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[h2][color=darkorchid][i][b]Victoria Belmont[/b][/i][/color][/h2][i][b][color=9932cc]Half-Elf, Bard, Level 5[/color][/b][/i]
[color=9932cc][i][b]HP:[/b][/i][/color] 33 / 33	[color=9932cc][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 15	[color=9932cc][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=9932cc][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Rose River Vineyard (Coach House)
[color=9932cc][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] Spellcasting, [i]Minor Illusion[/i]
[color=9932cc][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=9932cc][i][b]Reaction:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
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[right][img]https://i.ibb.co/k55RrWV/Victoria-Alt-4-2.png[/img][/right]
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        And odd, strangely guarded expression came over Victoria's generally serene face when Kathryn gave the hypothetical of her voice dropping a few octaves. She quickly adopted a more or less genial smile to brush it away with a polite [color=9932cc]"Thank you, Ser Kathryn."[/color] A small sip from her glass and a touch of thought later, she continued her response, [color=9932cc]"I assure you, I am emphatically common-born. Unless you count my Elven heritage, which [i]some[/i] Humans do."[/color] Seeing that others had raised an eyebrow at this concept, Victoria related further, [color=9932cc]"My parents are independently wealthy; they are considered 'New Money'. After making their fortunes in the world, they invested in properties, transportation, goods, et cetera. They are now successful merchants with a respectable network for trade."[/color] 

        Victoria settled into her seat proper and pulled her bowl of soup a little nearer. She unfolded a napkin and placed it into her lap, angling a spoon to take agreeable portions of the thick, yummy dish to her mouth. After a bite or two (and a polite affirmation to Lizbeth on the quality), she continued. [color=9932cc]"Up-and-coming traders move from the outskirts of the capitol of the realm and settle in a rich trade city nestled between the sea and the forest a short jaunt away. Then they hire private tutors which were previously only available to the children of Barons and Viscounts, but for whom [i]gold[/i] is the final arbiter of their insecurities involving the Class Divide."[/color] It seemed that there was always a separation between the social classes that having wealth might move one up toward, but never fully breach. [color=9932cc]"And while those of a bluer bloodline adore people like myself and my ...cousin..."[/color] Victoria took the moment to conjure up a flat, unmoving image of a Half-Elf with striking, dignified features, dressed in dark finery. The familial resemblance was positively uncanny.

[center][img]https://i.ibb.co/rMDHyZj/Virgil-Portrait.jpg[/img][/center]

	Her face took on a mildly bitter expression as she gazed upon the image she had cast into view. She swiftly righted herself and completed her thought. [color=9932cc]"...as we're both quite pretty and are in high demand for society events - [i]especially noteworthy funerals[/i] - people like us are regularly reminded that we are not of the true, blood-right aristocracy of the land. I can walk among them, speak like them, know what they know, and even have more money as a family than a some of them. But I assure you, regardless of how well known the Belmonts of Ashhaven are known (and we most certainly are known, within circles) I am most definitely not one of the nobility."[/color] Victoria did break into a genuine smile over her wine glass as she voiced her following thought, [color=9932cc]"Though my sisters are convinced that at least one of them shall marry a prince."[/color] 

	Victoria was feeling quite talkative in the moment, and moved on to address the questions raised about her knowledge of wines and discerning the qualities therein from just a taste. [color=9932cc]"Now, Father was the roguish type (according to Mother, who insists he has gotten much better recently) but he had a discerning palate and wanted his children to share that trait. No doubt someone like Madmoiselle Lizbeth has a better grasp on this than myself, but even I can tell you that the circumstances of the grape's growth, maturity, processing, and aging, not to mention what kind of grape it is, leaves elements of flavor, aroma, texture in the finished wine. You just have to know how to interpret the signs it reveals. I can do so as a cosmopolitan sipper of fine vintages. The people who live and work here would make me look like a sanctimonious novice. Even the laborers would have an intimate knowledge of the local wines."[/color] 

	She waved off her latest statement as a bit of a digression from her overall point. Getting back to it, she continued, [color=9932cc]"The longer lifespan that the Elven half of my lineage provides next to my Human neighbors meant that I was still comparatively young when my formal studies drew to a conclusion. My family allowed me to take to the road with their caravans to receive a broader, more worldly, less formal education on other cultures, and relevant to this conversation, the local flavors of their wines, among other things."[/color]

	Another sip, another gesture, [color=9932cc]"Or to put it with incredible simplicity, my proclivity to Necromancy aside, I am a Bard. I know a little bit about a [i]lot[/i] of things."[/color] Her smile was prideful, maybe even a bit cocky as she spoke, swirling the wine in her glass around. She glanced back to the illusory image of the handsome young Half-Elf she identified as her cousin, shook her head slightly, and flicked her fingers at it. The spell faded into the ether like sugar dissolving under pouring water.