Event Blossom Ball - Trial of Hermes

Closed to Interactions
Bolded Text: French | Regular Text: English | Color: #BF4040
Trial Tracker: HADES | HECATE | ORPHEUS | HERMES | PERSEPHONE | APOLLO

Florian was over halfway done with the trials now, just three more left to go. He was feeling pretty good about things, knowing that he did the best that he could have done in each one so far. And of course, his best was certainly better than everyone else's best.

And, like the last trial, he felt that this one would be another cakewalk. Unlike the typical ball attire, Florian was wearing sandals that were well strapped to his feet and a rather flowy toga, unlike the restricting suits and shiny dress shoes he was accustomed to. There were, of course, flaws to the outfit, as his flowy toga and corresponding cape could easily get caught on something should something quickly protrude to stop him, or something could fall on his foot, and, being open-toed, it would certainly hurt a lot more. He certainly hoped that the first wouldn't happen, he would prefer not to have a ripped cape.

Regardless, he puffed up his chest, hoping knowing that he would be doing better than everyone else in this competition. He was an experienced broom racer after all, and having to dodge obstacles not only on the team, but in the many races against his brothers, he felt he was certain to win. This was definitely the challenge for him.

Ready for what the trial had in store for him, he leaned forward, a large smirk plastered on his face, and ran off to begin the trial.

Action: Attempting to fetch the pomegranate
Stats: Stamina: 5 - Evasion: 7 - Strength: 4 - Wisdom: 9 - Arcane: 4 - Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Foulplay

Rping as Ilvermorny iNPC Melody Westmoore | Hex: English - #8b2788 (to match her caricature as the goddess)
Interacting with: Trial Host (@Justin Whiteley) | Outfit: Hecate (see above collage) | Underworld post

A run? Now that was something Mel could do, and do well. After all, she was on the track team back home, and spent probably over eight hours a week tearing across the asphalt. Running was something the Oregonian did to get out of her own head, and it actually sounded really good right now, after the overwhelming start of the night. Oh yeah, she would own this trial. In fact, Hermes was one of the deities Mel had considered dressing as. She had ultimately decided against it because she thought his tiny wing shoes were stupid, but that was a moot point. She hoped he wouldn't smite her for it or something, now.

There would be obstacles to doge, but she had dealt with those during her cross-country training. Granted, these would probably be magic, but Mel had always been quite nimble.
To complete the messenger god's trial, she would have to run from the Spring festival to the Underworld, on a rickety-ass bridge that had been set up for this purpose. Ok, a little harder than her school's running track, but she would totally manage. Once she arrived, she'd have to retrieve a pomegranate for Persephone, whoever she was. Mythology wasn't Mel's strong suit.

Thankfully, her outfit wasn't horribly restricting. The purple dress the girl had chosen was flowy and stopped a few inches above her ankles, so she was unlikely to trip. Her combat boots had a bit of a heel on them, but they were steady enough. Thank the gods she hated stilettos. Seriously, it was so obvious that the person who invented those sadistic medieval torture devices had been a man.

Mel dropped her spear at the host's station -don't run the bridge between good and evil with projectile weapons, kids- and took off down the path faster than Zeus's lightning bolt.

Roleplaying as Durmstrang iNPC Arjan Oberoi

Entering thread from the Persephone

Regardless of how the former trials went, Arjan continued to be confident. Then again, even if he drastically got "boo-ed" out of a trial, he would still think he was doing really well and would win. Because, well, look at him. He was incredible through and through. He was the only one even remotely worthy of being king, no? Who else would even have a chance against him! He was arrogant enough to think he did incredibly well, even if he failed every trial. Obviously, he was not at fault. The trial simply was at fault, of course!

Arjan barely listened to the instructions that the kid gave. He probably should have. What trial was this? Uh, Hermes. Wait- Hermes, the clothes brand. It was a fancy, slightly expensive range of clothing. Fancy branded clothes, worthy of someone of his status. He was not entirely sure why there was a trial based on a clothing company but it seemed to be a thing. Perhaps this would be a fashion show. If so, he would totally win. He obviously looked stunning. His outfit was not from Hermès but they should definitely just design their clothes based on what he wore because he, obviously, was very fashionable. There was an air of confidence about him that he could not deny. There was no way that he would lose now. Who was going to beat him in a fashion contes- wait- what-

As he finally started to listen in on the instructions, he heard something about a pomegranate. Why did he need a fruit for this fashion show? What even...? It took the overly confident guy a few moments to actually work out what was going on. The trial had nothing to do with fashion, apparently - much to his intense amount of dismay. How utterly disappointing. He was supposed to go collect a random fruit from the other side? Was that not super easy? At the very least, he was unsure what the challenge here was.

He could do this running thing. He had spent a lot of time working on his stamina, which was important if this dragged out, right? Stretching - which was a very important part of exercising - he made sure that he worked each muscle. What a simple challenge, he had got this! At least, he was confident enough to believe that he had 'got' this regardless of the reality of it.

Wait, what was a pomegranate again? Was that the purple fruit thing? Or was that was a vegetable? He paused for a moment, trying to figure it out. Right. Red jewels. It was probably red, maybe even had some sort of jewels on it! Oh, maybe it was not a real fruit but a jewel that he was supposed to find. There was little time to think about it though. They were told to start and without hesitation, he found himself launching off to sprint as fast as he could to get to the other side to find these 'pomegranate' thing.

ACTION: Taking part in trial

Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 4 | Strength: 15 | Wisdom: 3 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 10
Abilities: Obnoxiously Strong | The Martial Artist | Spell Spread | Charmer
Charmer Allies: Phaedra Stavrou, Falentra Black, Rudolf Novikov & Vyacheslav Preobrazhensky
Status: Forgetful | Health: Full

Post Tracker: [ Underworld 1 | 2 | 3 ][ Persephone | Hermes ]

Outfit of the day | shoes

Interacting With | @Henry Knight as Charles Alluring
Mentioning | @Scarlett Aden | @Lucia Fox as Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin

The other trials had been complicated. Spells, quizzes, potion knowledge, and that such. But this trial was a fresh break from all of that. It was a race. A simple race. "Just a race?" Drew asked. "I guess this is the time where you start questioning whether there are secret people chasing us and tackling us, as foreign school students, rigged for Hogwarts yet again. Right, Charlie?" He smirked a little, joking and poking a little at Charles. The boy had been protesting the other trials, saying that they were rigged for Hogwarts students. He wasn't wrong. Durmstrang students didn't learn the same things as the other schools did, or at least the rumors went that way. Actually, all of the schools learned differently. They were, after all, from different countries and regions altogether. "Just kidding, just kidding. You weren't wrong with the other trails, to be fair," he added.

Drew liked to think he was fairly fast. He did a lot of running with Buddy, his dog, at home. He even had done some running on the grounds of Ilvermorny. Hopefully he could win a race, right?

Charles turned back to him, confident that they could win the race. "Extremely ready." A smirk grew on his face. "We can beat Cassie and Scarlett at this one for sure," he returned with the same confidence. Cassie and Scarlett were no timid little girls- not in the slightest. He expected for them to do well in this trial as well. But both him and Charles weren't some skinny eleven-year-olds, either. They were strong. They could do better. His face was determined and he looked towards his goal.

"Let's do this."

For Moderation
More Information about Drew is here
Action: Doing the Hermes Trial, running as fast as he can

[1] | [2] | Hades Trial | Hecate Trial | Orpheus Trial | Hermes Trial

Blossom Ball '21 - Outfit (thanks to Anja Murtaja)

Making her way towards the next trial, Lydia took a deep breath, feeling still slightly shook from the previous trial. As she got closer to her destination, she got a glimpse of how different the other venue of the Ball was, the atmosphere a stark contrast with the gloomy and darker one of the Underworld.

She finally reached where the trial was supposed to start, and carefully listened to the instructions. They had to run all the way to the Underworld, get a pomegranate and then get back there, all as quickly as they could. Compared to the previous ones, this one didn't sound that bad, or at least she hoped so. As the moderator kept talking, she looked in front of her and almost regretted having worn a pair of shoes with a little bit of heels... she mentally shrugged and concentrated.

When the time to start running arrived, Lydia started moving as quickly as she could; the whole path was full of obstacles, some of them harder than the others, and the Hufflepuff girl tried her best to reach the Underworld ,grab the fruit and bring it back to the beginning of the race as fast as she could. A small strand of hair had escaped her braid, and she promptly put it back in place as she kept running, her goal clear in her mind. She had to be careful and fast, and get back at the beginning as quickly as she could.

Action: doing the trial.
Stats: STA: 5 || EVA: 7 || STR: 5 || WIS: 10 || ARC: 5 || ACC: 5
Race: Part-Veela
Abilities: Alluring || Lovely Creature

Trials tracker: Underworld || Hades|| Hecate || Orpheus || Hermes || Persephone|| Apollo

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Currently closed to interactions
Interactions: None
Mentioning: None
Word count: 202
Hex Color: #0080FF
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For Moderation:
Action: Attempt trial
Health: 500/500
Abilities: Lovely Creature | Fearless | Terrible Presence
Stats: Stamina 5 | Evasion 10 | Strength 5 | Wisdom 9 | Arcane Power 10 | Accuracy 8

Hermes was the god of thievery, travel, and most importantly, cool shoes. Ana had always wanted his winged sandals when she was younger. As much as she loved flying on a broom, flying with sandals like that had to feel absolutely amazing. Alas, functional winged sandals were not common and Ana had yet to find a pair.

Upon hearing the instructions, Ana died a little inside. A race? Seriously? Could she perhaps go back to singing? Or was she to return a disheveled ragamuffin? Honestly, of all the silly things...

Fuming, she gathered her skirts. Unlike some of the other girls around her, she was perfectly comfortable running in a long skirt. Her shoes were the issue that was giving her pause. She was more than certain she could run in heels, running shoes, or even barefoot, but sandals were questionable. Hers were not in any danger of coming off, so after a moment of thought, she opted to keep them on.

She launched herself forward with as much power as she could. God, she wanted her broom. She could go far faster on that and running was already boring her. People did this on purpose? The idea was bizarre to her.

Post tracker: Underworld entry | Orpheus | Hecate | Hades | Persephone | Apollo | Hermes

Attire - Medusa
My trunk has Year 3 stats these are year 2:
Stamina : 8 | Evasion : 7 | Strength : 3 | Wisdom : 8 | Arcane Power : 9 | Accuracy : 8
Action| Participating in the trial of Hermes - Playing Indiana Jones for a pomegrnate

Graphic by Leonard Oaksworth

Mentioning: @Evelynn Decipio

Apparel

Light fading to dark. Peace devolving into discord. Safety peeling away to reveal insecurity. The unspecified implications were not lost on him. They, as students - as people, really - would be foolish not to hold firm to those sentiments of the former with a vicelike grip, for they never could quite predict when it would all fall away, when the unsteady shafts of light might flicker and die within their fingers, leaving them with nothing to hold but darkness. But even then, were they truly holding the darkness, or was the darkness holding them, enshrouding them as its nature demanded and swallowing their individual flames until that faltering flare was extinguished forever?
The more his life continued upon its spontaneous path, the more he'd come to appreciate any ray of radiance that made itself known.
These trials had been a strange undertaking, showcasing a wide range of emotions in his own heart that he hadn't known could be squeezed into one overwhelming night. Joy, fear, excitement, disappointment, grief, and the emptiness that came with unfulfilled promises. Truly, the organizers of this event might be geniuses, but Marshal was of the opinion that they were, indeed, rather cruel.
For better or for worse, this was a night the boy would never forget.

Phantom emotions passed through his chest as his gaze panned over the entrance to the obstacle course, singing faint songs of moments he wished would fade away, yet also melodies of those he would trade for nothing.
Now, determination dominated his conscience, reflected in his hazel eyes as he cast a glance in Evelynn's direction. There, he found that same fire in her stormy irises, making them glow. Or perhaps that was the light from the Blossom area glinting across her resolved features. Regardless, they threatened to take his breath once more. Nothing new. In fact, he vaguely wondered if he had stared too much throughout the entirety of the night.
Had she noticed? Of course she had noticed; she noticed everything. But then, did she find herself in the throes of discomfort, or did it simply flatter her?
He prayed for the latter possibility; after all, surely she knew the reason for his fixation was a feeling of wonder, which overcame him with every glimpse he caught of her. While it might make her a touch uncomfortable, the only harm it could really do would be to feed her ego, and he was entirely willing to lend himself to such a cause.

Turning away momentarily, he rubbed his eyes.
Get it together, he scolded himself. Don't be a wide-eyed puppy.
Turning back, his eyelids betrayed him once again, raising toward the sky in astonishment. She was lifting her dress. Why was she lifting her dress? What was happening?
The practical boots she wore underneath the mythical garb were revealed, along with the fair skin of her calves.
Suddenly, Marshal felt all the heat of his body rush to his face, surely turning his cheeks the color of a ripe tomato as his brain short-circuited, all sense of rationality clambering to join Hades in the Underworld.
He practically felt the sting of his mother's hand upon the back of his head, heard her voice scolding his dirty scoundrel of a self.
Of course he had seen girls in shorts; there was nothing to be ashamed of, surely. No more skin was revealed by Evelynn's improvised outfit than anything which had graced his vision in the past. And yet, somehow this was different; it had caught him by complete surprise, and never had he seen this particular course of action taken against a dress.
He was altogether discombobulated. He told himself it wasn't his fault, told his mother - who was certainly not there - that he hadn't been given a choice. Eve had forced him into it; there had been no consent.
All of this passed through his malfunctioning brain in less than a second, processing in time to send him into a panicked recoil, his eyes averting to focus upon a nearby decoration like it was the most interesting thing ever to have been presented before him.
"Immaculate craftsmanship," he mumbled quietly, scrutinizing the potted flower. Indeed, the plant had been the work of a true master.
What was wrong with his brain?

Upon regaining his senses well enough to realize that he had embarrassed himself and his family, the boy turned sheepishly back toward his date, praying to any god who would listen that she hadn't noticed his brief moment of panic, nor the color still draining from his face.
Thankfully, she had remained decent, sparing him from further self-chastisement. It was going to be fine. Everything was fine.
Still flustered, he didn't question when she handed him her headpiece, grasping the golden barbs with a slightly shaky hand.
All thoughts of guilt or foolishness disappeared when she proceeded to pass her broom to him as well. Awestruck, he accepted the finely crafted tool, his gaze passing over its wooden surface eagerly. He had seen the broom, of course, as Evelynn had been holding it before, but had never actually touched such an exquisite instrument.
Fingers running up and down its length, his expression was one of childish ecstasy, as though all of his dreams could be fulfilled through this one object.
He nearly missed when Evelynn left him with a quick apology, glancing up to see her sprint through the trial entrance.

I'll be quick, she'd said. But what did that matter? It wasn't a matter of patience, how long he was willing to wait for her return. Rather, it was a matter of pride.
Throughout the time the two of them had known each other, Evelynn had done nothing but save his hide, both figuratively and literally. He, on the other hand, had not done a single thing to suggest that he was anything but a helpless damsel in distress for her to rescue. Well, it was time to put an end to that.
He wouldn't wait tentatively back, shying from the challenge until he could pass his burdens off to her; she had born enough for him already. This time, he would take some of her weight instead.
And so, with Eve's antlers and broom teetering precariously in his arms, along with his own trident, the first-year ventured onto the obstacle course.

He quickly discovered that vision was a thing of the past, as his trident constantly wobbled before his eyes, occasionally leaning back to whack him on the forehead. Insult to injury.
It would be a miracle if he even noticed the pit disturbing the flow of the path in front of him.
Were the pit to escape his attention, the poor boy wouldn't stumble, wouldn't even slow down. Blissfully unaware of the obstacle, his feet would continue running, only to suddenly find that they had nothing more to run upon. Crashing down with a boisterous thud, the emerging dust would be the only visual hint that he had been there in the first place. That is, until a few moments later, when a triumphant hand would appear above the pit's edge, grasping Eve's Silver Arrow.
"It's okay!" he would shout to no one in particular.

Trial Tracker:
Orpheus | Apollo | Hecate | Hades | Persephone | Hermes

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BLOSSOM BALL 2021

Interacting With: N/A
Mentioning: N/A
Hex Color: #800000

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Three down, three to go. It was time to wrap this one up.

A sigh of relief escaped the Captain’s lips as realization dawned upon his weary midst, his eyes brushing upon the lovely visage that was his next challenge. And yes, the sight before him was lovely in nature – after all, to the young athlete and sport-enthusiast, there was no better challenge to partake in than one of physical aptitude. A small grin tugged at the ends of his lips as his gaze caught upon some of the many obstacles he was to face in his coming trial. An obstacle course, it would seem, now lied in front of him, its facets glittering with promise and challenge. Hurdles wouldn’t be any problem, nor would any sort of climbing – and, of course, the Captain had never been deterred by sprints. It would seem as if the young man had his work cut out for him.

However, Rafael knew better than to sell short his adversity – the universe, after all, seemed to love taunting him with success, only to snatch it from between his fingertips and watch with giddy delight as he blundered about in response. Regardless of his aptitude in the field, he’d have to remain vigilant – removing the laurel from atop his head and promptly putting it in his pocket, he steeled his gaze ahead, taking a moment to secure his wand and straighten the lapels of his suit. He’d have to perform his very best if he expected to move forward successfully, he knew this much – surely he could collect himself a measly pomegranate?

Allowing himself not a moment more to ponder such a thing, he jumped into action, in pursuit of the holy grail and victory.

STA _____ 10 EVA _____ 4 STR _____ 9 WIS _____ 10 ARC _____ 2 ACC _____ 8

STATS & ABILITIES Interception Reducio When a Quaffle is being passed, users with this ability automatically get a chance to Intercept the quaffle. This does not replace their normal action for the round. This put the quaffle in your and by extension you teams' possession. Also, if the Quaffle is dropped for any reason, you would automatically (without it taking up an action) attempt another Quafflegrab. At present there would be no mid-round way to drop a quaffle due to the order of operations, however there will be certain effects in future patches that can cause this effect. Catch Reducio Able to catch two falling players on your broom when playing Quidditch. These additional caught players would be brought to the ground safely and they would be allowed to retrieve their broom and enter play again the next round. This can be done every round as the player's action if they choose to do so. With brooms that have the feature where an additional player may be caught (such as Bluebottle) where there is a stackable chance of failure with each additional person caught, there is no stacking failure chance for players with this ability. YEAR III AB Reducio TBD

Action • Attempting to obtain a pomegranate