Artemi Johanna Gautier

"...Perhaps the true irony is that you regard me as such a perfect individual. In my early years, the church considered me a defective Chosen."

## Character Info

### Multiclass

Cleric (Tempest Domain)
Paladin (Oath of Devotion)

### Nickname(s)

Arty (by Cole)

**Artemi Johanna Gautier** is one of the protagonists of Temptation's Ballad. She's the daughter of Katrina Gautier, bishop of the Holy Church at the Grand Cathedral, located in the Church District of the City of Axia.

She is the Chosen One, chosen directly by the Creator to protect the world from the many evils lurking within it.

"As the Creator's Chosen One, Artemi is destined to protect the world from a terrible fate like the many Chosen before her.

Despite this important role, Artemi has lived a sheltered life inside the Grand Cathedral and scarcely knows anything about the outside world and thus feels utterly unprepared.

Naive and optimistic, she is ever determined to improve herself and fulfill her duty, no matter what obstacles may stand in her way."

## Appearance

Artemi is a relatively short golden retriever with red eyes. She wears her knight armor, which consists of a steel chestplate and shoulder guards, as well as regular sleeves and pants, together with a dark gray cloth around her waist.

## Personality

Raised to uphold the noble traditions of a holy knight from birth, Artemi is a noble and lawful individual, upholding all of the chivalrous values that a knight should maintain. She defaults to using honorifics to address others, dropping them only under very rare circumstances. She does not condone shady or deceitful practices of any kind, and is keen to protect the pride and dignity of those who she deems her companions.

As she is constantly driven to meet the standards of a holy knight, she is prone to overworking herself and regularly drives herself to exhaustion. She is also constantly stressed out, as she has been conditioned by her excellency Katrina Gautier to believe that failure should never be tolerated under any circumstances. This harsh upbringing has led to several emotional breakdowns when she feels that she is not meeting the appropriate standards for a person of her status and lineage.

Contrary to her knightly values, Artemi carries with her a deep-seated rage as a result of the difficult trials and tribulations she has faced growing up. This rage is the conduit for much of her celestial magic, and grants her powerful lightning-based spells that carry with them great destructive force.

After meeting Cole, Artemi has quickly become much more jaded, no longer quite as willing to trust people as she was at the very beginning of the game. As a result of his shenanigans, she has also become much more willing to express impatience, frustration, and annoyance, and has since lost some of her gentle demeanor, for better or worse.

Having few opportunities to explore the town outside of the church where she grew up, she has very poor social skills, being rather inept at picking up on people's feelings and intentions, and not having any understanding of even the most commonplace idioms and social gestures. This does not impede her motivation, however, and she is eager to learn more about the world and improve on her social skills.

## Background

**Significant plot details follow** - peruse at your own risk, lest your game experience be ruined.

On the night of her birth, it is said that a beam of celestial light descended from the heavens above and blessed Artemi with the Creator's holy strength. She now trains under Grank Stormborne, the Knight Commander of the Holy Church. She wields powerful celestial magic, and is a very skilled swordswoman. She's very dedicated to becoming the best possible Chosen One she can be, but her mother, the bishop, is very stern, and doesn't want to allow her to leave the church to build up experience of the outside world.

Despite being the chosen one, the powers of the chosen one would not appear within her at the age where they would usually manifest. While the church kept this information a secret, she was considered a defective chosen and immense pressure was placed under her to show signs of being a proper chosen. At the age of 15, Artemi was given a trial: to keep a candle alight for one whole night in the midst of a heavy winter storm, with the threat that failure would resulting in execution, such that the powers of the chosen may be passed unto another. While she failed the mission of keeping the candle lit, her desire to stay alive awakened a deep wrath within her that also served to bring forth her celestial magic. Presumably, she used her newfound power to light the candle and pass the test. She carries the worn out candle with her as a grim reminder of her failure and the origins of her power.

## Abilities

As the Creator's Chosen, she wields great celestial power, and is capable of wielding several offensive magics, powered by her wrath-as well as several supportive magics which restore health and buff her allies. The Chosen's blessing also enables her to passively resist mind-altering effects. Thanks to her knightly training, she is well experienced with a sword and shield, though she lacks much practical experience in live combat scenarios. This makes her an all rounded fighter with both close and long ranged capabilities.

It is later revealed that her magic core was tempered with at least twice, once to make her one of the most powerful reserve of celestial magic, far beyond what a person can normally hold, a second time to creat a dam in order to control this vast power. Each time she goes under traumatic or deeply stressful situations, the dam weakens a little each time, which can lead to violent outburst of magic.

### Spells/Cantrips

* **Cure Wounds** - Artemi has been shown using this to heal Sidd in the underground fighting ring. She also charges an arcane crystal with this magic for Cole for his protection. Apparently, when Artemi casts this spell, the recipient of the healing experiences a shock of electricity due to the lightning-aspected nature of her magic.
* **Bless** - Artemi has been shown using this spell once to buff Sidd before his fight with Val in the underground fighting ring.
* **Dispel Magic** - An arcane crystal charged with her Dispel Magic was used to thwart the cloaked figure's attempts to steal all of the rubies on the crown by canceling out his mass mind control magic.
* **Guiding Bolt** - Artemi attempts to fire several shots of Guiding Bolt at the cloaked figure, but the figure blocks it with his [Shield]
* **Divine Smite** - Artemi uses this ability once during the fight against the cloaked figure, destroying the fighting ring in the process. She also appears to attempt it against Marrow, who dispels it with the *Vox Soror.*
* **Thunderwave** - While this spell has yet to be actively used, Artemi has provided Cole with some charges of it in the form of arcane crystals for his protection.
* **Call Steed** - Artemi summoned a steed for use during the Jousting tournament. The steed was aspected towards the lightning element.

### Ability Scores

 Dexterity
 Constitution
 Intelligence
 Wisdom
 Charisma

## Relationships

### Katrina Gautier

Artemi's Mother and Bishop of the Church. Despite Katrina's poor treatment, Artemi respects her and does her best to live up to her unrealistic expectations, rarely talking back and taking her vicious criticisms at face value, though she is shown to stand up to her when she is speaking ill of her comrades. She regularly addresses her as "Your Excellency" rather than "mother", suggesting that their relationship is not very filial in nature. After meeting Cole and Sidd's families, she begins to realize that her mother's treatment of her may not be normal or acceptable, and she is hinted to start harboring resentment towards her.

### Grank Stormborne

Artemi holds Grank in very high regard, acknowledging him as a noble and proud knight, and refusing to allow anyone to speak ill of him. Due to her perception of him, She feels great embarrassment and shame when Grank engages in behavior that could be considered unbecoming of a holy knight.

### Cole's Adventuring Party

Boasting both physical and magical prowess, Artemi is an all rounder that can fight both in direct combat, as well as fling spells from a distance and cast supportive magics on her allies. Aligning with her job as a holy knight, she often acts as the voice of law and reason whenever the party is discussing strategies, and makes consistent efforts to keep the team on the straight and narrow.

### Collodi Bonebreaker

Artemi does not condone Cole's deceptive nature and willingness to betray others and trick people. Due to this, they frequently argue over the best course of action. Their interactions have made her into a much more exasperated and jaded person over a very short period of time. However, she also does see some good in Cole, and is willing to remain companions with him, knowing that Cole will eventually (if not begrudgingly) listen to her if she pushes him to do the right thing.

### Sidd Shrikewood

Artemi is quite friendly with Sidd, regarding him as a gentle and reliable ally. Their relationship is somewhat strained because of Sidd's jealousy of her talents and abilities. Artemi is not very good at picking up on social cues and thus, has trouble understanding this dynamic between them. However, she remains supportive of him and is willing to stand up for him just as she would any other companion, and, if nothing else, holds him to much greater esteem than Cole.

### Agatha Stoker

Artemi forms a friendly relationship with Agatha early on during the Firefly Festival while attempting to investigate the missing rubies and the cause of the fainting spells encountered across Axia. Despite their differing views on religion and magic, they are still relatively amicable.

After Zelos's attack on Cole which subsequently causes substantial destruction to the city, Agatha shares her suspicions regarding the Axian royalty, as well as some background on her own past, simultaneously allowing them to understand each other better and casting doubt on Agatha's character.

### Maeve Osmia

Artemi regards Maeve with a perhaps overbearing degree of respect, due to her inclination to submit to authority. After winning the jousting tournament, Artemi requests her aid in recovering the stolen rubies, which Maeve accepts in exchange for Artemi's help in investigating the Locust Famine and other strange events currently occurring in the city.