Fall Ball 2021 Samhain Festival

Oh poor... sweet... predictable Hugh Lowe. You fell into the monster's trap. The boy, half... no likely less the part giant's height was lifted from the ground. A first year in the clutches of an elder and a bully. He did not see it, not even now as he took the boy from the security of the earth was withdrawn. Gideon would scream, no shriek rather in response to the part giant's threats. Yes, the boy who carried around candy and chased after Serena Towers hours earlier. The innocuous youth who was perhaps a bit 'strange' but underwhelming to be honest. Armed with as he had already expressed to Lécuyer, barely the capacity to light the end of his wand - October of their first year. Gideon was likely less threatening than Pizza Rat.

"Stranger Danger!" He would cry, flailing his arms and letting big old crocodile tears stream down the sides of his face. Hugh knew that his size was intimidating. That his power was as much a blessing as it was a curse. Being treated as a bit older, more mature, trusted and powerful. Yet his mind and his experience were still that of a teen in spite of his mature facade. This was diametrically opposed to Gideon, the child monster. He had the appearance of a child, he was encroaching upon the concept of adolescence with a mind and a vernacular that seemed to exceed his stated and appeared age. In truth Gideon was simply a monster, not the sort made in a lab or manifested from the bowels of hell from some dark incantation. Gideon represented the dark nature of man.

Gideon would not relinquish his satchel. Was it because it was so very important? Important enough to leave a boy sobbing? No, it really was not. It was bloodied teeth and slain slug. That was not important enough to risk a beating or a broken limb but infamy was. "Don't hurt me! It is mine!" He would shriek and he protectively clutched his morbid treasures. Broken bones heal a lot faster with magic than a reputation does.

Action: Cry loudly

Interacts with: @Hugh Lowe

Mentioned: N/A

Inventory: Packaged and sealed candy inside his satchel. (dumped out) Wand. Heavy stuffed animal (small). Teeth. Dead slug.

Jack may not have known any sort of healing spells that he was aware of, but when the bandage charm took effect, he sighed in some relief. At least Erin wasn't bleeding any more.

Before he could think of what to do next, an adult - and not just any adult, but Caradoc Browne, Head of Hufflepuff - slid through mud to stop beside him and began to check Erin over. Jack hesitated, unsure if he should get out of the way, but the professor placed his hand upon the third year's shoulder and spoke a spell Jack didn't think he'd ever heard before.

"Serenate."

It was followed by words of encouragement that kept Jack from backing off with the fear he would only be getting in the way if he stuck around.

"You're doing well, son. Now keep her steady. Erin, do you hear me? We're going to get you out of here." If the Head of House thought he could still help, then he would do his best. And if there was anything Jack could do to make Caradoc's words true, then he wanted to do it. "We're going to make everything alright."

Nodding to the adult, Jack tried to keep firm hold of Erin with some difficulty. Even if he had been as strong as his average peer (which he wasn't), she was still ridiculously stronger and that was even without considering her older age. They were both injured and struggling, but the professors were here now. Surely they would know what to do to help Erin before things got any more out of hand.

He felt his shoulder squeezed and a dazzling smile turned on him when Caradoc noticed his bandaging charm take effect. At least it was until the professor tried to stop the other students from aiming more spells at Erin.

"Fools. We need to make sure she's going to survive first before you put her through all… this."

When the professor tried and failed to bandage Erin again amidst the barrage of other spells against her, Jack attempted to do the same once more. "Ferula."

"I...I think they're just afraid there won't be enough time, professor," Jack said. He didn't know exactly what was going on with Erin, but the tense atmosphere and her violent struggling suggested they didn't have forever. He turned to Professor Browne with pleading eyes. "Do you really think you can save her before whatever's happening to her takes over?" He cringed. "There's been talk she's...she's becoming a hag."

Outfit: An old outfit modified to fit his new size this year

Inventory: Wand, Invisibility Cloak, Bluebottle Broom, Locksmith's knife

Action: Talking to Professor Caradoc Browne while trying to use Ferula on Erin and bandage her again.

Interacting with: @Caradoc Browne & @Erin Ryan

Mentions/Proximity: Everyone close by...? (Sorry, I've lost track!)

Abilities: Prodigal Charms Learner, Binding Mark, Perfectionist

Stats: Stamina - 6 | Evasion - 7 | Strength - 3 | Wisdom - 15 | Arcane Power - 7 | Accuracy - 7

Post Tracker: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Things could have totally went better. The intention was to embarrass the meat head, win the girl and some\how escape this unscaved with the affection of the school. Some important lesson about neglecting responsibility, living for the moment and not wasting time respecting others. Pretty much the plotline of an 80's flick.

The spell would of course backfire and the boy would drop trou. His dress pants around his ankles, his thankfully clean, white, for some ungodly reason starched boxers expose3d for the world to see. That should have waited at least until the fifth, maybe sixth date. Perhaps marriage, a spring wedding preferable. his face would voluntarily redden and grow hot. His hands would reflexively cross over his groin area, not that it was particularly helpful.

"Merlin, don't look!" He exclaimed, a crack to his voice. He took a stumbling step back away from his rival and the girl way too good for Percival. Hell, too good for him. He landed on his ass, his trousers being far too large they snared his ankles. The unfortunate brown marking he would not know about that would now mar his posterior likely the last, unfortunate scene for both Percival to relish and Ileen to cringe when she recalls likely her last memory of the boy. He would hastily attempt to recover his pants, it was a less than graceful scene and he struggled to pull his pants whose belt was far too large to cinch at his waist upward with a hand. The waistband askew, the dirt maring what should have been a pristine, white backside (I swear!).

Percival had destroyed the youth without pummeling him into the ground. Without earning the chagrin of his lady love. A victory, as odd as one of those might seem. A victory he might have had a chance to rub in but this would be his last public appearance. Indeed, this was where Victor fled.

The gift that was in his pocket would spill out, a small purple package with a white bow. No larger than a deck of playing cards. he never gave the gift to his alleged 'date' not that the coupling lasted for very long, after all the random girl he had tried to woo he could hardly recall the name of but he would always remember how she attacked his friend. Was it a gift for her? In truth, no. Some exchanges were for show, were for cultural obligation and to fulfil what was expected. Some exchanges came from the heart, that one would have been the later. He would not realize he lost it. He would not live long enough to miss it.

If the box was opened, one would find a simple, non-cursed charm bracelet. Silver in color. A heart, a cat, a girl that looked like a ballerina, a snake, a clear pear-cut stone, a witches hat.

Outfit: Suit

Inventory: Wand, flowers, corsage (for his date), chocolates and a small gift.

Action: Attempts to pull up own pants and flee (attempting to leave topic), unless prevented by the moderation group this will be the last post from him in this thread since he is dead as of another.

Interacts with: @Percival Rainwood & @Ileen Knight

Mentions: None

And... back to the chaos she went. At this point she wasn't sure if her friends were still following her. She kept going back and forth. What she did know was that it was pouring , people were trying o kill each other, and that she was really craving some applesauce right now. Through the rain she ran with only one doc marten on her foot,the other in her hand.

The situation was confusing, but from what she could gather, the slugs needed to be gone. No problem, she wasnt scared of snails at all. If that's what was making everyone on edge, that was her target. She ran into the crowd, making her way through the crazy students. And look, someone had kindly left a slug just for her. How very sweet. Raising the boot in her hand, she ran to the slug, wherever it may be. If it was on someone, she would try and wack it off with her shoe.

Once the slug was on the ground, she would raise her docmarten and bring it down with as much force as she could. "I don't know what the heck you are, but you're definitely cursed!" She yelled as she brought her boot down again and again, the sweat washing away in the rain. She ignored the scenes around her.

action: smashing slug 3 with her boot
Sta: 5 | Eva: 4 | Str: 6 | Acc: 6 | Arc: 4 | Wis: 5

Outfit : [x] #830c4f #008080

Lin Evanvleck ✯ First Year 29th October 2021 @Juniper Kelly

Lin had followed her friend to the ball, before returning to the festival. She didn't know what was going on in Juniper's head, but she could sense that something was wrong. Lin's hair had gone back to brown but her eyes were still dark.
— I don't know what the heck you are, but you're definitely cursed!
In general, Lin was not afraid of slugs. But these slugs were not normal slugs. They were magic slugs. Not having understood everything about magic, Lin was wary of these things. Juni, on the other hand, crushed the slugs without mercy.
— Hey, Juni! Calm down, ok. It's not our fault that people are killing each other, okay. I don't even know what they're doing. You know what, we can leave. Plus it's raining and there's blood everywhere.
Lin grabbed Juni's arms. She was worried about her friend's behaviour. If the girls left this festival, Lin would surely find a way to calm her down. But for that to happen, Juni would have to agree to leave the festival.
Lin was cold, she was scared, she was wet, she was worried about her friend. Great day! Looking around, she saw pure chaos. Spells were flying around, people were hurt. Hogwarts is a school. A SCHOOL. In a school you're supposed to feel safe. But right now, all Lin wanted to do was go back to Minehead to see her mother.

Stamina: 5 ✯ Evasion: 5 ✯ Strength: 4 ✯ Wisdom: 6 ✯ Arcane Power: 5 ✯ Accuracy: 5
Action: Try to calm Juni

Never turn your back to an enemy that is not yet snuffed. Xailah was often very mindful of what she was turning her back to. The what wasn't usually a murderous gastropod with a need to burrow in flesh. The cubs first mistake was turning away from the slug she had left to the Swamp Creatures; and thinking it wouldn't come after her. She would not see it advance, for she had her head turned, but she would see it's limp carcass tumble closely by; while two Flipendos echoed into the storm.

Her second mistake was the most forgivable; unfortunately it was the one that would injure her. She failed to consider the second slug. She thought it had been taken care of, but she would soon find that she was wrong. Erin once again, had the metamorphs focus. The Gryffindor had drawn her wand after seeing another student in her year do the same. She mimicked the movement of her peer, spouting their chosen incantation into the rain, "Slugulus Eructo!" thankfully, there were no backfires. Just two spells hitting what they were meant to. Erin promptly resumed her wretching; the birth of the third slug was just as rough and bloody as the last two. The new slug that slipped from the Slytherins torn orifice, however, was angrier than it's less fortunate siblings. This one was ready for a fight. It was ready to live. It was going to live. But first, it needed to escape.

The thing darted from the repellant ring Galton had carefully formed. It's writhing body wiggled through the mud, and ick caking the earth. It sought out Xailah. It was fast, but the darkling cub was faster. Too fast, much to her misfortune- too fast to consider her surroundings. She slid out of the newborn slugs way. In doing so, she managed to stumbled backwards into the lunging vicinity of the slug everyone had forgotten about- the big one. As she did so, she would hastily huff the damp air. She no longer smelt of poison.

Xailah didn't understand what happened until she felt a firm clamp on her shoulder; and needly shards greet her milky flesh. Teeth tore through the lace and filigree, delicately draped across her skin; planting themselves in porcelain; encouraging the blossoming of crimson. Xailah reeled forward from the impact; a low hiss escaping her lips as she lurched. Her balance faltered, yet she would manage to stay on her feet. It wasn't the worst she had felt, but it hurt all the same. She reached around herself, her fingers blindly clawing at the leech that had attached itself to her person. Her muscles clenched; her body was fighting the creature. She felt the fleshy fibers mending and flexing, trying desperately to force the teeth out. Get it off, get it off. The rain, and slime coating the creatures body, kept her from effectively grasping the invertebrate. Luckily, it wasn't to hang on her for long. The wounds it had received moments ago, would drain what remained of it's life and stamina.

It's writhing came to a stop. It's grip was felt loosening. Then it fell; landing in the earth-sludge with a splat. Xailah kicked it across the ground for good measure. Had to make sure it wasn't going to start squirming again- (it didn't). She paid little mind the the bite she received. A second- nothing more- was taken to inspect it. A pale shift of color rippled over her features- her body registering the opened flesh. She fingered the imprints left; the surrounding skin was becoming tender, causing her to draw back. Another scar to add to her growing collection. Not as easy to hide like the ones on her hands- but who would she showing her shoulders to anyways?

She did not bother with any healing spells. She could bleed. The storm would cleanse. It was just a flesh wound. She did not want to use up time that she already had very little of. Her mentality might have been different, had there not been a third slug on the loose. There were a few students tailing it already. New faces- well, ones that had not attacked the other two slugs. Xailah rushed forth to rejoin the slaughter. These things couldn't be allowed to leave the grounds. Not alive. The knife in hand once again became the prominent weapon. The lioness was not yet through with it.

sig credit: Alan Vanes

The time for self reflection came a few moments after another slippery, shiny slug made its way out of Erin's face... hole. The genius that was Galton, had not expected the slug to jump out of his well constructed cage. To be honest, young Lansdale didn't even think that slugs could jump; he'd managed to overlook the part where they shot themselves at his classmates and took large bites in his repellent huffing haze.

So the self reflection began now. As the teen looked down at his can of repellent, and the fading circle of poison he'd created, memories of how the other circles went flashed before him. They had all been about as useful as this one. If they'd succeeded in anything, it was driving slugs away from the circle. Repelling them... Not to the center of the death trap Galton had made, but out of it. And Galton's repetition and conviction had led to him missing this until just now. Extra repellent cologne would have been more useful. He needed to use his head here. This was like a duel; he needed to use everything in the disorganized brain of his.

And then his attention snapped back to the scene on hand. Just like a duel, he couldn't get in his head. He needed to relish the chaos at hand and flow with it. There were shouts from Hugh and the weird boy who was picking things up. That couldn't be good. Hugh wasn't one to waste effort on trivial matters. And then there was the movement towards the slug. He saw Xailah, going for the slug, as well as some faces he didn't quite recognize. That was there goal. Save Erin and finish the slugs off. He shot into action, wand coming up this time.

As he began to move to get a shot at it he'd cry out and point with the repellent bottle towards the dissipating circle. "In the circle, close to Erin and it won't attack you! For a second at least!" Then came the magic. He took aim. "Glacius!" His wand and hand moved in unison with the words.

Outfit: Robes (seasonal colors)
Inventory: Wand, repellent for slugs, 2x jelly slugs, sherbet lemon.
Stats/Abilities:

Reducio

STAMINA: 11
EVASION: 12
STRENGTH: 3
WISDOM: 11
ARCANE POWER: 5
ACCURACY: 10

Abilities:
Evasive maneuvers
Spell Spread
Evasive Maneuvers II
Blindvision

Action: Casting Glacius at the slug
Interacts with: Many people

Interacting with @Howard White, @Hugh Lowe, @Galton Lansdale, @Erin Ryan

Everything was happening too fast, at least in her mind. She staggered a little, trying to brave herself to continue. This whole thing was horrid. Blinking aggressively to try and stay awake, her blue eyes stared at Erin and the boys trying to wrestle her into submission. It was not an ideal situation but she needed to stop running. She did not know what the right thing was anymore. Forcing this situation on Erin was not what they wanted, it also was likely not the right thing to do. But stopping now was probably not right either. They had to see this through. They had to make all of this worth it. The Slytherin's suffering could not go in vain.

Serena steadied her wand. Howard had Erin pinned down. This was likely the best chance she would get to hit her with something. A third slug escaped from her mouth quickly. But before they could stop it, it escaped out of the circle that Galton had made. The question was - how many of these things were there?! It seemed neverending but she did not know how much more Erin could take. Even their head of house seemed concerned for her survival. What if they were too late? "Episkey!" She whimpered, trying to ease her suffering a little.

Perhaps she ought to have focused on the slugs coming out but she could not bring herself to look away from Erin. The pattern seemed to be repeating. Heal, force vomit, heal, force vomit... She had no idea how much Erin could handle or if this pattern was even the right thing for her. But it was also taking a toll on Serena's mental health. Putting Erin through this visual suffering was definitely not want she wanted. It hurt her heart but she knew that her pain was nothing compared to what the Slytherin was likely feeling.

She was glad that the rest of her odd group that had gathered here today seemed to have a better idea of what to do than she did. Galton seemed to be on top of things but for the life of her, she could not pay attention to what he was saying. It was hard enough to stay standing up when her entire body ached and it felt like it was taking all of her energy to just breathe. The cold was not helping matters. The emotionless, drained expression on her face painted a picture of how she felt, if the bloody ripped clothes did not.

"Pizza... do me a favour bud? Destroy any bloody slugs you see," She gritted her teeth, grumbling angrily at the whole situation. Pizza Rat had to do what Serena could not. He had to do his very best to bite the slugs and stop them from hurting anyone else. They might not have been burrowing - she had no idea if they were or they weren't - but getting eating alive was not fun either way.

SERENA'S ACTION: Cast Episkey [WDC: 17] at Erin again.
Pizza Rat's Action: Bite slug 3

Stamina: 10 | Evasion: 13 | Strength: 1 | Wisdom: 15 | Arcane Power: 5 | Accuracy: 10
Abilities: Part-Goblin, Evasive Maneuvers, Beastmaster
Fifth-Year Armour: +10% auto-dodge on attacks [=20% auto-dodge overall]

Pizza Rat 200/200 Health
Can bite a target, inflicting them with 25 damage and a diseases status -1 evasion (stacks up to 3 times) on a single target per attack.

Trunk Items: Wand, Invisibility Cloak, Magical Candle (unlit), Repellent for Slugs (given to Tyranni)
Other Items: Gideon's Sugar-free Candy (acquired here)

Outfit of the Day (with winged boots and wristguard wand holder)

Pushing up against the ground, she immediately broke into a sprint until she got close enough to stay near a few of the younger-looking students. She positioned herself not too far from @Thomas Baines and @Sylvie O’Niell for now as she searched the scene. Both @Selim Faust and @Caradoc Browne were by @Erin Ryan. That was a good first step. Orion seemed to have managed to get the unconscious student up, which was another good step. But this was far from over. Slugs were still coming out of her, there was no stopping this now and there was a lot happening around the ball that seemed to be unrelated.

Hjørdis gently placed her hand on Sylvie's shoulder, "Are you sure?" She asked as she overheard a conversation about if she was bleeding or not. The young girl claimed it was just a scratch. For now, she had no choice but to believe it. However, she would rather be told straight up if the girl was not doing well. It was a lot easier to heal or manage the situation if you knew exactly what the situation was. Lying about a major injury, for instance, would not help anyone. Regardless, she trusted her for now and did the next best thing, "Serenate," She whispered. "This is not over yet. Keep your wands up," She warned the pair, encouraging them to keep fighting.

It was not ideal that she was encouraging children to cast spells outside of a classroom but this situation was far beyond anything they would have had to face in class. This was a real-life experience for why it was important to study. Education paid and this was proof of that.

ACTION: Casting Serenate at Sylvie

Outfit of the Day

OUTFIT: Reducio

MENTIONING: @Serena Towers

INTERACTIONS: @Hugh Lowe | @Gideon Athantos

Hess hadn't responded to him, but the boy at least looked better. Truthfully he might have snapped at Gideon, but there was something too eerie about him standing there enjoying the chaos. It reminded Orion of a few dark wizards he had encountered. The seeming lack of empathy, that was. "Keep him company." He suggested, pushing up off the ground to stand. His hands brushed any dirt off of his suit as he turned to Gideon. "Make sure no one else attacks him while I go help other injured students. Scream if you need me." It was a simple request that did not require spells. Although he was aware of how weak the Hufflepuff likely was. Still, give those dallying a task and they just may stand out of the way.

His attention would shift to other injured students, namely the one that had been attacked by the first slug. Serena Towers. A tough girl for sure, but injured none-the-less. He pointed his wand towards the fifth year and cast another healing spell, "Episkey." It was lucky for him that he managed to get the spell out before the commotion between Gideon and Hugh caught his attention. He saw the giant towering over the first year, demanding whatever it was that he was holding. Likely a slug or teeth. Orion didn't want to know. Regardless of how he felt about the blonde, he was still being threatened by a much... much larger student. "LOWE! Step away from him and go find something more productive to do. I'm sure the students trapped in that damn tent would appreciate the help of your strength."