2021, Stage 1 Hufflepuff vs Slytherin: Match 4

And there was the previously mentioned probably undiagnosed anxiety disorder. She froze up like an idiot, and now a stupid gust of wind made her feel like she could be knocked off of the podium if she let herself be. At least Callista hadn't missed. At least Dmitri had. She paused, just for a moment, as the spell Callista had cast dawned on her, the thought almost drowned out by the Slytherin's laughter. Rictumsempra. Nice choice. Seeing Dmitri pulled over in laughter made him seem less intimidating. Good. She wouldn't miss again.

Or maybe she would, because the captain's laughter was only getting laughter, and coming out of his mouth, it sounded unnatural, almost crazed. Kind of spooky. Eh. Autumn shot a grateful half-smile at Callista, repressed the pain her failed spell made her feel, mentally made fun of the laughing viper one last time, adjusted her stance because the wind truly was more of an inconvenience than she was pretending it was, and took a deep breath. She had missed duelling.

ENGLISH | #6B5076
WELSH | #9E8FB9
UZBEK | #874343

STATS | Stamina - 7 | Evasion - 7 | Strength - 7 | Wisdom - 8 (7+10% from comprehend languages = 7.7 = 8 ) | ArcPower - 8 | Accuracy - 9
ABILITIES | Sixth Sense - Perfectionist - Comprehend Languages (Mermish)
RACE | Human
HEALTH | 538/700 - 76.86%

Round 2

Callista vs Dmitri

Reducio

Callista cast Knockback Jinx at Dmitri.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 16] + 9 = 25, success
Auto-Miss: [d10: 2], fail
Auto-Dodge: [d10: 7], fail
Accuracy Check: [d20: 7] + 7 = 14
Evasion Check: [d20: 20] + 6 = 26
14 < 26 → Miss

Autumn vs Dmitri

Reducio

Autumn cast Tongue-Tying Spell at Dmitri.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 17] + 7 + 1 = 25, success
Auto-Miss: [d10: 5], fail
Auto-Dodge: [d10: 6], fail
Accuracy Check: [d20: 4] + 9 = 13
Evasion Check: [d20: 12] + 6 = 18
13 < 18 → Miss

Dmitri vs Callista & Autumn

Reducio

Dmitri cast Fog Charm.
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 20] + 14 = 34, crit success
Duration: crit success → 3 rounds
Effects:-5 Acc & Evasion

Opeila vs Autumn

Reducio

Opeila cast Fire-Making Spell II at Autumn.
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 5] + 8 = 13, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 17] + 9 = 26
Evasion Check: [d20: 7] + 7-4 = 10
26 > 10 → Hit
Duration: [d3: 1] → 1 round
Damage: (60 + 6 × 10) × 0.9 = 108
Effects:-60 HP for 1 Round

Alan would be correct in his assumption, in a way it was quite scary to see Dmitri laugh like that. It seemed kind of unlike the captain to lose control over his facial expression like that. However more importantly, it would also prove that the captain indeed was capable of laughing and looked somewhat pretty doing so. He should smile more, it would scare less people away. The chaos would not stop there however. Callista would attempt to target the laughing viper with a Knockback Jinx, but the boy would swiftly remove himself out of harms way. The same thing would happen to the tongue tying curse that was cast by Autumn as the Slytherin captain would avoid being hit by it all-together.

It seemed like both experience and luck were on the snake's side. Dmitri would conjure up a cloud of thick fog that would localize around the badgers and making it hard for them to do much anything now, but it also made them more difficult to be spotted or targeted. Coupled with a ruthless Incendio Duo by Opeila that the girl would unleash on poor Autumn, it looked quite bad for the badgers. Doused in flame and fog she for sure would take notice of the impact the vipers spells had on her as she gradually grew weaker as her health dropped.

Alan would not want to pick favorites there, he wished both of the teams well but he did truly hope for Hufflepuff to at least figure out some comeback. He'd like to see them shine next to the Slytherin team as their equals, despite the difference in age that was apparent.

Information

• You have 96 hours from now to write your posts (50 words min).
• In the same time period, send me (Alan Vanes) your team's actions per owl. Do not hint at your actions in your post.
• If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action is void.
• Your Stats, Abilities, and Spells have been locked to what they are now for the duration of this duel.
• If you have questions or notice something odd about the mod post, don't hesitate to owl or DM me.
• Here you can find the rules to the Duelling System.
• Good luck, and have fun!

Spectator Thread.
This duel takes place during Day 2

Cocky - Shea Coulee (Explicit)

Roleplaying as Dmitri Kazimir Jones
Perfectionist | Perfectionist II | Spell Spread | Terrible Presence | Evasive Maneuvers
Sta 11, Str 2, Eva 6, Wis 14, Arc 11, Acc 15

Very quickly, Dmitri was able to ascertain that something was very wrong with him—he was smiling and laughing, for Merlin's sake; it seems their opponent didn't fail after all.

The boy was immediately conscious of the way he couldn't control the urge to keep chuckling.

Control.

It was a perversion of sorts—compelling someone to do something they don't normally do; something they even actively avoid doing.

Even he wouldn't stoop so low.

And it enflamed him; the hate that he feels towards something so... abnormal.

Even through his unnatural grin, Dmitri's eyes would blaze in fury as the full scale of the situation made itself clear. Oh, it's on. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

Literally.

As an aggressive blanket of fog erupted from his wand to engulf the opposing team, Dmitri was already plenty of steps ahead, plotting the proper painful payback for this pathetic offense.

No one makes Dmitri Kazimir Jones do anything he doesn't want to do.

"I don't care if they're children, Winters. Don't hold back." He'd say to his partner in between hiccups of laughter, his mirthful expression belying the seriousness in his tone.

———

Doing as strategized

@Dmitri Jones

There was no doubt that Opeila was a loyal duellist. No matter which house or who they were against, the third year would do her very best to help her house to achieve victory, but that didn't mean that she particularly liked all her teammates' ways to behave during combat.
Dmitri Jones definitely belonged to that group. Her gaze was like a dagger when he told her not to hold back, even though they were children. First, Autumn and her were in the same year and secondly- who of them had hit the opponent with every spell and was unharmed at the same time? But over the past years, keeping her mouth shut was one of the things she had been forced to learn and that were no longer a challenge to her.
Her voice was relatively calm when she responded. "Do I look like I'm holding back, Jones? Don't worry about me."

Action: Doing as strategized

Okay, so maybe she was making a habit of failing at casting the same spell at the same person, but at least she was consistent? Eh, more like stubborn, but that didn't sound as nice. But seriously, she was getting kind of tired of failing.

Thankfully, she didn't have time to fret, because she was suddenly swarmed by a magical layer of smoke. Well, maybe not "thankfully", she supposed. The smoke blurred her vision, and the magical wind pulling at her robes and hair continued to be a wonderful nuisance. She coughed in the smoke. The wind had almost immobilised her, but the smoke was finishing the job. Autumn felt paralysed. It was a disgusting feeling, not knowing where she was and keeping on have to adjust her stance just to avoid being dragged off of the podium.

And she was on fire. That was a thing that was happening, yep. Honestly, Autumn couldn't care less at that point. Everything sucked, her team was going to lose, yada-yada, the end. Honestly, she much preferred fire when it wasn't in contact with her ropes, but even from there the fire looked beautiful. Fire somehow always looked majestic, in an elegant but wild way, made not to be tamed but to be shared, feared, respected and admired.

(Was 'arsonist' a viable career choice? Was Autumn weird for considering arson as a career while she was set on fire? She didn't even know which of the two questions she was answering when she thought 'probably'.)

And maybe it was the sheer ridiculousness of her situation, set on fire, no longer able to rely on sight, practically paralysed, but when she heard Dmitri tell Opeila to not hold back, she laughed.

She laughed, and she laughed, and she laughed. She'd been hit by Rictumsempra before, and this was a somewhat similar experience. She felt like she had no control over her laughter, that she couldn't stop it. But there was nothing magical about this. She heard Opeila reply back, somewhat calmly, but couldn't make out the words.

"Don't hold back? Here you are, big, tough fifth year, with your useless little teammate who's holding back. Oh, except the little teammate has hit consistently with every spell she has sent my team's way, with not a scratch on herself. Has that been the case for you? Don't be an idiot. She's more of a threat to us than you've been this whole time, and I should know. I'm on fire."

Okay, maybe defending her opponent to her other opponent while laughing eccentrically didn't make her seem all that sane, or make all that sense, but Dmitri was being ridiculous and overdramatic, and if Autumn was being frank, she was kind of tired of him.

And you know what? This was probably the smoke getting into her head, because she had more to say! Yeah, she was definitely bypassing her social quota for the day, by far, but the fifth year was getting on her nerves, and she was about to make that everyone else's problem.

"And you know what? Was the Rictumsempra really the final nail on the coffin for you? Because it's kind of sad that a spell we were taught in our first year cast on you by someone you called a child is what you have decided is off-limits and must be punished or something! I'd like to remind you that I cannot see you right now. I cannot see you because you have just about removed my ability to move and there's smoke all around me. But guess what? We're in a duel." She pronounced each following word with emphasis, almost as if talking to a young child. "Get over it."

Huh. Autumn didn't think she had ever said so much at one time ever before in her life. It felt kind of satisfying. But she hadn't been lying about the inability to see anything, and the wind was pulling her in all sorts of directions, so she genuinely had no idea whether she had been facing Dmitri when she had said that.

She assumed she had, because she had heard his voice coming from that direction before, but the fog was thick and she really couldn't be certain. She hoped the smoke had covered her enough that the other team couldn't tell whether she had been looking away the entire time she had spoken.

ENGLISH | #6B5076
WELSH | #9E8FB9
UZBEK | #874343

STATS | Stamina - 7 | Evasion - 7 | Strength - 7 | Wisdom - 8 (7+10% from comprehend languages = 7.7 = 8 ) | ArcPower - 8 | Accuracy - 9
ABILITIES | Sixth Sense - Perfectionist - Comprehend Languages (Mermish)
RACE | Human
HEALTH | 430/700 - 61.43%

Credit: Lucia Fox

Well... Callista didn't have any expectations that they would win, but this was really inconvenient. The dark, black fog rolled forward from Dmitri's wand, quickly encompassing the Hufflepuffs. She had just enough time to watch both of her and Autumn's spells sail past Dmitri before her vision was obscured.

Inhale- oh, that was a bad idea. The girl coughed, choking on the thick fog. A brief feeling of panic stirred inside her chest. The blackness brought back unwelcome memories. Long, lashing tentacles, thick, suffocating darkness, a high-pitched whine, and an endless fall...

"Don't hold back."

Callista blinked. That was Dmitri, right? Right. They were duelling. Not in the common room. Ironically, it was his voice that saved her from her downward spiral. Throughout the whole exchange, Callista stayed silent, simply listening. Even she was getting tired of Dmitri's endless cockiness and confidence. What was most surprising was Autumn's retort.

She's on fire? That was a bad sign. From what Callista could gather, Opeila must have hit Autumn with Incendio or something of that sort. Despite their predicament, she couldn't stop a small smile from gracing her lips. She was lucky to have a partner that could communicate what she couldn't. And even though Opeila was the enemy, she also couldn't help feeling a bit of pity for being stuck with Dmitri as a duelling partner. Callista definitely wouldn't want to have someone like him as a partner, no matter how talented or how guaranteed their victory would be. At least that made her feel a bit better.

"Thank you, Autumn."

Status: 600/600
Effects: -5 Eva and Acc
Previous Action: Cast Flipendo towards Dmitri
Action: As strategized

Round 3

Callista vs Opeila

Reducio

Callista cast Sneezing Hex at Opeila.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 14] + 9 = 23, success
Auto-Miss: [d10: 7], fail
Auto-Dodge: [d10: 2], fail
Accuracy Check: [d20: 18] + 7 - 5 = 20
Evasion Check: [d20: 18] + 8 = 26
20 < 26 → Miss

Autumn vs Nebulus

Reducio

Autumn cast Weather-modifying Countercharm at Nebulus.
Wisdom DC: 10
Wisdom Check: [d20: 9] + 7 + 1 = 17, success
Effects: Nebulus is removed

Dmitri vs Autumn

Reducio

Dmitri cast Knockback Jinx at Autumn.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 20] + 14 = 34, crit success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 8] + 15 - 6 = 17
Evasion Check: [d20: 14] + 7-7 = 14
17 > 14 → Hit
Damage: 150 + 11 × 10 = 260
Effects: knocked to ground, requires an action to stand up and rejoin

Opeila vs Autumn Callista

Reducio

Opeila cast Knockback Jinx at Autumn Callista.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 8] + 8 = 16, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 1] → miss
New Target: Callista
Accuracy Check: [d20: 12] + 0 = 12
Evasion Check: [d20: 4] + 8-5 = 7
12 > 7 → Hit
Damage: (100 + 6 × 10) × 0.9 = 144

Alan was not sure how else to describe the duel but brutal. It was, without a doubt, a brutal duel. The badgers were outmatched and while they were fighting well, they would not be able to hold on much longer against such a big threat. At least that was what Alan thought, I mean it happened right there in front of his eyes. These Hufflepuffs were getting slaughtered and it wasn't pretty or merciful. Dmitri's knockback jinx would hit Autumn square in the chest, knocking her to the ground as the air was forcefully pressed out of her lungs. She would likely have a few bruised rips from the attack, making the Gryffindor wince empathically. Opeila would cast a spell and her sight seemed to be set on Autumn as well, ready to give her the mortal blow, but she had not calculated the girl dropping to the ground from the sheer force of her partner's spell and thus her spell flew past the intended target; yet it would connect with the other badger instead, catching Callista at her non-dominant arm.

Callista would send a hex Opeila's way, but still surrounded by fog, it would be hard to set her sights on the girl and her spell would go past the girl, missing Opeila who had no issue sidestepping the spell. While her partner was more on the offense, Autumn would play the role of support and get rid off the fog that had previously hindered the badgers immensely. Perhaps with it out of the way, the both of them could turn the leaf. It would be refreshing to see them make a comeback against all odds. Perhaps they would at least give the vipers a few blows, to remind them that while out-skilled, they were still a force to be reckoned with.

Information

• You have 96 hours from now to write your posts (50 words min).
• In the same time period, send me (Alan Vanes) your team's actions per owl. Do not hint at your actions in your post.
• If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action is void.
• Your Stats, Abilities, and Spells have been locked to what they are now for the duration of this duel.
• If you have questions or notice something odd about the mod post, don't hesitate to owl or DM me.
• Here you can find the rules to the Duelling System.
• Good luck, and have fun!

Spectator Thread.
This duel takes place during Day 2

Interacting with @Opeila Winters and @Autumn Ivy

Cocky - Shea Coulee (Explicit)

Roleplaying as Dmitri Kazimir Jones
Perfectionist | Perfectionist II | Spell Spread | Terrible Presence | Evasive Maneuvers
Sta 11, Str 2, Eva 6, Wis 14, Arc 11, Acc 15

Dmitri's head turned slowly towards Opeila with a raised brow at her snarky comment. "Well, you know, you can't blame me for worrying." A chuckle would escape his lips even as his tone was majorly condescending. "Imagine dueling with someone who lost two championship stages in a row."

Satisfied that he'd said his piece, the older Slytherin turned back to his opponents and realized one of them had been talking. He couldn't spare the time to listen to her words—it was a duel after all—so he let loose a Flipendo straight at her face.

And knocked her clean onto her back.

Straightening where he stood, Dmitri looked down at her with unrestrained disgust in his eyes even as mirth still emerged from his lips. "Why don't you shut up?" This time, his sinister laughter wouldn't be because of the effects of a spell. "You talk too godsdamned much."

These children never learn.

———

Doing as strategized

@Dmitri Jones

"Of course you would say that. Easy to be an ass if you've never had to worry about not being the strongest bully on the playground." With an exaggerated smile, the third year winked at her teammate. "Besides, may I remind you that my partner dropped after few minutes every time? Sorry that I can't compete against two stronger or similarly strong opponents on my own. I don't think it's me you should be telling this." Maybe the duelling captain felt challenged, but his next spell was perfect. She raised one eyebrow. "Trying to prove something?"

Their mini fight had distracted her. Not much, but for long enough to miss that her spell went to high. Dmitri's flipendo knocked Autumn right off her feet, causing her to fall before Opeila's spell could hit her. But the angle was lucky, the other Hufflepuff right behind the one she had aimed for. But this was just fine.

Action: Doing as strategized.

OOC Information

this is your 24 hour warning; do not rely on these warnings as they may not happen every round and are more of a courtesy and non obligatory on my end. Remember your posts and actions!