Fall Ball 2021 All These Muds are Making Me Eel Closed

Interacting with No One | Mentions: @Erin Ryan and @Hugh Lowe mostly

She was not sure what it was but something drew her attention to the eels. Serena's feet moved towards the activity long before most people had even arrived. She did not notice the arrival of Erin Ryan or Hugh Lowe at the ball, missing them both entirely after the interaction with Gideon had heavily distracted her - leaving her feeling kind of awkward and embarrassed by the whole thing.

Serena rubbed her cheek with the back of her head. She was feeling so hot right now, still mildly horrified by the whole encounter. Everything about the situation - being dateless, responding to the flyer and then Gideon actually taking her up on it despite her saying no - was just horrifically embarrassing. How the hell did she get to this stage?

Stopping as she arrived at a slippery section of mud and the pool of eels. She stared at it, watching an eel move around. Looking around, she did not see anyone else. A sigh escaped her, one of disappointment. For some reason, she half expected to find Erin around. Her eyes focused back on the eel as she fell into thought.

From the meeting in the cabin, she found that there were slugs gnawing away at Erin, withering within her. Of course, she had no idea what exactly this meant or why. But this was what Hugh told her and she believed him. Staring at the eels, she watched them move. Serena imagined they moved in a similar way to slugs, just faster. A look of determination crossed her face. They had to do this. If there was something inside of her, something placed by hags... they had to do something to help.

The idea that the Slytherin's reflection was trapped made Serena feel sick. She was not particularly close to Erin. In fact, their only real interactions were back when Erin made Serena cry and was kind of mean... There was a reason the Hufflepuff avoided her since. And there was no real way for her to know what Erin was going through or what she had been through. Despite all of this, Serena did not want her to suffer. What she did know sounded awful and Serena was not about to leave her to suffer alone. Admittedly, she had no idea what they were meant to do. They probably should get professors to help but... she was explicitly told not to trust the professors from Erin, via Hugh. She also knew Erin would most likely flee so fast. Besides... if Erin and the professors were in communication, it probably would have been fixed by now.

Right now, all she could do was place all of her trust in Hugh and what she had been told by him. And he could only trust in Erin and what she knew. Serena stared at the eels, contemplating the information she had been told. They had to get the slugs out of Erin. She did not really have a plan, or any idea if they had a chance of succeeding. But she had to do something, that was all she knew.

She had a slug repellent, would that work? Could she just repel the slugs out of Erin? That was definitely an option, right? Maybe if... Erin drank the repellent... this was potentially a terrible idea but it might work. Serena would shelf it for now as a backup plan. Forcing her to drink slug repellent... It would likely have to be by force.

Honestly? Her plan was to find Erin Ryan and do whatever the hell she could to help, as soon as she could. Staring into the pool of eels during this entire time, Serena eventually made a move. In a swift moment, she would attempt to grab one of the eels she had been watching.

If successful, she would stare at it in her hand, a nod to herself and then deposit it into the barrel before leaving.

If unsuccessful, she would clench her jaw a little, fighting back the urge to sigh. This was not ideal but she had to do better.

Serena stared at the barrel for a few moments, wondering if it was something she could use. If Erin vomited the slugs into there, it would be far easier to move them, right? Though... she was also not entirely certain that she could even move a barrel. Either way, she would leave and head back to the ball in an attempt to find Erin.

ACTION: Attempting to catch eels.
Leaves thread to head back to the ball after - will wait to 'return' after the mod post, just posting this now

Stamina: 10 | Evasion: 13 | Strength: 1 | Wisdom: 15 | Arcane Power: 5 | Accuracy: 10
Abilities: Part-Goblin, Evasive Maneuvers, Beastmaster
Fifth-Year Armour: +10% auto-dodge on attacks [=20% auto-dodge overall]

Pizza Rat 200/200 Health

Trunk Items: Wand, Invisibility Cloak, Magical Candle (unlit), Repellent for Slugs
Other Items: Gideon's Sugar-free Candy (acquired here)

Outfit of the Day (with winged boots and wristguard wand holder)

The mud pool would bubble a bit -- cheerily -- as @Serena Towers entered the fray, as if the mischievous eels were saying hello. However, the Hufflepuff was likely too deep in her own thoughts to notice where she had arrived or what the slimy things were doing in the pool. The occasionally bubbling mud would seem to help her focus her thoughts.

Serena Towers
Spotting an eel: WDC 15 or higher
Wisdom Check: [d20: 14] + 15 = 29, success
Catching the eel: ACC 15 or higher
Accuracy Check: [d20: 5] + 10 = 15, success

The girl would gaze into the mud pool and spot a little splash as an eel turned. With swift accuracy, she would dive both hands into the mud and grip the slimy rascal, so that it came out of the pool thrashing, spraying a bit of mud from side to side as it surfaced. Serena would successfully dump the slithering thing into the nearest barrel. Perhaps this little success would steel her nerves in her confrontation of Erin.

Charles Alluring (@Henry Knight) would arrive, eager to do some eel-catching as well. The brave boy gave no notice to the pool of mud, stomping courageously into its depths, not caring that his Power Ranger outfit was getting dirty with dark muck.

Charles Alluring
Spotting an eel: WDC 15 or higher
Wisdom Check: [d20: 2] + 4 = 6, failure
Catching an item: ACC 15 or higher
Accuracy Check: [d20: 5] + 10 = 15, success
Choose item: Jump Rope

He thought he spotted something long and lean. Could it be an eel? The boy dove at the thing, and managed to snatch it up with both hands, lifting it proudly into the air. However, it wasn't what he thought it was -- he merely caught a jump rope. Well, it wasn't a real success, perse, but at least it was something. Maybe he could use it to jump rope later. It was a festival, after all.

Instructions: Official moderation for this thread has ended. For those of you who would like to join or continue participating in the event, feel free to do so responsibly. You can also roll for your own eel-catching.

To spot an eel, you would need to roll WDC > 15. To catch something, you need to roll ACC > 15. If you catch something even though you didn't spot an eel, feel free to roll for catching either a Jump Rope, Chain, or Scarf.

Have fun!

[ @Henry Knight as Charles • @Valerie Laurier as Ayu • @Rose Moon as Drew • @Logan Baird as Ro ]

eel catching [autofailed because I didn't have chance to roll and wanted to get this post up] • heading to matchmaking tent

English #26687E • French #72267E

Everyone apparently had water bottles apart from Drew, who decided that he didn't need one. "If you do, I want to be there," Cassie replied with a smirk to the idea that he could always just lick the dew off the grass.

"Oh, I never accept defeat," Cassie said airily to Ayu's teasing. It was quite true, which could sometimes be one of her best qualities, and sometimes one of her worst. Cassie would only accept that she was wrong when there was strong evidence to prove it, which annoyed the people who couldn't be bothered to get said evidence.

At the suggestion that Cassie should just get on Drew's back, she wrinkled her nose. "I mean, no offence - no offence - Drew," she said to him, dropping in a French phrase in an attempt to gently introduce the others to the language, "But I definitely prefer to go solo." This was her main reason for preferring broomracing over quidditch. Sure, there was an element of teamwork in broomracing, but there was no captain. There was no 'you must do this'. Actually, quidditch was rather like football, and broomracing like... Cassie couldn't think of a Muggle comparison. Running? Ew. Cassie didn't mind running, exactly, and went on a run around ths Beauxbatons grounds occasionally for the sake of her fitness, but running was never as exciting as broomracing was. Plus, broomracing involved brooms, which obviously made it at least three times more cool.

Cassie grinned when Charles decided that, to the 'cool ones', they were most definitely cool. "And to that, my friends, I say cheers!" The Beauxbatons girl held her hand out as though proclaiming a toast. "Cheers!"

Drew appeared to echo her sentiment, marching forth towards the eels with a shouted, "Onward, Companions!"
Cassie sniggered. Obviously, her friend thought that the Power Rangers lived in... old times. Cassie sucked at history."Dude," she said, walking beside him as Charles and Ayu ran on. (w
well, Charles ran on. Ayu just clung on.) "Power Rangers is set in, like, present day. They just talk like regular people. I think. They have a catchphrase though!" Cassie squinted into the distance. "...I think."

Cassie squinted again when Ayu mentioned eels stinging. "I dunno," she shrugged eventually. "I think they bite? But, like, not much. I dunno. Never met an eel."
From Ro's tone of voice, which was all Cassie had from which to decipher her Russian apart from the word 'oh', Cassie could tell that she wasn't convinced. "It'll be fine!" the Beauxbatons student reassured her friends as they drew closer to the activity.

The activity which, as it turned out, was apparently just a pile of mud and some pairs of wellies [slang for Wellington boots, aka gumboots]. Cassie shrugged at Charles when he wondered aloud if there were rules, and quickly pulled off her slippers, stepping into a pair of gumboots and dispositing her own shoes on a patch of dry land. She next carefully added her silver jacket and bag to where the slippers were lying and rolled up her sleeves."I hereby challenge you to catch an eel!" she cried as she plunged into the mud, swinging her arms around wildly.

Despite the fact that she wasn't even holding an eel in her hands when she came out, Cassie had still managed to get mud all over her arms, right from her fingertips to her elbows. Luckily, the wellies had shielded her costume from the worst of it, but she was unsure as to how she was supposed to get her jacket back on without completely ruining it, which she was unwilling to do to say the least. Normally, Cassie would be all for caking her clothes in mud, but not for her jacket. Her jacket was special. "Huh." Cassie looked around, and then- "AHA!" Most of, if not all, the barrels around her were pristine and clear... which would make them perfect for washing off most of the mud. Cassie stalked towards them, plunging her arms into one which was completely clear just as Charles probably deposited some kind of rope into another. She was correct - most of the mud washed off, leaving her arms wet but clean, and the water in the barrel decidingly muddy. "Cold..." Shivering now, Cassie wiped off her arms on her trouser legs and put her jacket, shoes, and bag back on again.

"Matchmaking?" Cassie squinted at Charles, trying to figure out what the heck had made him suggest such a visit. "You wanna check out... the matchmaking tent?" Then she grinned as she realised whose match, or so she assumed, her friend wanted to find out about. "Aww.". She turned to the rest of the group. "Charlie wants to ask about Xeno. Isn't that cute?" Cassie smirked at Charles. "Of course we'll accompany you ro the matchmaking tent, Charles!" Whether or not the rest of the squad decided to come with them, Cassie would grab Charles' wrists and attempt to tug him (with surprising strength) towards the rather creepy-looking tent at the far edge of the grounds.

[ human • sixth sense • fearless • the muggle condition • sta 10 • eva 8 • stre 8 • wis 7 • arc 4 • acc 10 ]

[ wand • water bottle • 5 plasters ]

Roleplaying as iNPC Andrew Lycan
Interacting With | @Henry Knight as Charles Alluring | @Lucia Fox as Cassie Heather McGregor Martin
Mentioning | @Logan Baird as Rosella Sokolov | @Valerie Laurier as Ayuma Kobayashi
Closed to interactions other than those planned

Drew shook his head, pretending to be exasperated. "It's too late, now, Charlie. Next time, maybe." Cassie commented that she would much rather go solo anyway, and not jump on Drew's back. He grinned, letting her know that he didn't mind. "None taken."

Charles commented that they were the real cool ones, and Drew grinned. Drew mimicked Cassie, raising his hand. "Cheers!" he exclaimed. "We are the coolest of all."

Cassie laughed at his comment and told him that the Power Rangers were set in present day. He furrowed his brow. "Oh. Wait- isn't that how all superheroes talk, though?" he asked. From everything he knew about superheroes, they definitely talked like that. "What's their catchphrase?" Drew asked.

The blonde scoffed at the conversation surrounding eels and if they could hurt you. "Oh, come on. They're just fish snakes. They can't hurt you," he said, sounding very confident in that fact. Charles started a race to the eel catching thingy, and Drew dashed after him and past him, as he got distracted. He glanced behind him, slowing down to a jog so that he could keep an eye on Charles. Drew shrugged. "I guess we can just do whatever. People don't seem like they'll get upset if we make mud-angels or if we actually tried to catch eels." He picked up a pair of boots and yanked them on his feet, protecting his wonderful and flattering costume from the mud.

Drew scanned the mud below him, trying to find an eel in the mud. A small movement, then nothing. Whenever he almost spotted an eel, the movement would suddenly disappear, and he wouldn't be able to see it again. He squinted at the mud, trying to find something. He groaned. This was going to take forever. He sloshed forward in the mud, then bent down to plunge his arms into the mud. He felt something snake-like in the mud, and his eyes lit up a little. "I found you!" Yanking it out of the mud, he realized it was not a wriggly eel, but rather, a chain that was in the mud. He frowned. Why would they put eel-like things into the pool where they were supposed to catch eels? That seemed incredibly against the point. But ah well, this was Hogwarts after all. How was he supposed to tell them what to do?

Drew shrugged. "Ah, well. I guess no eel-catching for us tonight, Charlie," he said to his friend. Cassie didn't seem to be having much luck, either.

"Oh, sure! It would be interesting to see..." he said, before Cassie jumped in, talking about Xeno, Charles' boyfriend. "Awww, let us see if it is in the stars for you two to be together," he said. Drew grinned, but would let the subject drop as Charles seemed very uncomfortable in this situation.

Drew walked with his friends towards the matchmaking booth.

For Moderation

Action
Trying and failing to catch an eel, going towards the matchmaking tent
Inventory
Wand
Abilities
Obnoxiously Strong | Fearless
Stats
Stamina: 8 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 10
Wisdom: 4 | ArcPower: 7 | Accuracy : 6