Devil On Your Shoulder
One would think up so high that roots could not reach, that the rot that was beginning to engulf the jungle floor would be a distant problem. Such beliefs would be quickly realised as foolish. Everything in this island was connected. Being made out of magic itself many believed the island to be alive in a sense, and as such each and every part of it was one and the same. Much like a body, the infection could spread no matter the initial cut. This disease that was claiming the ancient haven seemed to be intelligent enough to use that magic, to guide it to where it wished to be. To guide it to the creatures it wished to take, and as such from the draping vines and tunnelled pockets their inky ichor appeared ready to strike.
Being a broom captain Della was hardly unused to heights, still even in the highest towers of Hogwarts and the furthest skies of Quidditch she had likely never seen somewhere like this. Flashing through her mind she could imagine thousands of courses that she could implement as training here. It would make the Gryffindor team literally soar to new heights. Something to be proud of, perhaps that restless mind was what drove her out for fresh air that night but despite the wonder and possibility she would remain completely unaware of the danger that lay beneath the balcony edge. Roll: 4 Very suddenly two vined tendrils of inky black wrapped around her shoulders dragging her over the edge. Hitching her feet and clawing at the balconies edge she barely managed to hold on, but would the others wake in time to save her, or would she have to do that herself, and what lurked under the shadows of their own beds.Moderation Note: Della is fully restrained on the balcony and is clinging to stay on but being forcefully dragged. Something seems to be moving under the others bed aching at their backs and disrupting their well earned sleep.
"I see with more than my eyes, so I may guide the way for those who cannot."
- Lawrence Maynard, Grand Seer of Tenūsa
- Lawrence Maynard, Grand Seer of Tenūsa
Devil On Your Shoulder
English | Parseltongue
interacting: @Pyce Rotanski & @Graci Laren
It was always difficult sleeping in a new bed. It took Della a full year to truly feel that her Hogwarts dorm could be home. The Gryffindor girl's first international trip was no different. The eerie sounds of the jungle mixed with the humid temperatures—she didn't know the quality of a place could differ so wildly from England or Scotland. It helped that two of her teammates had joined her. She wasn't particularly close to Graci or Pyce, but trusting someone at high speeds in the air was its own kind of closeness. The racing captain had hoped this trip would allow them to get to know each other in a new dimension.
Strange beds, flying high, eerie jungle, new dimension were the exact thoughts that darted through Della's mind as she was violently ripped from sleep and nearly thrown off the balcony. If it wasn't for a quick grab at the balcony's ledge, she would have disappeared over its side.
"HELP!" she screamed.
She wriggled as much as the things chaining her would allow, but even with all her strength, she couldn't get free or even make them budge. Looking at her arms, she could see that her attack was a thick vine—much like the obstacle they often faced in broom racing. Except this time, she wasn't on her broom, and there was no referee or professor to intervene.
Something else green was slithering toward her. Greta. Her little snake had left her hiding spot and was frantically trying to assist her. Della realized that if Pyce and Graci woke up, a) they might be grabbed by the vines and/or b) they'd see Greta and probably be able to put together Della's secret. Well, A outweighed B, and Della would need her wand—she had a few more spells up her sleeve than her younger classmates. So Parseltongue stigma be damned.
"Greta, go get my wand. In my bag. Quick!"
action: sending her snake to get her wand, and maybe Greta can shimmy it in her hand for some casting???
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
Devil On Your Shoulder
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Devil on your Shoulder | Outfit♜ #6a0000 ♜ Tenūsa ♜ @Della Barfield, @Pyce Rotanski ♜ Thoughts |
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| ──xx | Graci could never sleep well in new places unless she was so absolutely tired from a long day she all but collapsed. This was, unfortunately, not one of those occurrences. Sleeping was close to a herculean effort, but eventually her brain did give into the sheer boredom of glancing at a black, barely moonlit ceiling. Sure, it was fun to mull over the days events in her head, but only for so long. Sleep had evaded, but Graci was quite the stubborn and persistent young child, simply put. Alas, sleep such as that, in such conditions, was hardly a peaceful one. And that was putting it lightly. Restless was also an apt descriptor for her current, though unconscious state. Dreams were fragmented and scattered, shards of random strangers' faces and random burst of foliage a writing mess in her sleeping mind. not her worst dream, by any means, but one that wasn't entirely as pleasant as one might associate with the term 'dream'. Sleep you have to fight for hardly lasts long, especially when what once seemed to be a comfortable bed was no longer quite so inviting. Her groggy mind had only slightly awoken before the scream came. Though that was definitely a burst of clarity, to be sure. She frowned, her mind still addled by the throes of rest, getting out of bed and wondering what had really awoken her. Graci grasped for her wand, stumbling slightly in the near darkness with only slivers of moonlight as her guide. The ground was cold, her vision adjusting far too slowly. The anxious feeling in her gut didn't make her unease dissapate, nor the voice outside her room. "I hope that's nothing." She had never been lucky enough for unease to be 'nothing'. I really don't want to go out there... but who knows, maybe it'll be fun. There was no way Graci was falling into sleep again, even if it was nothing. Outside her room wasn't lit any better, only her hazy memory and faith in her equilibrium keeping her from tripping or walking straight into a wall. Something was definitely amiss. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Graci was not one for un-monitored, anxiety inducing situations. Broom racing was fine, with the knowledge nothing was really scary besides the things, and people, you already knew were there. But dark corridors and uneasy feelings were decidedly a bad thing, in her experience. However limited it was. Perhaps she was hallucinating the whole thing, feelings and all. And maybe, by the grace of all things good, she was dreaming. That would be quite the hyper-realistic dream.... Her heart still felt like it was attempting an escape out her throat, preparing a mutiny along with her lungs. This really isn't the time.... Over the past few months, things like this had been something of a problem. Taking slight inconveninences and blowing them out of proportion till they seemed like something 'other'. Like a threat. "Everything is fine." She huffed out a breath, blowing a stray strand of hair from her face. "I'll just go back to sleep. Sure." Graci turned around, heading back towards her door, still ajar, with hesitancy. Well... what if I did hear something? Her hand was kept to the wall, wondering if she dared stray further from her room. That being, in her mind, a safer place than anywhere else she could be in the middle of the night. "Ah, screw it." Horror movies always ended badly in the dark. "Lumos." Seeing was usually a sure-fire way to know you weren't in danger. Or, at least, to know what was a danger to you. | xxx | xx |
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♜Word Count: 613 | mmddyy 01/04/26 - Code Inspired By some of Draven Mirador's coding |
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Stats: Sta 7 ☆ Eva 8 ☆ Str 6 ☆ Wis 7 ☆ ArcPow 5 ☆ Acc 7 ☆ Prodigial Charms ☆ Sixth Sense
Action: Casting Lumos right inside her doorway {girlie ain't very perceptive other than base feelings} hoping to see nothing. {ic, nothing, ooc, the vines x-x}
Action: Casting Lumos right inside her doorway {girlie ain't very perceptive other than base feelings} hoping to see nothing. {ic, nothing, ooc, the vines x-x}
why can't girlie pop just be like yeah, screw it, we ball, and absolutely go feral on those vines x-x alas she's 12. ALSO I didn't proof read, so sorry for the crappy quality:)Banner inspo credits to Elena Clark<333
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Devil On Your Shoulder
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a touch of spacing |
When Pyce had fallen asleep that night, their mind was buzzing with excitement for the next morning. They had never been outside of England before, so they were amazed at how different everything was Tenūsa. The opening ceremony was surely the start to a great weekend! They had even gotten grouped up with a few of their broom racing teammates!
There was no doubt in Pyce's mind that everything was going to be just fine. It might be a bit optimistic, there was plenty that could go wrong, but Pyce fell asleep feeling perfectly safe and content.
Waking up, however, was a different matter entirely. Pyce woke up with a start, unsure of what exactly disturbed their sleep. Something was wrong, but they couldn't pinpoint it. The first year slipped out of bed, feet meeting the cold floor. Pyce would have scrambled for socks or slippers, but that feeling of wrongness propelled them forward.
And then someone screamed. Pyce wished they could have said which of their teammates it was, if it was either of them at all, but they weren't so good at recognizing voices, that and they simply needed to spend time with the others.
They grabbed their wand and made their way to the noise, fear filling them with each step. Pyce took a small, deep breath and let it out. "Lumos." They whispered into the night, hoping to see that little light blooming from the tip of their wand.
Casting Lumos and making their way to Della
243
ReducioStamina: 6 ✧ Evasion: 8 ✧ Strength: 4 ✧ Wisdom: 6 ✧ ArcPower: 4 ✧ Accuracy: 7
Comprehend Languages (Parselmouth)
"The only thing stopping me from having a dragon living in my backyard is the law. Absolutely nothing else."
Devil On Your Shoulder
MODERATIONIn moments of danger, people learn the truth about what is most important to them. They have but moments to decide how they will react and while @Della Barfield knew the risk in exposing her secret, her life and those of the younger ones in her room mattered more. The risk was beyond worth it, so when Greta appeared, a green reflection of the constricting vines wrapping their way up Della's body, she did what she had to. Without her wand and broom she was left to only her wits, which luckily had been finally honed through the years. Peering over at the entity she saw a sprawling tangled net of these vines all across the mountains above Omah Geni and witnessed other students go flying over into whatever was attacking them.
Whatever was happening she had to act quick but quite suddenly the tendrils clasped tighter and began to pull her down as a snap rang out in the air with the balcony beginning to give way against its struggle. If she didn't act soon she was going to fall, and become part of whatever this thing was. Just as hope seemed dim, a light appeared from the homestead and brightened the space causing the restraints on her to shift slightly lightening the hold on her ever so slightly. The illumination gave more than just a little hope, however, as she could see Greta returning with her oh so familiar wand. A lifeline in this nest of danger. Reaching forward she managed to grab it and readied to fight for herself, when another scream rang out from inside.
Having successfully cast lumos and lighting up the room around them @Pyce Rotanski was more than a little confused to see that everything seemed to be calm and still. Though the scream had been distinctive an it must be a sign of danger. They had not yet had the pleasure of experiencing the wealth of dangers international visits always brought, but before they would begin to move towards the alarm another sound filled the silence. While indistinguishable for most first years, Pyce had been obsessed with learning to speak to creatures from a young age and had been taught to understand Parseltongue which they heard snake through the silence. It filled them with questions and before they could move towards it another light distracted them coming from the slightly ajar doorway to their left. Watching as it grew brighter they wondered who else had been disturbed by the scream. That was until the original scream was matched by an even higher shrill and the light in the room suddenly went dark.
@Graci Laren was not the kind of person to be wrong about feeling uneasy in a situation but she was certainly the kind that wanted to believe they were fine until proven otherwise. Thus as she re-entered her room in the delusion that everything was fine she couldn't help but illuminate her wand, after all it was simply a precaution. As the wand burnt bright she heard the harsh scrapes of something echoing from all around her seemingly hiding from the light. Despite not wanting to she made herself look around the room and as her eyes settled on the ceiling she grew horrified as a vast mass of swirling black inky vines clung to every wall watching her from above. With no time but to release a terrified scream the entity moved towards her clinging to her arms and legs and dragging her out of the ajar door towards the others. In the chaos her spell dropped leaving her swallowed by the dark.
Rolls:
ReducioDella manages to keep clinging on - d20 (18) + 5 = 23, success
Pyce casts lumos - d20 (11) + 6 = 17, success
Graci casts lumos - d20 (17) + 7 = 24, success
Graci vs Plant - contested check, 17/20, plant succeeds.
"I see with more than my eyes, so I may guide the way for those who cannot."
- Lawrence Maynard, Grand Seer of Tenūsa
- Lawrence Maynard, Grand Seer of Tenūsa
Devil On Your Shoulder
English | Parseltongue
interacting: @Pyce Rotanski & @Graci Laren
Upon Della's instruction, the little snake got right to work. Seconds felt like minutes, as the Gryffindor girl concentrated on keeping hold of the ledge. The vines were pulling harder, or her arms were becoming fatigued, and it took every ounce of mental fortitude not to give up.
Then Greta appeared with her wand. The snake was able to drop it just near enough to Della's hand that she could grasp it without letting go. She managed to gasp, "Thanks, girl. Get some help!" Greta slithered off in quick compliance. In response to her plea, two other wands in the room lit up, revealing that Graci and Pyce were awake. Della wasn't sure if they fully knew the danger they were in, but their racing captain was in far more danger still. "I'm over here!"
Aiming something like the severing charm at the vines would be impossible with the angle her wand was forced into. Instead, Della forced more concentration than she thought she was capable of into the slender chestnut rod: "Lumos Maxima!" It was strange to hope she was dealing with something like Devil's Snare, but normal vines didn't respond to light. If she could just get them loose for a second … well, she still might fall. "Get my broom if you can and throw it to me!"
action: Della is casting lumos maxima, and Greta is off to find an adult.
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
Devil On Your Shoulder
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Devil on your Shoulder | Outfit♜ #6a0000 ♜ Tenūsa ♜ @Della Barfield, @Pyce Rotanski ♜ Thoughts |
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| ──xx | Security is a comforting illusion, nothing more. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh. my. gosh. Graci was one for repetition of certain phrases when decidedly terrified, as she was with the vines clinging to her person. Her scream was quickly cut short by the shock, her spell going out and leaving her in darkness even more terrifying than before. The satisfaction of being right about her feeling was all but crushed... similar to how she was feeling. Confined. Graci had never been claustraphobic, but now she wasn't so sure. Helplessness was leaking into the corners of her mind, spreading the thick dark green feeling through her vision. Though, that could have been the vines, too. Thrashing around didn't seem to help much, however much her instincts cried for it. Graci's mind had recently become devoid of any knowledge of spells, or things of the sort that could get her free of the panic inducing situation. Anything, anything. She had never been a fighter, always preferring calm, rational situations of scary, adrenaline high activities. Save for broom racing, but this was not on a broom, nor with her wits about her. The only comfort was her wand, still firmly in her grasp. But without a spell to utilize her small comfort, it was relatively useless. Come on, come on, think already! "Immobulus!" Fear choked Graci's voice, her uncertainty making it waver. It was unlikely to work. In fact, she didn't even know if it would on something so unfamiliar, and seemingly large. Certainly it would have to be, if it really took up most of the room as she saw before her light went out. | xxx | xx |
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♜Word Count: 275 | mmddyy 01/04/26 - Code Inspired By some of Draven Mirador's coding |
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Stats: Sta 7 ☆ Eva 8 ☆ Str 6 ☆ Wis 7 ☆ ArcPow 5 ☆ Acc 7 ☆ Prodigial Charms ☆ Sixth Sense
Action: Casting immobulus at the vines:) {so long as she does, in fact, still have her wand. if not, just. uh. struggling.}
Banner inspo credits to Elena Clark<333
Action: Casting immobulus at the vines:) {so long as she does, in fact, still have her wand. if not, just. uh. struggling.}
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Devil On Your Shoulder
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a touch of spacing |
Watching the other room plunge into darkness once again was unsettling. It was accompanied by another scream. Both Pyce's teammates were in trouble and they had no idea what was even out there!
Panic welled in Pyce's chest as they tried to breathe. They needed to focus! Be useful! Broom. Someone had asked for their broom. Pyce could find it! They could- Pyce swallowed thickly. They weren't cut out for this. They weren't strong, or brave, or- Old doubts filled Pyce's head. Things they had been ignoring since school started. Ignoring was a strong word for it, though, wasn't it? Hecate had certainly noticed... Hecate would have been much more useful than Pyce.
Pyce shook their head. They couldn't afford to think like that because Hecate was. Not. Here. Pyce was good, they were strong in their own right. They just needed to calm down. It was no use to anyone if they were freaking out. They needed to find a broom. That should be easy enough.
It would be nicer if Pyce knew what was out there. Or maybe that was a small mercy? Whatever was tormenting them was unknown. It could be relatively benign for all Pyce knew. Yeah. Something harmless... If Pyce just forgot about everything that was happening right now, they could pretend. Whatever they needed to do to actually help.
They took a shaky breath and started looking for a broom. The only visual indication of their panic was the light from the tip of their wand quivering from their own unsteady hands. If Pyce could just calm down for a second, maybe they could listen? Hear something important? There had definitely been words. Words about brooms and getting help. That's how they got their task. Which they just needed to focus on. And they were! They were doing a great job!
Pyce was never very good at lying to themself.
Getting Della's broom and getting it to her
316
ReducioStamina: 6 ✧ Evasion: 8 ✧ Strength: 4 ✧ Wisdom: 6 ✧ ArcPower: 4 ✧ Accuracy: 7
Comprehend Languages (Parselmouth)
"The only thing stopping me from having a dragon living in my backyard is the law. Absolutely nothing else."
Devil On Your Shoulder
FINAL MODERATION OF PART ONEThree little Hogwarts students jumping on the bed, one decided not to use his... wand? @Pyce Rotanski was off to grab a broom, like a squire for a knight. @Della Barfield cast a nicely done Lumos Maxima, and @Graci Laren tried to freeze her captors with Immobulus. Though they didn't exactly break the holds of their angry vines, they certainly seemed to scare them off enough with their excellently cast spells - and now Della had a broom in her hand, too, thanks to Pyce's quick thinking.
Standing in for Lawrence in this moderation round to end part 1 of the event!
Luckily, all three were soon free to leave as they wished, because as if scared of the trio, the vines shrunk back into nothingness and vanished seemingly into thin air. Perhaps the group could proceed to part two and meet up with the other residents of the High Houses...
Rolls:
Reducio
This part of the event has concluded. Your character can proceed to the optional part two if they want, or you can stop your participation and be glad you escaped!
The thread will remain open if you want to post a reaction/exit post, but no more moderations will be conducted here.
The thread will remain open if you want to post a reaction/exit post, but no more moderations will be conducted here.