Into the Underground | В подполье Open to Koldovstoretz iNPCs

sta 10 • eva 10 • str 0 • wis 9 • arc 6 • acc 8

Group 5 | Duelling
Ability 1 [Wandmaker] | Thestral Tail Hair Core - Anyone cast unconscious with this wand cannot be brought back to 1hp with a healing spell, must heal naturally.
Ability 2 [Lovely Creature] | +2 DC in adventures to find things or control dc

Vladislav wandered down the stairs, looking around at his potential options. He also stared at the Director lounging. He looked at him with an unamused expression. "Really? Choosing to be lazy at this point in time?" A low murmur left his voice as his expression revealed that he was judging him. Now, did he dare to cross the path of the lovely Director? Nay. He had no plans on being hunted down and sentenced to a week of shoveling deer manure. He knew what he was up to though, given the fact he read the 'do not be late' message.

He instead reverted, and erased the judgmental look off of his face and put on a soft smile. "Sir. Thank you for.." He hesitated, unsure of what it was he could and would say. He looked awkwardly at the doors. "Inviting me?" He had his classes here, he'd been here for ages now, so why is this exploration thing a huge deal? Was he going to fight it out with the other residents of Koldovstoretz and turn it into some weird form of Hunger Games? God, that would be awesome, wouldn't it?

He looked at the bright colors and frowned again. "I'm just gonna.. yeah." He awkwardly walked towards the pastel green door. What was in there? Vladislav did not know. He whipped out his wand, gently turning the door handle.

Action: Entering pastel green room
Dialogue: All in Russian. He don't got no english folks to talk to here.

Action: Entering white room

Calming Presence: In Effect

Notes: Reserved and quiet

Russian | English

Zoya stalked her way across the grounds and down the stairs of the old church-like structure. Cleaning, why did they have to do the cleaning? The brunette could not even remember the last time she actually had to do actual cleaning other than picking up her own items when they were scattered. Couldn't the Director have just gotten other people to do it, at least it would be done better and more correct if he had just hired someone.

Clutched tightly in the Russian's right hand was her wand, knowing she was going to use it whether they were allowed them or not, and a blood pop clenched between her teeth. Zoya had tossed an old black cloak over her clothes before making her way to the area, not wanting to get her clothes dirtier than they would already be getting. She knew she could have probably not assisted with this, but something was telling her she needed to help even a little bit.

Finally making it to the bottom of the stairs, the Russian girl furrowed her brows a the sight of their director lounging in a recliner. Was he not going to be helping them? She chose to ignore it though, not wanting to get into trouble or anything and forced a smile onto her face. "Hello sir," she muttered, sound slightly muffled from the blood pop still present in her mouth, as she looked at the doors.

There were four options and she honestly was not sure what the best option would be. She could go into a room that already had students in it, but they would probably try and talk to her. There was the advantage of having assistance if needed though. If she went into a room by herself, she would not have to interact with anyone, but she would be at a higher risk of something happening. With a huff, she made her way to the pale green door, not excited in the slightest about what could be behind it.

Stats: Stamina| 13 Evasion| 12 Strength| 10 Wisdom| 6 Arcane| 5 Accuracy| 16
Abilities: Unsettling Aura in Effect
Action: Going to Pale Green Room

May 1, 2025

The undergrounds at Koldovstoretz had served as one of the greatest mysteries of Irina's education. She had explored a time or two before, but had never gotten that far in her exploration. Upon receiving an owl earlier that morning, Irina knew she had to come help map out the caverns and mainly learn what was down there. The mystery was about to solved and there was no way Irina would let younger students beat her to it. Also, Irina knew she was the oldest and likely most capable student at Koldovstoretz so had to ensure no one got hurt.

Walking towards the tower, Irina thought about how Director Vorozheykin was already taking actions no other director had in her whole educational career. She liked him a lot more then Korotkin who had been an aggressive change of pace after Pavlova's death. First off, Director Vorozheykin had been a constant during Irina's 9 years at the school. She remembered his stark white hair from when she was 9 and everyone seemed to talk about what a prodigal seer he was over her time. Drawn to more of the potions classes, Irina only took his divination class for a small period of time when she was younger. However, every single one of her friends that took it seemed to go on and on about how he was young, hot, and charismatic. To Irina, it just sounded like he was too distracting to teach a class on focusing your mind. Nevertheless, she was excited for a young perspective who knew the school and community in the director role.

The stairs creaked as Irina walked calming down them, noticing how the dust had already been brushed off a bit. She reached the bottom of the stairs and confirmed her theory that she was not the first one there. Irina recognized that three of her younger classmates had already arrived and headed into the caverns. While they would all likely need some support, Irina honestly wanted to explore without having to babysit. She did enough of that on the broom racing team and wanted to have another adventure just for herself. If someone chose to join her on the other hand then of course Irina would be a gracious host and exploring partner.

Finally turning around and noticing Director Vorozheykin sitting under the stairs, Irina laughed at his position. Taking on a joking yet responsible tone, Irina said "I hope you can get a good nap in that chair, who knows how long we'll be here for." Letting out another small chuckle, Irina let her excitement show a little bit, "Thank you for offering this opportunity though, I've always wondering what lives down here under the sea." Irina was making a couple of muggle jokes in homage to her mom who always kept her up to date on muggle news and trends. Deciding on the hot pink door as her path, Irina took a step forward before speaking again to the director, "I'm going to take this pink door since no one else has, and I'll do my best to keep everyone safe, but if someone is struggling feel free to send them my way and I'll ensure their safety." Irina wanted to let the director know how much she looked out for her classmates while attempting to have a casual and playful conversation.

Opening up the hot pink door, Irina waltzed in and immediately cast a candle conjuring spell. "Fanale Appare" If she was traveling through these caverns alone, she didn't want to get caught without light and something to guide her. Hopefully this candle would serve as an assistant of sorts as she started exploring the undergrounds.

Action: Entering the Hot Pink door, casting Fanale Appare (Candle Conjuration Spell)
Stats: | STA: 14 | EVA: 15 | STR: 9 | WIS: 12 | ARCP: 6 | ACC: 17 |
Abilities: Sixth Sense, Fearless, Calming Presence, Paragon of Heath, and Unfettered Flight, Poison Resistance, Potion Mastery
Potions Inventory: Strengthening Solution

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· ✬ · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ✬ ·

date: 01/052025 place: underground ency link: iriliya

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#ff744d Russian #00744d English #8477ff Ukrainian

She was totally not ready to take part in this. She barely had gotten over crying and doing her homework every single day. Truly, she exchanged few words with her peers; her true source of communication was the letters between her and Eugenia. The girl’s Russian was great, she actually taught Iriliya some Greek as well.

But going down to the underground maze of Koldovstoretz was not something she had expected to do. Earlier on in her first year, she had attempted to explore it once or twice, but it felt like a mystery. She and her brother had gotten as far as the first door- and proceeded to run away. But he wasn’t here now. And Iriliya was more brave now.

The owl from Headmaster Vorozheykin was not a gift, but a grand invitation to overcome her fears. So, she put in a brown sweater and a pair of jeans, tied her hair in a braid, and packed her enchanted satchel with a locksmith’s knife, her Silver Arrow (a gift she never fully appreciated) and a wool hat. God this was going to be exciting.

Walking down felt like a damn long way. Her head hurt as she walked, she had only slept for four hours. Iriliya twirled her wand methodically in her hand, trying to get her mind off things. She only nodded and bowed slightly to her Headmaster, barely mumbling “Thank you for the opportunity, sir” and looking around. A fit choice was going though the white door, while she looked around once again.

· ✬ · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ✬ ·

Stats: Sta.8 · Eva.8 · Str.3 · Wis.7 · ArcPow.6 · Acc.9
Abilities: Fearless • Perfectionist
Action: Go through the White Door and Perception Check
OOC note: Thank you professor! Open to Interactions
Pings: ———

The morning of May First arrived as all mornings in Russia did: grey, bitter, and too quiet. But inside her yurt, something stirred. A soft flutter, then the dull thud of claws on fur pelts. An owl, bone-white with eyes like spilled ink, perched itself atop the crude table at the yurt’s center. It blinked once, then again, before it dropped the scroll bearing the Director’s seal. Taylor looked at the bird with passing curiosity, even when she recognized the seal. The slice of zapekanka would not eat itself she reasoned as she watched the owl hop backward with unnatural grace, as though the winter bird had delivered something too heavy for its hollow bones.

Taylor's hair was unbrushed, a blonde nest that the owl could have roosted in had it chosen to. She was alone in her yurt, she shared few spaces with her contemporaries but she felt the letter was intended for another. She had been quiet, invisible for the most part. In spite of her name, she avoided fanfare and rarely used her full name in Koldovstoretz. She knew that was the sort of name that inspired one of two sentiments and they were in diametric opposition of one another, as if the family itself loathed its very existence, which was not far from the truth she would silently admit.

Her fingers, pale and thin, reached out and broke the seal. The wax peeled away with ease. She unrolled the parchment with care, as though something might bite her from the folds.

Dear Taylor Athanatos...

It was intended for her.

Her lips moved as she read the rest. Silent, but forming each syllable in her native cadence. When she reached the bottom, she did not smile. She only folded the note with mechanical precision and stood, barefoot in spite of the cold, on the packed earth floor, her breath misting in the yurt’s chilled air.

Taylor arrived on time, but she was far from the first to arrive. Several other students were ahead of her, their mingling voices reverberated off the walls. She was dressed warmly, donning her student vestments beneath a heavy coat of fur and a pair of heavy leather boots that looked two sizes too large, which they were. It was to accomodate for the multiple pairs of socks she wore. Her blonde hair was not particularly long, not long enough to braid. A plain, black headband pulled her tresses back from her face. Her wand, aspen wood, was not particularly useful but was tucked into the belt around her waist.

She did not like towers. She especially did not like towers that had been moved. Anything old enough to be built by a founder, enduring across the centuries to still stand, just no longer where it was born, was not architecture. It was a creature with different rules and hopefully a lacking appetite.

And Taylor had been raised to respect creatures with rules she did not wholly understand.

As she approached the entry, her eyes flicked to the arches above. Ancient. Carved. Still bleeding frost down their seams. She crossed the threshold in silence. Her eyes flickered towards the Headmaster, he had found a comfortable place in the depths. She was unaware that he had levitated such creature comforts.

And yet, the air changed.

The wind, ever-present on the steppes above, dropped out behind her like a knife when she descended. Taylor’s nose wrinkled as she stepped into the musty, frozen dark. Not mold... No, something older. Like dried regret on cold stone. Like pages sealed shut with spit and time.

She adjusted her gloves made of deerskin and moved inward. Her heavy boots made almost no sound.

"I was invited, Director," she said aloud to no one, her Russian accent curling cold and polite through the gloom. "But invitations is such... erm big word," yes in replacement of some multi-syllable world to convey vaguer still sentiments, she said 'big word' in her native tongue. "Let us see if you mean it, da?" She was not particularly skilled, making the invitation frankly suspect but she came all the same.

She smiled thinly. She didn’t expect anyone to greet her with warmth. That was not the nature of this place. She saw several enter the white door and she decided with little deeper consideration that there was power in numbers. How true that actually was, who knows! But worse case scenario, she could leave the tragedy and heavy lifting to them.

Stats
Stamina: 5 | Accuracy: 10 | Evasion: 10
Wisdom: 2 | Strength: 0 | Arcane Power: 3

Special Race/Ability: Seer

Action: Enter white door.

Banner credit to @Prat Pass.

Aulis had barely just sat down in his comfortable chair when the first of his students meandered into view down the stairs. Aulis squinted at him in the dim light, recognising his face only moments before he spoke: Ah, yes, the American. Gunther, was it? A controversial figure indeed, marked especially by his immediate choosing to call his superior lazy; Aulis had interacted very little with the American child, but this was certainly an interesting first impression to make. The Director raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, the boy had reverted to a respectful tone and wandered towards the pale green door. As he vanished into the room behind it, Aulis called out after him, "Do be careful, young Gunther. Insults will not suit you well in the caverns."

Next to arrive was a girl, equally young, with dark hair and a bored expression upon her face. Though admittedly Aulis did not know many of the younger students as well as the elders - most of the youths had not had the privilege of being in his classes before his promotion to Director - he had still studied their names, and he greeted the girl with a casual, "Kind morning, Schmidt." Following the younger girl were two elders, one who had transferred to Koldovstoretz at the beginning of the year following the regulation changes on half-breeds and another who had been at the conservatory since childhood and seemed unfazed by the dhampir beside her. Aulis dipped his head in greeting to each of them in turn: "Kind morning, Chernova, Afanasyeva." Chernova's short response was slightly muffled due to the iron supplement in her mouth, and Afanasyeva took the time to joke around with him slightly. Aulis gave her a smile in return; she had briefly taken his class years prior, but being in Group 6 primarily dealt with potions-related lessons. "Well, some of the rooms ought to be familiar to you, such as your classrooms... I should hope you've attended class enough for those to be familiar," he joked in response. "But there are plenty of unknowns ahead just as well. Do be on the lookout, you three." And with that, the three girls vanished into the white, pale green, and hot pink rooms, respectively.

The final two students to make an appearance were also girls, both younger. The first, Zvereva, quietly mumbled a thank-you to him for the invitation, and Aulis inclined his head in return; it was always nice to see younger students show deference to their elders unlike some people. It showed a certain value of their education, how they were so easily able to adapt to the militaristic format of the conservatory. "Kind morning, Zvereva," he managed before she followed her fellow second-year through the white door. And then there was Athanatos. Truth be told, her family lineage had caused Aulis to keep something of an eye on the child since her arrival at Koldovstoretz. Most Athanatoses were over in the United Kingdom, so to have a branch of the family - known to be powerful and quite intriguing to someone so ambitious as Aulis - entangled with the conservatory was a privilege indeed. "You were invited indeed, Athanatos," he said to her no-one-in-particular statement, replying in Russian; it was the conservatory's official language, after all. "I assure you I meant to invite you; let us see if you will earn your place." Then, through the white door she went. Popular that route was, da?

PALE GREEN DOOR: @Clark Baird, @Logan Baird

This room may seem familiar to Group 7 students, and even some in Group 6, as it is sometimes used for plant-based lessons when the weather above ground is too frigid or too windy for some of the less resilient plant life to survive for long periods of time. However, with the onset of spring, it has been warm enough for months to have Herbology classes out of doors, and as such, the "indoor" Herbology classroom has fallen into disrepair as of late. A
rogue Devil's Snare seems to have taken over much of the room, with nary enough space to take a few steps, let alone enough to reach one of the two other doors that lead out of the room on its opposite side: a brown door to your right, and a magenta door directly across from you on the far wall. Even if you wanted to take one, you'd have to defeat the Devil's Snare before you could reach them... or you could always turn around and go back the way you've come.

WHITE DOOR: @Elizabeth Stonewall, @Eugenia Karageorgiadi, @Aamon Athanatos

Group 6 students who step into this room may immediately feel at home, except for the fact that the normally neat potions classroom appears to have gone through an earthquake. Potion bottles and empty bottles alike have flown from the shelves on both walls and shattered brutally all over the dirt floor and the small worktables scattered throughout the classroom, and though most of the liquids have soaked into the dirt and nothing seems to have exploded, huge shards of broken glass everywhere still seem to pose a bit of a problem for those who may want to make their way to the yellow door across the room or the pastel pink door on the right wall. You definitely can't walk across without getting glass poking through your shoes and into your feet, so what's there to do?

@Eugenia Karageorgiadi: Because of your successful perception check, you notice a path of clear floor leading to the yellow door. It will require a bit of jumping about, but it looks doable! Also, you notice a piece of yellowed, crumbling parchment on the floor nearby. Picking it up, you find that it appears to be an old map of the underground caverns, but rooms have been scribbled and crossed out to the point where it is essentially unusable, and a large portion of it has been obscured by an inkblot that looks suspiciously like someone spilled an entire pot of ink upon it. However, there is something of interest scrawled along the bottom in Russian: A LOST EXIT?

HOT PINK DOOR: @Lavinia Cloven

Students of Group 7 may find this location familiar, for it's none other than Director Vorozheykin's office, formerly the Divination classroom for the last decade. The dirt walls of this room have been carefully reinforced with bricks, an enchanted Gubrathian fire flickers warmly in the fireplace, bundles of herbs dangling from the ceiling give off an earthy scent, and the walls have been lined with portraits of former Vedma and Vedmak that may shout at students if they linger here too long without a professor present. Now it is even more well-lit because several candles appear around you on various tables and spots on the floor! (Successful WIS roll by Irina Afanasyeva.) This room's all well and interesting, but if you really want to visit, why not come to the Director's office while he's actually here? In the meantime, not counting the door you just came in, there's only one other exit, which is a pale blue door. Would you like to go that way, or back the way you came?

sta 10 • eva 10 • str 0 • wis 9 • arc 6 • acc 8

Group 5 | Duelling
Ability 1 [Wandmaker] | Thestral Tail Hair Core - Anyone cast unconscious with this wand cannot be brought back to 1hp with a healing spell, must heal naturally.
Ability 2 [Lovely Creature] | +2 DC in adventures to find things or control dc

He thought it was funny, the way the older girl followed him in. What a stalker. He turned, his Southern (US) accent prominent as he spoke. "Young lady.. are you in fact interested in my demise?" He swooned jokingly before he turned serious. "You are older, so I demand that you cast the wand lighting charm on it and keep me alive." He said darkly.

Was it a huge deal? Maybe not, they could technically still exit the room. No wait.

Vladislav's look darkened in the room. He quickly bolted out and slammed the door shut, leaning his entire body up against it. "You're not getting away from this. Save me, save us, save Vladislav." He said, pretending like he was a nationalist.. just loyal to himself.

His only job? Keeping the door shut. But how well could he do so if the opposing girl wanted to get out? All he wanted was for the Devil's Snare to be gone, but not to be the one harmed. Yes, he was in the group that did duelling and focused on it, but Vladislav was still just a normal boy, a normal boy that found that he did not have to be like anyone else, as he was his own individual capable of making his own decisions.

Action: Exiting Pastel Green Room and Leaning his full weight Against the Door (to try and trap Zoya)
Dialogue: All in Russian. He don't got no english folks to talk to here.

May 1, 2025

Walking inside the hot pink door, Irina had assumed that it wouldn't be lit and cast the candle conjuring spell. Of course it just so happened that the room had a fireplace and was already full of light. Shaking her head at not evaluating her surroundings before casting, Irina let out a small laugh as the room came into focus. It was Director Vorozheykin's office, a place she had been meaning to visit while the Director was inside. It was just Irina's luck that she walked straight into the room she needed to visit while attending an event the Director was putting on. After this event was over she would have to put a visit to the office on her top list of priorities. She was graduating this year and needed to talk to him about a couple of different career options in the potions realm before leaving.

Evaluating the room around her, Irina took note that there was essentially nothing to do in the office. The portraits hanging up did not seem friendly enough to have a conversation with and honestly Irina wasn't here to chat with dead pictures. She was here to explore the undergrounds and chart out new paths for future students. There was a pale blue door in the office and Irina was curious what the Director might be hiding. It could be someplace as simple as a closet or his living quarters. However, Irina felt as though the director wouldn't have the students explore his personal items.

The pale blue door was the only option for Irina to travel to since she was not changing her route this quickly. Exploration was the name of the game and Irina was going to take this path as far as she could. Striding over to the door, Irina pushed it open and walked through. She took her time to look around as the new room came into focus.

Action: Entering the Pale Blue door, look around
Stats: | STA: 14 | EVA: 15 | STR: 9 | WIS: 12 | ARCP: 6 | ACC: 17 |
Abilities: Sixth Sense, Fearless, Calming Presence, Paragon of Heath, Unfettered Flight, Poison Resistance, Potion Mastery
Potions Inventory: Strengthening Solution