Well, it happens. Don't worry too much about it. I had a good deal of fun while it lasted, after all.
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"...Um..." The meek wizardess looks at the map of the caverns, frowning and looking at the others in the party. She knows that none of them really trust her, so she's determined to make up for her mistakes. "We, um, should probably avoid the troll...I don't, um, think we could take it...m-maybe we should see the Bree-yarks, first?"
Natalie is quite interested in the contents of the spell book from an academic point of view. She peruses the other books while waiting on the others to return from the town, before starting to make a decent enough meal for them on their return - a simple stew. She's quiet and unobtrusive, obviously still shamed at her foolishness from yesterday, barely meeting anyone's eyes and looking away quickly when she does.
Natalie has the decency to look shameful when facing Lucian and the others, bowing her head. "I'm so sorry...I just...I just wanted the fighting to stop and...I panicked. I just didn't want...I'm sorry..." She sniffles, wringing the hem of her cloak nervously. "I'm sorry...it won't happen again, I'm sorry..."
Natalie sniffles and looks at the others, glad that the fighting is over at least. "...Um...w-who's taking him t-to the town, then?" She inquires. "I, um...I could stay, and...just make this place cozy?" She suggests.
Natalie sniffles and glances up now that the sounds of battle are over - her guilt on the other hand stays with her. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." She keeps repeating, trying to keep it together.
Natalie curls up and tries to not be in anyone's way right now, just waiting for all the fighting to end.
Natalie continues to cower on the floor, hands pressed to her ears and eyes shut.
"I-I..." Natalie whimpers, one hand placed to her hip. "I just want it to s-stop..." She says, looking around at all of the fighting. "W-We didn't have to...keep k-killing..." She curls up on the floor, no longer moving for the moment, just trying to put out the sound of fighting for the moment.
Natalie shrieks loudly as she'd suddenly shot at by the gnome, backing away from him swiftly. Remarkably, she'd barely avoided the bullet, which grazed her hip instead of lodging in her belly. "W-W-Why are you shooting me?!"
Because I know I'm responsible, I'd like to ask the GM if Lucian can have one of Natalie's Hero Points to replace the one he used. It is her fault that it had to be spent, and I don't want any bad feelings over this.
True enough. She's naive enough to believe that they can still solve this dilemma without further bloodshed. But I dare say that she'll be quickly proven wrong about it.
I suppose I should address the friendly fire situation before it boils over. Natalie wanted the fighting and killing to stop, without harming the party. In that she used the best and only spell she had available to do that. It might be unpopular, but everybody was all gung ho about murdering an unarmed man who we initiated hostilities against. Yes, he's working with goblins, and he's a confessed necromancer, but he also just more or less surrendered when Zirrel got up close. I apologize to any offense to the players by this action. And I understand that this will affect her standing in the party negatively as well. But it's been done, and what's been done can't be taken back. She's probably made a mistake here, and she'll suffer the consequences for it.
Panicking a little because her allies seem to be ready to assault a unarmed man in his home, Natalie reacts perhaps a little badly, in that she points a hand at the most aggressive members of the party, ready to hit them all with her last spell if they move to attack.
"S-S-Stop it!" Natalie speaks out, looking at the others. "Y-you're all acting irrationally...I-I mean..." she works up what very little courage and confidence she has left to speak. "J-Just because he's living here, and he's w-working with goblin, doesn't prove anything. Y-You're assuming g-guilt without e-evidence. N-Necromancy is n-not a crime on it's own. W-We're the invaders here - i-if anything, we are the criminals trespassing."
"O-oh," Natalie speaks, thinking for a moment. When she really thought about it, she felt a little guilty for having helped storm this place like that. For a necromancer, he didn't seem like a terrible person - anyone who practiced the arcane arts like her had to endure a lifetime of struggle even with the simplest of spells sapping their strength. "U-Um...we're really, really sorry...we made an assumption that the goblins w-would have, um, attacked us if we approached the tower peacefully," She speaks quietly. "U-um, I'm N-Natalie Labelle...I'm, um, a transmuter...w-well, I only know some of the basics...we, um, were hoping to use this place a-as a, um...base, for...clearing out...the caves..." She trails off a little, looking at the others primed for a fight and speaking to them. "U-Um, maybe...we could, um, share the tower? I-I mean, well, if it's n-not too much trouble...w-we're really, really sorry..." She bows her head to the master of the tower politely, being as tactful as she could.
Natalie lets out a tiny whimper of fear at that response, shrinking back. At least that explained why he was all the way out here. "Um...you don't have...any corpses around...do you?" She asked, though it was increasingly obvious that she probably wouldn't like the answer.
"...magical research?" Natalie asks, peering out from behind the rest of the group to look at the strange man. "Um...w-what kind of research? Abjurations? Transmutations? Divinations?" She certainly hoped that it wasn't necromancy. That was a magic that she found quite distasteful.
The young wizard checks her crossbow ammo - only four bolts left. She never thought that she'd have to use it so much. Not just that, but the fact she'd been able to hit more than miss with it was a miracle to her. At least she was able to be hauled up to the top, along with all of her gear and supplies. She waits behind the others, anxious to get going. The enchantment on her crossbow had faded already, the magic no longer sustaining it. At least she had her last potent spell ready in a pinch - perhaps these close quarters would make it easier for her to use it. If she didn't screw it up altogether.
Natalie blinks, before reloading again and aiming at the goblin attacking the fist fighter, firing it off at the creature.
Having no idea what the little gnome was talking about, Natalie looked at the goblins on the ground, trying to find one that wasn't uncomfortably close to an ally and firing at them.
Thank you for the extra feat! Merry Christmas now! I'll try to choose wisely!
Natalie gets a little closer as well to fire at the tower goblins, the twang of the bowstring heard first, before the bolt slammed dead center into the nasty creature. Yet another lucky shot on her part.
Natalie aims again, trying not to let her weariness effect her aim. This time the bolt flies true to hit one of the goblins on the tower parapets. It's barely a hit, though dealing little damage to the creature.
The noblewoman weaves a spell of enhancement upon her crossbow, delighted by its transformation. She feels a bit tired afterwards however, drained as she sticks to cover, ready to assist with another bolt.
The distance is far too far for Natalie to properly hit her own target, the bolt flying off into the rain. She reloads, wondering how long it will take the goblins on the tower to notice that they're under attack. If only she had time to focus on her spell, she could have given her crossbow a small enhancement. Well, she can try that right now - casting on the fly is difficult, but not impossible.
"...no, um..." The noblewoman reaches and clutches onto the crossbow swinging from her belt. "I, um, don't really...know any, um...evocations...I'm not, um, really a good shot...t-that goblin before, it, um, was j-just a lucky shot..."
Natalie looks extremely confused by what the elf and dwarf are saying, but doesn't object when they take some of her load from her. She hasn't the faintest idea where they'd gotten it in their heads that they're part of an actual group - as far as she's seen, they were merely individual mercenaries working together for the sake of profit. She was just trying to show that she had her uses. Once they set off, the quiet girl pulled her cloak hood over her to shield herself from the rain. She hoped that the rain wouldn't get so hard that it soaked into the food. This really seemed like a bad idea to her, fighting at night. At the very least she doesn't know how useful she'll be able to be if she can't see the enemy.
Natalie doesn't say anything further as she ducks her head back into her inn room, closing the door behind her. After a few minutes, it opens up again, as she's completely laden with all of her gear and new purchases. It's obviously a great deal more than she's used to carrying around. "...um...won't it, um...be dark when we get to the tower, then?" She asks.
After a few moments, the door opens up a crack, the meek spellcaster looking out at the elf and dwarf. "...um...I don't...I'm not, um...I'll just be...standing in the back, so..." She mumbles quietly, averting her gaze to the floor. "Um...we're still leaving tomorrow...right?" She asks.
The girl is frozen like a deer in the headlights from all of the sudden attention, shying away from the offered hand as two of the others start getting heated, taking all of the supplies and just stepping into the background for now. She had no idea where they'd come from as well - she hadn't seen them when she'd entered the Green Man's lobby. "...I'll, um...see you...tomorrow..." She whispered, most likely unheard with the gnome talking over everyone else. She absconds to her room, opening up the cookbook and studying it for the time being.
The wizardess struggles just a little bit with all of the foodstuff that she's bought - perhaps she's gone just a little overboard, what with the bread and cheese and carrots and potatoes and chicken and onions and salt and pepper and powdered milk and travel cake mix. She even got a cauldron and a cooking kit, putting it with the rest of what she's purchased. So she came back into the inn unbalanced and overloaded, trying to juggle the different sacks and keep herself herself from falling over - and rather failing badly at the last part, a squeak of shock coming from hr as she tumbles backwards, the purchased items dropping all around her with a clatter. She gets to her knees and starts picking up everything again, sighing and hoping this effort will be worth it.
Natalie nods, thanking them quietly for their advice before taking her leave. She knows that its dangerous, and she certainly won't have a large role to play in the hunt. They'd just be clearing them out of their hiding holes, so the others would be doing all the grunt work - she would just have to ensure that they were well fed. After leaving, she goes to buy some foodstuff in bulk - enough for eight people for a week. She makes sure its simple but tasty and nutritious fare, bringing it all back with her.
"...um...yes. I mean, I'm trying to be. It's scary, but I'm trying." The wizard is feeling a little less nervous thanks to their affable nature. "Like, um, just today, I helped these people clear out the dungeons under the keep...there was a giant snake, and rats, and some goblins..."
"No...I'm a beginner, so..." She nods to the sisters, looking at the book and opening it up to skim through it. Seemed like this would do for their needs. Now she just needed to get the ingredients. "...thank you, so...how much do I, um, owe?" She asks them.
"...um...hello. I was told that, maybe, I could possibly purchase some cooking supplies...or a cookbook...I'm traveling with people to a place outside the fort, so...I thought it would be a good idea to bring fresh food to make some simple meals..." She respectfully and quietly says to the girl, bowing her head.
Figuring that she has nothing to lose, the young wizard heads for the dairy to see what she can learn. Perhaps Opal was a book collector?
After taking a bath and scrubbing the dungeon filth off of her, Natalie changes clothing and comes out of her inn room. She wants to be helpful to these people - for some reason they seem to want to include her in tasks she knows that she couldn't help them with - so there ha to be something that she could do. If they were going to be cooped up in a watchtower for a few days clearing out the nearby caverns, they would need some decent food. She was no chef certainly, but she could get a cookbook and ingredients. Nodding to herself, she sets off, first to find a bookstore so she could purchase the needed knowledge, then whatever she would need to make the simple meals.
The door opens just a crack, the noblewoman's face peeking out at Lucian. "...Um...no, no thank you...I'm just...studying, and I, um...ordered a bath, so...sorry..."
A question on magic item creation: If Natalie wants to use her time to scribe a spell scroll, would taking 10 on the concentration check for the spell mean that it would still take her 10 times as long (20 hours)?
Natalie wasn't sure how to react to such a blatant stereotype - as far as she could tell, the man was just ordinary looking, keeping to himself. She certainly didn't want to bother him at all, so she went back up to her room. She could identify the potion in the morning.
Thinking that perhaps the innkeeper hadn't heard her the first time, Natalie speaks up again to him. "Is there an, um...arcanist in town? A wizard or the like?"
GM tracking is good for me, too.
Natalie nods as she takes her leave, thinking about what she might need for a cavern excursion and what she could actually carry around. Good thing that she had a inn room to keep her valuables safe. She heads back to the Green Man and her inn room, dropping her burdens and taking out that vial she found down in the dungeon. She'd have to remember to identifying it tomorrow, it seemed. Or she could find someone else to do it for her. The wizard went down to the front desk in order to ask. "Um...I'd like a bath...and, um...i-is there anyone in the keep who, um...deals w-with magic potions?" She asks.
"Um...h-how far away is it? A-and...d-do you have any maps?" Natalie asks, figuring that they might have drawn up the caverns from their raid two years ago. In any case, she'd have to think about going - clearing a dungeon out was one thing, but going into a goblins' lair sounded vastly more dangerous.
The noblewoman stands up and looks at the others, before quietly stepping back as they argued about the armor and weapons - while apparently agreeing that it didn't belong to them. She hadn't even really been looting, she'd just been curious about what was inside. Seeing that the place had been effectively cleaned out, she started back towards the exit, shimmying up and down the ropes carefully to get to the gate. After that, it only takes the use of the key Jadale left them to unlock it, before heading back up to report to the woman.
The young noblewoman is surprised to find that there's weapons and armor inside of the crate. She takes a look at them carefully, thinking on their worth. "...Um...we should...probably return these...maybe get an additional, um...reward..." She suggests to the dwarf. She recalled her master's advice, that 'nothing motivates a good deed more than compensation'.
Still here as well. Seeing as Natalie was investigating the boxes and crates, I assumed she wouldn't make it in time to help out with the rest of combat for the others.
Having seen what the opened container hold, Natalie gets to work on the covered ones, first taking a look at the lidded bucket, opening it up, before moving onto the shut crate. Taking her dagger out, she starts to loosen up the boards as much as she can to get a look inside - there might be something of value inside, and her curiosity is peaked now that the danger is no more.
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