Hexwizard Task 1: Hogwarts v Koldovstoretz

Basic Rules:

✵There will be a spectators thread, but this spectators thread will be moderated. I will be updating the main post of this thread with links.
✵Players that are "second string" (wait list) but a part of the team, you are free to either choose to enter this thread and sit on the bench. You can interface with other benched users and/or the team's special person. You can also in character tend to the wounds of fallen allies that have been dragged off the chess board.
✵Second strings (wait list) and special people do not have to post every round.
✵Special persons are free to either choose to enter this thread and sit on the bench. You can interface with other benched users and/or the team's special person. You can also in character tend to the wounds of fallen allies that have been dragged off the chess board.
✵Being on the bench does not mean that your special abilities or skills will in any way influence the game.
✵The word count of this thread is reduced to 50 words for the sake of haste. this does include second strings (wait list) and special people.
✵The deadline for posts is the end of Friday (in every time zone). I will be doing the moderations over the weekend. This will be the cycle every week, if this changes there will be warning.
✵Please discuss and tell me what positions your team will take (and in the case of those with second strings (wait list) who is playing).
✵Please note that there are two of certain pieces. Please be clear if you want that Bishop for instance to be in column C or F, if I am not told I will pick for you.
✵The King does not necessarily have to be the champion but the goal is to take down the Champion.

Interacting with Hogwarts Team
Mentions Irina (@Lavinia Cloven), Cassanora (@Hugh Lowe), Maddie (@Aaron Jones), Milo (@Delilah Stewart), Felix (@Winnie Harper) and Lysander (@Phaedra Stavrou)

Never before did the nerves feel as bad as they did in this very moment as the young Hufflepuff walked in behind the Hogwart's champion, alongside the rest of the team. Her throat felt a little dry and the butterflies in her stomach were fluttering like crazy. Was there a chill in the air or was that just her? This was it. The penultimate Sunday of the month where six teams battled it out in a game of Chess had finally arrived. Three games all happening at once. Her eyes stayed focused on the back of Howard's head for a few moments as she followed him, trying to steady her breathing but it was not long before she cast a gaze outwards to the rest of the room. There were many unfamiliar faces, including adults that she could only assume were visitors from outside of the school.

Serena was not new to competitions by any means but there was something drastically different about today. Time and time again, she - and many like her - were made to feel inferior for who they were. The newspapers had done a fantastic job of being incredibly biased and making matters worse. The only thing that would help is winning here today, overcoming everything they throw at them and proving to them that they are not superior. It almost sucked the fun of things but the game of politics was being played and she knew that was kind of more important than anything else here. They were being watched by the wizarding world and this was the one chance they were getting to show them all. Winning was one thing but even if they won, racists would find fault somewhere. They had to display themselves in such a manner that there was no room for anyone to view them as anything other than equal. Maybe it was a good thing that the team entered after a part-goblin had been dragged out rather loudly. It would only have riled her up more.

As she stood there, she observed the rest of the teams coming in after her own. She did not recognise many faces but there were a few that stood out to her. From Koldovstoretz, she only recognised one girl as familiar but she could not recall her name or why she seemed familiar [Irina Afanasyeva]. Next was Beauxbatons, whose champion she had had the pleasure of meeting before and interviewing for the Headliner. She noted a few others in the team too and if they looked over, would definitely shoot them a smile and a nod of her head. Namely, Madeleine and Milo. Unfortunately, she could not say the same about their opposing team. It was not a secret but if she had to hope for a winner between the two, her vote would always go to Beauxbatons - even if Felix would kill her for that. She liked him and all but she could not support their champion - or several others in the team, for that matter. Lysander was someone she quite liked on the team but even he made her nervous. How would he react if he ever found out about her heritage? She could not say but she had a strong feeling that he'd tell her brother and it would not go well. The other schools entered but her mind was far too distracted now.

The thought of even trying to approach that conversation with the Stavrous or her own family made her feel sick. She shook the thought from her head for now. It was not like she was going to declare she was a part-goblin today. That was not the mission objective for the day, after all. She was, however, going to everything in her power to help the dhampir kick butt. Adjusting the straps of her gloves, she tightened them and checked the rest of her armour.

Once she had given herself a once over, her gaze moved to her teammates and scanned over them. She was checking to make sure they were all ready, no one was rather obviously hindered or injured for some reason, "You guys ready?" She asked, not bothering to say too much else. It was rather unlike her to be so quiet but if she spoke too much, her voice would simply be too shakey and it would break her focus. The anxiety of this whole thing was chewing at her. It had to go well. There were too many things that could go wrong and she was far too worried that her friends would, once again, be blamed for it. Her eyes scanned the room to look for the faces of her friends that weren't on the team, just to give her a moment of relief and a sense of comfort before this all began. Where were the big friendly giants when you needed them?!

ACTION: Whatever Howard says!

Stamina: 10 | Evasion: 14 | Strength: 2 | Wisdom: 15 | Arcane Power: 6 | Accuracy: 15
Abilities: Part-Goblin, Evasive Maneuvers, Beastmaster, Paragon of Health
Fifth-Year Armour Slot I & II: 10% chance of spell failure for all opponents
[Opponents for Armour: Koldovstoretz team]
[Allies for Paragon of Health: Howard White and Dealla Prince]

Interacting with Team Hogwarts!

Howard entered the ballroom with his team in tow. A scene from a corny, 90s teenaged movie where the "cool" kid pushes down the hall with his entourage could have set the scene, but the smile across his face set a different tone. Of course there were nerves to deal with as there always was when competition was at hand. Perhaps it was the many Quidditch matches that had trained him to keep his cool or make it was just the spirit of it all that gave Howard a little skip to his step.

There was no denying that these games carried more weight than a typical school competition. The media hype alone had weighed on Howard's shoulders for a while, not to mention that strange encounter with Athanatos and his "second" mother over the summer, but that all seemed to slip away as the date grew closer. He of course could not deny that there were political implications to all of this. All the articles in the Prophet and even some of the whispers around the school had once threatened to overwhelm him, but it all just felt a bit lighter now. Things had fallen into place for the Dhampir. He was co-captain of his team, had a solid group of friends, many of who were here with him now and even things with Bloom seemed to be great after their stumble. For the first time in a long time he felt that he had a place in this wild and wacky world he found himself apart of. These anti half breed fools could not bring him down! Indeed much had changed with the young man and he walked towards the board surrounded by friends. The fiery passion he felt towards his cause still burned within, but there was a focus to it now. He had found allies to share to burden with and with that support no writer or political figure would be able to get the better of him and his friends.

"Hell yeah!" Howard called out to Serena as he turned to face his group. Whatever may come he was ready to face it with them at his side. "Let's do this!"

Action: Arriving!

Russian: ✕ | Thoughts: ✕ | English: ✕
iNPC: Maskim Levin

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This was the moment, the reason for traveling all the way to Hogwarts, the Hexwizard tournament. It was no surprised Maksim got on the team, He was not only a jack of all trades, but a master of any. He was just what the team needed in order to show up the Hogwart great wannabes.

The doors opened and the schools entered into the ballroom, it was nearly impressive how Hogwarts was able to set up the space for this first task. He rolled his eyes as the cheers grew for Hogwarts, "Better have hope now before it's crushed." It was sweet how underestimated the Koldovstoretz was, being newer, smaller in student body. But they were a fierce team, and were going to pull the rug out from everyones feet.

Walking alongside his teammates, he kept his composer, not even allowing a smirk to escape his lips. Keeping a steady glare at the competing school. It was how his father took every game on the field, stone cold, "If they see you smile, they know how to find your weakness," his fathers voice echoed in his head. Looking up in the stands, noticing all the fellow school mates, media members, professors and even some representatives from the Magical Duma of the Russian Federation, Maksim flipped his hair before pulling himself back into the zone of competition. It was important to let the crowd know he was there for them.

The time was nearly upon them... the game about to begin, and Maksim wasn't about to loose.

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ACTION: Arriving

| Interacting with |
|@Marina Oriel as Kamila Yavlinsky | @Maggie Hawkins as Fyodor "Fedya" Adrikovich Sapozhnik |@Logan Baird as Rosella "Ro" Sokolov |@Lavinia Cloven as Irina Afanasyeva |@Faye Simmons as Oksana Vasilieva |@Avery McCall as Nikolai Ryzhkov |@Violet Carrington as Anastasia Prokovdine |@Aurora Ranvier as Rodion Makarovich |

English Russian |

Roleplaying as INPC Rodion Makarovich | Koldovstoretz

Interacting with the teamssss

Hexwizard tournament, either will boost his pride or destroy it. It was quite a journey he had, Hogwarts was never not a threat. They were all older, might be wiser, and absolutely had more tactics and spells in their big ol’ heads. Unlike the Russian team who was filled with a bunch of kids except one person, Irina. He heard about it, of course. Hogwarts, the school for non humans. For all he knew his cousin could also be part whatever disgusting animal, it fitted her perfectly. What would his father think if he’d lose against these people who don’t even deserve to exist in the first place? He’d be forever exiled.

He felt as if all eyes were on him, usually that’d make him feel excited but not this time. The ministries, the media, this will be broadcasted all over the newspapers. Those terrible headlines were filling his mind, ‘Rodion Makarovich, or should we say, Rotten Macaroni got his arse kicked by a bunch of hog’s warts’. He felt uneasy, a tad nauseous and a little stomach ache even though he did his business right before the match. He didn’t talk much today, his teammate might notice his sudden change of demeanour. He then looked at his teammates and nodded as encouragement. It will be okay

━━━━━━━━━━━━ Sta - 10 | Eva - 8 | Str - 7 Wis - 9 | Arc - 6 | Acc - 8 Charmer Perfectionist Spell Spread ━━━━━━━━━━━━

Action Arriving

Kamila walked confidently to the chess board. Kamila was glad that she was tall, because it made her look older. She could even hear the battle music playing in her ears. The moment she had been waiting for months was finally here. It was the first task of the Hexwizard Tournament.

Koldovstoretz would be battling Hogwarts. While most would be scared, Kamila was quite happy about this pairing. She could not wait to show those spoiled brats that Koldovstoretz was better. Just because they were older did not mean they were better, and if Hogwarts’ hex team was as bad as their dueling team this was going to be easy for Kamila and her team. This was her chance to prove herself and there was no way Kamila was going to mess it up. Additionally she hoped to show the wizarding world that half humans were not fit to compete in the tournament.

”We got this!” Kamila announced to her team. ”I feel bad for you,” she said to the Hogwarts team, ”You have no chance against us.”

Kamila took her place at the chessboard. This felt so dramatic as if her whole life depended on this moment. She could not wait for the chess game to begin.

Interacting: Team Koldovstoretz!
Action: Idk

Interacting with | the Hogwarts team in general | @Jack Warren | @Pericles Dralt in particular

Dealla might have felt nervous if she had been prone to such things. She stepped onto a duelling stage by the regular, but the scale of this event was different in its entirety; a ballroom filled with people, spectators from different countries, different continents. Hundreds of eyes on them, both friendly and hostile, this was an event that the international wizarding community was watching, ready to judge, and the pressure was palpable.

But as it were, rather than pushing her down, it lifted her up, the pressure to perform translating to barely restrained excitement thrumming through her veins. It was more than confidence that held her, even arrogance. It was a conviction that Dee carried around with herself wherever she went, always had, deep down, that she was better than her opponents, that in the end, she'd win. Lost duels, rather than shaking this bone-deep belief, had only pushed her to work harder, become faster, stronger. And so what if this was not the kind of duel she was used to? She could outwit the Russians all the same.

A deep breath and she grinned as she marched in behind Howard, up at the audience, her eyes trailing over students and staff almost carelessly. Her friends were there, somewhere, Dealla knew, those that weren't on this team themselves. Pericles was close, and so was Jack, although he would not be playing in this task. There was a bounce in her step, a sort of restless energy that chased away the tiredness of the past weeks, forcing off a lack of sleep born from nightmares that had followed almost a month of unconsciousness.

"Born ready!" she chimed in on the motivational proclamations. "We can take them, easy." Dealla had done research on the Koldovstoretz team - all the teams, really, personal interest that had then translated into a detailed report for the Headliner. It seemed there had been some last minute changes to the team they'd be facing, but nothing they couldn't handle. If anything, they looked even younger. "Keep an eye on the platinum blonde, she's likely the biggest threat."

She had a smile to spare for Peri, her friend, her partner who she would rely on blindly, although they hadn't shared the duelling piste in over a year. There wasn't anyone she'd rather have on her team, nothing had changed about that.

The excitement drowned out even the twinge of concern Dee sometimes felt these days when looking at her boyfriend. She wasn't good at reading people, never had been, often didn't care enough to try; but there were those that she did know, could read, because they were familiar and they were important enough that they had caught her attention and kept it, and Jack was one of them. But there was no space for worries at the moment, so she just beamed at him, bouncing up on the tips of her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, and irreverently proclaimed, "Be right back, gotta go win this thing!" before flouncing off towards the board, ready to take her place in the spectacle to come.

All the world's a stage, this was now hers, and she'd make the most of it.

Action | Let's get them
Charmer Allies | Hogwarts team

Date: 10/23/22 | Language: Russian / English | iNPC: Nikolai 'Kolya' Ryzhkov
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─────The roar of voices and applause that heralded the arrival of the teams seemed to reverberate through the first year’s ears. Kolya did his level best to try and remain as outwardly unaffected by the sight that greeted them as he could manage. This was a larger crowd than he'd anticipated. Despite the attempt, he remained unable to keep his gaze from flitting nervously about to take in every inch of the room. At least no one could hear the steady pounding of his heart against his chest. Or, so he hoped.

He liked to think that the attention of a crowd would never bother him, but he had yet to even compete in a simple broom race yet. Proud as he was to represent his homeland, he couldn't help but liken the feeling to taking a dive into an ocean full of sharks before ever learning to swim. Possibly an apt visual, considering the media presence.

Somehow, he hadn’t really much considered the fact that the tournament was high profile enough to draw such an assortment of media, let alone various government officials. More than a little naïve on his part, he’s quickly realizing. Sticking close to the older Koldovstoretz students, the young Russian does his best to promptly ignore them as they enter. There were far more important things to focus on in the immediate future.

And of course it would be Hogwarts to stand opposite of them. He’d heard the stories. It was hard not to, really. Monsters. Half-breeds. He still wasn’t quite sure what to think of it all. It wasn't something his mother had ever touched upon in all his time with her. Young and impressionable as he was, though, the mutterings and general disdain that permeated wizarding society had certainly helped to instill a wariness of the host team at the very least. Only time could really tell which direction it may develop.

Taking up his designated spot alongside the rest of the Russian team, Kolya clasps his hands behind his back to avoid the temptation to fidget. The first year takes a moment to look across the faces of the Hogwarts team before looking to his own team. The looks and words of encouragement help to bolster his spirits, if only slightly. The first year plasters what he hopes to be a self-assured smile across his features as he faces the board once more. Hopefully the cameras don’t pick up just how much effort it takes to keep the mask from wavering.

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𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: Koldovstoretz team

Action: Arriving

When Opeila had signed up for the Hexwizard Tournament, it had never been something she actually expected to be a part of. Somehow it had never been a possibility in her head that she might actually end up in this game, and yet here she was, standing between her own classmates and sixth years.

There seemed to be all kinds of feelings in the air, from tension to simple excitement. As a duellist Opeila had thought she would end up being more on the relaxed, excited side of things, but in truth she felt majorly tense. The team they were up against- despite being mainly younger students- was an unknown. Opeila didn't like not to know what to expect. Most of Hogwarts' duellists she had seen fight once or twice, so it was more different than she thought it would be.

Strangely enough it was the overconfidence of one of the Koldovstoretz girls that made Opeila calm down a little. The fourth year had been nervous, but logically the other team had more reason to be. Like- how old was their oldest teammember, her age? Maybe a little older? Half of the Hogwarts team was almost graduated. If all of the Koldovstoretz people were like this, maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all...

Action: Arriving