30 Jul 2021, 16:08
The Lady of the Wood
Interacting with | @Pericles Dralt | @Vladimir Athanatos | @Winnie Harper | @Bloom Silverton
Open to interactions.
Well, Vladimir didn't seem very stable. Dee's eyebrows rose when he started stripping, then her expression turned to something like shock. A little disgust, maybe, at the black veins tracing below his skin. At least he provided some answers, snarky as they were, and Dee paused, remembering the shattered jar she had found in the common room, the one that had been sealed but suspiciously empty of any spilled contents. His blood was what turned into those living shadows? It was new information to her, but it certainly made sense. "But do you know who took it?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.
Winnie's question only received a helpless shrug. Dee didn't know who had delivered the letters, who decided they didn't want Winnie here, after all. She didn't know why this meant Vladimir wanted her here, after all, and his questions after the younger girl's lineage received a confused frown from Dealla.
A mildly helpless smile at Bloom's very sensible question. Yes, they shouldn't be here. And yet, they were. "Because of the letters," Dee replied, shrugging. "They told us to come here, not to the lake. Nothing to be found at the lake, I suppose." No danger, but also no answers. No half-naked slightly-crazed Vladimir.
Pericles supported Dee's own warnings, and she shot him a smile, thankful to have another voice of reason around. Or, at least one. Dee wasn't necessarily the most sensible person, and she was happy to hand that role off to someone else. He asked very reasonable questions, too. Why would Vladimir want this? Releasing shadow monsters? Getting himself likely killed?
And yet, despite all warnings, people started into the forest. Vladimir first, not a surprise after his announcements, but for some inexplicable reason, Winnie took off after him. Voices erupted, some people following, some trying to stop others, and Dee... sighed. Raised her wand and started forward, following the others, although she would not go further than she had to, to get the others into the circle of the light she was about to cast (hopefully). It had worked last time, hadn't it? Following Pericles' suggestion, perhaps light would provide some protection again.
"Lumos Solem."
Action | Following as far as necessary (ie if the others are stopped, staying outside the forest), casting Lumos Solem
Stats
Sta 6 | Eva 11 | Str 3 | Wis 10 | Arc 6 | Acc 10
Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer | Perfectionist
Allies: All Ravenclaws except Vladimir
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."
30 Jul 2021, 18:47
The Lady of the Wood
"Let's not do this again. Stay out of the forest."
@Pericles Dralt would command. For once, this was something that they agreed upon. The forest was a dangerous place and they had seen what the forest was capable of when faced unprepared. They were fortunate to have survived, their luck would not withstand repeated instances of recklessness.
If not, as soon as I am snared, a locus swarm of dark spiders will proliferate the area. "Why would you want that?"
"Has nothing to do with want," some matters were simply complicated.
"Why would you let this happen to you?"
Says the murder that was about to throw themselves into the woods alongside their allies in a foolhardy attempt to get answers and protect one another. There is letting and there is doing despite knowing the consequences of ones actions would be dire. The consequences, even if known. Even if warned... are not a true deterrent when the prize is great enough. "I need to find him," who him? Vladimir was searching for someone. For the rumored dead that walked. To recover his greatest loss. Something that they would never understand.
"But do you know who took it?"
@Dealla Prince would ask, not that she expected any sort of answer. "I'd say Victor Moore if it did not sound absolutely mad," the dead boy that had died during an illegal fight club that took place last year during the summer games. Nobody really asked too many questions about the event, a boy performing a blood ritual with power and resources that would far exceed their own. The sudden darkness that coalesced in the basement near Selim Faust that attacked with lethal accuracy, skewering the fragile Slytherin wizard who died at his peers feet.
He died, there was no mistaking that. In front of dozens of witnesses, it was not that responders did not try to revive the boy who was gone before they reached his side. He was buried a country away, not with his family but in Athanatos' family mausoleum. There was no way, it was impossible but he knew what he saw. Of course they were wizards, the ability to change form is not an uncanny skill, for some it is a natural talent such as metamorphmagi. A part of him wondered if the appearance of these Ravenclaws here and now to deter his trek into the woods was somehow associated. There were too many variables, too many possibilities. For all he knew, one of them could be the cause of his misery.
"Lumos Solem," a voice announced. Someone was trying to cast a light on the matter, but a fumbled wand, a slurred letter, disaster could have struck but she caught herself well enough to prevent an inadvertent disaster.
That said, he might not have been noticed. All eyes were on the suspicious Ravenclaw; on the quivering forest.
@Bloom Silverton was simply confused. Among the oldest of the students there. She had the fortune of avoiding most of the trauma Hogwarts has had to offer. She would have heard the rumors, if not from her housemates then from her peers. Perhaps she was uninterested, she was not paying attention. The fires and the blood, the fights and the screaming antics of unstable classmates. Hogwarts was uncontrolled chaos.
"If Hags live in the woods and you were once attacked by trees and dolls, why the hell are we here? Can't we have a conversation, I don't know, by the lake?"
So she had heard the rumors. Vlad did not have time for tea, "yes you really should" have that conversation by the lake. Not him, them. They were free to leave, he was not holding them here. In fact, he was dissuading them from following rather ineffectively but he was still trying. Not that he expected logic or reason to sit well with any of them, in his years of experience here at Hogwarts they did not think with their head - they thought with everything besides.
Why Bloom felt today was the day to socialize - to follow a mysterious note to a place that had FORBIDDEN as the prefix. A mystery none would be able to answer. Yet today was the day she decided to put herself out there so to say. Whelp, nearly dying or possibly dying will learn her - don't socialize.
@Aurora Ranvier was having none of Vladimir's standing proximal to her kinda-sorta-man even if he was not particularly interested in him. Well, 'man' was a bit of a stretch. Teen? Pretty boy? Likely better descriptors.
“You better not take five steps to your right then!”
Or what? She would stare at him sternly. Be very disappointed in him. What she said was the best come back the girl could muster most likely. He was not going to listen, if it was a threat or an order, it really did not matter. They were the uninvited guests here, no him. Also, the plan was to take more than five. Hopefully she would have the good sense to make sure her supposed paramour stayed behind.
"Who wouldn't want me here? Why me?"
@Winnie Harper would ask out loud. A curiosity he was not going to entertain. It was an interest of course, but such diversions played more on his curious nature than on his more logical side.
"I don't want any of you here," he reminded her, reminded them. Not that was the point being made. The point was, he did not do it. The girl was nothing special to him. none of these people were anything special to him. If anything, considering what he recently discovered from the former Prefect Sylvain, he did not want to spend any time with the lot of them.
"Most of the people I know are here."
The second year had a gathering of her housemates, those likely closest to her. The members of ones house are the ones that spend the most time with someone.
"...Except for Jack and Mattie."
Neither name would garner a visible reaction. He knew a few Jacks, they were noting special. They were not relevant. There was no Mattie that he knew, what an adorable nickname (no, not really). There were some Mathews, Matts and Mathias' but again, she was not a stand out, nothing to garner their interest either.
"Wait... You..."
Who him?
"You know... You know Matt, I think..."
And how would she know that? She would not. She could not. And even if she did, which was incredibly unlikely. there was not a Matt that he knew that would bother going to any lengths, not matter how small, her or anyone else? "No, I don't think so," he claimed. "At least that would be relevant here," he concluded.
"... I can't... I can't remember. My head hurts..."
Well, she was weird.
"I've heard whispers among the students but I wasn't certain what was true and what was gossip."
She was wasting his time. All of them were. They could have a fine chat at the Lake, all of them. Couldn't he just have a normal one among them. Someone with the sense to not follow him into a dangerous forest. Put their nose into dangerous, meddlesome business. They would dive head-first into danger without thinking, without using their greatest asset - their heads. They were partitioned to this house for a reason.
Yet they failed to use reason, only stubbornness.
"... Harper and Hemlock." No, not honored enough to be remotely relevant. A callous conclusion but an honest one.
"What does that have to do with the forest and not wanting me here?"
"Nothing, you're not particularly special," sure it was mean but he did not have the luxury of time. There was a rising forest and people to meet, he was on a tight schedule. But he would come to the conclusion that whoever did not want her yet was willing to send a murder to his parade would have to endure the taxing consequence of having the one he did not want there to die alongside the rest.
"... I... I'm not sure I could be of any use to you."
"You probably wont be useful in the least, but I have never been a fan of being messed with," pride was a family staple. "As long as you are not wanted, you can lead the way," he shrugged with what one would consider cruel indifference. He was not making her, honestly he was not even inviting her really but he was not going to protest her foolhardy adventure. His meddling would make no difference with any of them.
The trees had awakened. It was time to enter, time to fight and claw his way there. From the ground, vile vermin would stir. Yes, rats would emerge from the fallen leaves and brush, the long legs of spiders visible through the flecks of sunlight that peered through the canopy.
He would not stop. He was not going to wait. She would try to follow.
"Winnie, wait up. You're not chasing him on your own," Bloom Silverton would call out to her after.
Onward lemmings.
"No!"
Cade would call out uselessly. They were not going to listen to him. His protest would fall on deaf ears.
"C'mon guys let's think rationally about this. We have to form some sort of plan! We have to be a team. Alone we'll --fail,"
He would try to urge them to think about this rationally, to take their time. To not dive head first into disaster. To stop acting like Gryffindors because that was how things went wrong - they were not built for that sort of thing. They were not built to fight, to delve into disaster.
"Together we might have a chance!"
He was a bit too young. He lacked the authority of years or even a Prefect's badge. when you can't beat them, you join them.
"Help me stop them."
@Cade Darkbound would do the same foolish thing his classmate had. Predictable truly, a misplaced sense of heroics and duty, thinking with everything besides their head. He would run into the darkened, now living wood.
A rat's tail caught under heel, a rather large rat would turn around on its assailant (Vladimir) and sink its teeth into his ankle.
A desperate glance behind him, half of them were in pursuit. "GET AWAY!" His voice cracked.
The darkness would coalesce and take form, that of a spider. A fist-sized arachnid not unlike the spider they had seen before in the common room. Not unlike the smaller spiders Slytherin had seen in their common room. But unlike others. There was at times darkness that could be described as more similar to centipedes, snakes, other insect-like creatures. Not in this case, a spider. A single spider made of pure darkness.
It would skitter away from Vladimir.
"The light!"
The light would not be enough. The spider would move towards fresh meat, that being the students standing still at the fringe of the wood, just beyond the scope of the canopy. into the light it would scurry, undeterred by the sunlight.
It would lunge at Thomas.
It as getting worse.
It was getting stronger.
The light was not as effective as it used to be.
It was adapting.
"We need to leave, but not without Vladimir!"
Pericles would announce. He was not wrong, it was too dangerous but Vladimir would not come willingly. The Ravenclaw was trudging through the woods, a place he had allegedly traveled many times before. It was obvious at this point as he too suffered from the wild world, that he was not immune to the forest's wrath. He was also a terrible liability. The roots would attempt to snare the youth, vines would lash and branches would swing.
"Lumos for darkness. Let us not start another Incendio forest fire."
The Prefect would announce. They had their orders and Pericles his intentions. Wand drawn, it would level with the back of the fleeing raven. Vladimir was not going to stop for him so Pericles was going to make him stop.
"Immobulus."
The teen would cry.
"We need to leave, but not without Vladimir!"
Vladimir was trudging through the woods, a place he had allegedly traveled many times before. He was not immune to the forest's wrath. The roots would attempt to snare the youth, vines would lash and branches would swing. He was dashing inward in spite.
"Lumos for darkness. Let us not start another Incendio forest fire."
The Prefect would announce. They had their orders and Pericles his intentions. Wand drawn, it would level with the back of the fleeing raven.
"Immobulus."
Was he a madman? Vladimir would have been left defenseless in the lashing wood without a means of evasion, defense, escape and there was no plan for extraction. They quite possibly could have killed him. This was a game they were playing with death itself and if they were not careful not everyone would make it out of the wood.
The forest stopped for nobody.
“Winnie, don’t!”
@Aurora Ranvier called out after Winnie, not that her cry would make any more difference than Bloom's decision to follow her into the woods. With Bloom forcibly evacuated, they just needed to save the incredibly fortunate girl. Aurora's right hand grabbed the wand from her pocket, pointed it at Winnie.
“I’m so sorry, I have to do this.”
Would an apology be enough? Aurora pointed her wand at Winnie and declared a single word of power, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
OK, the girl cannot go any further. She also could not come out. There was also the small matter of evading the forest that was out to skewer her.
Well, didn't that sound like such a smart thing to say?
The forest edge shifted but only for several feet along the border. Further within the forest however the range appeared wider.
@Pericles Dralt would command. For once, this was something that they agreed upon. The forest was a dangerous place and they had seen what the forest was capable of when faced unprepared. They were fortunate to have survived, their luck would not withstand repeated instances of recklessness.
If not, as soon as I am snared, a locus swarm of dark spiders will proliferate the area. "Why would you want that?"
"Has nothing to do with want," some matters were simply complicated.
"Why would you let this happen to you?"
Says the murder that was about to throw themselves into the woods alongside their allies in a foolhardy attempt to get answers and protect one another. There is letting and there is doing despite knowing the consequences of ones actions would be dire. The consequences, even if known. Even if warned... are not a true deterrent when the prize is great enough. "I need to find him," who him? Vladimir was searching for someone. For the rumored dead that walked. To recover his greatest loss. Something that they would never understand.
"But do you know who took it?"
@Dealla Prince would ask, not that she expected any sort of answer. "I'd say Victor Moore if it did not sound absolutely mad," the dead boy that had died during an illegal fight club that took place last year during the summer games. Nobody really asked too many questions about the event, a boy performing a blood ritual with power and resources that would far exceed their own. The sudden darkness that coalesced in the basement near Selim Faust that attacked with lethal accuracy, skewering the fragile Slytherin wizard who died at his peers feet.
He died, there was no mistaking that. In front of dozens of witnesses, it was not that responders did not try to revive the boy who was gone before they reached his side. He was buried a country away, not with his family but in Athanatos' family mausoleum. There was no way, it was impossible but he knew what he saw. Of course they were wizards, the ability to change form is not an uncanny skill, for some it is a natural talent such as metamorphmagi. A part of him wondered if the appearance of these Ravenclaws here and now to deter his trek into the woods was somehow associated. There were too many variables, too many possibilities. For all he knew, one of them could be the cause of his misery.
"Lumos Solem," a voice announced. Someone was trying to cast a light on the matter, but a fumbled wand, a slurred letter, disaster could have struck but she caught herself well enough to prevent an inadvertent disaster.
@Thomas Baines would lack the cat's grace to sneak up on the rather large party. That and there was a large, grassy field leading up to the tree line. His wand drawn, his careful movements, he was more like a housecat stalking one of their humans. He only lacked the dilated eyes.Dealla cast Lumos Solem
Roll: 1 (Critical failure prevented by Perfectionist)
That said, he might not have been noticed. All eyes were on the suspicious Ravenclaw; on the quivering forest.
@Bloom Silverton was simply confused. Among the oldest of the students there. She had the fortune of avoiding most of the trauma Hogwarts has had to offer. She would have heard the rumors, if not from her housemates then from her peers. Perhaps she was uninterested, she was not paying attention. The fires and the blood, the fights and the screaming antics of unstable classmates. Hogwarts was uncontrolled chaos.
"If Hags live in the woods and you were once attacked by trees and dolls, why the hell are we here? Can't we have a conversation, I don't know, by the lake?"
So she had heard the rumors. Vlad did not have time for tea, "yes you really should" have that conversation by the lake. Not him, them. They were free to leave, he was not holding them here. In fact, he was dissuading them from following rather ineffectively but he was still trying. Not that he expected logic or reason to sit well with any of them, in his years of experience here at Hogwarts they did not think with their head - they thought with everything besides.
Why Bloom felt today was the day to socialize - to follow a mysterious note to a place that had FORBIDDEN as the prefix. A mystery none would be able to answer. Yet today was the day she decided to put herself out there so to say. Whelp, nearly dying or possibly dying will learn her - don't socialize.
@Aurora Ranvier was having none of Vladimir's standing proximal to her kinda-sorta-man even if he was not particularly interested in him. Well, 'man' was a bit of a stretch. Teen? Pretty boy? Likely better descriptors.
“You better not take five steps to your right then!”
Or what? She would stare at him sternly. Be very disappointed in him. What she said was the best come back the girl could muster most likely. He was not going to listen, if it was a threat or an order, it really did not matter. They were the uninvited guests here, no him. Also, the plan was to take more than five. Hopefully she would have the good sense to make sure her supposed paramour stayed behind.
"Who wouldn't want me here? Why me?"
@Winnie Harper would ask out loud. A curiosity he was not going to entertain. It was an interest of course, but such diversions played more on his curious nature than on his more logical side.
"I don't want any of you here," he reminded her, reminded them. Not that was the point being made. The point was, he did not do it. The girl was nothing special to him. none of these people were anything special to him. If anything, considering what he recently discovered from the former Prefect Sylvain, he did not want to spend any time with the lot of them.
"Most of the people I know are here."
The second year had a gathering of her housemates, those likely closest to her. The members of ones house are the ones that spend the most time with someone.
"...Except for Jack and Mattie."
Neither name would garner a visible reaction. He knew a few Jacks, they were noting special. They were not relevant. There was no Mattie that he knew, what an adorable nickname (no, not really). There were some Mathews, Matts and Mathias' but again, she was not a stand out, nothing to garner their interest either.
"Wait... You..."
Who him?
"You know... You know Matt, I think..."
And how would she know that? She would not. She could not. And even if she did, which was incredibly unlikely. there was not a Matt that he knew that would bother going to any lengths, not matter how small, her or anyone else? "No, I don't think so," he claimed. "At least that would be relevant here," he concluded.
"... I can't... I can't remember. My head hurts..."
Well, she was weird.
"I've heard whispers among the students but I wasn't certain what was true and what was gossip."
She was wasting his time. All of them were. They could have a fine chat at the Lake, all of them. Couldn't he just have a normal one among them. Someone with the sense to not follow him into a dangerous forest. Put their nose into dangerous, meddlesome business. They would dive head-first into danger without thinking, without using their greatest asset - their heads. They were partitioned to this house for a reason.
Yet they failed to use reason, only stubbornness.
"... Harper and Hemlock." No, not honored enough to be remotely relevant. A callous conclusion but an honest one.
"What does that have to do with the forest and not wanting me here?"
"Nothing, you're not particularly special," sure it was mean but he did not have the luxury of time. There was a rising forest and people to meet, he was on a tight schedule. But he would come to the conclusion that whoever did not want her yet was willing to send a murder to his parade would have to endure the taxing consequence of having the one he did not want there to die alongside the rest.
"... I... I'm not sure I could be of any use to you."
"You probably wont be useful in the least, but I have never been a fan of being messed with," pride was a family staple. "As long as you are not wanted, you can lead the way," he shrugged with what one would consider cruel indifference. He was not making her, honestly he was not even inviting her really but he was not going to protest her foolhardy adventure. His meddling would make no difference with any of them.
The trees had awakened. It was time to enter, time to fight and claw his way there. From the ground, vile vermin would stir. Yes, rats would emerge from the fallen leaves and brush, the long legs of spiders visible through the flecks of sunlight that peered through the canopy.
"Wait!" She called out to him.Vladimir stepped into the forest.
He would not stop. He was not going to wait. She would try to follow.
Well whatever it was, Bloom was not going to stay in one place and she was not going to leave the others behind. She had no idea what was going on in spite of the monologuing and impromptu questioning. She knew enough of course - hags and dangerous dolls. A suspicious youth with strange dark markings. Now a living forest. Bloom followed Winnie who was chasing after Vladmir.Winnie stepped into the forest.
"Winnie, wait up. You're not chasing him on your own," Bloom Silverton would call out to her after.
Onward lemmings.
“BLOOM NOOO!” @Lavinia Cloven called after Bloom. Every one of them seemed to have an attachment to someone else that caused them to lose reason. At least Lavinia had the good sense to not follow aimlessly for the sake of pursuit. She would run into the thrashing wood and attempt to grab Bloom by the arm and drag her back out.Bloom stepped into the forest.
Lavinia's hand would wrap around Bloom's arm. The girl was not particularly fast or agile, for once that would be to her benefit. “COME ON BLOOM WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!” Lavinia would urge her friend while grabbing Bloom's arm. If the shirtless guy got hurt, that might be unfortunate but it mattered a lot less than the losses she would have felt if something happened to Bloom.Lavinia follows Bloom and tried to pull her back out of the forest -
Attack 18 (+11) Success
Dodge 8 (+10)
Lavinia had a burst of adrenaline. Perhaps she was a burly young woman and was able to fireman carry Bloom out. Bloom never stood a chance.Lavinia attempts to drag Bloom back out of the forest
Contested strength Bloom 17 (+8)
Contested Strength Lavinia 20 (+7) Critical success
Bloom was carried/dragged from the woods by Lavinia.
"No!"
Cade would call out uselessly. They were not going to listen to him. His protest would fall on deaf ears.
"C'mon guys let's think rationally about this. We have to form some sort of plan! We have to be a team. Alone we'll --fail,"
He would try to urge them to think about this rationally, to take their time. To not dive head first into disaster. To stop acting like Gryffindors because that was how things went wrong - they were not built for that sort of thing. They were not built to fight, to delve into disaster.
"Together we might have a chance!"
He was a bit too young. He lacked the authority of years or even a Prefect's badge. when you can't beat them, you join them.
"Help me stop them."
@Cade Darkbound would do the same foolish thing his classmate had. Predictable truly, a misplaced sense of heroics and duty, thinking with everything besides their head. He would run into the darkened, now living wood.
Cade's friend @Nell Zoldak right behind him. She would not let him rush into danger alone, but she would soon regret blindly following her friend into disaster without a plan on simply his say-so.Cade stepped into the forest.
The rats and spiders would scurry underfoot at the quintet tromped into the shifting wood. They were large, numerous and most importantly not particularly shy. In fact, they were aggressive as many hungry beasts were, just most would prefer smaller prey.Nell stepped into the forest.
A rat's tail caught under heel, a rather large rat would turn around on its assailant (Vladimir) and sink its teeth into his ankle.
Only before the rat's teeth could sink in, the Ravenclaw would kick the creature away. "DoN't fOLloW mE!" He roared, the thunk of a rat against the tree would be almost lost to the sounds of cracking wood and rumbling earth.Vermin (Lair Actions) target Vlad
Attack 7 Miss
Evasion 9
A desperate glance behind him, half of them were in pursuit. "GET AWAY!" His voice cracked.
It would feel as if a mule had kicked her in the gut, Nell would fold over as an unseen force hit her hard in the midsection and launched her backwards. It was far from gentle, not at all tender. She would tumble and skid to a stop several fee away from the fringe of the forest. She would sail right past her friend (Cade) whom she had darted past.Vladimir casts flippendo at random target besides Winnie that has entered the forest (Nell)
DC 5 (+10)
Attack 4 (+10) Hit
Evasion 3 (+8)
The tree were not mindlessly shifting, moving on their own. No, the trees were attacking. The great trunks would bow and their massive limbs would come swinging down at the quarter that remained. Vladimir was moving forward with haste, he did not stop to look back at Nell after she was evacuated from the forest. He would duck beneath the the lashing vegetation and move onward to an unknown destination.Nell was launched out of the forest.
Winnie would be fortunate. A branch would come swinging down and the girl would be able to crouch low enough for the branch to glide over her head. She would feel the rush of wind as the bark nearly grazes the crown of her head. She was not safe from the assault.Branch Bash (Lair Actions) Winnie
Attack 3 (+10) Miss
Evasion 8 (+6)
A stone would break through the sole of his shoe and break through the top of his foot. Vladimir would grimace in pain. His shoe, his sock would immediately darken - black. If it was simply blood, this would have been fine. The pain was hardly even noticed, the constant ache he felt in his legs was unrelenting. The sudden stabbing sense was there, then gone. It was enough for him to look down and see, he could not stop. All he could choke out was a warning "Run!Stone (Lair Actions) Vlad
Attack 6 (+10) Hit
Evasion 5 (+10)
The darkness would coalesce and take form, that of a spider. A fist-sized arachnid not unlike the spider they had seen before in the common room. Not unlike the smaller spiders Slytherin had seen in their common room. But unlike others. There was at times darkness that could be described as more similar to centipedes, snakes, other insect-like creatures. Not in this case, a spider. A single spider made of pure darkness.
It would skitter away from Vladimir.
"The light!"
The light would not be enough. The spider would move towards fresh meat, that being the students standing still at the fringe of the wood, just beyond the scope of the canopy. into the light it would scurry, undeterred by the sunlight.
It would lunge at Thomas.
Something terrible had come and it did not fear the light. The only mark of safety. It only shrunk a bit and faded, yet it was enduring. It would attempt to bite Thomas' neck and while the boy might have hoped for a hickey bruise from a cute girl, he would get an angry shadow spider instead. But the boy was more nimble than stealthy. perhaps it was the proximity to a spider that gave him power, like a reserve spider man. He would twist and he would bend and the spider would sail past him and dart away into the light further and fade into smoke.Darkness erupts from foot, attacks Thomas (not in forest)
Attack 13 (+10) Hit
Evasion 7 (+8)
Evasive Maneuver: 17 Success, auto-miss
It as getting worse.
It was getting stronger.
The light was not as effective as it used to be.
It was adapting.
"We need to leave, but not without Vladimir!"
Pericles would announce. He was not wrong, it was too dangerous but Vladimir would not come willingly. The Ravenclaw was trudging through the woods, a place he had allegedly traveled many times before. It was obvious at this point as he too suffered from the wild world, that he was not immune to the forest's wrath. He was also a terrible liability. The roots would attempt to snare the youth, vines would lash and branches would swing.
"Lumos for darkness. Let us not start another Incendio forest fire."
The Prefect would announce. They had their orders and Pericles his intentions. Wand drawn, it would level with the back of the fleeing raven. Vladimir was not going to stop for him so Pericles was going to make him stop.
"Immobulus."
The teen would cry.
"We need to leave, but not without Vladimir!"
Vladimir was trudging through the woods, a place he had allegedly traveled many times before. He was not immune to the forest's wrath. The roots would attempt to snare the youth, vines would lash and branches would swing. He was dashing inward in spite.
"Lumos for darkness. Let us not start another Incendio forest fire."
The Prefect would announce. They had their orders and Pericles his intentions. Wand drawn, it would level with the back of the fleeing raven.
"Immobulus."
A gross mispronunciation and a fumbled wand movement could have proven disastrous had the spell rebounded but the perfectionist was able to save himself the very last moment.Pericles casts Immobulus (not in forest) Vlad
DC 1 (+9) (perfectionist prevents Critical Failure) Failed to cast.
Attack 18
Evasion 16
Was he a madman? Vladimir would have been left defenseless in the lashing wood without a means of evasion, defense, escape and there was no plan for extraction. They quite possibly could have killed him. This was a game they were playing with death itself and if they were not careful not everyone would make it out of the wood.
The forest stopped for nobody.
Winnie would feel something attempt to slither around her ankle. Long, and thick and like a rope but... not A great, thick vine would attempt to twist and snare the girl. She would stumble, perhaps a mixture of skill and fortune she would escape harm a second time and the wine lash snared nothing but air.Vine Grab (Lair Actions) Winnie
Attack 9 (+10) Miss
Evasion 14 (+6)
“Winnie, don’t!”
@Aurora Ranvier called out after Winnie, not that her cry would make any more difference than Bloom's decision to follow her into the woods. With Bloom forcibly evacuated, they just needed to save the incredibly fortunate girl. Aurora's right hand grabbed the wand from her pocket, pointed it at Winnie.
“I’m so sorry, I have to do this.”
Would an apology be enough? Aurora pointed her wand at Winnie and declared a single word of power, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
The spell was effective, more effective than the living wood. While dangerous, apparently not as dangerous as the young witch. Galton or Jürgen will likely rue the day they met her when they cross her. Winnie would be lifted from the ground, her feet hovering a few inches above the ground.Aurora casts Leviosa (not in forest) Winnie
DC 6 (+8)
Attack 19 (+10) Success
Evasion 16 (+8)
OK, the girl cannot go any further. She also could not come out. There was also the small matter of evading the forest that was out to skewer her.
The ground would uneasy, she would be able to see it from where she hovered. The roots would attempt to reach up for her. They would attempt to snare her. To drag her down. To take her in. To keep her. Yet Winnie's fortune would persist, the roots would miss.Root Snare (Lair Actions) Winnie
Attack 5 (+10) Miss
Evasion 8, 8 (disadvantage due to leviosa) (+8)
Pericles' eagle eyes (pun intended) would spy something strange about the woods. Yes, the very woods that were already living, lashing out and walking. Indeed, the woods did not seem to care who they attacked - be it the girls or Vladimir, the perpetually "sus" Ravenclaw. The woods had no allies. But the scene was a bit off. The fringe of the forest did mark the end of the murder trees but the forest edge was not exclusive to the murder trees. Such was not mutually exclusive.Pericles Keen Eye Roll: 9 Success
Well, didn't that sound like such a smart thing to say?
The forest edge shifted but only for several feet along the border. Further within the forest however the range appeared wider.
Nell Sixth Sense Roll: 55 Failed
Order of Operations:
1. Thomas Lurks -
2. Dealla cast Lumos Solem
DC 1 (Critical Failure saved by Perfectionist) Failed to cast.
2. Vlad enters forest -
3. Winnie follows Vlad -
4. Bloom follows Winnie -
5. Lavinia follows Bloom and tried to pull her back out of the forest -
Attack 18 (+11) Success
Dodge 8 (+10)
Contested strength Bloom 17 (+8)
Contested Strength Lavinia 20 (+7) Critical success
Bloom was carried/dragged from the woods by Lavinia.
6. Cade follows everyone -
7. Nell follows everyone -
8. Vermin (Lair Actions) target Vlad
Attack 7 Miss
Evasion 9
9. Vladimir casts flippendo at random target besides Winnie that has entered the forest (Nell)
DC 5 (+10)
Attack 4 (+10)
Evasion 3 (+8)
Nell was knocked out of the forest with a flippendo. -100 health 500/600 health remaining.
10. Branch Bash (Lair Actions) Winnie
Attack 3 (+10) Miss
Evasion 8 (+6)
11. Stone (Lair Actions) Vlad
Attack 6 (+10) Hit [-100] 900/1000 remaining. bleeding -10/round
Evasion 5 (+10)
12. Darkness erupts from foot, attacks Thomas (not in forest)
Attack 13 (+10)
Evasion 7 (+8)
12. Pericles casts Immobulus (not in forest) Vlad
DC 1 (+9) (perfectionist prevents Critical Failure) Failed to cast.
Attack 18
Evasion 16
13. Vine Grab (Lair Actions) Winnie
Attack 9 (+10)
Evasion 14 (+6)
14. Aurora casts Leviosa (not in forest) Winnie
DC 6 (+8)
Attack 19 (+10) Success
Evasion 16 (+8)
15. Root Snare (Lair Actions) Winnie
Attack 5 (+10) Miss
Evasion 8, 8 (disadvantage due to leviosa) (+8)
@Sylvain Wyllt never posted
@River Dewlight never posted
Aamon
30 Jul 2021, 20:53
The Lady of the Wood
Hexcode= #507091
A moment of hesitant and withdrawn self-reflection proceeded the warm sanguine drops as they flowed down Sylvain's upper lip, staining his teeth.
With just the breaching stare of piercing blue eyes, he felt a knocking at the portal of his mind. A knocking which was followed by a gushing flood that surged in chaotically, forcing his door ever so slightly ajar. Drowning in the torrent of thoughts that precipitated afterwards, a wave drenching the mental projection of his self, Sylvain gasped for air just narrowly slamming the door shut before Vlad's consciousness could slip through the gaps he had created with his initial attack. Wiping the back of his hand to his nose, Sylvain realized that whatever fleeting hopes he had clung to in desperate desire for reconciliation might as well have been dashed upon the jagged stones once strewn about the forest's floor. His hopes had now been replaced with an understanding of just how uneven the ground between them was. Some people were not kind.
The journal still in one hand, Sylvain dropped the book to the patch of dirt in shock as the pain of Vlad's assault lingered. A stinging ring in his ears caused him to lament having ever opened up to the boy. Without the sounds of the world around him, much had escaped his attention. Some cried for them to return to safety while others pleaded for an organized attempt at a counter assault. Few however listened to his silent pain. Pain that he, even now, wrestled with like the itching shards of a glass heart. Pain his youth would see easily mended by the passage of time. He did not cry aloud, nor whimper with anguish. Instead, a single forlorn tear would stain his cheek as he gave in to reason. It was time to end this madness whether Vlad wanted his help or not.
Although a couple of his housemates had found the resolve necessary to stand beside one another, and despite their preparedness to face the challenges head first, none had succeeded in preparing themselves for the conflict that was now thrust into their lap like a hot potato. Whoever had gathered them had meant to kill them all and likely intended to scrub their memories from existence so they might start the cycle anew. This time perhaps with a chance to get things 'right.' There would be no mercy left for Sylvain to give. No quarter to grant his foes nor love to share with potential allies. All that remained in his heart was righteous indignation at their collective mistreatment and suffering. Anger was a powerful tool so long as one remembered to think before they spoke and only when one viewed the needs of others as being equal to their own would an assertion save them all.
The world about him would thrash violently, throwing a temper tantrum of proportions only a coven of primadonnas could rival. The forest coming to life as if hell bent on attacking his friends and family without cause or reason, other than malice and hatred. Foul, disgusting, vile and wicked. His nose would wrinkle with disgust as his eyes grew dark with fury. The chaotic nature of the world around him would not wreck his stability, instead his willpower would climb his throat as his heart burned with the heat of a sun. Both important to his grand incantation. "Lumos Solem!" would erupt from behind his lips as he pointed his wand to the shadows assailing his housemates, the words passing through the door he had slammed shut in self-defense. "BEGONE THOTS!!!"
Action:Casting Lumos Solem
Calming Presence- An aura of calm. Allies (All Ravenclaws, Vlad included) gain a 10% chance to auto-hit their chosen target. This does not stack.
"Things are never so bad they can't be made worse." -Elim Garak
31 Jul 2021, 14:35
The Lady of the Wood
Interacts with @Winnie Harper | @Lavinia Cloven
Winnie seemed to be running rather fast as Bloom was trying her hardest to catch up to her. It wasn't until she heard her name that Bloom slowed down and looked back. She saw it was Lavinia who not only told her to come back but also took her arm and dragged her back out of the Forbidden Forest.
As she was being dragged, she looked yonder into the darkness and couldn't find Winnie anywhere. "WINNIE!" she shouted, and once fully pulled out, she looked at Lavinia as though she had done something terrible. Instantly, Bloom wasn't being pulled, she was lifted into Lavinia's arms. And finally, the two were "safe".
"Why did you do that? Winnie is by herself in there!!" she shouted at her new friend. Bloom couldn't rationalize herself to realize that Lavinia was doing what was best in saving Bloom's life. Bloom groaned and looked back at the forest.
There were others that were going in. Some got saved by other peers and others did not and ventured further. Not even minutes later, Bloom heard screams of "RUN" and "GET AWAY". What was happening in there?
Bloom took out her want and held it tightly. It was then she realized how useless she was at this very moment. Bloom... Did not know any spells by heart. Never had she studied so intensely like the others. And even more so, never had she done her homework. (Well she did once, but that was as a first year.)
SHIT, she thought to herself. She had nothing in her knowledge trunk to help out. What was she going to do? Better yet, how would this play out for her in a dangerous situation such as this one?
Bloom realized what she had to do her fifth year... Homework and study.
Snapping out of her head, she had to think of something for her to help out with if it wasn't going to be spells.
Bloom wasn't aware, but although out of the forest, the darkness was moving in on them. Unaware of this, she stayed where she was and was trying to find a solution on how she could help them. In a way, Bloom was stiff...
ACTION: Bloom stands still, stuck in her depressive abyss realizing that she can't help them no matter how much she wants to because she never did her homework/study. (OOC: Never got her trunk updated in four years. lmao!)
Stamina - 10| Evasion - 11| Strength - 10| Wisdom - 11| ArcPower - 10 | Accuracy - 11
1 Aug 2021, 22:21
The Lady of the Wood
|
|
───Winnie blinked over at Vladimir after his statement. No, of course he didn’t want any of them here. He had made it perfectly clear that they were the second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on wheels in this little ‘adventure’, but he also hadn’t been the one who had crumpled up her letter. She shook her head, glancing back at Dee and her other fellow eagles.
She became lost in her own thoughts, in the fog that seemed to be a constant these days. Something about Vladimir, shouting at someone to come... Stop... snogging...? It was lost as quickly as it had come, and she was left massaging her temple and huffing in frustration. "It must have been a dream." She said in part to herself, in part to the older boy.
"Nothing, you’re not particularly special." Vladimir would say.
While others may have been insulted by the comment, Winnie felt the tension in her shoulders releasing. Perhaps someone hadn’t targeted her after all, maybe someone had just accidentally stepped on the letter or... It didn’t matter. She would still follow him into the woods, still listen to that terrible curious voice in the back of her head. She still believed someone had tried to keep her out. Well, she would find that someone and give them a piece of her mind! "Everyone stay here!" She shouted at her housemates. Probably a useless statement. Actually, very likely considering how many of them had showed up after the apparent terror of last year.
"You probably won’t be useful in the least, but I have never been a fan of being messed with. As long as you are not wanted, you can lead the way."
"I don’t like being messed with either." She would grumble, her eyes narrowing towards the forest. "Unsure how I’m supposed to lead the way when I don’t know where we’re going, but..." She quirked a brow at him as she stepped through the underbrush with her wand at the ready. If she had the opportunity to step ahead of him, she likely would. She was too bullheaded to use logic in this instance, and how she had been placed in Ravenclaw was a true mystery.
A voice called out from behind her. Familiar, but it took a moment for Winnie to recognize it. Bloom, an older Ravenclaw student that she looked up to. She didn’t want her fellow Ravens to get hurt, as hypocritical as that was. She turned to try and shout back at the girl. "Wait, be careful--“ It would seem she didn’t have a reason to worry too long because her Quidditch teammate was pulling Bloom out of the forest using shear strength she had only seen during a match. It was always shocking, considering how dainty Lavinia looked.
There were more voices, other housemates screaming and yelling at them to stop this foolish attempt. Perhaps they were right. The intelligent thing to do would be to go back. She didn’t have the proper knowledge to even defend herself, nor the time to dwell on it because it seemed their first enemy was fast approaching. Vermin had usually never bothered her. She had grown up on a farm and dealt with many rats and mice. Things were, of course, quite different there. The creatures were well-fed, not willing to fight. A fairytale realm compared to the forbidden forest, where spiders were often considered friends who would banish the various other bugs that tried to bite her during a hard day’s work. She almost jumped in surprise when a rat was suddenly hungry for some Vladimir. Just what the hell were these things eating in the forest?!
Thankfully, the older Ravenclaw decided the rat made a good football and it was soon sent flying against a tree, and then quickly sent Nell flying out of the forest. Winnie made a mental note to stay the hell out of Vladimir’s way. She didn’t quite fancy this new way of flying. A broom was just fine.
The shifting trees were still new to her, but she managed to step out of their way. Until the trees wanted to attack them, at least. A branch came flying at her and would try to smack her to the ground like she was some sort of fly. Luckily, she was already on edge after the rat attack and managed to slide underneath the wooden threat. "Whoa! Geez! I recycle, I swear!" She sputtered in surprise. Well, this was just rude; she had always been very green and a fan of saving the planet and this was the thanks she got?
She turned to check if Vladimir was also unharmed, but instead bore witness to a large spider oozing from his... Blood? Yes, it would form and spring to attention, scurrying off to find a victim. Shit! What had he said? Something about the light, of course. "Lumos!" Winnie called, flicking her aspen-wood wand as she quickened her pace.
“GUYS! Don’t fire spells at him!” She would yell, "You’re going to leave him defenceless AND THEN WE’LL HAVE A MILLION OF THOSE THINGS TO DEAL WITH!" She would miss Thomas almost getting to second base with the shadow spider as the trees attempted another attack on her, this time going for her foot. She would stumble forward, a gasp pressing past her lips.
It was like that muggle book, the Wizard of Oz. The trees were attacking. They just needed to keep moving, to get through and find their Oz. Perhaps Vladimir could ask for a new heart, Winnie would ask for a brain, and Aurora could ask for-- Oh, wait, Aurora! That was her voice calling out to her through the woods. Aurora, her dear dorm mate, who always seemed to know how to make her smile. "I’m fine, don’t worry!"
... Well, she definitely wasn’t smiling now. "Aurora! AURORA!" She would start to thrash under the spell’s effects. "NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE! I’M DEFENSELESS LIKE THIS! I CAN’T MOVE, I--..." Oh great, there was that handsy tree again. A screech she had been holding back escaped her throat. She was lucky this time, it wouldn’t manage to grab her, but it still left her hovering in the air, unable to move. How high could a rat jump again?
Action: Casting Lumos.
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 7
Abilities: Healing Sage & Muggle Condition
│ │ | │ │ | STA: 15 • EVA: 18 • STR: 8 WIS: 11 • ARC: 7 • ACC: 17 | │ │ | • Healing Sage • Muggle Condition • Paragon of Health • • Poison Resistance • Animagus • Wandmaker • Lovely Creature • | │ │ | │ │ |
3 Aug 2021, 10:12
The Lady of the Wood
| @Aurora Ranvier | @Dealla Prince |StatsPericles and Aurora had tried to stop Vladimir and Winnie before they were in reach of the restless woods. Regrettably, intentions and results did not align. Winnie was just within reach of the trees now. Pericles made an attempt to assuage the nearby bird; it was hard to calm himself, but easier to try pacifying another. "Gently," he reminded by a shoulder, tone tranquil though the delivery was tense. "Draw her into the light, don't drop her too quickly." As a duellist, he knew firsthand the bruises brought on by a dropped Leviosa. Surely it was a matter of divine intervention that their spells did not play out either way. What is meant to happen will happen, was one of his mamo's mantras he regularly drew sanity from, and in this moment it rang true. Stopping Vladimir was not what was meant to happen. It wasn't his job to stop the whole house from trundling into an identical scenario, which had nearly cost them their lives last time. It was someone else's job, though, that did not mean he was helpless, nor that he should relent and run with the rest. The spectacularly rare failed cast was a sign, even his wand seemed to know the right thing to do.
"Dee?!" A desperate note ringing with regret; he didn't necessarily want to do this, but seemed to accept it was what he ought to do. Peri tried to catch the eye of his duelling parter, fellow prefect, and- he would venture- friend. "I'm going to get help. Please," don't let them off themselves "be careful."
Summary: encouraging Aurora and asking Dee to be the Big Bird
making mental note to ask Syl what a thot is later
Action: leaving the scene to get helpReducioPerfectionist, Perfectionist II, Keen Eye
Stamina - 7 | Evasion - 9 | Strength - 4 | Wisdom - 9 | ArcPower - 8 | Accuracy - 9
{ 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔟𝔬𝔶: 𝔞 𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢, 𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔬𝔶. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔣𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔢𝔞. }
(iNPC: Madhup Hexum)
3 Aug 2021, 20:12
The Lady of the Wood
Wis - 8 | Arc - 4 Acc - 10
Interacting with :@Pericles Dralt, @Winnie Harper
H-he, he t-touched m-my sh- sh- shoulder. HE TOUCHED MY SHOULDER! What was he thinking? Diffuse the tension? All he did was sprinkling more into the situation. Though, it was a good kind. Stiff as a board, red as a tomato. The jacket that she was wearing will not be washed in the near future to prevent Pericles’ imprint from disappearing. She would cut the shoulder area and frame it if she could and named it 'the touch of the sparkling white haired lad' or something, but that would be creepy on a whole other level. It was a miracle that the girl managed to cast a spell on Winnie successfully, perhaps she was not that inept after all. “DON’T RUN TO THE FOREST THEN! I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE THE TREE’S DINNER!” Okay, maybe I should word it differently, “NOT THAT I DON’T THINK YOU WOULD BE DELICIOUS!” Now that sounded a bit off the topic. Aurora was known to be that oddball who asked for the cannibalism concept back in the Animagi meeting. At this point, if someone thought that she was indeed a hag, no one would defend her. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I DON’T WANT TO EAT YOU! I-“ Then, there came a voice. A voice so heavenly, a piece of music to Aurora’s ear. Again, if she could, a phone would be pulled out to record that tone to bless her every single time she plays it on repeat.
"Gently,"
How could one person have it all? The look, the wit, the magic skill. Whoever might end up with him in the end must be the luckiest person on earth. Must be and should be me. “Oh yes, you are very gentle.” Focus, Aurora! Focus! “Oh, you mean me? You mean I should be? Okay, I uh” Why is he leaving? People always leave, huh? Little did she know, he was looking for a hand to help from someone more skilled, someone that could possibly handle this situation. It was not a selfish reason, but still, the sight of Pericles that gotten smaller and smaller as he ran far away from the edge of the forest hurt her deeply. Abandoned.
Wait, Winnie. The red hair was still in the air, wiggling and trying to reason with Aurora to put her down. Just like the boy said, be gentle. Slowly but surely, she lowered her wand to the ground, making sure she didn’t drop her to the ground like what happened to Violet back in the underworld. Though, it was intentional in the Slytherin’s case. Once her dorm mate is able to put her feet back on the ground, she would check on Winnie, probably scanned quickly if there were any scars and bruised and whatnots. “Winnie, are you okay? Don’t be stupid like that again! You scared me!” Following what most people do, she would then pointed out her wand to the forest and said “Lumos!”
Without mask and sunglasses
Last edited by Aurora Ranvier on 14 Aug 2021, 12:30, edited 1 time in total.
𝙸 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎
Terrible Presence • Evasive Maneuvers • Components • Animagus • Sta 10 | Eva 19 | Str 7 | Wis 8 | Arc 4 | Acc 18 • AR
Terrible Presence • Evasive Maneuvers • Components • Animagus • Sta 10 | Eva 19 | Str 7 | Wis 8 | Arc 4 | Acc 18 • AR
4 Aug 2021, 05:52
The Lady of the Wood
Yeesh! Thomas narrowly avoided the spider coming after him, quick-stepping to the side as nimbly as he could manage. Wryly, he contemplated the last time he entered the Forbidden Forest in such a gung ho fashion and was reminded that times had changed. The Ravenclaw was no longer a first year, but instead a rising third year with far more experience and wisdom. Still, fear was a natural consequence of getting into dangerous affairs, and there was not enough audacity in the world (though Tom possessed quite a lot) to keep his heart from racing. Thoughts of past mistakes made him hesitate, clawing at his insides in addition to his instincts of self-preservation and just common sense, but the wizard persevered.
Common sense was what kept him in the dark for so long, minding his business was an erroneous decision he wouldn't opt for again. Self-preservation was what made him cowardly in the eyes of others and himself. Reminiscing on past mistakes meant that he couldn't focus on the future, his future. These lines of thinking got him nowhere, Thomas thought, and so he rationalized making a rather ridiculous decision: to press on.
There went the Prefect, insisting upon calling for help. No matter. Thomas would take this golden opportunity afforded to him against the will of everyone, staff and students alike. What truly was in those woods, all that time ago? Though conscious for the entirety of the debacle, the Ravenclaws' first trip into the Forbidden Forest taught Thomas nothing. It irked him, beyond measure, to know that after all of that risk last time, there was no reward. Vladimir had to be involved somehow, or at least involved with something else shady, and so he'd hardly pass up the opportunity.
Tom even had plausible deniability! He was trying to help out a fellow classmate! There weren't many opportunities to venture into the woods and return without getting completely admonished. The Ravenclaw would likely have to be dragged out of the Forbidden Forest kicking and screaming, or unconscious, whatever happened first.
Standing up to his full height, Thomas opted to no longer attempt to remain ignored or unseen. Slinking through the shadows was all well and good until they seemed peachy keen on swallowing him up... Still, Tom was a small presence physically, and he didn't exactly try to make himself noticed either.
This arachnid wanted to play ball? So be it. "Alarte Ascendare," Thomas spat out, tone venomous and spiteful. His voice would hardly carry to his peers, however, as his indignation manifested instead as a harsh whisper of sorts rather than a mighty shout. It was good he was annoyed, upset, because it kept almost all of his fear at bay.
He hoped to send the creature flying high into the air. Though there may have been more humane or more effective ways to be rid of the spider, Tom wanted it gone from his sight immediately. Perhaps it would break each of its eight legs when it hit the ground, that would be ideal, but the world wasn't a perfect one and he'd accept a mildly harmed spider over one in perfect health.
Action: Toss the spider into the air, seek vengeance for the arachnid's insolence.
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers II, Statistically Relevant
Stats: Sta 5 || Eva 12 || Str 1 || Wis 11 || Arc P 10 || Acc 10
Evasive Maneuvers II // Wandmaker // Terrible Presence
STAMINA 7 // EVASION 21 // STRENGTH 1 // WISDOM 15 // ARCANE POWER 15 // ACCURACY 13
Hex: #1C4587
5 Aug 2021, 21:18
The Lady of the Wood
Interacting with | @Vladimir Athanatos | @Pericles Dralt | @Cade Darkbound | @Winnie Harper
Open to interactions.
Victor Moore?
The name brought with it a chain of memories, none of them pleasant. The boy burning during last year's Blossom Ball, Dee had escorted his crispy shell to the Hospital Wing. The nightmares that had followed in the weeks after, feeling guilty when Jack had told her he owed her for 'helping' Victor. Then, his oddly stretched skin at the entrance to the Fight Club last summer, accompanied by a burning sensation on her arm, stamped with a number. His impassive face, off to the side, only stoking the conflicts with well-placed words while kids inside the ring were pushed to fight. He had died that day.
Hadn't he?
Dealla's eyes narrowed, considering if Vladimir was making fun of her, for some odd reason. He didn't sound like he was, but distrust against the older eagle went deep, built on more than a year's worth of things she'd heard, things she'd seen. No reason to believe Victor Moore was walking and laying waste to common rooms. "What makes you say that?" Some things were impossible, even in a world where magic was common. And yet...
Her reflexes were faster than those of her peers, her attempt to cast a spell taking place before anyone managed to reach the forest, but the light wouldn't come. Too much of a rush, maybe, that made her fumble the spell, and she cursed quietly, only just avoiding the spell turning to disaster. At least she'd gotten better at that, but it didn't help when the others started stepping between the trees.
Vladimir first, then Winnie, Lavinia holding back Bloom, but no one stopping Nell and Cade. Or, well, someone did, kind of. Vladimir had been sincere in his claim of not wanting them here, as proven by Nell being pushed back out of the forest by his spell, but that still left two stupid first years and Vladimir himself in its shadows.
"Winnie, Cade! Come back!" she yelled after them. "You'll die, you can't win against the forest!" Neither could she, but that didn't stop her from taking a few steps closer to the trees where branches and shadows were now moving, attacking. She bit her lip. She even wanted Vladimir to make it out, if only because she had more questions.
Pericles' desperate voice got her attention, and she flinched slightly. Had she felt relieved that someone else was there to take the lead just a moment ago, that feeling faded immediately, fear settling tightly around her. She'd never minded the responsibility of being a duelling captain, but being in charge of the other students' safety? That was responsibility she didn't want. Still, she nodded. What else could she do? "Be quick," was all she asked. Don't leave me too long.
At least this time she wasn't the only one attempting to summon light. The more lights, the better. Would it help against the trees, too? She didn't know, but it had scared away the vines last year. Darkness was moving between the trees, and Dealla squinted to make out details, get a better grasp of the situation. Oh, how she wished she knew Lumos Maxima. Sunlight would have to do, and hopefully this time, succeed. "Lumos Solem!"
Action | Casting Lumos Solem. If it succeeds, enter the forest.
Stats
Sta 6 | Eva 11 | Str 3 | Wis 10 | Arc 6 | Acc 10
Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer | Perfectionist
Allies: All Ravenclaws except Vladimir
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."
7 Aug 2021, 02:07
The Lady of the Wood
"What makes you say that?"
Dealla would ask. Victor Moore was dead, there was no doubt. He died in front of a dozen witnesses, cut through by the very living darkness that had infected so many of them. Of course there was a hint of madness in the youth, a fight club and some sort of blood magic that they never learned more about. It was not well-known but the teen was a practitioner of a sort of magic that was not commonly taught at Hogwarts.
How and where did he learn it?
There were a number of questions that would remain unanswered. Vlad would have only one for Miss Prince "--It was what I was supposed to believe." He did not believe it but his presence, at least what he saw was too powerful a bait. He needed answers and he would seek them from a source of ill-repute.
It would be in this moment that they would come to understand just how dangerous of a man Vladimir was. Unfettered, free, determined and... bleeding. Yes, bleeding. He had the personality of a hunk of lumber, he lacked inflection and human sympathy in his words or his actions. He did not have such a luxury. There was one issue besides the blood and this less than winning personality - the fact that his mysterious rival had succeeded. Vladimir was aptly distracted, between the journal once held in the Prefect's hands which shed some of his more intimate thoughts on paper, to their very presence.
He was agitated and he was not at his very best.
The Ravenclaws would act dutifully, they would use their heads instead of their brawn in some cases. Lavinia Cloven had likely saved Bloom Silverton's life. Her mighty quidditch player arms would grab the upper classman and drag her away from the edge of the thrashing forest. It was dangerous in there and Bloom was not an academic despite her house of choice, she was ill-equipped for what was waiting to skewer her beneath the canopy.
Yet she did not particularly care. "WINNIE!" Bloom shouted into the wood.
Winnie had run off, off ahead for reasons not fully understood and certainly not logical. Because a suspicious fellow had decided to amble into the forest, the forest that had come to life just a moment earlier. The forest that did not yield to their presence but rather actively attempted to prevent their invasion.
"Why did you do that? Winnie is by herself in there!!"
Bloom protested uselessly. She had no spells to cast. What help would the upper classman have been able to offer the girl besides the opportunity to not die alone.
Vladimir was not about to hold her hand. The forest would come down on Winnie with all of the fury it could muster. By great fortune she would avoid the worst of it. Vladimir was not quite so lucky. "I don’t like being messed with either." Winnie would grumble as she endeavored onward, the intended deterrent hardly doing such with threats of death, injury and perhaps live burial. "Unsure how I’m supposed to lead the way when I don’t know where we’re going, but..."
Vladimir would bend out of the way of a limb that swung for him. "The forest only leads to one place at this hour!" He would shout. There was a reason to travel on this day. A reason that the forest did not always act in a manner akin to a Whomping Willow. A reason why it was now he must tarry onward. She did not need to know the when or the where, it would draw them once they lost sight of the fringe.
"Winnie, Cade! Come back!" Dealla yelled after them. "You'll die, you can't win against the forest!"
Spells would be slung. Some might have proved lethal if they hit their intended marks.
“GUYS! Don’t fire spells at him!” Winnie would yell back at them. "You’re going to leave him defenceless AND THEN WE’LL HAVE A MILLION OF THOSE THINGS TO DEAL WITH!" She would stumble and nearly fall, it was only a matter of time before she stumbled into the arms of something that would not let her go.
"I’m fine, don’t worry!"
She was not fine, or at the very least she soon would not be. Aurora would cast the Leviosa Charm and lift the girl off the ground. she would hover a few feet in the air. "Aurora! AURORA!" She would thrash uselessly in mid air. She would not be able to move deeper into the forest in her presently suspended state, nor would she be able to defend herself adequately against the vegetation that came for her.
She would start to thrash under the spell’s effects. "NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE! I’M DEFENSELESS LIKE THIS! I CAN’T MOVE, I--..." The forest would continue its assault and by good fortune she would be able to evade the ravenous space.
“DON’T RUN TO THE FOREST THEN! I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE THE TREE’S DINNER!”
Or what, she would make it easier for them to take her? That will definitely learn her.
“NOT THAT I DON’T THINK YOU WOULD BE DELICIOUS!”
Say what?
“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I DON’T WANT TO EAT YOU! I-“
All this time poor Winnie was suspended while Aurora rambled.
A hand on Aurora's shoulder, so pale and lovely, almost feminine. "Gently," Pericles Dralt, the androgynous sex symbol of Ravenclaw reminded Aurora.
“Oh yes, you are very gentle.”
Winnie is still in the air.
“Oh, you mean me? You mean I should be? Okay, I uh”
Suspended still.
"Draw her into the light, don't drop her too quickly."
He knew full well the consequences of an abrupt drop of a target would mean. Impact with the ground, a possible prone landing. He would pull himself away from the flustered girl's company. The warmth of his hand imprint likely felt and forever treasures as it lingered moments thereafter.
"Dee?!" Pericles would call out to the fellow Prefect. "I'm going to get help. Please... be careful." A care that she would quickly abandon as she entered the very forest Pericles would escape the range of.
"Lumos Solem!" Sylvain Wyllt, another Prefect would cry. There was but a single shadow, that of the arachnid that had tried to consume Thomas.
The spider bathed in a pool of light upon light would fade and disappear in a wisp of smoke.
Dealla would do the very opposite of staying safe. Of being careful. She would enter the darkened, living wood where the darkness has come to life and peers are slinging spells with reckless abandon.
A spider would emerge from Vladimir's bleeding foot, yes another. His blood was a liability, a weapon in fact.
Thomas Banes would avoid the first spider that had escaped from Vladimir's veins, destroyed now by Sylvain's thot-slaying light, that skittered across the forest floor with uncanny speed and dangerous precision. Every injury Vladimir suffered a liability. Yet nobody asked the right question after all this time, even a year later.
Why did nothing come from Victor blood?
Afflicted by the same disease, Vladimir had sacrificed himself to prolong the life of his friends. He took onto himself the same disease and it had ravaged his body. From the bleeding wound another spider would emerge, only spiders.
The spider would rush away much like the first had.
A pain of the likes she had never experienced before. A pain she would have to endure as Pericles fled. While Winnie was held aloft. A hidden boon as a sharp stone would point upward, breeching the fallen leaves and pine needles but never reach the girl who hovered over the ground.
She would declare this word of power.
"Get away from me!" He shouted, his voice cracked. He would aim for Cade this time, and call out a single word incantation once again. "Flippendo!" He would roar.
The vines would come for Dealla, like great lassos one would attempt to snare her.
At the forest edge Thomas Baines would have a bone to pick with the spiders. The one that had attacked him was already destroyed, Sylvain had stolen from him his rightful kill but there was always another. The blood continued to flow and so did the spiders.
"Alarte Ascendare."
The boy would demand that the other spider take flight. The one that had narrowly missed Aurora moments earlier.
The forest would continue its assault, favoring the fresh sweetness of Dealla over VLadimir and Winnie it would seem.
Winnie would finally be lowered to the ground, Aurora potentially still in a dreamy state until the girl's feet touched the floor. “Winnie, are you okay? Don’t be stupid like that again! You scared me!”
It was not a free action putting her down, so the Lumos would not be cast. However she would be reunited with the girl, that alone should be a happy enough of an ending.
The vermin of the earth which proliferated in this area would catch their scene and like the forest they too hungered.
Dealla would ask. Victor Moore was dead, there was no doubt. He died in front of a dozen witnesses, cut through by the very living darkness that had infected so many of them. Of course there was a hint of madness in the youth, a fight club and some sort of blood magic that they never learned more about. It was not well-known but the teen was a practitioner of a sort of magic that was not commonly taught at Hogwarts.
How and where did he learn it?
There were a number of questions that would remain unanswered. Vlad would have only one for Miss Prince "--It was what I was supposed to believe." He did not believe it but his presence, at least what he saw was too powerful a bait. He needed answers and he would seek them from a source of ill-repute.
It would be in this moment that they would come to understand just how dangerous of a man Vladimir was. Unfettered, free, determined and... bleeding. Yes, bleeding. He had the personality of a hunk of lumber, he lacked inflection and human sympathy in his words or his actions. He did not have such a luxury. There was one issue besides the blood and this less than winning personality - the fact that his mysterious rival had succeeded. Vladimir was aptly distracted, between the journal once held in the Prefect's hands which shed some of his more intimate thoughts on paper, to their very presence.
He was agitated and he was not at his very best.
The Ravenclaws would act dutifully, they would use their heads instead of their brawn in some cases. Lavinia Cloven had likely saved Bloom Silverton's life. Her mighty quidditch player arms would grab the upper classman and drag her away from the edge of the thrashing forest. It was dangerous in there and Bloom was not an academic despite her house of choice, she was ill-equipped for what was waiting to skewer her beneath the canopy.
Yet she did not particularly care. "WINNIE!" Bloom shouted into the wood.
Winnie had run off, off ahead for reasons not fully understood and certainly not logical. Because a suspicious fellow had decided to amble into the forest, the forest that had come to life just a moment earlier. The forest that did not yield to their presence but rather actively attempted to prevent their invasion.
"Why did you do that? Winnie is by herself in there!!"
Bloom protested uselessly. She had no spells to cast. What help would the upper classman have been able to offer the girl besides the opportunity to not die alone.
Vladimir was not about to hold her hand. The forest would come down on Winnie with all of the fury it could muster. By great fortune she would avoid the worst of it. Vladimir was not quite so lucky. "I don’t like being messed with either." Winnie would grumble as she endeavored onward, the intended deterrent hardly doing such with threats of death, injury and perhaps live burial. "Unsure how I’m supposed to lead the way when I don’t know where we’re going, but..."
Vladimir would bend out of the way of a limb that swung for him. "The forest only leads to one place at this hour!" He would shout. There was a reason to travel on this day. A reason that the forest did not always act in a manner akin to a Whomping Willow. A reason why it was now he must tarry onward. She did not need to know the when or the where, it would draw them once they lost sight of the fringe.
"Winnie, Cade! Come back!" Dealla yelled after them. "You'll die, you can't win against the forest!"
Spells would be slung. Some might have proved lethal if they hit their intended marks.
“GUYS! Don’t fire spells at him!” Winnie would yell back at them. "You’re going to leave him defenceless AND THEN WE’LL HAVE A MILLION OF THOSE THINGS TO DEAL WITH!" She would stumble and nearly fall, it was only a matter of time before she stumbled into the arms of something that would not let her go.
"I’m fine, don’t worry!"
She was not fine, or at the very least she soon would not be. Aurora would cast the Leviosa Charm and lift the girl off the ground. she would hover a few feet in the air. "Aurora! AURORA!" She would thrash uselessly in mid air. She would not be able to move deeper into the forest in her presently suspended state, nor would she be able to defend herself adequately against the vegetation that came for her.
She would start to thrash under the spell’s effects. "NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE! I’M DEFENSELESS LIKE THIS! I CAN’T MOVE, I--..." The forest would continue its assault and by good fortune she would be able to evade the ravenous space.
“DON’T RUN TO THE FOREST THEN! I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE THE TREE’S DINNER!”
Or what, she would make it easier for them to take her? That will definitely learn her.
“NOT THAT I DON’T THINK YOU WOULD BE DELICIOUS!”
Say what?
“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I DON’T WANT TO EAT YOU! I-“
All this time poor Winnie was suspended while Aurora rambled.
A hand on Aurora's shoulder, so pale and lovely, almost feminine. "Gently," Pericles Dralt, the androgynous sex symbol of Ravenclaw reminded Aurora.
“Oh yes, you are very gentle.”
Winnie is still in the air.
“Oh, you mean me? You mean I should be? Okay, I uh”
Suspended still.
"Draw her into the light, don't drop her too quickly."
He knew full well the consequences of an abrupt drop of a target would mean. Impact with the ground, a possible prone landing. He would pull himself away from the flustered girl's company. The warmth of his hand imprint likely felt and forever treasures as it lingered moments thereafter.
"Dee?!" Pericles would call out to the fellow Prefect. "I'm going to get help. Please... be careful." A care that she would quickly abandon as she entered the very forest Pericles would escape the range of.
"Be quick," was all she asked, not that he would remain idle long enough to answer or perhaps even hear.Pericles Dralt has left the topic.
"Lumos Solem!" Sylvain Wyllt, another Prefect would cry. There was but a single shadow, that of the arachnid that had tried to consume Thomas.
A burst of bright light would erupt from the tip of his wand as he thrust his wand in the direction of the single arachnid incursion. "BEGONE THOTS!!!"Syl casts Lumos Solem
Roll: 7 (+10)
The spider bathed in a pool of light upon light would fade and disappear in a wisp of smoke.
Dealla would do the very opposite of staying safe. Of being careful. She would enter the darkened, living wood where the darkness has come to life and peers are slinging spells with reckless abandon.
A spider would emerge from Vladimir's bleeding foot, yes another. His blood was a liability, a weapon in fact.
Thomas Banes would avoid the first spider that had escaped from Vladimir's veins, destroyed now by Sylvain's thot-slaying light, that skittered across the forest floor with uncanny speed and dangerous precision. Every injury Vladimir suffered a liability. Yet nobody asked the right question after all this time, even a year later.
Why did nothing come from Victor blood?
Afflicted by the same disease, Vladimir had sacrificed himself to prolong the life of his friends. He took onto himself the same disease and it had ravaged his body. From the bleeding wound another spider would emerge, only spiders.
The spider would rush away much like the first had.
It would come for the young girl. It was fast and it would rush her, with a bounding leap it would attempt to assail the young girl's face but miss and grip onto her upper arm. Through her knit shirt it would plunge shadowy fangs and inject an unseen poison into her. The pain of the initial injury would be jarring, the sort of pain that has a burning sting that would quickly start to spread. Spread along unseen lines, his veins, this throbbing ache that would extend through her being.Random Target:7 - Pericles Dralt6 - Aurora
Attack 18 (+10)
Evasion 18 (+8)
A pain of the likes she had never experienced before. A pain she would have to endure as Pericles fled. While Winnie was held aloft. A hidden boon as a sharp stone would point upward, breeching the fallen leaves and pine needles but never reach the girl who hovered over the ground.
At least this time Dealla wasn't the only one attempting to summon light. The more lights, the better. That was what she had learned from previous encounters. What the sus eagle also told them. "Lumos Solem!"Lair Action (Stone) auto-misses -- Winnie
She would declare this word of power.
A bright light, too bright really would erupt from her wand. A duelist. A perfectionist. This was what she was capable of, a moment of victory that would enrage the forest dark.Dealla casts Lumos Solem
Roll 19 Critical Success due to Perfectionist.
They needed to get out of there. All of them, he looked down at his bleeding foot in horror. He could barely feel it. The curse had ravaged his body so deeply that he had become accustomed to pain. He barely felt the piercing stone but rather the soaked sock.Critical Success Lumos Solem
"Get away from me!" He shouted, his voice cracked. He would aim for Cade this time, and call out a single word incantation once again. "Flippendo!" He would roar.
He would not blast Cade out of the forest, but rather it would backfire and send Vladimir further in. He would tumble backwards as he flew back several feet. He would come to ab abrupt halt when he crashed into the trunk of a rather large tree. Dazed and disoriented he would struggle to stand.Vladimir casts Flippendo at Cade
Roll 16
Attack 1 Critical Failure
Evasion 16
The vines would come for Dealla, like great lassos one would attempt to snare her.
She would scurry out of the vine's grip. It would wither as it entered the range of her light.Vines attempt to snare Dealla
Attack: 2 (+10)
Evasion: 6 (+11)
At the forest edge Thomas Baines would have a bone to pick with the spiders. The one that had attacked him was already destroyed, Sylvain had stolen from him his rightful kill but there was always another. The blood continued to flow and so did the spiders.
"Alarte Ascendare."
The boy would demand that the other spider take flight. The one that had narrowly missed Aurora moments earlier.
He would try but he would miss.Thomas casts Alarte Ascendare
Roll 8 (+11)
Attack 8 (+10)
Evasion 14 (+10)
The forest would continue its assault, favoring the fresh sweetness of Dealla over VLadimir and Winnie it would seem.
Something would catch her foot and cause her to fall to the ground. She would land on her knees. Closer to eye level she would see it, the terrible chaos that was the forest floor. How the roots shifts, the branches moved, the stones changes. It was agitation, not purpose.Root snare - Dealla
Attack 19 Hit
Evasion 1
Evasive Maneuvers: 12 Failed
Winnie would finally be lowered to the ground, Aurora potentially still in a dreamy state until the girl's feet touched the floor. “Winnie, are you okay? Don’t be stupid like that again! You scared me!”
It was not a free action putting her down, so the Lumos would not be cast. However she would be reunited with the girl, that alone should be a happy enough of an ending.
The forest would continue to rage. the downed girl would see a great tree branch come slamming down on her.Winnie is on the ground and at the forest edge.
The limb would hit her hard in the back, pushing the girl as she tried to stand back down to the ground.Branch Bash (Lair Action) - Dealla
Attack 16 (+10)
Evasion 3 (+11)
Evasive Maneuvers: 88 Failed
The vermin of the earth which proliferated in this area would catch their scene and like the forest they too hungered.
Dealla would have to crawl out of the way, rushing away from the rabid creature.Vermin Attack (Lair Action) - Dealla
Attack 9 (+10) Miss
Evasion 9, 18 (disadvantage) (+11)
Evasive Maneuver:
What Happened?
Nell did not post, outside of forest. 500/600 health
Cade did not post, inside the forest. Full health
1. Peri leaves
2. Sylvain yells about thots and casts Lumos Solem, pointing it at a shadow spider.
3. Dealla Enters Forest
4. spider attack
5. already made spider attacks
5.1 Dealla casts Lumos Solem Critical Success due to perfectionist.
6. Stone (Lair Actions) auto-misses Winnie because she is being held up by Leviosa.
7. Vlad Flippendos Cade Critical Failure Knocks self back, disadvantage for the duration of the round. [-100] 800/1000
8. Vine Grab (Lair Actions) against Dealla, misses. Wilts when it enters the light.
9. Alarte Ascendare by Thomas on spider that remains, misses.
10. Root Snare (Lair Actions) against Dealla, catches her foot. She is suffering disadvantage. [-50] 550/600 She will need to pull herself free - she cannot leave the forest or move further inward, suffers disadvantage against attacks.
11. Aurora un-casts Leviosa (not in forest) on Winnie. Winnie is now on the ground.
12. Branch Bash (Lair Actions) against Dealla. Hit. [-100] 450/600
13. Vermin (Lair Actions) against Dealla. Miss.
Aamon