2023, Stage 2 Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor: Match 6

@Regina Miller & @Jake Morris

House Colours: Gryffindor
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

~ Sun Tzu

Though his shoulder was mostly healed up from his previous match, Piérre was a little less than enthused about getting beaten up again. Seriously, he had been shoved into lockers as a kid; why in the world was he so willing to actually plead to get beaten up just for the sake of maybe winning a bit of glory for his house?

Well, mostly because Piérre wanted to prove that he was good at what he had put his mind to.

His partner, funny enough, was indeed someone that he had fought with before; someone that as far as he knew, hated his guts. Just the idea of that caused the boy to chuckle a bit; yes, yes. She hated his guts more likely than not, but then again, what else was new? Fiorescura had an air of not only superiority but authority; something rather apt for that of the Gryffindor house, though admittedly anyone who looked at her from a first glance could easily misconstrue it for that of the more reptilian house. Piérre was of the personal belief that many Gryffindors were too big for their britches, especially when it came to their need to constantly interpose themselves in a situation without and sense of tact whatsoever; Fiorescura's pride complex only magnified this, and Piérre could see it from miles away.

Well, perhaps in this duel they could get to know one another better, or perhaps even better; Piérre could make this a learning opportunity for both of them.

"Are you ready, Fiorescura?" The Britalian whisper-shouted to the fellow Gryffindor girl. His green eyes flicked towards the stage with an air of mischief. Today he wore a red and white striped 'gondolier' shirt that was just a touch too small for him (as it showed off just a little bit of his waist just below the bottom of his ribs) and a flexible pair of knee-long denim shorts. It was hot in the dueling club though, lots of bodies.

The kid trotted to the stage. "C'mon. It'll be fun! Look, we're up against the guy who oversaw my previous duel, haha! Hey there!" He waved eccentrically towards the opposing Hufflepuff boy, trying his best to shake off the growing unease that he felt with the presence of Fiorescura by his side. Like Piérre knew, she gave off an air of power; this power liked to be intimidating, he supposed.... but why? What was the point?

Ah well; as long as her zealotry didn't get too much in the way of executing a proper cast and aim, he would be fine.

"Fun and fair? Define 'fair'?" Piérre grinned almost suspiciously towards their overseer. "Does 'fair' include setting people on fire so that they slowly char to death? Yeah... that sounds fun!" Piérre furrowed his brow as he scratched his chin lightly. "And isn't it technically 'fair game' if you don't get caught? Hm. Ah well. We will see, huh?" He laughed aloud again; feeling the energy of the crowd electrify him. This same electrification would spread to Regina, the strange empathy filling her with a sense of confidence that would help to cancel out the similarly threatening presence being given off by the other Hufflepuff girl.

Doing as Strategized
Calming Presence Ally: Regina Miller

date / Monday - January 30, 2022
word count / 363 words

Autumn wondered whether it was time she stopped hinging her self worth on her spellcasting abilities and performance in duels. This atrocious thought was immediately crushed following the mental reminder of her victory in her last duel. If she'd done it then, she could do it now; there were no need for pesky thoughts like those (or any self examination) until after her duel was over and she could pointedly ignore them like always, without it distracting her this time.

Her luck, on its own, had quite the horrid track record, but she'd been practicing. Her wand was almost buzzing with excitement in her grip- or maybe she was; who could ever tell? Delight was a rare emotion on her, she knew, and she tried to keep it off her face. There was nothing a duel to make her feel more alive than ever, but she did have something of a reputation to protect.

As with every duel, she took a moment to address her attention towards her opponents of the hour. The older Gryffindor boy was vaguely familiar- possibly from classes, definitely her year- and he seemed loud, which Autumn immediately hated a little about him. He was going on about something or another, and one of his topics of choice seemed to be fire and cheating, so Autumn decided that maybe she could excuse the way his chattiness made her want to throw him off the piste.

Her eyes turned over to the girl, who was younger, but carried herself with an air of authority. There was some sort of unsettling aura to her, and though Autumn's body rejected the discontented feeling, her mind set it aside with something akin to respect. Of course, her threats of bodily harm to her teammate did help.

On her side was her partner, Jake. He was a co-captain, and looked kind of agile, so her hopes weren't necessarily non-existent, but she tried to not have many expectations of others, lest they inevitably fail them, so any judgement on that front would have to be reserved later.

For now, all that was left was for the duel to start, and for them to win. Easy.

health / 800/800
stats / Stamina - 8 | Evasion - 9 | Strength - 7 | Wisdom - 7 | Arcane Power - 10 | Accuracy - 10
abilities / Sixth Sense - Perfectionist - Comprehend Languages (Mermish) - Terrible Presence

Was it ever going to get easier to duel?

Jake didn't think so. He'd thought dueling the first time was going to be the scariest, and that after he did THAT then he could do anything, if he survived. Well, he HAD survived. He'd not even been hit once. He had won somehow, which he couldn't even believe, with not a scratch on him. He'd hoped that surviving a duel would show that he could be brave. That he could be strong. Doing it hadn't made him FEEL very brave though. It had just made him feel relieved. Watching over duels was hard enough, but being in one was much much worse.

He knew that as the captain of the team he had to make a good example and be strong, but he just wasn't. Sure he had learned a lot about dueling, but being a captain was a lot easier when you didn't have to stand there actually doing it. But he HAD to show that he COULD do it. What kind of captain would he be if he couldn't? What kind of prefect would he be?

But as he stood up on the platform in front of all those people, he couldn't stop himself from trembling again, feeling just as nervous as he was the LAST time.

While Piérre gave him a wave, the small Hufflepuff gulped in response, feeling queasy as he raised a shaky hand - it was the polite thing to do and Piérre SEEMED friendly, but no matter what Jake thought of Piérre, the last thing he wanted to do was fight him. Wasn't he the one that had shot Evelynn with lightning last time? He didn't know Regina very much at all (though he HAD watched over her duel once) but just looking at the cold way she got up onto the platform sent a chill down his spine. Her eyes didn't break from the badger team, and Jake felt himself rooted to the ground unable to move or look away as she approached. Why oh WHY hadn't he practiced his casting more?

Last time, Jake had been dueling with Callista and this time he was dueling with Autumn. Her seriousness was a whole lot different from Callista's kindness, but to be honest, Jake was kinda happy he was on her side instead of having to fight against her. The only thing he didn't know is what she was gonna say if he let her down. Did she know he was scared? He hoped that she didn't. Maybe she was too busy getting all ready to notice the look on his face. He was sick and tired of everybody thinking he was scared all the time, so it would be a lot better if she didn't know it.

Jake shook his head. It was gonna be ok, right? He could do it. He did it once before, hadn't he? He was good at dodging stuff (so long as his legs would move). At least this time he hadn't dropped his wand...that meant he was already doing better, so it was gonna be ok. Of course then it sank in what Piérre had just said.

"Um, d-did you say fire?" Jake mumbled nervously, his heart sinking. Why hadn't he quit while he was ahead?

He was gonna die, wasn't he?

@Regina Miller @Piérre Marchonné @Autumn Ivy

Action: As Strategized

Round 1

Jake vs Piérre

Reducio

Jake casts Full Body-Bind Curse at Piérre
Wisdom DC: 14
Wisdom Check: [d20:14] + 10 = 24 > 14 → Success
Auto-Miss: [d20:3] → No Auto-Miss (tp)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 14] + 13 = 27
Evasion Check: [d20: 8] + 15 = 23
27 > 23 → Hit
Duration: [d3:1] → 1 round (1d3, 1-2: 1, 3: 2) + 1 round for every 10 points in Arcane Power
Effects:
- Damage: 50 x 0.9 (tp) = 45
- The target is paralyzed and falls down, unable to move and cast, but also cannot be attacked (IC Rules)
- Every round of duration a Strength Check (11) is performed to attempt breaking out of the effect

Autumn

Reducio

Autumn casts Weather-modifying Charm at the Gryffindor team
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20:6] + 7 = 13 > 12 → Success
Effects:
- A rain cloud is created above the opposing team
- 10% that the team the cloud is above is hit by lightning (damage: 150)

Regina

Reducio

Regina cast Shield Charm
Wisdom DC: 12
Wisdom Check: [d20:15] + 8 = 23 > 12 → Success
Effects:
- The caster creates an invisible shield that blocks spells and can reflect them
- The spell is affected by the Auto-Fail Counter mechanics (20%)

Piérre vs Autumn

Reducio

Piérre cast Impediment Jinx at Autumn
Wisdom DC: 13
Wisdom Check: [d20:3] + 10 = 13 = 13 → Success
Auto-Miss: [d20:4] → No Auto-Miss (tp)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 17] + 14 = 31
Evasion Check: [d20: 6] + 15 = 21
31 > 21 → Hit
Accuracy or Evasion Debuff: t!choose acc | eva → accuracy
Effects:
- The target is hindered in movement and eventually stopped
- The target suffers –5 Evasion or –5 Accuracy (chosen randomly) every round until both stats become 0

Lightning

Reducio

Regina: [d20: 16] → No Hit
Piérre: [d20: 17] → No Hit

Before the duel started, Piérre made a witty remark, a mischievous smile on his face as he looked over at Samantha. His comment made the brunette giggle a bit, but she quickly masked the smile to look more serious. "Nobody will die," she replied to the boy, "not under my watch at least." The mention of fire seemed to have made one of the Hufflepuff duellists very nervous. Samantha raised an eyebrow at the boy. It was common knowledge that there could fire involved involved in a duel and she didn't expect Jake, a duelling captain, to be nervous about it.

After she had counted down, the spells started to fly around. A full body-bind curse left the tip of Jake's wand, going straight for the oldest Gryffindor on stage. As soon as the spell hit Piérre, he would feel his body tense up, unable to move, lose his balance and fall down. A loud thud could be heard as the boy's head hit the floor. Due to her previous experience with the spell, Samantha knew how annoying it was and felt bad for the fourth year. Unlike her partner, Autumn aimed her wand to the air above the other team. A loud rumbling filled the Duelling Club as a stormy cloud appeared above the two Gryffindor duellists.

From the Gryffindor team, Regina went into an offensive mode. As soon as the duel started, she created a shield around herself using protego. A little bit of admiration could be found on Samantha's face as her friend was casting the fourth year spell. It was so cool! Before Piérre was paralyzed, he was able to sent the Impediment Jinx across the stage. His spell hit Autumn, who would start to struggle with moving right after.

I N F O R M A T I O N

• First of all, I apologize for my late mod, I had a couple of really busy weeks. I will make sure my next mods are out faster so we can end the duel on time.
• You have 96 hours from the timestamp of this post to owl me, Samantha Salwis, your actions. If you do not send your actions or post within the allotted time, your action is void. There are no extensions.
• Word count minimum is 50 words, but feel free to write as many as you like. Do not hint at your actions in your post, as it'll let the other team strategize against you.
• Your stats, abilities, and spells have been locked on 26th of January. Any new spells that are added after that day cannot be used.
• For any questions, comments, or concerns I ask that you only contact me through my owls or on discord.
• And most importantly, have fun!

Duelling Spells

Duelling System

Newest Patch

[Spectator Thread Day 1]

Jake was relieved when Piérre didn't cast fire after all. Maybe the other boy had just been saying fire DIDN'T sound fun, not that HE wanted to be the one charring people to death. Jake didn't always pick up on sarcasm, but maybe that whole 'fun' bit had just been sarcastic? That was a bit of a relief. Because if THAT was what he meant, then Jake could very much agree.

Which maybe made Jake feel a little bit bad that as soon as the duel had started, he had cast a nervous Petrificus Totalus towards Piérre, who maybe had not wanted to set him on fire after all. "Oops," Jake muttered to himself, realizing his mistake as Piérre plummeted down to the ground. But there wasn't time to think too much about it - there was never time in a duel. Things just happened way too quickly. Regina put up a shield charm, which didn't work, because nobody shot at her. Autumn got hit with Piérre's impediment jinx, which was going to slow her down. Nobody tried to hit Jake (Another relief).

But then Jake saw the storm clouds rising above the platform...just like they'd done in the last duel that he'd watched over. He had seen Evelynn get struck by lightning then, taken out by those ominous clouds. He knew how quickly it could strike...without any warning at all. They began to swirl above the platform, making Jake take a nervous step back...until he realized that those clouds were only above the GRYFFINDOR team.

"W-wait!" he said, but it was too late. Autumn had cast the spell. "Lightning? But that can really hurt someone...!" he said with dismay, forgetting that as a captain he had to try to think about strategy and use his brain not his feelings. He just wasn't able to put his feelings aside like that, no matter how hard he tried, and this time it felt even worse, because now if the lightning was to strike Piérre or Regina, it would be because of his team, which was almost like being because of him. Yeah he wanted to win, but not like that. It just felt wrong. Had Autumn had to use THAT spell? He knew a lot of people did it but there were just so many to choose from, you didn't HAVE to choose the ones that hurt...

@Piérre Marchonné @Autumn Ivy

Action: As Strategized

@Regina Miller

House Colours: Gryffindor
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

~ Sun Tzu

The boy liked to duel loose; he had no poise or stance that he adopted whenever the whistle was blown or when the rubber hit the road. The (swiftly growing shorter for his age) five foot and four inch boy simply stood with one foot slightly skewed in front of the other, his shoulders twisted both forward and back, and his arms as well as his neck quite akimbo. He looked not terribly unlike a marionette that had its strings only just barely keeping it aloft as he fixed green eyes towards his target.

Not before smiling faintly towards Fiorescura. "Somehow I doubt that you'll have to do that job for them..." He lightly touched the side of his nose with his right forefinger and then grinned.

And just as the previous two battles had been, Piérre had of course become cripplingly aware of the spells flying and the hurricane of a storm whipping up overhead. Squinting slightly though the rising gale, the boy's hand wavered a second as he spotted the chink in that girl's armor. The movement of casting Metelojinx had a very large, sweeping nature; an almost grandiose gesture that quite naturally exposed the body of the girl to the wide angle that Piérre was standing at. With a teasing whisper of "Impedimenta!", the spell quite easily struck its mark and the Britalian felt a small rush of pride as his newly mastered jinx began to do well in its constraining her movements and making it harder for her to aim her wand properly.

Beside him, Regina's silver shield sprung to life; an impressive cast as it was a spell that Piérre himself had only just recently mastered and had flaunted a couple times during his previous duel. But... no spells came her way. That one girl had cast a weather-modifying spell... but where in the world was the othe--

With a sudden and unconscious gasp as there was a deceptively light impact at his chest, Piérre felt his limbs suddenly snap together and his jaw tightly lock up as he suddenly became the epitome of "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" and then proceeded to tumble facefirst onto the ground with a teeth-grinding "CRACK" as the kid's skull hit the ground hard. Now, to a normal person with minimal head traumas, such an accident would not be harmful; indeed it would just be a simple bump to the noggin... but quite unfortunately Piérre was not a person who had never had a head trauma or who had only had one.

No, no.

Piérre had had nearly 5 separate incidents of head trauma; his most recent one having been his previous duel, if he recalled rightly. Naturally this meant that yes, he had indeed just received another concussion. This kid's head was like a bowl of eggs; cracked.

His heart beat faster in his chest as he became aware of the strangest sensation of an out-of-body experience; as if while he was present in his body he was also completely unable to move, to twitch, or to otherwise interact with the world. He was locked in; his mind functioning, his thoughts running wild, but no way to convey such awareness of this to anyone around him. Regina's condescending words hardly made an impact on the boy, as he was more focused on the strange sensation that he had never been subjected to before. Oh how he wanted to come up with a witty comeback, but alas nothing let him speak in such a way, or even make a sound of acknowledgement as his vocal cords were frozen as well. God, this sucked. His jaw hurt from being so tensed up.

Half of Regina's words the boy didn't even understand, they were way to fancy for his taste; almost like a Shakespearean actor. Kind of reminded the boy of one of their old Astronomy teachers... or two... That Italian one had been kinda creepy... But that wasn't the point! The point was that he had had an unlucky break. In normal situations, such evasion would not have been difficult for him, it had just been a mixture of misfortune and a lucky shot. Ach well, the spell wasn't too strong... Piérre was already beginning to feel the tenseness loosening; it wasn't going to keep him down for long.

Doing as Strategized
Calming Presence Ally: Regina Miller

date / Monday - January 30, 2022
word count / 268 words

Eventful rounds were some of the best. There was a certain boredom when no spells hit, even if Autumn obviously wasn't looking to be attacked. Duels were meant to be exhilarating. Of course, it was an even better feeling, a more firm boost of adrenaline, when one's spell hit their target. Something about manipulating something as wild and powerful as actual, real magic always had delighted her, and Autumn did not think she could say delight was a term often used to describe her emotional state.

Sure, the Gryffindor boy had hit her with his spell, a momentary lapse of her reflexes, but she was still standing (though her movement was definitely hindered), and he was on the floor, looking pleasantly corpse-like. She had to give her props to her partner, she supposed. While the storm she conjured was a beauty in the least, loud and harsh and dark, petrification was a smart choice.

Unfortunately, her teammate seemed to disagree with the former part of that statement. Frankly, she didn't understand what his problem was. It was a duel, and Metelojinx was hardly an Unforgivable. Maybe someone else in her position would let it slide, but Autumn prided herself on being a generally hard person to get along with. It wasn't exactly her fault Morris was making it so easy.

With a scoff, she spoke. "If it wasn't clear, hurting them was my intention. If that isn't an attitude we share, then maybe you shouldn't have signed up."

Her fellow Hufflepuff had just vanished someone's bodily autonomy in a few syllables. Who was he to preach moral superiority?

health / 800/800
stats / Stamina - 8 | Evasion - 9 | Strength - 7 | Wisdom - 7 | Arcane Power - 10 | Accuracy - 10
abilities / Sixth Sense - Perfectionist - Comprehend Languages (Mermish) - Terrible Presence