Scavenger Hunt Summer Camp 2024 The Centre Field

Abilities Perfectionist 1 & 2 Evasive Maneuvers || Muggle Condition English || Russian

Action Building the Bohemian Snowdude Interacting: @EmmaLee LeDames Open for Interactions

He was both "Booped" and busted, all in a mere matter of seconds. The carrot nose boop just made him laugh. "I stand here before you and confess I've never been "booped" before. Guess I can now scratch that off my bucket list. It was high on the list, too. Top three, of course, are United States Air Force Academy, Astronaut, and space travel. Fourth, would you believe it, was getting "Booped". Are you sure you're not a Seer?" he asked with a great deal of awe while waving his hand up and down in front of her eyes, staring at them as if that would somehow reveal her Seer-ness, or lack thereof.

Still smiling, he felt a little surge of disappointment that he had not been successful with his misdirections to have her not notice his missing Top Hat. He should have known better anyway. She was way too smart to be a dupe to his shenanigans. Still, he knew she did not know he had her beret, and really, that was the main thing. He was happy to wear hers if that's what she wanted, and it appeared that she did, as she popped it onto his head before getting the final scroll for each of them.

They both exuded smiles and congratulatory high fives before starting the not so much of a surprise ending by making their snowmen. The rules were that only those things collected during the scavenger hunt could be used, and right out of the gate, Stephen knew his was going to take bit longer due to a lack of sticks. That meant he was going to have to make snow arms. It was definitely doable, but he was going to have to position them just right so that gravity didn't have them fall off. Wouldn't be the end of the world if they did. He'd just make the Venus de Milo of snowpeople in that case.

He was going to be doing a lot of sculpting and carving, so his would be a 2 story snowman instead of 3. He got both balls rolled out and placed the smaller one on top of the larger one. Then he made deep indentations that would be the arm sockets to support the weight of the arms so they wouldn't fall. Next he made the arms, rolling fat cylinders, and set them snugly into the sockets. He shaved the ends down a bit and placed the green mitten with white polka dots on the left and the yellow mitten with Grey stripes on the right. He'd chosen that mitten as a nod to EmmaLee's House of Hufflepuff.

He stepped back to look at it, and briefly thought about Epoximising the arms in place, but decided he didn't totally hate the Venus de Milo idea should it happen. So far, it looked fine, so onward. Next he wrapped the cranberry and blue striped scarf, in honor of Ilvermorny, around the neck, and then stuck the carrot he had not nibbled on into the head. Now he was having to make a decision here, because he only had three purple buttons and no coal. Smart money would use them for the face, but his snowdude wasn't big on brains, so that was out. Nope, a fashion statement is what he was going for here, so the buttons were going to accentuate the decorative vest he was going to carve into the chest.

He was as exacting as he could be given he had only his fingers, a partially eaten carrot that he continued to nibble into a point, and the edges of the buttons. Long after EmmaLee had come over and retrieved her Top Hat from his head to put on her snowman, he finally finished the carvings and sculpting on the vest. He put the three purple buttons with different designs on it and smiled wide as he loved the look.

EmmaLees's snowman was beautiful and as elegant as the girl who made it. His was not that, but it was fine. He was wondering if he shouldn't have used the buttons for the face, but he was committed to his design plan, for better or worse. He punched a fist for two eye sockets and then made two smaller snowballs for eyes. Next he moved down to the mouth and used the outer edge of his hand to shape a smile. He stood back once again and looked at it. It needed something, but he was out of everything but the beret.

Then he looked over at EmmaLee patiently waiting for him to finish, and that dizzying feeling he often got looking at her overtook him. Then he knew what to do. He went to work quickly on the eyes and formed a couple of spirals with the carrot tip in the middle of each. Lastly he went to the mouth and very, very lightly, carved her name. It was not meant to be seen, really. It was just symbolic of things he had been pondering on lately, and knowing it was there just made him happy.

He laughed as he gave it the final once over before calling her over for the big reveal. All the carving he had done for the vest now rested in fluffy piles around the base. He must have carved a lot because snowdude looked like he was buried almost hip deep. Ah well.... he was proud of his guy.

He walked over to EmmaLee and her snowman and took a much closer look. "It's beautiful, EmmaLee. If I were a judge, it'd get my vote for sure, though a close second would have to be the snow cyclops that Zophyr seems to have made," and he laughed and gave him a thumbs up! Turning back to EmmaLee, he beckoned her to come take a look at his.

"Now don't judge too harshly. When I set my top hat down to tighten my shoe lace in the Stands, I left it there in the excitement, I guess. Rules were that we could only use what we had, so..." and he gestured in a Vanna White kind of motion as he sputtered out his own "Ta da! I give you the one and only Bohemian Snowdude! He looks odd with no hat, I know, but - ... Oh! There is one more thing I just happen to have," and he grinned like a loon as he reached behind him and pulled the cranberry beret out of his back pocket.

"The moment I saw it on you I knew ... uhhh... I knew this stodgy English stadium could stand to be Frenched up a bit," and he turned quickly to avoid having her see him cursing himself for nearly embarrassing himself, and her, with a slip of the tongue.

Placing it on the bald head of snow, he jostled the head a bit and had to reposition it. He looked over at her and asked, "What do you think? Is it on straight?" and he ran back over to stand next to her as he looked at the completed project.

The bigger question lately was whether his own head was on straight, but he already knew the answer to that.

The Bohemian Snowdude

30th July 2024
Speech: #cfa120
Thoughts: Italics

"OHH!" Realisation hit Emily like a truck when she read the last task once it was delivered to her. Even more so when she looked carefully at the items she had been collecting the whole time... And as predicted, she was livid.

So I could've chosen the carrot then...!

Alas, the last task was in the past. Now it was time to build a snowman as instructed for the grand finale of the Scavenger Hunt. Something which won back Emily's excitement. Growing up in a part of town where snow become slush the second it hits the ground, Emily was anxious to make a snowman right there and then, almost like taking back something that was somewhat missing from her earlier years.

She sprung to her feet and immediately began rolling snowballs together. After a while it looked a little on the small scale, but otherwise big enough for the sticks, hat, gloves and other gathered items she had kept to the side. With the body practically done Emily began decorating and fitting it with the items she procured throughout the event; she stuck the sticks on either side of the main body, fitting the gloves at either end for hands. She wrapped the scarf around its neck and planted the buttons on the front for eyes and a coat.

With a finger she traced a patterned mouth and design to pair with the items placed about the snowman's physique. Finally, she tapped it off with a Top Hat on top and a parsnip for the nose. Looking at her work, she found it strangely suiting her snow buddy.

"Voila!"

_{Word Count: 308}

Action: Building and Presenting Snow Buddy!

Stats: Stamina: 7| Evasion: 6| Strength: 6| Wisdom: 8| Arcane Power: 7: Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Non-Human Enthusiast |Cat's Grace

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Dad

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Pa

Andrea

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Interacting with @	Date - 30/07/24
WC 273/200	Color Legend - Mylo | Thoughts

Having picked up the last item Mylo waited for the next part of the hunt to arrive, another clue or something. What they weren't expecting was for the organiser herself to come to them and to hand deliver the last part of the hunt.

Taking one of the scrolls she had put down on the table Mylo read it, and felt a pang of disappointment hit them as they realised he had made a mistake with one of the riddles. He knew it was just for fun, but the fact that they had made a mistake still got to them and made him pause for a second.

Deciding to just keep on going he started gathering snow for the snowman they had to build, starting with the body and making their way up to the head, it reminded them of when he made snowmen with their family during Christmas and the fun they had in the snow and it put a smile on his face again.

Having made the silhouette of the snowman they gathered the objects he had collected during the hunt, adding on the sticks for hands, with the mittens on the end to keep his stick hands warm. The buttons on the front part down his body and the scarf around his neck. Standing up a bit straighter Mylo added on the top hat and as last stuck the parsnip in the snowmans face.

It looked weird without the carrot, but Mylo would have to live with that. Stepping back they looked at some of the other snowmen and waited to hear what the organiser would have to say next.

Action: Building a snowman with their collected objects

ABILITIES | STATS
Perfectionist | Wandmaker [Dragonheart, Elm wood]
sta • 8 | eva • 6 | str • 5 | wis • 9 | arc • 6 | acc • 6

Code by Ara Villa

Another burst of golden fireworks marking the end of the game and a burst of scrolls greeted us once more. As I opened the scroll and read it context, I quite involuntarily face slapped myself. Well, ofcourse it's a snowman! How did I miss that?

I was so bent over the riddle that I could hardly connect the dots and understand the hidden intention of all these items!

I sigh and smile to myself, it was a good game.

As many others had already started building their snowmen, I started working on mine. I rolled up a huge sphere of snow, almost half my size, so yeah, hugee! And the a cute smaller one went over the big sphere.

I realised I didn't take as many buttons as would have suited a snowman, but nevertheless I added my plain brown button, the black scarf, the stick for its hands, the parsnip as its nose and the pretty top hat. Marvelling at my unique snowman, I smiled contended.

The merry air around was filled with such Christmas essence that it's hard to believe that this was peak summer now, and I am at a summer camp filled with snow and SNOW!

I patted my snowman, in a sense of pride and achievement and then rushed along with some of the camp mates, helping them with their snow man.

Action: Built an unique snowman

Made by Zach Zaphiere

Date	:	July 30th, 2024
Color code	:	Written|Thought|Said

Sere widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows when she found a curly-haired girl appearing at the last location instead of another golden fireworks. Shifting the parsnip to her left hand, Sere took the scroll that Aly Salinger had brought and read it.

Upon learning that the instruction was to make a snowman, Sere sighed and muttered, "Ah, I knew it." She had already mentioned that all the materials gathered during the Scavenger Hunt were matched well as the decorations for people who want to make snowmen.

"Okay, now what should I do with... these two items?" Sere placed the four correct materials: top hat, scarf, mittens, buttons on the pile of snow in front of her and held two items that didn't seem to fit with a snowman: a quill and a parsnip.

"Ah, never mind. Let's try with existed the materials." Sere began rolling a large snowball, stacking it with a medium one, and stacking a smaller one on top of it. The girl then put on the top hat and placed a quill as a decoration for the top hat. She attached buttons as eyes, formed a smiling mouth, and also three buttons in the middle as its body. She wrapped a scarf around her snowman. Sere compacted two pieces of snow into an oval shape and placed them on the right and left sides of the snowman then attached mittens to cover the oval pieces: looked like it has hands. Finally, she broke off the tip of the parsnip and attached it as its nose.

The Gryffindor girl took a few steps back and assessed her 'artwork'. "Owh gosh. I am certainly, absolutely have zero talent in art." Sere shook her head, hard to believe that the little disaster in front of her was made by her own hands. "At least I've finished my final mission, and... the event itself was very fun to me. I have to definitely join another event like this in the future."

Sere Nade finally found an event that she could enjoy: one that suited her ambition as well as her stiff personality.

WC : 352/200
Action : Making a little disaster.... Uh, no! I mean snowman

☽⦙ Date | 30 July, 2024 ⦙☾
☽⦙ Interacting With | No One ⦙☾
☽⦙ Hex Code | #810B2D ⦙☾

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Dori couldn't help but jumping when Aly spoke, not even realizing that she had arrived to the centre field. At this point, they were covered in different items that they had accumulated throughout the scavenger hunt and were ready to go home with their prizes (aka a pretty winter set). They approached and took one of the scrolls with riddles and couldn't help the smile that grew on their face at the task ahead. Since they had not dressed for playing in the snow today, Dori did take the liberty of borrowing the mittens to roll the snowballs.

There was a part of them that remembered this being a lot easier, but maybe it was because mum and dad had always done most of the rolling and Dori had done most of the decorating. Their heart ached a tad wishing Elsi or another one of the friendly Hufflepuff's friends were here to assist. But, this was not the time for moping. This was a time for building! They ditched magic this time, wanting to stick to making a snowperson the old fashioned way, so once they had carefully laid the second giant snowball on top of an even larger one they got to work with their items.

Very quickly they did realize that uh- they only had one of everything. So this would be an asymmetrical snowperson. The first stick went into the right side of the larger snowperson, the first sign of life. Then they actually gently tucked the soft pale pink scarf in to only cover the right half of the portion where the snowballs met. A pink flower button for a right eyeball was next, quite cute instead of coal honestly. The lavender mittens were shed from their hands, one put onto the end of the stick, the other was tucked under the black top hat to stick out kind of like hair? It didn't look it. But Dori had a vision. Both were, of course, skewed to the right side. Last but certainly not least, the carrot. This went right in the middle of the face, as that is where it was meant to be. But otherwise Dori's snowperson was a minimal right-handed-top-hat-pastel-queen. They were proud of the work they had done today.

Action || Building an Art Piece Snowperson.

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SCAVENGER HUNT | Round 7
- July 30, 2024 -

OF course! The disparate parts had been right under his nose all day, but it took the word snowpeople — if that was a word to begin with — to make Septimus realize what they would produce when combined. He felt a bit thick for not solving the puzzle sooner, but that didn't stop an excited smile from crossing his face as he glanced between the last of the riddle scrolls in his hands and the older girl who had come out to the pitch to deliver it to him. Septimus liked snowmen; they had always been a load of fun at home when the weather was right. Of course, the Merrills' snowmen were the sort conjured up by professionals, without a single flaw from their glittering, coal-black eyes to their jolly smoking pipes. Septimus had never built one himself. It certainly wouldn't be the same. But he'd done all that work to reach the end of the scavenger hunt, and it would be ridiculous of him to quit now.

As his fellow summer campers spread out to begin their work, Septimus directed a stiff, eye contact-avoidant nod towards the girl with the scrolls — meant to acknowledge the task given to him and to thank her for overseeing the activities of the day, though it was anyone's guess how much of that would come across — and stepped away, searching for a clean swathe of snow. He laid his materials out in a neat row and assessed them all briefly. Top hat and scarf — very good. The carrot would make a fine nose, if slightly misshapen. He foresaw some issues with the stick and the button, mostly because he only had one of each, but he resolved to deal with those after rolling up the body. Septimus stole a glance at one of his neighbors, fixing a jealous eye on the mittens in their grasp (must've been the item he'd missed), then turned back towards the snow in front of him and braced himself for the cold.

He grabbed a big chunk of snow in each hand and mashed them together, squeezing the snow into a dense ball about the size of his fist. Taking his cues from some of the other, older students nearby, he packed more snow into his snowball until it was big enough to set down and roll across the pitch. Septimus chased the snowball and marveled at its growth; it was eating up all the snow on the ground and getting bigger and bigger in the process, until it came up as high as his knees. He tended to it for a bit longer. Soon, it was heavy enough that he had to put his back into rolling it any further — and soon after that, it wouldn't budge another inch. The snowball was as tall as his waist now and equally wide across. A good foundation. No one would be bowling Mr. Snowman over. No one Septimus's size, at least.

Two more snowballs were rolled up, each smaller than the one before, leaving criss-crossed trails through the snowy blanket that rested on the pitch. Septimus hefted Mr. Snowman's middle part into place with some effort, stacking it on top of the largest, bottom-most snowball and adding extra snow to the spot where the two came together in order to lock it in place. The snowman's head, which was about the same size as Septimus's, was easier to move. He stuck it atop the pile with an icy crunch and ensured it wouldn't topple off when he took his hands away. Then, stepping back, he surveyed his work and rubbed his freezing hands together. It looked good, he thought. It would suit him fine.

Septimus knew he'd been at building Mr. Snowman's body for a while, so he hurried to put the scavenged items into place and give his creation its finishing touches. He placed the top hat at a sophisticated angle on the snowman's head and wrapped the scarf around its neck in the gentleman's style. He dug out a divot for the carrot nose where he thought a nose ought to be, then reformed the snow around the carrot until it was smooth. It was only the stick and the button left — but he couldn't have a snowman with one arm and one eye. Frowning, Septimus tried to work out a way to duplicate his items that wouldn't have him running back through the stadium to fetch more. His prospects weren't looking so good, unfortunately. But then an idea struck him, and he took the stick and, after two tries, splintered it over his knee. There! Mr. Snowman would have shorter arms than most, but he sure would have two of them. Clutching the halves of the stick gingerly, wary of splinters, Septimus poked them into the sides of the center snowball and arranged them in a friendly-looking way.

He could not snap his button in two, but he'd also had an idea about that, and it was going to make his mother mad when she found out about it in August. Reaching down for the last button on his expensive coat (thankfully, Mrs. Merrill liked to prepare her children for everything, even a winter chill in the summertime), Septimus pinched it between his fingers and tugged as hard as he could. It fought bravely to stay in place, but after another moment's struggle, it lost. Septimus heard the threads rip as he yanked the button free and slid it into the palm of his hand. It was small, black, and glossy, not very similar to the silver one he'd found in the scavenger hunt at all. But it would do, too. He fixed the button eyes into place above the carrot nose and felt as if the snowman was winking at him. Just like that, it was finished.

His was not a perfect snowman, not by far, but Septimus still thought it was plenty good. If the space between the eyes was a little too wide, and the carrot just too low on the face, well... what did it matter? Septimus squinted at Mr. Snowman and decided he ought to have a first name — if not because he thought the girl with the scrolls might ask for it, then just because it seemed right. He tried to think of something polite. George. Thomas. Philip. All fine options. Yet what the boy ultimately decided on was Edward. Mr. Edward Snowman.

Septimus and Edward Snowman, as charming a pair as any, stood next to each other on the pitch and waited for their final instructions. What a day. All that walking, running, and snowball-making was starting to assert itself on Septimus's arms and legs, and he started to daydream about the warmth of his tent. He was going to draw a picture of Edward Snowman when he got back, so he could show William and his parents when he saw them at the end of the summer. Then maybe he'd do a little stargazing. Play with his action figures. Have a cup of cocoa.

And wonder if he'd find a fresh set of mysterious riddles when he woke up tomorrow morning.

ACTION: building Edward Snowman (artist's rendition below)

Reducio

Round Tracker: 1 | 2 | 3 | X | 5 | 6 | 7

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July 30th, 2024

With pursed lips, Pyxis accepted a scroll from the upperclassman. He completely forgot about having to complete a last task, and as he read through the clue, he realized that he’d have to give up some of the items he’d begun to use for warmth to build a snowperson. Also, the snake had very little experience playing in the snow like this. White carpets weren’t foreign to him, but Eastbourne was warm for most of the year. The sudden onslaught of winter usually had him cooped up inside, not racing out to make snow angels or build snowmen. He didn’t even know how to start gathering up that much snow to make the body.

Looking around, Pyxis tried to mimic what others were doing, but he came up short with only his smallest balls being sturdy enough to stand on their own. He didn’t know if there was a time limit to this task, so the wizard ditched his attempts to match the others’ giant balls and decided to create a miniature sculpture. Once three rolls were stacked on top of each other, Pyxis laid out the items he gathered.

He’d only grabbed one stick, but his snowperson was so tiny that all he needed to do was break off two parts and stick it into the sides of the center ball. The multicolored button he’d chosen was obviously too big, but since he took only one, he was also able to place it on the front of the center ball. It took up all the space on the center ball, but it was unique, so Pyxis didn’t mind. The scarf and mittens proved to be a challenge as they were too large for the sticks, but Pyxis had the idea to absolutely obliterate items given by the organizers. He pulled a thread out of the scarf and wrapped it around the neck of the snowperson, and two threads out of a mitten, twisting it around the edges of the sticks.

He briefly panicked when he realized there was nothing he could have used for the eyes. The coal would have come in handy here. However, after looking at the carrot in his hand, he instinctively took two bites out of the pointy end and stuck them into the indents he’d made for eyes. The rest of the carrot was pushed below the eyes and looked lopsided and jagged. Lastly, he removed the red ribbon from his classic top hat and ripped it lengthways. Taking the thinner piece, he gently tied it to the forehead of his snowperson so it resembled a karate headband from that one movie he watched recently.

Stepping back, Pyxis observed his work proudly. He thought he did pretty well for someone who never built a snowperson before. To add some flair, he waved his wand and uttered the incantation for the Snowflake-Creating Spell.

Action: Building a miniature snowperson and casting the Snowflake-Creating Spell over the scene.

The last riddle. This was it! Colby felt like she was running out of breath and feeling a bit light headed from how long this scavenger hunt was taking. Overall, it was fun to see the Quidditch Stadium's different areas. When would she ever go to the top box? Her parents were well-to-do, but not wealthy enough to purchase a box at the top. It was a fun experience to see nonetheless.

Colby took the last riddle and looked it over, her items in the top hat that was around her arm in a snug. It spoke about heading down where the match started. Colby could not help but to look around the stadium. Where had she not been to yet? It was clear that although she was on the field, she was near the hoops. Never was she in the center of the field. Excitedly, Colby made her way to the center field where there had been many people already there. She looked around for the table of items. When she found it, she saw three items to choose from: potatoes, parsnips and carrots. Colby did not have to read the rest of the riddle to know what item to choose. She grabbed the carrot, another riddle, and made her way to an open area on the field.

Around her, everyone was putting together their items. It was clear that was the next step. She opened the piece of paper that stated the last task for them to do. Colby began to put together a snowman in two parts. She was way too tired to do the traditional three-part snowman. For a moment, Colby looked at the carrot in her snowman's hat. She looked around and reached for the vegetable. She took a bite out of the carrot, tasting the delicious flavor of something to get her focus back. Once she finished eating her one bite, she began to put the items on the two-part snowman of hers. The quills, scarf, buttons, mittens, and top hat were all placed to perfection. Last was the carrot nose. She placed it right in the middle of its face, the carrot looking like someone bit into it. Colby couldn't help but to smile and step back. She did it. Now, it was time to find something to eat and drink. Colby did not want to wait for who would win. She was content with just going around the stadium figuring out clues and putting it all together.

[Colby Leaves Event]

ACTION: Enters the Centre Field area and builds her snowman with items she has collected.
STATS: Stamina - 7 | Evasion - 5 | Strength - 6 | Wisom - 4 | ArcPower - 4 | Accuracy - 4

And there it was, suspicions confirmed, as the organizer walked into their midst to explain the true purpose of the event. It wasn't merely a scavenger hunt, after all, but rather an opportunity to make a snowman. Leave it to Salinger to somehow strong-arm Evelynn into a silly children's activity without so much as having had to lift a finger. The lioness would have been annoyed had she not been mildly impressed by the successful deceit, scoffing self-defeatedly under her breath. "Very well..." she muttered, acquiescing to the moment while withdrawing her wand from its sleeve.

Still, just because Evelynn allowed herself to submit to the ploy did not in any way mean that she intended to exert herself. Leave it to the the younger years to have their fun of freezing phalanges as they rolled and packed their snow. "Nive percutio," she spoke plainly, aiming her wand from a low position to angle acutely at the ground. A snowball coalesced, projecting itself into the snowy ground. With her wand still pointed towards the grounded projectile, she continued, "Circumrota".

With physics on her side, the conjured snowball started to rotate, picking up snow as it did, and effectively rolling--without any physically expended energy--to grow in size. In lazy laps, Evelynn sent it in progressively expanding circles around herself, adjusting the rotation of each of its axis until it was just as she desired. And then she repeated the process. "Levioso," came next, levitating each of the smaller snow spheres enough for her to gently push them just over their predecessor before canceling the spell.

Special attention was given to ensure the giant snowballs were well molded onto each other before moving on to the finishing touches. A silver button was pressed into the top sphere for an eye, just above her own level of sight; the moonstone she'd pulled from her pack for its counterpart. Development of a nose came from the anchoring of the carefully selected carrot. The stick she'd taken was broken into two equal parts, each stuck into the middle portion for arms and a glove deposited upon their ends. Two vertical rows of pebbles pressed down its middle for a bit more of a posh militaristic twist on the typical buttoned coat. The ravenclaw recoloured scarf was wrapped and fashionably tied around the snowman's neck; and finally, the tophat deposited upon its head before she stepped back to assess her work, the hint of a sly smile sliding onto her lips as she caught a glimpse of @Aly Salinger coming around to inspect the various students' works.

ACTION: Making Ser Icicles, the snow gentleman[/revelio]