Planning for Poland on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Taransay

December 29, 2016 1:12 PM

Planning for Poland by Professor Taransay

For the first time so far, Rory had found himself a little reluctant to return to Sonora. His break had been so great that returning to everyday school life was slightly less attractive than usual, and even though he was an adult and a teacher he still felt that mildly depressing back-to school feeling. One of the highlights of his break had been going back to Scotland and the island where his family lived. It was always nice to be with his family and in the comfort of his own home and now that he was older, he had a different, more rewarding and grownup relationship with his siblings, all of whom were a fair bit older than him. His brother closest to him in age, Quinn, had also visited Scotland from America, along with his wife and two young children, so all the Taransay clan had been together once more.

But even that jolly time was forgotten when compared with the other highlight of his break. He and Amelle had further discussed the camping ‘practice run’ that had been mentioned all that time ago in the prefects lounge, when they’d got together (okay, it wasn’t actually that long ago at all, but it seemed like a lifetime ago, the uncertainties overshadowed by the many happy memories they had already made together). The discussion had resulted in a trip to Australia, which had the benefits of being warm and also a country Rory didn’t know quite as well as some. Suffice to say the trip had gone very well, both in terms of the camping, the magical creatures that Rory had seen (even being with Amelle couldn’t entirely distract him from all the fantastic beasts out there), and their relationship. Rory felt that, if anything, it had strengthened their relationship. More than ever he was sure that they were on the same page, and he had confidence in the longevity of their relationship.

At least returning to Sonora had the perk of still being able to spend time with Amelle, and Rory also had the upcoming fair to keep him busy. He wasn’t actually expecting his group to need a lot of help or supervision, as they were all in the older years. Being mostly Aladrens would mean they should be fairly productive, too. They were all students he taught as well, and so he felt he knew them well enough to be reasonably confident that they would do a good job.

He’d sent out messages for them all to meet at the appointed time in his COMC classroom, and waited until they were all there to give them their instructions.

“Hello all,” he started. “Hopefully you’re all enthusiastic and ready to prepare the best booth - not that it’s a competition, though,” he added, not wanting to scare any of them with his natural competitiveness.

“So I’m more here to make sure things don’t get too wild, and to help you as needed. This is your booth, and it’s up to you to come up with the ideas. To help you get started, I’ve gathered a selection of relevant books from the library.” He gestured to a pile on one of the desks, which contained a range of books on different aspects of Polish culture, history and geography (and, yes, a few dealt specifically with the magical creatures in Poland, but what else was to be expected of him?). Next to the books were some A3 sheets of paper, and an array of felt tip pens (Rory was a big believer in writing being better off colourful, and the students might want to draw the odd graphorn or something, you never knew). “So, off you go, introduce yourself if you don’t know anyone, and get sharing ideas!”

He was intrigued to see what they’d come up with. Obviously there were a lot of magical creatures they could include (graphorns, Horklumps, Nogtails, dragons, and somtimes even erklings sprang to mind, and there were also lots of interesting herds, colonies and general other species in the Białowieża Forest), but of course there were so many other aspects of the country that they could also research.

OOC: sorry about the irrelevant ramblings at the start; I couldn't restrain Rory! As for posting, don't worry about taking turns - just jump in whenever your character has something to say (or even if they don't!).

9 Professor Taransay Planning for Poland 33 Professor Taransay 1 5

John Umland

December 29, 2016 6:24 PM

Staking a claim. by John Umland

John had thought of the Fair mostly just as something he had to compete in in order to fulfill the obligations that went with his badge, at least at first. Later, after he’d received a signed confession of admiration from her twin sister, Sutton Nicolls’ presence on the list of people who had signed up for Poland had turned the Fair into a source of considerable stress. The knowledge that he needed the group supervisor to like him when he had (to everyone except Aislinn and a stalker, apparently) all the personal charm of a dead fish had not helped with that problem. At all points before he arrived for the first group meeting, though, he thought of the Fair chiefly as an annoyance and something he wished he didn’t have to do. He was, in fact, still thinking of the Fair that way when the meeting began, but a major shift occurred almost immediately afterward, with just one word out of Professor Taransay’s mouth.

Competition.

Admittedly, Taransay prefaced it with the word not, but John ignored that. It had not previously occurred to him to think of it as a competition, but now he did. He still thought of it as something he expected to gain more irritation than satisfaction from, but now, at least, it was a chance to flaunt Aladren (since most of the group was Aladren) superiority, a thing he did not think they had had enough chances to do lately. He wondered for a second if they could vote Sutton off the island just in the interests of making sure Pecari got none of the glory…but then remembered that would be Wrong.

He recited a silent Hail Mary in his head, hoping this would steer his thoughts back in a more proper direction, and focused on the rest of what Professor Taransay had to say. Paying attention now was important if he wanted their booth to be the best. If he did not attend to the directions, this would all be a massive waste of time for him…and, of course, a dereliction of duty, a failure to meet his obligation to the others. He said another Hail Mary, and threw in a mental mumble toward his patron Aquinas for good measure. Wrong thinking was how he had gotten himself into a position where he was so certain everyone was up to no good that he had made Joe think he was crazy and put Joanie in a position where she’d been contemplating killing a guy in the church and presumably stashing his corpse there. He needed to work on thinking better so he didn’t make things any worse. The only one of his suspicions he was not trying to put away was his one about his roommate, and that one he had actual evidence for.

He actually smiled when Taransay noted that he’d brought them some books, an expression which grew wider when he saw the tell-tale signs on a few bindings that suggested they were about magical creatures. When the floor was opened to comment, he quickly spoke up.

“I think you all know me,” he said. Barnaby, Louis, and Emmy-Lou certainly did, and he and Sutton had been in a lot of classes together even if she didn’t know about her sister’s feelings where he was apparently concerned. “I want to look into the magical flora and fauna of the area – anyone want to work with me on that?” He would accept a partner if he had to, but he wasn’t giving up the position altogether. He didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do after Sonora, but he needed to endear himself to Taransay just to keep his options open. “And I can probably help out with other stuff if I need to,” he added generously.

16 John Umland Staking a claim. 285 John Umland 0 5

Sutton Nicolls

January 03, 2017 3:53 PM

Joining in by Sutton Nicolls

Sutton had signed up for Poland only on the basis that John Umland had signed up for the country. She wanted to know what her sister saw in him. Sure, he was an Aladren, like Aislinn was, but other than that...She certainly didn’t find him to be the most attractive male in the school. So, she didn’t think it was about his looks. Given that, it had to be personality based. Sutton could respect that. She liked people by who they were rather than what they looked like. But she just didn’t see what was great about his personality either. He seemed rather…odd. She wasn’t quite sure what it was about him that made her think that, but there it was. She found him odd. So, was it that Aislinn saw something else in him or did she just find odd, unattractive guys appealing? She really wanted to know.

So, here was the opportunity. She was going to be in a group with John. She would be able to see if he really was just an odd person. Of course, in the smaller scheme of things, learning about Poland wasn’t awful. It seemed to be an interesting country. It had a rich history and culture. She knew a little bit about it, but not nearly enough. She hoped to someday travel and one of the places that she went to might be Poland. It would be good to know about a place that she might go to. It was just an added bonus to joining the group.

As if her wishes were further answered, John asked if anyone wanted to work with him on flora and fauna. Studying any part of the country, that was one of the things on the top of her list. She was actually doing fairly well in Care of Magical Creatures and felt that she could actually be helpful in this area. Plus, she could draw what they saw to further demonstrate their research. She was actually pretty good at art and could actually utilize said skill. After John introduced himself, it was her turn. “I’m Sutton Nicolls,” she said in case there was someone that didn’t know her, which was plausible. She knew who Barnaby and John were, but wasn’t as familiar with the others. “I wouldn’t mind helping you out, John. I could help illustrate the project.”

0 Sutton Nicolls Joining in 311 Sutton Nicolls 0 5

John Umland

January 07, 2017 11:57 AM

I see that. by John Umland

”I wouldn’t mind helping you out, John.”

John stared at Sutton Nicolls for a moment, his expression reminiscent of a deer watching a log truck hurtle directly toward it. He opened his mouth, but his thoughts were racing faster than it could keep up with and so, to his disgust, he found himself stuttering as he mustered the concentration necessary to lie when so many images of disaster were currently flashing before his eyes.

“Ah – uh – ah, yeah, that’s – sure,” he managed. “Very good.”

No, it isn’t. Not good. Not good. Not good.

John had more of an idea what to do about his roommate possibly being a werewolf than he had of what to do about the situation with Aislinn and his stalker and the other anonymous person. Now, with the jig up, he had to admit that part of him had frankly been hoping he could just avoid the problem by pretending it didn’t exist until it went away. This plan had worked for him a few times before with things he didn’t know what else to do about, but it had not accounted for working directly with Aislinn’s twin sister. Now he was probably going to find out that Poland had the highest werewolf population on the planet and extremely strict Magical-Muggle segregation laws just to make this project take each and every one of his problems and throw the whole lot of ‘em in his face at once.

He tried to steer his thoughts back into more logical waters. Yes, it was awkward, but he was researching and presenting on flora and fauna. It was a business arrangement. John was good at business arrangements. He spoke most fluently, excepting times with family or close friends, when he was in a clear relationship with a visible goal. There was absolutely no reason for Aislinn to even come up between him and Sutton at all. They could just pretend the whole thing had never happened, if Sutton even knew about it. Goodness knew John wouldn’t have told any of his brothers or his sister if he’d gone mad and deemed himself attractive….

16 John Umland I see that. 285 John Umland 0 5

Barnaby Pye

January 08, 2017 6:18 PM

All of this is most inconvenient. by Barnaby Pye

One of the main reasons Barnaby had chosen Poland was so that he could get to know John Umland better. And that twin from Pecari had offered to work with him just as Barnaby himself had been about to offer to do the same. He stewed internally since he hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before and the tea Tarquin had sent him really hadn’t done a good job at settling his nerves at all. It was irritating when things didn’t go his way and now he had three things that irritated him: the flora of Poland was now taken (after all, knowing what plants could and couldn’t kill you was something that Barnaby found to be both endlessly interesting and important knowledge), the partner he wanted was now taken, and his was still feeling really jumpy for reasons he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

There was one thing that upped his mood a little bit though, and that was the knowledge that there were five students. And since it was well-known that Louis and Emmy-Lou were best friends (they even had semi-matching names) and it was evident that Sutton had claimed John as hers, Barnaby was now free to work alone which was what he preferred. Unless his partner was obscenely knowledgeable or had dark, brooding eyes. A shiver went down his spine that he tried to repress, and in order to distract from that in case one of his group members decided to comment on it, he blurted out another suggestion.

“I think it could be interesting to compile a magical timeline of Poland’s history,” he said, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up so that they wouldn’t fall any further. “It could be a collection of important wizards and witches, spells and potions, large events, and interesting laws. With an interactive bit, of course, so that the average visitor to the booth doesn’t feel as though it’s too dry.” In his head, Barnaby envisioned a long strip of paper that ran around the perimeters of their area, little moving figures that acted out the various events or even small models for full projections of the more major events.

The research that would need to go into the creation of something like that was of great interest to Barnaby and he knew that given enough time he could find something to put it all together. And there was always Professor Taransay who, despite having a penchant for dangerous creatures, was a fully fledged wizard and likely could teach Barnaby the more difficult aspects to the spells he would need to create his idea, if he needed the help, that was. Barnaby fully planned on conducting most of the research himself, reaching out to Tarquin for aid from time to time, and staying away from most anyone else since he wasn’t sure there was another person who he trusted to do anything properly except John Umland and he was now working with a Pecari.

10 Barnaby Pye All of this is most inconvenient. 298 Barnaby Pye 0 5

Louis Valois and Emmy-Lou Scott

January 18, 2017 2:40 PM

Never fear, the dream team are here! by Louis Valois and Emmy-Lou Scott

Although they both had their own reasons for wanting to take part in the fair, Louis and Emmy-Lou had both signed up for Poland so that they could work together. Spending a lot of time together in their own time meant that they could get a headstart in planning before the first group meeting was scheduled.

Their discussion had lead to rather advanced preparation, although they were aware that this project involved others who may wish to have an input in the areas they had chosen to focus on. These specific areas of interest were fashion and food. The pair of them were keen fashionistas, so it was to be expected that the former would feature heavily in their input to the fair booth. Food was something they had both agreed would be fun, since Emmy enjoyed baking and Louis was happy to sous-chef (and also lick out the bowl).

Everyone else seemed to have ideas, too, but luckily none of them appeared to overlap with Louis and Emmy’s plans.

“Those ideas sound good,” said Louis, not bothering to introduce himself as he had shared classes with Sutton and Barnaby, and obviously knew John better due to playing with him in Quidditch. “If we split into smaller groups, we can cover more ground more efficiently. Emmy and I had a few ideas, we thought we could-”

“So we wanted to cover fashion and food,” said Emmy, cutting across Louis in her enthusiasm. He smiled, happy to let her explain. “I’m sure you all know, clothes are like my thing, so I was thinking that we could all wear traditional Polish clothes, that Louis and I will be responsible for making.”

Showing the traditional costumes of the country would work a lot better if they could get everyone to join in, so they were hoping that certain people wouldn’t object to dressing up for the sake of the booth.

“We also thought we could try our hand at some Polish recipes, so people can try some food,” Louis continued, taking over from Emmy. “Nothing too complex, just so we can have some samples as another way of getting people interested in what we have to offer.”

He grinned. “Let’s be honest, having food will automatically make our booth a lot more attractive, and once we’ve drawn them in we’ll never let them leave.”

“If this is going to be the best booth, we definitely need food, right guys?” Emmy-Lou agreed, looking expectantly at the rest of the group in the hope that hers and Louis’s ideas would be well received.

9 Louis Valois and Emmy-Lou Scott Never fear, the dream team are here! 314 Louis Valois and Emmy-Lou Scott 0 5

Barnaby

January 18, 2017 3:01 PM

I don't know, we may have a lot to fear now... by Barnaby

As predicted, Louis and Emmy-Lou wanted to work together. They even seemed to have organised some sort of deranged presentation in which they finished each other's sentences and explained how they wanted the whole booth to dress up in traditional Polish wear and eat Polish food. Eating Polish food was something Barnaby thought he could do. Wearing traditional Polish garments however...

In his pre-research, Barnaby had discovered a photo of some Polish citizens dancing merrily in their traditional Polish garb and the whole thing looked a bit too garish for his taste. He would never be caught dead in a straw boater with flowers stuck in or a multi-coloured vest with red fringe. No, he would rather fail his CATs than wear something like that and at this rate he would fail his CATs with having to worry about how ridiculous his outfit would look at the Midsummer Fair.

"Food sounds nice," Barnaby finally said after processing all this in his mind, pointedly highlighting that it was the food part of their idea that he liked. But how to say he would not dress up with them in a polite way? He was sure there was a manner in which he could say it without hurting their feelings, after all diplomacy was something he was never good at but would have to learn and what better time to start than now? And then he realised his desire to not wear the puffy white shirt with it's kaleidoscope collar was greater than his desire to learn diplomacy.

"You can wear whatever you like, but I don't want to dress up," he said bluntly. "And anyway, that will be one less costume for you to make, so that's good."

Hmm, maybe he was better at this diplomacy thing than he originally thought. He had both stated his opinion, allowed his opponent to have theirs, and also pointed out the good in letting him have his way.

10 Barnaby I don't know, we may have a lot to fear now... 298 Barnaby 0 5