and scared she still was. After arguing a little bit with Mira, both girls apologized, promising to have each other’s backs no matter what.

SWIM plus Ferdinand then arrived at their destination, a very dark clearing where larger and larger amounts of sooty snow was gathering in large banks. Cold and tired, the party entered a clearing in which stood a single big tree which reached far above the clouds, pouring our reassuring light, with a large archway on which was written “All are welcome under these boughs.”