CICTF Poison Dart Frog vs. Suriname Grasshopper

Note: This is an NPC replacing Lachlan Cassidy in the team Suriname Grasshoppers. This NPC will take his current place while keeping his stats and abilities.
Action: Doing as strategized.
Stats: stamina. 05 | evasion. 08 | strength. 10 | wisdom. 02 | arcane power. 00 | accuracy. 10

The heatwave wouldn't go off. Haaland wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, to get rid of omnipresent sweat. He wasn't really used to this sort of weather. What was his sort of weather then? Well, frozen, though not at all "Let it go" frozen. Permafrost frozen. Lakes covered with ice and carving holes in the thick crust, to catch some fish in February, when winter was at its worst up there, and even under a thermo balaclava, any liquid on one's face would turn into icicles sooner or later. No, living in the north was never easy. Haaland still considered it a walk through a rosy garden, compared to the sweltering heat of the jungle.

While walking through the jungle and getting across the opposing wizards, Halland was tackled by a blond girl who could hardly be older than himself (or so it seemed to the viking). She failed, however, and the boy's eyes flashed with danger.

"Ha! Your only luck is that you look so... lovely!" Mused the boy, looking for the right word. He then made a threatening gesture with his index finger, but also gave @Rosaline Everhart a small smirk at the same time. He then turned around when he noticed another opponent, which was Erast. And since there wasn't anything Haaland would consider lovely about the boy, he tried to illegal tackle him and... it went through! Haaland celebrated by making a movement with his fisted palm, lifting it up and hurling a clear, celebratory, Norse: "Ja!" Which didn't need translation.

But suddenly, a spell hit him. One that he wasn't even aware of. "Uh!" He growled when his legs were forced to start moving quickly, in what reminded him of some sort of Laplander dance. The only thing he could do while dancing, was look around. He saw a flash of ginger, figuring out it must have been cast by someone ginger-haired. "Just you wait!"

The dance fortunately stopped soon and Haaland could move again. Even despite all that mass his body consisted of, he could still feel that he wasn't at his best after the dance.

The boy then hissed at his two teammates, @Damien Dragonclaw and Percy, then made some gestures which likely meant what he was about to do in the next round.

STATS. sta 8; eva 7; str 4; wis 7; arc 6; acc 8x───────────────────────────────────

────────────────────x❝I was good. I was really good.❞x────────────────────

Well, the good news: I can finally get out of whatever mud was dragging me down. The bad news: Our flag was spotted. Which, honestly, seemed just as bad as the prior bad things that happened to the team.

Like, for example, when one of the guys from our team (I won't even remember his name right now) passed out and they replaced him with a Viking who was just brute force. Desperate situations lead to desperate solutions, I guess. I just hope I don't cross paths with him while he's running.

Speaking of, poor guy. He just stepped in here and got head first with the worst spell ever made. Tarantallegra was definitely not for the weak. He may be a Viking, but that doesn't make him invencible. I gave him a last glance from the distance before running away from him before he stopped dancing and decided I was his next victim.

At least not everything was that bad: Yes, our flag was spotted, but that girl wouldn't have the chance to take it. Not with Paul. They boy's Flipendo hit her with an insane timing, and I had never been prouder of anyone.

I reached out to him, patting his shoulder with a confident smirk. "Good one, Paul. She's all yours now."

He was a Gryffindor, after all. Being brave was on his blood. And, speaking of Gryffindors...

In that exact same moment, I saw a flash of blue hair falling to the ground. Falling with a lot of force to the ground. No, no, no, no...

"Sky! Holy- Paul, keep this one under control, I'll go check on Sky." And, without even waiting for his confirmation, I sprinted towards my best friend, falling to my knees beside her.

"Holy shit! Are you okay, can you move?" It wasn't usual for me to curse out loud like that, but the situation required it. Sky seemed bad.

──────xABILITIES. 's grace; Evasive Maneuvers; ability three; ability four; ability five; ability six; ability seven

Actions: As strategized
Stats: Sta: 5 | Wis: 7 | Eva: 5 | Str: 5 | AP: 7 | Ac: 6
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers
Interaction: Mentioning Sage and Valour, talking to Mika, Sky, El (tagged in the text)

"Sure reminds you of that time by the lake, does it not?"

Paul chuckled, shaking his head. Memories from that day, when they all ended up in the Great Lake, were simply... unforgettable. "Just ya wait, Blueberry, till the end of the game..." The boy's face was glowing with mischief, as he put his hand on Sky's shoulders and pulled her closer, to tease:"Hope ya've got a swimsuit! There are lots of lakes in the jungle, ya know. With wa'rfalls, hippos, piranhas, ah'ligators... whichever your heart desires!" Paul smirked, tugging her long, blue hair with his other hand gently. A happy, almost innocent moment in the middle of the combat chaos.

After a few minutes, he moved on to El, looking at her, worried.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,”

He asked @Ellaine Weatherby if she was completely sure by this, but she seemed to be certain. She looks better, she'll be fine. Thought the boy and took off to the pleasures of the densely grown, jungle again.

Paul noticed a girl from the opposing team, @Sage Willows, sniffing around the place where the flag was. Dammit! Ran through his mind, as he jumped over several roots and shrubs, knowing far too well that whatever spell he might produce, would be the only thing between the girl and their flag. "Flipendo!" He cast the first thing that came to his mind. And fortunately, was successful, seeing the girl fly several feet away! I did it? Yay!

"Good one, Paul. She's all yours now."

And apparently, he wasn't the only one seeing it. "Hehe... thank ya, lass! Fingers crossed f'ya!" He gave his crooked smile to @Mikaela Hendricks who was moving just fine now, as he moved on, never leaving the flag for too long.

Through a space between two branches, once he pushed apart a veil of lianas, he saw @Valour Argentum tackle @Skylar Blue. It was... well, not pretty. Although he and Blue had their teasing and banter going on (or maybe thanks to it), the faul the girl pulled out woke Paul's protective side. And since Turner had a moral compass, and loyalty of an Irish Wolfhound towards the team and his closest friends (one of which Sky undoubtedly was), he frowned, tightening his grip on the wand. "H-hey! That wasn't fair!" A nice, well-fitting Flipendo would serve ya right! Thought the boy caustically.

He wanted to go check on Sky, but saw that Mika was around, asking about Sky's state, and even taking care of her.

Dammit, I wonder how the guys in zone two are doing! Have they found the flag already or not? We have no info. How come we have no info? Paul frowned, as the thought ran through his mind.

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Location: Castelobruxo | Date: June 26th, 2026 | Word count: 307 |
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────

The game had been underway for a while now, but the action had only just begun to spark. The opposing team was drawing closer and closer, prompting Frederick to tighten his grip around his wand until the knuckles of his right hand turned white. He readied himself to join the fray, doing his best to stick to the plan he and his team had agreed upon. With quick, increasingly confident movements, adapting to the forest's terrain and atmosphere, Buckley flanked Erast and searched for a large rock, one big enough to take cover behind if the need arose.

The next few moments passed in a blur. One of the boys on the opposing team was struck cleanly by Cecilia's spell. Wisely, she hadn't waited for the enemy to make the first move. Even so, that didn't stop him from taking Erast down. With both of them sprawled in the shallow part of the river ahead, drawing everyone's attention to the clash, Frederick seized the distraction and sprinted toward the next zone, where he had seen three of his teammates disappear.

Slowing his pace after leaving the riverbank behind, Frederick found himself in a dense stretch of forest, where tangled branches crisscrossed in every direction, making it nearly impossible to tell which tree they belonged to. Alone for the moment, he felt his heart begin to race again, but it didn't stop him. Fred pressed onward through the woods until, with a slight start, he heard a booming voice announce: “The Suriname Grasshopper's flag has been spotted by Sage Willows!” Moments later, he heard voices approaching from somewhere ahead. Without hesitating, the boy broke into a run once more, weaving past both allies and opponents until he finally caught sight of Sage and, at last, the enemy flag. Frederick came to a stop and flashed a defiant grin.

| Action: As strategized |─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
| Stats: Sta-8 ⁞ Eva-6 ⁞ Str-4 ⁞ Wis-5 ⁞ Arc-4 ⁞ Acc-8 |
| Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers ⁞ +10% auto-dodge chance |

✩₊˚.⋆☾𓃦☽⋆⁺₊✧

Heat baked down onto Percy Todd's skin as he wandered about, eyeing the treeline and underneath branches. This forest was wilder than he had thought, each bush and vine more dense, surprising to the young boy. Lachlan had fallen unable to complete the game, and replacing him was a rather large- rather intimidating young man. You couldn't even call him a boy- he looked like a viking! He watched as Haaland confidently strutting through the rainforest, chuckling as he noticed the boy's joy despite the hardship of the activity. He was quite different than anyone the American had met before.

Out of the corner of his eye, a figure darted around rocks and the few sparing bushes and trees, dashing outwards and rushing towards Percy's teammate. A girl- he realized, pulling out his wand and his eyes darting open. She's really protecting something... the flag? Is it here? He turned around to the sound of a loud thud behind him, realizing it was the girl who had sprinted out and now fallen onto the leaf and vine covered floor. He picked up his feet, sprinting around and attempting to see it in the shoreline around him. It wasn't in the water surely. What did the flag even look like? His heart was pounding in his ears, as he looked over the edge of the waterfall. Percy's hope to find it was surely fading as he headed back towards his teammate.

He ran rather quickly back to his accomplice, noticing the boy's triumphant expression, and seeing a second rather pretty boy laying on the rocky flooring. @Erast Yan had been tackled by Haaland, and Percy Todd's eyes flicked from him back to Haaland, whom he ran towards and took his shoulders, shouting congratulations and shaking back and forth. "Careful- make sure you have your wand out. You never know who'll jump out next..!" Percy turned around again, looking for Damien, who was trying to slink around the rocks and boulders surrounding. Much to their avail, his grunge teammate was very visible, to Percy Todd and anyone else who had been with them. He raised a hand to his mouth, stifling a laugh.

═════════════ Capture The Flag Ft the Suriname Grasshoppers and the Poison Dart Frogs @Damien Dragonclaw Speech Word Count ═ 379 ═══════════════

✩₊˚.⋆☾𓃦☽⋆⁺₊✧

E L L A I N E ‎ ‎ W E A T H E R B Y
| sta. 05 | eva. 07 | str. 04 | wis. 08 | arc. 07 | acc. 06 |
| Stat. Rel. |
| #6a7246 | 399/200 |

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26^th June 2026x
The Jungle Arena, Castelobruxox

xxxThe torrent of rain that had fallen upon them disappeared as quickly as it had come; that is to say, in a timely manner, giving Ellaine the few precious seconds needed to furiously wipe at her glasses. That one task done, Ellaine hissed, face twisting into a grimace, mood going on a steady spike – down, down, down to the grave. Turning her head away, she caught sight of a blurred figure charging at a shade of blue so distinctly Skylar-like in nature—

Staring, Ellaine processed the fact that Skylar had just gotten— tackled? A lost feeling overtook her, leaving her unmoored. Worry at the forefront of her sights, Ellaine ran a few steps forwards, wondering at what to. She wanted to ask if she was okay. A moot point… especially now that she finally caught sight of her face. It had her stopping abruptly in her tracks, squinting her eyes disbelievingly into the distance. Skylar was definitely not smiling now, she decided. No, not when she looked that murderous. Backing away, Ellaine fumbled with her steps, anxiety gnawing behind her eyes, her mind’s approach to the game changing on its axis. Hiding herself against the trees, though to no avail; she went through the actions she had available at hand…

"THE SURINAME GRASSHOPPER'S FLAG HAS BEEN SPOTTED BY SAGE WILLOWS!"

The booming voice caught her by surprise, leaving her eyes wide and mouth agape, though she understood enough. Face paling, Ellaine snapped at a run towards where she could’ve sworn Paul was, by extension their flag itself, hoping against all that she could stop them from getting within reach. Her feet thudding against the muddy ground, Ellaine kept her hand clutched deathly tight around her wand, a Flipendo ready at the tip of her tongue; head swivelling right and left every now and then.

Arriving at the scene, she saw a figure sprawled. Recognition placed their face as a Sage, the same Sage that’d spotted the flag… She sent a quick prayer of thanks to whomever took her down— though her high was quite in tatters when someone crashed through. They were decidedly not on her team, their eyes greedily taking in their flag. Hand trembling minutely, in misplaced anger or fear, she cared not to know; Ellaine pursed her lips, falling back. What to do, what to do, thought she, lips a flat line on her face, eyes flickering back and forth, between the flag and the obstacle.

Reducio

| actions. as strategised. |
| mentions. fellow suriname grasshopper teammates. |
| notes. |

Erast was never going to listen to Cecilia ever again. This was too much work for an activity. Earlier, it had been a slithering, towering serpent that barely spared his friends from a painful death from suffocation. Then in poured the molten, sweltering heat that draped over the atmosphere, which was already insufferable as is. It made the air difficult to breathe with how it thickened the humidity into something he could almost chew on. Perhaps it was the humid heat of the tropical climate, or something suspicious in the dirty river water that he had patted near his face, but Erast's reaction to the three approaching sets of footsteps had come painfully slow.

He swivelled around, fully intent on casting on the closest opponent, only to feel a mammoth of a human barreling into him. Erast hissed at the dig of elbows into his rib, unable to unsheathe his wand from his pocket under the heavier body shoving him down. He barely rolled his body from underneath the other boy, feeling his head spin from where it got knocked into a tree root. Cecilia's spell incantation at his attacker sounded like static to his ears, and he had to lean on a tree to lift himself upright.

“Thanks, Cece. Right on time.” Erast pressed against the tender spot on his ribs. His voice maintained its signature light-hearted tone, but he couldn't help the sarcasm seeping into the comment.

“THE SURINAME GRASSHOPPER'S FLAG HAS BEEN SPOTTED BY SAGE WILLOWS!”

Oh, dear.

Mentions: @Cecilia Merrick