closed Asdrúbal My Beloved < 333 PV

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Calming Presence in Effect: Figaro & Mischief-Makers Affected

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Action: Covering Asdrúbal's Eyes w/the Pink Hat & Trying to Hold it There
Movement: Fly [on Broom] through the Gap between Drubby's Wings & Hold On

─> Activate Auto-Dodge (if applicable)

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Outfit: White t-shirt and blue plaid pajama pants | CC: #1f5cc6 | Words: 480 | Graphic by Sage Willows
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Landon looked around, wide eyed, as he realized what they were really up to. He clutched his broom tightly in his hands, an expression of worry on his face as he gulped softly. "Starting to think I've been tricked into something..." he mumbled with a sigh. He had really though being a part of an old Hogwarts tradition would be cool but, if this was a tradition, it looked like one that would definitely get them into trouble. Landon was a good kid and rarely did anything to get himself in trouble, so this was alarming to him, to say the least.

Prat handed him a spray can of a lurid pink color and he looked at it, trying to figure out what he was going to do. He wasn't not happy about the idea of defacing the gargoyle, which is what it appeared the mission here truly was. Landon's hands shook a little as he held the paint can. He wasn't going to deface the gargoyle, but he knew that he would probably be made fun of for not participating. He looked around, trying to be sure that they wouldn't get caught doing this. He knew that just by having the paint in his hand and by being there, he'd be guilty by association.

And then the gargoyle began to move and speak and Landon dropped the paint can in surprise. He gasped and ran as far away from the gargoyle as he could while still feeling torn about leaving the others behind. He didn't want anyone to get hurt. He looked down at his broom, the wood clenched in his hand so tightly his knuckles were white. He looked back toward the rest of the group and bit his lip. He heard Clark offering to switch places with Prat and he frowned a little. He didn't like Clark, but he didn't want anyone to get thrown out the window.

He also heard the others speaking to the gargoyle and he grimaced. It sounded like they were trying to flatter Asdrubal, but Landon doubted it would even work. Landon took a deep breath and turned toward the group, starting to walk toward them. "Let them go!" he said, his voice shaking a little as he looked up at the gargoyle. He couldn't leave them behind to get hurt even if he was angry with them for getting him into this sort of trouble. He held his broom close, almost as if using it as a shield, but he wasn't really that threatening of a presence, especially when compared to Asdrubal himself. "Let them go and I'll work to clean you up or something. They deserve detention or something, not to get hurt," he said, his voice a little stronger than it had been before. He didn't feel particularly brave at this moment, but he was trying to help somehow.

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes...
✰✰✰

The pink-accessoried ringleader introduced himself as Prat, and Aly burst out a boisterous chuckle at the idea of someone actually calling themselves that before realising based on the look on his face that he hadn't meant it as a joke. "Oh, Merlin, for real?" she gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth and speaking through teased-apart fingers. "Your parents actually named you prat? Crikey, I'm sorry." Turning to Pi, her freckle-covered face turning red partially from embarrassment and partially from the strength of holding in further laughter, she murmured under her breath to her fellow sixth-year, "Is he for real or is he messing with us?"

In the meantime, the rest of the younger boys seemed to be variously bickering, and Aly got the vague idea that one of them was named Atlas and had formerly been a prefect (the "formerly" bit being quite good, for she wasn't about to get caught doing anything untoward or illegal and get her first detention if she had anything to say about it), the short maniacal one was named Clark and didn't seem to be very well-liked by the remainder of the group, and though she didn't catch the last one's name, he seemed... normal, as far as company went. Aly took a liking to him immediately. Normal people were hard to find at Hogwarts. She opened her mouth to say as much, or to shut down the argument of whatever silly thing they'd chosen to debate, but before she could, Prat was suddenly painting the giant stone gargoyle outside of the History of Magic classroom a truly horrifying shade of neon pink. Aly enjoyed pink, but even she had to admit this was a tad too much.

Meanwhile, it seemed as though the younger boys at least had stopped bickering to stare agape at Prat's decorating... pseudo-skills, and Pi took it upon himself to flirt with the gargoyle, putting on a giant pink hat and winking its way. Aly snorted back laughter once more, taking a step forward and flicking the brim of his headwear. "You're talking to it like it can hear you," she teased, flinging her free hand back in the direction of the gargoyle. "If you're really that lonely, mate, I'm sure I've got some friends I can set you up with - ones that are more size-appropriate, and can actually, you know..."

Stone scraping behind her was her first clue, and she turned almost instinctively, not anywhere close to expecting the sight in front of her: the unmovable gargoyle in question, stretching its wings, reaching out to snatch Prat by the collar, bringing the boy to his face to snarl and taunt it in a hideous, raspy, grating voice.

Merlin's soggy bloomers.

"...move," she squeaked.

The other boys took action before she could: Clark offering himself as a sacrifice (stupid - the gargoyle clearly had two hands), the unknown boy telling the gargoyle to give Prat detention (stupider - did he want them all to land there with him?), Atlas flirting with the thing (did these boys have no common sense whatsoever???), and Pi doing the same (seriously?!) with the even more ridiculous idea of putting his pink hat on the creature's head, adding insult to more insult. Aly groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers and shaking her head. Sure, she was no duellist, but it was truly inane that none of them - wizards one and all, hypothetically, since they were at MAGIC SCHOOL of all places - had thought of, you know, using MAGIC.

She pulled her wand from her pocket and aimed it at the creature's hand, which still had Prat firmly by the collar.

"Relashio!"

✰✰✰
Voted most likely to run away...

Action: casting the Revulsion Jinx on Asdrubal's hand (the one holding Prat)

STA 10 | EVA 11 | STR 5 | WIS 17 | ARC 7 | ACC 15
Charmer (in play) • Keeper’s Catch • Paragon of Health (allies Prat & Pi) • Lovely Creature (in play) • Foulplay • Keen Eye

@Prat Pass, @Atlas Anderson, @Clark Baird, @Piérre Marchonné, @Landon Matthews
Inventory: Enchanted Satchel filled with: Oakshaft 79 (+4 to WIS & EVA not included in stats above), Hardanger's Dang Hard lipstick, an Ever-Bashing Boomerang, a Locksmith's Knife, and her wand

Reducio

Alycore this turn:

So many years, centuries even, had passed, since wars had been fought, laws created between defeats and conquests, and yet, we arrived here, in the present day, in a school of such renown, and we had the opportunity to observe another battle between Gargoyle and wizarding kind. It was as if History books had actually been created to gather dust and not to seed and let the minds of today's youth flourish.

The scene, however, was much less destructive, much more excruciating pink and similar to what could have been taken from a circus act, but no less chaotic. It was inconceivable that, after everything, Asdrúbal still found himself obliged to interrupt his peaceful slumber and had to stop those misbehaving scoundrels from entering the History of Magic's classroom. Society was completely and hopelessly lost.

With one of the malefactors still hanging from his huge hand that held him by the collar, Asdrúbal turned his attention to the other young boy in green robes. Another Slytherin who had crawled out of his dungeon to come and bother him, these boys had no shame. “Hasty?” Asdrubal asked sharply in his thunderous, drawling voice, leaning over the small figure that was brazenly approaching him. His massive presence casting its shadow over the boy, completely absorbing him into darkness.

The stream of nonsense that flowed from the boy's mouth seemed to have no end or foundation and Asdrúbal, truth be told, was already at the end of his patience. Would he spend much longer proclaiming that silly speech? Another deep chuckle echoed through the corridor before The Gargoyle decide to answer to him, “Words. Words are carried away by the wind, boy. What I want is to never have to look at your face again, do you understand, little one?” Asdrúbal said, leaning even closer to Atlas, his forehead just inches from the boy's. With his other free hand, The Gargoyle also tried to grab him, but the boy seemed to be as light on his feet as he was on his tongue and narrowly escaped the same fate as Prat.

Atlas:
Asdrubal acc: d20(4)+5=9
Eva Atlas: d20(14)+10=24

"I'll take Prat's place." Asdrúbal heard another say. In a thoughtless reflex, the great Gargoyle threw his massive, muscular arm in the direction from which the voice seemed to have come, but his large hand passed over the head of the other figure who was even smaller than all the others. It's amazing how such small things could be so irritating. “I’ll grab you all and throw you out the window! You scoundrels!” Asdrúbal roared, growing increasingly impatient and frustrated with the whole situation.

Clark:
Asdrubal acc: d20(9)+5=14
Clark Eva: d20(19)+10=29

And, just like a vibrantly colored dragonfly with an absurdly pink hat, one of the transgressors decided to use the broom he had brought with him. Thanks to the flying stick, the boy had managed to get past the Gargoyle's defenses. Asdrúbal still tried to knock him down using the other boy who was still swinging by his shirt, but without success. In the blink of an eye, Asdrúbal found himself in the humiliating situation of having his face covered by the hideous hat that now blurred his vision. The Gargoyle growled audibly, but this time the sound was muffled by the fabric obstructing his face. In a vain attempt, the powerful stone warrior still tried to pull the hat away, but thanks to the extra strength provided by the broom's magic, and thanks to having only one free hand, it was impossible for him to shake the boy from behind him.

Pierre
self-dodged Asdrubal
Strength check, to keep the hat covering Asdrúbal’s face:
Asdrubal’s Str:
d20(7)+15=22
Pi Str:
d20(19)+11=30
The hat keeps covering the Gargoyle’s face

Asdrúbal seemed to be possessed by a tarantallegra spell, flailing and shaking himself from side to side, trying to free himself from the little imps that had decided to torment him. It was in during this state of such drunken ridiculousness, that The Gargoyle no longer knowing what to do, his only desire being to grab each one of them and see his promise fulfilled, that someone had remembered to cast a real spell on him. By the sound of the voice, Asdrúbal knew it had been that species' female. As if a shock had hit his hand, Asdrúbal momentarily lost his strength, causing the boy, who had previously declared his affection towards him, fall from his grasp. He should have known that this was a dead-end relationship from the start.

Aly cast Relashio
WDC: 11
d20(10)+17=27
Aly acc:
d20(2)+15=17
Asdrubal eva:
d20(11)+5=16
Barely hits, but Prat is free.

Prat:
Asdrubal acc: d20(13)+5=18
Prat eva: d20(19)+7=26

Aly:
Asdrubal acc: d20(9)+5=14
Aly eva: d20(13)+11=24

Amidst all the chaos that was taking place in that corridor, in the middle of a silent and sleeping Hogwarts, The Gargoyle did not give up or stop struggling against those little miscreants. After so many blind attempts, Asdrúbal's long fingers with sharp claws finally caught someone on his trail. This time, Landon had been the one whose luck had failed him. Being carried from the ground by his clothes, hanging from his back, leaving his four limbs suspended, such a cub being grabbed by his mother. “You intolerable creatures, your time to beg is now history!” Asdrúdal growled, “No one will escape tonight, only over my dead wings!”

Landon:
Asdrúbal acc: d20(19)+5=24
Landon Eva: d20(13)+8=21

Information you may need to escape:
Asdrúbal stats:
Sta: 20 | Eva: 10 | Str: 15 | Wis: 15 | ArcP: 0 | Acc: 10
- Per each -250 damage made, Asdrúbal loses -250 stamina and also -100 strength.
- To escape his grip, Landon must have a Strength DC superior to Asdrúbal's strength stat.
- Asdrúbal may choose to throw release Landon and grab another of you. But he has two hands, so he can always choose to hold two of you instead.
- I'll give you two more rounds, before I start to roll for Melisande's appearance.