Sem Viatious

A cartoon reference sketch of Sem's many expression by author TS Wieland.

**Sematious** "**Sem"** *(S-em-i-tus)* **Viatious** *(Vi-a-she-ous)* is one of two main protagonists in the Sem and Ally Adventures series, along side his fellow Guardian and love interest, Ally. Known for his cleverness and bravery, Sem was once a lost traveler like many people living in Asphodel until he was chosen to become a Guardian of worlds by the father of the First Guardian and father of the ARC, Erland. Sem is voiced by Carl G. Brooks.

## Early Life

Born the year 2291 CE, Sem was raised by his mother, Melissa Viatious, as a single parent while his unknown father fought to protect them both from the war torn world they inhabited as they lived among the ever migrating refugee camps. At the age of nine, a young Sem was playing soccer outside his mothers tent with the other children when his ball rolled down a small storm drain and disappeared. While his mothers back was turned, the young and ever adventurous Sem chased after his run away ball, only to fall victim to the traveler phenomenon in the dark tunnels leaving his mom to believe he drowned or was kidnapped by one of the many hostile groups inhabiting their world.

Upon arriving to another world, Sem found himself standing unknowingly among the swamps of southern North America, in the year 457 CE, waist deep in swamp water. After wandering through the swamps in search of his mother for several hours, Sem was finally found by the First Guardian, Erland, and brought back to the world of Asphodel to be raised as an orphan.

While living at the orphanage, Sem quickly became friends with his future fellow Guardian and eventual lover, Aria, as she comforted him through his first week of living in Asphodel. Staying best friends, Sem and Aria continued to comfort other lost children who had been orphaned by the travelers phenomenon, all the while breaking rules and seeking out their own adventures in the wide open world between worlds.

At the age of fourteen, Aria was approached by the infamous first Guardian, Erland, offering her the chance to become a Guardian herself. However, Aria refused at first, claiming she would never take on the monumental job without her best friend, Sem, standing there by her every step of the way. Erland agreed, and Sem soon began his rigorous training as a Guardian with his best friend.

## Guardianship

After moving out of the Alpha District Orphanage and into the Guardian Home, Sem struggled to find courage in his training, while his friend Aria excelled in all aspects. After failing one of Erland's most intense trails, Sem abandoned his training and ran away to the Parish District, where he stayed at the travelers hotel by himself. Aria quickly abandoned her own training in order to go look for him, unable to continue on without Sem there at her side.

Unable to convince Sem to return, Aria returned to her training and was given the task of finding her first ever lost traveler on her own. But disaster soon struck within the first hour of her task as Sem heard her distress call on his own communicator. Feeling he had abandoned Aria and with the discovery of how desperately she needed him there, Sem quickly found his courage and motivation. Upon rescuing Aria and returning with their lost traveler, Sem was congratulated by Erland for his bravery and new found understanding of keeping his focus not on saving an entire world in danger, but rather on the thought of rescuing a single life in danger. And thus, the two young Guardians began their official life with their newly awarded title as Guardians, working alongside Erland as their newly adopted father and mentor.

## Erland and Aria's Death

While recovering from a previously close call and escape, Sem and Aria took time to recover while Erland took on another rescue by himself. Unknown to Sem and Aria at the time, Erland had stumbled upon the rare opportunity to visit a duplicate of his own home world, forcing him to abandon his duties as a Guardian in finding the lost traveler in order to see his young wife again. Unable to find the lost traveler and return to the ARC in time, Erland's life, along with those he was trying to save, was lost.

Broken by the passing of their only father and mentor, Sem and Aria took time to mourn in shifts, breaking them of their biggest strength in relaying on one another. After returning from two back to back missions, Sem and Aria seemingly both agreed to return to their old ways of venturing out together, but their agreement was quickly broken when another rescue was called upon them while Sem was still recovering.

Wishing to give Sem more time to rest, Aria went out once more into the unknown world on her own, taking Sem's bag and communicator with her. As time was running out however, Aria's return was impeded when the traveler she was with was taken from her, and she lost her way back to the ARC gateway. Using her final moments to send one final message to Sem, confessing her love for him, Aria was lost to Sem the same way as Erland along with the world she was trying to save.

## The Lone Guardian

Following the loss of Erland and Aria, Sem's only family besides his newest friend Otto, Sem took on his role as a Guardian by himself, refusing to teach or mentor a future partner. Hoping that one day he would suffer the same fate as Erland and Aria, ending his pain and allowing him to join them in death, Sem grew cold and selfless as he focused only on saving the next lost traveler in need. As he worked tirelessly with Otto seeking an answer to their Point of Reference Problem, he continued to journey out on missions by himself, leading to his eventual rescue of his future partner, Ally.

## Guardianship with Ally

While working as a lonely Guardian, Sem's journey's eventually led him to the rescue of his future partner and late love interest, Allison "Ally" Claude. After a near fatal rescue while working with his friend Merek trying to improve the ARC, leaving him temporarily injured in his right leg, Ally was pressured into joining Sem on their first rescue together, exposing Sem's need for a new partner once more. As Ally showed promise with her sweet charisma and knowledge of history (similar qualities to his old partner, Aria), Sem grudgingly agreed to allow Ally to be his newest companion. Sem and Ally's new partnership soon blossomed in the weeks that followed while the two shared their adventures depicted in the first Sem and Ally Adventure novel, *Sem: Adventures Across Time*, leading to their eventual fondness for one another.

## The Ghost of Worlds

While sharing his early adventure with Ally as his newest partner, the two Guardians were eventually confronted by the haunting visage of Sem's own mentor, Erland, woven into the reality of each world the two had visited. After only exchanging distant looks and brief words, Sem was finally given the chance to speak with the ghost of his old mentor at the beginning of the Alpha District Riots, after he was confronted by Otto about Erlands own writings mentioning that Sem knew the answer to the Point of Reference Problem. With an angry mob of travelers threatening to break down the door of the Guardian home, Sem was forced to journey out into an unknown world in order to ask Erland for answers himself. While sitting in a cave high-a-top Mt. Lhotse in the Himalayas, Erland finally spoke with Sem about his merging with the Soul of the Cosmos, resulting in his existence in each world the ARC connects with, as well as a way to send someone home to their own world using what an equation called, the One Way Ticket Equation. The secrecy of this equation was kept by Erland, as he knew the equation would leave the ARC broken and unusable, stranding everyone in Asphodel forever. Seeing no clear answer to the Point of Reference Problem, he chose to take on Sem and Aria as his new pupils in the hopes of showing the people of Asphodel that their answer of returning home could also be found in accepting the beauty of the world around them in making a new life.

## Trial for Treason

After his meeting with Erland in the ice cave, Sem returned to the world of Asphodel with Erland's One Ticket Equation written down on the back of his favorite photo of Aria, Erland, and himself, offering his friend Otto one last chance to let go of his crusade against him. Otto refused, and thus Sem used the equation on Ally in an effort to protect her from harm as well as leave the ARC unusable to both Otto and his mob of angry travelers.

With Ally gone and all hope now lost, the angry mob of the Alpha District captured Sem and had him imprisoned for his act of debated treason. Unbeknownst to Sem however, Ally soon returned to the world of Asphodel with help from Erland who had been woven into her own world the moment she returned through the ARC. With the Guardian home now burned and destroyed, Ally quickly hatched a plan to save Sem from his own execution with the help of his friends, leading to the events of Sem's dramatic rescue. Their reunion was short lived however, as the two Guardians discovered Otto hurrying back to the ARC at the abandoned Guardian home. Convinced that Ally's return had now left the one time opportunity to go home vacant for himself, Otto attempted to use the now broken ARC, only to become caught in a battle between him and Sem while Ally sought to shut the ARC down. In a heavy exchange of blows and gunfire before the gateway of the ARC, Sem and Otto both loss their footing and stumbled back into the broken gateway, leading them down what would be soon become known as the Adventure of Redemption.

## Fun Facts

* Sem's outfit and appearance is inspired by classic adventure icons of the 20th century
* Sem's armor is designed with both past and future themes, reflecting that of an old knight in steel armor and a solider of the future
* As Ally is derived from the author himself, Sem is also derived from the man the author always aspires to be

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 *Sem: Adventures Across Time* by TS Wieland © Copyright, 2019.