The first episode of Magic’s Secrets of Strixhaven story begins with a group chat-style dialogue between the protagonists from Lorwyn Eclipsed — Abigale, Kirol, Sanar, Tam, and Lluwen.
After enduring the events on Lorwyn, the four students returned to Strixhaven with their new friend and now classmate, Lluwen, and resumed their individual scholarly pursuits.
Abigale
Separated by their individual field studies, Abigale proposed that the group keep in touch via “scribing board,” a device that allows the user to view hand-written letters in real-time.
A student of the Silverquill, Abigale’s studies have led her to the Forum of Amity in northeast Archavios, where she observes the plane’s brightest political minds “…debate, deliberate, and negotiate, seeking solutions to all manner of disputes.”
Abigale describes her day-to-day as lonely, but she remains preoccupied, taking notes and running errands for the conciliators and upperclassmen.
Sanar
A member of the Prismari, Sanar’s time has been spent in the center of Archavios on Spectacle Summit, a “rocky canyon suffused with the energies of the elements.” Enthusiastic to a fault, Sanar’s update covers “twenty-six pages of extremely technical but nonetheless stirring…” descriptions of his surroundings and endeavors.
Sanar’s well-meaning but lengthy check-in ultimately prompts the group to set a one-page limit for responses.
Lluwen
After fleeing Lorwyn and having his request to become a student at Strixhaven approved, Lluwen joined the Witherbloom. Despite the school having a healthy population of Elves, Lluwen is the only one from Lorwyn and has been struggling to acclimate. He concludes his update by sharing that he would be soon be departing with his class for Titan’s Grave, a “…vast forest growing inside the cavernous remains of a giant unknown titan from the dawning of the plane.”
Responding to Lluwen, Sanar warns that the trip to Titan’s Grave was being led by Professor Fel, a teacher infamous for having a dark temperament and described by Sanar as the “surliest guy in Strixhaven.”
Tam
A stoic scholar of few words, Tam shares that she has been studying with the Quandrix in the Paradox Gardens, a manufactured scientific space described as having “…strange natural phenomena, haunting illusions, and metaphysical anomalies” in southeast Archavios.
Responding to Lluwen’s report, Tam offers to accompany him to Titan’s Grave, citing her need for a more “multifaceted” education in addition to possessing questions for Oracle Jadzi who would be aiding in overseeing the students there alongside Professor Fel.
Kirol
A student of Lorehold, Kirol has been studying at the Fields of Strife, a historical site located in Archavios’ Tor-Kathorra desert where a “perpetual battle waged by restless spirits of the Blood Age” continuously rages on.
Kirol shares that they had been busy, forced to attend several safety lectures before being granted access to the field. According to Kirol’s notes from one such lecture, students venturing into this area were required to bring a small memento along with them and to use it every hour to reorient themselves or risk confusion and enthrallment caused by the area’s mana.
They conclude their update by recalling that a spirit had attacked them and several others while in the field, but they had successfully “…dissolved it back into the currents.” Upon returning to camp, Kirol then found Ajani waiting, who explained that he would be stepping in to act as their advisor moving forward.
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With each student now having provided their updates, some time passes and Lluwen checks back in, letting everyone know he and Tam had arrived at Titan’s Grave.
The elf explains that everything had been going smoothly despite the warnings about the overseeing Professor. According to Lluwen, the pair was able to speak at length with Oracle Jadzi, and then the following day, Professor Fel provided clearance for them to access an area of Titan’s Grave known as Toadstool Copse.
Upon entering the area, Lluwen shares that Fel had instructed the students to “try and find something no one else has ever seen before—something that represented a “step forward…” which he took as a challenge and opportunity to impress Fel.
After searching for hours with nothing to show, Lluwen was about to give up hope when he noticed a small “plant-animal” called a Lumaret, that appeared to be holding “…a bit of bark, tilting their head this way and that..” as if it was looking at a map.
Thanks to his experience hunting on Lorwyn, Lluwen manages to observe the animal without being noticed, and follows it until it reaches the base of a large tree where it is greeted enthusiastically by dozens of other lumarets who “…jumped up and waved their hands in the air.”
Having witnessed signs of higher cognizance like mapmaking and communication, Lluwen recalls rushing back to his professor to explain what he saw, only to be dismissed, with Fel stating that the creatures “have no magic” and “aren’t worth studying.”
Kirol is the first to respond, doing their best to console Lluwen and asks him to share more details about his discovery. He goes on to explain that they too had not had a good day, and shares that they had encountered the same spirit as before while out on a mission with Ajani.
Just as before, the spirit had attacked, but this time, Kirol had noticed that the spirit had facial features that resembled their kin. But before they could decide how to best interact with the spirit, Ajani jumped in and struck it down. Kirol goes on to explain that prior to entering the Fields, Ajani had been in good spirits, even sharing stories of his past with them, but after this experience, his expression had darkened and bore hints of shame.
Read Secrets of Strixhaven Episode One in full from Wizards of the Coast.
