Knights Tourney Spring Ball 2023

Banner made by the sweet Beatrice Langstreth

Dialogue: English | Mandarin Thoughts: X

April 21st 2023, Late afternoon, early evening

As soon as Ying heard about the Knights Tourney, she knew she had to be able to participate in it. She grow up reading about those great and noble battles, when brave and handsome knights fight to gain the most beautiful damsel's heart! Usually those tales are about romance and courage and Ying always loved to imagine those scenarios in her mind like pieces of enchanted movies. But today, she was there for a very different reason. First, she had no intention to gain no one's heart and second, she was indeed brave and beautiful and so she would be one of the knights and not a delicate and harmless damsel. She had livid long enough trapped in her "tower", now was time to continue to spread her wings and find danger and adventures.

Walking towards the plave where the tourney woulf take place, Ying was amused with all she was seeing. The grounds looked like if it has been enchanted to go back time, or to be part of a medieval movie setting. The young Gryffindor followed the sign with the words ‘Knights of the Court this way!’, that guided her towards one of the tents. Inside she dressed in a silver armor, picked up a lance and a shield before heading out into the Tourney's field. There she was greeted by the judges and choose her broom, one of the Bloom Pegasus at their disposal. She liked the white color and the delicacy of its flowers and ribbons, the wings were just a detail that worked to increase her amusement.

She had been paired with someone named Roksana Nikolayev Volkov. It was not a common name or a name of someone that she remembered to have met. Maybe she was from one of the visiting schools and that was actually an idea that made her feel even more enthusiastic, meeting with people from other schools was exciting, she would love to make some friendships with students from other countries so she could satisfy her curiosity about how the other places work specially the other magical schools.

There were already several other students wearing their armors and holding their brooms, shields and lances...but only one of them was another girl, so she deduced she was her first jousting partner! "Hi there! Are you Roksana?" Ying asked walking closer to the other girl with some difficulties and almost tripping in her dress. To be fair, being in such attire and holding so many things at once wasn't really comfortable to walk. So it wasn't a real surprise when she let her lance fall from her hands and almost hit one of the others waiting for being called. "So sorry!" She apologized to the boy before quickly grabbing her lance back from the ground. Was ehrn shr straightened up that she recognized him, "Oh! Hi!" She greeted him with a happy grin, "How are you Hiro? Happy to find you here" She kindly admitted to him, "Good luck!" She wished with a small chuckle before continue her way towrads the girl, "Sorry about that!" She also apologised to her, "Not easy to walk in these right? I'm Hui-Ying, nice to meet you!" She introduced herself, "I would reach my hand to you but..." She started mentioning her shield, lance and broom, struggling to hold everything in her small hands."I don't think I can at the moment!" She joked with a sincere smile.

Interacting with: @Kim Sato as Hiro Bakugo and @Aurora Griffith as Roksana Nikolayev Volkov

Outfit

April 21, 2023 - The Spring Court Ball's Knights Tourney

It was an unfortunate fact of timing, but EmmaLee seemed to be a good sport about his having to run off to the Knights Tourney to get ready. Maybe it was nerves or maybe it was her polite concern at the need for him to be elsewhere, but she did not seem, at least as far as he could tell, as interested in the food table as he had been when he first arrived. Girls!

She grabbed a couple of things and when she looked to be done, he then grabbed her free hand and they both hurried, but not so fast that she might trip on her beautiful blue gown, over to where the entrance was to the tournament. The entrance looked to be leading them back into the maze, but from another entry point. He laughed as they were greeted with a choice right at the get-go.

An armored knight essentially held a sign telling him he needed to go <-------- that way, but what most amused him was the other sign bearer. It was dressed in a very puffy, and very green period dress with some ridiculous blonde wig somewhat haphazardly resting on the dummy head. Its sign told EmmaLee that she needed to go ---------> if she wished to be a spectator. They looked at each other and he smiled widely down at her. "Wish me luck. This may be utterly humiliating, but whatever it is, it is sure to be fun!"

Feeling like just leaving her would be rude, and honestly not knowing what else to do in the moment, he did what he thought any courtly gentleman would do, and he bowed graciously before her. "I promise to find you after this is all over, assuming I'm conscious," he teased. Then he reached over and took the liberty of squeezing her upper arm gently, playfully gauging her muscles. "If I do get KO'd, I hope you will be able to get me to the hospital tent this time," and he laughed as he stepped off to the left and started down the path the knights before him had traveled. "That would make you my knight in shining armor," he called over his shoulder to her and he laughed heartily as he finally said "Bye!"

As he made his way to where he was directed to go, he first came upon an area hosting a lot of suits of armor. There were many nice choices, and he himself was already dressed in a nice, comfortable suit of leather armor, but he opted for a suit of dark armor. He grabbed lance after lance until he found one that sat squarely in his grasp; well balanced and not too heavy. Last he chose a shield. Just like with his armor and lance, he chose the darkest one he could find that had the proper weight and balance to it.

As he was dressing, he made certain to tuck EmmaLee's letter into the "sleeve" of his new costume, and then he carried on to the next area where he apparently had to now choose his "steed". This is where choices became extremely limited. He appreciated the thought and imagination that had been put into the choices, but a a quick first glance was all it took for him to know which he would choose, and it would not be the Unicorn or Pegasus models. Nope. He was going to choose the midnight black Woodland Steed. His heart was racing with the excitement of it all, and he hoped EmmaLee would not be too awfully bored.

After inspecting his "steed", making certain it was actually in good and safe flying condition, he continued on, smiling even more widely as he heard the voices of his fellow knights up ahead. As he rounded the corner and came upon a large grouping of people, he lifted his visor and smiled a wide greeting to everyone. The only person there he knew, but not well, was fellow Ilvermorny student, Andy Menton. They were on the Hexwizard team together, but practices were so focused, they rarely had time to interact and just get to know one another. This may be a chance to change that.

Looking around him more carefully, he found he did recognize more people than he originally thought he did. There was that boy from Twirl the Flagon game he played last summer at camp. One of the girls Stephen kissed that night, Monica he seemed to recall her name being, clearly had a crush on that fellow. Stephen never knew his name, but he seemed friendly enough.

As Stephen was walking towards Andy to greet him, he heard a voice that made him stop in his tracks immediately. It was coming from his right side and without even having to turn, he knew it was the voice of Mahoutokoro's black King from Stage 1 of the Hexwizard Tournament. Stephen's pulse rate quickened. It was no secret that Ilvermorny put on more than a poor showing in Stage 1, but suddenly Stephen had a little burst of hope in his heart that maybe a little bit of redemption might be within grasp in this tournament. Stephen tried to remember his name, not that he ever really knew it, but he thought it was something like "Hammy" or "Shammy", and he chuckled. He then caught a glance at another of the Mahoutokoro chess pieces and his excitement grew even more, but cautiously so. That fellow had been the deadliest piece on the board, and the most silent. Stephen contemplated the field of challengers around him and when it came to those two, he just had to smile a little. They were opposite ends of the spectrum, at least they were that night. One was a loud mouth, show boat and the other was silent, but deadly.

He may fare no better individually against the second challenger if paired against him than Ilvermorny did against the team of Mahoutokoro, but all he knew was that this tournament just got a whole lot more interesting.

Action: Suiting up for Round 1 and greeting all of the fellow knights

Ency: All there is to know

Stats: STA: 8 || EVA: 7 || STR: 8 || WIS: 8 || ARC: 5 || ACC: 6

Abilities: Perfectionist 1 || Evasive Maneuvers

ENGLISH || RUSSIAN

Mentions: @EmmaLee LeDames @Rita Su as Andy Menton @Fang Hui-Ming as Aryaan Shamsi @Kim Sato as Hiro Bakugo and @Jack Burnett as Ginyami Midorimori

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Name: Jannette Applebottom
Date: April 21st, 2023
Location: Knights Tourney Grounds
Outfit: Princess Applebottom
Broom: Lady Applejack The Broom
Music “Madam has thee apple barrel gown!”

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‘Okay, I wasn’t expecting so many people to be watching.’ Was the first thing that came to Jannette Applebottom's mind as she entered the grounds. Today, Jannette was competing in the Knights Tourney against 15 other students from both Hogwarts and other wizarding schools, which by the way, was super cool! Though, even if it was cool, Jannette was still nervous as all hell! For starters her broom-riding skills were abysmal as the fastest she’s ever been on her school broom was 5 miles per hour, and secondly, how the heck is she supposed to swing the lance pole thingy and guard herself with a shield at the same time?

Even with so many questions on her mind, it didn’t take long for Jannette (and the competitors) to notice the armor rack. With so many different colors of armor to choose from, Jannette decided to go with a copper chest plate and helmet with a little open thingy on it. Next was the brooms! While many people chose unique brooms, with beautiful designs, Jannette, on the other hand, chose a broom that fitted her personality perfectly! "Ahpplejack moi trusted stead!" She exclaimed before grabbing the pony-looking broom with a red bandana and obnoxious jingly bells that were probably meant for a muggle child to play with. Although Jannette looked like a complete goofball with her shiny bronze armor and loud jangling of her childish broom, she honestly felt like a badass.

Waiting potentially, Jannette heard her name called and began to waddle over to the opposite side of the rail like a penguin. Although she heard her opponent's name, Jannette still knew very little about the girl she was going against. Though, maybe the brunette has seen the girl a couple of times in class or probably talked to her once during forced group classwork that Jannette definitely didn't want to do. But, whatever the case may be, there was one thing for certain. Jannette Applebottom wasn't going to go down without a fight. So, mounting her trusty stead, the Slytherin girl looked across from the dark-haired girl, her emerald green eyes beaming at her opponent. "PREPARE T'FEEL DAH WRATH OF PRINCESS AHPPLEBO'OOOOMM!!!!" She squeaks loudly, her lance and shield raised in the air as her enchanted stead echoed the jingle bells of a mighty charge toward the Gryffindor girl...

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Interaction
@Amaris Levine

Action: Sent

Mentioning : @Ava Winchect as Akihiko Takahashi, @Rita Su as Andy Menton Word Count : 294 Date : April 21st, 2023

Evening : Time Greeting her opponent : Actions Flower Gown : Outfit

Amaris Levine

Amaris entered the grounds where the event would be taking place, gaze wandering the adjustments that had been made to the usual Hogwarts that she was now used to. The scene evoked certain memories of the fantasy and mediaeval-based stories she had read at the time, such as Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Ring’ stories. If anything, she had ought to expect this considering the usage of ‘Knights’ in the name. Feeling slightly lost within the bustling atmosphere with the plentiful decorations and floods of people that had already arrived, her eyes scoured the signs of the two knights at the entrance. Following the instructions, she headed to where the signs had pointed her. Racks of shining armour were accompanied by a lance and a shield. Walking up to a shining silver armour - recently polished no doubt, she felt the tip of the lance with her fingertip. Sharp, hopefully, no one would get injured today despite the added protection of the armour. The weight of the amour that she now wore was unfamiliar to her, a strange sensation in any case. The next thing to grab was her steed, a broomstick, ribbon and flowers intertwining the wood with bells dangling. It looked absurd to Amaris, like a child had been granted permission to buy anything she wanted at an arts and craft shop to decorate. She never had a taste for anything too…frivolous. She was paired with a girl named Janette, someone she couldn’t exactly say she knew. She could recollect a similar name at the Sorting Ceremony if she racked her head hard enough. Biting back a smile at their apparent overenthusiasm yet taken aback at the same time, the best response she could muster was a quiet “Right…” @Jannette Applebottom

Outfit Image:

Reducio

What was it that truly caught the young Gryffindor's eyes in this ball? Was it the food? The merry gathering by the great lake? The enchanted maze filled with bizarre things? While the maze was quite fun to get lost in, it wasn't it but rather, the Knight's Tourney is what she was here for. Competing against others in an exciting game, it just has the thrill that she is looking for even though it may not be as chaotic as dueling or broom racing. They wouldn't put a serious competition in a ball that's meant for fun after all and that's all right. What matters is that it'll still be fun.

Upon arriving in the area, where the tourney is being held, she stopped to catch her breath as if she had ran a marathon. She came here in a hurried and panicked manner as she thought she would miss it, guilt still eating her up from the inside from just leaving her companion, hoping it'll be okay. Raizel could already see a lot of people had gathered once she started looking around, competitors and spectators. She was expecting this kind of setting, not even that surprised to see that a lot of people are interested in a fun game. The rules were quite simple and the brooms that are gonna be used are decorated school brooms which is understandable. They would want this to be a fair competition. Her gaze fell on the available brooms, finding them cute and cool. They sure did a great job in making a plain school broom look so amazing. She had to pick one of these and the wood one called the Woodland Steed was appealing to her.

Who was she competing with again? She didn't have enough time to look up who it was. She can't help but wonder what kind of person they are, how tough they are and if she even has a chance to land a hit considering her luck but, she'll see through this competition that she signed up for straight on. No backing down now. She took a deep breath to stay calm and focused for now, containing the excitement. Soon enough, adrenaline will come rushing in. She then waited patiently for her turn on this contest.

Action Sent

Ooh, this was going to be fun! Cassie had participated in plenty of activities at Hogwarts balls before, but none that sounded as cool as jousting did. It was a shame that she didn't get to use her own broom, but the ones provided looked awesome, and were definitely decorated in the perfect way for a knights' tourney. The Beauxbatons student took her time choosing which broom she would adopt as her 'steed'. Would she choose one which was covered in plants, or ribbons, or vines? The choices seemed endless, even though Cassie knew that they were all variations on three designs. In the end, she picked out a pure white broom with bells and little wings on it, feeling that such a steed was appropriate for a knight. No, it didn't match her Jedi costume, but who cared? Certainly not Cassie, who was just trying her best to work out how to make sure that the cloak didn't get in the way of her feet as she mounted the broom.

Now ready to fight to the lance-breaking (death was a bit far, even in hyperbole), Cassie took her starting position. A wave to the crowd was in order, even if there wasn't anybody looking at her, and then the game began.

The deadline has been extended by 24 hours - This is due to Xailah stepping out of the tourney. A replacement will be posted soon. Thanks for your patience.


@Ava Winchect@Daphne Sapphirus @Amaris Levine @Janette Applebottom @Charlie Jacobsen@Rita Su @Fang Hui-Ying @Aurora Griffith @Raziel Voltrouz @AngelFyre McCubbin @Kim Sato @Ciel Saskia @Lucia Fox @Fang Hui-Ming @Jack Burnett

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Just before the tournament was about to begin, Ginyami was thinking hard and starting to regret having briefly left Valentin's group within the maze. The tourney might have been fun, but Valentin or one of his friends could come to real harm in that maze. It seemed unfair to have abandoned them just for having a bit of amusement on his own.

Eventually, he decided to return his Woodland Steed with the other mounts and to replace his shield and lance back where he had gotten them. He felt terrible about dropping out when he had been one of the last ones chosen, especially at the very last minute, but he knew spending time with Valentin and his group was more important to him than the tourney. If he had to choose between this and them, he would choose them. Certainly by the sign-ups, the organizers of the event would have little difficulty replacing him with someone new and eager to participate.

"ごめんなさい。もっと大事にしなければならないことがあったことを思い出しました。あなたの夜を楽しんでください、シャムシさん," (I'm sorry. I just remembered there was something more important I have to take care of. Enjoy your evening, Shamsi-san) Ginyami told his fellow Mahoutokoro student, Aryaan, and bowed before he left the arena.

Upon doing so, he passed another familiar face, though less familiar than Aryaan's, and tried to place it. Ah, yes; he was another boy they had faced during the first Hexwizard task - one of Ilvermorny's students. He had been a Bishop as a chess piece for his school team if Ginyami remembered right. He thought he saw him smile and smiled in return, offering a small wave. Perhaps they would get to face each other on the battlefield another time, but not that night. Ginyami would have to rely on the other Mahoutokoro students taking part in the tourney to uphold their school's name against Ilvermorny's once again.

Once he had put away what he had borrowed and said his apologies and farewells, the Japanese fourth year left the Knights Tourney to rejoin Valentin and his entoruage within the maze.

Interacting with: Aryaan Shamsi (@Fang Hui-Ming) & Stephen Schwartz (@AngelFyre McCubbin)

@Cassie Jiang will be replacing Xailah Alptraum, and @Cassandra Ironwoods (playing her inpc Verona Andreas will be replacing Jack Burnett