Event The Fall Ball (The Hunt) Finished

Well, shoot. Now Piper was mad. And, it appeared, so was the Matagot.

Piper cursed as the cat leaped towards her, muscles working gracefully. She stumbled back, though the cat didn't seem too intent on hurting her. It simply wanted to block the door as fully as possible. Two spells were cast, but they both missed. Piper glanced next to her. Some idiot girl (the one in the pink dress) [Linsey Springhall] had tried to follow her through as well, and tried to cast a spell at the Matagot. I could have made it. If only others hadn't drawn attention to it. At least that one girl turned Toa's portrait down, which might ease the cat a bit.

Thoroughly annoyed, Piper did see that the older student (Ami Procoppio) had made it through, making out her silhouette in the darkness. She sighed, taking a moment to compose herself. Yelling at other students wouldn't work, and further attempt to sneak through clearly wouldn't either. Piper also glared at the cat eyeing her and whispered, "What are you hiding?" There was no way on earth there wasn't anything in there. She hoped against hope the girl would find something useful. Piper set her jaw. I can still help distract it. If the Matagot saw the other girl, who knew what it might do? In any case it wouldn't be good.

Of course, that boy (Gregorí) had to ruin her perfect plan and tell them to calm the Matagot. He made the brilliant point that they could no longer go through the door. Great job, Captain Obvious. Piper glared at him and raised her wand, completely ready to cast a spell. However, she was compelled to hesitate. The boy had proven himself competent in calming the cat before. Perhaps bribery was the way to go here. Not that Piper would ever directly admit he was right, of course. Her plan was way more interesting, but strategically the Matagot might respond better to calmness rather than calamity. "How can we calm it down?" she asked.

In the meantime, Piper bent the slightest bit at the waist. For the first time since arriving she broke eye contact with the creature, subtly imitating Gregorí's previous bow (while chuntering to herself under her breath).

Mod stuff:

Reducio

Interacting: @Ginevra Tsuchiya @Lindsey Springhall
Mentioning: @Ami Procoppio
ACTION: Bowing to cat, looking for signs of calmness in matagot
Location: Fourth
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 6
Ability: Perfectionist

As Lindsey Springhall | open to interactions
Interacting with @Piper Clark, @Ginevra Tsuchiya as Gregori
Mentioning see bolded names below

Huh, how come her spell didn’t work? It was rare when the young Miss Springhall’s spell failed — very rare. She had always been a hard working student in DADA and charms class, so it was quite surprising this time that she failed. Lindsey shrugged. Okay, she could cast the spell again, to stop this creature — from standing in front of the door and not letting them in. Someone [Callista] was trying to calm the creature down, and Lindsey had to admit that maybe she was right after all.

She frowned. The Matagot was blocking the door, and she didn’t dare to cast a spell like the freezing charm again. If her spell failed or the cat dodged (and that’s very likely), they’d be lost. She heard someone [Gregori] talking, and the words were obviously addressed to her and the other blonde girl [Piper].

“I totally agree with that.” She nodded, her right foot tapped impatiently a bit on the floor. Casting an affectionate look to Ami, who was in the darkness of the office, she looked at the cat again. It seemed…annoyed. “I don’t think she’d let us in, actually.” she expressed. “If she’s guarding something there, she probably wouldn’t leave her place — but what’s in the office? What’s precious enough for…for such a large magical creature to guard?” Like muttering to herself, Lindsey’s voice was relatively low, cause she never wanted to alarm the Matagot yet again. Her hands gripped her wand tight. Oh Merlin, how she wished to cast another spell…but certainly, if her spell didn’t work or didn’t hit, it might alarm the Matagot again.

She heard the blonde [Piper] asking about the way to calm the cat down. Okay, she had to clarify first, herself’s never good at petting animals. And she might cause things to…explode. Lindsey knew clearly if she didn’t succeed in calming the creature down, there might come an outburst. Success meant success, but failure meant injury. Herself wouldn’t care much if she got injured, but if these students got hurt — well, that’s another question. But she knew that probably her effort put in calming this creature down would be a waste. She’s not good at making friends with the portraits or animals apart from her cat Napoleon and her brother’s owl Jadis.

“Well…” she murmured, pretty much to herself. “Two strategies. Plan A, we’d try to fool or distract the cat and get into the office to search it. Plan B, we’d calm this cat down together while Cap Procoppio does research alone in the office. Our task is to protect her from being expelled out by the Matagot.” She blinked. Large chocolate brown eyes gazed randomly at the black cat’s fur.

She gazed for some time, and finally added, softly. “And there’s a worst plan…if the cat’s irritated, we had to fight or calm her down again. Personally I guess calming her down’s better, and when someone’s doing this, one or two of us will try to sneak in.” Everything above was spoken in a very low voice that was hard to hear by others. Actually she didn’t really care if anyone's listening to her random plans. Well, Lindsey was strategic, but today her brain just seemed didn’t work anymore, and strangely, without Wyatt beside her, she didn’t feel that confident like before. She gipped her wand hard.

Chocolate brown eyes wandered through the corridors and finally landed on the Matagot. Ahhh…maybe she could see anything intriguing on the cat, such as its owner’s mark? Or anything suspicious around the corridors, like a hint of the things the creature’s protecting in the office?

Action: coming up with strategies, looking out for anything suspicious
Location: fourth location
Stats: Stamina 7 | Evasion 6 | Strength 8 | Wisdom 7 | Arcane Power 6 | Accuracy 8
Abilities: Statistically Relevant | Lovely Creature

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][0][1][2][3][4][5]

Reducio

ALLY LIST
-Wyatt Starkey
-Elizabeth Isaacs
-Scarlett Aden
-Leonard Oaksworth
-Marshal Mozor
-Casandra Ironwoods
-Mars T’ien

MODERATION POST

Moderation Post Tracker:
[Start] [Interlude] [First] [Note] [Second] [Third] [Fourth] [Fifth] [Sixth] [Seventh]
[Eighth] [Ninth] [Interlude] [Tenth] [Eleventh]

FOURTH LOCATION

Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin (@Lucia Fox) had been the victim of the Matagot’s aggression (...or had it been defense, really?) and was still bleeding. She backed away from the situation, and attempted to stop the blood flowing from the gash in her leg.

Strength Check: 10

She ripped a strip off her dress and used it to tie two paper tissues to her leg. A makeshift bandage, not very professional, but it would do for the moment. Cassie is no longer bleeding.

@Scarlett Aden had reluctantly agreed to stay down from angering the Matagot further, although she was still quite displeased with it for attacking her friend. The crappy cat did not seem particularly pleased by this remark either, but did not take further action beyond a hiss and what could not be described as anything else than a glare. It seemed the cat was capable of understanding when someone talked to it. Scarlett’s concern, however, was more with the disturbing sight of her friend’s blood on the floor.

Scarlett casts Scourgify (DC 8 + 2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: 14

Her spell successfully removed the red droplets.

@Callista Lovis tried to talk sense with Gaiz Toa, but her words were largely ignored. Gaiz seemed mostly petrified, in shock from the Matagot springing into his direction earlier. In this situation, the Lion was definitely the prey. The kind Hufflepuff and @Piper Clark, one more one less grudgingly, listened to Gregorí’s advice to try and calm the Matagot instead of angering it further. While Callista chose a cliché “kitty, kitty” approach, Piper mimicked Callista’s earlier action of bowing slightly. Kids, Matagots aren’t Hippogriffs! But it probably wasn’t the worst course of action.

Callista Charisma Roll (DC 20 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 25
Piper Charisma Roll (DC 20 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 15

It seemed that Callista truly had a way with the creature, as she let her scratch its head, tilting slightly towards her. Piper’s actions weren’t received as favourably, maybe she had taken offense with the glares and unfriendly muttering? But Callista’s presence kept her calm.

@Lindsey Springhall was keeping her distance, feeling off-balance by the absence of her companion. She considered their options, tried to hunt for clues. There had always been some in previous locations, right?

Observation Check (DC 20 + 2 (Lovely Creature)): 26 [owl]

Her gaze snagged on something in the Matagot’s coat. Barely visible, but still there. Was that…?

At the same time, there was an intriguing new arrival to the party. A girl (@Kit Paine) who was unfamiliar, seemed inappropriately perky for the gravity of the situation, and tried to take pictures of them all, even going so far as to lean in to glance through the door next to the Matagot to get one of Ami. Strange creatures roam the hallways of Hogwarts, truly.

@Elisabeth Erner did not appreciate her paparazzi-like behaviour and tried to dodge out of the way of the picture.

Eris/Kit accuracy: 23
Elisabeth evasion: 15

Tragically, she was not fast enough. Her likeness would be forever captured on a picture… in Eris’s possession. Still, there were other things more important at the moment - like making sure that Gaiz did not contribute more wisdom to the situation the way he’d done before. Elisabeth turned the painting face down, earning an indignant squawk from both inhabitants, but then there was blessed silence. At least from him.

Her friend, companion, more? Gregorí Erkens (@Ginevra Tsuchiya) was also taking a step back from the Matagot to think. He seemed rather displeased with Ami and her actions - more muscle than brain, his words, not mine, although… Would Ami even disagree? - but then focused his attention on the strange newcomer. Who was she? Kit Paine’s sister, maybe? If so, the Matagot should react positively to her presence… right?

And, strangely, it did. As if in presence of someone she trusted, the Matagot did not seem to mind Eris peeking into the office, on the contrary, even calming down a little more, settling back onto her haunches, all remaining aggressive signals vanishing. They were, after all, guardians, only there to protect the specific thing they were tasked with, nothing else. They were conscious, intelligent enough to be reasoned with.

@Ami Procoppio was the only one who had managed to make it into the office. Exuding waves of self-satisfaction, she noticed that all attempts at following her had failed - but wait, why was she even in here? Had someone caught her up on what was going on? Either way, some light would be helpful to figure it all out.

Ami casts Lumos (DC 7 + 2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: 17

Settling on a normal Wand-Lighting Spell this time instead of going for it’s more flamboyant version, the tip of her wand lit up, enough to slightly illuminate the space she was in. Not much seemed out of place, really, the space rather neat, almost empty. There was a chest on the desk, marked with the Beauxbatons crest, and…

“Finally!” the voice of a young woman rang out from a painting, leaned against a shelf, almost carelessly. ”You found me! Someone threw me in here… quick, you have to help!"

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR…

OOC Information:

• From now on, if you want to switch from the first location to the fourth, you have to post in the third location first.
• From now on, please state where you are above your post (e.g. First Location, On the way, Second Location)
• If you have the ability Lovely Creature, Calming Presence or Charmer, and you haven’t done so yet, please define your allies in your next post. This decision applies from the next moderation post to the end of the thread.
• Sorry for the delay, had a rough weekend. The next moderation will take place on February 6th, as usual.
• This is a moderated event, please state your actions (spells, attacks, observation attempts) accordingly. We will be rolling for them during moderation. You only have one action per moderation post.
• You can return to the Costume Party and the Masquerade at any point (as long as you're not involved in combat )
• If you have any questions feel free to owl Dealla Prince or Ileen Knight.

lettering in header done by the wonderful serena towers

Action: Attempting to yeet the painting out of Kit's office. NOT attempting to yeet the chest because that might kill someone.
[EDITS]: clarifying actions after checking some things with Dealla.

stats stamina: 7 evasion: 8 strength: 15 wisdom: 5 arcane power: 3 accuracy: 12

abilities the martial artist prodigal transfiguration learner spell spread

the masquerade ⓢ ⓒ ⓐ ⓢ ⓒ ⓐ the hunt ⓐ ⓒ ⓐ ⓒ ⓐ ⓐ ⓐ ⓐ ⓐ

────── ☆ ───────

[font=times new roman]fourth location
OCTOBER 16TH
Interactions @Lucia Fox as Cassie

Thankfully, the blood cleared off the floor in a smooth instant. Scarlett waved her wand and the deed was done - the ground clear of Cassie's blood. It was good that the spell had worked, not just because people could slip, but also because Scarlett really needed an ego boost after the disaster beforehand. She spared a glance at her friend - she seemed to have successfully bandaged her wound. Thank Merlin; Scarlett heard that if you bled too much, you would pass out. Scarlett really didn't want Cassie passing out. And anyway, Cassie would be disgusted at the thought of fainting like a pretty princess. Scarlett grinned.

"Cassie, you alright?" she called to her friend, as a way to check in before her eyes caught on a girl dressed heavily in purple holding a camera. She was trying to take...pictures of people? Well, the kid obviously didn't' respect privacy. And how had she gotten near the action anyway? Had she been stalking them?

Disgruntled, Scarlett pushed the thoughts of stalkers out of her mind - Lucia and Henry seemed to have disappeared, which didn't make the situation any better - and marched over to where a fourth-year girl had been able to make her way past the Matagot into the room. Scarlett glared at the creature before she caught sight of the fourth-year grabbing something inside the room and trying to throw it out of the room. Scarlett attempted to catch it - after all, the worst that could happen was it landed on the floor, right?

────── ☆ ───────

Action try and catch the painting if ami succeeds
Stats Stamina | 7 | Evasion | 5 | Strength | 6 | Wisdom | 6 | Arcane Power | 9 | Accuracy | 7
Abilities Prodigal Charms Learner, Fearless

As Lindsey Springhall | open to interactions
Interacting with @Lucia Fox as Cassie
Mentioning @Scarlett Aden

The result of hunting for clues was definitely surprising. There’s something on the cat’s coat…she blinked. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled. No, she must have gotten it wrong…but no. She looked again.

There was a crest. The crest of…Beauxbatons. She was nicely acquainted with it, since nearly no one at Hogwarts missed the time when the elegant flying carriage arrived. And when she bumped into the little wicked brat de Fostoncy (oh yeah, Maximillien de Fostoncy) in the corridors, he had exactly a symbol like this on his robes. Cool enough. So she’s a fellow French visitor like the ones that attended the ball tonight? Or did the French elope took her with them to guard the students? Weird…she blinked. There’s also a name…or more specifically initials. E.M.

Was it the initials of the owner’s? But who had that initials? It must be a French…could it be the Beauxbatons Headmaster? Professor E…yes, Eugene…but Eugene what? The French last name was long and difficult to remember, but Lindsey believed that it must start with M. Morrel…nope. Monspol…nope. Morian…NOPE. She glanced around, and was satisfied to see Scarlett and her friend, whom apparently was a French.

“Um, hello there…” she tried to catch the girl [Cassie]’s attention, while giving a wave to Scarlett. “You are from Beauxbatons, right? May I inquire about your headmaster’s full name?” smiling a little bit and realizing that the question might come too straightforward, she explained. “I spot a Beauxbatons crest on the cat’s coat. And below it there’s a E.M., which might indicate the owner’s name. I think the Beauxbatons Headmaster’s initials is that…but I’m not very sure.” her voice raised a bit for everyone around to hear. Maybe one, or some of them could get the point and eventually solve the mystery?

It seemed that Ami had discovered something in the office, for she’s throwing things out. Lindsey saw that there was a portrait, and her eyes sparkled. She should inquire the…the young woman in the painting. Scarlett tried to catch it, and —

If Scarlett caught the painting:
Lindsey leaned closer to the red headed Gryffindor who was holding the painting, and took a good look at the portrait determinedly. “First of all, who are you? Second, why are you here? Third, do you know the Matagot, and what’s it guarding?” she decided to start straightforwardly, without any useless words. A new strategic had formed in her mind, but…it’s not time to speak it out yet.

If Scarlett missed the painting:
Lindsey bent down and observed the painting on the cold hard floor. She wanted to go straightforward, but her sympathy told her not to. “You okay?” she asked affectionately, kneeling down closer to her. “May I ask you a few questions? Who are you? Why are you here? And finally, do you know the Matagot, and what’s it guarding?” before standing up, she added, still sympathetically. “Do — do you need to be lifted up?”

Action: sharing info, inquiring the young woman in the painting
Location: fourth location
Stats: Stamina 7 | Evasion 6 | Strength 8 | Wisdom 7 | Arcane Power 6 | Accuracy 8
Abilities: Statistically Relevant | Lovely Creature

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][0][1][2][3][4][5][6]

Reducio

ALLY LIST
-Wyatt Starkey
-Elizabeth Isaacs
-Scarlett Aden
-Leonard Oaksworth
-Marshal Mozor
-Casandra Ironwoods
-Mars T’ien

The makeshift bandage stopped Cassie's wound from bleeding - thank goodness - and she grinned proudly down at it. When she looked over at Scarlett again, she noticed that her friend had magically cleaned the Beauxbaton student's blood off the floor. Of course, Cassie didn't really mind, or so she told herself, but there was still a tiny part of her that thought the blood was a bad omen of what was to come and she was grateful for Scarlett's removal of it.

Scarlett asked if she was ok, and Cassie stuck up a thumb in answer. "Never better," she joked. "This is the most exciting thing that's happened to me in years!" The brown-haired girl's eyes sparkled. "Not including finding out about magic. Or the first time I won a broom race. Or-" But then, Cassie Heather caught sight of a girl in a ruffled purple dress with a cheshire cat mask which Cassie immediately loved, watching everyone. The girl began to take pictures of everyone, and when the camera was turned on Cassie, she stuck her tongue out at it. "Pretty sure this isn't supposed to be a social attraction," she observed.

Wait! Someone had managed to get into the office! A tall girl with red hair - Cassie suddenly realised just how many Hogwarts students she'd seen with red hair - lit her wand and looked around. Cassie watched with bated breath, simultaniously mentally urging her on and wishing that Cassie was in there instead.

Cassie got to her feet as a blonde girl - wasn't that the one who did the Red Sparks Charm? - outlined two possible plans. Cassie grinned. "Or, Plan C, we all charge in there at once and overwhelm it? Like it's gonna make for us all at once, as long as no-one hits it with a spell we're fine." She shrugged. To be honest, she probably wouldn't follow through on her own advice, but she was curious to see if anyone else would.

As it happened though, the blondie asked her something. After staring at the cat in surprise, she asked rather formally what Cassie's headmaster's full name was. Cassie raised her eyebrows, the corner of her lips twitching as though she were about to laugh. "Seriously? How would that-" The girl quickly explained her reasoning, and Cassie understood where she was going. "That fits!" she exclaimed. "Eugene Monserrac! It fits!" Even in her elation, however, she realised something strange. "Wait. Headmaster Monserrac's like, fifty thousand years old. Why'd he have a Magot? There's literally no point, he doesn't have anything to guard! He's-"
But then a painting flew past her and Scarlett attemped to catch it. Immeditatelly, Cassie thought she knew who it was, if by pure instinct. "Giselle!" she squeaked, sure that was who it was. It couldn't be anyone else. Now, she just had to hope that Toa would keep his mouth shut, though it appeared that someone had turned his painting around anyway.

Noticing that the purple girl had apparantly calmed down the Magot, Cassie took her opportnity and attempted to move quietly past it into the office.

MODERATION POST

Moderation Post Tracker:
[Start] [Interlude] [First] [Note] [Second] [Third] [Fourth] [Fifth] [Sixth] [Seventh]
[Eighth] [Ninth] [Interlude] [Tenth] [Eleventh] [Twelfth]

FOURTH LOCATION

After @Ami Procoppio had lightened her wand she noticed two things that seemed to be important. The chest on the desk and the screaming girl in the painting. Full of adrenalin she didn’t care which of these items should be removed and which not, so she decided to pick up both.

Strength Roll (DC 10): 21

The Hufflepuff carried her prey to the door, but there was that cat, who would certainly not be amused that she wanted to remove something from the office. At least the girl had to get out of here. The captain took the painting, which only emitted a startled gasp, and after a quick shout, tossed it to Scarlett.

@Scarlett Aden was taken by surprise as the painting flew towards her. She had been busy checking on her friend Cassie as Ami called her.

Strength Roll (DC 10): 10

She turned around and just managed to catch the painting.
The girl pictured in it had her hands slapped in front of her face in fright and stumbled somewhat confusedly against the frame. "Oof!"

@Lindsey Springhall didn't give her much time to recover, however, and approached her shortly after her somewhat rough rescue. She ran right over the girl with a barrage of questions.

Charisma Roll (DC 15): 20

The girl slowly lowered her hands and stared at the young Hufflepuff for a moment, visibly confused. The shock was still written all over her face. "I - my name is Giselle," she answered slowly, her dark eyes wandering over the students. She seemed excited and nervous. "You were supposed to find me in my usual corridor, but someone took me off the wall and locked me in this office. I don't know why I'm here. I shouldn't have been here! That wasn't part of the plan." She shook her head slowly and pushed a curl out of her pretty face. She looked honestly concerned. "I don't know what the Matagot is doing here, but she was already here when I was brought here. So she's probably guarding something in the office." Talking seemed to calm her down and she grabbed her head with a sigh. "Well, it doesn't matter now. You have to finish the task. You're almost there. Free my brother so he can save the love of my life. He was kidnapped by another painting that hangs right next to the potions classroom." She pulled a small hand mirror from her linen dress and held it out to Lindsey. "We communicate through it, so I know where they took it. You should hurry. There's not much time left. You've almost solved the mystery."

Gregorí (@Ginevra Tsuchiya) and @Elisabeth Erner were both not happy about the approach their fellow students had taken. After all, they had shown that a friendly approach worked. So it was only natural for them to take a step back and watch the chaos again. They would hear the words Giselle spoke. But listening was not enough. Maybe there were more clues. Better to have a closer look.

Gregorí Observation Roll (DC 15+2 (Lovely Creature)): nat 1 → crit. Fail
Elisabeth Observation Roll (DC 15+2 (Lovely Creature)): 19

Elisabeth looked around, but there was nothing more to see. It was just a corridor with a blabbing painting, another painting face down on the floor and the bunch of students.
Gregorí was probably too distracted by the touch of Elisabeth’s soft skin, so his mind drifted off the actual scene and his eyes returned to the girl. Was actually anything else important? No, we all agree. Love and flirting is the most important thing after all.

Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin (@Lucia Fox) was not interested in flirting or observing. After she had managed to stop the bleeding and reassured her friend that she was alright she was ready to take action again. Confirming that the Matagot might belong to her Headmaster, she also figured out who was in the painting that was tossed around.
Although she knew they had found who they had been looking for, she decided to sneak into the office as well.

Charisma Roll (DC 15): 20

The Matagot was not amused by the ongoing events. She didn’t seem to care about the painting that had been removed from the office but as Ami moved the chest the creature was quickly on her feet, ready to attack. Thus she blocked the door and made it impossible for Cassie to sneak in.
But after all it was not Cassie who was in trouble. The cat was here to guard something and she would not allow anyone to take that specific item. And Ami had dared to try.
With an aggressive hiss the Matagot attacked the girl.

Matagot Auto-Miss (Terrible Presence): 8 -> No Auto-Miss
Matagot accuracy: 4 + 10 = 14
Ami evasion: nat 1 → crit fail → Matagot hits
Damage: 200, Ami bleeds: 25 dmg/round
Remaining health: 500/700

She clawed the Hufflepuff and hit her precisely on the thigh. The attack left a gaping wound that immediately began to bleed.
One thing was crystal clear. The Matagot would not let Ami leave the office with the chest.

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR…

OOC Information:

• From now on, if you want to switch from the first location to the fourth, you have to post in the third location first.
• From now on, please state where you are above your post (e.g. First Location, On the way, Second Location)
• If you have the ability Lovely Creature, Calming Presence or Charmer, and you haven’t done so yet, please define your allies in your next post. This decision applies from the next moderation post to the end of the thread.
• The next moderation will take place on February 13th, as usual.
• This is a moderated event, please state your actions (spells, attacks, observation attempts) accordingly. We will be rolling for them during moderation. You only have one action per moderation post.
• You can return to the Costume Party and the Masquerade at any point (as long as you're not involved in combat )
• If you have any questions feel free to owl Dealla Prince or Ileen Knight.