Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly
October 02, 2009 5:03 PM
Bonfire activity: Obstacle Course! by Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly
There were times during the months leading up to the bonfire when the planning had been very hard. Not for the event itself, because organizing an obstacle course was easy and fun, but the cheer had occasionally been forced. Or so it seemed. Elly had felt the tension, working with Saul, Briony and Pepper altogether. She didn’t know Pepper very well, but she and Briony were friends, and Saul was practically her best friend. Elly hadn’t asked what was going on between them– she hadn’t needed to for two reasons. The first was that she was a human being and could read social situations as well as the next person. The second was that Saul was – well, Saul, and had talked about everything a lot, anyway.Saul and Briony's break-up had occurred pretty early in the planning stages. It had been mutually agreed upon based upon differing life goals and impending graduation, but it still left them a bit awkward around each other. And then since he wasn't dating Briony anymore, Saul was considering maybe asking Pepper, but thought that might be disrespectful to both of them, not to mention unfair since that almost certainly wouldn't last beyond graduation either. So he'd kept that thought between himself and Elly. He'd also confided to her that he'd almost asked to switch groups with Irene because he was pretty sure most of the tension in their bonfire committee was his fault. But he'd stuck it out and here they were.
When Saul had asked her if they were still friends, Briony had replied with a 'Yeah, sure, we are.' Though, it was an empty saying. Even if they managed to retain some semblance of awkward friendship, it wouldn't last beyond graduation. As he had pointed out, they would be in two different worlds, and as everyone knew, two different worlds just didn't stay in touch.
Unfortunately, this wasn't quite as well known for the activity assignments. At the time, she had thought about asking to be in Geoff's group and now, she wished that she had. The group situation was utter torture with having to work with her ex who she still didn't doubt had liked her roommate, her roommate that she knew for certain liked her ex, and the best friend of the ex. There really was no place for her, which had caused her normally quiet self to be even more quiet, only contributing when necessary.
Pepper couldn't help feeling that having to manage an obstacle course was somehow fitting. Between dodging the topic of Briony and Saul's break-up, tiptoeing around her own feelings for him and leaving poor Elly trying to avoid getting tangled up in the matter, they had plenty of experience between them. The situation would have been enough of a struggle anyway, even if she hadn't felt like she was responsible for Briony and Saul breaking up. She hadn't dared broach the topic with Briony herself, although she'd awkwardly expressed some sympathy at the news, but the word in the corridor was that they'd broken up because things weren't going to hold together after graduation. However, she knew that Briony knew how she felt, and had been encouraged by the other girl to act on it. She never would of course, and even though she'd firmly assured Briony of that, she had a sneaking suspicion that her roommate hadn't let go of the idea that stepping aside was the right thing to do, and that this had factored in to the break-up. There was also a certain first year contributing to the mess, or a certain pair of them, seeing as she seemed constantly tête-a-tête with someone's inconveniently present cousin... Connie wouldn't tell her what she'd told anyone, she'd just imply that someone now knew something and then giggle and run away. Perhaps the whole thing was a wind-up but Pepper had the sneaking suspicion that Saul now knew how she felt, as keeping her mouth shut and being subtle were not amongst her littlest sister's natural assets. However, she didn't know that he knew for sure, and she certainly wasn't going to inadvertently let the cat out of the bag by trying to find out. Saul might be able to guess, but he certainly wouldn't know whether she knew that he knew that she had feelings for him (if he did know), so until he debagged the cat, she was going to keep up the pretence of its being safely stowed away. Or, better still, of there being no cat, it certainly not being contained in any kind of tote, and thus the matter of its release quite simply being an impossibility, and just carry on with working as one happy, issue-free team.
Finally, the day came when all the planning was done, and they were all set for the obstacle course. It had to be done in teams of three, and involved the team transporting a bucket full of stones from one end of the course to the other, by any means they chose. The aim was to finish the course with as many stones still left in the bucket as possible, as quickly as possible: there was even a prize for the winners.
It started in front of a wall about ten feet tall. There were rock climbing handholds up one half of it and a rope hanging down on the other half, so people had two obvious physical options for getting over it if they wanted to forgo using their magic and do the whole course the Muggle way. Wands opened up countless additional options, ranging from outright levitation to simply moving and/or enlarging the handholds into easier to grab positions or sizes.
On the wall's other side was a ditch that went out about fifteen feet and was nearly as deep as the wall was tall. It was filled with water. For people unafraid of getting wet, the fastest way down from the top of the wall was to just jump in and swim their way out, though that would, of course, risk losing stones from the team's bucket. For those that considered the water another obstacle to get around, there was a rubber raft floating about three feet out from the wall that could hold all three teammates and their bucket of rocks. Three oars were also provided.
Saul had shamelessly used his familial relationship with the Simon Tellerman, Sonora's groundskeeper, to help get the water-filled ditch constructed. Actually, Simon had helped them with most of the course's obstacles to one degree or another, if only by getting them the materials they'd need to build it. But the ditch had been the biggest and hardest of them to get finished in time for the bonfire. There was no way Saul and the three red-haired girls could have gotten it dug out all by themselves without the assistance of Simon and the prairie elves. That one had looked a lot easier on paper than in practice.
Following the mighty river, there came a far simpler staple of the obstacle-course, the scramble net. Teams had to wriggle their way underneath without becoming entrapped and tangled in its tentacle-like grip. In fact, the 'tentacle-like grip' was more evident in this net than in most, as it had been Transfigured to mirror the behaviour of Devil's Snare. The net had weaker characteristics than the plant as, after some discussion, the committee had ruled that an obstacle with the objective of choking entrants to death was probably a bad idea. However, amongst the shared traits with its botanical cousin were the facts that the harder one struggled the closer it squeezed and that a short, sharp burst of fire would send it on its way.
By this point, the contestants were probably tired from all the physical exertion that had been placed on them and Briony's contribution probably looked easy peasy by comparison. All the team had to do was get down on all fours and manage to crawl through a tunnel with their bucket. Simple as that except it really wasn't so simple. The rubber tunnel had been charmed so that as soon as a person entered the tunnel, it gave the perception of being upside down causing the natural need to try and right one's self. Probably the easiest way to deal with the mind trick was to close one's eyes, but then that left the minor problem of grappling in the dark with the bucket. Yes, simple yet tricky.
Finally, Elly’s contribution entailed some disgusting-looking green slime (which was only a clever repelling charm, and not slime at all) with several raised platforms. The teams would have to find a way to get from one platform to the next, then to the next, and so on, until they reached the end of the course. They were provided with just one wooden plank for assistance in getting across the raised platforms.
It was a fun course, and students from both schools could take part in competing teams or work together. Being one of the louder two members of their committee, Elly became the self-appointed front-man. “Obstacle course! Form a group of three and have a go – sign up here. Hi, there!”
Subthreads: Ooooh! Oooh! Obstacle Course! Need two partners! by Jose Hernandez with Andrew Duell, Jose H, Megan Macrae
Needed: two more people by Oliver Abbott with Kenny Watts [RMI, 1st-year], Christabel Phippen (RMI 2nd Year), Oliver (Sonora 5th year)
Available for Coercing by Daniel Nash II with Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian), Alissa Kendrick (RMI)
Searchin' fer two mateys! by Scott Kendrick with Simon Gallup [RMI, 2nd-year]
Sidelining it. [Not Participating] by Robert Jacobs III with Adelita Garcia - Sonora 2nd year, Rob, Lita, Celia Hier (RMI firstie)
I don't like competition. by Cindra Embers (RMI 4th Year) with Jaeven Dimitri
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Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly
Bonfire activity: Obstacle Course!
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Prefects Saul, Briony, Pepper & Elly
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Daniel Nash II
October 06, 2009 11:11 AM
Available for Coercing by Daniel Nash II
Daniel Nash stood near the obstacle course without approaching it or actively seeking partners. The thirteen year old had no illusions that a second year Aladren was really the prime candidate for a team member. He was physically fit and magically skilled for his age but he'd done little in the last two years to indicate to anyone that running an obstacle course was within his skill set. In fact, just the wall facing the main path was intimidating and, short of using magic, Daniel doubted he'd be able to get over it.But the course drew him and he wanted to try it, if only to see if he could finish it. It was a challenge, and Daniel didn't turn down a challenge without compelling reason. So he hovered near the entrance, avoiding the pair of first years who'd probably take him as their third, but Daniel was just snobby enough to not want to join a group that was even less experienced than he was. Plus, one of them was a Pecari. He tried not be House discriminatory, but he really preferred the company of less excitable sorts.
Besides which, they might not want him anyway. His immaculate robes, his manicured fingernails (he wasn't effeminate, it was just that uneven and dirty nails bothered him), and his proper posture hardly suggested he was a scrambling-over-walls kind of person. He'd probably slow down the pair of enthusiastic first years. He was far more of a slow, steady, and methodical problem solver than an enthusiastic adventurer out to conquer the course for fun and glory.
On the other hand, he was on Aladren's Quidditch team, so it wasn't like he completely abhorred physical exertion. On the third hand, Aladren's Quidditch team was more like a bunch of geeks who got tricked or pressured onto a broom than a real sports team, so that wasn't saying a lot. Though, to be fair, they had miraculously won their most recent game.
All in all, it was really better if he waited and came across other people who didn't look like they were sure this was their sort of thing. He didn't want to be the only one sitting on the top of the wall trying to screw up his courage to go down the other side. So he avoided the group seekers who looked like they wanted to tear through the course and claim the prize, and turned his sights instead on those that looked like they might need a little persuasion to even approach the wall.
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Daniel Nash II
Available for Coercing
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Daniel Nash II
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Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)
October 06, 2009 10:43 PM
In slight need of coercing... by Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)
Kaiser turned the ring on his left hand over a few times before he stepped into the main area of the Labyrinth Gardens. Sonora was a beautiful place, and Kaiser had to admit that he was kind of excited to be here. His Lyra prefect badge hung off his robes and he felt his wand rattling around in his pocket. But overall, Sonora felt absolutely nothing like RMI. RMI was far more close knit and a little more conservative, only in a slight way. Sonora was a little wider, a little smoother, a little cooler. But Kaiser knew that this wasn't really his home. The labyrinth obstacle course had sounded interesting and so, he had ventured over to give it a chance. He noticed that there wasn't anyone from RMI there yet. Just people he didn't recognize, people of Sonora.Kaiser had to take a deep breath before he started examining the groups in the area. There were two first-years who were eagerly asking people if they wanted to team up with them and Kaiser decided to avoid joining up with them. Not because they were first years, but because their voices were irritating him to the umpteenth degree. There was another boy who looked rather, pensive? Or was he examining people? Kaiser couldn't tell from the stance he had taken. There was another boy and Kaiser wondered if he should team up with him, but he decided to go for the younger, pensive looking boy.
Kaiser looked down and saw that his pants were covered in black and gray hairs, he groaned and murmured a Cleansing Charm to remove the large amount of hair that had been cleaning to his black jeans. His jacket was relatively clean and the t-shirt beneath it was spotless. His cat must have been sitting on his pants when he wasn't paying attention. His hair was tied back in a ponytail and he stopped by the shorter boy.
"So, I'm from RMI and I'm kind of nervous about going in there by myself." Kaiser chuckled nervously. "My name's Kaiser by the way, Kaiser Martix."
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Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)
In slight need of coercing...
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Kaiser Martix (RMI-ian)
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Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)
October 07, 2009 3:22 PM
So we just need one more coercable person by Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)
When Daniel spotted the approaching student, the first thing he noted was the prefect badge. He himself had aspirations toward that honor, though the possibility was still two years and a summer away. The badge's house designation meant little to him, as the only magic school he was familiar with was Sonora.He nodded in greeting as the other student came within conversational distance, and he did not allow his relief to show when he was neither directly asked to join a group nor identified by name. Either Kaiser Martix of RMI did not watch cable detective shows or he hadn't recognized Daniel yet.
"Daniel," Daniel returned the introduction, then hesitated a moment before giving his surname. There'd been no recognition yet so it was probably safe, though there was always the danger that people would recognize his father's name even if they hadn't seen Daniel himself on television, but it was only polite to return in kind since he'd been given a last name.
"Nash," he finished, without offering the numeral that should follow. There was no way saying 'the Second' could possibly sound anything other than pretentious, and the less said about Dan Nash the elder the better. Not that Daniel wasn't normally proud of his Dad's success as an actor, but these were not the circles in which he liked to advertise it. Being muggleborn was one thing. Being famous in another world was quite another. That was best kept in the other world. Here, he was something he had once thought he could never hope to achieve: normal, average, unremarkable. Well, as much as any Aladren could aspire to be, with the line between genius and insanity being what it was.
He nodded toward the course, hoping to take attention away from his name as quickly as possible. "I think I'd like to give it a go," he stated, not letting himself sound too interested, or he'd be as bad as the pair of first years. "Just to see if I can, you know?" He wiped the palms of his hands against his robes, as if he were as nervous as Kaiser had claimed to be, though they weren't actually sweaty or otherwise in need of the service.
"But I'm a little worried that if I do get to the top of that wall, I'll get stuck up there like some idiot cat that climbed a tree and couldn't get down again." He laughed and shook his head, perfectly well aware of the absurdity of the notion. "I'm not even afraid of heights. I mean, I'm on the Quidditch team; even practices have to be more hazardous than this." Neither of which facts lessened his concern in the least. It wasn't the height or risk of injury that bothered him. It was the possibility of not being able to complete the course and looking foolish.
He was far too conscious of how he presented himself to the world to ever take threats to his image lightly.
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Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)
So we just need one more coercable person
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Daniel Nash II (Sonoran)
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Alissa Kendrick (RMI)
October 12, 2009 7:39 PM
Willing to take the plunge by Alissa Kendrick (RMI)
The thing that Alissa missed most at RMI was the air. Just regular, fresh, normal air, and the knowledge that she wasn’t underground all the time. The first she’d heard of an obstacle course, the redhead had broken into a wide, enthusiastic grin and bounded off with an energy that had been somewhat uncharacteristic of her in the past two years to find the Labyrinth Gardens. It took awhile and several conversations with unknown students her age (one of whom had, embarrassingly enough, been an RMI seventh year she’d never seen before), but finally, the fourteen-year-old had found the Gardens. Now all she had to do, per the directions being shouted by a fellow redhead, was find two other people to make a proper team of three.Well, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Although generally a bit reserved, Alissa wasn’t precisely shy—she was just sick of having to constantly deal with her older brother’s reputation. At a school like Sonora, that wouldn’t be a problem because nobody at Sonora had met her brother, and if they had they probably hadn’t heard about his reputation (actually, if they’d had the misfortune to speak with Scott Kendrick they may have actually heard about the reputation. It was one of those things that tended to pop up in ‘conversations’ with him). Anyway, the Lyra was excited for a whole new chance with a new slate with new people. Maybe she would make some friends!
However, the finding-a-group thing proved to be harder than anticipated. Most of the groups seemed to be already formed (had it taken Alissa longer than she’d anticipated to actually find the Gardens?), and the groups that hadn’t involved RMI people she wanted to avoid. About to give up and find something else to do, Alissa heard Kaiser Martix’s voice off to her right, and she headed towards that. She liked Kaiser. He was a little weird, but that could be excused given the den of drama that was the Lyra sixth-year-boys dorm. He was also working with a boy that looked nice and kind of cute, unlike most of the guys in her general age-range at RMI.
What the heck. It could be a fun team, right?
“Hey Kaiser,” the slight redhead said as she walked up to the pair. A Seeker on the Lyra team and a gymnast and dancer otherwise, Alissa’s body type was certainly that stereotypical of her position on the team—slim and small. It made her feel self-conscious, particularly now that other girls were starting to look...well, more like girls while Alissa’s body refused to grow and refused to develop in any attempt to make her look less like a fiery-topped stick. “Hey, I’m Alissa,” she introduced herself to the other boy. “Do you guys mind if I join up? I can’t find another team and I don’t,” the Lyra pulled a face. “want to be on Scott’s.” Surely Kaiser would understand that motivation, at least.
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Alissa Kendrick (RMI)
Willing to take the plunge
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Alissa Kendrick (RMI)
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Daniel Nash
October 13, 2009 5:35 PM
Plunging in then. by Daniel Nash
Daniel smiled politely as another RMI student joined them. He felt a little outnumbered being both younger than the other two and from a different school. They seemed to know each other well enough for the one to seek the other out, too. Still, he wanted to do the course, and with the two (presumably) more experienced older students in his group, he stood a much smaller chance of getting stuck somewhere along the course and finding his group unable to move on and complete the entire thing."I'm Daniel," he told the girl, relieved that she hadn't added her last name, so he didn't have to either. "It's all right with me if you join us," he added, looking to the prefect to make sure it was all right with him, too - Kaiser knew better than he did how good of a teammate the girl would make. She seemed nice enough and her House badge was the same as Kaiser's, if Daniel was one to House stereotype.
"I guess we go sign up over there, then?" He pointed over toward Elly Erikkson and the other prefects running the booth. He'd never had occasion before to interact with any of them, but it concerned him a little that the group contained no Aladrens or Crotali. At least it had two Teppenpaws to temper the two Pecaris. There was a chance the course wouldn't prove impossible to people unwilling to leap off tall buildings and expect to survive intact.
Just the same, he took off his school robes to improve his range of motion and provide less opportunity for giant crabs or something to snag hold of him by loose folds of clothing. This left him in a pair of gray slacks with an understated darker gray belt, a white button down shirt (he'd opted against a tie since it was a Saturday), and formal black shoes. He debated taking the shoes off as well, but that would leave him either barefoot or in thin white socks that would not survive walking across the path to the prefect's table, never mind a whole obstacle course.
In hindsight, he probably should have bowed to practicality over an appearance that would not invoke thoughts of Nate Bealer to those familiar with his TV show. He'd dealt with people recognizing him before. He could have sucked it up and worn jeans and sneakers. These shoes were going to have no traction at all on a climbing wall. "I don't suppose either of you have a spell for transfiguring shoes into rubber soled sneakers?"
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Daniel Nash
Plunging in then.
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Daniel Nash
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Kaiser Martix
October 18, 2009 5:45 PM
Ah, the plunge, what a metaphor. by Kaiser Martix
OOC: Sorry for the delayed reply. *delivers cyber cookies*BIC:
Kaiser smiled at Daniel as he agreed to be in a group with him. Finally, some inter-school relationships, he noticed that more RMI-ians slowly entering into the grove, and he glared at Scott as he saw him enter. If that manipulative, irritating, drama queen dared walk over to where he was, Kaiser was afraid that he would be removed from the festivities, because of the unfortunate accident that would happen to Scott soon after he started speaking. Kaiser was pondering something that involved him growing tentacles, or maybe turning his nose into a garden hose. That sounded rather entertaining.
Kaiser did smile when Alissa came over and joined him and the Sonoran that he was teaming up with. He liked Alissa, and she was probably one of the most down to earth and sane Lyrans there was. "Of course, we wouldn't want there to be any unfortunate accidents during the game, now would we?" He chuckled and winked at the younger Lyran.
Daniel brought up that his shoes were definitely not for this kind of activity and Kaiser immediately noticed that his own shoes were far too dressy for this occasion. Kaiser swore in a low voice and leaned down to transfigure his own shoes. "Soleus Transfigus." Kaiser hoped that was the right spell, mostly because he hadn't really studied his transfiguration stuff lately, so his shoes would either become rubber-soled sneakers or they would become some time of garden snake. Kaiser heaved a sigh of relief as his shoes became a pair of rather shiny tennis-shoes.
Kaiser leaned over and muttered the same spell and watched as Daniels dressy shoes (which Kaiser was positive about the fact that they were designer, most likely Gucci) turned into a pair of smooth black sneakers. He winked at the Sonoran and walked up to the prefect table so the trio could sign up. "Let's hope this goes well." He murmured as they stared at the line ahead of them.
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Kaiser Martix
Ah, the plunge, what a metaphor.
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Kaiser Martix
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Daniel Nash
October 19, 2009 2:39 PM
Technically, we need climb the wall, *then* we can plunge. by Daniel Nash
Daniel gave a crooked smile of almost rueful thanks to Kaiser as his fine shoes turned into a pair of sneakers. On some level, it seemed something of a sacrilege, but he had thrown out an equally expensive pair when an unfortunate splatter of a half-done cheering potion had bleached a spot on one of them. With as many outdoorsy things going on today, these shoes were already fairly well doomed. One more indignity before their final demise was hardly worth mentioning.He bounced momentarily on the balls of his feet, to test the new form's fit, and nodded when they passed muster. "Thanks, that'll work."
Moving to join his teammates in line, he forced himself not to fidget. First of all, it would make him look young, nervous, and/or excitable, none of which were adjectives he wanted his new teammates to associate with him. Secondly, impatience showed a lack of regard for those ahead of him and those running the activity, and he had nothing against any of them. It was just proving a little difficult because he hated waiting in line, especially when it gave him too much time to think about what he was about to get himself into.
Soon enough, though, they moved to the front, got themselves signed in, and received their basket of rocks. Daniel moved in front of the wall with the other two and while they waited for Saul to tell them the course was clear and they could begin, Daniel looked up at the height of the wall and wondered what in the world he'd been thinking by signing up to do this.
"So what's the plan for getting over that?" he asked the older two RMI students. "There's no way I'm getting up there without help." He was a healthy twelve year and in reasonably good shape, but rock or rope climbing was not something he'd ever tried before and he doubted it was one of those things he could pick up without some kind of prior practice.
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Daniel Nash
Technically, we need climb the wall, *then* we can plunge.
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Daniel Nash
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Kaiser Martix
October 27, 2009 9:04 PM
Well, how about I make sure we don't need to plunge. by Kaiser Martix
The trio stood in line patiently until it finally receded enough for the three of them to make it up there. He put on a charming smile as he spoke their names for the list of teams and finished signing up.Kaiser was holding the bucket of stones carefully as he examined the wall with Daniel and Alissa. The most obvious thing he could do was levitate them both up to the top and then climb up the rock wall, but he doubted that they would feel very good about him climbing up.
One of the male Sonoran prefects indicated that the course was ready and Kaiser glanced at his two teammates.
He indicated Alissa first and handed her the bucket of stones. "Here, take these and make sure none of them fall out." He said as he waved his wand at her. She slowly rose into the air and Kaiser carefully set her down on top of the wall. "Sorry for the short notice!" He shouted up to Alissa.
He turned to Daniel and indicated the top of the wall. "Is it okay if I levitate you up there and then figure out some way to get up? I think I can use a spell to stick to the wall and walk up, but I'm still not sure yet."
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Kaiser Martix
Well, how about I make sure we don't need to plunge.
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Kaiser Martix
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