Twisted Tavern Group 2

"Nothing can be normal in this place, can it?"

"That depends on what you consider 'normal'," Jack answered with obvious amusement. ""I'm sure to purebloods, all this is just another day at a prestigious boarding school,"" he said, gesturing with an arm at the surroundings of the tavern room setting. Little did he realize he was speaking to one of those purebloods.

Was that a smile on Sara Kohana's face? How rare! "Kohana! Good to see you again!" Jack answered warmly, his grin radiating his genuine delight as his hazel eyes shone with glee. He knew for a fact that Sara was intelligent even if he was quiet. As the saying went, 'still waters run deep'. With his help, they had a much higher chance of solving the riddle of the room. Plus he'd gotten wind that Sara was muggleborn like himself. He must have known what escape rooms were like too, then, mustn't he have?

When he asked Jack if he had joined the escape room game to escape something, the Welsh teen laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Hehehe...boredom, probably," he admitted. And loneliness. And worry, he added silently in his head, thinking about Hanako going to confront Eun-ji. But no, he shouldn't have worried about that. They would be just fine. Besides, he probably had more reason to worry about Salami then Hanako, didn't he?

Not that Salami went around kissing people she didn't even like.

Jack shook his head to clear it and readopted a brilliant smile. "Well, yeah, part of it was to keep an eye on Salami. But she must really be lucky if she led me to you two. I'm really glad we're in the same group!" Especially because the group seemed like it could use a few non-pessimistic, broody, or mopey people. "Mind me asking who your friend is?"

He beamed at the younger boy who had been speaking Japanese to Sara earlier. "Hi! I'm Jack Burnett. Nice to meet you! I'd appreciate it if you called me Burnett, though." His gaze flickered to Salami in her 'uncle's' arms and he laughed. "I see you two found my little stalker of a furball. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, though, she's gotten so much bigger and more curious these days that she doesn't stick by me like she used to. It's been getting more tricky to keep track of her." If only he could have put a binding mark on her, but it wasn't like animals could willingly consent to such a thing when they probably didn't even understand it in the first place.

After Enzo had gone to inspect the shards behind the lute and Jack had examined the lute itself, the redhead heard the younger Mahoutokoro boy attempt to use the Mending Charm on the shards, which were too broken to determine what they were, and watched him fail to do so. But, considering he must have been a first year, Jack came over to give him a light, encouraging pat on the shoulder.

""Good thinking! Here, allow me." Concentrating on the shards as he took out his own wand, Jack performed the required wand movements and made his own attempt at returning the shards to their former form as a whole object, hoping to reveal some new clue.

"Reparo!"

Action: Attempting to use the Mending Charm on the shards
Interacting with: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), & Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone)

Open to Interactions of Any Kind!

HP: 600/600
Stats: STA 6 / EVA 10 / STR 5 / WIS 20 / ARC 10 / ACC 10
Abilities: Prodigal Charms / Binding Mark / Perfectionist / Perfectionist II / Animagus

Reducio

Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador

Katsuro gave a small smile to Sara when he heard him stumble on his name. It felt nice tho, that his upperclassman remembered who he is. The youngest Mahoutokoro boy looked at the piece of parchment in his hands and tried to decipher its meaning. Through the corner of his eye he saw Sara pick up the little creature and understood that they both would already be familiar with each other. Maybe the little one was just trying to find his owner after all and saw something familiar in him? That was a weird thought tho...

"I don't know." Katsuro simply said with a light shrug. Why would the cat not be allowed to be there? "She was the one who found me to be fair. I just followed her here. Wasn't she looking for you?" He asked, frowning in confusion.

The young boy blinked at Sara's next words, giving their conversation a pause before being able to utter his next words. What was wrong in meeting new people? Wasn't that the main purpose of being there? To make new connections and all that..? "It's okay Sara-senpai," He ended up saying, his voice wrapped in a gentle sweetness that would never be natural to him, it was simply a product of mimicking and some rehearsal, "I believe you don't need to talk to anyone you don't want to." He offered with a polite nod and trying hard not to roll his eyes at that, keeping his demeanour serene and neutral.

But Sara was making it difficult, wasn't he? Katsuro stared blankly at the older student, blinking a couple of times, as he heard him complimenting his looks. What was he supposed to reply to that? Katsuro cleared his throat before letting out an awkward laugh and scratching his neck to dispel the uncomfortable feeling, "Thank you Senpai." He said, gesturing towards the boy in front of him, "You...you look nice too!" The Fuck... he thought as he felt an unwelcome warmth spreading across his face and felt the need to divert his eyes towards the riddle in his hands again.

The boy breathed a sigh of relief, which he tried to keep hidden from the others' notice, when the next person arrived at the Tavern. That had been one of the strangest moments of his life, for sure. He admired Sara Kohana, as a valuable member of the Quidditch team, perhaps even a role model, and maybe that was why he never thought their conversation would end with an exchange of compliments about how he looked like a "Prince Charming". Katsuro almost shuddered as he thought about what had just happened, as he did his best to turn his attention to the other boy who was now paying attention to the potions sitting at the farthest table.

He seemed to be the right foil for Sara, while the latter was a bit too much friendly, this foreigner was very rude, wasn't he? "Good evening to you too!" Katsuro threw at him, "Nice to meet you and all that..." He sarcastically continued, letting his voice gradually fade and gesturing sharply with his hand in small circles.

But the first response he heard to his comments came from behind him. Katsuro half turned to see over his shoulder who that voice belonged to. He saw the red-haired boy entering the room, wondering how he hadn't heard his approaching footsteps. "Good evening." Katsuro replied to him with a smirk and giving the other boy a pointed look, as for saying: See? That's how you do it!

However, the gentle smugness that had appeared on the boy's face quickly disappeared as he was startled when the redhead's voice came from a place very close to his ear. Katsuro glanced sideways at the older student, who now knew through Sara that his name was Burnett, as he listened to him read the piece of parchment he still held in his hands. Did the concept of one's personal space missed that boy's common notion? Katsuro took a small, subtle step away from Jack, in an attempt to gain a more comfortable distance between them.

"Mind me asking who your friend is?" He heard Burnett ask Sara, but decided that he could be the one replying to him. "I'm Katsuro Souto." He said confidently, giving the boy a friendly tight-lipped smile and a short bow. "Aight! Nice to meet you Burnett-son."

Sooo...the little ebony fur ball did not belonged to Sara? But to Burnett? That was interesting... "It's a very friendly and pretty cat. What's her name?" Katsuro asked, as he crouched down a little to stroke the top of her velvety little head.

It was then that another arrived at the mysterious Tavern, giving the previously empty and silent space another drop of life. But this one seemed to be just as grumpy as the other one looking at the potions. This time, Katsuro couldn't contain himself and rolled his eyes upon hearing the last moody words spoken by the blonde boy sitting classless in one of the wooden chairs.

Katsuro decided that he too should be doing something to escape that room, and so he carried his feet towards the once abandoned lute that was now being examined by Jack. As his sharp dark brown eyes captured the existence of some scattered fragments, an idea came to his mind. Perhaps he should try and fix them? At least that was a spell he knew!

Or thought, he knew... because for some unexplainable reason, only some faint sparkles came out of his wand, "What the f...." He stopped himself as he looked at the useless piece of wood in his hand. He waved his hand furiously as he looked at his wand, surprised and disturbed that it had failed him in such a crucial moment in front of so many older students. He felt his face turn crimson, now they would consider him a loser or worse! He could not simply accept that.

Katsuro knew that the hand that was now sitting on his shoulder, was meant to give him some sort of support, but he felt it as an increasing weigh to his humiliation and his pride couldn't let him take it. The young Japanese boy shook off Jack's touch, in a gesture much more aggressive than the situation required, "I KNOW HOW IT IS DONE!" He spat, "Is this stuuupid, useless stick!" He continued, furiously staring at his wand still being held in his hand.

Yeah...that couldn't just stay like that. He would not let them think less of him, nor would he give them time to mock his bad luck. Those potions quietly sitting at that table wouldn't just be there without a purpose right? So, if no one else would have the courage, "Cowards!" Katsuro snarly thought, he would be the one drinking at least one of them. And with determination, he walked towards the table, picking up the phial with the green liquid. In one go, without thinking twice about his actions, Katsuro drank the potion, feeling the refreshing yet very unpleasant liquid caress his tongue before swallowing it. He then looked at the group, a vain smile forming on his face, "I bet we'll be out of here in no time!"

Stats:
Sta: 7 | Eva: 8 | Str: 4 | Wis: 4 | Arc.P.: 2 | Acc: 10
School: Mahoutokoro | Year: First | Abilities: NTA
Action: drinking one green potion.

Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), @Jack Burnett, Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), @Draven Mirador.

Now that the shards behind the lute had been found, Katsuro was not the only one attempting to cast Reparo on them. As he failed, an angry outburst escaping him, Jack took his chance and tried to cast the spell himself. After a perfectly pronounced "Reparo" and well-preformed wand movement, the spell succeeded and the scattered shards were finally mended. The form that the object took was a mug, and if the players of the hag's tricky game would look carefully, they would find the next clue written on two separate pieces of paper inside it along with the first digit, the number two. The next one wasn't as easy to crack though, and emphasizing the name of the escape room, someone would most likely need to drink a potion to understand it. It read:

It appears your wit needs to be enhanced,
Look for the potion where you entranced.

Along with:
By max tglpxk mh max vhwx rhn lxxd,
Maxg max gxqm wbzbm rhn gxxw bl makxx,
Hger hgx fhkx tgw rhn'ee ux ykxx
Max gxqm bl ghm xtlber yhngw,
T lmkbgz hy fxfhkbxl tehnw,
Fnlbv matm pbee ftdx rhn ikhnw.

Whether someone would crack the clue would be a good question, it all depended on which potion they chose of the ones beside the door... which one of them would succeed in drinking the right one?

In the meantime, Katsuro had become more interested in another of the potions. Maybe he thought not much was happening, maybe he wanted to prove that he was worth something after his previous failure at repairing the shards, but whatever the reason he drank it. Suspense rising to see what would happen to him as nobody knew the contents of the potion, Katsuro seemed to either be very resistant to potions or just having lucked out, as the potion simply didn't take any effect on him.

Although the group had solved the first clue and everyone was in rather good spirits, who knew what would happen next and which way the tables would turn. Looking at what Katsuro had done made it seem like maybe this was a game of mostly luck, but maybe skill and most of all intuition would do the trick. Or was there something else they needed to put in practice? Only time would tell.

Group #2 players: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), @Jack Burnett, Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador

Rolls:

Reducio

Jack casts Reparo, WDC: 9
[d20 : 3] + 20 = 23
23 > 9, success!

Katsuro drinks (green) potion
Potion:
[d20 : 2] = Barfuffio’s Brain Elixir
Effects:
[d20 : 3] = None

───═━┈┈━═─── 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐊𝐎𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀 ───═━┈┈┈┈━═─── ○ 6’1 ꜰᴛ , ʙᴜʀʟʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴄʟᴇᴅ ᴛʏᴘᴇ, ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ʜᴀɪʀ, ᴅᴀʀᴋ ɪɴᴛɪᴍɪᴅᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ○ ʟɪɢʜᴛ..ꜰᴀɴᴛᴀꜱʏ ʀɪɢʜᴛ? ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅ.. ʙᴇ ᴏᴋᴀʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴇᴀʀ.. Reducio Stamina: 5 || Evasion: 17 || Strength: 15 || Wisdom: 3 || Arcane Power: 10 || Accuracy: 15

─〔❨✧𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱✧❩〕─
𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.. 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 - 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺? 𝘕𝘰.


𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵.

─〔❨✧𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲✧❩〕─
○ 𝘌𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘐 & 𝘐𝘐, 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥

Sara shaked his head gently at Katsuro’s suggestion, in uncertainty. “ She’s..not mine. She wanders around by herself. But we do find each other often.”. Sara listened intently to Katsuros next words, paying attention to the way he reacted to Sara’s words. “ Um.. I appreciate that..youre right” he said back in his usual tone at Katsuro’s mention of him not needing to talk to people. Who was it that said admitting what makes you nervous makes it better? Sara was going to have to fact check that and rethink the truth in those words. Maybe he should’ve rethink before admitting that to a kid that carried more confidence than he had in his 16 years of life. At his … complimenting back, Sara merely showed a nod of gratitude. Wrong thing to say. Definitely the wrong thing to say. Perhaps he underestimated how much this kid liked to be compliment. Or it was the wrong compliment to choose. Nevertheless, he was grateful Jack joined.

He mentioned boredom and Sara nodded. A hint of relief in his eyes for a moment. At least it wasn’t dangerous. No fire, no loud noises, no screeching.. . Jack and Katsuro went back and forth for a bit, and Sara didn’t particularly intervene. Just glancing between the two. Minimally reacting to them. Like when Katsturo called Burnett, Burnett-son - instead of san. He blinked but decided not to correct them.

“ Salami “ Sara answered Katsuro when he asked about the cat's name when they bent down to pet it. It was…quite cute to see them with the cat. Awkward interactions aside, it was nice to see them nice to the cat. Didn’t he mention before he followed them in? It was a little funny to imagine Katsuro finding a cat and having enough interest in them to follow them blindly. What for? Sara didn’t know.

The rest continued to follow the clues given. Sara had little luck with Mik .(Insert Mik response here)

Sara flinched a little hearing Katsuros frustrated yell. His frown deepening, worry in his face as he watched Katsuro, glancing between the boy and the cat. As if the cat helped Sara relax. They may not be very close, but as his senior and being the only one in the same school as him, he did feel some sort of responsibility for him. Too caught up in what to say to Katsuro, he didn’t have enough time to stop Katsuro from drinking. His eyes widened as he grabbed the bottle. Barely able to get within Katsaros space before the boy drank the whole thing. “ Katsuro thats not-” he drank it. Enough quick to finish it in one go. Having the audacity to grin and tell everyone else they’ll be out of here in no time.

Sara said nothing. But body language is most of what makes up a conversation. And by the way Sara didn’t hesitate in grabbing back the now empty bottle, and the way he avoided looking at Katsuro as if worried what may show on his face - it wasn’t very good. After a few seconds even Sara couldn’t help but look at Katsuro, inspecting him from where he stood. Looking for any side effects. When he found none, his features softened to what looked like relief.

“ Katsuro kun.. Are you.. Feeling anything in particular..? Does it hurt anywhere? Dizzy? ” he said, his tone was noticeably softer than before.

Action For Game: grabbed katsuro's potion away? Not sure if this required rolls
Members: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), @Jack Burnett, Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Katsuro Souto (Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador.

Action: attempt at gentle parenting katsuro.
Mentioning: xxx.

⋅ Outfit ⋅ Russian ⋅ Norwegian ⋅ English

Mikael's brows drew together as he turned toward the voice behind him. Red hair stood starkly against pale skin. So vivid it looked as though someone had set his head on fire. Who despised him so to do such a thing? Though he would not have much time to ponder such trivial things, as the other's words registered. Trapped. No escape. The weight of the words settled heavily upon his mind. It seemed rather concerning when coupled with the reality of their setting. Hogwarts had not been kind to him or his fellow Durmstrang brethren. What were the chances that this drastic room would let them out if they solved the puzzle? It seemed rather fruitless, and yet it did not seem that he had any better course of action.

Quietly to himself, the boy would mutter a quiet plea that the being would lead him safely forward. Then, with a grunt of agreement to the other's words, he would turn back toward the potions. It would do him little favors if he were to show any vulnerability. He had been so accustomed to the safety of the pack, and now here he was alone. A strange and uncomfortable feeling. One that he wished he could cull it from his very nature. To simply remove it and bury it where the dead things lie. It would be far simpler that way.

He would focus on the table before him. His face twisted in hesitation and confusion as he studied the potions. Such a stark difference in color between the two. Bright white and a sickly green. And then suddenly, it clicked. He remembered these potions from class. They were mind-enhancing potions, one being far more consistent than the other. Maybe if he drank it, he would be able to escape this place faster? The boy picked up the white potion, swirling it slightly in its bottle. Watching the way the liquid moved up and down with the motion. While he wasn't one to usually drink random potions lying out, if it proved a means to getting out of this place more quickly. It might just be worth the risk. It honestly could not be much worse than the Triwizard Tournament.

Mikael blinked quickly, he hadn't realized how much he had disappeared into his mind until he heard a gruff, yet strangely hesitant, voice speak up rather close to him. His fingers would tighten around the vial in his hand reflectively. Before turning his gaze toward the boy. Another unfamiliar face. Unsure what to do, he felt his face fall into a blank look. The boy wasn't exactly threatening, but the boy's presence made him feel rather strange. It wasn't fear or distaste. Probably something more akin to a subtle understanding. Though this would be lost to him.

His brows would furrow slightly before clearing his throat, unsure if he should speak or just walk away. "They are meant to make the mind sharp." he answered the boy, his face pulling into a small frown as Katsuro yelled out. Despite the noise, the boy would keep his gaze on Sara. "I would not drink green-" he would start before being interrupted by Katsuro coming over and grabbing a potion. His eyes would widen slightly as he watched the other to see if a reaction occurred, but it seemed the other had gotten lucky. "He will be fine. Reaction is rather quick." he spoke lightly to Sara. Not that it would kill the shorter boy if there had been a reaction. More of an inconvenience than anything.

Mikael would shake his head before uncapping the white potion. He brought it up to his lips and downed the potion quickly. Placing the empty container back onto the table, he would finally move slightly away from the table he had practically clung to since he got here. His gaze would fall back onto the red-haired boy with a quizzical look. "What did you say the name of the katt was?"

Action: Drinks the Wit-Sharpening Potion (White Potion)

| Stamina 13 | Evasion 12 | Strength 14 | Wisdom 8 | Arcane Power 9 | Accuracy 11 |

Lovely Creature - Terrible Presence - Perfectionist - Fearless - Statistically Relevant - Attacker Awareness

Mentioning: @Hanako Tone [Sara Kohana], @Akari Kato [Enzo Delcroix], @Jack Burnett, @Opeila Winters [Theodore Duncain], @Meyra Lancaster [Katsuro Souto], @Draven Mirador

Since the clue only seemed to point to the potions which Mikhael and Katsuo had already inspected, Jack decided to leave the drinking of the last potion up to them. It seemed concerning to allow Katsuo to drink the more dangerous of the two - one that could have had harmful effects or perhaps even been fatal if it didn't produce the intended effect, but fortunately, there didn't seem to be any change. In any case, it was better than Katsuo getting hurt or even dying.

That just left the other potion to be drunk. Mikhael seemed to have that covered, and while Jack recognized the potion as something that would probably have produced less potent effects than the first, at least it was less likely to be dangerous, so Jack wasn't that concerned. Instead, he paid attention to Salami and Sara a bit, watching the taller student play with the young juvenile feline. She had been quite a bit smaller when he had last seen her, probably, but he still dwarfed her in size.

Smiling at the sight, Jack tried to refocus his attention on how he could help his group figure out what was next. He would have liked to try to figure out if there was a way to decipher the code written out on the other piece of paper with the random-seeming letters, but since the first clue in the mug had said to use the potion, it might have been possible that one would be unable to figure it out without drinking the potion in the first place and then he would have just wasted a lot of time and effort - not to mention stepped on the toes of his group-mates trying to do something they, too, were taking steps to try to accomplish.

Thus, Jack went over to the gramophone on the far end of the tavern bar, curious, and tried to inspect it. How odd that there were no records around for it to play.

Action: Inspecting the old fashioned gramophone at the end of the bar
Interacting with: TBA.

Open to Interactions of Any Kind!

HP: 600/600
Stats: STA 6 / EVA 10 / STR 5 / WIS 20 / ARC 10 / ACC 10
Abilities: Prodigal Charms / Binding Mark / Perfectionist / Perfectionist II / Animagus

Reducio

Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador

Moderation Round 2

As soon as Katsuro drank the green potion, the Mahoutokoro student Sara Kohana showed his disapproval, an obvious reaction given the fact that nobody knew what the potion's contents were. Snatching the vial away, his tone softened as he asked the second year whether he was feeling alright. On the same note, Mikael Halldorson also seemed to still be interested in the potions around the room, and now that he knew the next clue he was ready to test his chances. After having inspected the potions previously, he knew which one was the correct drink: the white Wit-Sharpening potion.

The Durmstrang student confidently brought the potion to his lips and downed it. His reaction would be an expected one: knowing the cipher for the clue they had found when repairing the shards only moments ago. When quickly glancing at the slip of paper with the clue once more, he would find the solution to be simple: the cipher was none other than A=T. Therefore, he knew that B=U, C=V and so on, making the decoding process much simpler. However, the potions effects wouldn't last forever and only Mikael knew how to decode the clue. If he didn't tell the others, there would be no way of continuing.

While those three students were busying themselves with potions, Jack Burnett, another sixth year, chose to inspect the gramophone on the other side of the room. He would find that a piece of paper was partially wedged under it's base, a record also ready to be played, but as the needle wasn't down no sound was coming out. What would be their next move?

Group #2 players: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), @Jack Burnett, Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador

Rolls:

Reducio

Jack inspects gramophone, WDC: 15
[d20 : 6] + 20 = 26
26 > 15, success!

Mikael drinks wit-sharpening potion
Potion:
Inspected earlier --> automatic success
Effects:
Cracked the clue

Eager as he was to prove himself worthy of recognition from his older peers, Katsuro didn't even stop for a moment to think about his actions. In his mind, it was quite obvious that those potions would not contain poison or anything that could bring severe consequences. If they were there, then they were presumably waiting to be drunk. And so he did it.

He heard Sara's words trail off mid-sentence and saw how his senior reacted to his thoughtless actions. Just as he also heard the warning from the other older student who was beside him near the potions table. He heard the warnings, but paid no attention to them.

In his opinion, Sara and Mik's reactions were really unnecessary and quite exaggerated! Especially when he realized how quickly Sara stole the bottle from him and took it from his hand and looked at him with concern in her eyes. Sara seemed to take more than a moment, too long actually, to observe him to make sure Katsuro was okay. "What the hell do you mean?" Katsuro asked him almost in a threatening way, barely able to hide his temper. Then, taking a small step forward, he leaned closer to Sara's ear, his dark eyes glaring flaming daggers at the older man, "What are you doing?" He asked in a whisper, in the language they shared, so that the others couldn't understand his words. He felt his pride being hurt. Was Sara doing that on purpose so that others would look at him as a useless little boy?

He heard Mik try to assure Sara that he was fine, that the potion must have had a quick reaction. That was the only moment Katsuro allowed himself to think for more than a second to recognize that the potion might have actually been something much more dangerous than he had expected. Maybe, just maybe, there was a possibility that things could have gone wrong. But the truth is that they didn't, and so he was remained right! Well, not as sure as he wanted, since the effect of the potion was less than nothing, what a disappointment... It was clear that Hogwarts was not teaching them properly how to brew their potions. Suddenly, the recognition of this fact didn't seem so surprising, almost as if he felt he should have expected some inherent incompetence.

But it was with some disdain and jealousy that he saw Mik drink the other potion. That one had a pearly white color and Katsuro couldn't contain his curiosity: "What is that for?" He asked the older boy haughtily, as if he was dismissing the possibility that those potions might actually prove useful.

Out of the corner of his eye, his attention was drawn to the red-haired boy he now knew as Burnett. He saw him walking calmly towards the old and seemingly abandoned gramophone and decided to leave Sara and Mik behind, following Jack towards the bar. "Do you know how this works?" he asked Jack, pointing to the needle that seemed to be calling to them.

Stats:
Sta: 7 | Eva: 8 | Str: 4 | Wis: 4 | Arc.P.: 2 | Acc: 10
School: Mahoutokoro | Year: First | Abilities: NTA
ACTION: Turning down the gramophone's needle and trying to put it to work.

Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), @Jack Burnett, Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), @Draven Mirador.

───═━┈┈━═─── 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐊𝐎𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀 ───═━┈┈┈┈━═─── ○ 6’1 ꜰᴛ , ʙᴜʀʟʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴄʟᴇᴅ ᴛʏᴘᴇ, ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ʜᴀɪʀ, ᴅᴀʀᴋ ɪɴᴛɪᴍɪᴅᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ○ ʟɪɢʜᴛ..ꜰᴀɴᴛᴀꜱʏ ʀɪɢʜᴛ? ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅ.. ʙᴇ ᴏᴋᴀʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴇᴀʀ.. Reducio Stamina: 5 || Evasion: 17 || Strength: 15 || Wisdom: 3 || Arcane Power: 10 || Accuracy: 15

─〔❨✧𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱✧❩〕─
𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.. 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 - 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺? 𝘕𝘰.


𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵.

─〔❨✧𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲✧❩〕─
○ 𝘌𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘐 & 𝘐𝘐, 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥

[Mik] “ Ah..” Sara was a little..relieved at having the other older boy answer him. He was half worried the other would simply ignore him. He made quite the first impression after all. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the other was the kind that didn’t bother with conversing with people he barely knew, for one reason or another. At the very least he didn’t love it. Sara took note from the furrowed brow and cough. Was it annoyance, being unsure, or thinking? That was…the same sort of face Sara made when he was confused and trying to think. “ Now that you mention it.. It does seem..I have seen those before. Nic job at noticing .” Sara mumbled out the last part a little shyly.

The other had a very intense way of staring didn’t he? Even when Katsuro came over and was starting to yell, the other kept his eyes on Sara..for some reason. Sara didn’t say anything about it, but he managed to catch it at the corner of his eye. In most circumstances that would’ve freaked Sara out, wondering if his presence was putting the other off, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Sara couldn’t.. Find anything much behind his eyes. Not fear, not annoyance. It was new… not unwelcomed but new. Sara left his thoughts about the boy at that. Thinking the other likely hadn’t overthought this. He had… Katsuro to think of anyway. And that took.. A lot of attention.

(Katsuro). It was interesting that the boy was looking at Sara with such a face. One he wasn’t entirely a stranger to. Still, Sara noted it was usually his peers or older people who didn’t hold back sometimes with showing such a face. At the evident temper in his tone, Sara’s face softened. Why was it that he chose every bad option when it came to conversing with Katsuro, even if he hadn’t intended to?

The other seemed to want to get closer to him, to whisper something in their language. Sara had half the mind to knelt down or bent his legs slightly to be able to listen more clearly what the boy wanted to say. But he felt that would just insult the other more. Regardless, Sara leaned in closer, meeting his gaze that definitely wasn’t happy. There were a lot of things sara wanted to say really, but he narrowed it down to just one. “ What… you drank.. was a Barfuffio’s Brain Elixir “. he said in their mother tongue, refraining from asking the other if he knew what that is. If Katsuro knew, then it wouldn't make sense that he drank it willingly. “ I - no one , would want you to be getting sides effects. Thats… was all.”, he continued, keeping his tone soft. Trying not to be affected by Katsuro’s own tone. Resorting to being annoyed at him wasn’t going to do either of them any good.

There were a lot of things Sara wanted to ask. Why hadnt the boy ask them what potion it was if he wasnt sure? Why did he react that way? What was going through his head that he got this frustrated early in the game? Was there anything Sara could do to ease that? But he was not yet sure conversing more with Katsuro was a good idea. Not if anything he said seemed to anger the other. He noted the other boy joined in briefly just to assure Sara Katsuro was okay and he let out a sigh of relief before leaning away. “ .. _{Im glad.}.” he mumbled to no one in particular. Only meeting Katsuro’s gaze again when he asked what the potion was. At least…. He seemed to learn to ask what potions were before doing anything with them now. “ Wit- sharpening potion.” Sara said simply, though knowing Katsuro asked the other boy, not him.

(insert miks post but it was established bts that Mik did share with Sara what the clue to deciphering the code was)

Sara managed to grab the paper with the clue on it, walking again closer to Mik. “ You said.. A is T ? B is U and C is V…” Anyone near Sara wouldn’t have a problem hearing him mumble his thoughts out loud. “ Then.. they just switched the letters.. Z becomes G and A becomes H.. so….” it took a few minutes for him to decipher, his eyes widening slightly now that the letters are starting to make sense. “ O-oh, you were right about the connection. T-thank you. This makes sense now..” Sara expressed gratitude to Mik for a moment before looking at the note. Now comes the even harder part.. Talking about it with the rest. Sara should be grateful this wasn’t on the stage in front of hundreds.

Sara had to clear his throat a bit, his heart racing as he tried not to chicken out. It was .. just a few people. And they all.. Would benefit if they knew what the clue was now. “ U-um.. w-we cracked the code..” Sara started out a little hesitantly. His tone growing more relaxed the more he said the clue out loud.

“I-if if the answer to the code you s-seek…then the next uh..digit you need is 3. only one more and you'll be fr..free… . the next is not easily found..a string of um.. memories aloud, music that will make you proud”

He felt his heart still race as he let out a sigh of relief, finally finishing it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

English, Japanese

Action For Game: n/a
Members: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), @Jack Burnett, Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Katsuro Souto (Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador.

Action: Inspecting the room for anything else that looks out of place or new
Mentioning: xxx.

Since Salami went limp when held, as per her Ragdoll breed genes, it was difficult to tell whether the young feline enjoyed being held or not. However, she had he own way of making her wants and needs known. Not long after Sara had set her down, the nearly soundless cat began to scale her way up Sara's outfit, not seeming to care if her claws damaged the fabric of the clothes he was wearing. She determinedly climbed up the back of his pant leg and up his back until she reached his shoulder.

There, she put her tiny front paws over it, anchored them there with her needle claws, and seemed to prefer to cling there like a monkey rather than pull herself up all the way to stand or sit on his shoulder. Or perhaps she simply didn't feel safe or balanced enough yet to attempt such a thing, young and small as she was. It was hard to say with her, the juvenile cat being so eccentric and quirky.

Meanwhile, her guardian and self-proclaimed 'uncle' (one of several) had been contemplating both the mystery of the room and the nature of the boy he knew least among all the students in their group. He had seemed friendly and polite at first, as most, if not all, Japanese students from Mahoutokoro appeared to be, but Jack guessed that wasn't all there was to them.

Although he liked to provoke others he was trying to get to know into revealing their true colors by deliberately provoking, angering, stressing, or otherwise upsetting them, he hadn't really thought it an appropriate time or place to attempt such a thing with Katsuro, especially during their first meeting. Which was why when he seemed to have done so unintentionally, it both amused and interested him.

He knew he had that effect on people, whether he wanted to or not, but the fact that Katsuro was so easily riled in this situation already told him a great deal more about his personality and Jack liked it. He hoped he didn't end up trying to hide it too much like his upperclassmen with their boring platitudes and self-denying, overly polite mannerisms that hid their true selves.

That vain smile...that was a fitting look on him. Was that his truest self, Jack wondered? Well...he supposed he'd have to continue keeping an eye on him to find out. Pondering this, he checked the gramophone and was rewarded by the fact there was a piece of paper beneath is. As he picked it up to inspect it, he heard young Katsuro addressing...him? He'd wanted to address him again even after Jack had annoyed him so? How intriguing.

Jack knew better than to touch the other boy this time, but he couldn't help the pleased grin that sprang to his face. "I do," he answered. "Do you? I would hate to assume the answer was no if you already 'know how it is done'. Especially since this one doesn't require your 'stupid, useless stick'."

Action: Inspecting the piece of paper under the gramophone
Interacting with: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), & Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone)

Open to Interactions of Any Kind!

HP: 600/600
Stats: STA 6 / EVA 10 / STR 5 / WIS 20 / ARC 10 / ACC 10
Abilities: Prodigal Charms / Binding Mark / Perfectionist / Perfectionist II / Animagus

Reducio

Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato), Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), Theodore Duncain (@Opeila Winters), Sara Kohana (@Hanako Tone), Katsuro Souto (@Meyra Lancaster), @Draven Mirador