Ashley spent the rest of the evening fuming.
Of all the stupid things. Hello person who has the answers I need, hold still while I murder you!
One thing was for certain, she was going to approach that kind of thing very carefully from now on. Players didn't just flag to her in some obvious way as soon as they were in view. Which meant taking some care not to try to kill them on sight. There was no way she was going to make that mistake again. All the same, some explaining would probably be called for if they saw her new title.
They camped right there that night. Though Ashley got all the benefits from the player kill, her HP regen from defeated NPCs apparently not only transferred from her warband to her, but the regen went back the other way again to her goblins. By the time that was over with they had regained a lot of their lost health. All the same everyone was hurt and tired so they munched on cold deer slices and slept under the trees, with two of them taking turns at watch.
Overall things had worked out okay apart from that. One of the NPCs had been a decent enough fit for her, so now she had rough leather armour and her very own sword. Not that she planned to use it. His boots were total crap though, so she kept her own shoes. They were looking banged-up, but at least they fit.
The takings from the Cleric had been acceptable but hardly worth the effort. Three high-quality health potions, and an MP infusion, so she could keep them handy for emergencies. The robe she'd folded away in Grabmog's big backpack. If she couldn't use it then maybe they could sell it.
Then there was the pendant. It was a bit of a mystery. Appraise gave her only:
Pendant; Sealed Discourse
Level 8 - Current Exclusion to Level 10
Which was not helpful. She wasn't even sure what Sealed Discourse was supposed to mean, and Rebus was no help. She badly needed to spend some time with an expert magic user.
I can't just figure out the entire damn system on my own by trial and error!
Grabmog had healed up the other Goblins with some kind of spell, just like she had guessed. She made a mental note to talk to him one-on-one about that and see if she could learn it. But she didn't want to look too eager.
She would need to get by with the spells she had until then, while looking calm and authoritative to her band of Goblins.
They had ended up with some extra food and a small bag with five gold and seventeen silver coins in it. The Goblins had scorned the human weapons though - they preferred their own.
"Too long," Gravmok said, twirling one of the swords around. "Feels funny when I swing it."
Finally, two of the Goblins had levelled up as well. Gamgrak had gone up to level 5, which he looked pleased about. But Garmak had dealt the fatal blow to one of the men on his own and had gone up a level to 4. He was still the lowest-ranking of the group, but he looked seriously chuffed about it all the same. If Garbar hadn't been killed he would even have had a peer now. Gravmok had killed the biggest one on his own but he hadn't levelled up yet.
She was concerned about what to do with Garbar's body -rather than vaporizing it was still splayed out on the ground. But the Goblins didn't seem the least bit worried.
"He died good," Gravmok said. "Now the birds come and eat him, rest of him goes to the bugs. That way he's part of the world still, so not really gone."
Which seemed like a surprisingly philosophical point of view for scaly green monsters, but Ashely wasn't about to argue with it. On top of which it made everything a lot simpler.
Plus apparently your own party members don’t just vaporize if they die. So you don't lose their inventory maybe?
They spent the rest of the day putting distance between themselves and the scene of the crime, more carefully this time with one of the group ranging ahead as a scout then reporting back. Every hour or so they would stop and Garmak would hoot out his bird call sound, and they would listen for a reply. So far there had been none.
That night they found a hollow under the roots of a fallen tree and scrunched together to sleep, with the Goblins taking turns at watch while Ashley and Rebus had the luxury of sleeping the whole night away. But it was hard to relax - she kept worrying about how she was going to manage possibly dozens of Goblins who were all expecting her to lead them to some far-off home that she knew nothing about.
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
She'd heard that somewhere. It was kind of true.
Rebus on the other hand flaked out near her and snored relentlessly.
The next day the sky was cloudless, and they tramped along for hour upon hour in the blazing heat. The goblins didn't seem bothered by it, but Ashley was tempted to strip off the heavy leather and put on her filthy shirt again. She forced herself to keep up and act as casual about the brutal heat as the rest of them instead.
"How far until we get to where the battle happened?" she said when they had stopped for a break and some food.
"About four days, maybe five?" Gravmok said, looking at Grabmog, who nodded.
"Is it strange we haven't found anyone else yet?"
"Maybe we go far away from everyone else," Gravmok said. "Or maybe men kill everyone. Who knows?"
She didn't want to push that either, but it was worrying. She had started to assume she'd end up with her own little band of protectors. But so far all she’d actually done was lose one of them instead.
As they were getting ready to go again Grabmog shouted a warning, and all of the Goblins scurried to hide under trees or logs. Ashley and Rebus followed without hesitation, but once they were hidden away she whispered to Gravmok.
"What is it?"
Gravmok pointed at the sky.
Something was moving through the air - no, three somethings. She could see silvery glints from them when they caught the sunlight.
"Human heroes," Gravmok whispered. "They fly their mounts, maybe they try to kill us if they see."
The cleric's titles had included the Company of Heroes, which was some presumably some kind of player group.
How would they respond to a someone working for the bad guys?
Which she clearly was. Hell, she was leading a group of Goblins and she'd already killed another player. It wasn't exactly her fault, but it probably wasn't a good look. They might regard her as fair game, just as much so as the Goblins themselves.
What she really needed were experienced players who... worked for the other side. But it wasn't obvious how to make contact with them. She was worried they might not be the friendliest bunch, but there was really no way to tell right now.
But no matter how she looked at it, having her own personal army seemed like a sensible way to guarantee her own safety.
The players never dropped low enough to get a good look at them, but it was pretty clear that one of them was riding a brilliant white creature with a long, thin tail. They circled several times around the area where the goblins were hiding.
It was obvious they suspected somebody was in the woods below them, but in the end one by one they drifted out of their circular holding pattern and headed away south.
Ashley made everyone wait a good long time to be sure it wasn't a trap.
What if they know about the dead player?
She might already be on somebody's revenge list.
When they finally ran into another group of Goblins it was by accident as the sky was growing orange and they were looking for a safe spot to spend the night.
Garmak was their scout at that point, ranging ahead of them and looking for trouble. He came scurrying back through the bush with his eyes wide, looking worried.
"I see Goblin!" he said in a kind of whisper-shout. "A bunch. But it looks weird."
"Weird how?" Gravmok growled at him. "They all singing and playing games?"
"They with a White Mage," Garmak said. "Human. They sit with it. Nobody fighting."
Gravmok frowned. It was obvious by now to Ashley that he trusted Grabmog's judgment, and the senior goblin looked at him expectantly.
The healer just shook his head.
"Might be okay. We need to see. They probably have sentries. We get caught if we try to sneak up."
Gamgrak pointed at Ashely.
"They know the Night Queen if we go to them. No Goblin attack her."
He gave her a strange look. Ashley had had the feeling all along that he was the only one who didn't entirely buy her new role.
I guess it's a test. Well fuck you Gamgrak, I am the Night Queen.
If she was going to lead an army of the Damned, then she couldn't have them doubting her.
"The Night Queen will go to them," she said firmly. "You stay here. I will send for you."
Rebus made an approving noise. "But let's just hope they're not sitting there with some kind of Bad News," he said.
Ashley ignored him and went off into the forest in the direction of Gamgrak's pointed finger, never looking back. If she could go recruit another ten Goblins without the help of her little band it might help to settle any lingering suspicions.
In a way she couldn't entirely blame Gamgrak. The Night Queen was some legendary overpowered Witch, and Ashley could barely swing four spells. Really the only thing she had going for them was the Aura of Doom which they seemed to take as some kind of calling card. Plus whatever it was that her eyes were supposedly doing.
I'd really like to find a mirror and get a look at that.
Rebus trotted along beside her.
"You need more magic," he said. "That's going to start to be a problem."
"No kidding," she said once they were out of earshot. "How do I get more spells?"
"Well, you can buy them of course. If we find a town that might be an option, but your presence might create... issues on that front."
"Leaving what?"
"Books of Magic. We can delve into a few ruins along the way. Once you've got enough Goblin support that will probably be doable. Or you can trade with another magic user for spells. So we should keep an eye out for opportunities there as well."
"Dungeon crawls. I guess that makes sense."
"I can hear something," the cat said.
She nearly crouched down, but then realized that would probably defeat the purpose. She was planning to stroll boldly into the crowd and take their allegiance, which was her right as the Night Queen. Of course someone might just stab her to death, that was a possibility as well. But the game seemed ready to accept her in this role, and she'd never get anywhere if she was too afraid to capitalize on it.
She could see the flicker of a fire up ahead through the trees.
Without warning she found a long black spear-point jabbed into her armour, stopping just short of impaling her guts.
The Goblin holding the spear looked frightened. She glared into his eyes.
"Goblin, do you know me?"
He had a wicked scar across his face, and was missing several teeth. This one looked far meaner than any of her current party. But he was breathing heavily and seemed transfixed and frozen.
She grabbed the spear and moved it aside.
"You know me. I am here to lead our people home," she said. "As the Arbrachit foretold. Now take me to your leader."
The Goblin finally found its voice.
"You are... are you really..."
"You know who I am," she said, and reached out to touch his scaly green cheek gently. "I have come back, and now we will go home."
There really were a bunch of Goblins sitting around a campfire. She counted seven, plus her guard for eight. They jumped up, armed and ready as her guide led her into the clearing. She could already see looks of shock and recognition on some of their faces as they caught sight of her.
Her escort barked something she didn't understand, apart from "Night Queen".
There was stunned silence for a moment, and then total chaos as they ran towards her and fell on the ground, swearing their willingness to live and die for her. Even her guide finally looked like he knew what to do, and dropped to grovel in front of her.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Achievement Earned: Leader, Minor Warband
Allegiance: The Damned
Band Size: 14
HP Increase +10x10; Now 350
XP+1000; Now 6050
But Ashley barely noticed any of it.
She was staring at the woman sitting beside the campfire, smiling gently at her.
Her quick Appraise result was appalling.
Silira of New Highwater; White Mage [Ascended]; Level 57
Great Healer, Mother of Beasts, Honoured Elder, Agramalek, Warden of Light; Unburdened
I may be screwed.
Rebus was sitting regally beside her, looking like he fully accepted the honours of the Goblins on her behalf. But his attention was directed at the Mage as well.
"That woman is very powerful," he said.
Focus.
"I accept your loyalty, every one of you," she said with as much calm as she could muster. "There are four more good Goblins in the woods where I came from. They are my honoured servants. Go and bring them here."
She didn't bother looking to see if she was obeyed, but strode through the bowing Goblins, towards the campfire.
She could probably kill all of us with one flick of her finger.
So Ashley's new army probably wasn't going to be of any use here.
The woman nodded to her very slightly.
"Slayer of Innocents and the Night Queen? You must have an interesting story," she said.
She didn't sound threatening or mean-spirited at all. Ashley decided to respond in kind.
I do have a sword, though. If I was fast enough, would it be any good?
"It has been hard few days," she said. "A lot of it wasn't exactly my doing. I've just been trying to stay alive."
The woman smiled again, with a pained look.
"I understand. It's not an easy world," she said. "There's so much sadness all over."
"You're a player," Ashley said. "I killed another one of us. I didn't know. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. I need to..."
"Not like this," the woman said quietly. "Some things aren't meant for some ears. We should talk privately."
"Privately?"
"I can see you have a Discourse Pendant. Bring it out."
It was buried in the small satchel at Ashley's belt, but the woman knew it was there.
Her appraise must be way better than mine.
She pulled out the golden disk on its chain.
"Wear it," the woman said.
"It's not mine."
"It will attune to you. All you need to do is put it on."
She was still wary. After getting the tiara locked to her head she didn't trust random jewelry.
The woman pulled something up from her robe. It was another golden disk that looked like Ashley's.
"It's not a trick," she said. "But we can't talk about those things unless we use this."
I guess I have to trust someone at some point.
She didn't like it though.
When the pendant was around her neck it hummed briefly, and the sound of the camp became quieter.
"Good, now only other players with a Discourse Pendant can hear what we're saying. Please keep this in mind. Have you talked about players with anyone else?"
"I've talked about being from another world."
"That's fine, but I mean specifically about being a player in a game?"
"Um... my familiar for sure. One NPC woman early on but I was still confused and probably didn't make much sense."
She nodded.
"Your familiar is fine, that's a unique relationship. Did the woman become hostile?"
Ashley pointed at her crown.
"Eventually. Mostly she seemed wary before I started wearing this thing."
"Such talk disturbs them. In your case, as the presumptive Night Queen, if these Goblins got the idea that you had a secret identity and believed their world was false - was a game - they would decide you were working to trick them. They would become very hostile, and probably attack you."
"So stay in character no matter what?"
"Always, unless you’re protected. You can usually risk a quick whisper without any problems as long as the subject isn’t obvious. "
"Can I ask you the most important thing please? How do I log out? I have no memory of starting this game. It's really disturbing. I don't know if there's something wrong, but I need to log out. Right away if I can."
She heard her voice quavering. All of the fear she'd been relentlessly pushing down for days now was threatening to well up and consume her. She slammed her fist into the log she was sitting on, using the pain to focus.
Silira the Mage reached out and put her hand on Ashley's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. Truly. I don't know the answer to your question."
"Why not?"
Her voice was still shaking and it took all of her willpower not to start bawling.
She just wanted out. To go home.
"I've never met anyone who knows the answer. Lots of people have ideas, but nobody knows."
"That's insanity. We're in a game. Wizards and goblins and XP and shit. That means we're laying down somewhere logged in to it. How can they not let us leave?"
"This won't be what you want to hear right now, but I hope you will consider it. It doesn't matter. We are where we are, and what we do to everyone around us matters."
"You're right, that doesn't help. As far as I'm concerned I'm being held prisoner. So everyone else - not the real people I mean - but all the NPCs can get fucked. They're just part of the trap I'm in."
Silira nodded sadly.
"I know. I felt like that."
"How long?" Ashley said. She was afraid to hear the answer. "How long have you been stuck here?"
The Mage shrugged.
"How do I know my sense of time here means anything somewhere else? From my perspective it's been around ten years. But that might be a week or a month somewhere else."
"Ten years."
It didn't seem real. It made no sense.
"People are working on it. Quite hard in fact. There are basically three schools of thought, if you are interested."
"I am," Ashley said. "It's all I really care about."
The Mage sighed.
"Number one, it's a spell. Or maybe an entire class of magic that affects the user interface. Or maybe it's simply buried in a book somewhere. So the great magic academies run by players have that as their ultimate goal."
"Magic academies? I need to know more about those."
Silira glanced over at the Goblins.
"We're not going to have time to go into it in detail if you want to hear about the other ideas. We're on something of a timer right now."
"Ugh. Fine. What's theory number two? No, actually let me guess. An artefact like this."
She pointed at her own head.
The Mage nodded.
"Or a gateway perhaps, but of course it would be somewhere that's not easy to get to. Most of the so-called adventurers guilds are searching for that answer."
"Are there any reasons to think they're right?"
"Oh, lots. Both of the camps have evidence that they will be happy to tell you about at length. Whether it's all a red herring is the question. There just came a point where I stopped believing either of them."
"Which leaves option number three?"
Silira smiled sadly.
"It's not popular, but it is the one I still have the most affection for. And arguably it's what started me down this path."
Ashley furrowed her brow and stared at the dirt.
"I can't think of what it would be. Something magic, and if not that, then some place. What's left?"
Silira nodded her head towards the encampment.
"Them."
"Goblins?"
"The NPCs. So-called. This is their world. They're also the reason we're going to have to end this chat quite soon."
Ashley stared over at the Goblins. The majority seemed to be talking to each other, or eating. A few were watching the two of them warily.
"Have you tried asking them?"
"Direct questions agitate them, so that’s not productive. But if there is an answer for us, it's probably buried in their heads somewhere. Now and then I still try to talk around the borders of the issue with them."
"Any progress?"
She shook her head.
"Not really. It's one of the reasons our group is considered a bit crazy. But even with all the players out there, we're probably the only ones even looking at it."
"How many?"
"Players? I've known hundreds. They're mostly concentrated in the cities. From the look of things you started rather far away from everyone else."
Ashley shook her head.
"If nobody knows then what's the point? We're just stuck here with no escape?"
A vast bleak future spread out in front of her.
"What about if we die?" she said. "What if I just kill myself or let the Goblins tear me apart?"
"Fast revival works. But absent that I've never heard of anyone coming back. It may actually be the real logout."
"It would make sense," Ashley said. "If there's really no other way to get out."
She thought of the player she'd killed. Was she happily released now, or just gone?
"We're faced with the same unknown about death here as in the real world, whatever that is," Silira said.
"Except this is clearly artificial. So death must be artificial as well."
"Maybe. It's a possibility. But unknown, and absolute."
"Fuck," Ashley said.
"They believe they're real," Silira pointed at the Goblins. Ashley could see that her personal four had joined the group now and seemed to be happily talking and eating. "They suffer and worry and feel pain and die."
"That seems really unlikely. They're just software."
"I've been watching them all for years, and talking to them where possible. All the creatures. The NPCs. The farmers and the soldiers and the kings and lords and ladies. The goblins too, yes, and the trolls, the wyverns and dragons, the shades and the spirits. Everyone. I don't believe they are false."
"Meaning what?"
"What we do here matters. This world is wracked with misery. I won't be part of it. I have magic for a purpose, and that is to make the world better."
Ashley suppressed the urge to laugh. The woman was obviously speaking with sincerity.
"If they're not real, why bother? All you've done is spend your time changing some NPC stats."
"We don't believe they're NPCs. At least not in the way you mean."
"We?"
"The group I am part of. The Unburdened. We take no part in any conflict. We help and heal all. Freely. You are welcome to join us. "
Ashley pointed at her head again.
"Can't you feel my aura? I'm the Night Queen and the ruler of the damned. Apparently."
Silira smiled at her.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful? I can't imagine a better outcome. For you to join us and renounce all conflict would be a miracle. You would have such power to help all of the damned. They will welcome you as their ruler, but you can be their servant as well. Not only that, but you could talk to creatures who would tear me apart in a heartbeat. They will know things nobody else does."
Ashley was definitely starting to get cult vibes from this woman.
Excuse me ma'am may I take a moment of your time to describe the benefits of spending eternity making unholy monsters happy?
If she'd been here as long as she said, then she was quite possibly unhinged, however powerful she might be. It was also obvious that she one hundred percent didn't know the answers. From the sound of things she'd mostly stopped even caring about them.
On the other hand it was also apparent that she didn't intend to be a threat. There was no sense in antagonizing her.
"I'll think about it, I promise," she lied. "But there's so much I still don't know about the basics. Do you mind giving me a tutorial?"
"I can," the Mage said. "But not now. Spending too long like this makes them uncomfortable, see?"
It was true. There were more angry glances being cast their way. Her own personal doubter Gamgrak among them.
That Goblin is getting on my nerves.
The Mage touched her pendant, and suddenly the noise around them grew louder. Their conversation was obviously over.
Ashley stood up immediately.
I need to look in control.
She strode over to her original four Goblins without even a glance back at the Mage. They were all eating happily, and Gamgrak was very loudly not looking at her anymore.
"You guys happy?" she said.
Gravmok waved a handful of meat in the air.
"Good find, these guys," he said. "We know them. They're pretty good group."
"Glad to hear you approve. Who is the most superior here?"
Gravmok pointed. He didn't seem worried by the question at all. Goblins were very comfortable with hierarchy.
"That one," he said. "Rogmor. He's Captain of our whole regmach. Tough guy and really smart."
Rogmor was a beefy looking Goblin with half of his face covered in scars. It looked like he'd been terribly wounded at some point. He only had one eye, but it instantly caught sight of her looking over at him. He made a small bow in her direction.
"Rogmor," Ashley said loudly. "Please come, we must talk."
There was a brief, if not quite silence, then dip in the noise.
I guess now we see how things stack up.
But she'd been worried for nothing. The goblin dropped his food and came to her immediately and bowed deeply in front of her.
"Mistress," he growled. "I am your worthless servant."
"Not from what I've heard," she said. "These ones all think you're the smartest and strongest. We should speak about what we will do next."
She thought she caught a glimmer of pride from him at being praised in front of his people. There was no sense in not buttering up the leadership after all.
She brought him over to a more private area to talk together. She noticed that Silira was sitting with a small group of Goblins who were clustered around her, listening carefully.
"Tell me about Silira," she said. "How do you feel about her? It seems strange to see her sitting with Goblins in peace like that."
Rogmor grunted.
"Not everybody likes it, but she is named Agramalek. Human friend. She healed many who were hurt after the great battle. She says she takes no side with humans, and only helps all."
"How do you feel about her?"
He gave her a knowing glance.
"Mistress, this is not our land and it is filled with humans who will kill us. We’re not so rich in allies that we can throw them away when we find them. Anyway, not all humans hate us. Dark mages, Evokers, plenty of ones like that. They served the Demon King too."
She nodded.
"I agree. I think it was wise to accept her, and I believe she's sincere as well. Maybe a little bit crazy, but not a threat."
He snorted a laugh.
"Some Goblins agree with that," he said.
They spent a while chatting. She got the feeling he was very relieved by her sudden appearance. Eventually once the humans settled their current arguments, he knew they would be back to hunt down the remainders of the Demon King's army.
But even though he was smart, she started to get a sense of the limitations of the Goblins. He didn't have a vision for what they were going to do next. As far as she could tell he was mostly focused on keeping them alive and safe here and now. Maybe his relief was in having someone around who could think about the big plans.
When it got dark, they snuffed out the campfire and posted sentries. The rest of the Goblins curled up to sleep where they were. Silira flipped out a thin bedroll off to one side and lay down staring up at the stars.
Ashley joined her, laying on the ground in her leathers like any of the rank and file Goblins. Rebus curled up beside her without a word.
Soon Ashely noted Silira quietly wiggling her pendant in the air. She turned on her own.
"We can’t talk long like this now, it won’t really be safe until tomorrow. But you do need some basic supplies. Decent magical gear that will support you." the Mage said. "That should be a priority."
"I know, but what am I supposed to do? I can't go into towns."
"You might be in luck. We're going to have visitors. Not Goblins. Some more senior people."
"What? Who?"
"From what I can gather there are two Spectres, and a Troll, and some Kobolds and Gnoll tinkers. They're the ones who can fix you up with the gear you need. Plus a Necromancer."
"A Necromancer?"
"You should get in the habit of checking your messaging. Have a look," she said cryptically.
Ashley hadn’t made her blank messaging interface a priority at all. Now she tabbed to it. There was finally some text there.
Contact Offer: Silira of New Highwater (White Mage)
"Oh, thanks," she said "I got that. Hang on."
She flicked the accept button.
"You're level ten,” the Mage said, “And I don't believe you have any communications enhancements, right?"
"I guess so."
"In that case you'll be able to message me when I'm within about half a day's walk from you."
"Not everywhere?"
Silira shook her head.
"They haven't made anything easy, that much is for sure."
Ashley flipped through her the rest of her messaging display now. There was new text all over.
CONTACTS
Silira of New Highwater; White Mage (57); in range
UNVERIFIED CONTACTS
Sam of The Red Waste; Necromancer; in range
Four missed contacts: out of range
God damn it. I’ve been letting them slip right through my fingers. Maybe those flyers were trying to talk to me. Maybe even that Cleric.
"Who's Sam? Is he one of us?”
"I suppose so. He was part of the Demon King's inner circle. He may be one of the highest ranking ones still alive."
"There were players with the Demon King?"
"Oh certainly. Of course. A lot of them are dead now I imagine, but I had heard Sam and some others had survived."
"Was the Demon King..."
"Not now," Silira said. "That's something for another time, and when we're better protected."
She turned off her pendant, and the sounds around them became louder again. Looking over to one side, Ashley could see a few heads turned angrily in their direction.
There was a weird, terrible shriek that echoed across the camp.
Rebus sat straight up. He had clearly been able to listen in on the conversation.
"Whoever they are, they're here," he said.
New text popped up on Ashley’s messages screen.
Contact Offer: Sam of The Red Waste (Necromancer)
"He sent me a messaging contact!" Ashley whispered. "What do I do? Should I just accept it?"
Silira sighed.
"He's like that. You might as well. It's probably not dangerous. At least not in an obvious way."
As soon as she approved it, there was a waiting message.
MESSAGES
Sam of The Red Waste[4]: Hello Ashley! I guess you're with S? Don't agree to be part of her weird group! Just friendly advice. I'll be there shortly.
She didn't have a keyboard. How was she supposed to send a message? She selected his message and REPLY was an option at least. A cursor blinked steadily at her.
"Thanks, see you soon," she tried out loud.
Dictation mode worked, apparently. So she was going to need to consider who was in earshot if she wanted to text people. The interface appended a [4] after her message. She had no idea what that was supposed to represent.
Another weird shriek echoed through the woods, and all of the Goblins muttered nervously. Some of them were already uneasy due to her and the Mage talking privately again and now many of them looked frightened.
She grinned and stood up expectantly.
At least now she had a chance to impress the NPC crowd with her apparent fearlessness.