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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:33:14 GMT -5
Morgana Graas
Morgana smiled calmly at Thom, her eyes steady. She had sparred far too often with her brother to be scared, although the results of the duel weren’t certain yet. She allowed Thom to make the first move and danced do the side to avoid a direct collision with the spell even as she threw up a protective shield. Not a full shield, no, that would just be a waste of power and Morgana didn’t yet know how much power she’d need tonight. Her brothers had taught her the value of conserving power for as long as possible. But she tossed up a spell shield to cover her chest and stomach and her right arm. They weren’t so far apart that it would be likely for Thom to have aimed his spell more haphazardly than that. Her own spell followed immediately in the footsteps of her shield. A flick of a wrist, a dull glint from the emerald adorning her signet ring and the spell rang out. “Expelliarmus!”
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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:33:52 GMT -5
Thom Kayce.
Thom shrugged at seeing his spell pass by without impact. Such was life, after all. Some things worked and others didn’t. It didn’t mean that the duel was over. He still had a few spells to try out, even if no one was really paying attention anyway. The chatter from the crowd was a bit annoying though. Couldn’t they have some consideration? Saving his magical energy, Thom chose to physically evade the spell heading towards him by diving to the side then abruptly spun around to neatly cast his own response directly at Morgana. “Petrificus Totalus.”
((As stated before, Expelliarmus is worth two points. A shield charm (based on Protego, which is the primary shield spell in the series) is usually for 4th years and above therefore Morgana is reduced to 3 points.
The body-binding charm is a first year spell so Thom now has 7 points.))
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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:34:33 GMT -5
Leandra Graas
“As you said I am smart, but I’m also from a rich and old family with four powerful brothers, at least two of whom will have scores of fans. You’d have to be an even bigger idiot than she” – Leandra’s emphasise left no doubt in who exactly she was talking about – “is to willingly want to brave those odds,” Leandra paused, her cattishly green eyes as sharp as ever as she grinned and turned to look seriously at Ashlyn, “But if you wish to look at the matter more philosophically, then don’t forget that you should fight not so much to kill, but to win. There’s no point in killing your opponent, because he wouldn’t know he had lost and you can’t truly taste victory if your opponent doesn’t know you won. You could gloat at a corpse, but it doesn’t sweeten a victory nearly as much as a beaten opponent who remains beaten for the rest of his miserable days. Of course as Macchiavelli said – I believe it was him anyway – if things escalate into a battle you should always take care to not be unjust for you might have use for your enemy one day; but you should wound him seriously enough to not have to fear retribution.” There was pensive silence for a few moments as everyone digested the words of the young – still a child – redhead, who had a much higher than normal IQ. “You haven’t been reading strategy books again, have you? I still have bruises from the last time you read them and decided to try out some tricks for your latest scribble,” Gabriel finally asked plaintively, his face a bit pained at the recollection of the memory.
“Of course, stay away from Ashlyn’s bed you rake,” Gabriel carried on scowling at Damon, before sending a wink to Ashlyn, feeling relatively safe as Rister and Leandra were distancing the blonde from him, “We’ll be meeting in her bed tonight. Same time, same fun?” Leandra burst out laughing even as Rister seemed to also realise the danger of Gabriel’s and Ashlyn’s current positions. “Oi!” he exclaimed, throwing up his arms, “Not over – nor through thank you very much – my head! You need to conserve your power anyway but I can kick him for you?” Without even waiting for an answer Rister’s leg shot out and while it really was just a playful little shove Gabriel rolled himself to rest on his back on the floor, dramatically grasping his heart. “Terriblé, terriblé with a bad French accent,” Gabriel groaned, even as he lifted his head to blow a kiss to a triplet of giggling girls who had paused to look at him. As the girls giggled even more with flushed cheeks and hurried off to squeal with their friends, Gabriel turned sad eyes towards Layla: “Really? No lamb? But it was rather cute. I promise not to feed it to Dad when he’s in a bad mood. Not even a tiny three-legged black lamb?”
“Well, non-existant sheep would produce non-existant and thereby invisible wool. Add non-existant knitting skills and you get a non-existant ergo invisible jumper, which by definition means a bare torse. Rister can be seen bare-chested often enough in the Slytherin or when he’s out for a swim in the lake so apparently he did wear it. Hmm. It’s a quite interesting puzzle, isn’t it?” Leandra muttered more to himself. The memory of the old event reminded Rister of a more recent one. “Speaking of herds,” Rister interjected glancing at Lita, “I’m going to need pop by your stables a couple of times and borrow a horse or two. I’m going to make sure Garwin – the younger one that is. Phillip – has at least some grasp of riding and grooming if he is to manage his summer job.” Lita knew that Rister was a good rider so she probably wouldn’t worry about the horses much, but for scheduling purposes this knowledge might come in handy. Not that Lita would probably bill him – although her business was still in starting point and Rister could certainly afford it – but he made a mental note to foot one of her shopping bills in the near future.
“Mom and dad know most, but I know the basics. I pretty much ask every member of the family if they bend under my rule and if they don’t feel like it they challenge me, except I can draw on te power of everyone who has already sworn fealty, so unless Damon or you decide to challenge me I should be rather safe. If I win I can demand for submission again or throw the challenger out of the family tree. Or if he refuses a second time to bow and obey, he gets ejected from the family tree,” Rister summarised absently for Ashlyn, ignoring Damon’s mutter that Rister had him beat on raw power anyway. “Considering your position you will also be asked as will the wifes and daughters above 15 years, but only the male members of the family need to give me a drop of blood into the appropriate wooden bowl. After I have the blood from all the males – mothers promise applies girls younger than 15 and boys younger than 12 – I get to drink it. God, I’m going to need a tetanus shot.”
“Oh please. Ashlyn, tell Lita why it won’t work. You’ve all already created a living citadel around me for some unknown reason,” Rister groaned, glancing around pointedly. Lita and Layla on her left, Ashlyn and Damon covering his back, Leandra the front, Gabriel the front and right side and Morgana had been seated to his right. “Her wrist angle’s wrong,” Damon muttered as everyone glanced at the stage again as Morgnaa dispelled the bodybind before sending a simple cheering smile towards Thom.
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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:35:10 GMT -5
Ashlyn Swallow
Ashlyn inclined her head in respectful acknowledgement of Leandra’s point. It was good to have the sort of connections that the Graas family had constantly available to them. To Ashlyn, who had a reasonably good family name but none of the support that it should represent, the concept was completely alien. Lita, she imagined had felt similarly upon first being initiated into this odd, odd family that was the Graas’. Not that Lita had said anything about her family beyond the cool affirmation that it was entirely likely she would be facing an arranged marriage should her father have his way, but Ashlyn kept her eyes open and her ears sharp. It wasn’t exactly a secret that the Hollows name was not one that carried a lot of weight or respect; Lita was technically poorer than Ashlyn would have been even if she had been disinherited and disowned. Neither of them had gotten an exceptionally good hand when families had been dealt out. “I’m in awe of your ruthlessness,” Ashlyn deadpanned, keeping her amusement hidden from all but Damon, who had no choice but to feel it through their bond. “Though I think I pity the man you will want as your husband; he won’t stand a chance against you.”
Layla giggled silently at Gabriel’s display, wasting little time in skipping over to perch on him while he was occupied with the three girls who had momentarily stopped to run their eyes over him. “Stop trying to flirt with my cousin,” Ashlyn called over with a mock-frown. “I won’t have you corrupting her with your ‘same time, same fun’ nonsense.” Layla blinked, clearly taken aback for a brief moment at the idea that Gabriel could be flirting with her before she shrugged dismissively and settled more comfortably on Gabriel’s back. She was treated more like a favoured little sister than the girls that wanted to date Gabriel, Rister and Jared. After all, the potential girlfriends had never been tossed into the air and caught by Gabriel or curled up to Rister by the fire (well, not in the same way, anyway) or taught how to play the guitar by Jared. Ashlyn was just playing about and having fun with a more relaxed sort of verbal sparring. “I have an old lamb plushie that you could have,” Layla offered in a nearly-silent murmur, easily knowing that no one but Gabriel could hear her voice. “It’s more grey than white and it has four legs, not three, but please don’t let Kris or the dogs eat it.”
Lita pursed her lips thoughtfully, recalling with instant clarity which of her horses were most in demand and which would best suit Rister’s purpose. She wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable loss of profit but she would find another way to make her estimated summer total. She was no stranger to hardship, after all. “I’ll take two mares and a gelding off the schedule for a day or two; he can decide which suits him better and then you can teach him on that one. If you go without me, ask for Carina, Parsley and Tasket. Tasket’s the gelding. Damon, you can teach Ashlyn how to ride properly at the same time, if you wish,” she added mildly, sending a contemplative sideways glance at the two in question. “Layla took to it well enough but Ashlyn’s not entirely comfortable, which isn’t really practical considering how often you ride during the summer.” Layla gave a slightly indignant wriggle, flashing blue eyes up at Lita imperiously in a clear indication that she wanted to go riding again too. Ashlyn, on the other hand, looked as if she would happily walk through flames rather than go near a horse again. Sparing a second sideways glance for Merry, her expression softened slightly at the dubious look in the Hufflepuff’s brown eyes. Lita understood instinctive fear for her family better than most, which was why she didn’t snap ferociously at the distrust being shown about her horses. “Your brother won’t be in any danger. They’re all very gentle,” she reassured sincerely. “Just consider their names for a second; I name my horses appropriately – stallions and wilder mares get fiercer-sounding names than my better behaved horses. Parsley, Carina and Tasket don’t exactly sound threatening, do they?”
Ashlyn leaned forward slightly in her eagerness to listen, brain working behind sharp blue eyes to note everything being said by Rister. She would never be invited to a similar ceremony in her own family so she might as well learn everything she could about Damon’s. Though, now that Rister had confirmed her presence there, it did make sense that she would attend. After all, Kris had shown her the Graas family tree and she was currently in the place where Damon’s wife should one day be. It made her wonder where her name would shift to when he married, as he inevitably would. Actually, the thought of the family tree raised a question in her mind. Lita’s name had also been floating around on it, most often closer to Rister, Ashlyn had noticed, since he was arguably the one who had, for lack of better word, adopted Lita into the family. Not blood but still family so... “What about Lita? Would she be there?” Ashlyn asked promptly, barely waiting for Rister to finish his last word before opening her mouth while simultaneously rolling her eyes at Lita’s astonished gaze. “She’s on the family tree,” she added defensively. “It’s a reasonable question.”
“Her logic is faulty,” Ashlyn confirmed absent-mindedly, eyes flicking to check on Morgana’s progress in her duel. “You can’t be my brother-in-law as I’m not married and certainly not to any of your brothers. Though if she wishes to make a spectacle of herself by bowing elaborately to you before her duel then by all means, she may proceed. I’m certain Damon can be convinced to do so also.” Rister had a point though, their positioning almost definitely hadn’t been deliberate yet they had all formed a distorted circle around him. “We’re trying to keep you pinned in so that you can’t go causing trouble,” Lita supplied with a smirk. “It might not work but you can’t blame us for trying.”
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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:35:52 GMT -5
Damon Graas
Leandra laughed carelessly, throwing her head back to shake his red hair out of her eyes: “Good. The man will need to be worth of me, for I’m not an easy prize to win even after he gets past my brothers and dad. After all, I’d rather be happy single than unhappy with someone who doesn’t deserve me.” It was a logic one might not perhaps expect from a 13 year old, but it was sound logic in its own way. Besides Leandra was a smart girl and also one who had been forced to grow up fast by life. “Owh,” Gabriel grunted as Layla settled to perch on him. Layla wasn’t very heavy, but her added weight would still be noticeable if she settled on top of his lungs. “A bit lower, sweetheart,” Gabriel told Layla, breathing in relief as the younger girl settled to perch on his back a bit closer to his waist. Only then did Gabriel turn to grin at Ashlyn again: “Oh, but Layla loves having fun with me, don’t you brat?” “Look at the silver lining,” Damon suggested to Ashlyn with mild amusement flowing from him, “After dealing with my brothers from such a young age, it’s unlikely that Layla will ever fall for some cheap trick or loose her common sense while someone tries to sweep her off her feet.” Damon’s words had drawn the attention of the rest as well, which allowed Gabriel to turn his head and smile gently at Layla in acknowledgement of her words. He wouldn’t take her old plushie as it might hold dear memories from her childhood. But Gabriel smiled gratefully at her anyway as he wrapped their fingers together and pressed a brief – and entirely brotherly, if high-class and old-fashioned brotherly – kiss on her hand.
“Just two of them, so you don’t need three horses,” Gabriel remarked lazily from where he settled in, patiently serving as a bench for Layla, “I say you give Rister your best horse and charge him exorbitant price for the hour or two he needs now and then. You can use the extra money to pay a bonus to your stablehands. Or as Rister’s too polite to offend you with offering to pay and you like him too much to expect him to pay, you should just let Damon – or Gaenor – closer to your papers and let them charge Rister. They won’t be too shy to do that.” “My own family’s trying to make me poor,” Rister joked with a roll of his eyes, knowing that everyone in the company – except perhaps Merry – would know that he’d inherit enough money to live only from the interests of it and was in no danger of becoming poor, “I can take Layla along as well as well as Rosalind, she’s the one who accidentally shipped herself to Italy with me, and if Damon’s coming along to teach Ashlyn we’re going to need some more horses. I’m going to be expecting a bill but do me a favour and send it straight to Gringotts, would you?” he added with a pointed look to Lita.
“Speaking of horses and billing,” Damon interjected, tapping the top of Lita’s head lightly to catch her attention, “I’ve wanted to talk business with you. Going to need to host something for a couple of people and I was wondering if I could rent your stables for a day. The barn could do for a band – maybe I should get Jared - and tables and your workers can show the horses and walk the kids around on horseback. Roughly 150 people but you’d need to get your people out to work. August 11. Think about it and let me know what it’d cost.” Damon had connections and knew people. That was largely how he managed to actually make a small profit already, because he could introduce people and knew how to talk and mediate businesses. Who knew, if Lita was clever and got some rich kid hooked to riding she might actually get a steady customer or two of her own from it.
“An invitation will be extended to Lita, as she is, ah, I can’t really translate it well from Italian. Heart sister, if you understandthe term. She has the right of vote should a challenge duel with someone end in a draw, but she herself can’t challenge me nor does she need to swear fealty,” Rister responded, shrugging as he also noticed Lita’s astonished gaze, “It has never came up and as Ashlyn said, you are part of the family, although not blood.” Rister paused and considered, the sudden glint in his eyes decidedly mischevious as he peered at Lita: “As my godfather, Gaenor has the same rights. Although I do wonder… when you marry him, should I be calling you mother as well? It would be sort of justifiable as you’d be a step-godmother?” “We might not be your brother-in-laws – YET – but we are your something-else-in-laws,” Gabriel chirped from his position in response to Ashlyn, although he had avoided using the word bond. “Morgana and I would be lovely sister-in-laws though. That should make it worth it to marry Damon,” Leandra weighed in her own opinion as well. “I don’t cause trouble, trouble tends to come looking for me. Not my fault half the times I’m summoned to the Headmistresses office, I’m there not because I did something, but because some silly bint who imagines herself in love with me did something,” Rister huffed with some irritation.
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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:36:27 GMT -5
Ashlyn Swallow
“The problem,” Ashlyn drawled lazily, allowing only Damon to be witness to her private amusement, “is that I’m not entirely sure your brothers won’t end up being the men trying to sweep her off her feet.” Lita tilted her head thoughtfully before nodding in jokingly thoughtful agreement: “Ashlyn has a point. Layla already seems susceptible to you boys; look at the way she’s allowing Gabriel to kiss her, and before the first date even!” Layla merely shrugged and flashed a cheeky smile, completely unruffled by the teasing. After a moment of thought, the smile widened into a smirk as she darted forward to peck Gabriel on the cheek and wrap her arms around him in a close hug, using the action to mask her quiet whisper of whether he was nervous about his upcoming duel. It would be only natural if he was; despite knowing that no one would laugh at her or mock her for knowing less than the others did, there was a small seed of uncertainty and alertness growing within Layla at the idea of the mini-tournament that she would be participating in later. She knew that no harm would come to her and she didn’t fear failure, not in the way that Lita and Ashlyn did anyway, but there was something disheartening and thrilling in equal measure about opposing people with more knowledge, strength and practice than herself. Any small success would mean more, even if only to herself.
“I’m going to give the kid a choice of which of the three he likes best,” Lita responded dismissively. She did the same with all of the people she, or her stables, taught to ride, especially younger children. More often than not, the children formed a connection with one horse in particular that made it easier for them to approach riding with less fear. “Rister can have his pick of the stallions; they need plenty of exercise anyway, and he’s good enough to handle them. Hermes tends to try to buck new riders off though,” she warned absent-mindedly, tilting her head minutely towards Ashlyn’s almost mutinous expression. The blonde didn’t particularly enjoy horse-riding but at least she had the sense to recognise that it was a skill she would have to learn at some point. Damon would have to deal with soothing her fears; he would probably be the only one capable of getting through to her anyway. The contrast between Ashlyn and her cousin was almost amusing. Layla had taken to horse-riding with exceptional enthusiasm and some skill whereas Ashlyn had let her instinctive fear of that which was bigger and stronger overwhelm her. Lita, who had never experienced anything similar, would be of no help to Ashlyn. “I shall do no such thing, Heir,” Lita rebuked Rister mildly, some slight offense showing in her dark eyes. “I don’t charge family. I do, however, accept business propositions so be quiet and let me listen to your sensible younger brother.”
Lita tapped her fingers against her leg contemplatively, eyes narrowed as she worked out the initial logistics in her head. She might despise the paperwork but she was a good businesswoman, which was why the stables already had money coming in though she had yet to break even from the amount she had spent on it in the first place, so she wouldn’t shy from billing Damon honestly, without a discount just because he was family. Handing over her property, horses and workers for a day event was a lot different to letting Rister borrow a horse or two for a few days. Her employees were mostly those from the stables that had been taken from her; they had known her since she had been a young child and had often worked for weeks with no pay until she had been able to deliver their wages to them. As such, they would most likely agree immediately to the proposal, even without knowing about the bonus that she would be able to pay them from the sudden influx of money. “I can have a financial outline for you by the end of next week. As for music, you could get your girlfriend,” Lita grinned impishly at the outraged protest from Ashlyn, “and Jared to both perform. Something more classical and calming for the adults, and also Jared to rile up the kids and make them happy with being in the presence of a rising star. They’ll love it.”
Lita smiled softly, the expression warm as her eyes lingered over the present members of her family. The limited options offered to her as a non-blood member of the family didn’t bother her. Everyone knew that she wouldn’t challenge Rister’s capability as Head of the family and her allegiance to the Graas family was unofficial but widely known. It simply felt...nice to be a part of a family that loved her. “You can call me mother if you wish but if you start crawling into our bed with the claim that you had a nightmare, I reserve the right to hurt you. My methods will be imaginative and unexpected, and likely fully approved of by Gaenor.” With a wicked smirk, Lita paraphrased Kris’ words: “We will probably be doing more than cuddling like life-sized teddy bears, dear, and I would hate for you to be traumatised.” Ashlyn paused for a moment, ignoring the faint blush on her face in favour of pretending to think about Leandra’s words before shaking her head ruefully: “Not even you and Morgana could compensate for your brothers, Leandra.” Her eyes flicked to Layla for a moment before Ashlyn sighed and reluctantly passed on the objection her cousin, with her crossed arms and frowning expression, was clearly thinking of. ”Besides, I think Layla says that there hasn’t even been a proposal yet.” Layla shook her head, indicating that that wasn’t what she had been thinking of and Ashlyn shrugged helplessly. “I can’t read your mind. Tell Gabriel.”
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Post by Adrian Hollows on Jul 27, 2010 12:37:17 GMT -5
Thom Kayce.
No spell from Morgana actually reached Thom, making him smile in faint disbelief. Luck really did seem to be on his side for this duel. It would be too much like mocking Morgana if he attempted to send the same spell back to her so he shrugged and chose a different one from the few viable ones in his arsenal. Though he hadn’t actually wanted to participate, it didn’t seem to be turning out too badly for him, which was oddly cheering. “Tarantallegra!”
((Finite Incantatem, to end the bodybind, would, I presume, rationally be a first year spell. With only 2 points left, Morgana would not be able to cast the third year cheering charm so she remain with 2 points.
Tarantallegra is a second year spell so Thom is reduced to 5 points.))
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