Magical Masquerade: The entrance

Outfit:

Reducio

Text:

Reducio

Italics:Thoughts
Normal text: Actions and general description of what is happening
#5doo8f: Talking in English
#1a8ca2: Talking in Norwegian (Translations under revelio)

Interacting with:

Reducio

Open to interactions from others River has interacted with IC, please owl me if you wish to interact with her but have not done so before

"Well," Lin took a second to ponder River's question, "I like to paint, an play the violin of course. I do lots of reading, believe it or not, mostly about Astronomy or history. Sometimes poetry." She smiled at the pureblood heiress, blue eyes practically glowing beneath her feathered mask. River could tell she genuinely enjoyed them, just as River immensely enjoyed her own interests.

"I enjoy reading as well," River commented, "Mostly anything new my parents and I can find on magical creatures, but I'm interested in any kind of magic I can find. I cannot wait to learn how to be an animagus in a few years. The idea of transforming into a creature myself is fascinating. I hope my animagus form would be a snake of some kind, since from what I've read animagi cannot take on the form of a magical creature. Snakes are the closest to occamies, and there are theories that they speak parseltongue! I would love to be able to converse with Jörmungandr back home."

She turned an inquisitive eye towards her friend, "What about you? Would you like to be an animagus?"

River really enjoyed this moment, surrounded by beautiful flora, fancily dressed students in their extravagant outfits, and someone who was quickly becoming her potentially best friend. Happiness and content spread through her chest like a wildfire, bursting from her heart to the tips of her toes and banishing every speck of the loneliness she had been carrying on her shoulders since the moment she had stepped foot on the Hogwarts Express.

Word count: 260

Action: Talking to Malin Penns as she searches the rose bushes.

Sta: 5 | Eva: 5 | Str: 5 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 10 | Acc: 3

Abilities: None

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Carrying Valentin on my shoulders was, quite honestly, a piece of cake. He was so light compared to the weight that I was typically able to barbell squat with that if he didn't cause me to sway a bit with the addition of a few extra feet of height I probably wouldn't have noticed him whatsoever. I had his ankles crossed in front of my chest as I secured them there--if he tipped or swayed, I could correct for his imbalance and prevent us all from toppling over like the human totem pole that we were. Myself, Valentin, and my brother in Valentin's hair. Ah yes, my brother in Valentin's hair in his tiny hummingbird form.

I still had my suspicions when it came to him acting up and out in regards to hanging around us... but I was willing to put that aside in favor of, well... Piérre simply hadn't been seeming himself recently. It was in my nature as his twin to worry over him at all times. I was a bit apprehensive, but if it was in his best interest... who was I to turn him away. He had come to both of us with something near what I had to imagine was total humility, an odd color on him. Genuine, honest. That persona did not strike him for no reason, and not in the fashion of near-desperation and a lack of a 'masque' besides that of the broken Venetian jester one that he was wearing prior to taking upon himself the hummingbird body.

In the end, though, I had relented. He was my brother, after all.

So as we made our way to the site of the ball, to be met with a closed and seemingly locked gate (if I had to assume anything at all), wobbling only a bit but stable as I corrected for tipping, I hummed lightly and glanced up at Valentin with a smile despite his quietness. His own outfit was, as it always was when it came to Valentin, quite divine indeed. Much more elegant compared to my own, which was a riff on the tale of Snow White and Rose Red's bear prince. With a hand-carved bear mask on my upper face and a princely outfit of red, gold, and white like the flowers of the tale, I was the embodiment of the prince somewhere between his cursed animal form that was regardless gentle and kind and the human that compassion and the breaking of the curse once laid upon him had resulted in freedom. I had not come unarmed, having learned from previous balls that being defended was likely the best course of action in all things--I had my Italian longsword with me and peacetied it may be I could still use it to deal wicked damage in the form of clubbing with the pommel if I had to. I had in the past, I could certainly do it again.

The honking of the flowers most aggressively caused me to raise my brow at them for a moment before shaking my head. Oh whatever. Magical plants... silly creatures...

But it was the sound of Greta's, the little Valkyrie, delighted cry of both of our pet names that suddenly captured my attention and caused me to suddenly flash teeth in a broad. Little Greta, the sister of Hanzo... Little Greta that had stuck with the Horde through thick and thin, that any of us as gentlemen and as her surrogate brothers would defend and back her at all and every cost if called upon, little Greta that seemed to be a ray of sunshine anywhere she went. All I could do was slightly release one hand from Valentin's ankles in order to greet in a small wave before replacing it for stability. "Valchiria! Valkyrie!" I greeting in turn with some level of imitated enthusiasm. "My goodness, someone went all out on you. You look gorgeous!" I praised her. "I wonder how much spin energy you can get out of it." The dress did appear to have a bit of light tulle nature, the kind that would billow if one spun about in it fast enough, and it fit her like a glove. Far from the dress wearing her, as would be the case with some outfits, she wore the dress quite well indeed. "What do you think, Val? Is the Valkyrie just as killing in formal as she is on the pitch?"

I glanced briefly up towards my 'taller' passenger before my attention returned towards the gate. My brow furrowed ever so slightly. "You know, I'm not totally sure, Gretalina." I confessed. Some kids appeared to be searching the bushes quite fervently. "It could be a puzzle, perhaps. You know how Hogwarts is, all cloistered and keeping its secrets to itself all suspiciously. Worse than Durmstrang, and we get a bad wrap for being the 'dark magic school', hey?" I snorted a bit at the absurdity of it before shaking my head. My consistent line of communication had been through my brother... and I had seen several things firsthand that were ominous at best and downright evil at worst. Piérre likely knew much more than he was letting on, than what he had managed to confide in me in the brief moments of vulnerability he allowed to slip through the cracks, and if he did he sure wasn't telling me everything--not the whole truth, anyways.

I looked up at Valentin. "... Well, what do you think, Val? Should I let you down or do we want to add her to the Tower of Romeo instead?" I asked cheekily. "Maybe we can reach three meters by the end of the night. Is the air fresher up there?"

Interacting with Valentin & Greta, no Moddable Action

Reducio

Wand [Redacted] | Italian Longsword [Peace-tied] | Bear Masque [Worn]
Osiria Rose Boutonniere [Worn] | True Love's Locket [Worn] | Medicine Notebook [Carrying]

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Entourage ~ Honeybear ~ Eidolon

Colin McCoire wrote: 15 Apr 2024, 04:16

Post 2

Colin's brain felt fuzzy.

It hadn't happened in a while, and it hadn't happened this strongly before. His breathing became shallow and his whole body tensed. He had been looking at the Mahoutokoro boy. He was saying words. Voices buzzed in Colin's ears. One was familiar and the other wasn't. Or was it the other way around? Colin couldn't tell any longer. The voices converged, mingling with what were surely the voices of other kids around.

Colin stared at the other boy.

His vision was tunnelling. His eyes lost focus. He was no longer staring at Mohoutokoro, but through him. His hands trembled slightly and he made a fist on either side. Outwardly, his expression was intense, almost like he might leap and attack at any second. The buzzing in his ears stopped. The other boy's eyes were no longer visible.

He had passed through the eyes and into the place beyond.

The school grounds were replaced with cold grey flagstones. The bright and gay atmosphere of the ball was cast in gloom and all the blossoming trees and flowers cast down into dead weeds. Grey husks. The faint scent of plant decay came to Colin's nostrils and filled them, not with the life of earth and soil, but merely of death.

He looked around. There was nothing of note to be seen here. Just gloom. A wan and pale Sun setting or rising within a grey sky. Dark thin clouds were scattering and reforming. Grey limbs and twigs rested, motionless in the dead air.

Colin padded along the cool stones. He felt like --- no, he knew --- he'd been here before. And yet this place was not familiar to him. At last he came upon the white stone seat. It had grown over since last ---. "Wait. How did I know it's grown over?" he said. "Wait. How do I even know there's a stone seat here?" For a brief moment, Colin wondered if the others could even hear him. Or was his voice trapped in this other place? Could they see what he saw? Could they even see him!?

Colin turned away from the ancient stone of the seat.

A high black monument stood across, two columns flanking a sort of grotto. Utter darkness framed by utterly dark stone. He looked within. The air within the grotto was cold. Far colder than air had a right to be. Even from some distance away, it burned his lungs to draw breath. The rime that formed along the edges of the monument --- that couldn't be merely ice. He wanted so desperately to touch it, to feel the coolth, but something deep inside warned him: this is no ordinary ice of this world. It is not to be touched!

A faint glow appeared from with the stygian depths. Bright black letters or perhaps runes appeared upon the black surface. No mortal eyes could parse them, yet Colin's eyes here could see them plainly.

A name.

Colin read it.

He let out a gasp!

Colin ran towards the great monument and its gaping maw!

Sound rushed back to his ears and light, proper light this time, flooded his teary eyes. He pushed away from Mahoutokoro! He caught Bea's eyes, and then Ying's! Colin spoke no words! He could only flee! He dug his toes into the earth and tore away from his friends! Pushing through the crowds of kids, he ran, not from the ball, but towards some other unknown fate.

Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 6 | Accuracy: 9
Actions: Colin leaves the ball.
Interacting with: @Beatrice Dupont | @Avery Chen | @Fang Hui-Ying
Mentions: @AngelFyre McCubbin || Binding Mark! @Clair Fernandez

Gear: Vailerama, his broom; Naur an Edraith, his wand; Cernestaff, his shillelagh. Colin also carries some bruise paste, a hag stone, some cheese, chocolate, water and cat treats! What appears to be a wolf tattoo is visible on his chest, as well as his heart shaped birthmark and a variety of truly awesomé scars!

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

𝑀𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @Colin McCoire, @Mahlioz Evethisawe 𝐼𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @Lyrra Kelly

⟵ ---------------------------------- Thoughts | Speech

𝒪𝒪𝒞 𝒩𝑜𝓉𝑒 Reducio

Mellani entered the area where the ball was supposed to happen to Colin exiting, running to god knew where. It wasn't that Mellani did not notice the expression on his face. It was just that she was not sure what would happen if she followed and she was not exactly in a very energetic mood. So she ignored him.

Soon enough, she came to know that there was a treasure hunt for the key to the entrance and they were currently on their second clue, which seemed to lead to the rose bush. Mellani did not really have a date to go to the ball with, so she had come there alone, hoping that maybe she might find some friends there who she could spend the night with. Mellani noticed Mahlioz in their beautigut outfit that she had seen them in before they left their dorm.

Mellani debated approaching Mahlioz, but later decided that they were probably waiting for someone. She did not want to seem like the person who was desperate for company. Sighing, she went over to the rose bushes, hoping that she might find the key or the next clue, and maybe also find a friend somewhere. Mellani looked through the leaves and in the flowers for anything that might be a clue to where the key was hidden.

WIS: 8 ACC: 9 STA: 5 EVA: 7 ARC: 6 STR: 7
Fearless
Action: Observing a few people while searching the rose bush.

Open to Interactions

Actions: Entering
Moderated Actions: Searching the roses bush
Stats: Sta: 8 | Eva: 8 | Str: 4 | Wis: 9 | AP: 1 | Acc: 11
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers & Lovely Creature
Inventory: Wand | Mask

Interacting with: @Beatrice Dupont | @Colin McCoire | Akira Shimizu @Avery Chen

Trunk

4/13/24
Open to interactions + @Pyxis Hellebore
Outfit / Mask

The Spring Ball had been weighing on Kaito’s mind since it was announced. He was never a social person and tended to stay far away from get-togethers back at home. He even missed out on the first ball of the year because he had slept through it! Soirées like this were just not his style and he would rather have his head placed comfortably on his pillow. But he knew his mother would chastise him if he didn’t give at least one of these wizarding shindigs a chance. He could just keep the information about these school balls from her, but it was inevitable that he would spill the beans the minute she asked about his year at Hogwarts.

So he owled home and asked his mother to thrift him a decent formal getup and ship it over. He was surprised at how well put-together he looked with the outfit on. His mother definitely had good taste when it came to dressing him up. The only limit of the Foxgloves was their woefully small bank account, but he was sure that no one could recognize the cheapness of the suit jacket’s material unless they passed their hands over it like he had been doing since donning the thing.

By the time he had finished gawking at himself in the dorm mirror, his roommates began to make their way out to the training pitch. He followed them hesitantly, unsure of how to act in an event such as this one. Would he have to dance? Would he have to ask a girl to dance? Was there going to be a dinner service? Because he was starving. As those thoughts ran through his head, the little group he was travelling with passed through the entrance to the pitch. He didn’t know a lot about Quidditch, but he was sure that all those trees on the ground were not conducive to a safe match.

Looking out at the trees, he realized some of them formed an archway and he walked in that direction. He came upon a large crowd of students. The pathway before him led straight to a closed door and most of the kids were digging through the bushes of red flowers. As he walked along the path, he realized that they were all searching for something in rose bushes. He winced, knowing all too well about the pain that rose prickles caused. Kaito hoped the organizers had those removed before setting them on the pathway.

Even though he picked up on the rose bush search, he still didn’t know what was going on. Then he glanced at the clues and made an ‘Oh’ face. He wasn’t familiar with the mythology of goddesses beyond middle-grade fantasy novels, but the only red flowers around were roses and literally everyone around had figured that out, leaving not many more red bushes available for snooping. There were a few people who had decided to stand back and watch the rest search, so he decided to join them. On his way over, he recognized his train compartment-mate almost immediately.

“Pyxis!” he called out, walking over and detaching his mask for the Slytherin to get a look at his face. Re-tying it to the back of his head, he stood next to Pyxis and mimicked his posture by sticking his hands in his pockets and observing the others. “Was the last ball this… active? I didn’t attend but I always assumed it was more of a party than a scavenger hunt.” He stood there for a while, listening to Pyxis’ response. But as the hunt for the next clue continued, he shifted uncomfortably at the thought of the rest of the ball-goers doing the work for them. It reminded him of the first time he met Pyxis — walking into a train compartment that stunk of rich. “I’ll just… look through these bushes,” he said after a while, breaking away from Pyxis slightly to get on his knees and search a nearby rose bush.

— STA 7 — EVA 5 — STR 1 — WIS 7 — ARC 5 — ACC 5 —
Part-Veela — Alluring

RPing as Zophyr Qethnis from Uagadou

Genderfluid, pronouns at the moment: she/her

☽ Kirundi | French | English | Swahili | Arabic | Tswana | Xhosa ☾

Date: April 13 2024 Time: ~16:15

Interacting with: @Theo Vendeburg Mentioning: Ren Willow-Saito @Qrowley Beithir and Reuben Garcia @Mellani Miller

Her second ball ever, and Zophyr was late. She wasn't sure how it had happened, but she'd gotten distracted on the way by all the magnificent costumes, and now she was late. She was trying not to care too much, but it was rather hard when it was so obvious everyone had already started the event. Especially after last ball had been so... uneventful. For her, at least. Sure, she'd met a rather handsome boy from Mahoutokoro, and she was hoping to see him again today, but she'd heard about drowning and boat rides and the chaos had apparently left her out. So today, she was going to make sure the same thing didn't happen twice. Wherever chaos happened, Zophyr would be there.

And looking as good as ever, of course. She had designed and put together her outfit herself. Her dragon mask had taken a little help from her siblings, but she'd made the fabric wings on her own, and they looked fabulous if she did say so herself. Along with the little wings on her shoes. It was funny enough that for her first ball she'd been a boy wearing a dress, and today she was a girl wearing a suit. Zophyr Qethnis: crusher of gender roles. Then again, her suit today wasn't exactly what you'd call masculine, but she'd take what she got.

A few moments of observation was all it took for Zophyr to understand what was happening. Ah, riddles. The Uagadou student was good at a lot of things, but solving riddles was not one of them. She'd probably have figured out the first one, but gods and goddesses? Blood and flowers and lovers? Not her thing. A lot of people were searching through roses, which probably meant that was the answer. Was looking around her at the others instead of actually working out the riddle a form of cheating? Perhaps. But observing was what Zophyr was good at - knowing about blood and tears of a goddess who was probably European was not.

So of course, she went to look through some nearby rosebushes. Whether it was cheating or not, no one would know anyway. And it didn't take long for her to pay a little less attention to the plants and instead turn her attention to the people around. She noticed Reuben a little ways away and gave a wave, but decided it was about time she met some new pretty people.

A boy was standing on the edge of the pathway to the entrance, alone. He wore a wolf- or fox-looking mask, and seemed adamant to stay away from people. Aha. He seemed exactly the kind of person Zophyr liked to take as a challenge. And though she wasn't in the mood to upset anyone, she definitely wanted to see whether she could get him to talk to her.

Once she'd thoroughly checked the rose bushes (getting a couple of cuts in the process) and after having observed the boy for what she considered long enough, Zophyr got up and walked over to him. He seemed slightly younger than her, and had a look on his face that made it clear how little he wanted to be here. "Hello," she said, armed with a dashing smile and her usual light accent. "Not too interested in searching in the flowers, I take it?"

Actions: looking through the roses for the box, before approaching Theo) Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 9 | Strength: 8 | Wisdom: 5 | Arcane power: 5 | Accuracy: 6 's Grace | Broken Broomshaft

Even though Jack had never been one for the intellectual arts, such as maths or sciences, the hours he spent writing letters for Meenauh were, in his opinion, well spent. Perhaps it was terrible to think of his date as a tool for a greater plan, but that's only a fraction of what the Lioness was. There was a rather large sense of excitement and pride in the fact that she was now on his arm, and he could feel the lightest of drumming in his chest as if a percussionist was only beginning to warm up. The Hufflepuff knew he was starting strong when he had elicited velvety smooth laughter from the Gryffindor. Her laugh flowed through his ears like a satin cloth, its silky texture lounging in his mind. He knew he looked extravagant, but the idea of this power couple showing their face at the soiree grew his ego and his anticipation of seeing his ex-girlfriend's jealous face. This night may go much better than he expected. With the rose escaping from his lips and hands, he didn't mind the comfortable silence that settled in as they swaggered away from the portrait that hid away the Gryffindor's common room.

Jack found himself on the pitch, observing students scrambling in the dirt, searching for a way to unlock the elusive ball. Their methods, he noted, lacked the audacity of simply breaking down the door or casting the unlocking charm on the imposing gates to the ball. Despite his charm faltering, he knew he still had an edge. Her sardonic gaze and smile were all the confirmation he needed. The game was still on. If one didn't consider his determination and undeniable good looks, one-upmanship was his most potent weapon. He was ready to step up his game.

Of course, this hunt was beneath them; the teenager should have known that. "To the ball it is then." His voice, rich in the timeless lilting melody of the Emerald Isle, as if every word was a lyric to a song. "Anything for you." As he spoke, he let his hand slide across her back before lightly hooking her waist from the other side, which only served to remove the little space left between them. If it weren't for the mask hiding his features, the shit-eating grin he was known for would have been on full display. Jack spoke again as he began leading Meenauh away from the childish displays of a scavenger hunt and towards the ball itself, "So, y'know I've never asked, but are you a good dancer?"He was genuinely curious when he asked about dancing with his date, and his grin widened at the thought. Little do most people know that besides his 'friends' George and Jake, Jack had some classical dancing training. His mother had insisted on it when he was younger. She demanded that he have some sort of cultured pastime, considering it mainly spent gallivanting around playing games and sports with his Father.

Interaction with @Meenauh Silmataurea
Action: Beginning to walk of the pitch towards the entrance to the ball(which i'm aware that it isn't open yet)
Open to interactions!

Outfit:

Reducio

Stats:

Reducio

Sta 7 | Ev 17 | Str 12 | Wis 5 | Arc 7 | Acc 10
Fearless | Charmer | Animagus

Date: 13 April 2024 Time: ~16:00

Interacting with: @Irina Shevel Mentions: Astra again

English | French Thoughts

It wasn't long before Irina showed up, drowning Mahlioz in one of her signature hugs before they could get a good look at her. When she let her go and they were able to breathe again (not that they had minded not breathing, because it meant more hug), the first thing she said was a compliment of their outfit. Mahlioz grinned before her eyes fell upon her friend's, and she was left speechless herself. "Oh my goodness, you're one to talk! You look fabulous!" Mahlioz was a sucker for capes (who wasn't?) and obviously green (again, who wasn't??) and considering Irina's outfit included both, it was a given she would love it.

But that wasn't all. With all the green there were sparks of gold leaf-like designs and a beautiful golden masquerade mask to top it all off. Mahlioz was star-struck. The outfit fit their best friend like a glove and though they didn't often care too much about how they looked, they couldn't wait to walk into the ball with her in such majestic attire.

But first they would need to walk into the ball, which they couldn't do unless someone found the key. As the two friends continued to search through the honking daffodils, Mahlioz let out a laugh at Irina's query about sweets in boxes. "Er... I'm not too sure! But there'll surely be some at the ball itself, once we make it in." Fortunately for Irina, someone else soon found the box, overflowing with sweets... and a new clue. Any other moment, Mahlioz definitely would have tried one of the candies, but she was too distracted by the clue to take one for the moment.

Gods and goddesses were a topic she was quite well-versed in. She knew a lot of the famous myths from greek, roman, hindu (thanks to Aru Shah) and norse mythology, and a good few of some of the less famous ones. This one seemed to ring a bell. Blood, tears, flower petals, a lover... honestly, this fit the description for rather a lot of mythological stories. They tended to be pretty dramatic. "Hmm, a dead lover... that sounds like Eurydice and Orpheus' story. But isn't it Eurydice who died in that one? The girl? And there was nothing about flowers, I don't think, just a snake who bit her."

She voiced her thoughts aloud for Irina, just in case the other girl knew anything about gods. Ah, if only Astra was here - she could have helped a lot with the mythology side of things. But that was okay - Mahlioz could figure it out. Blood of a goddess... dead lover... red petals... Hey wait a second. "Isn't this Aphrodite and that other dude? The one who died? Not Ares, he's a god... right! Adonis!" Their obsession with mythology was bearing fruit. Now the question was just what kind of flower to search through.

The things Mahlioz remembered about this specific myth were vague. Adonis was a mortal, he'd died; Aphrodite, who loved him, had cried; her tears and his blood became a type of flower. Hyltwis liked this story because the first mention of Adonis was written by Sappho, who Hyltwis loved. Also, this story had always felt sort of sea-like in Mahlioz's mind, whatever that meant. Watery like the ocean. Why? She did not know. But it didn't help them figure out what the flower was. Ahh, this was annoying! Okay, think about it rationally. What flower is the most red?

Of course, the first flower to come to mind was roses. But that felt wrong, somehow. Not the right flower. She might as well search anyway... She sadly and rather half-heartedly began to do just that, before it hit her - "Anemones!" That was why she'd thought about the sea. Anemones were more known as a sea creature than a flower. Mahlioz turned to Irina. "Uh... do you know what an anemone flower looks like?" They'd had luck with the first plant, but their lack of Herbology skills was starting to weigh on them.

Actions: talking to Irina and looking through a rosebush before wondering what anemone flowers look like Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane power: 7 | Accuracy: 8 Wandmaker | Perfectionist