2021, Stage 2 Group A: Ravenclaw vs Slytherin

Henry felt his wind charm backfire and was thrown into the wind before landing on his stomach a few feet away. Throwing his head up to move the hair from his face as the twelve year old watched his third year partners spell also backfire if not the female ravenclaw captain cast a incendio duo at his partner before snapping a remark back at Henry.

Expected seeing as their opponents were Ravenclaw's and had quite the arsenal with words but the second year didn't seem bother since he did as well.

The twelve year old got up quickly and paced back to his spot ready for their duel to continue as his eyes flashed toward the other duels happening at the same time as his. Specifically his eyes flashed over the hufflepuff and slytherin match happening involving the vipers against his best friend. From the brief moment he saw, it didn't seem like the duel was going in her favor either.

A nod toward Logan's duel before his eyes focused back toward his own opponents as his face remained it blank, emotionless look as his book smarts started to play a effect in the duel.

"Really, I always thought ravenclaw is the elementary version of Slytherin."

Some words to hopefully distract his opponents for long enough to give his partner and him the lead or turn this duel around there was still time, there had to be because losing wasn't an option at least not yet, not today.

A quick glance toward his best friend's duel before focusing back at his own. Wand at the ready, mind focused, face emotionless, ready to continue to duel and do whatever it takes to win.

Action: As Strategized
Interacting: @Dealla Prince
Mentioning: @Astrea Soleil Neptune | @Logan Baird

Round 4

Dealla Prince vs Astrea Neptune

Reducio

Dealla casts the Knockback Jinx at Astrea
Wisdom DC || 9 + 2 Astrea's Lovely Creature = 11
Wisdom Check || [d20: 9] + 10 = 19, Success
Auto-Miss Astrea's Terrible Presence || [d10: 10], Spell Misses
Effects || None

Astrea Neptune vs Dealla Prince

Reducio

Astrea casts the Knockback Jinx at Dealla
Wisdom DC || 9
Wisdom Check || [d20: 6] + 9 = 15, Success
Auto-Dodge Dealla's Evasive Maneuvers || [d10: 6], No Auto-Dodge
Accuracy Check || [d20: 12] + 10 -1 Dealla's Charmer = 21
Evasion Check || [d20: 17] + 9 = 26
21 < 26 → Miss
Effects || None

Henry Knight & Astrea Neptune

Reducio

Henry casts the Extinguishing Charm at Astrea
Wisdom DC || 8 + 2 Astrea's Terrible Presence + 2 For each round of aflame. = 12
Wisdom Check || [d20: 6] + 10 = 16, Success
Effects || -2 Aflame effect, Astrea doesn't take damage this round, is no longer on fire.

Pericles Dralt

Reducio

Pericles searches for his wand.
Effects || Disarming Charm over, Peri retrieves his wand.

Perhaps this round the dueller's suffered a lapse of energy, a lapse of successes, as everyone that could miss... did. Pericles was the only one that really made out since the young eagle finally took hold of his wand to rejoin the duel! As spells blitzed around him he remained untouched, just like his comrade. Dealla and Astrea went at each other with the same spell, the Knockback Jinx, it was a deadly one that really could be a massive hit if successful. Maybe Dealla took a strong look at Astrea and realized there was just something a bit terrifying about her, perhaps the cold steel gaze Dealla maintained had dropped for a moment and made her falter. While her spell went off without a hitch, it blitzed past Astrea not even coming close to make contact.

Meanwhile Astrea failed in the same spell, going off without a hitch but Dealla seemed to be keeping a close eye on Astrea and easily side stepped the spell like the evasive queen that she is. Henry was concerned about his team member's status of literally being on fire and attempted to extinguish her with the ever so helpful Extinguishing charm. Luckily he was able to help to stave off the flames from harming her from this round, and get rid of her fire condition completely.

Willow had been on the edge of her seat and now with all the misses and dodges, she tilted her head to the side. This was indeed one of the weirdest duels that she had witnessed. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from shouting encouragement, that seemed like the wrong thing to do for a professional moderator.

OOC Notes

• You'll have 96 hours (4 days) from my timestamp to post and owl me your next moves. They should be sent in by February 4th, 2021.
• If you do not owl me an action or post by the deadline then your action is discarded.
• You may request a 24 hour extension via owls if the situation arises.
• If you think anything is off in this mod post feel free to owl me!

@Dealla Prince @Pericles Dralt @Astrea Soleil Neptune @Henry Knight

Spectator Thread for this Duel Here

Edit || After discussion with Duelling Captains, removed the Auto-Miss from Henry's Extinguishing Charm cast at Astrea.

Dee huffed out a laugh when Pericles echoed her own words back at her and tried to fight down the urge to throw him a sideways glance. "I certainly don't mind sharing, I'm not that greedy. Would never deprive you of the opportunity, please hop in whenever you feel ready."

Henry's words, on the other hand, mostly got a flat look. The insult was stale; a repetition of what he'd already said, he'd barely bothered to change the wording. No connection to her response, no using her words against her the way a good insult did. Hardly even worth replying to. Honestly, a year and a half ago she might almost have agreed with him, considering she'd originally both hoped and expected to join Slytherin. She'd changed her mind since then: Ravenclaw was her House, her place, hers. She'd learned. "Can't blame you for your... simple views of the world, I suppose," she finally said, her eyes refocusing on Astrea, not bothering to give Henry more attention than her words, dismissive. "That's the reason you're not in Ravenclaw, right there. My condolences."

Enough of the chit-chat. On both sides of the stage, things flowed from a momentary pause into action again. She'd been a little worried being up against two at once, but Henry had instead moved to extinguish Astrea's flames - a smart move, she had to admit, leaving their stronger caster free to attack - so in the end, she was just facing off Astrea. Alone. So far, the third year's attention had been divided, focused on splitting her spells into two. This time, Dee found herself as the sole focus of Astrea's dark eyes, and it was... terrifying.

Just for a moment, right as she was casting her spell, she felt like their eyes met, and Dee froze, suddenly unable to move, unable to breathe. There was something about that girl, something... something wrong. Shouldn't be. Dee was staring, right until she became aware of the other girl's spell blazing into her direction, jerking her out of her trance. She flinched, her own spell going wide, and stumbled to the side, managing to duck out of the way of the blast of force from her opponent's wand.

She straightened up, her eyes wide, heart beating hard in her chest. Yeah, this girl was definitely someone she wanted to avoid.

There was his wand: precariously balanced at the very edge of the piste, half on, half off. Pericles would not snatch it up eagerly, but scooped it with care, cradling it in his hand while slinking to center stage. The duellist did not twirl it like a toy, nor squeeze it tight. In his mind, he wove his building intent with an internal dialogue, assuring that whatever he had done to earn the rebellion of his wand would never be repeated. May his first backfire be the last. If you read that, knock on wood. Its weight in his hand sent serotonin and adrenaline spiking through his system, tugging a tentatively delighted quirk at one corner of his mouth. At last, echoed a line from an old play, my arm is complete again!

"How generous of you, captain." Finally, he was at her side and ready to resume. Pericles had never had a knack for swapping insults. He liked the light sort, playful banter between friends, and wouldn't be spitting any fire Yo Mama lines any time soon. Nettling an opponent for a cheap chance at distracting them wasn't what he considered to be "good form". But if someone was going to have a go at he and his teammate, they'd best be clever about it. No insult at all was better than a poorly worded one, and Henry had just rolled a critical failure on that front, for the Eagles sank their steely beaks into the repetition and absence of reason. "Was it the 'childish copy' or 'elementary version'? Perhaps our opponent forgot that the Houses were founded in tandem, and frankly, Salazar Slytherin doesn't seem the sort of man that a witch like Rowena Ravenclaw would model after...." There, a little quip to wet the palate. Now on to incantations.

As strategized.

At least one thing was going right, who knows maybe this was going to be the change in the duel that turned everything around since there was still time left in the duel... After extinguishing his partner's flames the twelve year old then set his sight back toward the female ravenclaw captain whom seemed as good with words as she was with spells but yet it seemed familiar toward Henry, he couldn't truly explain it but something about her casting and words felt familiar.

The boy shook away the feeling as he refocused on the duel, showing little to no emotion or his rising anxiety within his face as the boy stood in front of his opponents.

Eyes watching both with every muscle movement they made so he could be prepared for anything as the fuel continued with his left hand clasped tightly around his wand and mind focused on their strategy that would prevail and hopefully ensure an victory for the slytherin team.

The twelve year old daily usually avoided interactions or insults with others but during a duel that was when there were just a few fleeting moments where he could step out of his comfort zone and become someone else. Someone that was agile in both mind and body, quick thinking with spells and words, focused and ready for anything. When he dueled, the boy enjoyed stepping out of his boundaries and becoming someone else, someone a little bit less nerdy and whom didn't constantly have anxiety hanging over their heads at every mere second.

Upon hearing the female ravenclaw captain replie, the second year kept a emotions face but inside knew two things for certain.

One while he was a Slytherin and at times enjoyed being in the house of cunning, the boy originally wanted to be in Ravenclaw and occasionally at times still find himself longing to be in the house recognized for their intelligence.

However the second was the boy was keen on replying back to the ravenclaw captain not because he wanted to he rude or have her lose her focus but instead the bantering provided him witu focus and a sense of calmness. After his first duel, when Amara and him constantly bantered while it may seem like it was just mere casual banter actually it was helping Henry stay focus and stick to the strategy. After finding himself with a new partner, not knowing anything about her was something that the boy offended panicked over but engaging in this banter reminded Henry of his first duel and allowed him to stay focus on winning this one.

"Well everyone has their flaws. I suppose Slytherin's can be a bit arrogant but Ravenclaw's can be just plain ignorant," Henry calmly replied directly back toward the female ravenclaw captain still with a emotionless face as his mind focused on the strategy before hearing another word from the female ravenclaw captain and not minding to engage in this banter some more the twelve year old spoke quite
calmly "the only one here that needs condolences is you for how pathetic your strategy is."

Face still emotionless as he eyed his third year partner before facing off against their opponents again, ready to cast his next spell however when he heard the remark on the blonde hair ravenclaw co captain no response was seen from Henry since a unnoticeable part of him felt bad for the boy whom; lost his wand due to a spell backfire, was blindfolded, and unable to assist his partner in the duel until now.

Besides his banter sounded a bit oddly uncomfortable or new for the blonde haired boy. One can think that perhaps he didn't use it a lot but not matter since Henry felt bad for the blonde from recent events in the duel, Henry just ignored him with his wand at the ready and eyes sharp ready to cast the next spell.

Eyeing his partner just a bit witu his face still emotionless and mind focused on the next spell, the second year would still whisper under his breath so only his partner could hear.

"At least their bark is as bad as their bite. Shall we end this, partner?"

Action: As Strategized
Mentioning: @Pericles Dralt
Interacting: @Astrea Soleil Neptune | @Dealla Prince

An extension has been requested. All posts and moves are now due on February 5th 12:50pm EST (UTC -4).

@Pericles Dralt @Dealla Prince @Astrea Soleil Neptune @Henry Knight

Bother not did Astrea with the curling incendio wrapping sashes of fire round her limbs, caught up in parrying the rush of strategy and silent trust in her partner's problem-solving. As desired, the fast-catching flare was quickly extinguished by her partner in a quick move after attempting to crawl further in its ascent of destruction. Neither a Gryffindor chaos queen nor a flammable badger was she.

It seemed that both opponent and ally alike were equally as mouthy as the other-, exchanging increasingly frequent judgemental retorts with greater frequency even as their magical stock plummeted. From eagle captains to snake duelist, their snarky attitudes were the same. To put energy into such barbed words was to take an extra route in the endless multitask that was the game, a mouthy and technically unnecessary loftiness of confidence at maintaining each activity simultaneously. Personally, Astrea was not one to speak her opinions- not one whose voice rang familiar to the common ear by exposure alone- but to be reduced to the perpetual bystander, as familiar a role as it was, was certainly an interesting one. An observer in the words, a participant in the action.

She had seen the shift upon the Ravenclaw co-captain clear as day in that brief moment of imagined slow motion, the out of place look of hauntedness that struck the other as their eyes seemed to meet. Perhaps that was the only reason why such a spell already manifested had missed its mark. But at the same time, her own had been dodged easily. She was not expecting such a strong-willed duelist such as the one in front of her to be distracted by such an aura- such a fact of life- that commonly affected animal and averages alike. Her father's stake upon his daughter, as if she did not carry his name in casual conversation and uphold his tradition just as much as she did for her mother. Strange.

Dralt was back in the game and now all four duellists were simultaneously almost unaffected with visually apparent spellwork for the first time since the start. But alas, it was only Astrea who felt the ache of a battering under that thick blanket of adrenaline. A troublesome fact of the matter, to say the least. At her side, her teammate proposed an enticing idea indeed- one whose promise of tragedy, whether for them or their opponents, bellied a headily dangerous idea that would no doubt bring upon them all some sort of charged change.

Of course, the cold hard truth was that all they were preserving in winning or losing was their pride. A dangerous thing to hold too much seriousness in, but one did not go far without it completely. Failproof perfectionism was a sham. To demand consistent results from such a fickle species as humanity was a jester's joke. There was always more opportunity to be had, after all. Slytherin's excel did not depend on their performance alone. Instead, they were merely cogs turning in a machine- merely parts of a great net of ideas. There was always going to be the possibility of future duels- legal or not-, more allies to band with or betray, more serious enemies to become the adversery to. But we can not focus on the future now, not in the way that Astrea was so prone to doing- the way she had been doing since the moment she had been drafted into the team. Instead, we must focus on this present. And so shall our little subject.

Action: As Strategised.

Round 5

Dealla Prince vs Henry Knight

Reducio

Dealla casts the Knockback Jinx at Henry
Wisdom DC || 9 + 2 Astrea's Lovely Creature = 11
Wisdom Check || [d20: 5] + 10 = 15, Success
Auto-Miss Astrea's Terrible Presence || [d10: 8], No Auto-Miss
Accuracy Check || [d20: 17] + 8 = 25
Evasion Check || [d20: 11] + 5 - 4 Wind Jinx Debuff = 12
25 > 12 → Hit
Damage || 100 + 6 x 10 = 160 - 16 -10% Damage, Astrea's Terrible Presence = 144
Effects || None

Pericles Dralt vs Henry Knight

Reducio

Pericles casts the Knockback Jinx at Henry
Wisdom DC || 9 + 2 Astrea's Lovely Creature = 11
Wisdom Check || [d20: 15] + 8 = 23, Success
Auto-Miss Astrea's Terrible Presence || [d10: 9], No Auto-Miss
Accuracy Check || [d20: 19] + 7 = 26
Evasion Check || [d20: 1] + 5 - 4 Wind Jinx Debuff = 2
26 > 2 → Hit
Damage || 100 + 8 x 10 = 180 - 18-10% Damage, Astrea's Terrible Presence = 162
Effects || None

Astrea Neptune vs Dealla Prince

Reducio

Astrea casts the Blindfolding Spell at Dealla
Wisdom DC || 10
Wisdom Check || [d20: 16] + 9 = 25, Success
Auto-Dodge Dealla's Evasive Maneuvers|| [d10: 1], No Auto-Dodge
Accuracy Check || [d20: 14] + 10 - 1 Dealla's Charmer = 23
Evasion Check || [d20: 19] + 9 = 28
23 < 28 → Miss
Effects || None

Henry Knight vs Pericles Dralt

Reducio

Henry casts the Tongue-Tying Spell at Pericles
Wisdom DC || 9
Wisdom Check || [d20: 16] + 10 = 26, Success
Auto-Miss Astrea's Terrible Presence || [d10: 4], No Auto-Miss
Accuracy Check || [d20: 6] + 6 - 1 Dealla's Charmer = 11
Evasion Check || [d20: 5] + 6 = 11
11 = 11→ Impaired Hit
Effects || -4 Wisdom Half of Pericles' 8 Wisdom & +50% Wisdom DC for 1 Round

This round seemed to be going much more swimmingly than the previous round, at least for the Ravenclaws. With Pericles' renewed strength in the duel, wand in hand and unblindfolded. He truly was one to watch when fighting beside Dealla, a young eagle of steel. The two teams were tossing remarks back and forth. Ones that Willow couldn't exactly keep up with without the proper knowledge of either house. She had mostly retained information about how her own house was founded and the relationships Helga Hufflepuff maintained, but her knowledge on the other houses kind of fell to the wayside. Nonetheless, Willow watched with intrigue and nodded occasionally to seem like she knew what was happening.

Dealla and Pericles in tandem fired two powerful Knockback Jinxes at Henry. The poor boy was hit twice, one right after another taking his first hits in the duel in terms of a damaging spell. Both him and Astrea were looking a little bit worse for well, and perhaps that was the reason for their spells being narrowly avoided. Dealla dodged Astrea's spell with ease, truly there was nothing that could throw her off. Henry however, just clipped Pericles with his Tongue-Tying spell. While the young eagle could no longer caw, he might still be able to get a spell off for the next round if he fought through the semi-tied tongue. Willow was bouncing on the tips of her toes, there was so much excitement brewing that her small body had to do something with all the energy.

OOC Notes

• You'll have 96 hours (4 days) from my timestamp to post and owl me your next moves. They should be sent in by February 8th, 2021.
• If you do not owl me an action or post by the deadline then your action is discarded.
• You may request a 24 hour extension via owls if the situation arises.
• If you think anything is off in this mod post feel free to owl me!

@Dealla Prince @Pericles Dralt @Astrea Soleil Neptune @Henry Knight

Spectator Thread for this Duel Here

Finally! With wand in hand once again, Pericles felt functional. His urgency to join the fray had grown with each spell passing back and forth behind him. It was a blessing that he had been targeted so little, and more so, that Dealla had dodged what came for her. He had been let off easy during his disarmed period, as his partner held her own. They had practiced enough that he knew how to fall back into step besides her after an absence. What set apart an opponent as an ideal target, when to use certain spells, how to compliment one another's cast: they had rehearsed time and again. After a glance towards Dealla, he knew what to do. "Flipendo!" Henry had been caught up in his own wind jinx, rendering him an easy target for two knockbacks. He was a sturdy enough second year that despite the three spells battering him in that moment, he stayed on his feet, and Pericles could admire the tenacity. The young Slytherin had discredited their strategy a moment before, and in the wake of a double success, Pericles donned an unusual tone. His mouth remained inexpressive, though there was an edge of loftiness to his voice as he retorted, "It doesn't seem to be going so badly. Yours...." The spell barreled for him. He tried to twist out of the way, yet it clipped him at the last second, and for the first time the Ravenclaw would experience his tongue twisting like a serpent writhing in upon itself. Peri was cut off before he could play his cards in the snark game, and so instead he could only release a low, disapproving "Hmmmmmm." Finally back in the game, yet once again they were trying to keep him from casting. Though, he probably deserved that one.

As strategized.

It was a relief to have Pericles back at her side, wand in hand, a tinge of calm for her hammering heart. Not that she hadn't stood her ground, still untouched in this duel. Maybe her excessive training, the evenings of exhaustion, were paying off, but she didn't want to let herself feel too confident yet. It wasn't over, and she could feel the tension creep up in her shoulders, her muscles stiffening. Yet she had to remain relaxed, fast to aim and fast to dodge.

A quick glance exchanged with Pericles, and for the first time this duel, Dee changed target. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was glad to take her eyes off Astrea for a second, taking just a moment to regain her focus. "Flipendo." The incantation was calm, crisp, the sense of urgency in her slowed a little with her partner's return. She knew the force of the spell, had had it punch into herself more than once in duels and training, was familiar with how it could hurt, but she felt little remorse watching the two spells battering Henry.

Of course, that didn't mean she should ignore Astrea completely. Couldn't, didn't. There was still awareness enough to let her spin out of the way of another attack, the blindfold missing its mark, and Dee bit down on her lip. That would have made her an easy target for both of her opponents, eliminated her reflexes. No, she really couldn't lose sight here, even for a second. Pericles seemed to have been grazed by some spell, she had missed which, but appeared undamaged. Again, this exchange of attacks seemed to have gone better for her side than the Slytherins'.

It made the boy's arrogance a little comical, really. "Yeah," she said critically, chiming in after Pericles's words. "I think we're doing fine, thanks for your concern. So kind of you, worrying about us while your strategy... well, I don't know, is it working? If so, you need to explain it to me, I'm afraid I don't get it." The remark was offhand, her heart not in it. Usually she may have delivered it with sweetness and a smile so insincere it might turn a mirror dull, but her attention was elsewhere. Flair was sacrificed for focus. There'd be time to gloat later.