Event The Fall Ball (Masquerade)

Erin just might be in fucking love...

There she was on her first date with a guy with a nifty scar, all she knew was it was from something big and something bad because even the most remedial of medical practitioners would be able to leave a flawless surface of flesh. He was tough to be alive, she had underestimated exactly how tough admittedly. When he pummeled the part giant, Erin's not-so-secret rival, she expected the two of them to lose. She also expected a couple more hits...

She stood there slack-jawed when the tree-like behemoth was felled with a single powerful blow. "Dayum," she was impressed, also a bit jealous. Stunned really by the unexpected turn of events she simply stood there. Was this a hallucination? Perhaps her dorm mates were right, she was delusional. No, she really wasn't, he had been knocked over. Visibly shaken, visibly weakened. It was like when a domestic animal finally catches a small critter but lacks the primal instinct to use their natural talent to end their suffering as they only knew the chase. She... did not know what to do with Quinn.

Quinn was also talking like a crazy person. Ha! Crazy, coming from her. That's saying something. His defenders, she mentally took in their names -- @Nico Shymane, @Santario Martin "Nothing is wrong with him," Erin snapped. Innocent her ass. "I know what he is doing," she walked to Kyle's side as she looked Nico up and down as she knelt next to the felled giant. "Done," she added. She was not a librarian. She did not know words!

She knew that her words were wasted on the girl as her hand fumbled her waist. She had it someplace, she hardly ever used it. A length of chesnut wood and unicorn hair, a token of power and control for many wizards, for her the wand was but an additional instrument. Kyle was not laughing, she was not even certain he was being afflicted by the spell so carelessly slung at him. Nico had tried, more than once to knock her down with a Flippendo. She could return the favor at one of the two girls, it would serve them right [but they are already leaving so won't damage their action to leave the thread].

Strange was a notion she shrugged off. They had no compunction against casting spells, one careless enough as to even hit the wrong target. All they had was their balled fists. She would just let the three of them leave, her hand gripping her wand. She felt useless for a moment, as if she should have done more. There was a weight to that sentiment. Yes, sentiment. How odd, she thought she lacked those. Wasn't @Oliver Hart in possession of her silvered bleeding heart?

"You know," she spoke out of the side of her mouth while holding her steely gaze on the trio. The threat of continued violence. Of reciprocal consequences would keep a further altercation at bay as long as she did not turn her back. No weakness. "You're stronger than I thought," she was stating the obvious. "Best first date ever," she concluded. Her standards were not high really, but he exceeded even relatively realistic expectations. @Paracelsus Adger Myth wanted nothing to do with her, actively avoided her. @Jack Burnett thought so little of her, she was left to live a lie and did not even know his name until the very end. A sick joke that had no reason but ripped from her what little self value she had.

[font=times new roman]

Interacting with: Kheanu ^{(@Dmitri Jones)} and Nichlas ^{(@Alan Vanes)}
Status: Open for Interactions!

English: #6B5076
Welsh: #9E8FB9
Uzbek: #874343

Post tracker: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Autumn got bored easily, It was something that got her into trouble, shenanigans and incredibly interesting interactions and situations. In fact, it was also due to this that she found herself wandering aimlessly around the ballroom, looking for a way to ease her boredom. Granted, it was also so she could distract herself from the promise of impending doom, since this was Hogwarts, of course, and the people around her hiding behind their fancy masks, empty compliments and meaningless small talk.

She didn't understand why people talked if they had nothing to say. She knew why, she just didn't understand. Maybe it was the introvert in her talking, or maybe she was the odd one, maybe she was the one who didn't get it. Sure, she could do what she always did, she could pretend. And she did. All the time, actually. She just never understood the point of it all. But at this point, if it let her fit in and avoid trouble in a school built on trouble, she would take it.

She'd lie. She was a liar, after all. A pretender. A faker. She wasn't as composed as she seemed. She didn't know what she was doing; she only knew how to seem like she did. She was stoic, and serious, and cold, and she maintained somewhat of a reputation as a bad person, when all she wanted to do was ask why reputations were a thing in the first place. However, she'd be lying again if she said she didn't indulge a bit in it all. It felt nice to know hatred was mutual, that some feared you, others thought you were strange and everyone else disliked you. She didn't owe to anyone to be likeable. There were no expectations on either side of the equation.

She was thinking about exactly that, and more, because her head seemed to never stop, when she bumped into someone. This someone happened to be significantly taller than her. He also wasn't particularly familiar. Probably not a Hogwarts student. As she bumped into the taller boy, she heard a person talk to him. It was probably his date.

"Oh, what a good show! 'ogwarts stepped up their ballroom scene quite spectacularly! Bravo!"

Yeah, neither of the guys were from Hogwarts, it seemed.

Instead of following her instinct, and apologising under her breath and quickly walking away, she stayed and spoke, like an idiot.

"That's not a show, that's Hogwarts."

For mods:
Abilities: Sixth Sense, Perfectionist
Stats: Stamina: 5, Evasion: 5, Strength: 7, Wisdom: 7, Arcane Power: 8, Accuracy: 8
Species: Full Human
Health: 500/500
Action: Wandering, Contemplating, Talking

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[font=times new roman]

Roleplaying as Beauxbatons iNPC

Interacting with: Alexander Baron ^{@@Mars T'ien}
Status: Closed to Interactions

English: #6C4971
French: #AE989A
German: #5A7189
Mandarin: #2A3C54

Post tracker: [x] [x] [x] [x]

"An interesting start to our evening."

Interesting was one way to put it, yes. Viola could also think of several others. These included tiring and annoying. Talk about an overreaction. Still, Viola could not help but indulge slightly in the girl's pain as she had left the ballroom. That probably made her a bad person, but Tempete's weren't raised to be good.

They were raised to be successful.

"Most certainly so. It must have been quite awful for the poor girl. Really, it wasn't my intention to hurt her feelings."

And although she had the sincerest, sweetest tone on, and a regretful expression on her face, there was a slight laugh in her eyes, a secret message delivered only to the boy in front of her.

"Well, it seems you know my name, but I'll introduce myself formally. I'm Alexander Baron, and it's a pleasure to meet you. And you, my dear?"

Viola watched as he bowed and rose to face her once again. She did something along those lines, with a curtsy instead.

"My name is Viola Rhia Tempete. The pleasure is all mine. So, how are you on this fine evening, Mr Baron?"

For mods:
Abilities: Charmer, Lovely Creature
Stats: Stamina: 5, Evasion: 7, Strength: 6, Wisdom: 8, Arcane Power: 6, Accuracy: 8
Species: Full Human
Health: 500/500
Action: Conversing, Introducing herself

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Mod Posts
First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth | Sixth

Time to dance the night away, as certainly those who are left are the true party animals. The frills from the start of the night had come undone, as violence found an end yet people had been changed. Those who weren't fighting would have the chance to enjoy more modern, electronic music, though the disc jockey had taken full control at this point. Being Hogwarts, there was no magical turntable, but he did have an impressive collection of modern records to put on the phonograph. Had this cultural movement of printing new records been a wizard plot all along?

Luckily for those who wanted to end their evening on a pleasant note, it seemed all the fighting had stopped. Either their point had been made, or they had been convinced, either way a long-needed end to the noises of disputes brought a newfound calm to the dance floor. For some, it would seem as though the entire ball had gone perfectly well without incident. Of course, for others it was a nightmare, but those were isolated incidents.

There was still one quiet conflict to resolve, a lover's quarrel between two best friends and a disgusting, wiggling doll. It dropped its useless dagger at the entrance, internally cursing its luck at stealing from one of the only children who had followed safety precautions. @Meenauh Silmataurea would attempt to put a stop to its wriggling.

One would think that once the fiend was in her hand, wand jabbed into its tummy, it would be a simple matter to cast a spell at it. Well, you would be wrong. It twisted and writhed, its "body" able to move in unexpected ways. It bucked and twisted, pinched and.... bit? Whatever was going on with the packet of evil cloth, it would be too much for Meenauh's hand to carry. Once again it would drop to the floor and make its escape. Naturally, it had hung on every word from @Xailah Alptraum's mouth, and internalized them. Unfortunately for her, the thought that would echo in its mind that it would not voice was something akin to I would die a thousand deaths for the chance to have you to myself.

It was a learning creature, however, and it was going to be ready for Meenauh's continued pursuit. She will die tonight, and then there will be no more obstruction for its heart's true devotion. Certainly no matter how many lifetimes the two girls spent together, their connection could not be as dear and strong as the one between it and Xailah. Of course, that didn't mean it would heed her advice. It was it's death, or Meenauh's death. There was no other option.

Across the ball, there were still some who were trying to keep an eye out. In this case, the number of things going wrong had greatly diminished.

@Selim Faust's investigation would find a struggle that most had ignored in lieu of the half-giant fight going on nearby. There was some kind of back-and-forth between two prefects at the door and a small doll-like creature. The whole... stabbing with a big fake dagger thing made it a bit easier to notice, though it seemed almost everyone was perfectly happy to ignore it. Would Selim feel the same way?

With that, the dance moved on.

Actions this round
@Akari Kato moved from the Costume Party to the Masquerade.
@Nico Shymane left the ball.
@Quinn Healy left the ball.
@Rose Moon (NPC Andrew Lycan) moved from the Costume Party to the Masquerade.

[font=Monotype Corsiva]For your consideration[/font]

• There will be a mod post every Friday, meaning the next mod will be on November 20th.
• There are two parties going on simultaneously, the Masquerade in the Ballroom and the Costume Party in the Rehearsal Room. Both are on the fourth floor of Hogwarts, so travelling between the two does not take much time. For ease of moderation, please clearly denote when you are going from one to the other. During moderation, this takes a full action.
• Your characters are no longer able to join the ongoing Hunt. People who have already joined the Hunt can still travel between all three locations, but each movement will still take a full action unless otherwise stated.
• Because changing parties is considered an action, this means you can switch once a week, though that also means you won't be able to take another action until the next mod.
• Actions besides changing parties are any attempt to do something to someone else such as attack, investigate, cast any spell, or generally anything that has a chance to fail depending on your stats. Minor interactions that are agreed upon between two players are free to take as much as you like. If you're unsure whether your intended plan involves an action, you can feel free to message me for clarification. Please do not roll your own actions even if they are minor.

As the Half giant got up and starting speaking in a strange voice he cocked an eyebrow and tensed up, just in case. But it was clear that the hufflesnuff was done fighting, having learned his lesson from the throttling he just got. As he walked away Kyle called after him for one last parting barb "Agus na till air ais toll asail!"

After having once again dropped the half giant in one punch, and this time ending the fight with it his self confidence was riding pretty high, but his attention wasn't drawn to the argument between his cousin and the former friend, or the pale girl freaking out over the beating the half giant received but instead back towards the girl he came to the ball with. She held her own in the fight, doing damage and even after getting spells thrown at her kept going on despite the odds. She had a grit and determination to her that the scrappy Irish kid really admired.



If anything that was the cherry on the pie that was tonight. It was probably the best night the boy had had in a long time, every year things seemed to get harder both dealing with his interpersonal relationships but also the way the curse he suffered ravaged him. But tonight...was a win.

At the mention of this being the best date ever, he was slightly taken aback at first. He was surprised, in a good way, that the slytherin who initially invited him along for muscle was seeing this as a date just as he was. Kyle smiled and offered his arm in a somewhat exaggerated way to show he was mocking the formal action. "Well the date aint over yet Starling. What sort of trouble you want to get into next"

There were a lot of things Xailah didn't like. Especially when it came to socializing. She didn't like when there was a lack of acknowledgement, when speaking to someone- or in this case something. Did the doll not hear her? Or had it heard, and simply decided to ignore her? Either way, the doll had made a poor decision. The cat was growing tired of playing this game. She was getting angry. While the dolls focus lingered on Meenauh- waiting for her next attack- Xailah would try to use the dolls fixation to her advantage. If the doll did not want to stop the pursuit by its own will, then Xailah was going to make it stop. She slunk, and snaked her way closer to the doll and the other lioness. "Did you not hear me?" She hissed over the distorted sounds, provided by the DJ.

With her arms outstretched, she would try to fill the space between Meenauh and the attacker. "If I say jump, you jump." The lace-plated lioness growled. "And if I tell you to stop, you better fucking stop." Golden eyes began to glow, and bubble a faint red. Slotted, feline pupils snapped themselves out of existence. "I'm tired of my friend getting hurt. If you want to harm Meenauh, fine, but you're going to have to get rid of me first." What a Gryffindor thing to claim. Xailah slid, sidestepping, in hopes that she could block any attacks, towards the girl that she considered a sister. Like the glorified kerchief, Xailah was a learning creature. She was always watching. Always mimicking. Always hoping to understand. The doll wanted nothing to do with Xailah. That much was obvious. And she wasn't quite ready to get rid of the thing. So she wondered- what if: what if she made the poppet hurt something, that was not its target? What if she made it hurt her?

Interacting with: Andrew Lycan (Played by @Rose Moon)
Mentioning: N/A
Outfit:

Reducio

Akari stepped into the Ballroom still clinging onto Drew's arm. Oh my, was it magnificent. The spookiness that was emanating from the room was quite thrilling. Akari loved it. Halloween was such an exciting time of the year and this was taking all the most delightful aspects of it and adding a grand and elegant twist.
She really couldn't believe how well put together and equally amazing each of the events had been decorated and set up.

She was still admiring the room when Drew had brought her attention back to him when he mentioned that he hadn't seen Gregori and Elisabeth. Now that she looked, it was indeed true. They were nowhere to be seen. She briefly wondered where they had drifted off to and hoped that they were enjoying themselves.

Then came the question she was waiting for either one of them to ask.
"Mhm, come" a smiling Akari responded, and without waiting for him to say anything else she lightly grabbed his arm and hastily pulled him out to the dance floor then turned to face him. She had to admit that she wasn't the best dancer ever. She could hold herself acceptably, but it definitely wasn't spectacular. She would try her hardest but she hoped dearly that Drew wouldn't mind if she missed a beat or two.
But above all else, her main goal was to avoid stepping on his toes. Her gaze was glued to her feet as she had a slightly weary expression.

Please don't fail me

Mention: @Flash Holmwood & @Hugh Lowe
Interacts With: @Aaron Jones (Madeline iNPC) & @Selim Faust

I apologize for being derelict in my posting duties.

She should not trust them, any of them. It was obvious that her best course of action was to run away. He was again assailed, a fight he did not start nor did he bother ending as someone else ended it for him. Possible theatrics for his benefit. An attempt to gain his confidence. An attempt to learn his secrets. Another had addressed his date, the best time to offer a girl a dance was the moment her intended date was being assailed. He should have been flabbergasted by the audacious offer, but he hid his true sentiments well.

'Why'? The obvious question. Vladimir took a sharp breath, a sign of frustration as he pinched his nose. "Because they have to, like puppets in a play." He knew that someone, perhaps multiple would come for him. He was in fact expecting it, the chaos, the blood and of course the bruises. The plethora of witnesses and his place... as the victim of circumstances he in part devised for these very ends and for this very purpose. Because they would refuse to ignore him. Because they needed to lash out and they wanted a villain. They had one in him of course. He was everything one would expect in a villain, at least one with an iota of class. The three C's - charm, charisma and confidence. At best, most of these pedestrians had one of the three, but most had none.

"They attacked my friends last year," he explained. He was referring to Victor and Marion of course. "We were witnesses in a famed case, saw a local hero" Potter "do something real bad. They were caught, brought to justice and justice is rarely popular." He actually did not have to lie. "Does not matter how handsome a face I got or how fine my pedigree here," he shrugged. A good reason to outsource dates, "thankfully my credentials got me the prettiest one from afar." He gave a half smile as he turned the conversation away from such dire matters. Compliments were better than chocolate to most women, doubtful Madeline would be an exception.

Should she get a Professor? "You could if you want," it had to be her choice. "It looks like I might be free from their bullying for a few moments," not that he looked terribly distressed despite the red mark that stubbornly remained where Flash's fist had graced his form. He hoped a noticeable bruise would form, evidence beyond the gawker accounts always added sympathy. "But they might return soon," he warned. An ominous statement that was not intended to put her mind at ease, this evening was intended to be far from pleasant, but she was intended to survive the event unharmed.

Selim Faust, his apparent pallid protector claimed he was just getting better at hiding but Vlad shook his head. 'No,' that was not it at all. "There is a duality to us all, and while you might be a great many things... you will never be a great liar." He did not see it, he did not notice it. What he lacked, why he did not twitch. Why he did not fear, but he saw it. There is a difference between being fearless, confident and what Faust was because he was neither of those things -- fearless or confident and yet for a moment he would look the part. Yet he was not lying, that much the Ravenclaw knew.

Selim wanted Flash to be left to him. Why should he? Because he told Holwood to cease and desist? Because the Slytherin complied? Because Faust had asked him so very nicely? He would not confirm or deny his request, there was no reason to. In truth it would make no difference. Not to him and not to the tragedy in the making. "Καλή τύχη" (Good Luck). Athanatos made his own luck, the snake would need a great deal in the days to come. "I doubt he will be of consequence for long," he concluded non-committedly.

His interest was in his date. If she ran off to find a Professor then... a bit of private time with his new 'friend' Selim Faust. If she remained, then it would be time to bid the youth adieu. He needed to entertain his guest fully and publicly, not nurse a bruised bit of flesh. He would not let a minor scuffer derail the evening, there would need to at the very least be a fire, a rampaging giant such as the one who tried to steal his date (really Hugh!) or a murder for that to happen.

Action: I am being a good boy unlike these miscreants.

Interacting with @Amara Dragamior and Lucas Dragmior

Gray could only keep his head on a swivel as he awaited a reply from Amara, an answer which didn't come due to her being preoccupied with blasting away Knight. The fact that people were fighting already was quite worrying, and that only meant bad times ahead like the rest of the balls. Although, his attention would soon be turned to a voice behind him that sounded more than familiar. Lucas, who was somewhat related to Amara questioned him about the madness going on around them.

Percy turned to face him but made sure to keep his wits about him, the grip on his wand still as tight as before "I could say the same thing Lucas, for whatever reason these disobedient children are fighting for no reason again" He replied with a small shake of his head, annoyed that previous events were starting to repeat themselves once more "It may be wise to stick with us for the rest of the ball... I feel things are only starting to heat up" added on the pureblood as he looked between the two with a look of concern. Staying in a group was probably one of the better options right now, if they were close, they would be able to protect each other equally.

Right when he made his point, Amara came up behind him and finished up her scuffle with his fellow dormmate. She made a point about calming the chaos down, but he felt the action alone only added fuel to the ever growing fire "If I joined in I would of done more than calm them down. None the less, them brats never seem to learn from past mistakes" grunted the boy as he finally turned to his girlfriend "As I mentioned to these two, we should all stick close from now on. I don't think it will long before things get out of hand, don't you think?" he remarked before looking around in an almost paranoid manner "Alright... lets get away from this area before we caught in the crossfire shall we?" Percy said to all them before extending a polite hand to Amara, hoping to carefully guide her away from the mess behind them.

"Hero's don't exist, if they did, I wouldn't be like... this."

Selim listened as Vladimir spoke about why his classmates, for some reason, hated the Ravenclaw. His brows furrowed in bafflement, displeasure evident despite the mask. 'Justice is rarely popular'

A scoff, some words spoken before he thought on whether it was worth it to speak them. "Justice doesn't exist. Neither do heroes. Those are just things humans made up as an excuse for their own inadequacy." It was stated as a fact, and Selim looked away dismissively. "To attack you for such a foolish reason, it seems my peers continue to disappoint." It seemed his stance on the situation between Vladimir and his aggressors was clear, he was not one of the... sheep.

He watched idly as the Fox went to join that 'Hunt', and his chopsticks disappeared back into their hiding spot. He eased, but was still attentive as he watched the fight, watched the dancers, watched the life around him with a sense of not belonging. A frown pulled at his lips as his icy eyes slitted in mild discomfort.

The raven's attention turned back to Athanatos as the Ravenclaw addressed him.

Paranoia continued to whisper in his mind, but not even a lick of it showed past the ivory mask perched on the second-year's face. As the upperclassmen shook his head in a negative to Selim's comment about hiding his 'twitchiness' better, the raven's eyes glinted with detached curiosity.



At that, a bemused chuckle rose from Selim, the irony of the comment striking a faint, dark humor in him. "Perhaps, Athanatos, your just one of the few that can see past people's masks." His eyes glinted with a wry mirth in the candlelight, "Because even my Dormmates fall for quite a few of my lies. Either that or they're just really good at acting like I'm just merely quirky, not unstable." His tone was mildly sardonic as he spoke of the few people who saw him on a regular basis. Perhaps a little self-deprecation was hinted in the light words as well.

The next words Vladimir spoke struck a chord of familiarity, Greek. His father had taught him a bit of it, not much, but luckily this phrase was more common.

'Good Luck' huh?

Selim thought back on his previous actions, and shook his head, yes, it seems he might've made a few enemies today. If he was lucky his action of defending the resident 'villain' would go unnoticed.

But Flash Holmwood was a rather... troublesome boy, and rumors spread.

At this rate, Selim might even end up being thought of as one of Vlad's 'puppets', they might even think he and Vlad planned Victor's death. For some reason many though Vlad didn't care about the deceased Scarecrow, and perhaps he didn't, but unlike them, Selim had heard the boy's apathy toward his 'friend's' health by word of mouth... mind?

They didn't, they all just assumed the Ravenclaw was that morally depraved.

He drew a hand down his mask, letting out a weary sigh that sounded like it'd be more fitting coming from one of life's veterans, not a twelve-year-old.

"良い神" [Good Lord] He muttered in his native tongue, the Japanese words familiar in his mouth. After a few moments he straightened. "I'm going to need a cup of strong tea after this mess passes..." He huffed.

He scanned the crowd again as he awaited Vladimir's dance partner's verdict. He wouldn't be surprised if the foreign girl got a professor, in fact, he'd approve if she did, but it was her choice.

Then his eyes caught note of something, two girls fighting... was that... a doll?

He squinted his eyes, trying to focus on it, and, to his surprise, it was, indeed, a doll, with a fake knife in it's stubby hand. "What in Merlin's name?" He blinked rapidly, mind flashing back to when he had stolen those dolls from Athanatos last year. He thought that had been yet another break from reality, but it seemed it was quite possible. "A doll is attacking two students." He stated, tone wavering between a deadpan and pure disbelief.

He inwardly groaned, should he really be surprised? This school was one big fever dream, from Hags to tiny murder dolls, to idiotic peers with vendettas. This place was just a circus of nightmares.

Sometimes Selim regretted purposefully sticking himself close to the middle of this mess.

Actions: Regretting many things, as per usual. Not causing more trouble, because he isn't that insane... right?