Event Pool Party Closed

Upon waking up that morning, Eri was excited for the pool party. She loved swimming and this was the perfect opportunity to swim and have fun with some of her friends at the lake. Though she had heard a rumor of colorful floating orbs in the lake. Being the curious person she was Eri decided she was going to take part in the search of these orbs. 

Once she arrived at the lake she got ready to get into to the lake to begin her search of the orbs, she wasn't sure if she would find one, but she might.

The brunette dived into the water after putting her goggles on and began her search of the mysterious floating orbs. She surfaced for air and dived down and began to swim to the surface of the lake. Once she got down there she made her way slowly back towards shore. As soon as she felt herself running out of air the brunette swam upward and got some air again. After a short break to get air she dived back down to continue her search along the bottom. Once she reached the shore she swam back up to the surface for air.

Action: search the bottom of the lake.

Serena made her way over to the pool. She hadn't been there yet but apparently there was a Pool Party going on today that she thought she should check out. She loved swimming when she was younger. Before she joined Hogwarts, she used to swim weekly - or several times a week. All of that changed when she moved here, as there was not really a safe swimming pool. The lake had rumours of giant creatures and merpeople, after all. Apparently the Professors had installed a safe 'swimming' section in the lake though, specifically for the summer camp. She knew she had to come check it out. Though, to be fair, the food was also rather appealing. Apparently there would be a BBQ there today, which sounded fantastic. The thought of it made her tummy rumble a little in anticipation. 

The Hufflepuff female approached the lake. It was very quiet. Most people had not turned up yet, it seemed. She spotted a few people around but it was still early. There was a net set up for some sort of sport, various floating devices in the water and tables set up for the food. It looked amazing. 

She made her way over to the lake, standing there for a moment as she looked out. The water glimmered, beautifully reflecting the sunlight and the sky. It was a gorgeous day to have a pool party, that was for sure. As she looked over the lake, she recalled the rumours she had been hearing. Rumours of colourful orbs that had been found in the lake. She had no idea if they were merely rumours or if there was any truth behind it. But... she had nothing else to do today. No one else was here, anyway.

Taking her red sports jacket off, Serena chucked it down onto a nearby picnic bench with her bag and took off her trainers too. Putting on a pair of swimming googles that she took out from her bag, Serena made her way to the water, dressed in a t-shirt and sports and walked into it. The Prefect walked deeper into the water before diving underwater once the water was deep enough to do so. 

Swimming into the water, Serena looked around a little. She had absolutely no idea what these orbs were supposedly going to look like but she decided to try and find them. The Prefect came out of the water for air. Inhaling deeply, she dived back into the water and started to swim towards the edge. There were plants and rocks near the edges of the lake. Serena swam towards them and started to rummage through them. Surely, if there was anything, it might get trapped by the seaweed - or the moss, or whatever it was. It might be easier to find, if that's where you were looking. That was her logic, anyway. Serena attempted to root through the seaweed and plants, underwater. 

ACTION: Look for orbs in the plants underwater.

Howie shaded his eyes with his hand as he looked around the pool area. He wore his green running shorts and a blue tank, perfect attire for this beautiful summer day. It couldn’t have been better really. Howie spied some picnic tables near the makeshift volleyball court, rumors had it there was to be a BBQ. He couldn’t wait for others to show. Finally, some muggle sports! A nice, safe sport where Howie’s feet could remain firmly planted on the ground, just where he liked them. 

He discarded his tank top and went down to the waters edge, allowing the sun to warm his shoulders and back. It wasn’t everyday you got to tan up in the Highlands. Now came the part Howie had been dreading ever since the rumors of a swimming pool and mysterious search amongst the water had reached his ears. He picked up the nearest floaty and made his way into the water, only going as far to where the water reached his thighs. Howie scanned the surface of the water, keeping an eye out for the rumored orbs in which they were to search for. He noticed a couple of other students were already swimming about, plunging down into the water in their own search. The young Huffle became very insecure. He was just standing there while the others swam about. Howie would join them, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know how to swim.

His parents had never taught him, they themselves probably not knowing how. Nor could they have ever afforded to vacation by the beach or gain access to a facility with a swimming pool. He stood there, floaty in one hand, the other shading his eyes once more as he continued to look around the surface of the water. Maybe he’d get lucky and one would float his way.

Action: Search the surface of the water for a nearby orb.

Even if she had sulked the whole time she was there, Kalani had quite enjoyed the camp. Not as much as she would have enjoyed her usual summer camp, of course, but there was some fun stuff that had happened. One thing that Hogwarts had that Maika'i Summer Camp didn't have, was a lake.

Kalani's hometown of Wainaku was right on the beach. She couldn't count the amount of times she'd gone swimming in that sea, with it's crystal clear water. She could, however, count the amount of times she'd almost drowned; zero, because she was a good swimmer. She relished in the taste and smell of salt, and sometimes tried to avoid showering afterwards so that it could stick around. If she could live in the sea, she would. So, that's why she was so thrilled about the pool party!

At breakfast, she traded three galleons to a boy for his pair of goggles, and borrowed one of her friends swimsuits. She hadn't brought her own, since her dad had told her that the Great Lake was DANGEROUS and NOT GOOD TO SWIM IN under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. So, she hadn't been exactly prepared for swimming lessons. She grabbed a canvas bag that she didn't care too much about and tossed in the necessities; a too-big t-shirt, a pair of shorts, sun cream and a towel. She stuck on her flip flops and headed out to the lake.

As she trekked to the lake, she thought about something that she'd seen people talking about. Apparently, there were balls in the Great Lake. But not like, football balls. Magic ones. Orbs, that was the word they'd used. Apparently, when you touched one, it gave you powers. But not like, wizard powers. Special, different powers. The details were fuzzy, and what she knew she only knew from picking up on random conversations around her. She wondered how far the powers would go.

Before she could think of it much more, there was the lake. As soon as she saw it her body was gripped with that great feeling you get when you see the best thing in the world. She broke into a sprint - still in flip flops - and once she reached the bank she tossed her bag to the side. She only stopped for a second to kick her flip flops off and pull her goggles over her eyes, then sprinted at full speed towards the lake. She soared past a boy in a floatie, and leaped into the water. She left a massive splash in her wake, immediately sinking to the sandy lake-floor. It was shallower than she would have hoped, and she stretched her legs out and kicked off the bottom, emerging back on the surface. She laughed aloud as she broke the water, treading for a moment as she savoured the feeling of water around her. She didn't realise how much she'd missed it.

She turned briefly to look at the boy she'd ran past. Laughing again, she gave him a quick thumbs up before turning her attention back to the water. She wanted to look for orbs. She took a deep breath and slipped underwater, swimming further away from the shore to get to deeper water.

ACTION: Searching for orbs in deeper water.

Emma had never been so excited for a pool party, but this time, rewards were included. She hadn't had the chance the swim around with homework attacking her left and right, constantly overwhelming her. She always attended the local pool every Saturday afternoon with her cousins. She didn't mind taking a dip in the Great Lake, though thoughts of ravenous beasts like the Giant Squid filled her mind. 

She walked towards the lake, her ruffled red one-piece swimsuit (her mother despised bikinis) swishing happily beneath her chin. She spun her black goggles on her arm. There were a few people that had turned up, most of whom she didn't recognize. They were already searching the murky waters of the Black Lake, it seemed nearly impossible to find an orb. 

There was no clue of what the orb had looked like, what was she supposed to do? Just swim around until she found a shiny cartoon-like sphere?

As the brunette's foot came in contact with the water, it was like frozen relief, almost like ice cream, once you took a bite, you typically couldn't stop. Emma put on her goggles, imaging how silly she looked with them on. She walked in until the water hit just above her navel, and she swam to the back, instinctively. If something spherical were to roll, it'd be pushed by the currents. 

She plummeted her head into the water after catching an overexaggerated breath. Her hand ran over the rocks, and sometimes she used both hands to move stones off the ground. It was extremely hard to contain her grip on the slippery boulders. This was going to take a while.

The young Ravenclaw girl searching the Great Lake seemed too preoccupied with diving and breathing. Of course breathing was necessary, but attention to detail was as well, at least in this specific situation. Eri, unaided by goggles, should still be able to pick out an orb from the water without them. The orbs glowed faintly and, if they were in the range of Eri's eyes they would be noticeable. The orbs are tricky and were not meant to be easily found. Unfortunately for the Windstone girl her lack of actual searching disallowed her to actually find what she was looking for. She should be aware that the orbs are magical, and hidden with care. Perhaps her background in the famous Ravenclaw House will aid her in her next attempt at hide and seek.
Eri Windstone failed her dice roll and did not find an orb this round. Please try again.

Serena apparently held good problem solving skills. The magical orbs hidden throughout the swimming section were certainly mischievous and found good places to hide. Plants and other matter such as this were seemingly perfect places to be out of sight from greedy students. But the young Hufflepuff outsmarted the orbs and as she searched through the kelp and weeds near the shore of the lake, her eyes fell on a glowing yellow ball. It looked like a tiny sun, floating there in the murky lake water amongst the green plants. As she reached her hand out to grab the orb, her hand would go right through it, as if it wasn't even there, but the little sun would follower her hand and appear to absorb itself into her skin. Once it dissapeared Serena would feel a tickly sensation around her upper arms and ankles. If she moved her head to look she would find that groups of bubbles had formed around those sections of her body. Touching them would not pop them, and should would not be able to wipe them off her body They stayed where they were sticking with an unknown strength. Soon she would find herself slowly sinking in the water, a weight pulling her down by her ankles and arms. A sudden panic would overwhelm the girl, her air was running out and she needed to rise to the surface. As soon as she thought this, she would feel lighter and begin to rise in the water, the bubbles clearly becoming weightless.
Serena has succeeded her die roll and gain the ability, Weighted Bubbles. With this ability Serena can raise and lower herself in the water at will, the bubbles becoming weighted or weightless depending. Time Limit: 20 minutes. From here on any orbs discovered by her will have no effect.

Howard seemed, at first, destined to failure. Most would think that an inability to dive under the water would set the Hufflepuff boy on a path of sure failure. Yet, it seemed the orbs may have had pity on the young child. What kind of parent does not teach there child to swim? That would mean for the rest of his life the boy would miss out on a number of activities and career choices. Not today, though, Howard would be equally included in this game to his sure delight. As he slowly floated along the surface of the Great Lake, he did a swell job of keeping his eyes peeled. Soon he would notice a piece of driftwood floating near, and as he reached out to it, simply to move it aside out of boredom, he would find a small green glowing orb hiding behind it, floating delicately on the surface of the water. As he grabbed the orb he would feel it disintegrate in his palm, followed by an unexplainable feeling in his hand, then his other hand, then his toes. Looking down at his appendages he would be shocked to suddenly see clear membranes form between his fingers and toes. If he was smart enough he would quickly recognize this to be webbing, like some fish, or similar to scuba flippers. If he dared to enter the water that previously was a danger to his unskilled self, he would find that the webbing allowed for extremely easy swimming, almost as easy as walking. And as long as he kept a supply of air, he would feel almost at home under the water. If he continued to swim for a while he would soon notice he was moving at a much greater speed than his fellow swimmers.
Howard has succeeded his die roll and gained the ability Webbed Feet. This ability causes webbing to grow between the fingers and toes and allows the swimmer to travel at a much greater speed under the water. As a bonus for Howard, this ability also allows the boy to swim with ease, regardless of his former inability to swim, just remember to come up for air. Time Limit: 30 minutes. From here on any orbs discovered by him will have no effect.

The Gryiffindor girl was a natural swimmer and this certainly aided her in her search for magical orbs. Perhaps, too, her kindness and support of the non swimmer, Howard, affected her success. As a skilled swimmer, with the ability to hold her breath longer than probably most of her peers, Kalani was able to venture deeper into the swimming section, where most opted to stay closer to the shore for easier access. This meant, though, that the orbs resting here were far more plentiful than those in shallow water. It did not take long to the young girl to come across a shining purple orb floating in the water, just above the ground. Grabbing quickly at it Kalani would see it quickly fade until it was gone. At first she might be confused as nothing seemed to have changed besides a slight tingle in her palms. But as she breached the water for a breath of air, and moved her hands to her face to push her wet hair out of her eyes, she would be met with a splash of water in her face. Again, she might be confused, and perhaps look around to see if someone splashed her, but as she moved her hands again, she would feel the tingle intensify and all of a sudden bursts of water would come spurting out of her palms. Experimenting more she would realize she now had the baility to shoot water from her palms. This may not aid in her swimming, though did the girl really need any help? Instead this might be a perfect prank to pull on her peers, or whatever else she could think of to utilize this ability.
Kalani has succeeded her die roll and gained the ability Water Gun. This ability causes water to be shot from the users palms when aimed in a specific direction. Time Limit: 20 minutes. From here on any orbs discovered by her will have no effect.

The Ravenclaw was correct in her assumption of the search taking a while. The orbs were very good at hiding, and not all students would find one within their first few minutes of searching. Although the gril had a good idea of searching around rocks on the floor of the lake, this was hard work and required many trips up to the surface to resupply with air and rest for a moment. Because of this Emma's search was long and tedious and for now she had no luck.
Emma failed her die roll and did not find an orb this round. Please try again.

Midas looked around when he heard the other students whispering about some sort of weird orbs that were found floating around in the water. Might as well look into these rumors right? What's the worst that could happen?

"Drowning, being killed by the squid, or just not finding anything..." Midas muttered to himself as he walked down to the lakeside. "Maybe I shouldn't do this..." He began observing the other students whom were also going into the lake - to look for the orbs, or maybe just to swim.

"I don't think I should go very far in... I guess I'll just search for them close to shore."

First they let them freely swim in the lake, and now throw a whole pool party? It was a dream come true. When she heard the news, she barely could sleep from the excitement. And as a result, well, overslept. The sun was high when she finally woke up, realized it must be almost noon, and run towards the shore, loosing one flip flop on the way. Showering or combing hair wasn't a concern this time. She's getting wet as soon as possible anyway!

Some people were already walking and swimming around. Angela knew exactly what she wanted to do first. She heard about this magic orbs hunt and decided she must see what kind of silly powers will they provide. As soon as she got to the shore, she walked into the water (cool, but not chilly) and started swimming towards the least crowded space. There will be plenty of time to socialize later - right now she had a clear purpose.

Orbs, orbs... how do they look like? Where to find them? She certainly didn't see any nearby on the surface. She decided to take a deep breath and dive. Maybe there'll be some hidden in the grass underwater.

Action: search for orbs deep in the grass

With no apparent luck Eri swam out farther into the lake and dove back down to begin her search for an orb once again. As she got deeper it got harder to see but she was used to seeing through water so it was a bit clearer to her than any other person who was not used to seeing through murky water with goggles on. The brunette over turned rocks on the bottom of the lake. As her air started to run out she swam back up as fast as she could to get some air Taking deep breaths the brunette got ready to dive back down to search for orbs again. She really wanted to find one it would be so cool.

The Ravenclaw girl loved swimming. It was one of her passions in life. At home she and her brothers were in swim team and loved to swim. They were all good at it too. Jackson was a freestyler and butterfly, Ethan was a backstroke and freestyler, and Eri was a butterflyer and freestyler. And the sport was fun for all three of them to do and compete against each other in to see who was faster than the others.

Action: search the bottom of the lake. But farther out.