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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] 16	[color=9932cc][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=9932cc][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Rose River Vineyard (Watchtower -> Fields Near Estate House)
[color=9932cc][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=9932cc][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color]  [color=dimgray][i]Familiar[/i][/color] stuff, [color=black][b]Morty[/b][/color]
[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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	Victoria acknowledged the compliment to her music with a slight nod and neutral expression. It was nice to hear that others liked her primary form of artistic expression, though the emotional effort that it would have taken to demonstrate her appreciation just didn't seem worth it right then. The music, the dance - it served to center her, and she did truly feel better. The weight of the last few weeks was still heavy, however. Between the illness and the accident, not to mention the usual foot traffic of a rural trade stop with an experienced "village healer" (and her new lovely, exotic helper) had kept her stressed and busy seemingly constantly, day through night. On top of this, the academic portion that her mentor [i]insisted[/i] she complete was the exact opposite of how Victoria figured she would be learning this new skill set. She just didn't feel like investing herself in faking graciousness.  

	Yet in her own way, this was a compliment of her own. A social defense was taken down in front of Kathryn that she would have kept up among people with whom she was less familiar. Her voice was still melodic, still perfectly inflected where it needed to be to put across intent of her words, but Victoria spoke with a weary quality and a grim sort of frankness that sounded just as much a confession as it might a slice of storytime.[color=9932cc]"Yes. [i]'A lot of good for these people.'[/i] Yes I did."[/color] She looked up to the tall and powerfully built woman who was offering a mug of warmed wine and took it. She inhaled the vapors and sipped it once, giving the potable an ounce of pleasant regard before continuing. [color=9932cc]"I think it's only right that you know; I am learning this for my own devices. The Medician has already threatened to murder me because of what I am, but took it back because I'm [i]'dedicated'[/i]. But the truth is, she's not wrong."[/color] Victoria continued to look up at Kathryn. Let judgement fall where it may, she was honestly tired in that moment of putting up pretense. [color=9932cc]"My magic is naturally starting to come together in ways that maneuver across the boundaries of life, death, and that grey area in between. I'll never be as good as a Wizard, Kathryn. I just won't. So I'm trying to learn about these concepts from a mundane point of view. In the past three weeks I have seen a lot of sick and dying bodies. Women, men, children, all afflicted indiscriminately by disease and trauma. I've performed amputations. An actual [i]bonesaw[/i]. Or slipped a wide blade between joints like I was dismembering a chicken. I'm doing this so I can learn Surgery. Anatomy. Hells, Kat - I'm almost certain I know enough to improve the utility of an animated corpse, so long as I can work on it for a while first."[/color]

	There wasn't much hope of Victoria keeping her darker thoughts inside of herself at this point, and as the proverbial cats were tumbling out of the equally proverbial bag, she just kept going. But not without the occasional pause to sip her wine. [color=9932cc]"Naturally, being a mundane Healer will have merit within any adventuring group, but the truth is I'm doing this to become a better Necromancer. And as I cannot be a truly powerful, single-purposed one, then I shall study to become a more versatile, less predictable Necromancer. I cannot tell Annick that she was correct about me, nor do I wish to quit learning from her. But midwifing alone for that woman today - if she knew, would she have let me anywhere near her baby? Would [i]anyone?[/i]"[/color]

	Victoria allowed the question to linger as if she contemplated it further, herself. In reality, she was waiting to gauge Kathryn's reaction to her admission. It was only a matter of time before the Bard could perform the classic acts of magic attributed to her Wizardly counterpart, and her non-standard supplementary abilities enhanced this. Victoria was what she was. And she half expected to brace for an attack from Kathryn, puzzled as to how she might defend herself - or ofnshe might bother to. [color=9932cc]"I appreciate your offer for help. But no, I need to push through this for myself. Fruitful study via immersion."[/color]

        Something caught Victoria's eye in the distance. It looked like the start of several small fires in the distance, or one large one which was very low to the ground, from her angle. And near the Estate House. She kept speaking, but her voice trailed off as the image of what was going on became clearer. [color=9932cc]"The truth is, I'm cursed..."[/color] Then the alarm was sounded. Whatever the rest of Victoria's thought was, it would have to go unvocalized for now. Almost to contrast, her words suddenly took on a more certain quality as she said, [color=9932cc]"I'm going to see if anyone needs help down there."[/color] While Victoria did not know what was happening, she was fairly confident that the concepts of "fire" and "farmland" did not readily mix. The rest of her wine disappeared at a gulp and she took off in at a jog, violin case on her back.