2021, Stage 1 Hufflepuff vs Slytherin: Match 4

Cocky - Shea Coulee (Explicit)

Roleplaying as Dmitri Kazimir Jones
Perfectionist | Perfectionist II | Spell Spread | Terrible Presence | Evasive Maneuvers
Sta 11, Str 2, Eva 6, Wis 14, Arc 11, Acc 15

Dmitri Kazimir Jones may be a lot of things, but dense wasn't one of them. He could hear the crowd go deathly quiet as he and one of his teammates—Winters, was it?—coolly entered the field. More than one knife would have been needed to cut the tension their entrance provoked.

It wasn't fear more than it was a sense of inevitability that befell the spectators.

The inevitability that these two Vipers were going to make this duel quite the show.

A rare smile would grace the Slytherin captain's face as he took his position on the piste. Dueling was such a fulfilling sport. For one such as him, an opportunity to show the entire Hogwarts body just how much of his studies Dmitri can back up was something he cannot pass up.

How could he? When he just came from a decisive win against the arguably better-equipped foreign students' team last summer.

He figured he'd display the same performance this time—if not better.

Across from him stood two Hufflepuffs the looks of both bordering on cute rather than formidable. The boy knows full well the matches were random, but he just had to question which wizard god the opposing house had to offend to get their... young duelists matched up against him.

"May the better team win, indeed."

He'd let out a chuckle just as he raised his wand to point straight at his opponents.

"I think we'd know the answer to that in no time at all."

———

Doing as strategized

Realizing that the first duelling season was soon to start had excited Opeila. Despite her, well... arguable talent, duelling was one of the things she always enjoyed, that got her heart racing and adrenaline run through her veins. Also she felt like she was better at this now. She had trained a lot and now the third year was rather optimistic.

Maybe- well, maybe that was partly owed to her partner for this season. She didn't have much to do with Dmitri Jones outside of duelling- fine, maybe she insulted his spellcasting last fall ball and he insulted her back, but that was all past and gone, right? At least she didn't have any hard feelings- but she knew that he was great at this sport.

As the two vipers entered the field, Opeila really did feel proud. They were looking cool, right? She wasn't the little twelve year old raising her wand against another student in combat for the first time, but she had done it before and she would do it again. Not to mention that she was a lot better equipped than last year.

They were up against two Hufflepuffs, two strangers with names that didn't ring a bell to the third year- no, that wasn't entirely true, one of them was in her year and she was pretty sure Opeila had heard her name being called in class sometimes. Anyway, no one she had ever spoken to in private.
Maybe it was Dmitri's self assured attitude that boosted Opeila's confidence too, the light smile on her face was almost a bit arrogant when she got out her wand and went into combat position.

"This should go well."

Action: Doing as strategized.

Why me?

Duelling was exhilarating. The vibration of her wand in her hands, all the thought and effort that went into brainstorming strategies, and the adrenaline that comes in the middle of the duel and fades away just as quickly after - all of it, was exhilarating. There were many reasons one would start duelling, and in the beginning, Callista had only started out of curiosity. But now, she kept going because she wanted to improve. To protect herself, her friends, and her housemates, she would have to keep practicing and improving. The best way to do that was to duel.

But all that wasn't exactly relevant to the situation she was currently in. The absolutely terrible situation that she was stuck in. Her opponents were both older than her, and one of them in particular had grown a considerable reputation... for being indomitable.

The Slytherin captain was a fifth year now, and in all of his matches, she had never seen him lose. Not even once. Although, there has been several forfeits.. by the other team. Callista knew this was an unfair match up. The moderator probably knew this was an uneven match up too. Even the crowd knew. The silence that descended upon the room was stifling. The couple of minutes before she and her new partner walked up was nerve-wracking. She could have strangled someone with how tight she was holding on to her wand, and her knees were shaking. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, and she felt like melting to the ground.

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's not okay.

Callista practically jumped out of her seat when she was called up. Taking a deep breath, she faced her opponents. Calm down. A shaky breath in, and then out. In, out. She wouldn't be doing Autumn any favours if she shut down. Actually, that be counterproductive. The taunts of the Slytherins weren't helping at all. They definitely wouldn't be receiving any verbal response from Callista. In fact, she wasn't even sure if she could open her mouth safely to cast a spell...

We have a plan, it'll be okay. Kind of. But still a plan! It's okay, I won't die, the moderator will make sure I won't die, it'll be over soon, ohmygodsomeonesaveme.

Autumn groaned. This was unfair, right? Pitting a fifth and third year against a third and second? It was fine, not like she was worried or anything, but wow. Okay, so maybe she was panicking a little bit, because she'd spectated on the duels she hadn't been an active participant in almost obsessively, and seen what both of her opponents had been capable of, but she also had a stupid lot of pride, a hell of a load of borderline-foolish stubbornness, an aggressively competitive spirit and an intense, slightly concerning fear of failure or defeat, and maybe that would be just enough to win this duel.

No, no it wouldn't. What was she thinking? The only advantage she had in this duel was the disturbing amount of adrenaline all of her duels pumped her full of. She wasn't exactly on any sort of winning streak either, and just- ugh. Okay, well, if her team was going to have their butts handed to them, the least they could do would be to put up a fight and try not to catch on too much fire.

But she had to play Devil's Advocate against herself, because she knew she was actually a relatively good spellcaster, and maybe the adrenaline and her troubling phobia of losing could mean that she could at least leave this duelling club with at least a part of her dignity.

Still, her whole thing was repressing the hell out of what was probably an undiagnosed anxiety disorder and her emotions, and putting on a cool, bored demeanour, so she did exactly that. The odds were against her? Fine. She wouldn't do anything stupid like hoping that she succeeded, or be motivated like a badly-written underdog from a coming-of-age film, but she could totally pretend to be bored and uncaring to take away from the satisfaction of her opponent's eventual victory.

Oh, great, the vaguely intimidating older duelling captain was taunting them. She glared-slashed-raised-an-eyebrow at him, genuinely unimpressed. Look, her team were clearly full aware of how terrible their odds were at the moment, but the whole menacing act was just kind of... corny? Actually just kind of made him seem less frightening than before. More... cocky. Autumn tried to hide her smirk with her sleeve. She could lose this duel- and let's be honest, she probably would- but she could mentally make fun of her opponents the entire time, so who was truly winning? (It was probably still them, but she was trying to learn to be more optimistic, okay?)

She just chuckled in response, and added a small, extremely condescending, "Uh-huh, sure."

Y'know, just out of sheer spite and pettiness.

ENGLISH | #6B5076
WELSH | #9E8FB9
UZBEK | #874343

STATS | Stamina - 7 | Evasion - 7 | Strength - 7 | Wisdom - 8 (7+10% from comprehend languages = 7.7 = 8 ) | ArcPower - 8 | Accuracy - 9
ABILITIES | Sixth Sense - Perfectionist - Comprehend Languages (Mermish)
RACE | Human
HEALTH | 700/700 - 100%

Round 1

Callista vs Dmitri

Reducio

Callista cast Tickling Charm at Dmitri.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 20] + 9 = 29, crit success
Auto-Miss: [d10: 5], fail
Auto-Dodge: [d10: 3], fail
Accuracy Check: [d20: 12] + 7 = 19
Evasion Check: [d20: 11] + 6 = 17
19 > 17 → Hit
Damage: (50 + 50 + 7 × 10) × 0.9 = 153
Duration: max duration applied → 3 rounds
Effects: -2 Accuracy, -25 HP per round

Autumn vs Dmitri

Reducio

Autumn cast Tongue-Tying Spell at Dmitri.
Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 6] + 7 + 1 = 14, success
Auto-Miss: [d10: 10], success Dmi TP

Dmitri vs Autumn & Callista

Reducio

Dmitri cast Wind Jinx at Autumn and Callista.
Wisdom DC: 11 + 2 = 13
Wisdom Check: [d20: 19] + 14 = 33, success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 5] + 15 - 2 = 18
Evasion Check: [d20: 15] + 7 = 22
18 < 22 → Miss
Split: [d10:8] → fail
Accuracy Check: [d20: 7] + 15 - 2 = 20
Evasion Check: [d20: 17] + 8 = 25
20 < 25 → Miss
Split: [d10:9] → fail

Opeila vs Autumn

Reducio

Opeila cast Wind Jinx at Autumn.
Wisdom DC: 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 20] + 8 = 28, crit success
Accuracy Check: [d20: 14] + 9 = 23
Evasion Check: [d20: 4] + 7 = 11
23 > 11 → Hit
Split: crit → automatic
Target: Callista
Accuracy: [d20:10] + 9 = 19
Evasion: [d20:18] + 8 = 26
19 < 26 → Miss
Damage: (50 + 70 + 6 × 10) × 0.9 = 162
Duration: [d3:3] → 2 rounds
Effects: -4 Evasion

The duel would commence and Alan was not entirely sure what to expect of it going forward, but he would be there for it all as he began to overview each person's actions. He would try to figure out what each person's and each team's strategy was. He was not quite sure however, there was no way he would know. He wondered whether the badgers would focus on the bigger threat or the easier victim. On the other hand there was Slytherin who had an advantage just by years and experience alone, it was cruel really. He would look over to the Viper's captain as he stood there somewhat smugly on the piste and couldn't help but wonder slightly if that cocky energy would do him any good.

As the duel began, it quickly became apparent that both teams were blessed by talented duellists. Dmitri would begin to cast the wind jinx and it made the Gryffindor narrow his eyes slightly, did it really split? No. He remembered having seen this before, during the chess combat he had found out quite quickly that the captain was capable of not splitting but spreading his spell to hit two targets rather than one. This would however drastically improve the focus needed for the feat and it was apparent that he would lack in that department as both badgers would have no issue dodging the jets of wind that came their way. Opeila however, would not let herself get confused and like her captain would favor the wind jinx as a means to open this duel. It seemed exceptionally powerful as the gusts of wind twirled as one of the gusts split off and headed towards Callista, whereas her original spell would head to Autumn and hit her, staggering her as she would have to fight against the wind pulling at her robes and hair. Callista was more lucky, the split gust of wind would miss her and dissipate as it found no target.

Autumn would ready a spell of her own, a nasty curse that she was about to send the viper king's way, but as she looked at him something shook her to the core. There was just something in the way he stood there, with that conceited expression that seemed sinister. The dark aura of confidence would cause her hand to flinch as her spell ran into the ground, the blue exploding into sparks on the piste as Autumn stood there, momentarily frozen in shock. Alan would narrow his eyes, once again glancing at the viper who had caused this reaction, was he really that scary to have as an opponent? This thought would be destroyed within the next moment, as Callista seemingly avenged her team mate by launching a spell at Dmitri. And it would hit the older boy with no time to dodge out of its way.

Alan would expectantly wait for a reaction, as he would see how the mighty viper king, Dmitri, would double over as his expression changed from that smug look into one of pained laughter. It would start small, just a few chuckles escaping him but the spell had come with an extreme power and thus he would loose it completely as laughter erupted from the snake. The mixed in wheezes sounded rather painful to watch even and thus Alan grimaced as he observed the boy. Alan was halfway convinced that the boy must seem even scarier so out of it, it was like someone had lost all grip on their sanity and Alan knew right then and there that Dmitri would likely make the badgers pay for making him lose control like that.

Information

• You have 96 hours from now to write your posts (50 words min).
• In the same time period, send me (Alan Vanes) your team's actions per owl. Do not hint at your actions in your post.
• If you don't post in the allotted time frame, your action is void.
• Your Stats, Abilities, and Spells have been locked to what they are now for the duration of this duel.
• If you have questions or notice something odd about the mod post, don't hesitate to owl or DM me.
• Here you can find the rules to the Duelling System.
• Good luck, and have fun!

Spectator Thread.
This duel takes place during Day 2

Cocky - Shea Coulee (Explicit)

Roleplaying as Dmitri Kazimir Jones
Perfectionist | Perfectionist II | Spell Spread | Terrible Presence | Evasive Maneuvers
Sta 11, Str 2, Eva 6, Wis 14, Arc 11, Acc 15

Dmitri and Opeila both knew what to do—having practiced their team synergy countless times on their training. Like clockwork, the Viridian Vipers raised their wands at the same tempo, and with an impeccable chorus of "Ventus!", released three strong gusts of wind at their opponents.

Though invisible, the strong gales made not just a few spectators' cloaks billow aggressively throughout the arena as the air in the room condensed into three rushing projectiles. From the way one of the two Hufflepuffs swayed precariously where they stood, Dmitri figured at least one of those projectiles hit their marks.

Good enough.

But of course, the Hufflepuffs would cast in reply, coordinated in their own... Hufflepuff-y way (which is, not at all). He couldn't help but laugh as his eyes met one of them. From the way she was clutching her wand in a shaky hand, Dmitri concluded that his intimidations got to her.

"What's the matter, kid? Still in awe?"

A chuckle escaped him.

From the way he didn't feel anything untoward meant that the other opponent's spell hasn't connected either—he was too busy making fun of their target to focus on them, but it seemed he didn't have to.

They both failed.

Dmitri didn't know why but that was pretty funny.

And so he laughed again.

And laughed.

And laughed some more.

"Winters, did you see the look on her face?" The boy wheezed and slapped his knee, momentarily forgetting he was in the middle of the duel.

"She was shaking!" Were he in his right mind, Dmitri would have found his own display undignified and would have found something wrong about his sudden outbursts, but at the moment, things were too funny that he simply had to dissolve in a cacophony of nasal guffaws.

Wiping a tear that escaped from his eye, the boy raised his wand once more. "Ah, laughing hurts. Such tiresome business."

Certainly, he'd look positively out of his mind, but he couldn't seem to care. Even as he prepared to cast his next spell, a few giggles would bubble up from his upturned lips.

———

Doing as strategized

Opeila felt confident in a way she seldomly did in a duel. She was used to losing at this point, but this time there was an unfair but clear advantage for house Slytherin, one Opeila secretly loved.
Mybe it was that feeling of certainty that pushed the young girl to the next level when she raised her wand and sent a strong gust of wind, the strongest she had ever created, towards her Hufflepuff classmate.

A thin smile appeared on her face when her spell hit its target. Dmitri's spells missed, which wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't made such a deal of pointing out one of the badger girls had winced. Opeila knew exactly that Dmitri had not faced an older, more experienced duellist before, so it was easy for him to talk. It was that what Opeila found the most embarassing, even if she wouldn't say it out loud. Instead she would only quietly murmur "Stay focused..." in his direction, in a neutral tone. She did feel some empathy for the two girls now.

Action: Doing as strategized.

Credit: Lucia Fox

The Slytherins' wind charms billowed past them, their robes flapping up as if caught by an invisible entity. Both Dmitri and Opeila's spells missed Callista, but Autumn wasn't as lucky. It was clear from the moment they cast that they were aiming to put the Hufflepuffs at a disadvantage early on. Well, Callista and Autumn had the same idea.

What happened to Autumn's spell was confusing. It hadn't failed, but it sailed to the ground. What was most puzzling, perhaps, was her face. Sure, Dmitri was scary - Callista was practically quivering in her shoes, after all - but enough so that her spell didn't work right? Now wasn't the right time or place to think about it, but she filed it away into her mind to dwell on later. In the meantime... "Rictusempra!"

Even she was surprised by the sheer power that erupted from her wand. Callista was used to casting well, and she put a lot of time and effort into practising her spells, but it was rare, even for her, to cast so beautifully. The silver light streamed towards her opponent, and the look of surprise on her face when it hit slowly transformed into a small smile. Perhaps it was a good omen from the gods, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but undeniably, this small victory made her heart skip.

Quickly, her emotions flipped as her spell took effect. Dmitri was already frighteningly scary, and with his laughs, he seemed quite possibly out of his mind. The fact that his laughter was directed towards her was humiliating. Callista felt like melting to the ground right there and then. Forget his proficiency in casting, how was she even going to survive his taunts? The young girl quickly turned pink with embarrassment, and even as she opened her mouth - what for, no one would know - nothing came out. She quickly shut it again, trying to focus on what she would do next. Stick to the plan...

Status: 600/600
Effects: None
Previous Action: Cast Rictusempra towards Dmitri
Action: As strategized

12.5 hour warning