Hogwarts Summer Camp 2021 Chess Combat (Match 1) Closed

RPing as iNPC Alisa Sokolova.

Action: Doing as strategized.

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Clearly, the game was fast drawing to a close, and things had gone from bad to worse, and then from worse to utterly disastrous. While Karilyna had seemed to find her footing with two consecutive hits, her team had steadily declined, and it seemed in the blink of an eye that their numbers had been reduced to three. And worse yet, it'd been her failure to seize several chances to cast that had played an admittedly significant role in their crumbling state, her fault that they were apparently slowly approaching their demise as time inevitably ticked on. The realization sent her stomach churning, guilt worming through her insides. She'd originally been so fired up for the duel, had even been confident in their chances of winning - and it had been looking up for them, but then she'd ruined it all.

Though distracted and thoroughly disgusted with herself, Karilyna set her jaw, raising her wand for just one last chance. It was unlikely she could turn the tides, having only two teammates while all five Slytherins remained standing, and with so little time left, but at least she could make one last attempt. Anything to prove her worth.

Round 15

SLYTHERIN WINS!

The last few seconds of the match were ticking down, and it felt like both sides knew it. No one chose to move - what would be the point? Everyone who could focused on attacking and healing, a last desperate attempt to turn the tide in their favour.

Ileen and Milosh weren't in a position to do either - no one in their line of sight, unable to heal for lack of knowledge or wand, and could simply watch the rest of the game find its end. Milosh looked ready to dodge, although no one was in a position to aim at him. Perhaps his care was not entirely unfounded, however: Who knew, some of these people had terrible aim. For example Alexander, who had apparently been planning to gift Karilyna with one last Knockback Jinx, but whose spell instead came dangerously close to hitting Santario.

Bridget, Illowy, and Alisa took the opportunity to heal, themselves or their teammates, to give them a final boost in trying to come out on top. Santario and Karilyna chose the offense, both with the same spell, and both Knockback Jinxes found their mark. It was as equal a round as it could have been. No grand successes, no great mishaps, each spell solidly cast (although one somewhat misdirected). "Stop!" Dee called, raising her arms to make the command more noticeable before she stepped onto the field. "This match is over due to the set time limit." But who had won?

It was a close thing, certainly. The international team was two members down, but the remaining members generally in much better shape than most of the Slytherins (except for Alexander, who, aside from a nasty cold earlier in the match, had gone through the entire thing untouched). However, Slytherin had clawed themselves back into a position of advantage some time ago, and since then stubbornly refused to give it up. They had held themselves up better, done more damage. A deserved victory.

"Congratulations to the Viridian Vipers, representing Hogwarts and Slytherin, for the first victory of the day!"

Information

1. This match has ended.
2. Feel free to make an exit post (50 words min). This is not mandatory.
3. If you have questions or notice something odd about the mod post, don't hesitate to owl or DM one of the moderators.
4. The overall winner will be determined by the outcome of the last running match, rewards will only be available afterwards.
5. Congrats everyone! Thank you for participating and sticking with us, I hope you had fun!

@Santario Martin | @Bridget Collins | @Alexander Varellion | @Ileen Knight | @Illowy Magnard
@Aurora Ranvier | @Edric Banes | @Annie Morgan | @Thora Larkston | @Elena Jangleton

Spectator thread

Good game everyone!

Playing as iNPC Milosh Rehnquist

Language: Bold - Russian | Italicized - English
Good game guys!

Credit to Dmitri Jones

Something about the knowledge this was almost over came with a heaviness. This was the last push. Mentally, it was easiest, but the boost of energy she'd gained when things had started turning around chose that moment to fade. They'd been duelling for a long time, hadn't they? She could feel the Knockback Jinxes she'd taken earlier, her shoulder starting to ache holding up her wand. As much as she enjoyed the sport, she was ready for the match to be over.

With no target, sure she couldn't move to regain one in time, and the exhaustion trickling in, she decided another Reparifors sounded like a good idea. Neither Queen would be going down; might as well do what she could to make the Vipers look convincingly in the lead. They were up two players but she, Santario, and Illowy had all taken quite the beating. With the aid of the healing, she forced herself to straighten up, to look alive as she watched the last exchange of spells. A final two powerful Flipendos from Santario and Karilyna; Illowy was looking pretty bad at this point. But it was over.

And now they had to hold their breath and wait for the verdict. Wand lowered, she watched as Dee made her way onto the board. A beat of overpowering anticipation and then... Congratulations to the Viridian Vipers. They did it. The thrill of victory acted quickly, shifting her expression into a wide grin. It felt good to have fought so hard and pulled through. Sometimes duels were mismatched, practically decided before they began, but not this one. This one had been earned. Better yet, they were all present for the declaration, battered but five strong. "We did," Santario's words echoed with only a bit more energy.

Not everyone would be leaving so happy, of course. For there to be winners, there also had to be losers. The opposing Queen seemed to be taking it especially hard; she was careful not to stare at the breakdown. When he did get up, though, turning to walk off, she felt she should say something. Sportsmanship was important and really, his performance, all of theirs, was nothing to scoff at. The international team had made winning incredibly hard. "You all played well. Thank you for competing with us." The words felt a little awkward. But not wrong, she hoped.

At that point, turning back to her team and handing out a few compliments on their overall strong performance, she was tempted to lay down where she stood. The grass looked nice, soft. Getting to the medical staff was probably a better idea, though, and the next game would be starting up in a while. Best to ready for that; the Vipers had started the day off with a win, but they would still need one more.

Thank you for moderating, Dee and Peri! And good game everyone, this was a lot of fun.

Eligible for Rewards:
To be eligible for rewards, your team should have won two out of three Chess Combat matches (Slytherin won match 1 and match 2) and you shouldn't be disqualified.

@Santario Martin
@Bridget Collins
@Ileen Knight
@Illowy Magnard

Please link to this post in the trunk updates if you are eligible for rewards and wish to claim your +1 stat point from this duel.