Librarian Amelle Nicchi

January 22, 2016 8:36 PM
It was the morning of the second challenge. Notices had gone up that Monday advising everyone to come to the Entrance Hall at 10 in the morning to the portrait where the House Points were calculated just outside of Cascade. They would require their wand and, if they had one, a broom. They were also advised to dress appropriately for physical activity and to split their team into three different groups. But other than that, the notice was rather vague.

Standing on a makeshift stand, Amelle called for everyone’s attention. “Good morning everyone!” Amelle greeted. She was so nervous to be the one hosting the second challenge. As Librarian, she didn’t really have to do much talking when it came to the masses. The only other time she had to do so was when she was substituting for Charms and even then… they were small groups.

“I hope you have all come prepared for today’s event. Behind this portrait of Tavarius Mims is where the magic happens.” Amelle had decided to use the Mirage Chamber to host the challenge because it would allow for the challenge to remain a secret from the students, could transfer into anything she wished it too with a snap of her fingers. “This is an Air challenge and it will run in three different parts. The first and third parts require brooms, so if you do not have one, one will be provided to you. The second part will be on the ground. You will decide amongst your group members which two members will fly in the first part, which two members will stay on the ground in the second part, and which two members will fly in the third part. Any groups with seven members, decide if the third person will be part of the first group or the third group.” Amelle looked around to make sure what she was saying was being understood. “I reiterate, there are not to be three members of your team working the ground level.” They had to provide a part of each challenge that would allow for everyone to participate. Since some people couldn’t physically fly, she thought this was a nice alternative.

“In the Mirage Chamber, you will find a very large maze. Each part of the maze is split based on what group you are in. Those who will be flying will be facing various traps, spells, charms, hexes, and creatures. It will not be easy, so make sure your wand is somewhere that is easily accessible.” Amelle warned them.

“Let’s discuss the jobs of each group.The first group will be on brooms. Your challenge is to get the map that we provide you through the maze and to the door marked with your team number on it. You must remain on your broom at all times until you reach the door. Please note that the maze is charmed to prevent anyone from attempted to fly above it.” Kiva explained. She knew there would be one or two that would attempt to find the easy way around. “When you pass through the door, you will be in a small room with only a table and a door to exit. Place the map on the table and then exit the room. Exiting the room will bring you right to this spot.

“The second group will be planted in the center of the maze and be on the ground. A door will appear, behind the door is the table with the map. The map shows where hidden items are throughout the middle of the maze where the second group will be stationed. Use the map. There are as many items as there are teams, the items are labeled with team numbers, but this does not show on the map. The goal is to find your team’s item. Accio will not work for this challenge, so be creative. Once you have your object, please return to the room where you found the map, place the object on the table, and exit the opposite door. You will find yourself in this spot where your teammates from the first group will be waiting.”

Amelle paused. There was so many different parts to this challenge that she wanted to make sure she explained them all in detail. “Finally, the last group. This group will also be deposited in their section of the maze. Group three will be back on brooms. A door will appear just as it did for the group two and you will find your team item on the table. You must keep the item safe as you fly back through the maze. You will be facing the same challenges as your teammates did, so make sure you keep your wand available. Once you are out of the maze, a door will appear and you will exit the Mirage Chamber and join the rest of your team. If, for whatever reason, you need help, shoot sparks up and myself or another staff member will come to assist.

“This challenge is timed. Each team will go through one at a time. So, until it’s your team’s turn, you are to wait in Cascade Hall. We will call your team number when it’s your turn. Choose your groups wisely. Unless anyone has any questions, let’s get started. Team One, please stay here, everyone else, please head into the Hall.”


OOC: In case the challenge is confusing, here is a summary of what each group will do:

Each team will split into three groups. This can be decided under this post or however you would like to accomplish this.

Group 1: Purpose is to fly through the maze (there are obstacles, such as moving bushes, creatures, hexes, spells, charms, etc) and find your Team Number’s door. You are provided a map in the beginning. You must get this map to the door or else your teammates will not be able to complete their part of the challenge.

Group 2: A door will appear in the center of the maze where you are waiting. You must retrieve the map from the room behind the door. Use the map to find the item hidden in the maze that has your team number on it. Accio will not work. Be creative. Once you have your item, place it on the table behind the door.

Group 3: Purpose is to fly through the maze (there are obstacles, such as moving bushes, creatures, hexes, spells, charms, etc) and find the exit with the item that Group 2 secured.


Points are based on creativity, length, and member posts. Please tag me if your group need adult assistance. This challenge will take 3 weeks OOC and you can post any group at any given time, so please do not feel rushed to get through each section. Have fun!
Subthreads:
6 Librarian Amelle Nicchi Challenge Two: Air Time! 32 Librarian Amelle Nicchi 1 5

Chaslyn Brockert

January 30, 2016 12:42 PM
When Chaslyn had seen the results from the first Challenge, she'd felt a little like throwing up. Well, okay, actually she'd felt a lot like throwing up. They weren't first. It didn't even matter which place they were actually in-which was not great- it wasn't first. That wasn't okay, not at all. That wouldn't be acceptable, not to Mother. Only first place was acceptable to Mother. Her team had to be the best, she had to be the best.

The whole thing was more than just disheartening, it was terrifying, she worried about this every second-even though she had no spare time to really do so. Chaslyn wasn't even able to feel satisfaction about the fact that her team was beating Kira's. (Kira had gotten to go back with Amity and Phillip after their family's get together again this year while she'd had to stay home and study and practice the violin and go to various lessons and have various tutors come to teach her stuff she wasn't learning in school, as well as parties, Chaslyn was that age where parties were more of a thing and she did not enjoy them much. Also, Mother was currently in the process of deciding what Chaslyn would have to take next year as an independent study, along with keeping all five core subjects. ) She was also avoiding Scarlett, whose team was in first. Naturally the Pecari was pleased about this fact, which made her impossible for Chaslyn to be around. Besides, her cousin's general happy enthusiastic personality was starting to get to her a bit in anyway.

And Mother was bound to find out. The fifth year had an awful lot of first cousins here, one or more of them-inevitably Scarlett at least-was certain to write home about their own team placements and while she trusted all of them, even Scarlett and Kira, not to tell how she was doing. (Although Kira might tell Amity because Amity might want to know specifically how Chaslyn was doing, Amity would never talk to Mother. The Aladren alumna ignored Mother at family functions and only gave small pleasantries at public events for appearances' sake.)

However, she was even more worried that she'd let it out herself. The Crotalus had never ever been able to lie to anyone at but especially not Mother. It was almost as if the woman could read Chaslyn's mind, or that she was somehow able to see what Chaslyn was doing at all times or that she was able to make her act as if under veritaserum whenever they spoke although if she was at Sonora while Mother was at home, that was impossible. Still, she knew that Mother would ask and she'd answer honestly. She always did.

And she blamed nobody but herself for their spot either. Chaslyn needed to put more effort into this. She was tired all the time and had so many other things, so she'd probably not given the Challenges the attention they deserved. Sometimes, it was hard to know what deserved the most attention. She tended to gravitate towards ballet and school success as well as studying so she could get perfect CATS scores, the latter because they were just that Important and everyone worried about them and the former because she loved it. However, Chaslyn had been taught that everything was Important and that she was to be the model of accomplishment and perfection.

She usually found out what area she was lacking in when she went home for break, this year being no exception. Lots of violin this time as well as in increase in watercolor practice and Spanish. Now there was also the Challenges and they were doing dreadfully. Even if she had had inherently deficient teammates,it would have still been her fault. She knew that she was not holding up her end of what she was supposed to do, which would have been picking up the slack.

And today's event did not play to her strengths at all. Chaslyn didn't know what precisely her specific strengths were, as they'd gotten lost in the myriad of activities, but she knew flying was not one of them. Based on how society currently was, that was one thing that she'd never been pressured to do much. Nor was it something she enjoyed much or had time for. Not to mention that when she was a first year, the staff had disappeared for half a year because of the incident with the experimental charms facility so she'd not even had a whole year of proper flying lessons. Much as Chaslyn wasn't supposed to have any deficiencies, she had to admit flying was one.

This provided her with another problem though, while society had discouraged flying and Quidditch due to WAIL, the Wolseithcraftes disagreed. They had an organization of their own which was pro-girls playing Quidditch. Theodore's older sister had played as did one of his younger sisters. He might expect Chaslyn to want the ground option that Ms. Nicchi had mentioned, but he'd likely be disgusted with her for it. Plus, he was the leader and she could not usurp his authority.

Still, winning was the most important thing and they were more likely to do that if she didn't fly. Maybe if she volunteered. Maybe it would sound like she was being helpful. Chaslyn spoke up. "I'd like to be on the ground. I mean, it would make sense if we balanced out people by age." Something other teams seemed to be doing. "And Mr. Wolseithcrafte is almost certainly a better flyer than I am." Complimenting Theodore's abilities couldn't hurt. She just hoped that providing an idea wasn't speaking out of turn. If he told her to fly-which he might in retaliation for her offering a strategical bit-she would.

Her stomach twisted as she waited for Theodore-or anyone else-to say something. Chaslyn really could have gone for another dose of Draught of Peace right now, despite that her breakfast having been primarily that along with the Endurance Potion.
11 Chaslyn Brockert Anxious (Team 14) 281 Chaslyn Brockert 0 5


Aiden O'Neil

January 31, 2016 8:47 PM
Aiden’s midterm was full of Society parties and holiday shenanigans with some of his older cousins. His mother and father were being more uptight about things and it was starting to become an issue. Aiden was so used to being able to do as he pleased without much of a consequence, but lately, whenever he did something that might be frowned upon (which was usually something to do with him speaking out of turn around his grandparents or extended family), it was actually frowned upon! His parents said that he was coming to that age where he had to start acting properly. His Great Father on his Maternal side (the Mathers’ current Heir) was beginning to watch him more closely. If he were to continue on as a representative of the name and Heir to their fortune (not as large as some families but being as it was just Aiden, his mother, and his Grandfather that had to split it, he could live comfortably for the majority of his life), Aiden had to start behaving. On top of that, within the next couple of years, they wanted to secure a betrothal in case Aiden wasn’t successful on his own.

Girls.

That was another issue entirely. Aiden thought that there were plenty of pretty girls at school and several were from good families, but he was certain that none of them looked at him that way. He had been overweight the first couple of years at Sonora (thankfully, the baby fat had melted off) and he didn’t have the greatest of smiles (thankfully, his parents were getting that fixed for him over the summer), and he knew he wasn’t very charming like his roommate or handsome the way some girls prefer (there was nothing he could do about any of that), so he was sort of at a loss as to how to comply to his great grandfather. It was all so confusing and he didn’t really want the added pressure of that. He wasn’t quite 15 yet!

Now was not the time to think about it though because they had the next challenge to deal with and Aiden had to be on his game. They weren’t doing as well as he had hoped, but maybe they could ace this one! Aiden listened rather impatiently as Ms. Nicchi described the challenge ahead of them. It just sounded like a mix of a relay race and a treasure hunt. But, brooms were involved and Aiden enjoyed flying. Last year he helped Virginia Bellrose learn how to properly fly a broom. He was pretty sure she did it because her boyfriend was the Captain of the Pecari team, but he didn’t really care for her reason. She was a pretty girl and she was grateful for his help.

After the instructions were given, Aiden felt a little downtrodden because he was the second to last team that would be going into the maze. He would have to wait ages for his turn in there! Chaslyn, or rather, Ms. Brockert, was the first to speak up. He wasn’t surprised that she would want to stay on the ground. For some reason, proper ladies felt that flying was beneath them. Oh well, maybe she would do better at the hunt than the maze. “I’m a pretty good flyer.” Aiden said after a moment’s pause. “I can be in the first or third group and maybe take Wren or Theresa with me?” Aiden offered to Theodore.
6 Aiden O'Neil Excited! 287 Aiden O'Neil 0 5


Theodore Wolseithcrafte

February 11, 2016 4:00 AM
Theodore was less than thrilled about their current ranking in the team challenges. He didn’t really care about such things, but Francesca had won when she was here and, much as he loved her, he didn’t like to be bettered by her. On top of that, Ingrid and Liliana’s team was placed above his, which made both of them insufferable. He’d done his best to shrug it off as if the whole thing didn’t really matter to him but he really wanted his team to move up on the next challenge. Fate, however, did not seem to be on his side in this matter, as the challenge was to be flying based, according to the posters issued on the Monday before, and Liliana had almost an entire team of Quidditch players.

He listened to the long list of instructions, wondering why it all had to be so complicated. He didn’t mind complicated when it was something like chess, which was intricate and where the complication was a necessity, but this just seemed convoluted, all in the name of “fun” or “team building” or whatever brand the school was trying to sell to them this week. He would much rather have dedicated his time to activities he actually enjoyed, rather than having to shepherd a bunch of little children through a maze.

Ms. Brockert was the first to speak up, asking for one of the ground positions - hardly a surprise, since her family seemed to have something against flying. In fact, he wondered whether the Headmaster had insisted upon the ground clause for the sake of his relatives, as Theodore couldn’t really see the point of it otherwise. Sure, not everyone was good at flying, but that was why it was called a challenge - the last one had involved lateral thinking, and they hadn’t made an allowance for the fact that some people were idiots, so why this? He had spent a long time trying to figure out the Brockert stance on flying. They seemed to try to make the right sort of noises to everyone… They didn’t snub his family nor reject their invitations - Owen Brockert was practically joined at the hip to Jemima - but no one in the family flew. No one. Barely even the boys, which suggested some weird obsession other than WAIL-politics. He had wondered whether it was simply nurture over nature - no one in the older generations had taken to sport, and so hadn’t raised their children with an enthusiasm for it. But surely, surely somewhere along the line, someone would have got curious and picked up a broom. He still tended to assume that they were erring on the side of caution, trying to make sure they appeased all parties, which was rather a strange tactic given that they had enough status and power to set the rules themselves, and expect others to follow. Luckily, he had other volunteers to fly, and the ever chirpy Teppenpaw didn’t seem put off by babysitting one of the first years either.Certainly, that seems to make sense," he nodded to Chaslyn.

“Excellent, take your pick,” he offered Aiden, “Unless any of you has a particularly strong feeling about keeping your feet on the ground?” he asked the first years. “I’ll take whoever’s left, along with Mr. Markov.” As they were a team of seven, one group had to contain three, and it seemed to him to be a fair trade that whoever had the extra person at least had the most experienced younger student, as well as a total beginner. It also felt like his responsibility as captain to take that extra burden.

“Perhaps the group of three should go first? Given that we’re hunting for something, the more eyes the better,” just about, although it was barely an advantage given that they were following a map, not just hunting randomly, and the amount of time it would take to protect the novice students would probably far outweigh any useful contributions they made - they would have been better off keeping as many of them away from the obstacles as possible, but having them join the second group hadn’t been an option, “whereas on the way out, it’s purely dodging obstacles, so the fewer targets they have, the better.”
13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte Fed up 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5