Event Blossom Ball - Trial of Hecate

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Bolded Text: French | Regular Text: English | Color: #BF4040
Trial Tracker: HADES | HECATE | ORPHEUS | HERMES | PERSEPHONE | APOLLO

Florian was both heated as well as pleased with himself after the first trial he attempted. He wish he had known about these events before his arrival, otherwise he would have tried to prepare for them more. But alas, he did the best he could in his eyes, and still managed to answer the questions in that dark maze. His confidence might have wavered a little, but at this trial, his flame was renewed.

Here he stood for his second trial, listening to the boy in front of him explain what he needed to do. Well, being a superior student from Beauxbaton, of course he knew how to brew a babbling potion, and what idiot wouldn't know how to cast Lumos? He decided to blatantly neglect the third task of transfiguration, as the boy hadn't learned it yet. He wasn't about to admit that to anyone around him though.

He pulled his wand out of the pocket in his toga and said a quick "Lumos!" in the hopes that his wand would easily light up. It was the simplest spell after all.

He then proceeded to answer any and all questions that the boy would throw his way about the Babbling potion. He would begin with a brief description of the potion - "The Babbling Beverage is a potion that causes the one who drinks it to be unable to speak coherently for a length of time." - what the ingredients are - "The ingredients for the babbling beverage are Valerian Sprigs, Aconite and Dittany." - and of course any additional facts - "People respond to the potion differently, and the length of time one is affected is dependent on their metabolism." For this he was certainly pleased with himself, and he felt confident about his next trials.

Action: Attempting Lumos and the Babbling Potion
Stats: Stamina: 5 - Evasion: 7 - Strength: 4 - Wisdom: 9 - Arcane: 4 - Accuracy: 6
Abilities: Foulplay

Graphic by Leonard Oaksworth

Interacting with: @Evelynn Decipio

Apparel

The blue torches spread about the area cast a pale hue onto the gathered students, their features flickering ominously as shadows danced nimbly around the light of the flames. Befitting the theme of the Underworld, their skin appeared sallow and lifeless, eyes like empty sockets among the obscuring cloud of gloom, as though they were souls of the dead, awaiting passage to the land of eternal rest or - in some cases - torment.
Even voices were subdued to a droning whisper, filling the air like the endless rants of the damned as their owners were hushed by some unseen force, whose power couldn't be refuted.
The atmosphere hardly communicated a sense of jovial relief from the daily concerns of life, for which events such as this were generally intended. Quite to the contrary, it seemed to murmur steady promises that those daily concerns would never return, for the darkness would surely prove perpetual.
What an intriguing method of welcoming the new year. Perhaps the event organizers had intended to bring attendees a fresh appreciation for warmth and joy, in case winter had not sufficiently sucked those things from their lives.

Whatever the case may be, Marshal was enjoying himself thoroughly, despite the dreary nature of his surroundings. Though the Trial of Hades had proven more 'schooltastic' than he would have preferred, with the accursed questions assaulting his state of blissful enjoyment, he always enjoyed a good maze adventure, especially one bathed in such authenticity. And while they were forced to part at each new challenge, expected to thrive on their own merit, his mood was unfailingly improved with every reunion between himself and his date.
Any notion that he might prefer to be with anyone else in the world ended with a single glance at the smile that no darkness could withstand, or the sweet voice that would lift any hush.
Watching Evelynn as she detailed her interest in the upcoming Trial, the young wizard tried to fathom why she had accepted his invitation, how she could lower herself to accompany one such as him, but no logical answer surfaced. He had used the word 'miracle' when asking her to join him at the Ball, and it was the best explanation he could come up with now.

Her passionate anecdotes about yew wood and somebody named Lord Volkswagen made him realize that tonight was the first time they had spent significant time together, outside of their regular tutoring sessions, where their relationship strictly remained student and mentor. There, her lengthy explanations were lectures to learn from, rather than friendly musings to enjoy.
To him, this meant more; she had chosen to give him a portion of her life, one that wasn't dictated by any sense of responsibility, or whatever reason she might have for helping his sorry self the way she did.
"That is an excellent observation," he responded with a smile and a nod. And he truly assumed it was. The girl certainly seemed to have her facts straight, though every last one flew over his head.
Just act like you understand and be happy you're here, he told himself adamantly.
The red-head continually amazed him with her capacity for abstract thought, and the ability to find levels of complexity within a concept that appeared one-dimensional at first glance. Things that he found difficult to grasp were like second-nature for her to comprehend. Frankly, it wasn't fair. But that only made it more impressive.

The boy cocked his head when Eve lifted her dress, intrigued by the placement of her wand. Having his own tucked up his sleeve - strapped to his arm like a sword would be strapped to a belt - he hadn't considered where his companion's weapon might be hidden, given the absence of sleeves on her outfit. He noted boots as a possible sheath for his wand, though the option was less likely in his case, seeing as he generally sported sneakers. Yet another item to add to the list of absurdities concerning his apparel.
He nodded in acknowledgement as she spoke to him. "Good luck to you too! Not that you'll need it."

Following a small span of time, Marshal's turn arrived. Approaching the table, he scanned the items pensively, brow knitting in deep thought.
Drat, came the deepest.
Every task rang a bell of familiarity within the young Gryffindor. Calling past classes and tutoring sessions to memory, he almost felt as though he could do this - almost. His success in this endeavor would take a healthy dose of serendipity.
Following his attempts to cast the two spells, he would address Alec to inform him of everything he knew concerning the potion.
"The Babbling Potion makes you say a lot of crazy things that make no sense. Basically, you become me until the effects wear off." Offering a grin, he scratched his chin and continued, "The ingredients? This is really starting to feel like just another class, you know." He released a long-suffering sigh. "If I remember right, the ingredients are Valerian Sprigs, Aconite, and Dittany. That's all I got."

Action: Attempting all three tasks
(Note: This is awkward. None of the three are in Marshal's trunk, for he suffers from Apathetic Author Syndrome. This post lacks better description of these actions due to uncertainty)

Trial Tracker:
Orpheus | Apollo | Hecate | Hades | Persephone | Hermes

Rping as Ilvermorny iNPC Melody Westmoore | Hex: English - #8b2788 (to match her caricature as the goddess)
Interacting with: Trial Host (@Alec Mason) | Outfit: Hecate (see above collage) | Underworld post

The Trial of Hecate. Mel was bound to rock at this one, as she had dedicated the entire night to the goddess of magic, and dressed in her image. How could Hecate not be on her side here? Even with one side of her dress stained with blood from a fall she'd taken during the Hades Trial, Mel felt ready.

The host was a boy about her age, looking goofy and out of place against the eerie backdrop with his cheery smile and upbeat disposition. He explained that the goal was to show her magic skills by either brewing a Babbling Beverage potion, casting Lumos, or untransfiguring a pomegranate by casting Reparifarge. The boy mentioned that you could do more than one, but it was optional. Of course, Mel knew she would not be doing the bare minimum. It wasn't that she really wanted to be Queen of the ball, -blegh- but rather to prove that she could. And Mel was a stubborn girl.

First, the light spell. That one was easy. The Thunderbird used it all the time when she went exploring. "Lumos!" she said clearly. The light didn't stutter. One down.

The problem was, though she knew a decent amount about the Babbling Beverage, she didn't exactly know how to actually brew it. She'd seen some of the participants before her offer their knowledge of a spell or potion though, instead of actually performing them. She'd just have to do that.

"As it says in the name, a Babbling Beverage is a potion that causes the person who drinks it to babble nonstop like a baby, haha. Well, you brew the Alihotsy leaves for...well, I don't remember the exact time, but when it's ready take out all the leaf bits and turn the heat up. Then add billywig stings and...some other kind of stings and cook the whole mixture for, I think it was, like, ten minutes, stirring counterclockwise." That sounded close maybe? Not enough information for her to have successfully brewed the elixir, so she was glad she hadn't attempted it. That would have been both embarrassing and frustrating. Hopefully her perfect charm casting and the next task would make up for it.

Unfortunately, Mel couldn't cast Reparifarge, so she would have to go with the share-your-info approach again. That irritated her, but there was nothing to be done about it, and she had to at least try.

"Reparifarge is an untransfiguration spell. Most times people cast it when a transformation goes wrong, or is unwanted. The incantation is pronounced reh-PAR-i-farj. It comes from two Latin words meaning 'rehab' and 'color.' " It was a little pathetic that that was all Mel had to say. Her answer was so meager. But that was all she knew, and she didn't think there was much more to say about the spell anyway. It was a valiant effort, and anyway, they had only asked for one task. Maybe it would be enough.

On to the next Trial.

Attire - Medusa
My trunk has Year 3 stats these are year 2:
Stamina : 8 | Evasion : 7 | Strength : 3 | Wisdom : 8 | Arcane Power : 9 | Accuracy : 8
Action| Participating in the trial of Hecate
All Three magical branches attempted

Walking into the Trial of Hecate was like a breath of fresh air compared to Hates, and if she never had to go back there again, it would be too soon. This area was dimly lit, making it easier for her eyes to adjust from the darkness of Hades. It would only take a moment for her eyes to land on Alec, a boy she did not know save for moderating his duel against Ravenclaw. He had come out to make a surprising win for his team, and that was impressive, especially against Pericles.

Santario would make her way over towards him, offering a quiet greeting before he went into the trial's instructions. “Of course, thank you.” Her thanks, accompanied by a rare smile, was not only for the instructions and reminder but also for doing this in the first place.

“I will be doing all three this evening.” Santario announced as she drew her cherrywood wand, the dragon heartstring in the middle resonating with her magic as if the two were one. “Lumos” Santario traced her wand through the air as she waited for it to light up.
If her wand lights| She would hold the spell long enough to satisfy the trial before performing the counter charm Nox to extinguish the light and move on.
If her wand fails to light| Santario would frown at her wand and mutter something under her breath that did not seem like it should be uttered by a young lady before moving on.

Next, she would move toward the potion ingredients, a smile playing with the corners of her lips. One of her specialties. “The Babbling Beverage. Created with Valerian sprigs, Aconite, and Dittany. If brewed successfully, it will be red in color and cause the drinking to speak utter nonsense.” The passion that laced through her silvery voice was quite noticeable as her free hand moved over each ingredient as she spoke about them in turn before going on to explain precisely how the potion was brewed and demonstrating if asked to.

Lastly, Santario would approach one of the pomegranates. Regardless of wanting to be a healer, that did not mean that transfiguration was her best class in school. While she was still a straight O average student, her other classes helped make up for only decent transfiguration grades. Though it seemed the healing spells in that class she had no issues with, only the other spells seemed to give the young Slytherin trouble.

Santario closed her eyes for a moment while she cleared her mind. That was key as she needed to thoroughly visualize her intent before she cast. Once ready, Santario would open her eyes again and cast. “Reparifarge”

Succeed or Fail at the last task at hand Santario would thank Alec once more before moving on to the next area. San wasn’t exactly sure what she had expected when she had started to do these, but she was quite happy that they seemed inclusive to everyone so far.

Blossom Ball '21 - Outfit (thanks to Anja Murtaja)

As her eyes adjusted once again to the light -or well, dim light- of the Underworld area, Lydia felt herself relax more, the darkness of the maze now in the past. Walking towards the next trial, Lydia observed the different objects that had been displayed on the table, recognising some of them, like the incredible amount of pomegranates.

Feeling intrigued by that, she walked slightly faster, and reached the guy that had started explaining what they had to do for this trial. A tiny smile appeared on her lips once she realised she knew the spells and the potion that they had to cast or prepare; because of that, she immediately decided that she would have tried to complete all of the branches, even if the potion brewing had her only slightly worried.

She decided not to worry too much, and focused on the task at hand. The first thing she did was try to cast Lumos. She pointed her wand, and tried to sound as sure as she could be. "Lumos!" It was a spell that she had used and practiced a lot, so hopefully nothing should happen when she cast it- even though she had learned from duelling that even the simplest spell could backfire.

Then, she concentrated on the pomegranate. Transfiguration was a subject that she liked a lot, and she always liked studying it. The spells however were more difficult than the ones that were usually used in duelling, so the idea of performing one did make her slightly nervous. Lydia pointed her wand towards the object, and spoke. "Reparifarge!"

Almost as if she didn't want to see her result, she quickly turned and walked towards the potion brewing spot. There, she started assembling the ingredients, proceding on brewing the potion. She tried to remember all of the different steps of it, hoping that, at the end, she would have succeeded in her task.

Action: Attempting all three branches.
Stats: STA: 5 || EVA: 7 || STR: 5 || WIS: 10 || ARC: 5 || ACC: 5
Race: Part-Veela
Abilities: Alluring || Lovely Creature

Trials tracker: Underworld || Hades|| Hecate || Orpheus || Hermes || Persephone|| Apollo

Roleplaying as Durmstrang iNPC Arjan Oberoi

Entering thread from the Trial of Hades

How was he not done by now? He had already taken part in like ten trials by now, surely! This was clearly a scam. He was just being forced to do them again and again or do unnecessary extra trials just to try and throw him off course! He knew the truth. But of course, none of that would dissuade him. Alright. Hecate? That was a made-up word, come on. Hogwarts was clearly cheating here.

But that would not help them win! The true ruler had to be a Durmstrang student. Well, rather, it had to be HIM. There was no other choice, he was the only one who was worthy, after all. He brushed some non-existent dirt off his shoulder, adjusting his clothing to make sure that it was beautiful despite all of the nonsense these trials were throwing at him. Finding himself lost in thought, he started to adjust his clothing and zoned out of paying attention to the trial. Who cared what he had to actually do? Surely he could just walk around, looking beautiful, flexing a few muscles and then they would crown him. That should be how it worked.

Hell, if he needed to, he would happily punch his way to victory. As he made his way to start the trial, the boy smirked as he knew he had 'got' this. Of course, he believed that because he was just very confident. Some would say, too confident. He was convinced that there was no way for him to lose. So he would approach and attempted to perform one of the tasks. Of course, if he knew he could do more than one, he likely would have. Unfortunately, Arjan was so distracted by - well - himself that he did not really pay attention to that. He just heard the one, assumed that was all he had to do and was going to attempt to do it.

Should he succeed, he would obviously gloat about it before walking off. If he failed, however, he would be so mad that he would claim that the system was cheating him, trying to steal the victory away from him and he would essentially ragequit the area without wasting another second or even waiting to find out that he could try another thing. Oh no, there was no second attempt. It was either 'do' or 'do not'. And if it was the latter, it was entirely the trial's fault for being bad, rather than his own. He was - obviously - perfect.

ACTION: Taking part in trial, attempting any ONE of the trials at random

Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 4 | Strength: 15 | Wisdom: 3 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 10
Abilities: Obnoxiously Strong | The Martial Artist | Spell Spread | Charmer
Charmer Allies: Phaedra Stavrou, Falentra Black, Rudolf Novikov & Vyacheslav Preobrazhensky
Status: Smug | Health: Full

Post Tracker: [ Underworld 1 | 2 | 3 ][ Persephone | Hermes | Apollo | Hades | Hecate ]

Outfit of the day | shoes

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Currently closed to interactions
Interactions: None
Mentioning: None
Word count: 220
Hex Color: #0080FF
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For Moderation:
Action: Attempt trial (all three branches)
Health: 500/500
Abilities: Lovely Creature | Fearless | Terrible Presence
Stats: Stamina 5 | Evasion 10 | Strength 5 | Wisdom 9 | Arcane Power 10 | Accuracy 8

Hecate. Goddess of magic. She was the goddess of a number of other rather macabre things, but the one Ana cared about was magic. Scratch that, the one that Ana could remember at the moment was magic. Her thoughts were still on the trial of Orpheus and her mother's voice. Her mother was gone, Ana knew that, but she was still more shaken than she would have liked to admit.

The blonde's thoughts drifted about as she entered. Necromancy was a bit of a no-no in the wizarding world. It wasn't supposed to be possible, but Ana had heard talk of ways to bring someone back. The past year had given her quite the reason to think about the topic, but the kind of magic it required was dark stuff. In any event, Ana was a teenager, not even halfway through her schooling, so any kind of necromancy was far beyond her reach.

She listened to the instructions and prepared herself for the trial. As she began to make a mental game plan, her thoughts began to drift once more. Wrinkling her nose at the end, she found an issue with what the boy had to say. She was most definitely not there to have fun. Ana was spectacularly competitive and she was there to win. Nothing else would do.

Post tracker: Underworld entry | Orpheus | Hecate | Hades | Persephone | Apollo | Hermes

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BLOSSOM BALL 2021

Interacting With: N/A
Mentioning: N/A
Hex Color: #800000

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It was just an academic challenge. Sweet, okay – Rafael could do this.

In spite of the difficulties to come, the young Captain couldn’t help the small smile that surfaced on his lips, blue eyes alight with the colors of relief. The first trial, after all, had been – well, it had been hell above hell. Which, given the title of the challenge, would have been quite easily predicted, if only the Gryffindor had had a shred of common sense. Having faced such adversity on his first attempt at the title, the young man could already feel the whereabouts of exhaustion tugging at the edges of his consciousness… such anxiety had taken a lot out of him, and yet he was loathe to give up so early in the game, when he could just taste the imminent success lingering just beyond reach. Whoever said winning was easy should just die in a hole, he reasoned bitterly to himself, chewing on his lip in thought. They obviously had no appreciation for these damn trials.

Having just arrived on the scene – and looking rather ethereal, if he may add – he took a quick moment to gather his bearings, pulling his wand out of his pocket and twirling it about on his fingers. His blazer, formerly wrapped around his waist, had been returned to its initial position around his torso, notably and rather impressively void of the wrinkles that usually succeeded the rumpling of fine clothing. His hair, even more shockingly, had remained in its kempt state throughout the events of the first challenge, his laurel still firmly planted upon his head. His face was painted with the colors of determination and confidence, a calm and easy smile upon his handsome features and his demeanor relaxed as he stepped forward to the challenge at hand. To all who gazed upon his lovely countenance, he seemed cool, collected, capable – and he very much was.

Many recognized the Captain as one of the more brash figures of the student body, keen on throwing his fists and exposing the more undesirable side of the English language at every opportunity in which he so desired. It was, admittingly, his identity, the thumbprint of his social life – one he wasn’t in the least ashamed of, nor keen to fix in the near future. However, despite this thumbprint he’d reserved for himself, he didn’t often let his academic skill to light. The truth of the matter was, in the past year, he’d grown accustomed to spending more of his time studying and perfecting his spells – the fruits of which had notably transfigured his former D’s and T’s into E’s and O’s. Spellcasting, therefore, wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, he reasoned with himself. Especially when the spells were those of great familiarity to him – the challenges posed had been his first-year assignments, after all. A successful performance was more than attainable.

Stretching his wrist once more with a quick and practiced flick of his wand, he stepped into a firm yet relaxed stance, holding the tip of his wand upwards in preparation. It’s only two spells, and a potion – don’t get cocky, and do a good job. He would do the best he could in the moment, take as much time as he could to mind his wrist movements. Time was something he had an abundance of, he supposed. Running through his movements in his head once more, he took a practiced step forward, setting to work on his mission.

STA _____ 10 EVA _____ 4 STR _____ 9 WIS _____ 10 ARC _____ 2 ACC _____ 8

STATS & ABILITIES Interception Reducio When a Quaffle is being passed, users with this ability automatically get a chance to Intercept the quaffle. This does not replace their normal action for the round. This put the quaffle in your and by extension you teams' possession. Also, if the Quaffle is dropped for any reason, you would automatically (without it taking up an action) attempt another Quafflegrab. At present there would be no mid-round way to drop a quaffle due to the order of operations, however there will be certain effects in future patches that can cause this effect. Catch Reducio Able to catch two falling players on your broom when playing Quidditch. These additional caught players would be brought to the ground safely and they would be allowed to retrieve their broom and enter play again the next round. This can be done every round as the player's action if they choose to do so. With brooms that have the feature where an additional player may be caught (such as Bluebottle) where there is a stackable chance of failure with each additional person caught, there is no stacking failure chance for players with this ability. YEAR III AB Reducio TBD

Action • Performing all three challenges offered

Lily speaking in English
Lily speaking in Welsh
Others speaking

Lily didn’t know what the Trials would test her on, but she hoped it wouldn’t be magic. When she neared the Trial of Hecate, she realised what it was. “It’s magic. Of course it is.” She sighed. If she was going to fail any trial, it would be this one.

She got out her wand, and she walked closer. When she got there, she found out that she would be asked to either untransfigurate a pomegranate, cast lumos, or brew a baffling beverage. She couldn’t do any, but wanted to try anyway. No. I haven’t done it yet, I don’t even know the incantation. She told herself.

So, she was to be tested on her magical knowledge instead. Since she had read all the first year academic books cover to cover, and most of the second ones, too. Then, she thought Just don’t over complicate it. She was very good at doing that.

Whether she could correctly recite potions, or incantations, or not, she would still try. She made a mental note to learn the spells in the future. When she walked away, she didn’t know if she had said the correct answers. If she hadn’t, it was too late now.

Banner by Lucia Fox

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Trial Tracker: HADES | HECATE | ORPHEUS | HERMES | PERSEPHONE | APOLLO

The last trial wasn't really the most fun, but Starlee decided to keep going on, cheering on Everly once they both had finished. This next trial gave Starlee a similar feeling to the last, uncertainty, and yet joy. Uncertainty in casting Lumos, one of the simplest spells she knew, but still. However, she could show off her potions skills.

Giddily, she hopped over to the station, and began brewing while explaining everything there was to the babbling beverage. "Well obviously, the Babbling Beverage does what it sounds like it does, causes the drinker to babble. More specifically," she raised her finger in the air in a gesture like someone thinking, "One is unable to communicate for a certain length of time, but typically ten minutes. However, the length of time can also vary from person to person, as everyone has a different metabolism." She paused a moment for a breath, before continuing on into her speech. "There are three ingredients to the potion. Valerian sprigs, Aconite and Dittany." She pointed at each one individually before beginning her potion. "The final product should be a teal color." She stirred the cauldron and added one final note, "Initially, you wouldn't think this spell to be very useful. But, if used on an enemy, they wouldn't be able to say their spell, causing them to be unable to cast! So long as they can't cast nonverbally... of course." The smile on her face radiated pure joy.

Her second attempt, however, caused less joy. She was happy to have attempted the potion first; it certainly helped to instill confidence in her. But she was definitely still nervous. She raised her wand and waved it in a loop, yelling "LUMOS!" hoping her spell would take hold easily.

Action: Attempting the Babbling Beverage and Lumos
Stats: Sta: 4 | Eva: 6 | Str: 6 | Wis: 8 | Arc: 6 | Acc: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage