18 May 2021, 16:45
Be Cool About Fire Safety
♠ Interacting With Pericles ♠
♦ Entering the Labyrinth ♦
♠ Metamorphmagus ♠
♦ Cats Grace ♦
@Pericles Dralt
♦ Cats Grace ♦
@Pericles Dralt
It was about damn time someone taught Hogwarts' students about fire safety. How many fires did it take? Far too many... At least some attempt at educating was being done. Better now than never, one might say. Xailah knew what she needed to about fire- it was hot and it destroyed things. She understood what not to do in the instance a person caught fire- Running? Bad. Rolling? Good- though she had only learned after she witnessed a housemate nearly burn to death from fanning flames via running in circles. When she caught word of a event centered around fire safety, she decided that it was something worth checking out. A little extra knowledge never hurt anybody, maybe she would find whatever she learned, to be useful.
Hooked on the possibility of obtaining important information, Xailah had brought Pericles along, thinking that having him attend would do him some good. He needed to learn some things about fire too. When it came to the topic of safety, Pureblood children got the short stick. Fire precautions, and first aid generally weren't taught to those hailing from blueblood families. Their guardians were far too busy prepping the nestlings on overtaking the family reins. They couldn't be bothered to take fifteen minutes out of their day, to brief their heirs on safety of any sort. Not that they had much of a need to. Purebloods liked to coddle their children. It reduced their exposure to harm early in life, but only planted the seed of deadly curiosity that would blossom later in life. What would happen if I touch the flame? Thus they were left to learn about safety, and survival, through trial and error.
Now this of course was not the case with all Pureblood homes. Good homes- knowledgeable homes sometimes went through small safety procedures with their children. Pericles came from a good home. Seemed to- Xailah had met the boys father. Nice man really. Nice beard too. She could understand why the boy spoke so highly of him. Politesse aside, Xailah would have bet good money, on the idea that her friend had been taught something about being safe by either one or both parents. Which if that were the case, then he really had no reason to attend the lecture with his lioness. Just kidding. He wasn't getting out of the errand that easily. The presentation was interesting enough at the start. The two children had found a nice shaded spot of the courtyard, in which they would sit and spectate. Xailahs interest in the subject peaked when the can of aerosol was introduced. She even got excited for a second- not over the fire, but over the can which had aided in producing the fire. As the presentation progressed, the feeling of primitive desire began to tickle her head.
She was learning that if she wanted something, but wasn't feeling up to asking verbally; she could stare at Pericles- and if she did so long enough, he would eventually notice and take some sort of hint. Usually. Xailah had lost interest in the presentation three quarters of the way through- mostly because she was having a very hard time understanding all of what the nurse had to say- and took to staring at the eagle. Hello? She blinked her two dewy little globes. Normally, when she did this, she had a small grasp of what she wanted; however, at this moment in time she hadn't the slightest clue what she wanted from the boy. Maybe a nice shiny can of aerosol? All she knew was that she wanted something. Occasionally a flick of gold wavered from the patch of silver hair it had fixated itself upon, to see the live demonstrations provided by Brumby and the transfiguration professor. And sometimes- because Schrödinger was a huge distraction- attention was sent downwards to the overgrown dust bunny that lay in the cubs lap. She prodded, from time to time, at the layer of fat that lined his squishy underbelly. He wiggled in response, like a funny little worm; rolling this way and that; reaching up to grab the hand of his attacker. Sometimes he missed when he reached, and would hit Pericles with a soft pwap.
The presentation dwindled to an end. There was a rise in Xailahs attention as the lecture came to a close. Interest was drawn to professor Wade, and his little conjuring trick. Where there had been empty space, now sat three odd-looking rooms; each proving a different fire safety-related challenge. The Gryffindor felt some relief upon seeing the rooms- like the figurative equivalent of being given a back scratcher, for the purpose of reaching a particularly hard-to-reach itch. Ah. There. That was what she wanted. She wanted to play- wanted something to solve. "The labyrinth looks like fun." She said without much thought. She rose to her feet, and beckoned Pericles to rise with her. Regardless of whether the or not boy would follow willingly, both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor (and Schrödinger) would find themselves standing at the entrance of the maze. Xailah peered into the twisty turny space. She took a hesitant hop in (Schrödinger jiggled after his lady) and turned to look at Pericles, clearly expecting him to follow.
Reducio
Will continue posting.872/600 words.
Before me, you rightly tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe....
Stamina: 12 ~ Evasion: 17 ~ Strength: 2 ~ Wisdom: 16 ~ Arcane Power: 4 ~ Accuracy: 17
Student Account: Martyr Daeva-Lazarus
18 May 2021, 22:06
Be Cool About Fire Safety
Room 1 - Smoke RoomDamion didn't know how he had found himself in this situation, but he was here and he felt trapped. Trapped. In a fiery situation. What would he do now? What was his first choice? A door. An escape into something safe. Somewhere only he knew. Somewhere he would be safe. Somewhere he could talk to his friend and family. He didn't want to perish in this fire. Maybe he shouldn't have taken this challenge up. Maybe? Anyways now he was trapped in this dreadful place. He didn't have much choice. He wished he would succeed. Succeed in getting away and to safety.
Ready! Set. GO!!!
And with that he was off. Running here and there. He was not sure where he was going till he banged into a door. He quickly- without much thought on what he was doing, opened it. Was this safer than the place he had been? Well now he was in a room with smoke. Something he had himself used in the Duels. Well it made it pretty hard to see with all the smoke. He hoped that he would be able to fiddle through. Oh! It struck to him. He could use the wand lighting spell. He started frantically looking through his pocket.
One pocket was empty. The second one had the wand. He took it out and cast the spell.
"Lumos"
With that the tip of his wand had light. It was not idle but it was still better than treading through smoke without any help. He stumbled and fell down.
"Ouch"
He was trying his best. But the small source of light, it was not possible. He dusted himself off and picked up his wand that had fallen down. He was not going to give up this soon. He had more fight in him than this. He knew he was on a sort of a timer. He had two minutes before the fire would get him.
Stumbling he made his way to the door. He fiddled with the door handle a bit but to no avail. It was locked. He knew what he had to do.
"Nox"
He was in the dark again. But this darkness was only going to be short lived. He was going to open the door and be inside that room. He was first going to do the door opening spell.
"Alohomora"
He could see a blue light and knew that the spell had worked. He pushed open the door and walked inside. He didn't lock it back. It was just him.
"Lumos"
He had light again. This room also had smoke. He had managed to make it through the first room he would make it through the second one. He was sure of it. He was not going to give up. He was not a type of person to give up. He wanted to win this thing and prove to himself that he could do things that he set his mind on. He looked ahead but nothing was visible- despite having the wand light up spell. Things weren't as clear as they should have been. He wanted to keep going. He took a tentative step and walked through. He didn't know where he was going, he hoped that he was going in the right direction.
BAM!!! He hit the wall. He was near the wall. He could feel that the wall was on all corners. So he took that as a guiding source. He kept one hand on the wall and let it guide him to a door. Walking slowly and taking small steps, he made his way to the door. He opened it and he was out of the room.
He took a deep breath of relief as he saw the light outside the door. He was out in the open and was safe.
"Nox"
He cast the wand extinguishing spell. He had made it through this smoke room. He was happy.
It passed you up and slipped you by. But we're all bound to end up back to where we started
21 May 2021, 03:17
Be Cool About Fire Safety
Room 1: Smoke Room
Fire was not an uncommon thing to anyone at Hogwarts - at least, not according to Serena. She had spent enough time at the school to see - and survive - through countless fires. However, the main reason she survived was not necessarily her ability to stop the fire. Sometimes, it was. Those few moments where she managed to perform under pressure and successfully cast the extinguishing spell always helped her confidence. However, she knew very well that it was not always reliable. Panic can easily affect her ability to cast magic. One mistake and everything was over. Serena knew very well that there was never any harm in learning more about fire safety. If nothing else, it would likely be the most important thing she learned at Hogwarts.
As such, she instantly made a note of when the fire safety demonstration was going to take place as soon as she heard about it. She arrived early, unwilling to miss anything and waited for it to begin with parchment and quill in hand. Not too much later, she recognised the school nurse start waving for attention. It was strange that she had not really spoken to him, given how many times students got hurt here. However, she knew of him having seen him around the place - particularly where there was danger, such as the incident with Hufflepuff not too long ago. It was, after all, always good to note who could help to heal you.
Serena almost fell over when he demonstrated how the can worked with fire, taking careful notes whenever he said anything that could be useful. As fast as she could, she jotted down words and short sentences like "Remove air, snuff it out" and "Remove gas or alcohol or flammable objects". It even got to the point of "smoke kills", "but no wind spells". Though she did not realise it at the time, she had done herself a ton of favours in the past. She recalled when she was trapped in the ballroom with layers of smoke everywhere. In an attempt to actually breathe, she ducked down and stayed close to the ground whilst she moved - well, as close as she possibly could whilst still moving. It seemed to be the correct answer, though she did not realise that at the time.
She did not think about it at the time but checking the door and the doorknob seemed like a smart idea now that he mentioned it. Her normal instances were to just... break down the door and run through. Of course, she did not break it down but someone usually had. However, checking it first was probably wise if she ever got to the door before the others. Serena continued to take some more notes before shoving her parchment away into her bag as he announced something about an obstacle course. Right. Yes. It was more than just a demonstration. A part of her had... forgotten about that part. She was just here to take notes.
Deadly obstacle course, however, did not sound very fun. But hey, she had survived far too many fires so what was one more, right? Besides, Serena - for some weird reason - actually did not find fire scary. She found it beautiful. Not in a creepy arsonist kind of way. But rather, in that she saw fire as life. It was full of warmth, it was passionate but more than that, it meant survival. At least for her it did, it always had. At times, she would pick being in a fire than being in the dark - and she had done. But she knew that an uncontrolled fire can be incredibly dangerous. She had been burned enough times to know that.
Preparing herself for whatever was on the course, Serena tied her shoelaces again and made sure that her hair was tied back into a ponytail. With that, she entered into the first room. Instantly, she began to regret her choice as the smoke clouded her vision, taking over everything. Serena coughed into the smoke, not quite expecting so much so quickly. However, she had just learned what to do. As quickly as possible, she dropped down to crouch down and stay as close to the ground as she could. Her eyes searched the room, trying to make sense of where the door was but it was impossible. There was just too much smoke. Her eyes watered a little from it.
Serena waved her hand in front of her face as she coughed, trying to keep the smoke out of her lungs. She did not have much to cover her face but she pulled the top of her t-shirt up a little, tucking her chin down and covered her mouth and nose with it. One of her hands held up the material, trying to keep herself conscious. She had no idea if this was a good or bad idea but she was trying to keep the smoke out as much as possible.
Her hand tightened around her wand. The desire to cast a wind jinx was strong. But she recalled his words. He specifically had told them not to do that. She shoved it back into her pocket, for now, deciding that she did not need it unless she could remove the smoke entirely - which she was not she could. Without further ado, she moved forward trying to feel her way around the room with her other hand. Her hand found the wall, running along it, trying to avoid running straight into any objects as she reached out in front of her.
Staying low, she moved as quickly as she could whilst being cautious. Her main concern being that she accidentally hurt herself in a way that would render herself unconscious or be more harmful. But she was also looking out for any causes of the smoke that she could see. If she could spot a fire, for instance, she could try to take that away or if it was just smoke and she could spot a window then she would be able to cause the smoke to disperse a little. Failing to find anything of use, she quickly moved as fast as she could till she reached what she thought was a door.
In a rush, she opened the first door straight away without thinking about it. The second room was still filled with smoke - causing her to mentally regret it. She was meant to check the door! Darnit, she had forgotten. Nonetheless, she moved quickly into the room. The first room took her thirty-six seconds to navigate through. It felt much longer, though. The sound of her coughing filled the next room, as the smoke was getting to her.
Crouching down further, she moved swiftly. The second room was slightly easier for her, having already been prepared for the worst. She got to the door, stopping herself from opening it straight away. Leaning down further to the ground, she checked the slit at the door for heat. There was none. Then she tapped the door till she found the doorknob. It was not usually hot or anything. Deciding it was safe to go that route - and not straight into a fire - Serena opened the second door. Her eyes were greeted with a sight of no smoke as she managed to safely exit out of the room. This time, taking around thirty-four seconds to do it.
Serena did not keep track of the time so she had no idea how long she had taken. However, she knew she managed to get it within two minutes as the fire didn't 'get' her. A part of her was curious as to what that would entail but she also did not really want to know. In reality, that would be pretty bad and knowing that was enough to stop her curiosity.
As she stepped into the clean air, she coughed some more and lifted her head out of her shirt. Gulping down the fresh air, she was glad she managed to get out of the smoke. Fire was comforting. The smoke, however? It was not. Perhaps that was the thing that made the fires so dangerous. Smoke was rarely helpful but at least the fire provided light and prevented the darkness from getting close. That being said, she was definitely glad not to have burn marks or charred hair recently. It was an improvement.
Perhaps all of these experiences and this fire safety demonstration would help her stay alive in the future. Because she had no doubt there would be future disasters. A small smile crept onto her face though as it dawned on her that she did not have to rely solely on magic this time. She had managed to get out of it without really using anything and that was comforting. It gave hope and for now, that was enough. More than enough.
WC: 1492 words. [Errand Completed]
ReducioRolls: [Decided to use rolls to determine success/fail]
DC 25 for success. Results: 17 [Roll] + 13 [Wisdom] = 30. Success.
Time taken to do it:
Rolled 10d6 for first room: 5,6,4,5,4,4,2,2,1,3 = 36 seconds
Rolled 10d6 for second room: 5,1,5,2,3,5,2,4,1,6 = 34 seconds
PC: Serena Towers | iNPC: Arjan Oberoi | Other: Hjørdis Jensen & Xiomara Torres
Part-Goblin | Evasive Maneuvers | Beastmaster | Paragon of Health
Sta: 10 | Eva: 17 | Str: 3 | Wis: 15 | Arc Power: 10 | Acc: 15
Part-Goblin | Evasive Maneuvers | Beastmaster | Paragon of Health
Sta: 10 | Eva: 17 | Str: 3 | Wis: 15 | Arc Power: 10 | Acc: 15
24 May 2021, 17:58
Be Cool About Fire Safety
Thank you all for attending this errand! This is to denote that this is the final day of the errand, and I will start going through and giving the rewards! I will still accept any new posts up until 23:00 EST today, but after that I will lock this thread. Hope these fire tips come in handy in the future!
25 May 2021, 00:13
Be Cool About Fire Safety
Rose snorted. . "Where did the summoning charm come from?" Rose hadn't said anything about summoning things, just things about surviving if they were ever in a fire. She guessed it could have meant to summon a wand, but if you were trapped in a burning building and summoned your wand, your wand would probably just get burned up in the process of coming to you. "And if you're in a fire tomorrow, are you just gonna suddenly learn how to use Wandless Magic?" Henry added that she would never win a debate against him. She rolled her eyes. "I think I just did." She wasn't exactly sure how to feel when he called her Rosie. That had been her father's nickname for her before he had died, and then Eyre had used it when they started dating. She wasn't sure that she wanted him to call her that at all, but she didn't want to have to explain why.
The redhead could only roll her eyes teasingly at his comment that he was more mature than her.
As they were in the maze, Henry asked if she had implied something about his "furry problem." She hadn't meant to say that at all, and for a moment, she was actually sure that he had meant it. He then went to say that he was just joking, as a relief to Rose. "I actually forgot about that- could it help us, do you think?"
It actually did come in handy later. Rose was right- Henry had smelled the smoke in the room before she had. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just got overexcited," she said. She drew in a breath and then smiled, looking back towards Henry. "But it's all in good fun, right? Just a setback on our way to victory." She nodded to herself. This was, after all, just a game that they were playing. Just a simulation. It wasn't anything serious, life or death. Just win or loose. Rose would always take win or loose over life or death.
Henry asked her about the next fork in the maze, letting her choose. She looked up at the sky. "I guess we should go-" But she was interrupted by Nurse Brumby telling them who was incapacitated.
Henry.
Rose was kind of glad that he was incapacitated. She hated the feeling of being weak, or not being able to do anything. Even if Henry was now counting on her, at least she was able to do something.
The Slytherin asked her what they should do, questioning what he should do. "I guess... I guess you're just dead weight. And I have to carry you the rest of the way." He seemed to smirk before making light of the situation, dramatically falling over and calling out. Rose decided to play along.
"No! Henry! Come back to me!" She said, her words dripping with drama. She would actually be a brilliant actress if she didn't have suffocating stage fright. She giggled, breaking character only after he did. "Oh, that was perfect. People should incapacitate you more often," she said lightly and casually.
But to be honest, this was kind of scary. Henry was bigger and taller and heavier than she was. It would have been much easier for him to carry her through a maze than for her to carry him. Rose heard Henry's words, and nodded silently. This was pressuring! This was horrible! This was inconveniencing! This was humiliating! This was...
A puzzle. That's all this was. Rose had played many puzzle games over her life- she really enjoyed solving logic puzzles and getting everything in the right spot so that she could go on, win the game, complete the level. She could look at this as a crisis, or she could look at it like a puzzle. Rose loved puzzles. She could solve this puzzle and get out of the maze.
Rose stood up, closing her eyes and tying her hair up in one big breath. What was the solution to the puzzle? Her eyes opened, and she had an idea. "Can I drag you by my sweatshirt?"
She would pull her sweatshirt off, revealing the shirt underneath tie the sweatshirt arms around his ribcage, and use the torso of the sweatshirt as her handle. She gave it a tug, and Henry moved a little. He was still heavy, but she knew it would be easier to drag him than to carry him properly. She said, "Okay, tell me if this hurts or anything." She pulled on the handle, dragging him through the maze. Everything seemed to go smoothly, so Rose kept marching on. She headed towards the edges of the maze, looking for the end and trying not to go the places she had been already. Then, finally, she caught sight of another door. Her spirits rose and she went the rest of the way. No smoke this time. The handle wasn't hot (she tapped it lightly, and then closed her hand around it to check), and there was no heat coming from under the door. She pulled it open.
"We did it!" She exclaimed, grabbing Henry again and pulling him through the door to finish the job. She offered him her hand to help him up, whether he took it or not. "That was fun."
25 May 2021, 05:09
Be Cool About Fire Safety
Rewards given to the following participants
@Willow Anderson
The recognizable puffball looked a little shaken, but she had been really clever to notice that the first bucket she grabbed wasn't water. That awareness of her surroundings in a stressful situation would prove valuable in many more situations than just this one.
"Nicely done, squirt!" Kels would cheer, patting her shoulder as she left the stage. "Who's up next?"
@Aurora Ranvier
The next girl took her precious time, quiet snacking as the fire got out of control. Did Kels mention the whole two minutes to get out of control thing? He was pretty sure he did. Just as he was about to pull his own wand out to extinguish, she gulped down the rest of her snack and started to scavenge for a solution. He was surprised and impressed when she soaked a curtain to use as a dampener. That was clever, especially since there was a LOT of fire at that point, so one bucket might not have got it all.
"Awesome!" He whistle and hoot and clap. "Anyone else got any bright ideas?"
@Ana Hanburry
When the young girl collapsed on the floor, Kels started, surprised. If she hadn't started moving after that he would have thought something went seriously wrong! Luckily, she seemed fine for the most part, even proving she had listened well about the doorknobs. Lucky for her, she didn't stumble and headbutt into the fire door. She was out lickity-split, and departed just as quickly.
"Good job! Byyyeeee!" He waved as she left, looking a little wobbly. "Who else got some guts?"
@Rose Moon
This time a girl would be dragging along a casually resistant boy, maybe hoping the power in numbers would make them braver or more likely to make it through. Kels certainly knew which of the two of them he was going to incapacitate. He recognized the boy, he had come to his desk pretending his arm wasn't hurt to try to get medical advice on the down-low. Probably would not have attended without the bright-eyed girl beside him.
"Good luck!" This room would be bigger to facilitate how quickly students could get through it with teamwork.
As they travelled through it, they found the wrong door first, thankfully not opening it and ending their buddy room early. Still, once they were almost done, it was time for complications.
@Henry Knight
"Room Three! Yer halfway done guys! But Mister Knight is now incapacitated!"
Once he had incapacitated himself with a few theatrics, the girl used her sweater to pull him along, making his bigger weight less of an issue. Even though the timer was inching down, they made it to the door before the 'fire' got out of control.
"Nicely done!!" The walls would untransfigure behind them. Their teamwork had been good, even thought the task was complex. "You two make a good team! Next up?"
@Ruka Burnett-Tân
Two short stacks looked far more enthusiastic to be attending together, and were looking firey enough to put the last duo to shame. Perhaps looks weren't all they were cracked up to be, because as soon as they got into the maze they both looked completely lost.
@Dealla Prince
Not even really making it far enough into the maze to incapacitate one, Brumby waited completely impatiently, looking at his wrist watch for the two minutes to pass. The very least they could have done was fall on their face like that one girl. Not that kids getting hurt was funny...
"Time's up!" Kels yelled, clapping his hands as the maze crumbled once more. "Kids suck at mazes, note taken! Next!!"
@Xailah Alptraum
Another pair of girl and boy showed up like they were raring to go, but one of the participants was quiet and out of it. Not gonna happen.
"He doesn't look ready, we can't start a buddy room without a buddy." He'd smile at the girl though, who also seemed a bit distracted by the trash on the ground. "Don't worry about it, you get the reward just fer showin' up. Who's actually ready out there?"
@Damion White
This kid was flighty as heck, running around the smoke room like a chicken with its head cut off. He was clever to use spells, as Brumby had only ever said they couldn't use spells to extinguish a flame. Light was always useful of course! He was falling over, bumping into walls. It was hilarious. Lucky for him, even in his panicked state, he had found the right door and made it out.
"Nice! Good job, little dude!" The kid looked proud of himself, and Kels was proud too! "Okay, only one more volunteer! Who's it gonna be?"
@Serena Towers
His last participant seemed to have some gusto, having just been taking notes in the stands. Kels gave her a big thumbs up before she went in, proving she had been paying attention by army crawling on the ground. She even used her shirt to keep it out of her face-- some of these kids were hella smart! He hoped some of the ones in the crowd were also taking notes.
Then again, not everyone could be super smart all the time, as she proved by being the first to open the wrong door. "Oof!" He was worried that he might end up having to jump in and save her too, but she recovered quickly. Before even one minute elapsed, she had found her way to the exit, recieving cheers from him and the students gathered.
"Well done! Hurray!!" He called, clapping loudly. "Alright everybody, that's enough! Go enjoy yer weekends an' be safe!!"
With that, the assembly would be dismissed, except for Kels and whoever was nice enough to stick around and help clean up the mess he made.