The Masquerade Ball Event Closed

RPing as Elzabeth Gillan:

One-moment Elzabeth was trying to make sure the fire didn't spread, then the next she couldn't see. In utter confusion, Elzabeth fell backward, reaching up to her face to clear away the sensation.

People were screaming all around her, and from what she could gather it sounded like the doors had opened. Her sight seemed to be coming back in a complete blur, fuzzy objects moved past her but instead of doing the sensible thing and calling out for help, Elzabeth tried to get up.

It was a struggle, especially in heels and a dress. Her masked started to slip down her face, obscuring her already horrible vision. She reached up and pulled the mask off, not realizing how sweaty she was until she felt the cool sensation where her mask had been.

Hands out in front of her, she shuffled forwards ignoring the acrid smell of smoke that had taken over her senses.

Someone ran into her in their hurry to get out, knocking her over again. Elzabeth was tiny and hard to see in all of the chaos which only made it that much harder for her to get out of here unscathed.

At this point Elzabeth was on auto piolet, her vision cleared up a little bit more and her arm hurt a little less but she wasn't processing anything. Which is probably why she ran straight into a table.

Her feet ached, her arm burned, and she just wanted to see clear again but nothing seemed to be going her way. "The doors right there." She told herself, shuffling forwards.

roleplaying as: Gem Stuart
interacting w/ @Elzabeth Gillan & @Katrina Walker
mentions: @Lark Flaer & @James McMurtrie

"She's- uh, well, she's alive," Gem muttered, rather task oriented with the burden of someone's life on his shoulders. It was still difficult to see, especially with the tears dribbling down his cheeks, but he could hear just fine, even if the screaming was piercing. He hadn't realized it at first, but just beside him, he heard a very familiar, small voice next to him-- wait, was that... Elzabeth? His eyes widened instinctively, whipping his head around until he got a faint outline-- yep, that was her.

"Elzabeth? Christ, wh- ugh," He wheezed, "hey, uh, hook yer arm around mine, okay? I-" He side-stepped over, opening his arm up the best he could while he still had a grasp on Brielle. "C'mon, joost follow me, okay? I kind of... have an idea where ta go." That was a half-lie, but even in his state of squinting and tearing up, he could see a sort of clearing, one that dropped a huge ball of relief in his stomach.

That was quickly thrown in the trash, however, when he realized he had no idea where James was, or Lark, or any of his other friends. He wanted to scream, but... they'd be all right, right? They were Ravenclaws, they... knew what to do, right? Right? He could never be so sure.

As dNPC Astrid Kovac
Status Normal, but soon to be blinded? (going inside ballroom)
Health Full

Interacting: @Bridget Collins (Phyllis) | @Thora Larkston (Karilyna)

So, Karilyna had decided to stay. Well, at least that indicated that her health wasn't too bad, right? Astrid cautiously walked over, wondering what they were going to do, while trying not to intrude on some important friendship moment between the two of them. But then, they started talking about nicknames, so Astrid piped in.

"Okay, well this isn't the best, but Thun-Door-bird? 'Cause, yeah? I don't know." She laughed at herself, and shrugged. Then, they both decided to rush back into danger. Because, you know, one was hurt, and they had already tried this trick before, when it hadn't really worked.

"So, next time I get crushed by a door, which I'm sure will happen, can I use you as an excuse to just get back up again? 'Cuz my parents would freak." She muttered slightly under her breath, grinning. Her parents had always been one to pull her back whenever she even had the notion of doing something potentially dangerous. But they were here to stop her from running after the only people she knew at the ball into a cloud of smoke.

It was chaos, while she couldn't see, she could hear cries of "The doors are open! Fires! Attack them! Get the smoke out!" She could also feel the heat that came from this chaos. But the fires weren't something she could really help, knowing no spells, and having nothing to douse of smother the fires with. So she worried about what was attacking the other students. Her single-minded idea hadn't changed from before, when she could see.

It was just a little harder when she was relying more on her other senses (which weren't all that great.)

"Which of the multiple problems within this ballroom are you two going to try and help?" Astrid shouted, not entirely knowing where they had gone.

Action Same as before, except within ballroom (Astrid will try to jump on enemy and attack them with piece of wood)

»»————————-　♔　————————-««

interactions Interacting with Novus, dNPC of @Lamik Fillestar
word count 397 | text colour #274E13
wand ref here
status vision obscured (smokescreen/smoke)
health full
notes --

»»————————-　♔　————————-««

"Of course I had to walk up to a girl who was brave." The other claimed with a hint of mock-frustration.

Here's the thing: Astrea, though as much of a little Slytherin missus blueblood, was not one to simply flee the scene unless it was as instructed in accordance with a long-term plan she followed. And in this situation, it seemed that a 'long-termed plan' was not in order, as the sudden decline of the ball was wholly planned by perpetrators who sought to wreak havoc for some mysterious reason. The mysterious reasoning was disgusting. There must be a purpose for something to be done, something clear that is showcased for a protest or idea to be conducted.

"What a pity." Astrea deadpanned, perse grey eyes squinting as she struggled to see through the smoke, her eyes and ears utterly useless to pinpoint exact things between the screen of black smog and cacophony of noise.

"I... don't think that would help us. If I remember correctly the windows here are a bit... unaccessible. Very big, sure, but also pretty high up and probably impossible to open."

She frowned, looking back toward her companion with a slightly annoyed-ly begrudging microexpression. "I was going to try to use magic to break the windows for some smoke to be let out. Magic is an option unless I am mistaken." The blue-blood's attention was swerved away from Novus as the cry of "The doors are open! Fires! Attack them! Get the smoke out!" rang out through the room, only bearly distinguishable from the roar of fire and attackers alike. Said smoke, though trying to diminish in opacity due to the new amount of space provided by the hallways, still came in thick curdles of charcoal. "It doesn't matter now anyway."

"If we really want to help though, the best idea would be going towards the fire. Higher chance of finding injured people there."

The young heir nodded in agreement, hitching her cape up to wrap around her skirt and tie into a makeshift sash around her waist, only to keep it from catching fire or being tripped on. "Affirmative." She adjusted her wand in her left hand comfortably, knuckles straining on the edge of turning white from how tense she felt.

"Where do you suggest? We need to be quick unless we are of assistance to the extinguishing of the actual blazes."

Interacting with @Adlai Rod
Mentions @Thora Larkston(Karilyna) and co

These other students didn't seem to want Leah's help, and she frowned a little. That girl definitely looked like she needed to go to the hospital wing, but Leah didn't want to cause any more conflict tonight, so she turned back to Adlai.

Adlai looked, in the nicest possible way, absolutely awful. While her dress seemed intact and There didn't seem to be any permanent damage, the other Hufflepuff had clearly been terribly affected by the smoke. She didn't even seem to realise that they had already stepped outside of the room.

"Come on, Adlai, take a few more steps forward," she coaxed softly. "We're safer here."

Which was true, right? Right, she told herself.

There was no way she could take Adlai back towards the hall. As much as Leah wanted to help by shouting about the exit, she doubted her voice would contribute over the chaotic cacophony. She could hardly leave Adlai here to go and drag people out, either, as she would never leave her friend to suffer alone. She had three main options: go to the common room and find help there; take Adlai to the hospital wing so that she could relieve her pain somewhat; or try to find a teacher.

And she'd have to decide now.

@Saskia Nicholson

Thea heard the boy next to her, and chose not to respond with anything but a quick look, and a small wave. She wasn't in the mood to talk - all the students rushing into the room made her feel anxious, and instead, she'd rather watch the paintings, or the architechture. That was just who she was - not the kind of person to talk much. She should have probably tried to be more aware of her sorroundings, but instead she looked at the ballroom's ceiling and walls, thinking of how long ago they might have been made.

The decorations on the tables and walls complimented each other, thank God someone at Hogwarts had a sense of style or Thea wouldn't be able to bare looking at them. She was happy to see that they weren't too disoriented or badly placed, because then again - she wouldn't be able to contian herself and would instead try to fix every single one, effectively making even more of a mess. She pondered everything and nothing, spacing out, closing her eyes sometimes, just thinking as the music went on. At some point, she was able to space out just enough, she could barely comprehend what was going on around her, and was instead fully emerged in her thoughts.

And then she realized, how the calm, peaceful music went into students crying and screaming for help, how the ballroom's decorations were now on fire, and for a while, she just stood there, not knowing what to do.

Well, much longer than a while. Way too long of a while. There were some huge... people? She assumed the to be people, but really, not much would surprise her. They might have been giants, for all she knew. They were trying to do something to some other students. Thea stood there, not knowing what the hell she was supposed to do, as someone yelled the incantation for the red sparks charm, and she couldn't see for a couple of seconds. She closed her eyes rapidly and covered them as well, and only after a few seconds she was able to "look" back up, although she still couldn't quite see much.

The smoke impaired her vision enough already, and the sparks didn't help for sure. She took off her mask quickly, and looked up at the much taller boy with terror in her eyes. The Hufflepuff coughed, and clumsily made her way over to a table which was fortunately close by the corner she was standing in. If the boy followed her, great, if he didn't, good for him. She stood there, with the untouched cutlery in front of her, and just... was there, as the histeria continued. She didn't know what to do - with her limited sight she could only listen to the screams and cries that were both near and far away.

Thea "looked" down at the things in front of her, and in a moment of desperacy, as if time slowed down for her, she took one of the glasses and chucked it in the direction of the noise before ducking under the

Action: Throw a glass twards the noise she can hear

Interacting with no one.
Status: Blinded (Red Sparks) | Vision Obscured (Smokescreen/Smoke) | Health: Full

The fear was building up within her quickly. The fire seemed to be spreading, smoke took over. Everything seemed to be getting harder. Serena's extinguishing failed and her vision was obscured by the smoke taking over the room. "Ahh!" She yelled a little, out of reflex, as the red sparks blinded her for a moment. The Hufflepuff rubbed her hand over her face, trying to rub her eyes better whilst also batting the smoke away from her. It was getting harder to breathe as with every inhalation, she felt the urge to start coughing horribly. 

This was not the first time. This could easily be the last time, however. Serena steadied her wand, opening her eyes. She was terrified. Every fibre of her being screamed at her - that this could be the last ever thing she did. But she could not stay here. She had to move, and she had to move fast. 

People were screaming left, right and center. It was getting harder to figure out what was going on with everyone screaming from every single direction and the smoke blocking her vision. The spells people were casting did not help either - who the hell casted red sparks?! She could not recognise his voice in all of the screaming but she heard the words that the doors had been opened. A tiny bit of hope flooded through her body. Reid had gone to open the doors with Hugh, he must have succeeded. They needed to get out - all of them. Did someone scream flipendo duo?! Her heart pounded, wondering what in Merlin's name was going on and why people were firing attack spells at a time like this. 

Serena had made a fatal mistake. She had separated from her friends and the smoke had blocked her vision from getting back to them easily. She needed to find them but... how could she when she could not see anything?! The best thing she could do now was to just try and clear the path to the exit. Hopefully removing some of the fire would reduce the smoke too. "Extinguo!" She called again, trying to remove the fires around her.

Serena's outfit

ACTIONS: Cast Extinguishing Spell on fire, trying to clear a path

This is a double post for Elzabeth Gillan and Hunter Reys:
@James McMurtrie @Gem Stuart @Lark Flaer @Katrina Walker

Rping as Elzabeth Gillan:

Elzabeth was ready to give up when Gem appeared at her side, looking more worried and existed than she had seen him in a while.

She let out a relieved breath and followed his directions, leaning on him like a crutch. Gem was lucky she weighed less than a hundred pounds, Elzabeth was mostly laying on him than she was trying to walk but she shuffled forwards as best as she could.

Her own mind was working against her, telling her to stop and wait until everything calmed down, or telling her to find a wall and lean against it because she was too tired to move on but Elzabeth knew if she were to do any of those things she might not make it out of here alive.

"Thank you," Elzabeth muttered, hoping Gem could hear her.

Rping as Hunter Reys:

Things were getting worse and it was starting to worry him. They had made it out of the fire, but that was going to mean nothing if they couldn't get out. People were doing all they could to open the doors but nothing was working.

And then all at once, there was a loud band and a blinding light. Hunter tripped over something on the floor, his arm was firmly around Vi's which unfortunately meant she went down with him.

His vision came back blurry, but it came back which was good. "Are you okay?" Hunter asked, looking at Vi. He felt bad he had dragged her down with him but that was the least of his worries. The doors were open and people were scrambling to get out.

Hunter helped Vi up and headed for the door, praying they could get out of here as fast as possible.

It came in a flash. This pain. This heat. It was like touching a kettle boiling on the stove, except that pain on one's errant fingertip was felt everywhere. On his face and on his arms, even his hair did not escape. He had no time to think. He was not thinking at all. It was instinct that told him to run but not where, so he ran blindly in a wide circle.

"Aaaaaiiiiieeeeeeeee.....!"

Nobody teaches you what to do when you are set on fire. Sure, it is mentioned in passing: Stop. Drop. And roll. The notion of STOP-DROP-and ROLL was secondary to this searing sensation that permeated his entire being coupled witj this sense of profound panic. He would eventually trip and fall on the floor, writhing as the atubborn flames refused to release their hold.

Respite would come in the form of magic. It did not ameliorate his pain but it smothered the flames. The sting remained, pronounced and sharp, like a thousand needles prodding the surface of his body. He took a few deep breaths, tried to piece together the chaos in his mind but he was disoriented. It was dark, a thick fog had overtaken the ballroom - a mixture of magic and smoke. The stench of burnt polyester abd wood assaulted his senses. Jürgen let out a hatsh, raspy cough accompanied by a wheeze that rattled him painfully. It was a struggle to stand, like a sunburn on every part of his body, even the parts that the sun never saw. It felt as if his skin was stretched too taut over a body that was not his. 

Disoriented. Terrified. He could hear disembodied screaming all around him. Was he dead? Was this hell? He could not run even if he wanted to, even if he could escape this nightmare. He did not know where he was. Unable to get his bearings,  he would stumble blindly, bumping into othet students (NPC or player) on occasion. This did not feel real. He was here to find a nice girl, not... this. Those he impacted would feel the dry, charred presence. His burnt clothes, his hot, taut flesh. He would let out a pained yelp that he tried to mute whenever this happened. The clothes that were too badly burned to salvage fell away, charred hunks and ashes. A missing sleeve, a missing pantleg, sooth-covered remains. For the sake of decency, certain areas were not burnt as bad as they could be. 

He would eventually find Dinara by pure luck. Crushed under the weight of a larger, older student. He only saw her legs. It was like the Wizard of Oz, she the cute wicked witch crushed beneath a house (Oliver).

He would extend his hand too late, Oliver pulled himself up and vomited on the floor. The acrid stench completed with the smell of burnt meat. 

The guy (Oliver) was big, probably tough. Beyond getting too close to his future girlfriend, he might have been cool. Maybe a bit too cool, his running form was flawless. He envied the guy. There was a pang of jealousy that was not relieved when Oliver decided to look heroic. He looked at Oliver's target, a group of girls huddled beneath a table, one of them was bleeding badly. Some blonde. 

"Flippendo Duo!"

And the guy knew a fancier version of the spell. Well, that was great... Just great. At least he was impressing those girls rather than his possible-girl. He extended his burnt hand towards Dinara, "are you ok?"

The mass and girth of Oliver's posterior would probably have killed a lesser woman. "We need to get you out of here." Jürgen liked to think of himself as a hero, but in truth he was incredibly average. He was not match for these part-giants, even on his best day. He was not an academic, no fancy spells for him. He lacked the physical strength to break down a down a door or physical overpower men twice his size. 

It was shameful but he felt useless. WEAK. He hated thefeeling. In fact he was worse than weak, he was a burden. Darn his flammability. At least he could help Dinara, childish chivalry more than love, lust or infatuation. Some had announced that the doors were open. Several students were doing battle with the part giants. One bound, the other outnumbered. There were a lot of other kids that were hurt just as bad if not worse than him. 

He could help someone, help her at least. He would try to grip her hand and make a run for the door. If she couldnot run, he would try to carry her. That would be a sad scene. As previously mentioned, he was not very strong. Everything also hurt. He was also only moderately coordinated. He would teeter, stumble, nearlydrop her and bump into just about every table, chair and studentin his path (sometimes twice).

Interacting with @Adlai Rod

A decision had been made.

There were no teachers around, and Leah had to get Adlai out of here. She turned back and started to leap over the fallen pieces of wood, trying not to fall and ignoring the other dangers around her.

She didn't have time to worry about how difficult it was to focus on the little that she could see, or about the yells and spells and curses. She didn't have time to worry about the others around her, the girl who had been injured but didn't want help. She didn't have time to shout for help and hope for a miracle.

No, she could only do what she knew she was able to actually do, what with her limited knowledge of spells and lack of survival skills. She'd have to get out of here.

Looping and arm around Adlai, she shouted through the noise: "I'll take you to the common room or the hospital wing. Where do you want to go?"

They were more help out of here, after all, and trying to stand at the sidelines and just tell would help nobody.

"We'll be safer in either of those places, and we can get some rest," she added.

Preparing to leave thread with permission from Adlai