Hey, guys. My wife has just gone into the hospital as we prepare to welcome our first child. Posting may be sporadic, and I won’t be able to do anything on the maps for a while.
I should be back to mostly normal in a couple weeks.
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Ken winces slightly. He should have warned Anora, but he hadn't even thought to do so. Quickly, to cover the gap, he said, "It's one thing to know ghosts are real, quite another to have one fly up to you, er, Baron. Especially one as...impressive looking as you."
Kenneth looked up at the head table, where Professor Dumbledore sat, and said, "He must know so much. Having him for a teacher would be amazing." Ken then followed up his statement by shoving food in his mouth. Swallowing, he said, "Which classes are you looking forward to the most?"
Swallowing a mouthful of potatoes, Kenneth looked at Allusic quizzically. "Why can't they keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Do they keep getting bored and going out to have adventures?"
No, no, Anora, I like this game. It will be fun to watch him try to figure it out." Ken gives Sariphn a smile to show he's partially joking, but also would find it fun watching him try to figure it out.
"My mother works for the Ministry, in the Department of Experimental Charms. I can't really talk about my father's job," Ken replied, smiling at Sariphn. And I'll let you think of that however you like. He was getting the feeling he really wasn't going to like the other boy. "I can say no one in my family has been in Slytherin before, though."
Kenneth raised an eyebrow. Sariphn seemed to have a bit of an ego. An elf? Might have to ask Serafina and Francis about that. Kenneth whispers to Anora, "Don't say anything about your parentage for now, okay? We'll talk about it later." Aloud, he said, "Regardless of our parentage, it's like Allusic said - few keep elves, anyway. I imagine it's because it's becoming less fashionable to do so. You can call me Ken. It was Sariphn and Allusic, right?" As he spoke, Ken helped himself to some of everything, taking a massive bite of turkey after he finished.
Ken had known he'd be towards the back, but not that he would be the last one. It suddenly felt like everyone was staring at him. He hadn't felt nerves like this since the championship game last year, when he'd had to take a penalty kick in the last minute with the game tied at 1-1. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the hat, then moved forward and turned to face the crowded Great Hall as Professor McGonagall put the hat on his head. A voice spoke in his ear, "Ah, young Master Williamson! I remember Sorting your mother. She had quite the keen mind, Ravenclaw was an easy choice there. Now, let's see about you. You've got a bright mind, and you're quite loyal to your friends. You've got courage, too. Let's see...oh, what's this? A desire to push boundaries, and maybe garner a little fame? A bit of ambition...oh, I think I know exactly where you'll do best. You have within you the desire to win, so in that case, it'll be, The hat shouted to the Great Hall. Exhaling in relief, Professor McGonagall took the hat from his head and he went off to the Slytherin table, sitting next to Anora and giving her a smile.
Just making a "still here" post in Gameplay. Pay no attention to Kenneth's internal monologue.
Kenneth waited as each of his friends was called up, and most of the other first years. He wasn't surprised - he was used to being the last one called alphabetically. Still, it was kind of surprising to see Anora end up in Slytherin. Serafina had been sorted into Hufflepuff, and Francis said he thought he'd end up in Hufflepuff as well. He wondered if she would be okay if none of the friends she'd made on the train were in her House.
”No, no, you’ll end up in one of them. My mom was the first in the family to go to Hogwarts. My grandparents had no idea.”
"My mom was in Ravenclaw, which she said was the House for people who study hard and value knowledge and learning. She also said that a lot of times families tend to be sorted into the same house - so, if your parents were in Hufflepuff, you would be in Hufflepuff. She did say sometimes family members have ended up in other houses, though. I don't know much else about them."
"Anora, we're being encouraged to learn magic and explore what it's capable of. I'm sure there won't be any kind of objection to exploring the castle, as well. Besides, it could be fu-un..." Kenneth said, the last in a slight sing-song. Looking at Francis and Serafina, he leaned over and asked, "What kind of jinxes? Mind teaching me a few some time?"
"I hope so, Serafina. If they want me to demonstrate magic, the only spell I have is the one Anora taught me on the train." Kenneth thinks for a moment, running his hand through his short brown hair. "I wonder what the rules are. Did you see how big the castle was as we came across the lake? How many secret rooms or passages do you think it has?" A sly grin crossed his face. "Anyone want to go looking for them?"
Nope. Gives us two Hufflepuffs and Two Slytherins.
So...we doing this?
Forgot to mention I will be on vacation starting tomorrow through Wednesday. I'll have my phone, but posting time might be limited. I'll keep up as best I can.
Kenneth would mention he's half-blood, learn the spell from Anora, and buy everyone chocolate frogs from the cart.
Okay. And the coin says...
Heads. Kenneth shall be in Slytherin! This means I may play up his rule-breaking side a bit more. Step 1 - learn alohamora, lumos, and nox. Step 2 - convince friends it would be totally cool to explore an out-of-bounds area. Step 3 - profit.
I think it's easiest for me to switch. The only reason I chose Gryffindor is that's what the dice rolled, and the only story connection to any he has is Ravenclaw, since it was his mom's house. Even then, his mom was Muggle-born, so it's not like he has any long family history tying himself to one of the Houses. Perhaps I shall let the dice decide again. Well, more of a coin toss in this case. 1=Heads, 2=Tails. GM, since Anora is the only Slytherin, why don't you call Heads or Tails? If I get what you called, then I am Slytherin!
I'd say hand wave it. We all met on the train in the same compartment, Anora shared the cookies her mom baked with us, and everyone's generally friendly and been introduced to each other.
So, the five we have are: Serafina (Hufflepuff)
Since there's only five of us, would it be easiest for us to all switch to the same house? Ken's character generally embodies aspects of all four Houses, and I don't mind switching him to another House.
A restart might be smoothest, depending on how many people we have back.
And it looks like we're back! Exciting!
I should still be here, so go ahead and contact me.
Ken was quite glad he'd read his schoolbooks over the summer. He raises his hand, and once called upon, he says, "Wolfsbane, also known as aconite, is a wild herb whose root and flowers are used in potion-making. The leaves are highly toxic, though."
Ken looks over his notes, hoping they are complete enough for the homework. He also intends to read over the chapter in the book, too. He didn't want to screw up his first homework assignment. He considers asking about when they will practice the spell, but decides against it, as Professor McGonanagall would probably not appreciate the question.
Ken copied what Professor McGonagall wrote on the board. He suspected that transmutation was incredibly complex, and that everything McGonagall wrote was important to success.
Book, ink, parchment, and quill made their way to the desk, while the map was carefully folded up and placed in a pouch on the bag so he could easily consult it to hopefully find his classes. With everything arranged in his desk, he opened his book to the first chapter, and unscrewed his ink bottle to take notes.
Ken shrugs. "I've never flown before, but I'll do what I can. I figure the physical aspect just comes with practice - like riding a bike or playing a sport. The important part is probably mindset. You decide what you're doing with your broom, and then you do it and don't try to overthink yourself. Unless you decide to try out for the Quidditch team, I don't think you'll need to worry about anything too intense. I'll probably be more helpful with Charms - I looked into a lot of it over the summer, and have a pretty good grounding in it."
Ken motions Greg to a desk and looks over the schedule. "Look at that, Flying starts this afternoon, excellent. Lots of Charms class, too. I'm looking forward to that, and Flying. Transfiguration classes should be fun as well. I hope Potions isn't as bad as we've heard though. First thing in the morning on Wednesday, too. Ugh." Raising his hand and waiting to be called upon, Ken asks, "Professor, will the teachers be giving us directions to each classroom as we leave? I don't want to be late getting to my classes because I got lost."
So, I was looking over the schedule, and before I post a reaction... It looks like Gryffindors only have 2 hours of Potions scheduled, as opposed to 9 hours of Charms. Is there a typo somewhere on our schedule?
I have already accounted for my Inteligence Score when I took my blocks, but thanks anyways. Its bellow my Stats in my profile Ah, I see. I read your post here as "I"m using all 14 of my blocks for this", not "I'm using the blocks to do this". My apologies.
You actually don't need to spend all 14 blocks of time. You reduce the study time needed to increase your number of credits in a skill by your Intelligence score (2). So, 1 Credit of Flying requires 6 units of study, and the second requires 8, for a total of 14. However, your Intelligence reduces that to 4 and 6, respectively, costing you 10 units total, and leaving you 4 leftover. As for when to make Skill checks, I think it depends on the situation. If the Headmaster thinks it's appropriate, the Headmaster will call for it. If you think you need one for a given situation, you can roll it. For instance, I'd say that if you're trying to convince a teacher to give you an extension on your homework, you should just assume you need to roll Persuasion and roll it. However, if you're trying to get to your first Potions class, the Headmaster may make you roll to see if you make it on time.
"My plan was to wait until McGonagall left the Great Hall, then follow her to the classroom. Have to figure she knows exactly where she's going."
Ken, having finished his second plate, looks down and shrugs. "Maybe? I dunno. I just hope I'm not so full I fall asleep in class. Transfiguration first, and something tells me Professor McGonagall doesn't appreciate students falling asleep while she's teaching."
"Hey, they had to get around somehow if they didn't want to walk or ride a horse - although brooms and apparition seem like perfectly acceptable means of transit. I imagine sitting on a broom for a long period of time might get uncomfortable, though."
"Sounds exciting. Once we have our first flying class and I get an idea of what it's like, I might talk to you about some tips. I'm looking forward to it."
The arrival of three Hufflepuffs who had apparently missed the train was a bit of a whirlwind. He wasn't sure what a hippogriff was, and couldn't answer Anora's question about that. But he thought the name Scamander sounded familiar. Had his mother mentioned the name once? He thought she had. Swallowing a mouthful of sausage, he said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Ken Williamson." Looking at Francis, he said, "Sorry if this is rude, but I'm sure I've heard my mother mention the name 'Scamander' before. Is your family famous for anything?" To William he says, "I don't know about needing help with magical creatures, but I'm looking forward to learning to fly. Could you tell me a bit about what Quidditch is like?"
So, we've got some new submissions, and after my conversation about Quidditch rules with one of them, I've worked out a rough draft of rules we could use. If anyone would like to review and comment, feel free. Comments are enabled on the Google doc, so you can leave them there.
We are all first years - the plan is for us to progress through Hogwarts each year. The game is fairly new - it's only the first day of school, officially, and the Sorting was just last night in-game. No one's really got a head start on anyone here.
There aren't any actual rules for it in the book - I looked for quite a while, trying to find them. If I had to set up rules for Quidditch, though, I'd lean pretty heavily on the Flying skill, using Combat as the base. Power would probably be good for hitting a Bludger at someone, plus resisting hits by Bludgers. It's something we'll have time to work on, since first years are allowed neither brooms nor to join House teams. If you're looking at Ability scores, you'll want to bump Finesse to at least 2, like I did. It's up to you how many abilities you leave at 1 - I wanted to up my Intelligence and Power, as well. Based on the description above, I'd guess you're leaning towards Pureblood for a background? In that case, you could justify a credit in Flying. I'd definitely go for Flying Expert and Creature Expert, as well. There's a lot that needs to be worked out for Quidditch Rules. If you assign abilities based on being good at Combat, you'll probably be good at Quidditch once we figure out the rules. Does that help? I know it's kind of rambly.
Welcome, NunuBasher. I'm also going for the Quidditch Star in the making, so we can compete against each other.
Well, if you go Ravenclaw, you'll be the lonely one. Greg and I are both Gryffindor, and both still active. HB is active, and he's the only Hufflepuff boy. Serafina Bones is at least another Hufflepuff, although obviously female. Isabella and Anora (GM Storyteller) are Slytherin females, and...who in Slythering was still active again?
"MMm affe offen eafntieong," Ken said around a mouthful of potatoes, before remembering himself and swallowing. "Sorry, nothing's wrong, the food's just really good. I'm gonna have to run laps around the castle to keep from getting fat. What did you think of the feast last night?" That seemed a safe enough topic. He didn't want to accidentally broach the subject of her parentage, especially with Macbeth nearby.
I will be traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend here in the US, starting tomorrow. I will have my phone, but cannot guarantee my posting availability. Please bot me if necessary.
Kenneth glanced at Anora, and said, "Morning," before stuffing his mouth with potatoes to give himself a moment to think. He didn't want to push Anora, but he definitely wanted to ask about her parentage - Muggleborns didn't end up in Slytherin. It just didn't happen.
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