The wind never ceased to howl in the far reaches of Salvar. The further north one dared travel, the more hostile the gale's scream became. On previous visits, Artemis had taken his time and scouted out the region. Across many months, the ranger had veritably mapped the entire continent of Salvar, storing what knowledge he couldn't personally remember in Judicis' endless archive - his sentient Artifact. Still, some areas remained shrouded in shadow and mystery, kept hidden due to their immeasurable dangers.

'It still worries me how little we know of what's to come,' Judicis whispered into Artemis' thoughts. The artifact appeared as a bracer upon Artemis' left wrist, capable of changing form to other mundane shapes; its true form came as that of a mighty bow of raw energy.

Artemis shook his head, equally frustrated. He'd spent days traversing the ceaseless storms that kept the land close to Berevar covered in an ever-present blanket of thick white powder. It felt impossible to imagine a time before Denebriel's curse had frozen the northern parts of the globe. His protective garb covered every inch of flesh and kept the cold at bay, but that didn't make the journey easy by any stretch.

Artemis marched on with his enchanted boots, magic transforming their treads into snowshoes with teeth, so as to not fall through the snow or be blown away. Each step necessitated determination and purpose. The buffeting storm would knock him over were it not for the ranger's strength and endurance. A layer of frost coated his body from the front as he walked into the winds.

'Storm is getting worse,' Artemis reflected.

Judicis stepped in to fill the gap instantly, taking advantage of the enormous database that had come of Artemis' months of work. 'There is a small cavern about two hundred meters to the northeast, small and enclosed. Turn thirty-five degrees to your right. I'll keep your direction.'

Artemis nodded, unnecessarily so, and did as instructed. When the winds of the north blew this violently, even the wild beasts of the land preferred shelter. Strangely, that made the walk safer, albeit immensely uncomfortable. The howling of yeti and warg and orc alike merged into a wail that whipped across the desert of snow and ice. With visibility effectively null, the wandering ranger relied on his sensory attunement, using supernatural ability to guide his path and benefiting from the processing power of sentient magic upon his wrist.

Still, little could bring the virtuous fighter into these dangerous lands, and further north still. However, the Tarot had a mark that required elimination, and as the card of Justice, he would fulfill his duty. An evil man, Lichensith Ulroké, lie in wait beyond the mountains, beyond the Black Forest. Whether Artemis would ever reach the man remained to be seen, and would serve as a test to determine whether fate had chosen the right man to dole out that Justice.