[color=seagreen][h3][center]Artemisia[/center][/h3][/color]

Well, that turned out to be pretty easy. Artemisia couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. This Luna really knew her stuff; the black mage liked her random facts, but she wasn't a walking encyclopedia like this girl seemed to be. Then again, Arty reasoned, such talents wouldn't serve her well in a fight, and all that precious knowledge would go to waste if Luna became mulch for the local megaflora. 

Before she did, though, Artemisia wanted to hear about her past. On this count too, however, Luna disappointed her. She kept things vague -purposefully vague- and only admitted she came from a life of luxury, which at this point served to do nothing but confirm the obvious. After a quick and slightly worrisome turn in the direction of angst Luna ended up deflecting, trying to turn the question back on her fellow hunters-to-be. Artemisia's mind was elsewhere. [color=seagreen]“Goodness, how many well-to-do scions leaving behind a life of security and privilege to go on a grand adventure does this group have?”[/color] Blaike already fit the bill, but she looked around at the others in turn expectantly for the sake of her joke, never suspecting a thing.

Few others seemed inclined to answer Luna's question either. Mitra spoke up somewhat quickly, reminding Luna that the party was indeed on a dangerous mission. The half-elezen might have forgotten, but despite her own participation Artemisia had been keeping it in mind. Her general unease kept her muscles tensed, ready to fire off a spell at the first sign of danger. After Mitra's suggestion the group fell quiet, keeping a silent vigil until its leader murmured that he might have made a mistake. [i]No, really?[/i] she thought, tuning out Blaike's attempt to get in on the conversation. [i]We find an unusually dark and ominous forest where things aren't as they should be, waltz in anyway, and suddenly we're having second thoughts. You're a fool, and we're fools for following you. This is how horror stories start. And now we're in the rising action.[/i] 

A moment later a monster emerged from the brush, with neither pomp nor ceremony, and Artemisia's dark expression turned to one of surprise. “Aha!” She would have busted out a blast of magic if Balder, Avaddon, and Ianthe weren't standing directly in her way. Before she could re-position, the miniboro beat it, leaving as fast as it came, and leaving Artemisia to stare at the bushes curiously.  [color=seagreen]”Odd...”[/color] Balder did well enough to explain the strangeness of the situation, stacking another layer on the already-teetering tower of reasons why the group shouldn't be here. Blaike went ahead and got the inevitable suggestion of splitting up out of the way, which was another horror story classic. Luckily cooler heads prevailed; there would be no getting picked off one or two at a time today. Ianthe urged Artemisia to get closer, and she complied without complaint.

It didn't take long for Artemisia to notice a change in the air. Mist began to pool across the ground, and before long it blanketed the forest floor, hiding the already-dubious path from sight. [i]Well, that's bad.[/i] As long as the team had the path, they could at least retrace their steps backward to get out, but that window was closing quickly. They could all be trapped in here forest, doomed to wander the dark forest as forgotten spirits forevermore. Well, all of them save Artemisia, who could airboost above the canopy and 'fly' to safety. Just as the black mage thought about doing that, Luna clutched her head in pain. Like Ianthe the black mage assumed she'd been hit by something, but a quick look at her head turned up no wound, not so much as a blotch of discoloration on that lustrous, silky hair. [i]She's going batty,[/i] Artemisia hypothesized while Luna warned that everyone was in great danger. [color=seagreen]“Well, obviously. But it's a bit late for that,”[/color] Arty said, her voice dry. [color=seagreen]“Can't see the path anymore.”[/color]