2021, Stage 1 Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw: Match 2

Hex code:#A0A9B8

There was an air of confidence that surrounded Alec as he entered the room that day. It was an ineffable thing, and attempts to describe it in any way that was different from the words first placed would find fault. For even the words first placed weren't truly the ones to describe it, a subset of the feeling mixed with others and graced by the fate that was presentation and knowing how to project. Alec walked in as if he owned the place with his head held high, his face both blank and serious. He would stay by Rose as he walked in. Quiet mindless speaking, filling her in on Dealla more. He let his words go a little far. He made it obvious when he was exaggerating about her and her ability to knock herself out, but he hoped she'd hear it

“It's like she didn't even know what she was doing. You would think she'd be better since it was the last duel of the season.”

He quieted down as he finally got to where he should be. Ill-mouthing her wasn't best with so many people around. Honestly, he had no idea why he had been doing it in the first place. He had nothing against her. It had just been something he'd decided to do in the spur of the moment. Something he felt the urge to suddenly do, wanting to do it and did. His lips broke out into a smirk, an almost mocking one as they properly met their match. What followed suit was a solemn nod towards his opponents, a silent way of showing some respect. He turned to his teammate. A small, legitimate smile would break onto his lips. “We've got this.” He'd whisper to her, though he felt they didn't need any of these encouragements. On the other hand, his opponents... His face slipped back to the mocking smirk as he turned to their opponents. This ought to be fun. “Good luck” They were going to need it.

Alec got into place and prepared his wand. He was ready.

Action: Doing what was(will) be owled

It was an odd feeling, stepping up to onto the piste without Pericles by her side. They had made some strategic decisions to split up last year's partners, to better adjust for newcomers and changes in her team's talents and abilities. Still, she was going to miss sharing the stage with her co-captain, she'd grown to rely on him over the past year, and not just during her duels.

Samantha was new to the team, and Dee could still remember what it was like to walk up to her first duel. Could feel the anticipation thrumming under her skin, taste the thrill on her tongue, it hadn't really changed at all. She could feel the competition flare in her chest, and couldn't help the excited grin that she shot into Samantha's direction, rather than the encouraging smile she'd intended.

That grin didn't fade when she caught shreds of Alec's words across the stage, turned sharper, rather, a little derisive, even while she could feel anger boil up inside her. Her eyes were hard as she looked across the stage towards the Gryffindors, not quite a glare, but sharp as broken glass. "At least I don't need my opponents to do the work for me," she called back, making very clear she'd heard him. "Wasn't that the only duel you managed to win last year? What does that feel like, only winning when your opponents knock themselves out for you because you don't manage to do it?" Another disdainful look, a raised eyebrow, and she started turning away dismissively. "But please, underestimate me. See what this duel brings for you, then."

Facing away, she finally let her grin fade some, the anger still clear in her eyes for anyone who bothered to look. "Don't mind them," she told Samantha, although the words were meant as much for herself as for her younger companion. Trying to rein in her temper, she softened the edges of her smile. "We can take them. Just like we practiced, yes?"

Jake's stammered instructions earned a slightly confused look and nod. The boy was new to being a duelling captain, Dee knew that, but shouldn't he be a little more sure of what he was saying? Not that they needed the instructions, both Gryffindors and herself had participated in duels before, and the new Ravenclaw team members had been drilled with instructions during practice in the month and a half since the school year had begun.

With a deep breath, she turned to face their opponents, suppressing the urge to meet Alec's nod with a sneer. Let him choke on the pretense, his words from just moments before were not yet forgotten. There were few things Dealla took as badly as comments about her mishaps in previous duels; mostly because they were true. She had cost them the duel, and not once, but twice.

But not this time. She wouldn't let it happen again, she'd practised, she was prepared. And she was ready to make Alec regret his words.

Raising her wand, Dealla got into stance. "Let's get them."

@Pericles Dralt | @Alec Mason | @Samantha Salwis | @Jake Morris

Chills seemed to crawl down Rose's back. Duels. The dueling season was starting once again, and she was here, about to get up onto the dueling platform to have her first duel of the year. All three of Rose's duels last year had ended with her in the hospital wing, marinating in her defeat. Why couldn't she just be good at something? Mostly, she just felt bad for her partner. Alec didn't deserve the bad luck that she carried around.

But no. This was a new year. Rose had practiced all month in the dueling room, preparing for this, honing her spells. She was not going to let herself go into this with a bad mindset. She inhaled deeply and exhaled. Blue skies in, gray skies out. Blue skies in, gray skies out. She was going to do her best, and that's all she could do.

Rose walked in with Alec, her dueling partner. He was a curious one, and Rose had yet to figure him out yet, but she supposed since he hadn't been mean to her or anything, he was alright. Even though he held his head high, confident, Rose felt much differently inside. The only sign of this was that she was much quieter than usual, most of her interactions not using words, and the ones that did were especially soft. On the outside, she was maintaining an air of indifference, only tiny little things pointing to her true nervousness.

Henry came over, softly encouraging her. Rose smiled at him, taking his hand for only a moment and squeezing it. Her gaze snapped over to the platform as another announcement was made. "Thank you," she mouthed in his direction, then let go of his hand.

As she was called up, Rose pushed through the crowd gently, climbing up on the platform and taking her place. She looked over to Alec as he took his place next to her. She nodded at him instead of saying anything, because, for some reason, there seemed to be an imaginary something stuck in the top of her throat which forbade her to say anything. Stupid anxiety. She took her stance, angling her right hand, her wand hand, towards the Ravenclaws.

Alec wished their opponents good luck. Dealla then began a speech taunting Alec about his duels last year. Rose made eye contact with Alec and rolled her eyes subtly. This was a duel, after all, not a schoolyard fight. Finding humor in this, Rose's nerves relaxed a little. "She likes to talk a lot, doesn't she?" Rose said only loud enough for Alec to hear, a small smile on her face.

Rose held her stance, evening her breathing.

She could do this. She could do this. She could do this. She could do this...

For Moderation-

Action: As owled

Abilities: Keen Eye | Lovely Creature | Healing Sage Allies: Alec Inventory: Wand

Stats: Stamina- 8 Evasion- 8 Strength- 5 Wisdom- 9 ArcPower- 8 Accuracy- 7

@Jake Morris, @Alec Mason, @Dealla Prince, @Rose Moon

If anybody would ask her how she was doing, Samantha would say she was doing just fine. She would be to proud to admit that she felt really nervous. As she walked in she could feel her nerves grow, but her excitement also grew. This was her first ever duel! She had to enjoy it and stop being so nervous.

Samantha was rather happy with her partner. She got paired up with Dealla, the team duelling captain, who had way more experience in duelling then her. She answered the excited grin she was given with a even bigger smile.

The young girl closely followed the interacting between the two duelers. She normally would have backed up her teammate, but she was to nervous to do so. She was unusually quiet and the only sound she made was a little giggle when Dee talked about only winning when the opponents knocked themselves out.

Sam looked at Dee, who clearly still was angry, and listened to her. Samantha nodded and gave a little smile. "Yes, we can do this." She said more confident then she felt. Dee had been right, they had practiced a lot, they could do this. She had done everything she could in preparation for this duel, so she shouldn't worry, she should focus on winning.

Samantha turned all her attention to the Hufflepuff duelling captain and listen to him, making sure she didn't miss anything. She was quite shocked when he said that if somebody didn't know the rules they should come to him. She really hoped everybody knew the rules.

Samantha didn't really like Alec, as he had been quite mean to her partner. Even though she disliked him when he wished them luck, she said "Thank you, you to." Respect was important in sports and she wasn't going to scoop down to the level of the opponent and talk bad about them.

She got ready and got into place, she was going to give it her all.

Round 1

Alec Mason vs Dealla Prince

Reducio

Alec Mason cast Blindfolding Spell at Dealla Prince.

Wisdom DC: 10
Wisdom Check: [d20: 15] + 7 = 22
22 > 10 → Success

Dealla Auto-Dodge Check: [d10: 7] → No auto-dodge (Dealla's Evasive Maneuvers)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 17] + 9 - 1 Dealla's Charmer = 25
Evasion Check: [d20: 8] + 11 = 19
25 > 19 → Hit

Effects: Dealla is blinded, making her unable to see. Evasion and accuracy are 0 until blindfold is removed

Rose Moon vs Samantha Salwis

Reducio

Rose Moon cast Tickling Charm at Samantha Salwis.

Wisdom DC: 9
Wisdom Check: [d20: 10] + 9 = 19
19 > 9 → success

Accuracy Check: [d20: 12] + 7 - 1 (Dealla's Charmer) = 18
Evasion Check: [d20: 6] + 7 = 13
18 > 13 → Hit

Duration: [1d6: 5] → 2 rounds (1d6, 1-3: 1 round, 4-5: 2 rounds, 6: 3 rounds)
Damage: 50 + (8 × 10) = 130
Effects: Samantha suffers -2 Accuracy and loses 25 HP per round (2 rounds)

Dealla Prince vs Alec Mason

Reducio

Dealla Prince cast Blindfolding Spell at Alec Mason.

Wisdom DC: 10 + 2 (Rose's Lovely Creature) = 12
Wisdom Check: [d20: 16] + 10 = 26
26 > 12 → Success

Auto-Dodge: [d10: 4] → No Auto-Dodge (Alec's Evasive Maneuvers)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 11] + 10 = 21
Evasion Check: [d20: 18] + 7 = 25
21 < 25 → Miss

Samantha Salwis vs Alec Mason

Reducio

Samantha Salwis cast Tickling Charm at Alec Mason.

Wisdom DC: 9 + 2 (Rose's Lovely Creature) = 11
Wisdom Check: [d20: 10] + 8 = 18
18 > 11 → Success

Auto-Dodge: [d10: 1] → No Auto-Dodge (Alec's Evasive Maneuvers)
Accuracy Check: [d20: 17] + 7 = 24
Evasion Check: [d20: 1] + 7 = 8
24 > 8 → Hit

Duration: [1d6:6] → 3 rounds (1d6, 1-3: 1 round, 4-5: 2 rounds, 6: 3 rounds)
Damage: 50 + (7 × 10) = 120
Effects: Alec suffers -2 Accuracy and loses 25 HP per round (3 rounds)

The first thought Jake had as he watched the duellers take the stage, was that it felt like he was the most nervous one of all. Alec entered confidently, even ending up with a smirk upon his face, which perhaps distracted from the inner nerves that his quieter partner Rose was hiding well enough that Jake couldn't tell. From the Ravenclaws, he saw all smiles...at least at first.

Once Alec spoke up about something that had happened last year, the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. Jake felt his hair stand on his end as he watched Dealla's face. It was peculiar...the smile hadn't left, but her eyes seemed to tell a very different story. He was happy he wasn't going to be on the other side of this duel, but began to worry for the Gryffindors.

And then things began in an instant. It was all much faster than Jake ever could have expected. His eyes darted around as he tried to follow the casting, four wands beginning to move at once. Dealla's cast was quick, a blinding spell headed towards Alec. But the cocky Gryffindor boy moved quickly too, stepping out of the way of the incoming spell and firing the same back. It seemed both had the same idea in mind, but it was Dealla's vision that would go dark as the blindfold materialized atop her head (almost a bit of a relief for Jake, having seen how intense those eyes had been).

But perhaps Alec's big talking had made himself a target, because while he managed to dodge the blinding spell, Dealla wasn't the only Ravenclaw who had cast at him. Samantha's tickling charm was only moments behind, and this one hit him right in the chest. It seemed Alec's smile was going to be growing bigger, because he would soon be doubled over by laughter, a very distracting predicament during a duel.

All the attention on Alec left Rose with an opening of her own. Her wand pointed towards Samantha, who would soon be struck with her own uncontrollable laughter, karma perhaps, as the dueling chamber began to fill with laughter from both sides of this duel. As far as spells went it wasn't the scariest. Being tickled was a horrible feeling, Jake thought, but at least nobody was on fire.

Information

1. You have 96 hours (4 days) from the time of this post to post at least 50 words and owl me (Jake Morris) your moves.

2. Please don't hint at your move inside of your RP, as it gives the other team an advantage.

3. If you don't post before the deadline, your move will be void.

4. If you have any questions, or notice anything wrong in the mod post, please don't hesitate to send me an owl! (Srsly please its my first mod ever so lemme know)

5. Your stats, abilities, and spells have been locked for this duel. Any new abilities added to your trunk after this duel started cannot be used.

6. For your convenience, here are the duelling rules, the duelling spells, and the latest patch.

7. Good luck!

The spectator thread for this duel can be found here
This duel takes place during Day 1!

Hex code:#A0A9B8

Alec scoffed inwardly, “She acts as if she won anymore then me, At least I wasn't failing the last duel of the season.” The words were meant for himself, a quiet mutter, mumble, though since Rose was so close she could hear. Maybe she would think it was directed towards her. He seemed bitter, but he wasn't who he was last year he was sure of that. He wasn't scared, and he was going to do anything it would take to win. He'd held hesitance, keeping himself away from spells for the sake of not wanting to injure anyone that much. Even though the duels often consisted of pushing the sets of duellists to their limits.

“She says a lot for someone who did worse.” That was where he ended it. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He needed to focus, he could do this. He had it as well. Narrowly avoiding Dealla's spell. He took this as a victory, and cast her way quickly. He'd gotten it, and the smirk on those lips of his only grew. Though it seemed his seems his assumed pride would get in the way. As he was savoring the taste of a victory that very quickly turned sour.

Having been hit with the tickling charm, he burst out in a series of laughs. Which rather quickly he knew he couldn't control. Instead of trying to get himself to stop he decided he would play into it. He would be laughing but not just because he was being tickled by the charm. He would laugh because he was also laughing in their faces. He was going to take them down they were going to lose. “Haha, Rose we-HaHAha-got this you know what to do.” He'd whisper in an assortment of whisper laughs. Nudging her as if that would encourage her. They had this in the bag they could do this, even if Alec was living up to certain various crazy names he'd been called.

Alec had his wand at ready, “Ha, is that the best you can do? HahaHAHaHA child's play.” Okay honestly, Alec didn't really mean any of this and this was less going for his other role either, and more I'm laughing and I feel like I could be like a villain so I am going to be the best actor I can and go for it. Also antagonize some Ravenclaws in the process, a very normal day.

Action: Doing what was/will be owled~

She shouldn't have let Alec's comment get to her, Dee knew that, but it was easier said than done, her temper rising to the insult faster than a fire fanned by wind. It wasn't that she doubted her casting capabilities, but it was true that her record spoke against her, and the reminder had her starting the duel feeling on edge, ready to snap at any further provocation.

She took care in casting her spell - words could only do so much, she would have to prove them wrong - and it came out beautifully. Yet, sadly, casting alone was not enough, and in her determination not to let her magic backfire on her once more, she ended up neglecting both her aim and the awareness of her opponents.

When the world went dark around her, Dealla could feel her cheeks grow hot beneath the blindfold, likely turning a burning bright red, as Alec started laughing across the stage, and Dee clenched her teeth. Just as on his fake respect, she hoped he'd choke on it.

At least she took the laughter as a sign that Samantha's spell had hit, although her partner broke out into her own laughing fit just a moment later. There was a beautiful symmetry to both sides starting off the duel with the same set of spells, one that Dee could likely have appreciated more if hers hadn't been the only one that missed.

There was a reply already on her tongue - the urge to tell him she was simply giving him a head start, to make it a fair fight, give them a sporting chance - but she bit down on it. Hadn't she learned by now? Distractions only led to her downfall, and she needed to get rid of this blindfold first.

@Jake Morris, @Alec Mason, @Dealla Prince, @Rose Moon

Samantha focused on her spell, she needed to succeed. It would be way to embarrassing if she failed her first spell of her first official duel ever. She had chosen a spell she knew well, hopefully reducing the chance of failing.

Samantha targeted Alec, and smiled as her spell hit the boy. She was so focused on the fact that her spell had hit Alec, who stared laughing like a maniac, that she didn't pay attention to Rose. Rose had used the exact same spell on Samantha as she had used on Alec.

At first it was just a little giggle that escaped her mouth, but within second the young girl couldn't control her laughter anymore. She tried to suppress her laughter, but didn't succeed. The tickling feeling made it hard for her to think, the only thought in her mind was how badly she wanted to stop laughing. She felt like a fool and her hatred for tickling grew.

She didn't spend any words on replying to Alec, he wasn't worth it. Besides she needed to focus on the dueling, talking would only distract her. Samantha didn't mind the fact that Alec was talking, she hoped that the more he talked the less focused he was.

At first Samantha had disliked Alec more, but now it was Rose she disliked the most of the two duellists. Sam was rather annoyed that she got hit in the first round by Rose. Even though Samantha knew it was the sport, she still disliked Rose for casting a spell at her.

@Alec Mason | @Dealla Prince | @Samantha Salwis

Rose gave a small smile in Alec's direction at his comments. He was certainly loosening her up a little bit, helping her to relax.

Spells flew. Rose's tickling charm actually hit its target, and relief bubbled up inside her. She paused. She didn't have any effects on her from spells and she had landed her own! This was a first. Maybe her luck was changing. Rose lifted her chin a little, feeling more confident than before. She cast a quick glance around her. Alec and Sam were laughing and Dealla had a blindfold on!

Rose, unable to hold back a grin, nodded at Alec. "Let's do this," she murmured. He nudged her, encouraging her. Was this what dueling normally felt like? Not miserable? Rose chuckled just a little bit at Alec's attempt to taunt the other team, shaking her head.

This wasn't so bad.