The Lady of the Wood Ravenclaw Murder Thread Finished

Mentions @Marcus Iwasaki | @Zoë Fresnel | @Vladimir Athanatos | @Pericles Dralt

With a flash, the centipede was bound. Usually, Dee might have reacted with a satisfied grin, a short exclamation, but now she just took the small burst of relief gratefully, with no further reaction. Blinking hard, she tried to force her tears to cease, using a shrapnel-free part of her sleeve to wipe away tears (and snot).

The gigantic insect was struggling against its invisible bonds, but for the moment not breaking free, and Dee raised her wand again, then paused. Now... what? How did you deal with a creature like that? Feeling a little helpless, Dealla's eyes wandered first to Professor Iwasaki and Professor Fresnel for advice. When the two adults had arrived, she had thought they would save them, like Professor Equinox and Professor Browne last time, but with each passing moment, that belief faded a little more.

So instead, oddly, she looked to Vladimir for instruction. He had brought this thing here, had known to blow up the doll, surely, he must know more? Where this centipede had come from, how to deal with it? Clearly, this had been the reason he'd been so determined to enter the forest in the first place. What, and why, and how, the questions were endless. She opened her mouth to ask but paused. Vladimir still had that hole in his chest to deal with, the spiders trying to crawl out, as the disturbing moving bandage reminded her. Perhaps, for once, questions should wait.

Then, finally, Pericles was next to her. Her duelling partner provided more assurance in that moment than the professors did, his presence familiar at her side, steady and reliable, and apparently with a plan. Cutting the thing seemed like a better idea than setting it on fire, she decided. It was a good choice.

Another sniff, another wipe with her sleeve, a determined nod, and Dee focused again on the centipede. "Diffindo."

Action | Casting Diffindo at the centipede

Stats
Sta 6 | Eva 11 | Str 3 | Wis 10 | Arc 6 | Acc 10

Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer | Perfectionist
Allies: All Ravenclaws except Vladimir

130/600 HP
Bleeding

Interacting: @Zoë Fresnel, all the Ravenclaws at the edge of the forest, @Vladimir Athanatos
Mentioning: @Dealla Prince, @Pericles Dralt

The sight of the blue-burning forest would be etched into Marcus' memory for a long time after this, but for now he focused his amber gaze on the area between the trees. Pericles held knowledge that Vladimir Athanatos was still inside, and then Dealla pointed out to him that there were several others still in the forest. This is really not what he expected when he had found that note only a few minutes ago. Perhaps they should have brought more staff, because a trek into the forest was not to be taken lightly - something these children did not seem to understand. What had motivated all of this? Was it truly them just trying to solve a riddle? His eyes went to the group of Ravenclaws huddled outside the forest.

"All right! No one else is to enter the forest! If you are injured, come over here to-" Before the Head of Ravenclaw could announce a plan and next steps - primarily getting these guys to head back to camp so that he and Professor Fresnel could focus on those still inside - he saw movement out the corner of his eye. He turned back to the forest and saw a trio of students. Thomas Baines and Callie Jensen, check. And Vladimir Athanatos not far behind... was he carrying someone? With these three in sight (four with the one on Vladimir's back?), and the fact that Marcus could see the figure of Bloom Silverton through the trees from Dealla pointing her out, he realized the plan could change. Everyone was accounted for in this case, and it seemed like no one was in immediate danger now. They just needed to get these four (possibly five) to come out of the thicket of trees, and deal with the seemingly minor injuries of the rest.

Without warning, though, Thomas suddenly cast a spell in Callie's direction and sent the girl flying. Marcus' normally serious expression showed one of shock at this act, and he was nowhere close to being able to break the fall of the blonde girl. Callie's body looked motionless when she landed, and her well-being became the immediate priority. "Professor Fresnel, can you help Callie? I'll grab the student from..."

Marcus' eyes had gone back to the approaching Vladimir and the student he was carrying, only to realize it wasn't a student at all. It was a doll that the boy dropped to the ground, so the Head of Ravenclaw's words trailed off. What he had mistakenly assumed was an injured student was a patchwork of rags and a strange contorted face that vaguely resembled a human one. He could not make out the conversation that appeared to be happening between Vladimir and Thomas, but it culminated in Vladimir aiming his wand at the thing on the ground. And though he couldn't hear the incantation that was spoken, Marcus saw the movement of Vladimir's wand and his eyes widened.

The effect of bombarda was instantaneous. The sizeable doll exploded into many sharpened pieces, connecting with quite a few of the students. Everyone seemed spurred into action by this, particularly when they all noticed that Vladimir was leaking spiders from his chest. And there was an enormous centipede that had escaped from the doll remains. Right - action. Time for action. Although he had evaded getting struck by the porcelain shrapnel, Marcus' senses felt heightened. There was the smell of blood from all the cuts that the doll had caused - quite a few people were bleeding. And then there was the fact that this situation he had believed was minor damage control had just escalated exponentially.

"Fresnel - are you okay?" he asked, turning his head to the blonde woman beside him. He saw she was bleeding - she'd been hit by the shrapnel - but she was hiding how bad it was and waved away his question of concern. Marcus knew she was downplaying her injuries, but he also knew they needed to put the students first. "If you can - I think Callie needs your help the most right now," Marcus said, gesturing towards the brink of the forest where Callie, Bloom and Thomas were now. As he turned back to the centipede, it was already immobilized by a spell from a student. These kids seemed to have lightning quick reflexes. The whiplash of everything that was happening - believing it was resolved then having it escalate outside the forest - caught Marcus off guard and seemed to have him moving slow... but he was feeling oriented again.

Vladimir bound his own chest, and others used the light spells needed to vanquish the spiders of darkness that had escaped before that. After the fiasco back in February, the eagles clearly knew the way to get rid of them. The Head of Ravenclaw was actually quite impressed, but now wasn't the time for that. His attention focused on the centipede, which presented the greatest threat right now. The forest was no longer attacking, the monster blood that Pericles had mentioned before was nowhere to be seen - unless he had meant the fact that Vladimir apparently leaked spiders - and the bluebell flames weren't about to burn anyone here presently. Although the centipede was immobilized by an excellently cast charm, it wouldn't hold forever. Marcus' first thought was to destroy it, but his confusion about the whole situation had him hesitating. He had not seen this creature before or heard that it dwelled in the Forbidden Forest - maybe they needed it. Whatever it was clearly seemed to be at the epicenter of this whole riddle thing that had lured everyone here.

Before he could grab his wand and bind the creature for good, or even try to restrain it physically, both Dealla and Pericles cast diffindo. It was good thinking. Smarter than trying to light it on fire at least, though he had been tempted to capture it alive. No matter, his attention quickly went to Vladimir now, as he presented the next threat. Marcus was not positive why the spiders were coming from him, but he probably had more information than Marcus did. For that reason, the Head of Ravenclaw hurried over to the fifth-year and asked, "Will healing spells help you or hurt you?" The fact that Vladimir had used the bandaging spell rather than an actual spell that would seal his wounds made Marcus hesitate to pull his own wand and heal him.

TL;DR: Summarizing everything that's happened since my last post with reactions and being impressed by the quick actions of the Ravenclaw students (immense apologies for not replying in so long x-x reach out if I'm missing something/incorrectly wrote something)
Action: N/A (asking Vladimir a question)

Racial Abilities: Werewolf Form (Rend, Bite, +10% damage) | Heightened Senses (tell familiar people by smell) | Track Hidden People (within 24 hours) | Wolf's Cry | Predatory Abilities (+25% chance to enter hidden, +2 stealth) | Intimidation (uneasiness, -1 acc, +1 crit fail to all around)
Chosen Abilities: Obnoxiously Strong (+15% strength) | Martial Artist

Stats: Stamina: 15 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 20 (23) | Wisdom: 4 | Arcane Power: 4 | Accuracy: 15

Interacting With: @Marcus Iwasaki, @Callie Jensen, @Bloom Silverton, and @Thomas Baines

Zoë’s head cocked and swiveled back and forth as she continued to try and assess the situation. She could recognize several of the students' faces but, with the pandemonium of the situation, it was difficult to discern exactly what was going on. Even worse, it was challenging to get a good enough look at the students to see who might truly need help. She also wondered if she and Marcus would be enough to get a handle on the situation. Dealing with whatever threat existed and making sure to keep each and every student safe wouldn’t exactly be the easiest task.

While Zoë’s attention had remained scanning the situation of any injuries, she began to hear the sudden sounds of crashing and a thud. She hadn’t seen what caused the sound, but she had a good enough idea. Her head whirled around and halted on what she believed to be its source. A student lay motionless on the ground a small distance away. Zoë didn’t witness the spell that launched the girl into the air but it didn’t matter, seeing a child not moving was enough to galvanize her into action.

“I see her,” Zoë began to reply as Marcus asked for her to aid the fallen Callie. She didn’t need to be asked a second time. Whatever had happened to the girl, had been enough to leave her unmoving and Zoë didn’t want to waste any more time than she had to. Immediately she turned from her position and began moving towards the area where Callie lay. But her attempt to aid the girl was cut painfully short.

Her attention had somewhat tunneled on the injured student and she hadn’t even begun to consider the remaining threats. Hearing a sudden loud bang, Zoë instinctively turned her head. She had turned thinking there would be some threat to address but instead, the professor would be greeted by a sudden hail of porcelain shrapnel. The erupted doll that housed the horrifying centipede had sent several shards of porcelain directly into Zoë. One left a gash across the left side of her head, another buried itself in Zoë’s thigh which allowed blood to flow freely down her leg. Unable to mount any defense against the peppering shrapnel, the woman would receive smaller cuts across her neck and left arm. Her once white top would quickly begin wearing a gruesome fresh coat of blood.

The large shard wedged in Zoë’s thigh brought the woman momentarily to her knees as she tried to hold in the immense pain that suddenly washed over her. The gashes and bits of porcelain in her body screamed with agony but Zoë forced herself to maintain a straight face, beyond the occasional wince. Under normal circumstances, Zoë would know to retreat and tend to the wounds but the students still needed her. Warm blood streamed down the side of Zoë’s face as she forced herself to rise back to her feet. She had a sudden urge to launch a torrent of dangerous spells at whatever fool had thought it wise to cross her. But again, she beat back the urge and reoriented herself on the situation.

The familiar voice of Marcus briefly pulled her attention as the man checked to make sure she was okay. With blood forming a delta on her jawline, Zoë forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me. Just a flesh wound,” Zoë lied, trying to conceal the shard jutting from her thigh. “I agree. I’ll get to Callie, don’t worry,” the woman nodded.

Not wasting further time chatting, Zoë ran over towards Callie. The girl was now being carried by the familiar faces of Bloom and Thomas. Zoë knew that the pair were just trying to help but even on the approach, she could see the girl was bleeding and there was no telling what other injuries she might have. Carrying her without first stabilizing her might only result in more tragedy. “Stop, stop, stop,” Zoë began to say towards the two helping students as she approached. “She needs to be stabilized or things might get worse.” She didn’t want to scare the students as they were trying to help but the safety of Callie was most important.

For a moment, Zoë considered asking the students to leave Callie with her, but she thought it might be safest if they kept moving. Thus far, it seemed like new threats could come from anywhere and she didn’t want to risk the children. “Hold Callie steady and move slowly and carefully. I will do what I can to quell the bleeding,” Zoë explained, making sure her voice remained calm and collected. Keeping with the students, she would hold her wand over Callie’s unconscious body. Tracing the wand over any visible wounds, Zoë would melodically utter the incantation, “Vulnera Sanenur...Vulnera Sanenur...Vulnera Sanenur…”

The pain of Zoë’s own wounds seemed to be growing with each passing second but she made sure to keep the pain forced to the back of her mind. Her focus was solely on mending the child as best she could before her peers could carry her off to the nurse. It wasn’t the most advantageous position to try healing a student, but she wanted to ensure they could all get to safety without any unnecessary lingering. Callie’s situation looked dire, but part of Zoë was thankful that there were still students with the strength to help as best they could. Things were dire, but she believed they could have been far worse.

Abilities:

Reducio

Lovely Creature:
You are very distracting to look at. This increases the Control DC of spells in duels and adventures by +2 as well as the DC for finding things in adventures.
Perfectionist:
You have a reduced critical failure chance range by 1. In addition, you can counter up to 1 point of additional critical failure chances caused by abilities or spells (not potions). In other words, if you have an extended critical failure chance range (as is the case with certain races, the effect of certain spells or potions), this reduces that range by 1. So if you have a +2 critical failure chance range (meaning if you roll a 1,2, or a 3 you critically fail), this ability makes it a +1 critical range instead (meaning if you roll a 1 or a 2 you critically fail).

OOTD:

Reducio

Terrible Presence

Sta - 5 | Eva - 8 | Str - 5 Wis - 8 | Arc - 4 Acc - 10

Evasive Maneuvers

Interacting with :
@Winnie Harper @Pericles Dralt
Mentioning :
None

She wondered how ugly her crying face looked. Not to mention the slime residue surrounding her lips. Also, there was a weird feeling on her lips every time she cried, it felt like getting thicker as if someone gave her lip injection when in reality, it was still the usual size. Upon hearing Pericles’ explanation on why he didn’t help the spidery chest guy, her mouth ran dry. They were on the same boat. The healing spells were still too advanced and yet, he still tried to help while Aurora was just crying and screaming nonsense. A quiet ‘sorry’ was muttered repeatedly, one for her impoliteness towards the older ravenclaw, two for her lack of ability and logic to help the situation.

There is always light in the dark. Despite the trauma she had to endure after that day, she felt loved by her fellow eagles. Dee and Syl cast spells on her to prevent her from getting hurt, Peri treated her wound, and Winnie had the greatest idea to carry her bride style. The feeling was overwhelming, she didn’t know the main reason for the tears that kept on coming. Was it out of fear or out of joy? “Winnie, w-where are we going?” She said it between sobs. Fear, happiness, then suddenly the guilt followed her trail. Looking back to what she did during the murderous date, and now one of her pepper spray victims still willing to help made her feel extremely guilty. Since that day, the girl was worrying about losing a friend, but Winnie was so much kinder and more accepting than she thought. People like Winnie should be cherished and pampered with love. “Winnie, I am so sorry for what I did to you and him.” There was no need to mention his name. Not that she would say it right anyway.

“Winnie, you are still bleeding” The girl could always rip her own clothes, but at the time where her strength diminishes every second, maybe doing it as fast as she could would be a failure. At times like these, she should think of making other known spells useful. What spell would conjure some type of fabric other than that thing that starts with ‘f’? Yes, the blindfold spell. Technically, if someone cast obscuro on the target’s eye, obviously it would cover their vision. But what if she tries to do it on another part of the body? Curious. Very curious. “I don’t know if this would work, but in my mind it will work just fine, and it should because if not, magic sucks!” Aurora tightened the grip on her wand then cast the spell on the redhead’s open wound. “Obscuro”

Obscuro-ing Winnie's wound

Outfit Reducio Without mask and sunglasses

HP : 120/500

Winnie's heart was pounding against her chest as she carried her dorm mate away from the madness of the forest. She was unsure how she mustered enough strength to haul her friend back towards the campgrounds when she herself was injured, but she did have adrenaline rushing through her body. "Away from here." She answered Aurora, tugging the poor crying girl closer in an attempt to comfort her. "We should have turned back when Vladimir told us to." She wished she could unsee the horrors she had witnessed within the forest, to dispose of the knowledge. The tree had moved. They had moved. Worse than that, she had almost lost her friend to one of those shadow vermin... She couldn't bear the thought.

She had been so angry at Aurora after she had pepper-sprayed her and Matt during their group date, but the thought of her getting hurt... It had shaken the anger right out of her. "... Need to get you to the nurse..." She tried to continue to explain. At this point she was starting to lose her wind, panting a bit as she continued to carry the girl until she heard her crying harder than before. "Shh, it's.. Don't worry, Rori... I..." Her own bottom lip started to tremble as the night's events suddenly began to overwhelm her. "I was so scared. You worried me... Don't go running away from your group, Aurora! That should be survival tip number one." She scolded her friend. As if she were one to talk, considering she had run in first.

It was with a look of confusion that her explanation for the spell she was about to cast was met with. Then, she realized what the girl was talking about. "Wait--..." She tried to warn her, but it was too late, the spell had already left her wand.

Action: Carrying Aurora and running.
STATS: STA: 6 | EVA: 6 | STR: 7 | WIS: 7 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 7
Abilities: Healing Sage & Muggle Condition (+3 accuracy roll on non-magical attacks and actions).
Health: 400/600 (Bleeding: -20/round) | Trunk: X

Hexcode= #507091

It was a perilous night indeed. Although, on second inspection, the forest seemed different when the flickering blue light of flames poked through the branches of the trees. It seemed almost sort of... calmer. Focus having shifted, from treeline to wounded housemates, Syl's resolve only became steadier and steadier. Gripping his wand and making his way towards the professors, Sylvain would let go of the concentration he had thus so far maintained.

Fire was no longer needed, and his light had done the trick in vanquishing some of the shadow spiders. Now was their chance to share light and healing.

"You gotta do something!" Sylvain shouted to Marcus as he moved, hoping to spur his head of house into action. Asking Vlad for answers wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. "More spiders will come from Vlad if you don't!"

It was only a matter of time of course. A matter of time before whatever hag that inhabited the woods beset them. Vlad had stolen from it, and something far more precious than a diary by the way. Sylvain's flames certainly didn't seem the kind of thing that a hag would just 'let go,' though so maybe they would both be to blame if someone lost their life tonight. Not a good train of thought to get caught in to say the least.

He would cast lumos, "LUMOS!" and hover in his place between Dee, Pericles, and Marcus, just waiting for the others to close in on their position so they could all escape to safety. He hadn't come here looking for a fight, but he would stay by their sides even if it were the last thing they would do. At least they could survive standing together.

"Yes! GO MISS FRESNEL!" Sylvain would shout as she took off towards the tree line to heal what looked like a severely abused Callie. What exactly was Thomas doing to her in there anyways!? From the looks of it, nothing good. Maybe he could explain himself, but first they all had to get out of this predicament alive.

Action: Ending concentration on Bluebell Flames, casting Lumos.

Calming Presence- An aura of calm. Allies (House Ravenclaw) gain a 10% chance to auto-hit their chosen target. This does not stack.

@Pericles Dralt, @Dealla Prince, @Marcus Iwasaki, @Zoë Fresnel, @Callie Jensen, @Thomas Baines

Outside the Forest

"All right! No one else is to enter the forest! If you are injured, come over here to-"

Marcus would order the students, not that they would listen to him or anyone for that matter. they marched to the beat of their own drum and rarely did it make much sense in spite of the fact that they were known as the academic house. One would have thought that they would have been actively assessing and experimenting, testing varied hypothesis' but Ravenclaw was not a house of cliches.

But this would be how things would conclude, as the Ravenclaws finally got it together. They finally realized that it was not for works of glory or for heroic (foolhardy) endeavors that they would arrive victorious. If anything, those that ran off on their own proved to be an albatross to the collective. @Dealla Prince would freeze the centipede in place. The centipede would remain still, under the power of of her spell. @Pericles Dralt and Dealla both would brandish his wand and cast the Severing Charm at the agitated stilled centipede.

"Diffindo."

Pericles cast Diffindo at the Centipede.
Wisdom (+9) 12
Attack (+9) 14
Dodge [bound]

Dealla cast Diffindo at the Centipede.
Wisdom (+10) 15
Attack (+10) 18
Dodge [bound]

The centipede was not able to avoid the magical lashing. One slash. A second. The creature that had emerged from the smashed body would appear to be bisected by the well-timed and coordinated assault.

The still monster that was piloting that boy would be destroyed.

Vladimir was in no state to be of great assistance to any of them at this time, bloodied from his own reckless and perhaps desperate attack. He was pale, sweating, trembling and crying but he did not say a word. He had no instruction, no warning to offer. This was meant to be a private moment but instead this became a public display. If anything, he followed the lead of his peers as the massive centipede emerged from the humanoid porcelain boy that was destroyed by his hasty spell.

If they followed his pattern, they would see it was a reflection of their own. That they knew what to do, at least when they worked together. His wand was leveled against the monster that was frozen in place and he would cast the same spell the others had -- Diffindo.

"Diffindo"

A quavering voice seemed to croak.

Vladimir cast Diffindo at the Centipede.
Wisdom (+10) 15
Attack (+10) 18
Dodge [bound]

What remained of the bisected creature would be again split in twain. The centipede was destroyed.

The pain of Athanatos' injuries was overwhelming as he could feel the darkness chewing away at his bandages, trying to break free. When they escaped it would be like a dam breaking. @Marcus Iwasaki was tending to @Zoë Fresnel. The Professor of Charms who had taken a shower of sharpened porcelain shards head-on.

"Fresnel - are you okay?"

No, she was not but this was not the time to worry about a bunch of cuts and a ruined outfit. Hogwarts really should pay them hazard pay. Sadly, that was not in the budget. Marcus' concern would have to be payment enough.

"If you can - I think Callie needs your help the most right now."

He was referencing the poor, unconscious girl in the woods that Bloom and Thomas were presently attending to. She was not moving, she looked like she was badly hurt and could use their help more than the rest of them. The Head of Ravenclaw was perhaps too confident that he could safely manage the centipede as he considered trying to take it alive. It was already too late, the Diffindo had already ended that centipede's short life.

“I see her.”

Zoë confirmed. She did not wait around to make further small talk as she entered the still, burning forbidden wood. The bluebells cast by Sylvain had a life of their own, the leaves did not turn to ash and the fire would be cool. It was only the strange, distant house and the smell of burning gingerbread that seemed to betray this notion. Apparently a fire need not be hot to burn gingerbread.

@Sylvain Wyllt would end his maintenance of the Bluebells flame. The glowing cerulean forest would plunge into darkness as the boy's spell ended.

Bluebells has ended.

The pieces of shrapnel were still embedded in Zoë 's flesh after the bombarda created a bomb from the twisted life-sized doll. She did not have the time or the luxury to tend to her own injuries just yet.

“Don’t worry about me. Just a flesh wound.”

The Professor assured the Head of House. It was technically true, these injuries will heal even if things sorta resembled a Monty Python skit. The injuries stung but they were far from life-threatening.

“I agree. I’ll get to Callie, don’t worry.”

She gave Marcus verbal confirmation. "Yes! GO MISS FRESNEL!" Sylvain would cheer Zoë on.

Enter Bloom, Thomas and Callie

A promise, an assurance. It did not matter greatly. She would meet Thomas and Bloom as they got the forest's edge. The limp burden carried between the two of them had a number of breaks and sprains from her fall. Thomas really did a number on Callie, the boy was a liability to that girl's health. Moving her was perhaps not ideal but the other option was leaving her in the woods that would have devoured them all had they let it. She needed to move, to get out of there in case things got bad again.

...and it did. As Sylvain's bluebells ended so did the forest's stillness. The trees would shift and start to move. The branches would swing and the brambles would come to life. The treeline was was a dangerous site in the absence of a blazing canopy, the forest became once more a place that should not be traversed.

“Stop, stop, stop.”

Zoë hurredly ordered the duo, but she should have interceded some time earlier to prevent the move that might have also saved the girl's life. Actually, it totally did. the living forest would have ended Callie's life and likely taken Thomas and Bloom with her. Perhaps Sylvain should have let the canopy burn.

“She needs to be stabilized or things might get worse.”

Zoë explained but quickly changed her mind.

“Hold Callie steady and move slowly and carefully. I will do what I can to quell the bleeding,”

“Vulnera Sanenur...Vulnera Sanenur...Vulnera Sanenur…”

Zoë attempts to perform Vulnera Sanenur on Callie.
Wisdom: (+20) No need to roll the DC

The Professor would sing, tracing her wand over the wounds. It was a textbook application really, for maximum effect of the spell, the incantation had to be repeated thrice; firstly slowing the flow of blood to prevent death by exsanguination; the second to clear residue and begin to heal the wounds; and the third to fully knit the wounds.

"Will healing spells help you or hurt you?"

The Head of Ravenclaw would inquire when all was said and done.

"Help," Vladimir gulped pitifully. He was injured still, but the spiders were bound against his body for the time being. "B-but I am dangerous," he stammered, his voice wavered from both tension, pain and a third powerful sentiment - sorrow. Nobody would appreciate the pain Vladimir was in, the fact that he was crushed in the head of his best friend. That his late friend's image was being used, that it had been used before. That his shameful secrets were being laid bare. That nobody was going to understand, that he would be blamed by people that meddled and would insist they knew better when they knew nothing. When they would hear things but they would never listen.

"You gotta do something!"

Sylvain shouted to Marcus. Attempting to spur his head of house to action.

"More spiders will come from Vlad if you don't!"

A simple warning but clear. There was something very wrong with Vladimir, he was dangerous, a source of the darkness. Of course something was rather vague. It left a bit too much to interpretation. He would be prepared for anything. His wand never put away, he would say a simple single word, "Lumos."

Sylvain cast Lumos
Wisdom Roll 6

The tip of his wand would light up. There were no attacks at this moment, but the forest was once again alive.

_______

In the Forest

"Professor Fresnel, can you help Callie? I'll grab the student from..."

@Bloom Silverton would come upon an injured @Callie Jensen. @Thomas Baines was a greater health liability than a living wood or the hags for that poor girl. The greater dangerous was Thomas the Terrible.

"What happened?"

Was this really the time? The woods were actively attacking them not minutes earlier. That was not the whole story in this case but regret and shame would silence the youth as he failed to answer the upper classman. there was not really any time for lengthy explanations.

"Why is she dying?"

Bloom would look Callie over, it looked like she was picked up and thrown from a great height. How? When? she was battered and bruised, abraded from breaking through branches on both her ascension and descent. Again, Thomas would not answer her. He was at fault. He was why she was more than just injured, she was dying.

"We need to get her out of here or she'll die."

We was probably a bad idea. Did she have any idea what sort of luck this boy had? Obviously not. Knowing his luck, he would attempt to assist carrying the girl and he would drop the girl on her head, giving the girl a concussion in addition to her other injuries.

"Oh um, I- uh."

At a loss for words, Thomas was not one for small talk at the moment. Tears blurred his vision.

"Help me pick her up and take her out. I came from there."

Bloom ordered and pointed towards the forest edge. They were not too far, they could see distantly through the brambles and trees. Little did Bloom know, the urgency of her request to move Callie coupled with Sylvain's haste to stop the very thing keeping the forest's lashing at bay would have made a terrible situation for the three of them that remained in the Forbidden Forest.

"Right, uh, yeah."

A sleeve used to wipe away his tears. Thomas was going to kill his friend. This was all his fault. Even Bloom said that the girl was dying. What could he have done differently? What could he have done to prevent this? What if she really dies?

Bloom and Thomas attempt to carry Callie out.
Strength (Bloom & Thomas) (+1) (+7) 3

Bloom was a lot stronger physically than Thomas was. That being the reason why Callie was successfully taken from the forest. It was more a sad drag out of the woods... The both of them really needed to get out a bit more often to work out.

"Sorry."

The three of them would reach the treeline.

Callie, Thomas and Bloom Left the Forest. (Refer to the above)

________

Far from the Forest Edge

Winnie Harper and Aurora Ranvier were simply a strange duo. Winnie was using her incredibly strength likely obtained from the Quidditch Pitch. They were running off and while they ran Aurora would seek a means to make things worse. It was a special, secret skill that was possibly genetic.

“Winnie, you are still bleeding”

Yes, she noticed the obvious, Winnie was in fact bleeding. Winnie, the girl that was not supposed to be there. Someone had sent out those notes and that person certainly did not want to send their precious house elf to their death.

“I don’t know if this would work, but in my mind it will work just fine, and it should because if not, magic sucks!”

Magical experimentation as a first year was probably not a great plan for the girl but she was being a stereotypical Ravenclaw at this very moment Aurora tightened the grip on her wand then cast the spell on the redhead. “Obscuro”

Aurora cast Obscuro on Winnie.
Wisdom 11
No evasion or accuracy roll, Winnie is literally carrying Aurora.

Well, unfortunately Aurora successfully cast the spell. A blindfold would slip over Winnie's eyes. Winnie would trip, stumble and drop her princess. Running with a blindfold whilst carrying a human-sized burden was likely not her best idea. Of course she could not anticipate Aurora's madness.

Status
@Cade Darkbound [outside] 360/600 [-20/round bleeding]
@Pericles Dralt Severing Charm (Diffindo) at the centipede - Successful [outside] (full health)
@Marcus Iwasaki (full health)
@Zoë Fresnel [outside] Perform Vulnera Sanenur on Callie - successful 260/500 [-20/round bleeding]
@Dealla Prince [outside] Severing Charm (Diffindo) at the centipede - Successful 110/600 [-20/round bleeding]
@Aroura Ranvier [outside] 20/500 [-100 damage from being dropped] Successfully cast the blindfolded spell. Dropped. No longer bleeding
@Callie Jensen [inside]. -330/600 *cursed* Bleeding [-10 health/round] Unconscious Successful death saving throw 2/3, stabalized.
@Winnie Harper. [outside] 260/600 [-20/round bleeding] [-100 damage from being tripping] Dropped Aurora. Fell (prone) Blindfolded
@Vladimir Athanatos [outside] 110/1000 [-20/round bleeding] Bandage has reduced bleed.
@Bloom Silverton [outside]. Carried Callie with Thomas to the forest edge. (full health)
@Lavinia Cloven [outside]. (full health)
@Thomas Baines [outside]. Carried Callie with Thomas to the forest edge. (full health)
@Sylvain Wyllt [outside]. 660/900 Stopped bluebells. Cast Lumos. [-20/round bleeding]
A swarm of spiders is being destroyed by the lights and the few still being made are being trapped beneath bandages.
There is a large (about 6 foot in length) centipede frozen in place by Dee's immobulus.
The forest is alive again

Being unconcious was a strange experience at the best of times, but unbeknownst to Callie even stranger when you were quite literally dying. Feelings weren't a thought, only the vague notion that something was very wrong and she was just around for the ride. Plus the whole giant floating head of Thomas in front of her with spiders crawling out of their eyes...that was certainly new.

One floating head coupled with spiders of doom would've been enough for anybody but when there was a seemingly endless array taunting you in words you couldn't quite understand? That was enough to make anyone feel a little unsettled, even more so when she couldn't force herself to wake up. This had to have been a dream..right? Thomas certainly didn't have a giant head even if he did have the ego to match.

The scene before her continued to descend into chaos with more and more spiders pouring from the ortifices of the Thomas heads that weren't really Thomas. Yet she still couldn't wake up nor even register the feeling of sheer terror that lingered underneath the surface. The poor girl was just a passenger along for the ride, helpless and unable to force any change to the situation. All she could do was lay there and watch all those spiders until everything finally went dark.

Mentions: @Thomas Baines
Action: Unconcious fever dreams as death nears...

Interacting with: @Zoë Fresnel @Thomas Baines & @Marcus Iwasaki

Getting closer to the unconscious body had made Bloom feel a little sick to the stomach. A peer was bruised all over and looked as though they were dead. It was a lot to take in within so little time. Bloom, carrying the body with Thomas, lugged her from in the forest until the forest tree line. They were finally out of the forest and it seemed that it was just in time because the forest looked a lot darker than it was before when she was in there.

Bloom, ordering where to put Callie, started to put her on the ground when a professor had come up to them. It was the Charms professor and apparently she was concerned not because Callie was unconscious because they picked her up. According to her, she could have gotten worse by their move. Bloom looked at Callie with worry. Could they have gotten her closer to death by taking her out of the deathly forest?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I just saw her and the forest...," Bloom tried to reason with her at-the-time logic. Bloom stepped back and then saw another adult nearby. She left the Charm's professor with Callie and walked away from Thomas to the other adult, which was their Ravenclaw Head, Professor Iwasaki.

"Professor, what can I do to help?" she asked him, thinking he would have an idea for a fifth year.

ACTION: Standing outside of the Forest and looking to Ravenclaw HoH for how to help.

| @Dealla Prince | @Sylvain Wyllt |
Mentions Vladimir, Marcus, Thomas, Bloom, Callie, Zoe

No "snicker-snack", the centipede was sliced by a duo of Difindos. Quick clean work, as was to be expected of the duellist duo, and Peri sent a tired smile to the witch at his side. But a third voice chimed in, a final blow for the bug, and the soon-to-be-third-year glanced up at Vladimir, guarded and uncertain. He knew just enough about him to be wary now, but not enough to his liking. What he did know for certain was that the hole in his chest needed to be closed before he- or anyone else- met a nasty end. Professor Iwasaki chimed in to his relief, asking if healing would harm him, something Pericles himself hadn't considered. Curses surely had the potential to have nasty reactions to magic. Beyond them, Thomas and Bloom arrived carrying a horrifically battered Callie. Peri felt his stomach squirm. Many times had they watched Tom and Callie banter and laugh during duel practice, so to see them like this was gut-wrenching. Professor Fresnel was en route to heal her however, no need to crowd her, so he would resist the urge to run in their direction.

They were joined by Sylvain, who urged on the idea of healing Vladimir, enveloping Dee and himself in the light of his Lumos. Peri's weak smile took on a gleam of gratitude at his peer's calming presence. The situation seemed to be dwindling down. However, the bluebell flames had gone out. Would the woods resume their attack? Darkness fell beneath the trees, where the curse could run rampant, though at least the sun still shone on those beyond the forest... for now. It did not seem as though anyone else was in a hurry to get themselves squashed or cursed, and the adults were tending to the wounded. Peri would see to the next sensible thing he could think of: preventing his duel captain from bleeding out. "Dee...?" Already he had pinched the seam of his sleeve and begun to pull, weakening the threads until they started to snap, working swift and stern despite his gentle way of speaking. Double ripped sleeve like a proper 90's cool kid. He knew Dealla tended to put others before herself, and she would not take seeing their duellists bashed and bruised well either, so someone had to remind her to don her own oxygen mask too. "I can stop the bleeding. If that's alright?" He would wait only long enough to hear her explicit permission before plucking the shard of porcelain from her, mouthing a mute sorry as he did. Obstruction removed, the sleeve would be slipped over the wound, rolled and knotted into a practical makeshift bandage. "Could you keep us in the light, please?" Peri murmured while he worked, squinting without spectacles. Whether he requested this of Syl or Dee- or both- was open for interpretation.

Summary: attempting to end Dealla's [Bleeding] effect (OOC permission granted)
Staying in Sylvain's Lumos light

Stats

Reducio

Perfectionist, Perfectionist II, Keen Eye
Stamina - 7 | Evasion - 9 | Strength - 4 | Wisdom - 9 | ArcPower - 8 | Accuracy - 9