Biscuits, Cravings, Decorations Event

Special thanks to Linda Ramirez for the wonderful holiday banner!

There was something really special about wintertime- specifically when the holidays were just peeking around the corner. The air had a certain warmth to it, despite the undeniable chill carried by the wind. Faces grew friendlier. Souls were brighter. And although some would deny it, people generally found kinship in one another around this time. Xailah, admittedly, never took much interest in involving herself with others on a personal level during yuletide festivities; she much preferred observing how the world around her changed during this magical time.

And boy did it change. White unfurled into silver and gold, and from that, vibrant emerald and crimson.

It was beautiful. Everything- from each shiny bobble and velvet ribbon, to every picturesque snowflake. And she was perfectly content with simply witnessing this humble- yet occasionally gaudy- metamorphosis. With that said, avoiding yuletide events was nearly impossible. Not that she would ever want to- there were far too many activities to involve oneself in, and crafts to indulge the creative spirit with, to turn them away with ease. Opportunities like making snowmen, and decorating gingerbread cookies only came once a year. Partaking was necessary, when fulfilling wintertime rituals.

This little party- the one Xailah presently found herself standing in the midst of- was an inevitability. A very charming one, but an inevitability nonetheless. She reserved a few minutes to fully take in the room, admiring the decorations to their fullest. They were so warm and lively- even if she thought poinsettias would have been nicer to decorate with, than mistletoe. She savored the energy the space outpoured; lapping up every drop of colored light spilt and splattered. When she was satisfied, she would find her way to a table hosting a lovely spread of plain biscuits. Gingerly, she'd take one between slender, gloved fingers, inspect it a bit, and then place it down on a napkin. Her first client had been selected, now came the fun part: decorating.

Positively vibing while decorating a few cookies.

⬩Cat's Grace |☆| Blindvision⬩

Open to interactions!

Howard had come to really enjoy the holiday season at Hogwarts. The decorations were always top notch. There were plenty of parties and gathering of friends. Though the weather could be harsh from time to time, he did look forward to snowfall. There was just something about a cold morning spent crunching through the snow that invigorated him. Not to mention that the castle always had an extra special energy to it. The fireplaces roared, spirits were often high and @Bloom Silverton looked great in a festive red dress! What else could a young man ask for you say?

FEASTS! Howard, now in his seventh year, would mourn leaving Hogwarts upon graduation and part of that sorrow would be leaving the house elves that had fed him for all this time. Year round they could be counted on for the best food he had ever had, but they really outdid themselves during the holidays. The roasts, the puddings, the pies and the pastries. By the gods Howard could almost weep in this moment knowing this would soon be his last and not his present, but his highly sensitive nose would offer him reprieve from his heartache as the smell of fresh cookies entered his nostrils. Sweets? The man asked himself, why yes, yes indeed.

Howard’s long legs would carry him quickly towards the Great Hall and he would waste not a moment in finding the source is such sugary goodness. Quick as he was to find the desert bar, he would take a moment to take in the hall. What a wonderful place this was. The ambience was perfect as the floating candles drifted above them and splashed them all in their multicolored glow. Mistletoe hung all around and holiday jingles filled the air. Crimson tears threatened to spill over Howard’s eyelids for a moment as he took in the winter holidays for the last time at Hogwarts, but fortunately sugar would save him once more.

His long fingers got to work with a quickness as his barren plate was soon filled to maximum capacity. Snacks and chocolates, biscuits and sugar canes all piled high. And what’s this? Pumpkin or fruit juice to wash it all down. Why make such as hard decision? Into his glass both would good for quite the interesting cocktail. Now to find somewhere nice to begin his gorging. On his way he would pass a new friend, @Xailah Alptraum. “Hey Xailah!” Howard offered an enthusiastic head nod as both hand were much too busy for a wave. Is she invited him over he would plop down close by, but if not he would find a seat just a little ways down and waste no time before taking a huge bite of chocolate frog.

Interactions: Open
Action: Eat chocolate frog, wash it down with pumpkin juice/fruit punch cocktail.
Stats: STA- 12 | EVA- 18 | STR- 15 | WIS- 1 | ARC- 0 | ACC- 20
Abilities: Fangs, Claw & Bite | Martial Artist | Unsettling Aura | Blindvision | Keen Smell | Terrible Presence
Note: Unsettling Aura & Terrible Presence are off

Interactions: Open (Yes please) Howard White
Action: Eat a biscuit, drink fruit punch with it
Stats: Stamina 6 | Evasion 6 | Strength 4 | Wisdom 8 | Arcane Power 5 | Accuracy 6
Abilities: Calming Presence

Thanks to Delainie Silverwing for this cute banner

Outfit	Inventory
Reducio + Robe of Warmth in Effect	Reducio Enchanted satchel in effect Wand Wizard Camera (filled with film) Tyty (Zach's typewriter) Papers Diary Black Quill Ink Potions Reducio Murtlap Essence Antidote to Common Poisons Bruise Removal Paste Burn Healing Paste

January 7^th, 2023
19:00

Zach walked to the Great Hall after taking a fresh shower. This day, there was an event that had been prepared by the prefects. Well, Zach was a new one but he was really excited about this event. He hummed all the way to a seat, somewhere that was not too crowded. The boy took a seat and observed all the people there. It was a joyous night. He liked the atmosphere. Winter always had its own magic wherever it was.

The boy felt uncomfortable feeling from his throat until his mouth. Yes, he was thirsty. He stood from the seat to the small bar, leaving his satchel behind. Between fruit punch and pumpkin juice, it was a hard decision to make. There was one way to make a decision when you were having a hard time deciding it: counting the buttons of his shirt. "Fruit punch, pumpkin juice, fruit punch, ..." he still counted his buttons until the last one was counted, "pumpkin juice." The choice had been made. The pale took a glass of pumpkin juice and then went to the plain cookies bar.

Multi-tasking wasn't his thing so while taking a cookie, he almost spilled the juice on the floor. "Whoops." He positioned his glass again. Zach should place his glass on his table first then go back to take the cookie. However, he was too lazy tired to do so. It would be better if he could do it in one go. An idea came to his mind: why not drink the juice a little? Then the boy drank the juice until it was halved glass.

Open to Interaction
Interacting with ...
Action: Drink the pumpkin juice
Stat STA 7 | EVA 7 | STR 3 | WIS 9 | ARC 7 | ACC 8
Abilities Prodigal Charms Learner, Blindvision

banner made by the amazing raizel voltrouz

On New Year's Eve the previous year, Alyssea was told they were visiting her cousins for a family reunion thread still to be written. This was a first for Alyssea considering most of her familial bonding was between her and her brother. Anton was excited for reasons unknown. Maybe it was the prospect of meeting more people? Alyssea, herself, was happy for a change to the celebrations with Christmas at home being a quiet affair.

What Alyssea did not expect was her cousins to be people she had already met, and at Hogwarts, no less.

Duelling machine and reliable friend—Raizel Voltrouz—and violin girl and aspiring broom racer—Astra Norrick—were her first cousins once removed. Well, Alyssea didn't care so much about how far apart they were, only that they were cousins. It was awkward considering Alyssea and Raizel had duelled each other countless times, put each other through gruelling sport events, and ended up being family. But hey, the more you know.

When Alyssea caught wind of a small Christmas-like event, she found her cousins (at separate times since Alyssea had classes with Raizel and Astra was the year below them) and asked them to come with her. Some fun family bonding, she called it. They both agreed, so now they were at the Great Hall looking to decorate some cookies and not burn the place down.

(Somehow, Alyssea found herself stressed out when she came to events like these, particularly after @Zach Zaphiere went and almost drowned at the swimming errand. She hoped her cousins will be a different story.)

As they came in, Alyssea asked, "So, how've classes been for you two?" She picked up one of the baked cookies and sat down at the table, looking at the different materials she had to work with. Icing sugar, pearls, and plenty of tools to make a cute cookie. Alyssea picked up the green icing sugar and began outlining the tree. Classic, but cute.

action: entering and decorating a cookie
interactions: @Raizel Voltrouz, @Astra Norrick, open to interactions
permission to GM rai and astra was given
sta: 6 | eva: 7 | str: 6 | wis: 8 | arc: 6 | acc: 8
abilities: prodigal transfiguration learner, evasive maneuvers

Made by Linda Ramirez- Thank you!

Opeila had stayed at Hogwarts during the holidays and for the first time in years she had spent a peaceful Christmas. No weird banquets, no forced interactions with strangers who viewed her as the pawn in pureblood politics she often got treated like. Instead she stayed at Hogwarts and spent Christmas with her muggleborn boyfriend. The thought of Lady Virtanen's disappointed face alone made her smile just a bit. Oh if she only knew...

School had already started again, the christmas vacation was over and the pleasantly empty corridors of the castles bustling with life again, but clearly it was not too late to decorate cookies! If Opeila was entirely honest, she did feel a little weird when she entered the Great Hall that evening, the tables covered in plates of plain cookies, different colour icings, sugar pearls and sprinkles.

And, even better, plates with already decorated cookies and bowls with chocolate frogs, as well as different beverages. That was what the Slytherin walked towards first, grabbing two chocolate frogs and a few cookies, as well as a glass of fruit punch. Usually the fifth year was a big lover of this kind of activity and participated with the greatest enthusiasm, but not today. Instead she would find a seat on one of the benches and steal some of the sugar pearls whenever no one was looking.

Action: Eating snacks, drinking fruit punch, stealing sugar pearls

Interactions ❯❯ @Alyssea Brown | @Astra Norrick | @
Mentions ❯❯ @ | @ | @

❂《 ⌜ January 7, 2024 ▎ 7:00 PM ⌟

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A lot has been going on with Raizel lately and none of them are on the level of what one might call 'pleasant'. All except for one at least. Can't say she wasn't happy about it but it was a lot to take in so her feelings about it are still under process. A family reunion was where it all started, her mother inviting her cousins over as a means of catching up with all the years that had passed between them all without them seeing each other. Raizel was skeptical at first though, considering what relatives that she had met before, namely, her obnoxious grandmother. But if her mother and father were okay, and seemed excited about it too, then guess these relatives are somewhat… trustworthy and they are from the muggle side of their family.

With her experience with her late grandparents, Editha and Mariuz, she loosened up a bit during that time, lowering her guard from possible insults that would come her way. What she wasn't expecting was to see the familiar faces of people that she had met back at Hogwarts. Hufflepuff, Alyssea Brown, a good friend of hers, someone she had fought on that piste last duelling game (someone that she lost to might she add), but quite a friend for always being there whenever she finds herself needing the assistance to go to the Hospital Wing, a place that she's been visiting quite a lot nowadays but does she care? No, not really, being reckless is what's keeping her feeling so alive.

Aside from Alyssea, it turns out, Astra Norrick, the girl from the broom race she had hosted before, was also her cousin. Not only that, her father seems to know Astra's father, and so well too. There's not much she could say about her though, having only interacted with her a few times but maybe that would soon change now that they know they are related or maybe now. For someone that can be socially awkward like Raizel, she doesn't know how to interact with her newly found cousins, even towards Alyssea. It just felt weird during the first few days back at Hogwarts. Luckily, she adjusted after a while and things were back to normal… hopefully anyway, considering that she just got an invitation from her Hufflepuff cousin about an event that's happening in the Great Hall.

Of course, being a good friend, she agreed and it would be a nice bonding between the three of them since Alyssea had invited Astra too. She arrived here with them, the festive looking great hall radiates so much positivity though that it was tiring to look at for this Gryffindor that's full of misfortune. She has to endure it for the sake of her friends and family and she's probably just being too dramatic but with all the unfortunate things that's been piling up, the girl couldn't help but feel so out of the weather and everyday it keeps getting worse and worse. Exhaustion was creeping in slowly and she knows it won't be that long till it completely takes over.

Still, a smile she managed to show albeit a tired one but a smile nonetheless. But Alyssea's question had somehow struck a nerve. Classes. She shoved her hands into her pants' pockets, hiding how she just clenched on them hard. While she has no issues with other classes, there is one particular subject that somehow got her into trouble, 'absent' from it when she didn't even missed a single one. Remembering that was enough to make her feel the blood rushing, feeling the warmth of her anger. "Things are fine." She managed to say, laughing it off before taking her mind off of it and focusing on what laid before them.

Various sweets, treats and drinks were prepared for those who wanted to take part in this event which was, from what she could see, some sort of cookie decorating. This wasn't her type of activity. She'd rather be practicing her spell or sleeping on her bed back in her dorm. It was too late to back out now and she doesn't want to make Alyssea feel bad. She took a seat just beside the Hufflepuff, not really having the energy to interact with people other than people that she knows. At least there are sweets around and maybe that could lighten up her mood. "Can't we just eat this as it is though?" She asked as she picked up one of the cookies before them and then tried it out first for later comparison once she started decorating one.

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⌜ Biscuits, Cravings, Decorations ⌟ | ⌜ WC: 768/200 ⌟
««««« Dialogue | #800000

INVENTORY

Outfit Reducio

Items Reducio Wand Enchanted Satchel Potions: Muffling Draught x 2, Antidote to Uncommon Poisons x 2

Action: Eating a cookie

Long before Galton had come to Hogwarts - long before any of the current students had even been alive - a Lansdale had been out there somewhere crafting sugar into delectable treats. His father has known a life of candy and sweets, just as his grandfather had and great grandfather and so on, for at least five generations. Since sugar had become an accessible market commodity in England, someone in the Lansdale linage had been shaping and crafting it into wondrous forms to tickle the tongue. In many ways, Galton's sweet tooth was genetic. All the trouble it caused him could be chalked up to generational disposition if one squinted hard enough. And today he would tap into that generational wealth of knowledge.

Not only did the instructions on how to work with sweet mediums live somewhere deep inside Galton's bones, there was practical experience buried in his head as well. A childhood in a shop would be missing a special spice if it didn't come with helping around said shop. And as (if you hadn't guessed) his family had run a candy shop, he had gained a certain proficiency in the wielding of sugary matter. Baking may have been a rarity in the shop - but decorating certainty was not.

Therefore, like others here, it was an inevitability that Galton would be attending the event. Though the hall had been immaculately decorated, there was little time to waste with admiring such frill. Galton's feet would carry him promptly to the cookie table where he would begin to examine the specimens. It was crucial that he choose those cookies that would lend themselves best to being decorated and displayed. Any true confectioner knew that the look of something made the taste of it. A hastily made cookie covered in sloppily applied frosting and sprinkles would never approach the pure delight that came from consuming a piece of art. And Galton was here to create art.

It may have been a strange scene to witness. Young Lansdale was not known for being a person who took his time when it came to eating. But as tonight was not about simply eating cookies, it felt only right to the teen. Skipping over cookies that had an uneven thickness, or nicks in their corners, Galton would meticulously add to his collection. When he was done he had thirteen cookies total, in various shapes and sizes all collected and stacked upon two napkins. Now it was fine to choose an appropriate crafting station.

Many factors went into the seating selection. Variety of decorations, colors of nearby icing and proximity to various utensils were a few. But the most important was having an appropriate audience. Art for art's sake was a fantastic sentiment, but Galton's ego needed a little more than that. He recognized various faces who'd already entered the hall, but one in particular seemed to both be decorating, and not particularly involved with many others.

Galton would take a seat opposite Xailah. Galton didn't really know where he stood with the seventh year, which is why he sat. At the least, they had interacted before. That counted for something. Before selecting his first victim he would collect a white, a gold and a green piping bag of icing. Only then would he place the first cookie in front of himself. "Hope 'm not disturbing." Galton would say towards Xailah. He'd flash a smile at her before his eyes darted to the white icing that he would take in hand. He had to hope that the icing hadn't been out for too long. The consistency was key. "You have much experience with cookie decorating?" He'd ask her without looking away from his cookie as he started covering it with a thin layer of white icing.

Action: Decorating cookies
Interacting with: @Xailah Alptraum, Open to interaction

Stats: Sta: 11 | Eva: 16 | Str: 3 | Wis: 16 | Arc: 5 | Acc: 15
Abilities: Spell Spread | Evasive Maneuvers II | Blindvision | Perfectionist II

⋄ January 7th, 2024 | Great Hall ⋄
⋄ Interactions: None | Mentions: @Helena Rose ⋄

𝓦hile the Great Hall really was decorated quite beautifully, Bex was not in the best of moods to notice it, let alone enjoy it.

Her winter break reprieve had been more of an ordeal than an oasis, and leaving the stressors of home only to return to the stressors of school left her feeling like a rubber band, ready to snap at any moment. Which was disappointing, really, as she usually loved Christmas; as it was, though, she was currently deep into her Grinch-era, and wanted little more than to distract herself from- well, everything really. So while the biscuit decorating party wasn't necessarily her idea of a good time at the moment, she would take what she could get.

She was in no mood for catching up and small talk though, so she did her best to avoid notice by some of the more familiar faces in the hall. She would make her rounds and say hello to everyone in a day or two, once she was feeling less off-kilter. Right now, she mostly just wanted to decorate cookies in silence.

To her cousins endless horror, Bex was not a fan of sweets. She enjoyed chocolate as dark as could be procured at the local Tesco, and plain shortbread biscuits, reminiscent of the ones she'd use to bake with her Grandma Becca when she was small. As such, as she stood in front of the table she recognized that her options were limited. There did seem to be some shortbread biscuits, thankfully, and she helped herself to a couple of them while she built up a plate with decorating supplies. While she may not like icing or hundreds and thousands, she was sure she'd have no trouble pawning her decorated biscuits off on her friends.

Her hands were still stained a dull grey from her previous activities with Lena, and Bex had a brief moment where she was worried that it would somehow poison her biscuits, but logically, having lived with her mum for 11 years, she knew it was probably harmless and eating some biscuits wasn't likely to do her in. The only drinks available to them however, seemed to just be pumpkin juice and fruit punch, neither of which she was inclined to.

Biting her lip, she considered both options warily, before hesitantly deciding on the fruit punch. Which was somehow worse than she feared, and while not spiked with alcohol like school event fruit punch often ended up being, was spiked with an overabundance of sugar, at least in Bex's opinion.

"Bleh." She said, discarding her drink on the table. There wasn't even any water around that she could see. Sighing in defeat, and resigned to having the gross taste lingering in her mouth for the rest of the evening, Bex grabbed her plate of biscuit decorating supplies and started making her way over to an empty seat.

Action: Eating a biscuit and drinking fruit punch.

OPEN to interactions with anyone I've interacted with IC before and/or official NPCs/event organizers. All others, please owl me first.

sta: 8 | eva: 3 | str: 7 | wis: 4 | arc: 6 | acc: 7
Abilities: Perfectionist