Oh Sweet Anticipation Quidditch Match

@Quinn Healy & @ Serena Bowen

Go big or go home. This was what the game was leading up to. I was small, yes, but I was mighty. There was very little we could do, closing into the game like this. At this point, it was a game of brains over brawn, though I could do more than just offer a plan of attack.

I could physically attack. Something I had done all the way back to Muggle School, and something I had excelled it from the start. Hurtling through the air, the ginger giant in my sights, I tuck my head and throw out my shoulders, slamming into the joined broom with all my strength, considerable even with my small size.

With the perfect amount of force, the giant and the girl he was riding with plummeted through the air, with nobody to save them. I watch as the giant swiftly held the girl to his chest, protecting her from the inevitable impact of the earth. I smile. Even in danger, he held out to protect others. Noble, brave. I should speak to him; after the game of course. Being an individual with considerable strength as me... Maybe he knows something of controlling it more effectively?

But not now. I have a penalty lap to attend to, as does Hanzo, who is currently toting along Ella, our new Seeker in this tumultuous position. With a final nod, I salute the falling couple, offering an iconic goodbye, "Hasta la Vista, worthy adversaries, I'll see you on the other side!".

Without a beat, I soar off again, trying to zoom around the field as fast as possible.

Flying the Penalty Lap

Statistics and Broom:

Stamina- 7
Strength- 10 (11 with Obnoxiously Strong Ability, 10% to Strength checks)
Evasion- 10
Accuracy- 11
Wisdom- 4
ArcPower- 0

Broom- Moontrimmer, stats added above already! (10% Auto-Dodge chance)

It really was annoying. Out of all the times she had to fall without the hopes of someone saving her, it had to be in the international Quidditch match where gatherings of people came to watch. But she didn't expect to be saved- she knew there were other people who were higher on the priority list than she was. And if she had to be taken out instead of anyone else, she would have gladly accepted her fate.

But she didn't have to fall. She could have done better. She could have batted the bludger away instead of letting it careen into her. Was it her nerves getting to her? She had tried so hard to keep a cool head in the game. Whether it was just a practice round or the real thing, she always made sure to do whatever it took to win, no matter what, even if it meant shutting her mind off and letting instinct take over. But maybe she wasn't careful enough, and this was the price she had to pay.

But it didn't matter. She still had an inkling of faith in her team. As long as they could pull through, she was happy.

That was all she needed.

Action: Falling into the abyss™

Stats
Stamina: 9+3 = 12
Evasion: 6+3 = 9
Strength: 7+3 = 10
Wisdom: 7+3 = 10
Arcane Power: 6+3 = 9
Accuracy: 8+3 = 11

Broom: Silver Arrow (+3 to every stat)

Abilities: Fearless

No, this couldn't be it! May saw as two of her teammates almost fell from their brooms, and almost wanted to shriek at whoever did that horrible thing. May was sure they would regret this. If Serena would snatch the snitch, Hufflepuff would win, and that would make Higwarts, well, champions. And that was what mattered to the small Hufflepuff.

As Serena moved around the pitch, she felt someone crash into her and Quinn. She tried her best to hold on, but it was no use. Serena and her captain were falling. Now, of course, this wasn’t the first time that Serena had fallen off of a broom. But she had never dropped from this height before. But they would be okay, right? They had to be; otherwise, Quidditch would have been banned, right?

As she began plummeting to the ground, Serena was surprised to feel Quinn’s arms wrap around her. But she quickly buried her head into his chest, not wanting to see the field anymore as it grew closer.

“I’m sorry, Cap…” She mumbled, waiting for the inevitable impact of the hard ground.

Action: Falling

STATISTICS:
Stamina: 6
Evasion: 7
Strength: 5
Wisdom: 7
ArcPower: 6
Accuracy: 7
BROOM:
Shooting Star
Racing broom made since 1950: most affordable and perfect for beginners!
Stats: +1 Evasion and +1 Stamina (added for ease)
ABILITIES:
None at this time

More than anything, Madhup had wanted to see some of the more threatening badgers struck from the sky. Yet when the moment finally came, he did not cheer. His nose was pressed against the barrier between the benches and the field, eyes darting madly between balls and players, trying to track every second of play. Their score was monumental. Romeo and Greta continued to dominate those silly Hogwarts students. Though everything about the boy had roared a malicious desire for dominance, that wasn't to say that deep down, he wasn't starting to feel a tickle of pity for those flung from their brooms. This was a momentous play. The pressure was a cacophony of cheers and boos from all sides, thousands of stadium-goers watching every moment. Madhup continued gripping and glaring, fingers clenching fence. Now wasn't the time to suffer worry or guilt: Durmstrang would cheat, blatch, bite and scratch their way to the top. They had to win.

Reducio

(Action)
Benched, watching intensely.

(Ability)
Foulplay: 25% chance that cheating will go unnoticed by referees.

(Stats)
With Silver Arrow +3 Modifiers- Stamina: 9 / Evasion: 10 /
Strength: 11 / Wisdom: 6 / ArcP: 6 / Accuracy: 11
Vanilla- Stamina: 6 / Evasion: 7 / Strength: 8 / Wisdom: 3 / ArcP: 3 / Accuracy: 8

Artwork by @Thea Knott

Mentioning Greta Fransson (@Evelynn Decipio), @Serena Towers, @Serena Bowen, @Saskia Nicholson, @Quinn Healy, @Jack Warren

Aaron's momentary lapse in quaffle motivation meant that he had turned his attention to Serena Towers - the team's amazing seeker. Their whole team would go down for her sake, considering she was usually their saving grace. And it seemed like today would be no different - with the clear superiority of the Durmstrang chaser Greta, Aaron aimed his next strategy at helping their seeker. He pushed his broom to fly to her quickly, and as they made eye contact, he held out his hand. Serena caught on quickly, and just a few moments later, Aaron yeeted her in the direction she had pointed out the snitch. In that same moment, Quinn and chaser Serena defended seeker Serena from a blatching and fell.

"No!" Aaron shouted, watching as his teammate and his captain fell from their shared broom. No, no, no. As sad as he was about the both of them, he was more stressed than anything. With Quinn out of the game, it left Aaron as captain on the field. Too much pressure. Way too much pressure! He looked around the field for Saskia - the team's former captain - just in time to see her take another hit for their seeker. WHAT THE HECK? Aaron couldn't get to her in time, unable to do anything but watch as his seniors fell from their brooms to the ground. How was Aaron supposed to lead the team to victory? Quinn - their half-giant leader - was supposed to see them to victory! Saskia could have provided guidance too! Aaron wasn't prepared to be the acting captain during his first official game! He still had so much to learn from Quinn!

Aaron looked around the field, sizing up the team's losses. Both of their beaters and one of their chasers was down, but thankfully they had enough people on the bench to replace them. The twelve-year-old looked at the other team as well, glad to note that three of their players would be taking a penalty lap for the debauchery they caused. One more look back at the badgers and Aaron's mind was made up. His expression turned to one of determination. He was the only leadership role left on the field, and he had to motivate his fellow players!

"Come on, team! We've still got this! Let's win for Captain Quinn!" he shouted, before moving into position for his next move. He had to trust in his remaining players, and the second-strings that were coming up on the field. Jack was coming up too! He recalled that day over the spring holidays when they talked about Jack wanting to get onto the team - neither of them could have anticipated that day would come so soon!

Action: Doing as Strategized
Moderation Information:

Reducio

Broom: Comet 180 (+2 accuracy, +1 evasion, +1 stamina)
Statistics: Stamina: 7 (+ 1) = 8
Evasion: 7 (+ 1) = 8
Strength: 7
Wisdom: 3
Arc. Power: 3
Accuracy: 8 (+ 2) = 10
Ability: Martial Artist

As usual, her imagination was running wild, that she did not notice what had happened on the pitch.

Their captain, the beater, clearly wasn’t very well, and was knocked down the broom. The same happened to two others. Horrible. That’s the first word that came to her mind. She did not know whether this often happened to Quidditch players, or it’s just the Durmstrang dudes were too strong?

She did not know.

Some of their backup players flew into the sky. Would she even going to play? Lindsey had no idea, but she somehow hoped that she could. But that means more injuries. No…

“Go Hufflepuff!”

Action: Benched, cheering for her fellow badgers

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH | MENTIONS @Rafael D'Spacito (as Hans), @Thomas Lestrange (as Ella)[/font]

Focus. Just focus. Focus! With a great effort, Greta pulled her attention away from her brother and her friend. There certainly existed a lingering worry for the pair of them. Ella was bigger than Greta, surely, but every single one of the beaters on the opposing team looked imposing. A bludger from one of them could not have been received without leaving a mark, and if a single blow was enough to knock Ella clean from her broom, there was little doubt the pain wouldn't be so easily shaken. Greta didn't even want to think what her friend was going through in that moment.

Which meant she, herself, needed to focus. There was no excuse. No pain to distract her. No reason to fear being targeted. If Ella could take a hit, and her brother could swoop for the save, and the pair of them still show a level of determination to recover their position and come out with the win despite the fact that they would now be in the cross hairs of the enemy... Greta had to pull her own weight. Now more than ever, they needed their points.

At the toss of the next quaffle, Greta held her gaze only for the leather crimson skin. One more goal. Just one more goal. Even before it reached the apex of the toss, she had flattened herself against her broom, surging forward with an urgency for the win. Of course, it wasn't until her hand swiped up the ball and tucked it close to her core under the protective crook of her elbow that she realized she needn't have felt such a drive. She was the only one that had gone for it. Evidently the golden-clad chasers had other priorities.

Whatever they were, though, Greta didn't care to investigate. Without hesitation, she took advantage of the lapse and sped towards the goal posts. Empty goal posts. Lips curled in a grin as feral as the black warpaint that shadowed her visage. Even the Hogwarts Keeper's attempt to stop the Norwegian's goals by cheating hadn't managed to improve the results, and now she was no doubt speeding around the pitch as fast as able at the call of a penalty. Well, Greta was going to make her regret that lapse, and take full advantage of the empty net and the distracted chasers for as many points in their favour as possible.

One. The quaffle lobbed to sail easily through the uncontested hoops. Greta stayed only so long as to ensure it sank through before veering around back for the next toss, spurred on by Ella's shout that filtered across the pitch, empowering her own effort.

Unfortunately, despite the relative calm that had befallen the battle of the quaffle, the rest of the pitch remained turbulent. Bludgers sailed through the air at alarming rates, the whistle of their war-cry sending the hairs on the back of Greta's neck on end. As much as she wanted to ignore them, more than once she found her attention diverted to ensure she was neither the target of their trajectory, nor that she stray accidentally into their paths. Even them aside, the pitch was more than a little difficult to navigate as the players, including those on her own team, began to ramp up their efforts. It was a veritable maze of iron and flesh and even without contest, she could only move so quickly from center to goal.

Still, despite the maelstrom, Greta managed to sink an additional two goals before the opposing keeper returned to the fray. They could send an army after her for all the good it would do, however. The Durmstrang momentum had built. It would take a decisive blow to knock the wind from their sails.

Action: Doing as Strategized

Writing as Ella Forsberg

Stats: Stamina: 3 | Strength: 1(3) | Evasion: 7(8) | Wisdom: 10(12) | Accuracy: 7 | Arc Power: 7 |

Nimbus 1001: +2 wisdom, +2 strength, + 1 evasion Now on Hanzo's broom.

Lovely Creature: You are very distracting to look at. This increases the Control DC of spells in duels and adventures by +2 as well as the DC for finding things in adventures or the DC for finding the snitch in a game of Quidditch.
Of note: The Lovely Creature ability in Quidditch matches only affects the snitch search DC for the opponent team.

From his position around the pitch during his penalty lap, Espen could watch the field quite well. Greta had realized quickly that the Hufflepuff goals were left undefended, gaining another 30 points for Durmstrang. The young boy threw his fist in the air, proud of his fellow Chaser. He might not have been doing his traditional role very well today but Greta obviously was. If this game wouldn't be won by snitch catch, maybe it would be won by quaffle goals. Although it had happened in the past, it was not common. Panning his eyes around the field he couldn't help but smile watching the brutal attack his team was providing towards other players. Small in size, the Hufflepuff seeker was hardy, though maybe not enough as she was attacked from all directions. Unfortunately she had been saved from her fall. The larger Huffle pair was not so lucky, plummeting towards the ground.

Lap complete, he focused his head back in the game. He knew exactly what he needed to do next. Channeling his focus and sending off yet another silent prayer, the boy zoomed off.

Stamina: 10 (13)	Evasion: 10 (13)	Abilities: Charmer Effect: -1 accuracy to all of your opponents (as defined at the start of the instance regardless of later betrayal)
Strength: 5 (8)	Wisdom: 0 (3)	Broom: Silver Arrow | +3 to all stats as indicated by the bold numbers in (#)
Arcane Power: 0 (3)	Accuracy: 10 (13)	Position: First-String Chaser

Action: Getting into position | Doing as strategized