Let's get down to business! [ Ness] on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Valentine Duell

May 29, 2020 8:36 PM

Let's get down to business! [ Ness] by Valentine Duell

Valentine strolled through the halls carrying her new broom. The MARS rooms were around here somewhere. She remembered from the orientation tour that one of the was a sports room that could simulate a Quidditch pitch, and with try outs coming up, she was going to get some practice in. Assuming she could find it, and make it work. Wait! That corridor looked familiar, she turned down it and it wasn't long before she stood in the lobby. Her eyes were drawn around the room, they had games to play!

No, no, no. She was here to practice for Quidditch. She could check out the games later, after she was done. She found the sports door and opened it, inside she saw a full Quidditch Pitch ready to go for her! Awesome! That had been easy. Unless there was already someone already in here. She stepped in and the door closed quietly behind her. There didn't appear to be anyone flying around. "Hello!" She called out but received no response.

Satisfied that she was alone Valentine went exploring. The pitch was perfect, there was a box of balls ready to go, and even things that looked like dummies. Could they be animated to play? That would be pretty neat. She had no idea how to do that though, and probably wasn't quite ready for it even if she did. Instead she mounted her shiny new broom and kicked off into the sky.

"Wahoo!" she called out as she looped about the pitch, this was great! The wind tore past the girl causing her robes to go flapping all about behind her. She banked and shot back down the pitch, leaning close to her broom and pushing as much speed as she could. It was fantastic! Now where were those balls? She could start simple, practice making some goals then release the snitch and try to catch it.

As she brought her broom back to earth... or the floor? She saw another student standing by the ball box watching her. "Hi" she said in a friendly tone, "are you here to practice for try-outs as well?" Inside she quailed just a bit, was there a schedule for this sort of a thing? Had she intruded upon someone else's practice time?

2 Valentine Duell Let's get down to business! [ Ness] 1490 1 5

Ness McLeod

May 29, 2020 10:05 PM

I like your attitude by Ness McLeod

Ness was surprised to walk into MARS and find the full Quidditch pitch. After all, there was one of those outside. Though of course, even without house teams, there were cliques and divisions, and it wasn’t always the comfiest of places to fly, depending on who else was out there.

As the small figure in the distance remained small even once they got close up, Ness also considered the possibilities that they didn’t know either the room’s capabilities or the pitch’s availability. Or, in fact, whether people this small were actually allowed on the pitch… After all, they technically hadn’t passed flying class yet, although based on the skills just demonstrated they obviously would. Kind of ironic then, if they could make the MARS room mirror the pitch they weren’t signed off to use. Ness wondered if they’d done that purposefully. If so, kid had a sense of humour…

“Yeah,” Ness nodded, regarding practise for tryouts. That would be useful, and it was always good to get warmed back up after the holidays. Not that there was a shortage of chances to throw a Quaffle around the back garden at home - they had enough space, enough wards, and enough people who were sportily inclined for Ness to stay on top of things in the holidays - but school offered different options.

Ness had sort of also come here with the idea of hitting some things to vent feelings, but that could be included without the first year knowing that was what it was.

“You’re… either Valentine or Graham then?” Ness asked. “Assuming you’re already signed up,” the Aladren added as a caveat. There was also a Bonnabelle, but they were an Aladren, and Ness already knew the Aladren first years by sight. Ness had a pretty good guess as to which of the three was Bonnabelle, and which out of Valentine and Graham this was, but it didn’t pay to assume. Also, what the heck was it with the first years and having such flowery names? (Except ‘Graham’ that was fine). Obviously given that both Valentine and Bonnabelle were signed up for Quidditch they were keen to subvert their flouncy names and get a little dirty. Ness approved.

“I’m Ness,” Ness added. If Valentine-or-Graham was playing detective too, they might have been able to join a few dots, as Ness had been called up during the opening feast. However the first years had probably had a lot on their minds at that point, and also the headmaster had used Ness’ full name, which the Aladren wanted to quickly break anyone else out of the idea of doing.

“Whatcha thinking of practising?” Ness asked, sort of assuming they could work together. After all, there wasn’t exactly a shortage of space here. “You okay if I join?” the fifth year added to be polite. After all, the firstie had been here first. And maybe they were like… shy of flying in front of other people or something. Though it seemed unlikely. They seemed pretty competent, which was cool.

13 Ness McLeod I like your attitude 1419 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 30, 2020 5:18 AM

And I like your style by Valentine Duell

Valentine nodded at the older student's deduction. "I'm sorry, yes, I'm Valentine. Val, if you prefer. I'm happy to meet you Ness." She had noticed something odd about giving out the nickname by this point. If she didn't give it out during the initial introduction, it was a bit weird and awkward to do it later. As if she was saying that now you have passed some sort of worthiness test and can be permitted to be on more familiar terms. She hadn't met anyone yet that she didn't want to be on such familiar terms, everyone here at the school had been great so far.

This student, Ness, at least wasn't mad that she was practicing and was wearing a prefect badge which meant she wasn't doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Val was having little difficulty though trying to figure out if Ness was a girl or a boy and she felt terrible. Her? face had some distinct feminine aspects to it, but his? taller frame was muscled and more masculine. The name Ness didn't help any either. This might get weird as they talked if Val made a mistake and Ness got offended and mad with her. At the same time it seemed rude to ask directly, and that may incite similar offense. As little as she didn't want to offend someone, she definitely didn't want to offend a prefect.

Either way, Ness was smart. S/he had figured out who Val was without much trouble. Ness also wanted to practice together! That would be so much better than flying around alone, or trying to figure out how those dummies worked. She nodded enthusiastically at the question of joining in, "Absolutely! I would love it if you would join in. It'll be a lot more fun with someone else here. Have you played here at the school before?"

Val had swung by the cascade hall to look at the sign up sheet on the way here. There had been a bunch of people signed up, and most of them were for the chaser and seeker positions. She hadn't really paid much attention to the names attached to the sign-ups though, she had just wanted to see what she should be practicing. However, she had seen that Bonny had signed up!

"I was going to try out for Seeker or Chaser, those were the positions Mama and Papa had when they went here. They've had me on a broom as long as I can remember." She smiled reflexively at the memories of home. "But," she continued, "it looks like there is going to be a lot of competition for those positions. Which positions are you trying out for?"

"On the way up here I though I should maybe practice for keeper as well," there weren't as many people signed up for that position and she may have a better shot at getting it. She put on a bit of a playful pout, "Keeper isn't as fun though, you don't get to fly fast around the pitch. But if it will get me on the team." She shrugged and smiled again, "I wasn't sure how I was going to practice keeping by myself, but if you want we can help each other."

2 Valentine Duell And I like your style 1490 0 5

Ness McLeod

May 30, 2020 10:31 PM

Thanks, yours is alright too by Ness McLeod

Aha. In some ways this was actually neither Graham nor Valentine.

"Good to meet you, Val," Ness confirmed the name with a nod.

Val was pretty chatty, which was not a quality Ness minded in a person, especially when it was about an interesting topic, such as Quidditch. Though there was more to dig through than just that. She had mentioned 'Mama and Papa' and the fact they had gone here. Ness wasn't sure those were entirely normal things to call one's parents, but nothing else about Val screamed 'uptight Society Pureblood.' Honestly, between that and the name, the vibe was more Von Trapp than anything else. Ness wondered whether there was a host of little siblings with similarly adorable names and they all wore matching clothes and sung in unison. Still, Val didn't seem so bad even if that was the case.

"Were your parents on house teams?" the Aladren asked wistfully.

"Well, be prepared for Jeremy Mordue to be throwing death stares at you if you do go for Seeker," Ness advised, "He's this stuck up fourth year who basically seems to think he's owed," Ness explained with an eye roll. "Not saying you shouldn't do it, you absolutely should," Ness encouraged. Putting Jeremy Mordue's nose out of joint or subtly reinforcing that the world was not built around him were entirely valid reasons to do anything, along with the fact that Val seemed to want to. "Just giving you a heads up. Don't worry too much though, most people on the team aren't jerks," the Aladren reassured the newbie.

"I'm trying out for Chaser. I'm always kind of tempted by Beater too but I've made first string as Chaser for a few years now, so seems a shame to mess with that. I can shoot some goals at you, or we can practise passes if you want to work on your Chasing. Either's good."

13 Ness McLeod Thanks, yours is alright too 1419 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 31, 2020 6:53 AM

So, shall we play? by Valentine Duell

"Yes!" Val nodded excitedly at the question about her parents, "Mama was Quidditch captain and seeker for the Crotalus team and Papa was a Chaser for Teppenpaw. Aunt Jhonice was a few years younger, but she was a Chaser for Pecari."

Her voice changed in tone just a bit, this was a fun story to tell! "They banded together as a stalwart group of heroes, along with Captain Jose of Pecari, to end the evil reign of terror of the unstoppable Aladren Quidditch team. They had been ruling the Pitch for years, but that year it would end!" She sighed and her voice took on a much more somber tone, "Alas, despite their brave hopes, it was not to be. The cruel and tyrannical Aladren Quidditch captain and overlord swept aside Mama and her Crotalus fighters." Desperation now exuded from Val's narration, "Papa was forced to fight against his friend and Aunt Jhonice. It was a cruel twist of fate and the Aladren Overlord Nash laughed at their predicament. After a harrowing struggle, Papa and his Teppenpaws fell to the Pecari warriors."

Valentine paused a moment for effect, "Then, standing alone Captain Jose, Aunt Jhonice and the other Pecaris met their foe on the field. They didn't know what was in store for them, for the evil Aladren Overlord Nash had a secret weapon to bring to bear against them in the climactic final confrontation." The first year girl stared deep into Ness' eyes, trying to impart the horribleness of the act that followed, "He had gotten his whole team brand new, lightning fast brooms for the game. The Pecari forces were completely overwhelmed, it was a massacre!"

She looked out over the pitch where that and so many other epic struggles had taken place. "Now it had been up to me to avenge them all." she continued in a solemn voice. "Alas, such a thing is no longer possible. The great houses have been unified under the one banner of Sonora." She turned back to the prefect, "All that is left is for me to continue the legacy. I must join in the cause and fight valiantly with the united forces of this school against all outsiders that would dare challenge us."

The silence stretched for just a moment, then in a perfectly normal conversational tone she asked, "Did you have any family that went here before you?"

At the description of this Jeremy Mordue character, Val's expression soured. "That's not very nice. The best player should get the position, regardless of who it is." She knew she was going to have an uphill fight for any position just by being a first year and lacked any actual experience with playing on a proper team. She had flown a lot, and played with her parents, but that wasn't the same as being on a team and coordinating with a bunch more people all trying to achieve the same goal. She smiled at the older student's reassurance that most of the people on the team weren't jerks. She wasn't a fan of jerks.

Valentine nodded at the suggestions for practice, "Those sound good. If you want to see what being a Beater is like, we could unleash the Bludgers and you could protect me while I try to make some goals as well." She mounted her broom and kicked off to hover just above the ground (floor?), "Maybe we should just warm up with some passing practice first."

2 Valentine Duell So, shall we play? 1490 0 5

Ness McLeod

June 01, 2020 6:34 AM

Yeah, let's by Ness McLeod

This kid was weird. Ness was generally a pretty big fan of weird, so was sort of willing to run with it. The Aladren wasn’t quite sure how seriously to take the whole thing. Given that it was sort of tempting to laugh, and given that taking it seriously would mean taking offence, Ness decided not to, though tried to keep any amused smirk well hidden.

If pushed, Ness might have said that Val was a bit like Morgan - small, melodramatic and hard to take one hundred percent seriously. However, this link was tenuous enough that the monologue did not immediately switch Ness to game mode - especially as they were in…. Other game mode. Squishing your way through goblins and giant rats was a far cry from writing what sounded like a weird fairytale version of your parents playing Quidditch. It was… sort of cute and childish. Apart from the choice of villain.

“Go Aladren,” the fifth year commented drily at the end of the story, “I heard we used to have a pretty fearsome reputation,” Ness dropped in, just in case Valentine hadn’t taken account of Ness’ own house from either the prefect ceremony or the sign up sheet, but with a smile to show no offence was taken.

“Though I’d say that new brooms for the whole team would be way more of a Crotalus strategy in this day and age,” Ness added. It wasn’t the nicest tactic, and Ness did not exactly approve of it, but it was hard to imagine that happening in Aladren right now. Of course, it had apparently had a couple of die hard Pureblood captains in the past. “Or throwing gold out to solve a problem, anyway,” Ness amended, “Hard to imagine them being charitable or co-operative with any members of the house who couldn’t afford their own. Or them really making the team, if there was one. No offence to your aunt - sure it was different back in the day,” Ness commented, trying to gauge Val’s reaction to all that.

“Wait a sec, Nash? That’s familiar. I think my sibling was taught by someone called Nash… He’s gone now though. Wonder if it was the same one.”

They made their way into the air, shooting some passes both as co-chasers and rivals (the dummies came in handy for third players in that scenario). Val wasn’t half bad for a half pint. Before they moved on to different positions, Ness signalled for a water break.

“So, what else do you like to do except Quidditch?” Ness asked, taking a swig from a water bottle decorated with stickers. There were quite a few rainbow and pride related ones, but there was also DISCUSS one and one with a book and some D20s which read ‘Beware the Smiling DM.’

13 Ness McLeod Yeah, let's 1419 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 01, 2020 6:44 PM

Great! What's your pleasure? by Valentine Duell

Ness was an Aladren Quidditch player!? Val was momentarily horrified. For some reason the thought that should would actually ever meet one had never crossed her mind. She had seen a few Aladren names on the list (Bonny was one of them!), but she never quite connected those particular dots. Now Ness was there, not looking terribly amused. "I'm so sorry!" She blurted out, "Please don't be mad. It's just..." It's just what, a fun story from ages past? She may have hurt someone with it, even if the Aladren Quidditch player was being nice about it. She sighed, "I am sorry. Your house did have a really good team. I'm kind of glad there aren't house teams anymore. It'll be more fun playing with everyone than against them."

It didn't sound like Ness had a very high opinion of Crotalus, "Mama wouldn't have done so.ething like that, even if she could have." She answered perhaps a little more stiffly then kindly. Then she relaxed, "Sorry again, things may have been different 'back in the day'." she smiled at Ness, "I don't think Mama wouldn't have qualified as a 'traditional' Crotalus."

Valentine couldn't do much more than shrug at the Nash question, "I don't know, is it a common name?"

Ness was amazing at Quidditch! Val was working her hardest to keep up with the older student. Ness would have definitely been in good company with the Aladren team of old. At least from the stories she'd heard. It was a great learning experience and Val also learned how to make the dummies join in the practice. That was pretty great as well! When Ness signaled for a water break, she was ready for it. Except for one minor detail.

Valentine looked at Ness' water bottle longingly while she tried to do her best to pretend she didn't have a terribly parched throat. She should have known to bring water to practice, that's a basic thing, right? Now she'd have to admit to being a poor planner and possibly a bad candidate for the Quidditch team, or just tough it out. Neither option seemed great.

"Other than Quidditch?" she croaked out dryly, as Ness took a long, refreshing drink of that cool water. She tried to moisten her throat, without much luck. For some reason she was finding it very difficult to concentrate. "Umm.. Reading," yes, that was a thing she did. Reading was fun, "Until I got here," she continued trying her best hide her raspy voice, "I didn't have many people to do things with." Ness had a very nice water bottle, it was covered in cute rainbows and there was a book on it.

"My parents and their friends would get together and play some..." Wait. That book had dice with it, and one of the most relevant warnings in the history of gaming! "Do you play D&D!?" she blurted out, her thirst completely forgotten for the moment.

2 Valentine Duell Great! What's your pleasure? 1490 Valentine Duell 0 5

Ness McLeod

June 05, 2020 8:16 AM

Right now, water by Ness McLeod

“No offence taken,” Ness assured Val as the poor thing totally crumbled in the face of Ness’ house. The Aladren hadn’t meant to be scary, and could tell it was just a story. “And none meant,” the fifth added, just in case dissing Crotalus had been taken that way, though it seemed like they agreed it shouldn’t be. Mama was, apparently, not very traditional. Good to know.

“Almost like there’s more than four broad types of people in the world, isn’t it?” Ness asked with a smile. Being in the same house was certainly no proof of anything in common, as Ness was able to attest from having a roommate…

When they paused for water, Val did not get any. Ness glanced around, noting a distinct lack of a backpack or anything. After taking a few pulls on the sports bottle, Ness topped it up with the replenishing charm. It seemed unlikely that Val would drink it dry, but better safe than sorry. Ness also gave a quick cleaning charm over the mouth and held it out.

“Topping up’s a lot easier than generating it from nothing, so don’t finish it all but have as much as you want,” the Aladren advised. It was probably common sense if Val came from a magical family, but it depended how much she knew about the varying levels of difficulty inherent in the spells people used - whilst adults could conjure potable water pretty easily, it was easier for Ness to have something to work from. “Exceptions to Gamp’s Law,,” the Aladren added, gesturing to the room, “MARS can’t generate food or drink. Though given that all of us can make water, you might be able to get a bottle of that to appear if you wish you hard enough.

“And yes. I play DnD. Do you?” Ness asked, genuinely surprised.

13 Ness McLeod Right now, water 1419 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 05, 2020 11:40 AM

Water sounds amazing right now. by Valentine Duell

"Thank-you," Val replied a bit in awe of the older student. She accepted the bottle gingerly, "I'll need to keep that in mind." She took a sip or two from the fantastic bottle, not wanting to appear greedy. Or at least that had been the plan anyway. It was cool, refreshing and she was apparently very thirsty. Fortunately she realized what was going on before she finished off the bottle. Embarrassed, she handed the bottle back to Ness with a definite non-zero amount of water remaining. "Sorry about that."

"Gamp's Law?" It sounded familiar, but Valentine had no idea what it was. "Most of us can make water," she commented quietly. Someday she would, she hoped. Conjure water always seemed to be a nice spell to have around. 'Is creating water a different spell than... multiplying water?"

Valentine couldn't help but grin at Ness' reaction. "Yup. But, not as much as I used to. We switched over to second edition Pathfinder when it came out and we've been loving it ever since. They are fun, aren't they? You get to get together with a bunch of friends to hang out and solve problems together and work to make that world a better place!"

She thought a little clarification might be in order, "Papa started having game nights with some of his coworkers when I was pretty young just playing board games. Those are fun, but I like the cooperative games better. It's more fun to work together as a team to accomplish a goal. So, when they tried out D&D, it was great! I even got to run some games for Mama and Papa!"

Now it was time for the big questions, "Do you play here at school? Are there other students that play?"

2 Valentine Duell Water sounds amazing right now. 1490 0 5

Ness McLeod

June 08, 2020 6:22 PM

It's pretty good by Ness McLeod

“No problem,” Ness smiled, not sure what Val was apologising for. The Aladren took the water bottle back, topping it up again and taking another swig. “Any more?

"All of us are presumed to have the capacity to create water once given enough magical training," Ness rephrased, with slightly raised eyebrows when Val suggested they couldn't all create water. Ness felt the less than totally literal meaning was fairly obvious but still gave a grin to the first year, "Sure you shouldn't have been in the House O' Evil, oh Small Exacting One?" the Aladren teased.

"Yeah... Conjuring other things, conjuring water, refilling charm, and multiplying are actually all different things," Ness explained. It was sort of weird imagining not knowing these things. They seemed super obvious to Ness now. Of course, Ness made exceptions for newly minted Muggleborns but this wasn't one. Maybe Ness had not known these things at that age, and it was just how familiar they now seemed that was having this effect. Maybe this was what happened when you were raised in a household that spurned Aladrens.

"Gamp's Law is about being able to create things in Transfiguration, but it's most famous for its exceptions - food being among them," Ness shared, deciding not to get into all the details right now.

The conversation then turning to game talk. Pathfinder was where Zevalyn’s name came from. But presumably her own parents’ game of it, not like… it wasn’t a generic, in universe word. Val was very Teppenpaw about the whole concept of gaming. Ness did not add ‘by smashing and ransacking, and occasionally puzzle-solving’ because that possibly sounded a little sociopathic. But the fun of the games was how you got to do all these things you didn’t get to do in real life. So, the fifth year just nodded to Val’s various explanations.

Ness was surprised when Val claimed to have run games. Like… she didn’t actually mean run it run it, the way Gary did, right? Surely she wasn’t planning full on adventures for a bunch of adults? Or if she was, they were just humouring her. More likely, she was just… helping out a bit. Backseat GM-ing to her dad or whoever. Still, was Gary going to be super impressed with this first year, and want to put her in charge of everything? If he’d thought Morgan could be qualified…

“Yeah, there are some people. I can check with the GM and see if we’re taking on new players this year,” Ness offered. Which was kind of unnecessary. Because they always were. And Gary would undoubtedly have jumped at someone with Val’s qualifications even if it was an ‘invite only’ scenario. And that was entirely the problem.

13 Ness McLeod It's pretty good 1419 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 09, 2020 4:45 PM

What else do you like? by Valentine Duell

Val shook her head at the offer of more water, she wasn't about to impose on Ness' generosity. "I'm okay now, than-you very much." Plus hopefully it would help her to remember to be better prepared for things in the future. She did giggle at Ness' suggestion of house misclassificaion, and responded with what she really hoped was proper mock indignation. "What? And sully my family's good name?" Some self-depreciating humor would be really good here to counterpoint Ness', her mind swirled back to an earlier part of their conversation as she pointed her nose in the air, "I have the blood of Crotalus in my veins to uphold." Then she broke out in laughter. Ness was fun!

The first-year nodded along at the explanation, and she snapped her fingers when Ness talked about Gamp's Law. "Transfiguraton! I knew I had heard the term before, Papa and his coworkers would mention it on occasion when they got to talking shop at the table." She rolled her eyes, "Most of that got boring quick. It flew way over my head anyway, I guess I'll get to learn it all now."

There had been something that had crossed Ness' face as she talked about gaming. Nothing big, but Val was sure there had been... something. Her own face lit up at Ness' offer to check in with the GM. "Really?! That would be awesome! Thank-you Ness!" Val wanted to hug the older student, but she restrained herself. Some people didn't like hugs. Crazy people.

"My turn to ask now," Val said with a smile, "Other than Quiddich and gaming, what do you like to do?"

2 Valentine Duell What else do you like? 1490 0 5