2021, Stage 3 Group C: Ravenclaw vs Slytherin Finished

Mentions | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Alexander Varellion | @Damion White

Ileen had a lump in her throat when she got on stage. This duel was one of the two she had been afraid of. Not because she was scared to get hurt or to lose, but because she would face one of the two people who were closest to her. Aida. They agreed not to hold back, to take this situation and make the experience together, to grow together and prepare for real fights. But still… It felt odd.

Ileen searched for her friend’s violet eyes and gave her a smile, her wand ready in her hand. The good thing was that at least one of them would turn out as the winner and she wished that for Aida as much as she would be happy to be it herself with Alex.
Talking about Alex… She knew that he was close with Aida, too, so that wouldn’t be easy on him either. She searched for his gaze and gave him an encouraging nod. Determined, she gritted her teeth. This time she had sworn to be more useful than the last time. She would throw everything in to support the boy next to her and not faint in the first five rounds. Not today!

Action | Doing as strategized

Aida stepped up to the piste and looked over at her two best friends on the opposite side. She waved at them with a humorous smile, trying to summon some small fraction of the ferocity she carried into previous rounds. She wouldn’t hold back. She knew no one would be happy if any one of them held back. Besides, if either of her friends ended up under the control of some dark wizard via the Imperio curse she would have to be prepared to knock out a friend in order to save them. It wasn’t so bad, she supposed. She was fighting her best friends, but they weren’t really at conflict. So long as things were still good between them, the possibility of causing them excruciating pain in the process of knocking them out was… well, still pretty bad. Aida didn’t want to have to hurt them, but there was no real way to win a duel without causing pain to one’s opponents. Looking to her duelling partner, Aida knew she had to do her best for Damion's sake as well. Damion had been nothing but loyal and hardworking.

Aida’s right hand pulled anxiously at a strand of hair as her other pulled out her wand. Somehow she had to get her fighting spirits up… What if she pretended they were illusions? No, that wouldn’t work. Given how she had treated the “illusory demon” that was really Alexander last summer, she wouldn’t behave any differently towards even fake but otherwise identical versions of her friends.

Aida’s blue-violet eyes reached out across the piste and looked at Ileen. There she was, warm and as knightly as ever. Aida would fight Ileen to provide the best possible training for her friend. If Aida held back, Ileen would lose an opportunity to improve Ileen's defenses and offensive capability. The white witch nodded at her. This fight was for her, not against her.

Looking next at Alexander, Aida searched for his gaze. Somehow it hurt to look at him like this; it wasn't this way with Ileen. Though Aida wanted to provide the same value of training to Alexander, inside it felt like she would fight him for other reasons, too. She couldn’t explain the source of the pain and the best she could do to explain it to herself was that she wanted to impress him, even at the cost of hurting him. Why she would need to impress Alexander in particular was a blurred sensation more than anything rational. With a momentary flash of sadness over her face, Aida stopped fidgeting with her hair and got into her best battle pose. All at once, for no clear reason, a fire ignited in her eyes.

Action: Doing as strategized.
Mention: @Ileen Knight @Alexander Varellion @Damion White

Damion was happy that he had won the last duel. He was very happy. He had even sent an owl to his best friend Dylan telling him about his winning this duel. Something that Dylan had said had made feel even more encouraged to do better in this duel. He was very fortunate that he had so many people that cared about him. His parents, his best friend. He felt so cared and loved. He was very excited for this duel.

"Facilius est invenire homines, qui sponte mori, quam invenire eos qui sunt velle sustinere dolore, cum patientia."

"It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience. "
-Gaius Julius Caesar

Mentions:@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Ileen Knight

Slow footsteps ascended to the duelling platform, as the blonde-haired Alexander went to his usual starting spot for the duels.

Normally he looked forward to these duels, the sensation of being at the edge, of winning or losing, victory or death. The sense of adrenaline pumping through your veins and in a way, connecting more with the more primal part of yourself.

Thus he would normally walk up the platform with a spring in his step, with eagerness and excitement. But now...... now he just felt this weird tension in his gut as he ascended to the platform. A great reluctance to actually do what was his favourite and only sport. Because today, today he had to fight his best friend.

With a big swallow and with a pale face he looked at his even more pale friend on the opposite side. Though that paleness was more to do with her natural texture. Which made her seem like a ghost amongst men. Still, in her eyes, Alex could see the same conflict that warred within himself. Duty vs friendship. They both knew that this was just practice, that this was not personal. And yet his heart was still enwrapped in grief, of the thought that he would have to harm his best friend. To inflict pain upon her so that he could achieve victory

He cursed the fact that their luck had been so bad that they would have to face each other. But alas, that was the way it was. Now they simply had to get this over with. This fact was only reinforced as he looked at Ileen, who seemed reluctant but most of all determined. A fact which encouraged him as well. Thus he took in a deep breath and mentally prepared himself. Trying to not think of anything but the battle. Of sheer cold calculations and predictions. To have all decisions decided like a computer, not as a man. If that was what it took to achieve victory.

Action: Doing as strategized. Hoping everything goes according to keikaku (plan)

Stats:

Reducio

Stamina: 7
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 8
Arc Power: 6
Accuracy: 8
Total: 41
(+1 from duel win)

Abilities:

Monster Hunter Non-Human Enthusiast
• If a player successfully casts a spell at a part-Human opponent, they get +1 Accuracy if they attack and +1 Evasion if they're being attacked. This doesn't give any IC knowledge of the opponent's race or talent unless found out in advance or revealed during the duel.

Evasive Maneuvers:
• When a spell was successfully cast at a player with Evasive Manoeuvres, a 1d10 roll is performed prior to Accuracy vs Evasion roll to determine whether the spell will be auto-dodged (roll 10). The Accuracy vs Evasion roll will not be needed in case of success.
• The auto-dodge chance can stack only to 20% from any number of sources and in this case 9 or 10 would be considered a success.

Round 1

Aida

Reducio

Aida actively dodges
5+25% of the player's evasion will be added to the Evasion rolls.
Dodge: 5 + (6 x 0.25) = 5 + 1.5 = 6.5 -> 7 additional Eva

Damion

Reducio

Damion cast Fumos
Wisdom DC: 8
Wisdom Check: [d20:14] + 8 = 22 → Success
Duration: [d6:2 ] → 1 round
Effect:Up to 4 duellists experience –3 Accuracy and additional –1 Accuracy for every 5 points in Arcane Power → -4 ACC total

Ileen vs Aida Damion

Reducio

Ileen cast Incendio Duo at Aida
Wisdom DC: 12 + 2 Damion LC= 14
Wisdom Check: [d20:6] + 9 = 15 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20:1 ] + 9 = 10 → CRIT FAIL
New Target: [d3:2] (1: Aida, 2: Damion, 3: Alexander)= Damion
New Accuracy:[d20:17]= 17
Evasion Check: [d20: 7] +7= 14
17 > 14 → Hit
Duration: [d3:1] → 1 round (1d3, 1-2: 1 round, 3: 2 rounds)
Damage: 60 + AP × 10= 60 +(6x10)= 120HP
Effect: The target suffers –60 HP per 1 round.

Alexander vs Aida

Reducio

Alexander cast Incendio Duo at Aida
Wisdom DC: 12 + 2 Damion LC= 14
Wisdom Check: [d20:6] + 8 = 14 → Success
Accuracy Check: [d20:10 ] + 8 = 18
Evasion Check: [d20: 9] +6 +7 (active dodge)= 22
18<22 → Miss

Once duel started, spells began to fly across the platform. Both teams were more than determined to do their best: Damion had decided to cast Fumos on the platform, making it harder for everyone, except that Aida, to aim well in the next round, while Aida had wisely chose to try her best to avoid any spell that might be aimed at her.

Ileen and Alexander started out strong: they both chose to use the Incendio duo towards Aida, that only needed to avoid the spell that was cast by Alexander; Ileen's spell, on the other hand, didn't go in her intended direction, but actually aimed and successfully hit Damion, lighting up in flames his robes.

The duel was already full of twists at its first round, and Lydia wondered what else might happen.

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood || @Damion White || @Ileen Knight || @Alexander Varellion

OOC Info
-If you have any questions you can always DM me or owl me .
- Duellists have 96 hours (4 days) from my timestamp to post their entrances and send their actions (via owl) to Lydia Cooper. If you need it, you can ask for a 24h extension.
-Remember not to describe the actions of your next round yet, you will do that after the next moderation post.
- The stats, abilities, spells and races (your whole trunk) will be locked for the duration of this duel (you won't be able to use the anything new that has been approved after the start of the duel).
- The Word Count is 50 words.
- Failure to post (or owl) within the deadline will result in a discarded action and even if you did owl your action but didn't post, your action will be void.
-Have fun, and happy duelling!

Mentions | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Alexander Varellion | @Damion White

Ileen eased up a little bit as her friend gave her a small smile. She knew that this was tough for all of them - but it was probably the best practice for a really serious case they could get. Ileen bit her lip and gave herself a reassuring nod. That’s how she would see it. Of course, she had issues with causing harm ever since she had decided to become a healer and hurting a friend was even worse. But they’ve talked about it. It was fine. It was a duel. It was nothing personal. She herself would not take it personal either, so…

Before she could overthink the situation even more things immediately started. The young brunette tried to block out all her doubts and concerns. If she wasn’t focused she would end up like in her last duel. And she couldn’t let Alexander down like that again. Not today. She wouldn’t be a disappointment to him, herself or Aida. All three of them deserved that Ileen threw in all she got.
Determined she raised her chestnut wand, the hurtful incantation on her lips. But something odd happened at that moment. As if her body simply refused to cast a spell at her friend, her hand ended up aiming at Damion instead. She could feel the power that was released from the tip of her wand, but before she could see if she hit him, dark smoke blocked her vision.
She turned to Alexander, confusion written all over her face. It was the first time she had to face a visual effect like this in a duel. Her dark brown eyes searched for his gaze. Had he hit Aida? How was he dealing with it?

Action | Doing as strategized

"Facilius est invenire homines, qui sponte mori, quam invenire eos qui sunt velle sustinere dolore, cum patientia."

"It is better to suffer once than to be in perpetual apprehension"
-Gaius Julius Caesar

Alexander frowned as he saw how his own fire spell went past Aida, with her dodging just out of the way. On the one hand he was glad that he had not caused pain to his friend, but he could/should not think like that. He should think of victory, so focused was he on AIda, he was surprised as he was another bout of fire go past and go towards the black/brown-haired Gryffindor. Thought that sight was soon obscured by just a cloud seeming to come over the battlefield, decreasing any vision and causing him to cough harshly.

He tried to look at Ileen but could hardly make out her form, not even talking about seeing facial expressions. Was she trying to see if he was doing alright ? He assumed so, so he gave a thumps up with his left hand.

Then his eyes shifted back to the front, where his opponents were waiting, amongst them Aida. Someone he knew would not have trouble with this kind of environment, as he had seen before during the summer trip. So this was all going to become quite problematic. Even beyond the ethical dillema.

Mentions:@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Ileen Knight @Damion White

Action: Doing as strategized. Hoping everything goes according to keikaku (plan)

Stats:

Reducio

Stamina: 7
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 8
Arc Power: 6
Accuracy: 8
Total: 41
(+1 from duel win)

Abilities:

Monster Hunter Non-Human Enthusiast
• If a player successfully casts a spell at a part-Human opponent, they get +1 Accuracy if they attack and +1 Evasion if they're being attacked. This doesn't give any IC knowledge of the opponent's race or talent unless found out in advance or revealed during the duel.

Evasive Maneuvers:
• When a spell was successfully cast at a player with Evasive Manoeuvres, a 1d10 roll is performed prior to Accuracy vs Evasion roll to determine whether the spell will be auto-dodged (roll 10). The Accuracy vs Evasion roll will not be needed in case of success.
• The auto-dodge chance can stack only to 20% from any number of sources and in this case 9 or 10 would be considered a success.

Damion was happy as he had survived rhe first round. He had been able to cast the spell correctly. He wanted to make his family and friends proud. He was determined to win this duel. He was trying to do the right thing. He wanted to win this and make his team proud. He had not had good luck but he was still hoping for it.

Action: Doing as strategized.

Reminder: You still have around 14 hours to post. Failing to post means that your action is void. You can ask for an extension if you need one, but remember to do that before the end of the deadline.

@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood