Event The Fall Ball (The Hunt) Finished

interactions [all]
interaction status [open]
mentions Gaiz Toa, @Dmitri Jones, all

position location 2, with VV
previous posts 1 2 3 4 5

What a ill-tempered man that portrait encompassed. Screaming of stolen dates and missing shoes, of betrayal and cracked love- as if the personality of a particularly jilted lover had been placed into the impulse control of a toddler. Needless to say, Astrea was not a fan. Neither did it seem were most people gathered.

No other obvious candies. Strange. But she had found chocolate off to the side, a smooth and unopened pack that she had pilfered away from its stone house, intrigued in it's placement. It appeared that the majority of those joining her in the mad hunt had disregarded the subject of mysterious candies in favor of the more interesting- she would keep vigilant, for they had very little clues to what 'danger' awaited them at the end of this goosechase. Suspiciously, Astrea turned over the bar of candy in her hands over again, attempting to make sense of the innocent-looking shiny plastic packaging, a foreign brand and equally indecipherable ingredients staring back up at her. She wasn't particularly sure if the object was particularly significant in the long run but the mere presence of it was strange in itself. Say, who was spilling sweets out of their pockets as easily as an inkpot dropped and what for? Perhaps it was as if a trail, a breadcrumb route down a path of mystery? The ghostly rider had warned them of a possible danger before dashing off, losing their tailing with ease.

It seemed strange, to have been put down where it was. Perhaps planted? There wasn't much of another reason, very little clues and very little explanation. All the other sweets had been scattered over the floors carelessly as if left in a rush, yet this bar had been neatly tucked away in the corner as if whoever had put it down did it on purpose. There had been no sloppy carelessness in its placement when Astrea picked it up, an outlier in deliberateness. How strange.

Sneaking a peek upwards to take a glimpse at her allies, she was at least partly amused at the quickly desitnigrating scene in front of her. Her duel captain, even from where she was only seeing part of his expression, was in a right foul mood- the wall slashed in threat. A good plan in theory- intimidate and follow through on your plan, crushing any ideas of a bluff in the other's mind- but it didn't seem to be received well. Ah well. As it was customary with Hogwarts, it seemed that fire had finally made its little entrance into the situation, the painting lit and burning greedily as arrogant Gaiz Toa- who had boasted his crime for a date- cried bloody murder. You would think that the vengeful portrait would relish finally being the hottest painted man there was, but alas. The poor painted man. Questioned heavily before being abandoned by at least half of the people there, stuck in agony- who had this been? If a portrait is an artist's representation of the subject in life, why was the man stuck in agony and bloodied instead of being helped?

The entire situation made no sense. They were running blind, forcing their way through possible witnesses and scenes like underfoot children pushing through a crowd, trying their hardest to desperately make sense of the threat. Better overprepared than under, and right now all of them hadn't known to bring anything at all with them for such a situation except for the obvious. They needed clues. More information. More. Always more.

Action: Investigate the Chocolate/Candy, Keep On Guard

Abilities: Terrible Presence | Lovely Creature | Spell Spread
Stats: Sta 5 | Eva 9 | Str 2 | Wis 9 | Arc 10 | Acc 10
Allies: Viridian Vipers (Dmitri J, Opeila W, Henry K, Starlee K.), Anastasia B.

Reducio

MODERATION POST

Moderation Post Tracker:
[Start] [Interlude] [First] [Note] [Second] [Third] [Fourth] [Fifth]

FIRST LOCATION

When @Alexa Mackenzie heard from the rude painting guy that Paran Taja would show up everytime someone called him for help, she didn’t spend much more time near the Gryffindor Common Room. There was only one thought in her head: She had to save Laiks. A little out of breath she arrived at the first location. She would ignore the fight between the two students there and call out his name. Would he come to save the poor Laiks?

Listen Roll Painting (DC: nat20): 4

She felt it had been the right thing to do, but maybe in the wrong place at the wrong time. The painted Paran Taja was too far away to hear her cry for help.

ON THE WAY

Gregorí Erkens (@Ginevra Tsuchiya) and @Elisabeth Erner never made it to the second location. The mysterious lights had been just too tempting and now they found themselves facing these strange creatures. While the protective and brave Ilvermony student was ready to defend his girl, Elisabeth took the pragmatic approach to talk to the creatures - no one had to be hurt, it could be solved diplomatically.

Gregorí Will Save (DC 15): nat1 → Crit. Fail

Elisabeth Will Save (DC 15): Auto Fail for approaching the creatures

The creatures said nothing, but hopped away shyly as the two approached them. The desire to follow them was overwhelming and as if pulled by magic strings they followed them until they suddenly found themselves in front of the door of the ballroom.

You can rejoin the Hunt by heading back to one of the locations. This will take your action for the round.

@Sapphire Riddle on the other hand recognized the creatures and knew exactly what to do: Turning around and returning to where she had come from. The clever Slytherin would not be led astray and used all her concentration to resist the lure and go back to the group.
On her way back she would meet @Anastasia Beckett who had returned from the Ballroom. The two arrived in the corridor and could immediately admire the damage that others had done during their absence.

SECOND LOCATION

@Scarlett Aden decided to take advantage from said damage and fight fire with fire. This man had been rude all along and being polite wouldn’t get her anywhere - that’s what she thought.

Intimidation Roll (DC 15 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 25

The man was not pleased, but his smugness had not diminished just because he had to save himself into another painting.
”That's what I call impudent! Ever thought of asking politely? With that behavior you will never get a decent man!” He glared down at her, a fire in his dark eyes as the one that was destroying his own portrait. ”I bought that necklace for my one true love, but before I could give it to her she married someone else. Now I need to find a new true love. But with such behaviour it won’t be you, young lady!“

@Lindsey Springhall did not dwell on conversations - the idiots were burning the only clues they had! After telling Wyatt what she had already noticed before some hero had set the painting on fire, the young girl would try to catch a last glance of the painting. Maybe she had missed something?

Observation Roll (DC 15 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 25

Hm. Apparently there was nothing exciting to see here anymore. Maybe conversation could not be avoided now?

@Opeila Winters also had a messy conversation - not with the rude man in the painting but her dueling captain. She would not invest too much energy, but rather concentrate on the seriousness of the matter. Maybe there were clues hidden in the portrait?

Opeila casts Revelio at Painting (DC 11 + 2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: 14
Auto-Miss (Terrible Presence): 4
Accuracy Roll (DC 12 + 1 (Charmer)): 20

The incantation came easily to her lips and with a flick of her wand she cast the spell on the burning portrait - but nothing happened. It seemed to be simply a portrait. Admittedly a rude one, but all the information that was hidden there was probably stored in the brain of the painted person.

@Kara Capricorn was unlucky to stand very close to the painting when a certain Ravenclaw boy decided to set it on fire. A few flames flickered up her hand and caused a painful burn.

Damage: 75

Ouch! The pain, however, would not stop her from doing what she thought was right.

Kara casts Finite Incantatem at Painting (DC 11 + 2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: nat20
Auto-Miss (Terrible Presence): 5
Accuracy Roll (DC 12 + 1 (Charmer)): 20

Though it was the wrong spell to stop the flames it was so powerful that the effect of Dmitri Jones’ Sonorus on Astrea was canceled as well.

A few other students remembered what the spell to extinguish flames actually was. Right, right, that thing you learned soon after you learned how to start fire. Funnily, neither of them were Hogwarts students. Maybe other schools were more prudent.

Alexander Ward (@Lydia Cooper) and Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin (@Lucia Fox) cast Extinguo.

Alexander Wisdom Roll: 28
Alexander Auto-Miss (Terrible Presence): 3
Alexander Accuracy Roll (DC 12): 20

Cassie Wisdom Roll: 22
Cassie Auto-Miss (Terrible Presence): 7
Cassie Accuracy Roll (DC 12 + 1 (Charmer)): 13

Although it was a close thing for Cassie, both of their spells hit their target. The flames went out, the fire banished, for the moment. Cassie’s suggestion that Gaiz should help Laiks to make up for the damage he’d done fell on deaf ears - the man in the painting just turned away, his jaw set stubbornly.

In midst of the flurry of spells being cast at the now extinguished painting, a few instead focused on casting at their fellow students, although with wildly varying intent.

@Henry Knight was primarily concerned with Kara’s burnt hand and snapping at Martyna. While there wasn’t much he could do to heal his fellow Slytherin, at least he could protect the wound a little.

Henry casts Ferula (DC 12 + 2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: 20

White bandages shot from the tip of his wand, wrapping themselves around Kara’s hand, and she would maybe feel some cool relief from the pain.

Hanzo Fransson (@Rafael D'Spacito), on the other extreme of the spectrum, sought to take revenge on the Hogwarts student who had started the chaos that had erupted a few moments prior. His sanity slipping, his attention straying, the fire was the thing to focus on - and the one who had conjured it. Hanzo snapped.

Hanzo casts Flipendo at Robert (DC 9 + 2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: 25
Auto-Miss (Terrible Presence): 10
Spell misses.

Although he managed to cast correctly, with ease, while he tried to aim, there were too many distractions in the chaos around. Some of these Hogwarts students seemed to have odd, intimidating presences: His attention thus split, the powerful blast of force missed its intended target. @Robert Toukmond was safe - for now.

Romeo Marchonné (@Piérre Marchonné) had been ready to extinguish the painting if others didn’t, but let his wand sink when he realised there was no need for his intervention. Instead he noticed that for some reason, people seemed to be wandering off, transfixed.

Observation Check (DC 15 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 27

They were... Following the lights? Those odd, dancing lights… that seemed to hypnotise a few people beyond reason. Did he really want to have a closer look? He could note, however, that the ones who had left seemed to return not much later.

@Andrew Vance, on the other hand, was mostly concerned with the destruction going on here. This was school property that Robert and Dmitri were damaging! Could they even imagine the amount of trouble they could get into for this? Nonetheless, he didn’t see fit to do anything about it, instead focusing his attention on finding Paran Taja - by questioning the ghostly cat Star.

Charisma Roll (DC nat20): 19

Although her eyes seemed intelligent, Star either didn’t want or was not able to help.

@Astrea Soleil Neptune had spotted some chocolate, oddly placed nearby. Why was there candy everywhere? Was there any significance to it? Was this some special chocolate - an odd hint, maybe?

Observation Check (DC 10 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 28

It looked like… chocolate. Of the sweeter, milkier variety, but the normal Muggle kind, nonetheless.

@Starlee Kennedy, too, had found odd things she hadn’t been looking for. There was a candle, one of the magical floating kinds, that could also be found populating the Great Hall. It was just.. Floating there. Maybe… Maybe it was here for a reason? What did it want?

Observation Roll (DC 5 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 11

Probably nothing. It was a candle. A rather handy one - would burn forever and float without needing to be held, but didn’t serve much of a purpose except providing some light in darkness.

While most people had taken offense at Gaiz Toa’s rudeness, @Martyna Romero managed to pick out important bits of information from his rants. There seemed to be a lot of talk about that girl, Giselle! Maybe she had more of the story to tell? And someone had mentioned a heart necklace - maybe he’d gotten it from her! When given the location of her painting, Martyna zoomed off into the next corridor, calling for her.

And again, like before, Star decided to follow Martyna.

@Callista Lovis was doing a lot of observing and summarising (friendly for anyone too lazy to read all posts, Callista provides good summaries), but seemed too torn on what to do to take any action. She saw Martyna running off, wondering if she should follow her. Darling, if you keep hesitating to take action, life will pass you by.

THIRD LOCATION

Star’s next stop was not far from the last one, likely still in yelling distance, easily found if someone was nearby looking for it.

Martyna’s calls went without response, Giselle either unable or unwilling to reply, but the ghost cat stopped at a spot along the wall, anyway. An… oddly empty spot, where Hogwarts’ walls were often covered in paintings. In fact, if one looked closely, they would be able to spot a faint rectangle on the wall, darker than the surrounding area. Maybe there had been a painting there, for quite a long time, but if so, it had been removed.

Instead, there was a note, pinned in the center of the empty spot, a few line’s written on it. But it seemed like something had smudged some of them, rendered them unreadable. Would anyone still be able to solve the riddle?

1. The beginning of Pain
2. A thief’s helper
smudged line
smudged line
5. A ball’s for Dancing
smudged line
7. Flipendo!
8. Protection from Horror
smudged line
smudged line
empty line
11. Blindness
12. First Aid
smudged line
smudged line
smudged line
smudged line

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR…

OOC Information:

• From now on, please state where you are above your post (e.g. First Location, On the way, Second Location)
• If you have the ability Lovely Creature, Calming Presence or Charmer, and you haven’t done so yet, please define your allies in your next post. This decision applies from the next moderation post to the end of the thread.
• This thread is now closed for new people to join.
  • Anyone who stated they are joining before the respective deadlines is assumed to be with the group and can post.
  • Exceptions for people who did not state they are joining before the deadline can be made if you have an IC explanation for how your character knows where to find the group. In that case, please contact us for permission.
• The next moderation will take place on December 19th.
• This is a moderated event, please state your actions (spells, attacks, observation attempts) accordingly. We will be rolling for them during moderation. You only have one action per moderation post.
• You can return to the Costume Party and the Masquerade at any point (as long as you're not involved in combat )
• If you have any questions feel free to owl Dealla Prince or Ileen Knight.

Interacting with: Whoever's in the third location
Mentioning: @Robert Toukmond @Martyna Romero
Post Tracker: [X X X X]

The painting of an elderly man said, "“My name is, uh, Karl the Third of Mönchhausen. Well… he’s been complaining about not having a date for that ball for days. Maybe… if you found him one, he’d be more cooperative?”
Piper was pleasantly surprised the man was helpful at all. "Well..thanks." Across the room, the picture of Toa was ranting about just what Karl was talking about. Giselle. Her picture was in the corridor. Maybe Piper could find his date! Of course, she was anyone but a matchmaker, but perhaps she could help.

However, some first year boy (Robert Toukomond) attempted to set Toa's painting on fire. Piper's eyebrows shot up. Idiot. How could he deface an innocent painting? Well, maybe not innocent, but this was all precious art. People were so stupid. Piper didn't pay further attention.

She overheard that Giselle (whoever she was) was in the next corridor. Before Piper could dash there, the girl in the ridiculous moon costume (Martyna Romero) beat her to it. The ghostly cat followed her, and Piper wasted no time in running in right after, feet still freezing. There was no way a girl in that costume was going to find anything important before Piper. Inside the room, there was a long piece of paper along the wall. The rest of the room was bare as far as Piper could see.

"A riddle." Piper breathed. The moon girl's calls were no-go, it seemed. In fact, Piper didn't see any paintings. The long piece of paper containing a riddle took a vaguely rectangular area's spot on the wall. There were many smudged lines that were hard to make out. Maybe that was where Giselle had been. Was the riddle the clue to finding her?

Piper was delighted at having a riddle, and muttered, "The beginning of pain...that must be P." Her mother loved to do riddles and word puzzles with her, and she had grown to do fairly well with them. "And a thief's helper? Um." Piper had been feeling pretty good about it until the second line. In fact, Piper wasn't entirely sure about any of the rest of them. She took off her mask, making her feel extremely vulnerable. At least now she had full vision. Besides, she had figured out that people probably wouldn't notice her anyway during all this.

Turning, Piper looked to see if there were any other people in the room. "Hello...does anyone know the second line? I think the first line might be 'P.'" Or any of the lines.

Mod Stuffs:

Reducio

Action: Move to the third location and attempt to solve the riddle.

Location: Third Location

Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 6

Ability: Perfectionist

|| Open to Interaction ||

interacting with @Piper Clark

Reducio

Alan would follow them throughout the locations but has not really been paying attention. However once he had heard of the riddle he would step closer to investigate the riddle and attempt to read some of the smudged out clues; perhaps there where hints to what they said before having been wiped away? He would also try to help out a girl who had taken it upon herself to figure out the riddle. "Are you saying they are clues for letters?" he would ask when she mentioned that the beginning of Pain would have to be a P. But he could see the logic behind that and would narrow his eyes while reading through the second clue; the one she seemed to be having troubles with. "A, B, C-," he would continue in quiet, only a soft murmur leaving his lips before his eyes lit up and it was as if he made a little leap as his body straightened up. "I! The eye is a thieves helper, because how will you properly steal if you don't see?" he blurted out, grinning at the girl. He truly hoped that he had solved the second clue with that; it made sense to him in the least! "But maybe it is spells? It's a little weird, I'm not sure what it is all about..." he muttered, but he would try to find out once again what the smudged out lines would tell him, if anything at all.

Meanwhile his cat Tiger had wandered off to lazily do his rounds and interact with students if they wanted to. He would go around and ask for attention, meowing every now and then in the hopes to get a pat or two.

Action
Attempt to learn the Alphabet // Deciphering smudged out Clues
- Open to Interaction -

Moderation Guide

Everyone: Feel free to interact with Tiger; who is dressed up as a dragon

Interacting with no one, doing nothing, tagging @Callista Lovis and @Quinn Smith

Costume Reference

Reducio

Second Location

Robert was not one to cry. It wasn't that he physically could not do it, if someone were to tickle him or pull his hair, his eyes would certainly well up, but as a rule, he did not cry from emotions. Whether he had just watched a sad movie, or gone to a close friend's funeral, his face would remain as dry as a desert. And so, after the burst of flames shot out of his wand, after hordes of students yelled at him for attacking a murderer, no tears rolled down his face. In fact, to the casual observer, it would be nearly impossible to see how he really felt.

Never before in his entire life had the first-year done anything this impulsive, this destructive. Before now, he'd never had reason to. He had led a very protected life, never having even heard a curse word before now (thanks, @Kara Capricorn) let alone met a sentient being who had purposefully killed someone and then gloated about it. He didn't know about the ghost that had entered the Masquerade Ball, how could he? The now-ironically cheery yellow banana costume he had on was testament that he hadn't been there. He didn't know the children were supposed to be solving some sort of mystery, all he knew was that Gaiz Toa killed Laiks Denbora, and that everyone else was doing nothing about it.

All he knew was that this painting was a bad person, and therefore should be punished. And instead of being praised for having done the right thing, he was instead being berated by the other students, all of his worst fears being voiced by strangers. You're idiotic, impulsive, destructive, they said. And the worst part is, they were right. Ever since that fateful accident during the boat trip, Robert had been trying to react faster, think less. Apparently, that had come back to bite him. When one person (@Rafael D'Spacito) attacked him, the boy was almost disappointed that it missed.

The fact that he was a painting, and therefore hadn't actually been the one to do it hadn't even crossed his mind. Anyone who knew Robert well would be able to tell that something was wrong when he didn't argue back when someone (@Anastasia Beckett) brought this up. In his mind, he was quietly screaming that these paintings were nothing like pictures in a history book. He'd done his research on them, and knew that they were in fact little more than caricatures of their subject, imitating their behavior as observed by the painter, but knowing little, if anything, about the events of their lives. Therefore, if Toa could remember why he didn't like Denbora and Taja, it was because of something that happened after being painted, and the guilt was entirely the portrait's. However, Robert said nothing on the matter.

In fact, Robert did absolutely nothing. To a casual observer, he would seem to be totally oblivious to his surroundings, when in fact, that could not be farther from the truth. He watched as the fire was quickly extinguished by multiple spells, not bothering to add his own to the mix. He watched as the ghostly cat that had brought him here moved on, not bothering to follow. What was the point? Everything he did seemed to end in disaster, so wouldn't it be better to just do nothing? If something similar to the boat ride happened, that wouldn't be his fault. Who was dumb enough to trust him to do something correctly?

And so, Robert kept still, staring forward with a blank expression. Sometime after casting he had lowered his arm, although he later would have no recollection of doing so. If you looked closely, you would see that a certain light had left his eyes, the insatiable curiosity that drove him on every second of every day gone. It would be almost impossible to get a reaction out of him, as he believes he deserve any negative interaction and will ignore any positive ones. And still, no tears rolled down his face.

Open to Interactions
Mentioning @Martyna Romero, @Piper Clark, everyone at Location 3
Post Tracker
The Masquerade | X | X | X | X
The Hunt | X | X | X | X | X | X

Location 2

Well, it turns out the candle that had decided to float right next to her was just that: A floating candle. She sighed a little as she watched everyone around her frantically trying to put out the fire that the boy had lit on Gaiz Toa's painting. Only a corner was burned luckily. She wasn't sure that the man deserved to be burned... although he had almost killed the other man. Well, either way, it wasn't her problem anymore. She again watched as Tina ran down the hall, calling for Giselle. Well, might as well follow her and the few others that went that way, it seemed there was nothing else left here.

Location 3

Starlee walked around the corridor to a small group of people standing around an empty painting. She looked back to where the group was staring and saw a small piece of parchment containing a riddle. Starlee liked riddles, but with her spirits running low and her eye throbbing, she felt forlorn about being able to solve it at all.

Another girl in the group had come up with something, and so had another boy. P and I. P I_ _ D _ _ F H _ _? Dancing was capitalized in the line, so it could be a D. All there was for line 7 was Flipendo, so F it was. H was for Horror... but did this really make any sense at all? She rubbed her hurting eye again and decided that maybe she would investigate the smudged lines for any remnants of a clue, perhaps a letter that wasn't fully smudged.

It was then she had a thought. Perhaps a spell could reveal something? Her time spent looking through her father's old school books had finally proved useful. She looked at the group. "Does anyone know Revelio? Perhaps casting that on the parchment with the riddle on it could help reveal some of those missing lines... or show us something else entirely." she said, looking quizzical while also massaging her hurt eye.

Action: Moving to Location 3 and searching the riddle for any lines that aren't totally smudged since she doesn't know Revelio.
Stamina: 4 - Evasion: 5 - Strength: 6 - Wisdom: 8 - Arcane: 6 - Accuracy: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage

_{Banner Credited to the amazing @Amara Dragamior}

As Henry Knight: Main Character

Open to Interactions
interacting: @Kara Capricorn | @Scarlett Aden | @Caelan Stewart | @Callista Lovis
Mentioning: @Martyna Romero
Action: Looking for clues, threatening the painting, check on Kara, failing to control his anxiety
For Mods:

Reducio

Stats: Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 10 | Arcane Power: 5 | Accuracy: 6 | Total: 36
Abilities+Race: Prodigal Charms Learner+Werewolf

Pendant (hidden under his robes)
Brooch

Second Location

Henry watched as the bandages flew from the tip of his wand and gently wrapped around Kara's wrist. While he could heal or help her anymore, the boy hoped that he brought some relief to his fellow slytherin at least for a time being as Henry spoke " is that better? I'm sorry I couldn't help your burn anymore but I don't really know that many healing spells and burn paste would still be the most useful," Henry would offer the girl a smile when he saw the rather loud, gossipy, and arrogant hufflepuff; Martyna run off screaming which Henry was glad that she was leaving them maybe this time they could actually accomplish something instead of angering the painting which she was doing but of course he kept those feelings tucked away.

Turning toward Calista the boy would smile rather fondly as he spoke toward her " definitely a lot of people which is why you should stick with a few so-" lowering his voice to a whisper as he spoke to her " so it doesn't increase one's anxiety or likelyhood to panic." The boy would than smile at her while glancing his eyes around the room looking for clues as he replied toward her " no worries, everyone tends to get on 'edge' in these types of situations. The main point is that we help each other and get to the bottom of this faster together," Henry would glance at her with a smile before looking around for clues again.

However when he heard the painting rather snap at Scarlett that's when his politeness and kindness for the painting disappeared since he didn't know why but he felt as if he should step in and ridicule the painting as he pointed his wand at it before speaking to the painting " if this is the way you acted toward Giselle then it's no wonder that she didn't choose you seeing how rude and obnoxious you are," pointing hid wand directly at the paintings eyes Henry continued " we all tried to keep this friendly and ask you politely to answer our questions but seeing how rude you are it looks like that isn't the way and maybe you'll respond to something for physical instead."

Rather thinking fast on his feet before speaking again " now you will answer our questions without your colorful comments or I promise you that you'll regret it, understand?" Henry was not use to the threatening card and actually was kind of new to it as he shuffled his feet a bit from underneath him as he leaned over and whispered into Scarlett's ear, " do you think he'll talk now or should we cast the blindfolding charm on him so he can escape that quickly?"

The boy felt his breathing quicken and heart pound as he felt rather uncomfortable threatening someone even someone rude like the painting but still he felt uncomfortable and so his anxiety rose as he again whispered to Scarlett " would you like to take over while I look for clues?" He rather not add in the details as he looked around and spotted in Nick as he mouth toward him if he spotted anything since the two were rather a distance away before turning back toward the painting but keeping his eyes out for clues.

Interactions:
@Henry Knight | @Robert Toukmond
Mentions:
Hanzo Frannson @Rafael D'Spacito | @Anastasia Beckett | @Martyna Romero | @Kara Capricorn | Everyone that went to the 3rd Location[/mention]
Tagging:
@Quinn Smith
-Open to interactions-
Actions:
Calming down | Casting Lumos | Hugging Robert

Moderation:

Reducio

Stats:
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 7
Abilities:
Perfectionist

Someone [Hanzo Frannson] had attempted to cast a Knockback Jinx in the newly-formed group. Callista frowned in their general direction, but the group of people in the way prevented her from seeing who it was. She was distracted - thankfully - by the Slytherin at her side [Henry Knight]. Callista was taken aback by his words.

Her mouth opened slightly, then closed, her blush back on her cheeks. It was startling to find someone who understood how she felt. Then again, she shouldn't be happy if Henry was anxious. When he turned to the group again, Callista was relieved that he didn't think she had been rude. Even if she felt that she had.

It was at this moment that Callista realized Robert had been very quiet this whole time - unnaturally quiet. He had struck her as an inquisitive boy, and he didn't even pipe up when the older girl [Anastasia Beckett] scolded him. There was something... something off about him.

"Robert?" she said softly. It was like he was in his own mind, closed off from the world. Callista was half-tempted to wave her hand in front of his eyes, but that probably wouldn't do anything. Is he in shock? But there was nothing to be in shock about... You mean other than almost half a dozen people scolding him? Callista could almost hear the sarcasm in her head.

Still... "Robert, can you hear me?" she asked hesitantly. He was just a bit taller than her, and she tilted her head up a little to look him in the eye. His eyes... they were dull. And then she knew something was really wrong. Robert, dull? Preposterous.

It was as if everything else faded into the background; Callista faintly heard Henry threatening the painting man, and out of the corner of her eye she spotted several people following that girl [Martyna Romero], but they quickly slid out of view. It was almost as if her vision tunneled. All her focus was now on Robert, for there was certainly something wrong, something for him to be acting this way. Even the mystery slid out of mind.

Callista turned so she was standing directly in front of her friend. She raised her wand. In the back of her mind, a voice whispered, Look. Her eyes were set upon Robert's. Concentrate. A bit of light, a bit of warmth. A candle in the shadows. Speak. "Lumos!" she murmured.

If by now, Robert wasn't looking at Callista, she would wrap her arms around him. Should he be paying attention, he would be able to smell the faint scent of honey and books. Since arriving at Hogwarts, she hadn't offered a single hug to anyone. It felt almost private to do so, but she could acutely remember the warmth that her mother's hug had offered her. Callista hoped that would be enough to shake Robert out of the stupor he seemed to be in; she cared, she really did.

Post Tracker:
Costume Party:
[X] | [X] | [X]

Hunt:
First Location
[X] | [X] | [X]
Second Location
[X] | [X] | [X]
[X] | [X]

Outfit:

Reducio

Soft ringlets

Elegant silver masquerade mask

White Cardigan

Simple silver Circlet

Silver leaves bracelet

Soft blush pink flats

Kara's spell of course didn't work, maybe it was just the wrong one, because another guy decided to tae action for when her own spells failed.

“Extinguo!” The light brunette boy's spell had worked, and the painting's fire was now gone, leaving the canvas a chipped brown on the edges of where the fire once remained.

"Thank you, sir." Kara said dipping her head towards the boy who casted the successful spell.

She then turned her head to Henry who had piped up.

"Burn paste could help your hand Kara but for the moment I could try something," He said. Taking out his wand, he casted "Ferula" onto her burnt hand, and bandages shot out, wrapping her hand neatly and securely, somewhat cooling the burning sensation.

"Is that better? I'm sorry I couldn't help your burn anymore but I don't really know that many healing spells and burn paste would still be the most useful,"

"Don't worry, it's quite alright. I appreciate it." She thanked the boy.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Kara turned her head to the sound of a somewhat familiar voice, “And it’s not his fault if your hand was just in the way. Actus reus, the man hurt someone for the sake of a girl.”

"Wait, what? Are you saying that Gaiz is the one who hurt the man in the other portrait. Also, no need to lash out. It's not my fault I didn't know that the banana man was going to burn that painting to ashes!" Kara just glared at the dark haired girl with a sharp look.

When the girl had pulled out her wand, that's when Kara really had it.

"So that's how you want to be? Question is, why do you seem so uptight on me just scolding banana boy. It was never directed towards you, you know, but now it might be." Kara didn't pull out her wand, instead crossing her arms and walking towards the girl, looking her smack in the eyes, as the two were almost the exact same height.

"Technically Robert burned Kara's hand and I don't think setting the painting on fire really did help us but that's besides the point, there are other spells he could have you used that wouldn't have burned anyone," Henry tried to break up the two with some logic, luckily, the dark brunette seemed to come to her senses in that moment.

"Sorry, I'm... I guess you could say on edge," The girl said, she sounded genuinely sorry as she eyed Kara's now wrapped hand, so Kara decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"It's alright," Kara let her crossed arms drop beside her torso, "besides, we're all on edge tonight. It's stressful when a ghost knight comes in says we are all in great danger, and just some kids have to figure out how to save a whole damn castle."

When Henry added his input, and the dark brunette left, Kara turned her head to Henry.

"I'm going to go to the hallway we came from, there might be some clues there that we could have missed, but I am going by myself. If I don't come back in the next twenty minutes, you can count me as dead." Kara added a little hint of humor to her tone as she waved goodbye now jogging along to the hallways and corridors of where they came.

Kara was now just walking along the corridors, her eyes batting around for anything, but she came up empty, but Kara, just didn't have that great of luck.

She didn't notice the other person rushing at them full speed, and then, said person rammed straight into her. Falling back with so much force onto the concrete and stone flooring, she landed on her back and the back of her head, knocking the air straight out of her.

Her vision going blurry, she heard the person debating whether or not they should help her, but they said she'd be fine.

Those were last thing she heard before she was out cold.

Kara Capricorn has left the thread

Author's Note(OOC)
Now, I understand that this is out of the blue, right? Kara's suddenly knocked out cold. The reason is that real life has built up stress on me, and I just can't focus on the Hunt thread right now. It has been a fun story and I enjoyed roleplaying with everyone else, but I just need a bit of a break. You can interact with Kara, she just won't react that much. However, I give anyone and everyone permission to drag her to the hospital wing, or back to the group, or anywhere else if you want. I hope everyone has nice holidays. Drink water and stay safe!

Best Wishes,
IRL Creator of Kara L. Capricorn

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[font=times new roman]second location
OCTOBER 16TH
Roleplaying as PC, Scarlett Aden
Interactions @Henry Knight, Gaiz Toa
Open to Interaction

Scarlett's mouth quirked slightly as Henry rounded on Gaiz for snapping at her. She could defend herself perfectly but it was nice to know that their friendship was...regrowing. This Giselle person - Scarlett had been hearing the chatter and it seemed that she was a sort of lover? Perhaps the lover who had given Gaiz the necklace? It was all very mysterious. "Thanks for all that," said Scarlett, whispering to Henry as he did to her, genuinely, though light-hearted as always. "I'll stay here and you can go search if you want. I might blindfold him if he gets too shifty though." She sniggered, turning her attention back to the portrait.

"What makes you think I need a man?" asked Scarlett with a smirk towards Gaiz. "In the modern world, females can do fine on their own. Or with other females, of course. And it's not like I'd want to be your true love anyway." Scarlett felt like laughing at the ridiculous point, but held it in because she would need to be a teensy bit polite for the next bit to work. She had brushed of Gaiz's information about the lover, not dwelling on that in front of the portrait but instead storing it in her mind for retrieval and discussion later on.

"Was this mysterious lover named Giselle, by any chance?" Scarlett added, leaning in. Hopefully the shock value would work, but if not, threatening was a great option.

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Action Asking Gaiz a question
Stats Stamina | 7 | Evasion | 5 | Strength | 6 | Wisdom | 6 | Arcane Power | 9 | Accuracy | 7
Abilities Prodigal Charms Learner, Fearless