The Naming of Things

"The Naming of Things" is episode 2 in The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One, released on March 14, 2023. The world of Spirit shows its teeth. Not all the chickens make it. Pack your bags and travel light. There's ogres on the road.

Synopsis
In the last hours of sunlight, Suvi and Ame are with Ren as she, and her familiar Taro, pass. With them, the magic seemingly disappears from the cottage, making the home eerily quiet.

Out the window of the bedroom, Suvi spots a stranger approaching the cottage at its workshop, and alerts Ame to his presence. After Ame sends Ren off with a funeral rites ritual, she heads downstairs to confront him at the door, asking him of his business before she would let him in. The stranger claims himself to be an old friend of Ren's, and Ame asks for his name. He does not offer one, but instead his three titles, one of which being The Man in Black. Still shaken by Ren's passing and on an urgent mission, Ame requests that he returns another day, one year from now. Through the door, the man agrees, and when he disappears it is suddenly daytime again.

Conversing about the strangeness of what just happened, Suvi recalls knowledge she learned from her lessons at the Citadel. The Man in Black was most likely a spirit of immense power, able to bring night with him where he went. His mere presence at the cottage already did a number on the things there, despite him not entering. He had changed time, leaving the milk to go bad and the fruit trees to wither. He also had somehow affected one of Ren's bead curtains, and Suvi's message mirror.

As they attempt to get back on track, Suvi remembers to gift Ame some items from Steel: a couple of scrolls, and a book about the Stars of the Seven Skies. Ame skims through the book, unable to glean much information amidst the wizard jargon, while Suvi searches the cottage, noting the changes from last she had been there many years ago. The two of them enter Ame's room, also now different in their time apart. Suvi notices the patch of her blue cloak she had left with Ame is still in her bed as a piece of the comforter.

A commotion outside interrupts the girls, as a confused fox exits the chicken coop with a dead hen in its mouth. Suvi realizes it probably entered while it was still night, and was now perplexed at the sudden change in time. She cackles at this, scaring the fox back into the woods.

Main Player Characters

 * Suvi
 * Ame
 * Eursulon

Returning

 * Ren

New

 * The Man in Black
 * Daomai
 * Fox
 * Adelaide
 * Oscar

Mentioned

 * Steel
 * Eoighorain