Final Task Avis, Yolanda, Silva The Wizarding Schools Potions Championship

Avis spun in a slow circle as she looked around her. This was...a way bigger deal than she had thought. She had thought it would be, you know, a small patch of forest with maybe a teacher, but no, there was an actual panel of judges. She recognized a few of them, professors she would have been taught by, and the nurse, who Avis very specifically avoided looking at. How embarrassing would it be to be recognized and given detention a whole month later? No, Avis would avoid that as much as possible.

She jumped as the instructions were being given, slightly taken aback at the sheer volume of the words. Voices were definitely not supposed to be that loud. She looked at her teammates, who were standing beside her. "Ready?" She tried to sound confident, and in truth, she wasn't not confident. Just, well, didn't these things bludger people to death? That seemed a bit...wrong. She cast a wary glance toward the adults. They wouldn't let a student die, would they? They couldn't. Right?

She started yet again as the signal to go was given. She tensly scanned the lush forest in front of her, searching for any sort of movement, or flashes of color. When after a beat, nothing changed except perhaps a rustle of wind in the leaves, Avis turned her attention to her teammates. "They must be hiding. Maybe I can chase them out with a Green Sparks? After I cast it, someone could run in? If you see a Red Cap-" She shrugged. "Through a potion or two at it." It was part of the rules, sure, that they weren't supposed to harm the things, but Avis honestly didn't care too much about that. If the Red Caps were really as bad as they seemed from her research, the world could do with a couple less. Avis would try to keep them healthy for the rule's sake, but she certainly didn't have any empathy for the creatures. She pointed her wand toward what looked to be a hole in the canopy, hoping her spell would fly into and blind the creature. "Verdimillious"

@Silva Melinora,@Yolanda Yates

@Yolanda Yates, @Silva Melinora ~22 hours to the deadline!

Yolanda was in awe of it all. The scenery, the judges, her teammates, the competitors: it was all spectacular!

The First Year wandered in timidly, trying to put on an air of confidence. Was it working?

At her teammates, “Ready?” Yolanda piped up, “Ready and crisp as a fresh picked apple.” Yolanda laughed at her own pun, realizing she must be nervous to be cracking apple jokes…

As it became time to come in Yolanda realized the judges were scrutinizing them while her teammates relied on her. She brought her wand to the ready as Avis cast Verdimillious, which would show and hidden dark objects and hopefully any hidden Red Caps as well.

She crept forward deciding to also cast the green sparks, saying, “Verdimillious!” hoping to force the Red Caps into appearance. If they could see them they could figure them out, but blind they would be bludgeoned for sure! Or at least that’s what Yolanda feared...

“Stick together, don’t let them surround us.” Yolanda quipped up to her teammates. The last thing she wanted was one of her teammates (or herself) being surrounded by these weird things. She just wanted the apples.

This was going to be an epic battle of strategy!

@Avis Marlong @Silva Melinora

@Avis Marlong and @Yolanda Yates

Silva was so nervous. She'd completed the first two tasks, making potions, with her friends Avis and Yolanda but now that they had to do this. She was terrified. To calm herself down she thought about the two friends with her. Yolanda. A really nice, sweet girl who had shared Silva's first encounter with a ghost. Avis. A colder but still really nice girl who'd taught a new card game.

Thinking about that helped her calm down. She arrived in the Quidditch stadium to see that the other two were already there, as well as a panel of judges and.... was that a forest? She stared at it. She'd definitely seen this stadium before and it most certainly was not supposed to have any of what was in it now. She saw three different sections to it but she focused on the first where here teammates were.

The first section was filled with dense pines. She winced as she thought of all the possible thorns lying in wait in those bushes.

She turned to respond to Avis's question. "Ready as I'll ever be...." She realized that the other two girls were probably just as nervous as her, so, even though she was terrified she carefully tried to sound confident. She didn't succeed.

She nodded at what Avis said next and realized that it would probably be her job to go into the forest. She waited for both of the others to cast spells and, before she could see their results she slipped into the undergrowth hoping her teammates spells would conceal her.

Action: Sneaking into the tree's | Stamina: 6 / Evasion: 6 / Strength: 5 / Wisdom: 6 / ArcPower: 6 / Accuracy: 6

Round: 1

Wrapped tightly into her cloak to protect herself from the cold weather, Méabh had cheerfully pulled out her wand to point it at her own throat. "Sonorus." She was not part of the judges' panel - as an organiser, she was busy enough, and also likely not quite impartial as she was teaching most of the kids on the pitch right now, but she intended to enjoy herself to the fullest by commentating.

"Let's welcome Avis Marlong, Yolanda Yates, and Silva Melinora to the stage! All from Hogwarts, let's cheer for them as they represent their school!" she announced.

Where most groups seemed to be focused on spotting their targets first, this group had decided to choose a more proactive approach.

Perception - Spotting Red Caps: WDC 15, Spotting Apples: WDC 20

Avis perception:
Red Caps 1
Wis: [d20: 13] + 10 = 23
Red Caps 2
Wis: [d20: 7] + 10 = 17
Apples
Wis: [d20: 2] + 10 = 12
Avis sees one group of Red Caps, but can't figure out whether they have the apples.

She casts Green Sparks.
Wis: [d20: 4] + 10 = 14
Sparkle Power:
Arc: [d20: 7] + 7 = 14
Medium sparkles.

Each Red Cap has a 50% chance to get spooked and leave its hiding place (11-20).
[6d20 : 1,5,14,9,14,8]
One Red Cap from each group comes out to play. Are they too disoriented from the fireworks to attack? (11-20)
[2d20 : 7,8]
They are not.
Red Cap 1 attacks Avis.
Acc: [d20: 19] + 8 = 27
Eva: [d20: 14] + 5 = 19
Hit, 200 damage.
Red Cap 2 attacks Avis.
Acc: [d20: 18] + 8 = 26
Eva: [d20: 6] + 5 = 11
Hit, 200 damage.

With a quick spell, Avis conjured a shower of green sparks that rained down on the forest floor, agitating the red caps enough that two of them climbed out of their respective hole. "Looks like the Red Caps didn't appreciate that firework," Méabh observed, then flinched as she watched them advance on the first year. "I hope they have a plan to deal with that."

Perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't, but the group was far from done.

Yolanda perception:
Red Caps 1
Wis: [d20: 18] + 7 = 25
Red Caps 2
Wis: [d20: 3] + 7 = 10
Apples
Wis: [d20: 18] + 7 = 25
Yolanda also notices one group of Red Caps - and they have the apples!

She casts Green Sparks.
Wis: [d20: 10] + 7 = 17
Sparkle Power:
Arc: [d20: 4] + 6 = 10
Medium sparkles.

Each Red Cap has a 40% chance to get spooked and leave its hiding place (13-20).
[4d20 : 10,12,16,15]
Both Red Caps from the group with no apples come out of hiding. Are they too disoriented from the fireworks to attack? (13-20)
[2d20 : 6,8]
They are not.
Red Cap 3 attacks Yolanda.
Acc: [d20: 9] + 8 = 17
Eva: [d20: 5] + 5 = 10
Hit, 200 damage.
Red Cap 4 attacks Yolanda.
Acc: [d20: 16] + 8 = 24
Eva: [d20: 17] + 5 = 22
Hit, 200 damage.

Yolanda was clearly following the same strategy as Avis - with eerily similar (and extremely unlucky) results. Two more agitated Red Caps started attacking Yolanda with wooden clubs, both getting in solid hits. "Both Avis and Yolanda are looking somewhat worse for wear," Méabh observed. "Perhaps it is time for a tactical retreat? But... where is their last team member?"

Silva sneaking:
Eva: [d20: 7] + 6 = 13
Awareness of still hidden Red Caps:
Wis: [d20: 3] + 2 = 5
Silva sneaks closer unnoticed and gets advantage on all perception checks.

Red Caps 1
Wis: [d20: 9, 1] + 6 = 15
Apples
Wis: [d20: 19, 18] + 6 = 25
Only one group of Red Caps remains hidden. Silva spots them and the apples they are protecting.

"Oh! Are Avis and Yolanda simply providing a distraction?" Méabh mused out loud, providing the speculation to the entire stadium of spectators. "Silva seems to have spotted something there. Was all of this their tactic, after all?"

Summary:
- Avis has seen both groups of red caps, but not spotted the apples. She casts green charms, two red caps come out of their holes (one each), both attack her. She takes 400 damage. [HP 100/500]
- Yolanda has seen one group of red caps - but it was the relevant one, as they have the apples. She casts green charms, but the two red caps come crawling out of the other hole! They attack her, she takes 400 damage. [HP 100/500]
- Silva channels her inner spy and goes unnoticed. She spots the red caps still in hiding, along with the apples.

Important Reminder:
Moderations take place roughly weekly. The deadline for posting is six days (144 hours) after the moderation is posted. The word requirement is 200 words per post.

@Avis Marlong, @Yolanda Yates, @Silva Melinora

Well, that went...interestingly. Avis was not in a slight amount of pain. She had, after all, just been bludgeoned, but on the bright side, Silva seemed to have gotten into the forest now, and Avis could barely even see her. Plus, her spell had worked and scared the red caps out of their holes. Unfortunately, Avis couldn't see the apples, with being attacked and such.

First problems first. Avis pulled out one of her potions, (Confusion Concoction), and chucked it at the redcaps attacking her. She wanted them away from her, but she also didn't care that much, enough to risk not getting the apples as a result. Trying her hardest to ignore the little buggers that seemed to enjoy eating her up, whacking at her, she tried to stay standing up straight and focusing her attention towards the forest.

Thankfully, if there was one thing Avis was good at, it was ignoring problems, and so she turned her attention towards Silva, prepared to defend the girl if anything were to happen. incendio. She cast the spell towards any redcap that looked like it was going to attack her teammate, whilst cheering for her. "Yeah Silva, go get it girl!"

Action: incendio at any redcap attacking Silva, Throwing confusion concoction at her feet.

@Silva Melinora, @Yolanda Yates

edit: changed flipendo to incendio after realizing avis doesn't have it

@Avis Marlong and @Yolanda Yates

Silva winced as she saw her teammates getting beaten up. Both their spells had worked which Silva found quite impressive, but instead of doing what they wanted the spells to do, it caused the redcaps to attack them! Those spells were supposed to disorientate them too much for that!

She pulled her attention away from Avis and Yolanda's situation and back to her job at hand. The redcaps did not appear to have noticed her which meant she had a small window of time in which she could surprise them. She had to take advantage of that. She surveyed the redcaps quickly and found the group hiding the apples. She smiled and got ready to move on them. She could do this.

A yell from Avis however, nearly shocked her out of her hiding place. Avis? Encouraging her? Impossible! She quickly recovered before the redcaps noticed and turned to her friend. She was throwing a potion and casting a spell to defend her from the redcaps. She stared at her for a second and then slowly began to grin. It appeared that maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to feel like she was lying to herself every time she called Avis a friend. At least, she hoped that was what this meant.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and grabbed a bottle of the dizziness drought. She carefully pulled back her arm and threw it at the redcaps with the apples counting on that to disorientate them as she sprinted out of her hiding spot in a rush and tried to grab the apples.

She had to do this. She had to help win this for her team. If she couldn't, then it was all for nothing. She narrowed her eyes in concentration and ran. This was her chance to shine.

Action: Trying to grab the apples and (bonus action) throwing dizziness drought at the red caps holding apples

Stamina: 6 / Evasion: 6 / Strength: 5 / Wisdom: 6 / ArcPower: 6 / Accuracy: 6

Yolanda felt bludgened and bruised. Well, indeed she was… No time to dwell on that though! Time to give it her all.

Of course her all at the moment was getting the RedCaps excited and out in the open – and frisky at best… Her attempts to show them had ignited a fury she had semi expected.

Yolanda had her arms up above her head to block off the bludgeons but that didn’t stop it from hurting. She did her best to not let the silly things see her wince in pain.

Her teammates were encouraging to each other and that motivated Yolanda to take action. She grabbed her Dizziness drought and tossed it at the attacking Redcaps! She attempted flipendo at the recaps not holding the apples in an attempt to keep them at bay. It was all very overwhelming for Yolanda and she felt like she was caught in a blaze of fury.

Yolanda looked around among the choas and realized they would be fine. Even if she got knocked out Meahb and others were there and she was certain they wouldn’t let some First Years be bludgened to death. Or at least she hoped not…

It was time to move forward and zip through as much as Yolanda could. Time to give it everything she could.

Round: 2

The entire stadium seemed rooted to their seats, watching the girls down in the temporary forest fight for their lives... or close to it. Of all the groups Méabh had seen, this one seemed to be going the worst for the contestants.

But the girls weren't ready to give up quite yet, and proved their quick thinking with a solid attempt at changing the pace of the encounter.

Avis throws Confusing Concoction at the Red Caps attacking her.
Acc: [d20: 14] + 6 = 20
Red Cap 1 Eva: [d20: 11] + 7 = 18
Red Cap 2 Eva: [d20: 12] + 7 = 19
Both hit. 60% chance they attack each other (9-20)
[2d20 : 16,20]
Both do.

Red Cap 1 Acc: [d20: 7] + 8 = 15
Red Cap 2 Eva: [d20: 12] + 7 = 19
Red Cap 1 misses.

Red Cap 2 Acc: [d20: 15] + 8 = 23
Red Cap 1 Eva: [d20: 1] + 7 = 8
Red Cap 2 hits Red Cap 1 for 200 damage.

"Oh it's getting spicy down there," Méabh commented cheerfully. "Pitting the Red Caps against each other? Can't say I've seen that one before." Meanwhile, Silva had set her eyes on the apples and come up with a plan to snatch them. They were still two Red Caps in the hole with them, but Silva had a plan for that.

Silva throws the Dizziness Draught. Contact potion.
Acc: [d20: 9] + 6 = 15
Red Cap 5 Eva: [d20: 15] + 7 = 22
Red Cap 6 Eva: [d20: 18] + 7 = 25
Misses both.
She attempts to grab the apples.
Silva Str: [d20: 8] + 5 = 13
Red Cap 5 Str: [d20: 17] + 10 = 27
Fail.
Does he decide to hold onto the apples or try and knock Silva over the head?
t!choose apples | violence
No attack.

Sadly, the Red Caps proved both more nimble and more strong than anticipated... and now also agitated. Yolanda still had her own Red Caps to deal with, but luckily, she also had some Dizziness Draught on hand.

Yolanda throws the Dizziness Draught at the Red Caps attacking her. Contact Potion.
Acc: [d20: 13] + 5 = 18
Red Cap 3 Eva: [d20: 20] + 7 = 27
Red Cap 4 Eva: [d20: 8] + 7 = 15
Red Cap 3 evades, Red Cap 4 is now dizzy.

Yolanda attempts to Flipendo a Red Cap.
Yolanda does not have Flipendo in her trunk. The spell fails automatically, she takes 50 damage.

"Ooooh, looks like Yolanda might have to work on her spellcasting," Méabh commented, wincing slightly. That looked uncomfortable - and the Red Caps were now on the move.

Red Cap 3 attacks...
t!choose silva | yolanda

Avis tries to intervene and cast Flipendo.
Avis does not have Flipendo in her trunk. [Edit came after the deadline.] The spell fails automatically, she takes 50 damage.

Red Cap 3 Acc: [d20: 8] + 8 = 16
Silva Eva: [d20: 18] + 6 = 24
Miss.

Red Cap 4 attacks...
t!choose silva | yolanda
Acc: [d20: 1, 2] + 8 = 9 (Disadvantage due to Dizziness).
Crit miss. 10% chance to hit the other Red Cap. (19-20)
[d20 : 18]

Méabh frowned slightly. "Well that went... better?" Not well, but better. "Kids, remember to only cast spells you have actually mastered!

Summary:
- Avis tosses her confusing concoction at the two red caps attacking her. Hits both, they attack each other, one hits for 200 damage. She tries to flipendo the red cap attacking Silva but fails the spell [not in Trunk] and takes 50 damage. [HP: 50/500]
- Silva tosses her dizziness draught at the Red Caps with the apples but misses. She tries to grab the apples but the Red Cap has more muscles than she does, and prioritizes the apples over attacking her. A Red Cap attacks her but she dodges.
- Yolanda tosses her dizziness draught at the two Red Caps attacking her, hits one of them. She tries to Flipendo the other one but fails the spell [not in Trunk] and take 50 damage. The dizzy one attacks her but it, too, misses. [HP: 50/500]

Important Reminder:
Moderations take place roughly weekly. The deadline for posting is six days (144 hours) after the moderation is posted. The word requirement is 200 words per post.

Sorry for the delay! My week has been super busy, the next moderation will be quicker.

@Avis Marlong, @Yolanda Yates, @Silva Melinora