CICTF Poison Dart Frog vs. Suriname Grasshopper

#6a7246 Team Suriname Grasshopper

Word Count: 589 STA: 5 | EVA: 7 | STR: 4 | WIS: 8 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 6 | Stat. Rel.

In for a penny, in for a pound— would that phrase fit this moment where Ellaine stood now, or was she butchering them once more?

Where there had been forests, filled with buzzing insects, odd-looking animals, and an endless expanse of greenery, clashing together here and there; was now a gaping trench dug into the ground – perhaps magically? – seemingly keen on impersonating the abyss with how determined it was to swallow all light within. The unnatural coldness emanating from its depths was just disturbing enough to her that she had to back out a couple steps more, just to be on the safe(r) side. A look sideways revealed that the trench stretched much the same both ways, the sides equally steep and sketchy, riddled with vines and roots; no bridges in sight but the very few odd spots where felled trees crossed the gap.

This was… quite more than what she’d expected. Supposedly, beyond this— barrier was where their team’s base lie. Surinamese Grasshoppers, was it? It was certainly effective for slowing down movement… though she had to wonder – just who had the idea to create this thing? What if someone fell in? Ellaine frowned, and after the worry melted away, she conceded the point that they probably, hopefully had safeguards against such situations.

A strange noise bubbled out of her mouth, somewhere between a muffled laugh and a snort, and she once again questioned the whereabouts of her own sanity. It seemed to have deserted her when she’d chosen to sign up for this event. An international team game of capture the flag, inter-school, and taking place in a Brazilian rainforest, at that. (She’d never set foot outside of Europe, never mind the goddamn Amazon!)

Shaking her head, Ellaine turned her back – no use in dwelling over her questionable decisions – instead focusing on her teammates. There were eight in total, not discounting herself. Paul caught her gaze close by, and since they had been walking together the way here, she inched closer to him, seeking a familiar face among strangers. She could recognise some of them enough to know that a few must be from Hogwarts, too – like she and Paul and Skylar – but between her rampant shyness and generally blotchy memory pertaining to names, she could not safely recall any of them.

She was hesitant to start a conversation, though she did ponder of their possible strategy, but Skylar, it seemed, was more keen to get rid of the silence than she. Her sheer positivity was almost infectious, and Ellaine found a weak smile forming on her face in return. A nudge at her side prompted a questioning look at Paul, listening quietly, before she nodded in agreement, eyes drifting back towards the pseudo-bridges that were few in between.

“Well, it suits her,” she said out loud, tilting her head to gaze at her friends. “And you’re right… we should get ourselves familiarised with our base, if nothing else.” She trailed behind him, toying with her wand close to her chest in a tight grip. It wouldn’t do to somehow drop it into the dark, after all. Almost instinctively, she listened in on their responses, then their faces, before being taken aback when one of them — a Locklin? Lachlin? — just… swore. Fuck? she mouthed, almost amused. She paused, refusing to be too distracted, settling instead to look at their base in the distance. Tilting her head to the side, she stared up at the sky, wondering how many time had passed. “The game’s already started, yes?”

@Artie Kempston, @Damien Dragonclaw, @Lachlan Cassidy, @Mikaela Hendricks, @Paul Turner, @Percy Todd Duplenticy, @Skylar Blue

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Location: Castelobruxo | Date: June 26th, 2026 | Word count: 255 |
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Suddenly, Frederick found himself surrounded by a forest of enormous trees, their roots twisting upward as though they had minds of their own, defying gravity. He had signed up for a game of Capture the Flag with his friends, and now they all stood there together in a place that smelled of moss and damp earth, alongside a few faces he didn't recognize. Everything about it was new to him, and that only made him more excited. As someone who loved sports and adventures, Fred couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the day.

Naturally outgoing, Frederick noticed that most of his team consisted of fellow first-years friends. Picking up where Sage had left off, he addressed her, Valour, and Ilias after sweeping his gaze over the rest of the group, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “For those who don't know me, I'm Frederick.” From his tone and relaxed posture, it was easy to tell that, despite the unfamiliar surroundings and the fact that this place felt nothing like Hogwarts, he was completely at ease.

Slowly turning in place, Buckley took in the forest, trying to map out possible routes to the opposing team's base and wondering how he was supposed to run through the woods without tripping over those bizarre roots. Having no idea what awaited them beyond the starting area, he turned his attention back to his teammates while pulling his wand from his pocket, holding it loosely but securely at his side. “Are we ready?”

| Interacting with: @Ilias Lahlou @Valour Argentum @Sage Willows |─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
| Stats: Sta-8 ⁞ Eva-6 ⁞ Str-4 ⁞ Wis-5 ⁞ Arc-4 ⁞ Acc-8 |
| Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers ⁞ +10% auto-dodge chance |

date	place	tags	wc	speech	outfits
26/06/26	Castelobruxo	@Cecilia Merrick, @Erast Yan	315/200	#36563c	xxx

The British girl, who lived her whole life in the United Kingdom, except for her traveling time, was not used to the humid climate of Castelobruxo. It was a mere feeling, but not a complaint. Fortunately, her hair somehow stayed a perfect shape under the weather. Wearing a tank top, a plaid shirt, and a pair of denim shorts, she had tied the chestnut brown into a ponytail because she didn’t want it to be messy afterward.

After the delicious breakfast, walking along with Erast to the event, she faced her childhood friend and asked, “Erast, what do you think our chances are of winning today?” With a playful smile tugging at the corners of her lips, she wondered how this game would turn out.

Some little motions from the dark-haired girl and Cece caught her attention. Perhaps they knew each other. Yet the moment was fleeting. She saw nothing suspicious. And Cecilia was always a sweetheart when she ever interacted with her. So naturally, Rosaline saw it was just the sound of rustling leaves. Cece called out to her and Erast. Rosaline returned to it with a wide grin. “Don’t worry. We’ll be there in ten days.”

Upon arriving at the destination, the headmaster Peralta gathered them around. Most of her teammates were her close friends, yet there were some fresh faces; one seemed to be an Ilvermorny student, one she had come across during Quidditch matches, and the other one was a girl with an obscure atmosphere around her. Her gaze lingered on her for a bit longer than usual. Then Rosaline saw Damien, a familiar figure from the unforgettable detention experience. The giant acromantulas flashed through her mind. Shaking her head, she forced herself not to remember those horrible scenes.

Okay, let’s focus on the game. Surrounded by her trusted friends, she felt they had a fair chance to win this game.

Action: As strategised

stats
stamina: 6 | evasion: 5 | strength: 5
wisdom: 8 | arcane Power: 7 |accuracy: 4
Lovely Creature

“Once bitten, twice shy.” Most children learnt this in a kindergarten or primary school textbook. Simple lesson: Don't make the same mistake more than once.

Here was where Erast Yan became an excellent case study for this English idiom. Introducing the first case: water polo. Absolute disaster. With virtually zero clear memory of the day other than the burning sensation of semi-drowning the entire time and being swept like a shrimp in the ocean, it was single-handedly the worst decision he made under peer pressure.

Introducing the second case: Summoner's Court. Embarrassing. Tripping over a floorboard on his way to take out an easy target wasn't enough, losing a suspicious potion that he prepared himself to ingest, and more than 3 failures to just move his stone past the starting line… He swore his blood pressure skyrocketed that day.

Now, his governess had always told him that he was an introspective and observant boy. Erast knew what the issue was: Making the same mistake twice? Perhaps it was just misplaced courage or bravery. Making it thrice?

Erast rubbed his temple, sighing, “I'm an idiot.”

Introducing Case 3: Capture the Flag. From the rumours, it was everything that experience told him to avoid: harrowing climates, tricky obstacles, and most importantly… physical activity. He could hardly wait.

Arriving at Castelobruxo and witnessing such a vastly different climate had already been quite the experience, with the humidity flattening his hair and leaving the strangest prickle of heat underneath his skin. Now, walking towards the gathering location with Rosaline, Erast couldn't help but feel like fun would not come very soon.

“Haha, would it be lying if I say 100%?” He chuckled at her playful question. He watched as the girl's eyes trailed forward to where none other than Cecilia Merrick and Valour Argentum were walking. Strange, was the first thing Erast thought about. Then came the tug of Argentum’s hair, and the sight of the two girls’ nearing– just barely obscured by distance and his untimely blink. His mouth dropped open in shock, hands over his lips. Oh my goodness–

“No worries, dear Cece. We're, uh, right behind,” Erast waved back with an airy laugh, still utterly bewildered at what he had witnessed.

As they approached the venue and the players from both teams came into view, the brunet had to consciously keep his smile up. ‘Can't wait…!’ was all he could sarcastically chuckle to himself as they were dismissed and sent to their bases.

Mentions: @Rosaline Everhart, @Cecilia Merrick

───────────────────────────── xxxx coded by elena clark xxxx ─────────────────────────────

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𝕷eo had never heard of or participated in this type of activity before. Capture the Flag. He himself probably wouldn't have signed up if it hadn't been for the persistent asking of Rosa and Cece, the two who most often dragged him out to do things together instead of getting to sit inside reading, drawing, or really anything that wouldn't involve the heat and humidity that Castelobruxo was providing more than enough of. While the trip itself was enjoyable and he liked to get to travel around to new places, here he felt hot and sticky from the different weather than he was used to. Even in the lighter fabric that his dark green t-shirt was made of he was still feeling gross already after just walking around a little bit. Even feeling uncomfortable wasn't going to stop his inner competitive spirit though. While he knew very little about what to expect from this game, he was still going to give it his best. As he walked up to the area where his group was meeting, he could hear Cece over the others as she talked to a couple of the other students from the team. As he watched the scene in front of him, he shook his head and laughed to himself softly before coming up to her side. He flipped one of her braids up to mess with her before quietly saying, "You should take your own advice Merrick." Leo mostly stayed quiet as he stood and awaited the start of the game but couldn't help but turn his gaze to the pair of Rosaline and Erast walking towards them as Cece yelled to them. Although the two had bonded slightly during their detention session together, he still wasn't a fan of the Hufflepuff boy so seeing him again talking to Rosaline irked him for more than one reason. Leo tried to push his own personal thoughts of Erast aside and followed up quietly behind them. He knew he would have to sadly work together again with him if they were going to win today. Instead of letting his emotions get the better of him, he greeted them both with a small wave and a simple hello before joining Fred. He nodded as he listened to Fred speak. "Definitely! We got this." Leo smiled at his friend and reached his hand up to high five the Gryffindor boy.

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location ; Castelobruxo June 26th, 2026 ; date wordcount ; 400 action as strategized ; ooc notes

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mentions ; @Rosaline Everhart, @Cecilia Merrick, @Erast Yan, @Frederick Buckley, && poison dart frog teammates
stats ; STA. 5 EVA. 5 STR. 5 WIS. 5 ARC. 5 ACC. 5 -- metamorphmagus

Action: As strategized.

Everything had seemed to happen so fast in Artie's mind. It had been amazing. He had enjoyed every moment of his first year at Hogwarts, and now, something to add to his list of things to tell his parents, he was getting to travel to Castelobruxo. A school located in the Amazon Rainforest in Northern Brazil. He was amazed by it. He had never been out of Europe before, and even if he wasn't leaving school grounds, it was still a moment in his life he didn't think he would forget anytime soon.

His team, the Suriname Grasshoppers, was full of many kids that he hadn't met before. Hopefully, he would be able to connect with some of them by the time his trip ended. However, there was one boy that he knew quite well, in fact. Damien. Damien was his friend, and he was glad that the other boy was here, so that he wouldn't feel so alone.

As he walked with his team, attempting to cross the trench, he noticed Damien, reaching his arm as high as he could in the air, and waving to him. A cheesy smile on his face. "Hi Damien!" He shouted before focusing back on what he was doing to make sure that he wouldn't fall off and suffer a very unfortunate fate. Making his way over to Damien was a pain, but when he got there, he was delighted to begin a conversation with him.

"I'm so excited," he exclaimed, his smile practically reaching from ear to ear, "it's so cool being out here, you know. I wish I lived here, it's so warm compared to back home." He paused, turning to the other boy, "What about you?"

STATS:
stamina - 6 | evasion - 9 | strength - 2| wisdom - 7 | arcane power - 3 | accuracy - 8

This event is part of the Castelobruxo International Capture the Flag event
26TH OF JUNE, 2026 IN THE JUNGLE ARENA

MODERATION — ROUND ONE.

After the Castelobruxo Headmaster took each student and their respective teams down onto the field, Meiyu rose from the seat she rested on in the high tower nearby which granted a birds-eye view of each zone and their respective player. It had been fairly easy to identify each student, curtsey of the binoculars that had been left for her. Amidst the warmth mid-June brought, it was though the jungle had a mind of it's own, each zone contorting with different obstacles aimed to challenge the students throughout the game. Zone one brought a mist that made it difficult to see, zone two would see a slithering anaconda that manoeuvred near the water, zone three fortunately spared the participants from any obstacles that would hinder their movements and zone four brought a mist that made it difficult to see.

Fortunately, the lack of obstacles in zone three had left all the students in the Suirname Grasshoppers unscathed, each participant successfully manoeuvring through the terrain with no issues in sight. Perhaps down the line it would become difficult due to the terrain, the zone housing fauna's which may later hinder their movements. The forest in this section is appeared challenging to pass through with trees standing crookedly, branches entwining with one another and obstructing views — for now, they were unscathed.

It was dull to observe in Meiyu's view, much like their counterpart insect, though one would argue the name would be fitting with how smoothly the round went for them. Frustrated by the lack of any action, Meiyu diverted her binoculars, moving to observe the other team instead.

As the Poison Dart Frog team moved to zone two, breaking their home base into a sudden drop waterfall with a deep lagoon, Meiyu perked up once she had noticed an anaconda moving, finally bringing some motion to the round. All but two, @Rosaline Everhart and @Frederick Buckley came face to face with the creature — striking them and immobilising them for the round. The boy's cockiness of presuming he was someone worth recognising would bring no fruit to the creature who cared little for him, his attempt to manoeuvre away from the anaconda failing. A thought had crossed Meiyu's mind, if the girl had used her hair tie to distract the anaconda, she may not have been struck either, though, it was still early into the game. The two get entangled together, the anaconda's body coiling around the two and forcing them together, the coil restricting their movement.

For now, the game had gone smoothly for all but two.

TEAM POISON DART FROG @Cecilia Merrick @Sage Willows @Rosaline Everhart @Erast Yan @Leo Noxley @Valour Argentum @Ilias Lahlou @Frederick Buckley

TEAM SURINAME GRASSHOPPER @Damien Dragonclaw @Artie Kempston @Lachlan Cassidy @Ellaine Weatherby @Percy Todd Duplenticy @Mikaela Hendricks @Skylar Blue @Paul Turner

HOW TO PLAY

The game ends when either team successfully retrieved the other teams flag to their base. Team Poison Dart Frog will be starting the game in Zone 1 and Team Suriname Grasshopper will be in Zone 4 at the opposite end of the arena. There will be at most 10 rounds, each requiring a post of 200+ words. Please make sure you include your character's stats in your post.

During the first round only, each team must state which zone their flag is hidden in to the thread moderator. You may chose to hide the flag in any of the 4 zones. The flag remains in that zone unless successfully discovered or moved through gameplay mechanics. Do not reveal in game where the flag is located.

Each round, everyone in the team must make at least one action from the Capture the Flag actions list, unless they are unable to act due to a status effect or restriction. These actions are zone dependent. The team scores points by making successful flag actions or interceptive actions towards a flag carrier. Please note that players may only move between adjacent zones and cannot skip zones while travelling.

At the conclusion of each round, the zone state map will be updated to reflect all player locations. Players may only target characters who are in the same zone as them at the end of the previous round. If a target moves out of the zone during the following movement phase, the action automatically fails, with the exception of Flag Intercept and non-magical support actions that include a chase mechanic. When performing these actions, the player automatically follows the target into the destination zone as part of the interaction.

If the action fails while chasing, the pursuing player is left behind in the original zone while the target successfully gains distance.

Rules regarding roll resolution, action priority, and other game mechanics can be found HERE.

At least one member of the team must owl the entire teams' action list to @Meiyu Xiang before the posting deadline.

DEADLINE IS 120 HOURS (5 days) FROM THIS POST

ZONE MAP

ZONE 1	ZONE 2	ZONE 3	ZONE 4
Empty	Cecilia Merrick [500/500 HP] Sage Willows [700/700 HP] Rosaline Everhart [600/600 HP] Erast Yan [400/400 HP] Leo Noxley [500/500 HP] Valour Argentum [500/500 HP] Ilias Lahlou [500/500 HP] Frederick Buckley [800/800 HP]	Damien Dragonclaw [700/700 HP] Artie Kempston [600/600 HP] Lachlan Cassidy [500/500 HP] Ellaine Weatherby [500/500 HP] Percy Todd Duplenticy [500/500 HP] Mikaela Hendricks [600/600 HP] Skylar Blue [500/500 HP] Paul Turner [500/500 HP]	Empty

ROUND 1 ROLLS

ZONE MODIFIERS
Zone 1: Capuchin Monkeys | Zone 2: Anaconda | Zone 3: None | Zone 4: Mist

TEAM POISON DART FROG ROLLS

Reducio

ZONE MODIFIERS:
Zone 2: Anaconda [STAMINA] — DC 14.
Cecilia — [d20 : 11] + 5 = 16. Success.
Sage — [d20 : 12] + 7 = 19. Success.
Rosaline — [d20 : 3] + 6 = 9. Fail.
Erast — [d20 : 14] + 4 = 18. Success.
Leo — [d20 : 12] + 5 = 17. Success.
Valour — [d20 : 18] + 5 = 23. Success.
Illias — [d20 : 12] + 5 = 17. Success.
Frederick — [d20 : 3] + 8 = 11. Fail.
→ Frederick's Evasive Manoeuvres, procs on 19-20 — [d20 : 4] Does not proc.

Rosaline and Frederick get struck by the anaconda and are immobilised for one round and cannot perform movement actions for one round.

TEAM SURINAME GRASSHOPPERS ROLLS

Reducio

ZONE MODIFIERS:
Zone 3: None.

The team all successfully move to zone three.

banner by alyssea brown

date- June 26th, 2026 wc- 248

interacting/mentioning- the Poison Dart Frog team actions- doing as strategized

Okay, okay, Sage thought. This is okay. After introducing herself, two of her teammates clarified their names as well: Frederick and Cecilia, both of them younger than her as well as fellow Quidditch players. She'd have to talk to them about practice after they finished the game.

She moved quickly into the next zone, a glittering layer of sweat shining across her skin as they went. The sun's brightness wasn't kind to her, shining directly into her vision. But compared to some of her teammates, she was lucky. The anaconda seemed to come out of nowhere, but it left two of her teammates--including the boy who introduced himself to her--down.

Sage had to keep moving, though. She'd learned time and time again you couldn't wait for someone to save them. In her opinion, the same went for when a snake struck two of your peers. The dizzying feeling that she had to help her team win the match before summer began. She needed something nice to report back to Cassie.

Ever since the summer before her third year--nearly a whole year ago--Sage had been in a permanent state of panic. The letter she'd revived in June did little to mend it, but at least it confirmed her suspicions. In that time, she'd focused her efforts on Quidditch, running, and gaining the strength to never have that happen again.

Her feet beat against the ground heavily as she turned her focus back to the game.

STA 7 │ EVA 9 │ STR 9 │ WIS 4 │ ARC 3 │ ACC 10 | Metamorphagus │ Healing Sage | Metamorphagus Abilities