Homestead Members:

@Nikolai Volkov | @Hans Jenssen-Schäfer | @Astrid Olsen | @Felix Kolbeck | @Margarethe Fransson | @Devon Wallen | @Reyna Evergreen | @Linda Ramirez

Sprawling across the great mountains that towered over Tenūsa lay the most magical structures the isle had to offer. They were not just mere feats against gravity and physics but symbolic of the ever growing understanding of the island folk. They knew that tradition was important, and they would never forget, but acknowledging and respecting the past does not require binding yourself to it. No the Isle and its inhabitants were always looking to grow, to thrive. So while many of the older structures still sprawled across the jungle floor, these marvels carved into rock and crossed the expanses of the sky while never taking away from the natural beauty of the place.

One would think up so high that roots could not reach, that the rot that was beginning to engulf the jungle floor would be a distant problem. Such beliefs would be quickly realised as foolish. Everything in this island was connected. Being made out of magic itself many believed the island to be alive in a sense, and as such each and every part of it was one and the same. Much like a body, the infection could spread no matter the initial cut. This disease that was claiming the ancient haven seemed to be intelligent enough to use that magic, to guide it to where it wished to be. To guide it to the creatures it wished to take, and as such from the draping vines and tunnelled pockets their inky ichor appeared ready to strike.

Many in this room had suffered countless sleepless nights due to the horrors of their past, trauma that kept them up at night. Somehow even still these dangers had managed to blur away in the serenity the island provided. Yet not for all, Hans had not seen Niko in months, he had not got to witness the change in his sleep pattern, the way that his chest so lightly fell these days without screams piercing the night from terror. For the German he would always be Niko's protector, it was inevitable he fell back into the roll. His mind stirring kept him awake but as fate deemed, he was the one who would need protecting. Roll: 5 Wandering to the balcony he watched the stars as they spread across the sky when two vined tendrils wrapped around his arms dragging him over the edge of the balcony. Hitching his foot on the edge he barely managed to hold on, but would the others wake in time to save him, and what awaited under the shadows of their own beds.

Moderation Note:Hans is fully restrained on the balcony and is clinging to stay on but being forcefully dragged. Something seems to be moving under every other individuals bed aching at their backs and disrupting their well earned sleep.

Sprawled across the night was a tapestry of stars, each constellation weaving a story of the celestial and the sublime, a galaxies of tales he could never quite reach. A million dreams lined the skies, each shining and fighting for light. Out of all those stars in the sky, we only need the Sun to sustain life on this Earth. Yet…

Even if it takes lightyears of arduous flight, I will make the brightest star my very own sun.

Hans found it difficult to sleep. Whether it be excitement or wariness keeping him awake there was an unnamable edge as he pulled on his clothes and found himself wandering out to the balcony. It was the same place where he had reunited with Nikolai, those surreal hours ago, yet now seeing him finally sleeping with such peacefulness, Hans didn’t quite have the heart to wake him. Instead, he had pushed open the doors alone to the buzz of bugs against the serene backdrop of night. The air hummed with anticipation for the day ahead, and the soft inhale and exhale of familiar breaths from the room inside. As he walked up to the very edge of the balcony, he breathed in the scent of the sea and allowed himself to drown in it completely. The tropical paradise relieved the tension in his bones, and he let out a long breath.

The lights flickered in and out, the sky shifted as the hours passed, yet never did a cloud obscure his view. Hans pressed his body tightly onto the edge of the balcony, hands choking the railings. His eyes seemed to be searching for something as they flicked across the dark horizon line, perhaps answers in a world that never seemed to give him any, perhaps simply the constellations he had spent identifying with Nikolai on sleepless nights. Briefly, under in enchantment of the sky, the world dissipated into steam around him, sucking him into a wormhole of stardust and nebulae. His head tilted upwards as the warm breeze slithered up through his shirt, and closed his eyes briefly against the wind, tousling his hair into tufts of dishevelled brown.

But something else was slithering towards him.

His eyes flung open as something wrapped around his bare arms. In the darkness he could not see his attacker but as dark tendrils snaked their way up his limbs from the jungle below he did not need to see his attacker to know he had to act swiftly. His hands folded inwards as they attempted to grapple with the muscular entity constricting around him. Yet as he felt them go numb from the sudden strangulation they fell back down to his sides and his arms lost their strength. As they fastened themselves over his elbows he grunted, trying to find hold in anything he could. Dragging him up and over the railing his hands reached out desperately to grasp it, yet with the tendrils flailing and his own arm restrained, the hope just in reach was cruelly snatched away from him. A sharp cuss word slipped out of his mouth, hissing through the night as a tightness grabbed hold of him completely, “Scheiße¹!”

Somehow, he managed to hitch his foot onto the edge of the balcony, barely holding on as his arms fought to regain control and his chest balance. Letting go of a breath he had not known he was holding he quickly breathed in one as he attempted to steady himself. Body shaking from the force he was exerting against the vines his other foot found hold and as determination brimmed in his eyes, he almost believed that he could have made it back up despite his impossible position. As they pulled against him, they threatened to rip out his arms from their very sockets if he kept clinging on — caught by surprise and already far too deep into the vines’ entrapment. A lesson he had long learnt, sometimes the strategic choice involved sacrifice. Glancing down below him at the foliage then behind at the inky tendrils, he decided he would rather not have two dislocated limbs by the end of the excursion.

So he called out the first name instinct shoved into his mouth: “Niko—”

And then, he let go.

@Nikolai Volkov, @Astrid Olsen, @Felix Kolbeck, @Margarethe Fransson, @Devon Wallen, @Reyna Evergreen, @Linda Ramirez

Banner by Oonagh Brown | 1: shit

She had trouble sleeping. Tossing and turning, the girl was asleep, but barely. Perhaps it was the heat she wasn't accustomed to, perhaps it was the paranoia that something would - once again - go wrong, or perhaps it was even something else, something actually going wrong. Whatever it was, her sleep was light tonight. That is why her eyes opened when she heard "Scheiße!" coming from... somewhere not too far from her. Astrid almost thought her sleepy mind had imagined the curse, but a look around the room made her realise that Hans wasn't here.
"Niko—"
Now a little more awake, Astrid was able to pinpoint the voice, Hans' voice, coming from the balcony. "Oh come on, not this time" she murmured to herself as she grabbed her wand from the bedside table. Always paranoid of stuff like that, she leaped out of her bed, avoiding the direct perimeter of it, in case something was underneath. You never knew. The girl quickly made her was towards the balcony, and the scene before her made her huff with anger. Hans, restrained by some kind of vines coming from the jungle below, and being pulled away from the high houses and towards said jungle. "Can we have like, one fucking chill outing? No, is that too much to ask?" she asked to nobody in particular.
The girl was seeing her friend being dragged down, and she didn't know what to do. She was tired. Tired because she hadn't sleep much, yes. But also tired of that shit. Viktoria's time in Durmstrang had been nice, sure, there had been something weird here and there, but it was not the same. Astrid thought her time in school would be like her sister's, Quidditch in bonus. But no. Everywhere she went, something bad or annoying or traumatising - or all of the above - happened. She also wasn't safe in Durmstrang, the one school she thought she could trust. And now she was in Tenūsa, on the other side of the globe, it was too warm, she was tired and something was basically kidnapping her friend, she was pretty sure there was something under her bed, and she didn't know what to do or who to blame.

Linda didn't sleep well ever since arriving at Tenūsa. The many memories of the past events were keeping making their way to her tired mind and she was annoyed and exhausted. Memories of loosing her best friend. Memories of feeling scared that she might never see Quentin again. Her worries about Reyna. It was too overwhelming and it seemed like she couldn't do anything about it.

This particular night she suddenly felt like something was under the bed. Yet she desperately tried to ignore it. That was until she heard someone cussing and calling out someone's name. It was soon followed by angry or annoyed voice of the girl. Giving up on the idea of sleep, she stood up, grabbing her wand. Looking around she followed the way to the balcony to discover the danger that was hiding their, taking someone down. She didn't know what to cast. Shield was going to be useless and she didn't have any idea of what these vines could be afraid.

Perhaps, because of sleepless nights, or maybe just from exhaustion, the first thing that came to her mind was to attempt to cast a light. Lumos Solem. Was it going to help? She didn't know. But they had to do something. She glanced back at the room. Since something was bothering there as well, then no one was safe. Did you also feel something near bed? Do you have any idea how to save him? She asked the girl who was standing with her wand, but seemingly didn't cast anything.

If not the danger and her growing worries about Reyna, Linda would enjoy the stars at the tonight's sky. Shining bright they were as if laughing at how helpless people were. The island now felt like carrying more danger than safety. But Linda felt only tired. No surprise. Every other trip, every other event was carrying some mystery or danger. This was just something that had to be solved. Though it was easier said than done. Sigh. She desperately wanted to keep Reyna safe, as well as others. But Reyna was all that she could think of, as well as the guy who was dragged away.
@Reyna Evergreen, @Astrid Olsen, @Hans Jenssen-Schäfer, @Nikolai Volkov, @Felix Kolbeck, @Margarethe Fransson, @Devon Wallen

Mentions: @Astrid Olsen, @Hans Jenssen-Schäfer, @Nikolai Volkov, @Felix Kolbeck, @Margarethe Fransson, @Devon Wallen and @Linda Ramirez

Word Count: 302/200

Mentions: @Hans Jenssen-Schäfer, @Nikolai Volkov, @Astrid Olsen, @Felix Kolbeck, @Margarethe Fransson, @Linda Ramirez, @Reyna Evergreen

Outfit: outfit

Speech: #8e19d7 | Thoughts: italics Date: January 2026

Tossing and turning, Devon had anything but a restful night. Her mind seemed to act on its own accord, flooding her consciousness with thoughts about Tenūsa and wondering just how her brothers and sister were. They were weird thoughts to have. Being the youngest sibling, she was often given a lot of attention … mostly unwanted attention. While she didn’t necessarily mind it most of the time, she relished the idea of spending time away when she could simply breathe. And yet, her mind wouldn’t let her relax. Ugh.

It wasn’t just her mind that was racing, but her heart, as well … almost as if it could feel the upcoming tension that was about to befall the group of students in their homestead. In the middle of the night. As they slept … or more accurately, as they tried to sleep … and specifically as Devon tried to sleep. And yet, nothing came out of it. She was in and out of consciousness, attempting to be overtaken by sleep.

Suddenly, a voice! A simple word in a language that she didn’t know. A short while afterwards, a name was uttered. Niko. Devon stirred in her bed, feeling incredibly groggy from the lack of sleep. One of the other girls had gotten out of bed and was saying … something. Devon was still too groggy to understand. She groaned quietly and tried to turn in her bed. It was no longer comfortable, however. There seemed to be the feeling of something … lurking under her bed.

A quiet swear escaped her lips as Devon slowly sat up in her bed. As she did so, one of the remaining girls was up and … ugh! Such bright light! She shielded her eyes and grabbed her wand from the nearby table before slipping her feet into her sandals. A quick glance around, and she spotted the three other girls up. She could feel her heart beating fast, unable to comprehend what was going on.

Holding her wand at the ready, Devon slowly moved toward the girls. “I have a bad feeling about whatever is happening,” she spoke quietly. Gone was her bubbly nature from when they all met. Something was happening. If her experiences told her anything, this likely wasn’t a good interruption.

Note: 381 words

It was strange to think that Nikolai Volkov could ever sleep peacefully, to think that after everything that child had suffered and endured he could actually sleep. Yet time healed all wounds, perhaps not entirely, in his case, most assuredly not entirely. Still he found himself able to drift off to sleep these days. As strange as it was, being alone had proved to him his strength. Nikolai had always been on his own, even surrounded by the plethora of brothers or the thousands of students he had always felt alone. Still, only until recently had he actually experienced the true bliss of being alone. The kind of alone that was simple isolation. Not as a punishment or a self destructive routine, but as a safety precaution. And as hard as it was to be separated from those he loved, he had reconciled with the ease of it. Nikolai had realised that when it was just him, he did not have to fear anything, reaching the true extent of his fearlessness. For when he could not be hurt, and he could not hurt others, he was truly at peace.

Peace, however, was not intertwined in his fate. His pattern was not woven with such grace and as long as he was around, his loved ones would always know suffering. That was his curse. A curse, that's poignancy had shrivelled while unseen but now bellowed out in screaming anguish. Hans was in danger, Hans who did not deserve the stain he had always brought. The oh so familiar voice woke him as his had done so many time for his brother, screams, pain, suffering, the too recognisable cadence that had developed between them. Still Nikolai only had a second to wake, his eyes shooting open. A witness to the fall, a voyeur to yet more pain that would stay with him forever. Hans was taken by something, and before he could even attempt to move, he felt a tight grip that brought him back months. The tightening seal around his neck of constriction. Nikolai could not move, and even if he could. Hans had already vanished.

Coding will come later

MODERATION

The younger girls of the homestead had woken quickly; @Astrid Olsen, @Linda Ramirez, @Reyna Evergreen and @Devon Wallen had all heard the commotion and not wasted any time in acting. These girls were far wiser than their age may have dictated, for they were students in a period that never seemed short on danger. Yet despite their instincts, despite their call to aid, none would be able to rescue @Hans Jenssen-Schäfer from the fated fall. Yet Linda's sunlight charm had protected them in a radius from being victimised themselves.

Astrid would be the only one who truly saw the fear in his eyes as he was taken, and yet the fear was not for himself, at least not in its entirety. No, the German boy certainly valued his life but as he was hauled away he couldn't help but worry for the fate of his brother that had already suffered so much. A brother who was, as always, suffering again. No screams would come from the inner room, but the hurling twist of vines would draw the four girls attention back inside. Where Nikolai, Greta and Felix were all being risen from their beds, strangulated by the throat. Not in an attempt to kill, merely to subdue. From what the girls could see Nikolai was the only one still resisting the violent constraints of the plant, while the romantic pair @Felix Kolbeck and @Margarethe Fransson seemed slumped unconscious in the grasp of the entity that seemed to be moving them towards the balcony of which they were standing.

With one member already lost to the overgrowth down below, a vast web of entangling vines, they had to band together to save their remaining companions. If they didn't, it was only a matter of time until they were next.

Rolls:

Reducio

All castings were successes.
Hans falls by choice.
Nikolai, Greta, Felix. Automatically fail due to not posting.

FINAL MODERATION OF PART ONE
Standing in for Lawrence in this moderation round to end part 1 of the event!

There were so many people left in this high house, and yet, not a single movement from any. @Astrid Olsen, @Devon Wallen, @Reyna Evergreen, and @Linda Ramirez seemingly had nothing more to say as their roommates, @Nikolai Volkov and @Hans Jenssen-Schäfer, were dragged away by the malicious vines. Meanwhile, the lovers, @Felix Kolbeck and @Margarethe Fransson, were still sleeping soundly, as if their dreams were far more interesting than real life.

Nikolai and Hans were gone, but the six left standing (or sleeping) were free to leave as they wished, because as if satisfied with their kidnapped charge, the vines shrunk back into nothingness and vanished seemingly into thin air. Perhaps the group could proceed to part two and meet up with the other residents of the High Houses...

Rolls:

Reducio

No actions.