King of the Hill Wargames fin

━━━━ PARTICIPANTS ━━━━
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[ @Liana Kerr ]
7% HP (35/500)

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Flipendo @ Avery

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 5 | STR: 1
WIS: 9 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 9
Prodigal DADA

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 1] = cirtical failure
Effect: -160 HP

[ @Avery Chen ]
83% HP (500/600)
Dancing for 2 rounds, -1 ACC, -2 EVA
────────────
Dancing Feet @ Maggie

Reducio

STA: 6 | EVA: 6-2 | STR: 6
WIS: 7 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 6-1
Blindvision

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 6] + 7 = 13, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 13] + 6 = 19
Evasion Check: [d20: 19] + 10 = 29
19 < 29 → Miss

[ Geoffrey Donovan ]
100% HP (700/700)
Withdrawn from Event
────────────

[ @Maggie Hawkins ]
42% HP (210/500)

────────────
Dancing Feet @ Avery

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 10 | STR: 4
WIS: 3 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 7
14 < 20 → Miss
Calming Presence

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 9] + 3 = 12, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 13] + 7 = 20
Evasion Check: [d20: 1] + 6 = 7
20 > 7 → Hit
Effect: Evasion -2, -1 ACC
-80 HP

[ Hildegard Schneider ]
0% HP (0/400)
-
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Reducio

STA: 4 | EVA: 0 | STR: 4
WIS: 10 | ARC: 10 | ACC: 7
Prodigal Charms

[ Matthew Gray ]
25% HP (125/500)
Forfeited due to inactivity
────────────

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 7 | STR: 1
WIS: 10 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 8
Impartial

[ Della Barfield ]
0% HP (0/500)

────────────

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 7-2 | STR: 3
WIS: 6 | ARC: 5 | ACC: 4-1

━━━━ SUMMARY ━━━━

The duel was dragging to its closing stages, and the toll it was taking on the first years showed. The spellcasting was sloppier, the dodging was slower. People were getting tired.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in the case of Liana. The prodigal redhead had attempted to intervene in the face-off between the Quidditch players; but her spell rebounded on her instead, hitting her square in the middle. The girl overbalanced, and almost toppled, before regaining her balance despite her battered and bruised state. Here second of morbid curiosity delayed the first year moderator, as a part of Ming’s mind recalled that certain wands – cherry wood, or dragon cores – tended to rebound on the orders of their maters if they lacked sufficient strength of will. Perhaps Miss Kerr’s resolve was wavering?

Several moments too late – and didn’t that make Ming a horrible person – the bespectacled first year called out to the ginger prodigy. “Miss Kerr, do you wish to continue?” There was no shame in forfeiting, most duellists would once they were as battered as her. But he knew better than to underestimate this girl.

Meanwhile, heedless of this little interaction, Maggie was showing off just why she had made it onto the Quidditch team as a first-year. With almost effortless grace, she danced out of the way of Avery’s spell, before sending him crashing back to the ground and hitting him with the exact Dancing Feet spell he had intended to use on her.

Goodness, her wandwork might not be the greatest, but her accuracy and agility were sure something else.

────────────

Players have until December 15th 23:59 PST to post and send in actions
If there was an error in the dice rolls, feel free to owl or DM me.

The air was abruptly pushed out of her lungs as the spell utterly failed to emerge from the wand in the desired trajectory. For a few seconds Liana was overwhelmed with the sudden unexpected pain and the shock caused by it, struggling to breathe in and grasping at her consciousness that was now slipping away. For some reason, she was now seeing everything as if through a fog; had someone cast the Smokescreen Spell again? And had someone also filled her ears with water - for it seemed like the sounds coming from her surroundings were oddly muffled and distorted now?

The girl swayed a bit and almost lost her upright position before regaining some of her balance. With some effort, she took a few deep breaths, trying to supply her brain with oxygen. When her footing felt more or less stable, she attempted to evaluate the current situation. Her own spell had clearly backfired - was it due to her tiredness, lack of determination in attacking a friend, or just general state of distraction, the redhead didn't know. However, even though Liana's own wand seemed to have turned against her, preventing her from participating in the personal quarrel of the two Quidditch players, the dynamics had changed. Even through her blurry tunnel vision she could make out Avery finally succumbing to the spell that seemed to be everyone's favourite in this match. Was he tapdancing? It was actually quite difficult to focus on what his feet were doing. It certainly seemed he needed some practice performing the steps, though - probably about as much as she'd had today, having tapdanced no less than thrice already. Hopefully Maggie could be his teacher for the remainder of the game. She had, after all, managed to land two spells on him in a row, and evade his own attacks while doing so. Who could have thought these jocks were so good at duelling? Maggie with her lithe movements, Avery with his precise spellcasting? Perhaps afterwards she could challenge each of them to a duel, learn from them and teach them something in return. That seemed like a splendid idea. Or Liana was just being delusional because of how close to passing out she was.

When Ming's voice reached her, it seemed like it was coming from a different room, so indistinct it was. She could barely make out what he was asking, mostly getting the meaning behind his inquiry rather than registering his precis words. ''I'm fine, really,'' she responded, her voice sounding hollow in her ears. There was absolutely no way she'd concede - the attitude towards accepting failure had been drilled deep into her personality before she first picked up a real wand. She'd leave the stage as a winner or as a collapsed body. And whatever the outcome, it would make her stronger for the next challenge.

Action: As strategized.

mentioning: @Avery Chen | @Liana Kerr | @Hui Ming

Landed. Another spell, her second to hit Avery with precise sincerity, hit Avery dead on. Right where she had intended it to. There he was, dancing along like it was his job, all because of Maggie. Sure, she only had two spells in her arsenal that were of any use at all, but Maggie figured that hardly mattered when she seemed to be doing just fine. The spellcasting skills of her opponents were a sight to behold, certainly superior to her own, but that was of little care to Maggie. After all, she was pretty good at evading their attempts at an assault, jumping out of the way and contorting her body to safety time and time again.

Liana, on the other hand, didn't seem to be faring as well. On the brink of exhaustion, halfway passed out already, it didn't look like she'd be lasting much longer. A pity, for certain, considering Liana's skill and grace when it came to dueling as a whole. Sure was superior to Maggie's own. If anyone, Liana deserved to win, in Maggie's own mind.

"Everything okay down there, Li?" She called, surveying Avery's movements and watching as he made small inflections one way or another. "You've got this!"

The little assurance would have to be enough for now, because the end of the duel was in sight and Maggie didn't intend to go down easily.

action: doing as strategized

OPEN TO INTERACTION

───Interactions─── Reducio [font=century gothic]@Hui Ming[/font]

OUTFIT Reducio Zimmerman Fall 2021 Collection

────Mentions──── Reducio [font=century gothic]@Della Barfield @Liana Kerr @Vale Ashwood[/font]

"Mn.."

The self-assured hum was all that was afforded to the young master Hui on his complement of Evelynn's cast of the smokescreen spell. The result of her incantation hadn't been, to her, anything noteworthy. It had done exactly as she had bade it. No more, no less. Granted, had she offered the moment more than a passing thought, it may have occurred to her that he was still, as yet, nearly new to the realm of casting, capable at this point only of the most rudimentary of spells. Even she, in his shoes, might have thought such a spell fascinating. It had been some months, after all, before she'd managed to grasp even the basics of casting without a great deal of difficulty and struggle. By now, however, it had become second nature to her.

"Stakes?" Evelynn echoed as Hui's voice returned, readdressing the little wager they had started. "I hardly find it necessary to name a material price. Do you?" She left it at that, leaving the lack of stakes vaguely telling. Who needed a monetary win when pride was priceless? She lacked for nothing, really, and so desired nothing. Winning for the sake of winning was enough for her. Knowledge of superior insight. Satisfaction of reinforcing her station. It was more than enough.

As the room had filled with smoke, never had her attention wavered from the battlefield. Too intrigued was she with the unfolding battle was she to allow herself even a moment's distraction lest she miss some important development. And what a display it turned out to be. It was difficult to pierce through the thick fog and track the details of the fight, but even still, the flashes of colour and light denoting successfully cast spells would spark and arc, trailing their presence across the scene to intended targets.

Unsurprisingly, the Slytherins would descend upon the sole Gryffindor. Admittedly, Barfield put up a rather impressive fight given the odds, and Evelynn had to commend her tenacity and spirit, never once appearing to waver in the face of insurmountable adversity. She was, without question, sorted into the correct house. The girl could prove to be a model of courage to her peers if molded right. With luck, this experience would only serve to embolden that innate characteristic rather than mar it.

Still, it was with the slight down-turning of her mouth that Evelynn watched as the fog cleared and the young lioness received the finishing blow that would send her reeling into the embrace of an ill-desired slumber. Despite her impartial presence, serving strictly as support for the professors to keep the relative peace, and an assistant for Hui to facilitate the match, she couldn't help feel a slight disappointment in her housemate's elimination. While not exactly one to enforce animosity between the Houses, neither was the prefect short on House pride. It would have been an impressive display, indeed, had Barfield been able to defy logic and fend off the snakes.

The lesson would be no less valuable, however, she knew. The battle had been unfair. The scale had been weighed against her. But that was the reality of the world. It was a truth that Evelynn had learned early in her magical career and one she would carry with her always. Real life wasn’t fair. Situations didn't wait for you to catch your breath or find your footing. You either adapted and conquered. Or you survived. Anything less was concession of defeat. With luck, Barfield would learn that as well.

With the match transforming into the next state of in-fighting, it progressed almost exactly as Evelynn suspected it would. With the exception of Gray's forfeiture. That, she hadn't seen coming at all. A curious eye trailed after him as he took his leave of the primary dueling stage, stormborn voids boring into him as though doing so would allow her to somehow glean that knowledge. Perhaps the pressure was too great. Perhaps he found it difficult to cast against his comrades. Maybe, for him, a Slytherin win was sufficient. Nevertheless, with his departure, only three would remain.

Once again, the light of spells would fly, trails of their movement crossing and dancing in a tortuous display of pseudo-death. And, once again, a voice from across the room would shout, its owner summoning the host of the event. Evelynn would afford the pair only a sideways glance before returning her visual focus on the platform. Ears remained vigilant, however, curiosity driving her to stay alert to whatever conversation would be taking place nearby. Part of it may have been missed, however. In the moments that followed, Kerr's wand backfired, throwing her rather forcefully to the ground. Tongue suctioning a click against the back of her teeth, Evelynn grimaced. She didn't look to be in good shape.

In fact, the prefect was already taking a step forward with every intention of halting the progress of the match to pull her from the stage when Mister Hui spoke up, offering for her to continue. An expression of reined disapproval was shot his way, but Kerr spoke up, announcing her desire to continue and eliminating any real chance of pulling her from the match without giving the appearance of some sort of killjoy. Besides, was she really any sort of better judge of ability to carry on than Nurse Brumby? Since he had offered no objection, she held her tongue, lips thinning into a concerned line. Eyes would be peeled for the slightest sign of over-exertion. Kerr was very nearly done.

━━━━ PARTICIPANTS ━━━━
────────────

[ @Liana Kerr ]
0% HP (0/500)

────────────
Flipendo @ Avery

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 5 | STR: 1
WIS: 9 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 9
Prodigal DADA

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 1] = cirtical failure
Effect: -160 HP

[ @Avery Chen ]
70% HP (420/600)
Dancing for 2 rounds, -1 ACC, -2 EVA
────────────
Dancing Feet @ Maggie

Reducio

STA: 6 | EVA: 6-2 | STR: 6
WIS: 7 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 6-1
Blindvision

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 7] + 7 = 14, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 10] + 5 = 15
Evasion Check: [d20: 18] + 10 = 28
19 < 28 → Miss

[ Geoffrey Donovan ]
100% HP (700/700)
Withdrawn from Event
────────────

[ @Maggie Hawkins ]
42% HP (210/500)

────────────
Dancing Feet @ Avery

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 10 | STR: 4
WIS: 3 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 7

Calming Presence

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 6] + 3 = 9, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 7] + 7 = 14
Evasion Check: [d20: 3] + 4 = 7
20 > 7 → Hit
Duration Check: [d3:3]→ 2 rounds
Effect: Evasion -2, -1 ACC
-80 HP

[ Hildegard Schneider ]
0% HP (0/400)
-
────────────

Reducio

STA: 4 | EVA: 0 | STR: 4
WIS: 10 | ARC: 10 | ACC: 7
Prodigal Charms

[ Matthew Gray ]
25% HP (125/500)
Forfeited due to inactivity
────────────

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 7 | STR: 1
WIS: 10 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 8
Impartial

[ Della Barfield ]
0% HP (0/500)

────────────

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 7-2 | STR: 3
WIS: 6 | ARC: 5 | ACC: 4-1

━━━━ SUMMARY ━━━━

Maggie managed to land yet another hit on the second-string Slytherin keeper, who was perhaps a bit too distracted with his thoughts to properly get out of the way - or to hit back with his own spells.

Meanwhile, things were not going well Liana Kerr. Perhaps it was tiredness, or perhaps something more sinister. but despite her determination to continue, her wand had other ideas, backfiring on her again. Ming grimaced, guilt eating at him. Perhaps he should have listened to the advice given and forcibly removed Kerr from the duelling ring?
Tenderly, and as unintrusively as possible, Ming levitated the ginger out of the duelling ring.

And then, there were only two. And both were quidditch players. That had to mean something, did it not? Perhaps athleticism was more important to duels than a spell arsenal? Or perhaps that initial planning was critical?

There were thoughts to be analysed later. For now, all that mattered was the closing stages of this duel.

────────────

Players have until December 23rd 23:59 PST to post and send in actions
If there was an error in the dice rolls, feel free to owl or DM me.

mentioning: @Avery Chen | @Liana Kerr | @Hui Ming

Honestly, Maggie hadn't anticipated getting this far in the games at all. This was supposed to be a quick game, just a favor for a friend and a means to hopefully get the hang of the dueling system, should bad come to worse one day. Maggie had expected to go out early on, around the same time as Hildegard did. Which was another surprise. Hildegard was a skilled duelist and seemed to be good with spellcasting as a whole, far better than Maggie, and so her early elimination came as a surprise.

Heck, Maggie had, like, two spells that she could perform with absolute certainty. Not exactly the best candidate for the winner of a duel. Maybe athleticism did have something to do with dueling, which Maggie had scoffed at before. The final two in the games were her and Avery, the two Quidditch players, and that couldn't be just a coincidence.

Liana's elimination came as a shock, though, even though Maggie could see her confidence waning and her energy going downhill. She looked awful, for lack of a better descriptor, being taken out and looking as if she were on her last limb. On the brink of total collapse. "Li! Are you okay?" Maggie called, looking off to the side at her friend as she was taken out. Still, though, there was a game ahead of them. Maggie would just have to win it. For Liana. A win for Maggie was a win for Liana! "Brace yourself, Avery. There's a lot more where that one came from."

action: doing as strategized

━━━━ PARTICIPANTS ━━━━
────────────

[ @Liana Kerr ]
0% HP (0/500)
────────────

[ @Avery Chen ]
70% HP (420/600)
Dancing for 1 rounds, -1 ACC, -2 EVA
────────────
Active Dodge

Reducio

STA: 6 | EVA: 6-2 | STR: 6
WIS: 7 | ARC: 4 | ACC: 6-1
Blindvision

[ Geoffrey Donovan ]
100% HP (700/700)
Withdrawn from Event
────────────

[ @Maggie Hawkins ]
42% HP (210/500)

────────────
Dancing Feet @ Avery

Reducio

STA: 5 | EVA: 10 | STR: 4
WIS: 3 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 7

Calming Presence

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 12] + 3 = 15, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 1] + 7 = 8
Evasion Check: [d20: 1] + 10 = 11
7 < 11 → Miss

[ Hildegard Schneider ]
0% HP (0/400)
────────────

[ Matthew Gray ]
25% HP (125/500)
Forfeited due to inactivity
────────────

[ Della Barfield ]
0% HP (0/500)
────────────

━━━━ SUMMARY ━━━━

Just as Ming was thinking about just how admirably the two Quidditch players were performing, both remaining duelists lapsed in their performance. It started with Avery, who seemed to have gone a bit overboard with the dancing. The gregarious boy overbalanced for a fraction of a second. Pouncing upon the opportunity, Maggie cast the Dancing Feet spell.

Avery, however, managed to regain his footing and move out of the way of the errant spell, while all the time continuing his odd, exotic dance.

A pause, as Ming watched this all with mounting amusement. How much of this was intentional, and how much of this was Avery just toying with Maggie. The more he stopped to analyse the boy, the more Ming realised just how much his best friend belonged with the snakes.

Finally, as the action seemed to have moved onto a more manageable stage, the first year turned his attention to the @Evelynn Decipio. "Well, I would not have been opposed to getting some more pens," he said slowly, amusement tinging his words ever so slightly. "But it appears that both my prediction was further off than yours perha-"

At this point, he was called over by @Vale Ashwood. Ming paused midspeech, before giving the older girl an apologetic look. "Excuse me just a moment, I shall return presently."

Without any great haste, Ming made his way over to the eccentric Slytherin with the most outlandish ideas.

────────────

Players have until January 8 23:59 PST to post and send in actions
If there was an error in the dice rolls, feel free to owl or DM me.

While Vale took note of the rest of the match with a smile, she would turn her head back when she realized that Hui Ming actually came over. She tilted her head, watching the boy beneath her from the stands before making a smile.

A giggle escaped her lips, her plan ever diligently coming to surface; her mischief ready to forever haunt those around her-

"Wanna come to my party at home during Easter break?" Vale kept her smile, nearly dangling over the stand from withhelding her excitement. "I'll even have cake and games to play! Well, I hoped so. You promised to swim in my alligator pond with me!" Vale moved back from the railing to grab her doll that she dropped down, picking it up and hurrying back to peek back down to the boy with her raggedy doll. "Even Ashes agrees it'll be fun!" Vale stopped her eagerness, to hide her mouth with just a single hand.

"And who's that pretty girl you're talking to? Ashes seems to like her a whole lot. Won't shut up." She pointed out her inanimated doll's behavior. The doll laid quietly in her arm, doing nothing worth taking note over besides its owner's own behavior towards it.

Vale peeked her eyes up to take another look at the older girl who seemed to keep such a tight head on herself. "Seems like you like her a lot too, Hui Ming."

Mention: Everyone