Entry tags:

QUODPOT GAME #4: Peckenpaugh @ Vercoer

VERCOER

vs

PECKENPAUGH

Click Here for this Game's Roster!

PECKENPAUGH

Ida Clapsaddle

Valkyrie Horvat

Claudia Vega

Felicity Deverill

Mia Samaniego

Tybalt Zettler

Yara Duke

Adrian Gildersleeves

Anthony De Witt

Skip Rider

Wyatt Webberley

JUNIOR VARSITY

Edgar Waxweiler

Willow Quackenbush

Cedar Quackenbush

Constanza Wolff

PP JV Sp 1

PP JV Sp 2

PP JV Sp 3

Aristotle Ahn

Scarlett Hatfield

Hawthorne Quackenbush

PP JV Kes Cap

FALCON

SPARROW

KESTREL

FALCON

SPARROW

KESTREL

VERCOER

Xia Xu

Viking Vroom

Chauncey Lachance

Neptune Stenger

Hugh Borg

Eden Mondragon

Florian Desjardins

Blandine Fuentes

Totty Toft

Zorka Walkenhorst

Rikki Frisk

JUNIOR VARSITY

Eve Mondragon

Xanthe Zilberschlag

Lasha LaRue

Guy Gupta

Lucky Slootmaekers

Asha Chang

Darius Huff

Narcisse Ngo

JoEllen Waxweiler

Irma Esposito

Alberic Babineaux

pre-game It's bright and early when Peckenpaugh loads themselves up onto their Yeehawl buses to head down south to Louisiana. Scarlett Hatfield's pre-boarding discovery raises some questions, but it's probably just a weird coincidence, right?

From cold and snowy Appalachia, to the pleasantly partly sunny southern coast they go. Bayou Sauvage is a bit off the beaten path, and the magical town that shares its name requires a sharp turn just before the tourist entrance to the muggle nature reserve. Things get a bit bumpy as the bus driver nearly misses the entrance, but students arrive in one piece in the small old wizard town that frames Vercoer Academie. Bright colors and French Creole color dominate Bayou Sauvage, and Vercoer is much the same.

Despite being smaller in size than Peckenpaugh, Vercoer's Quodpot stadium is a great deal larger and newer. Students riding on the bus with Ms. Min can overhear her derisively gossiping with Healer Greatheart about alumni donations for the "selective" public school.

The stadium is already packed by the time Peckenpaugh arrives, and it looks like Appalachia's Great School of Magic has just as many supporters in attendance as Vercoer. Big Four games are a big deal across the nation, and this is one of the biggest! Vercoer's cheerleaders have the regrettable task of revealing today's Quod filling: Tappey's WizHot Sauce! What makes it WizHot? Who knows! But Healer Greatheart isn't letting a single kid on the field without proper protective wear today. After a triple check to make sure all goggles are secure, it's game on!

junior varsity

It’s Scarlett Hatfield and Narcisse Ngo who get the pleasure of facing-off first today. Naturally, Hatfield takes no prisoners: she slaps that Quod out of Ngo's grasp, but it winds up landing in Chang’s hands. Thankfully, the Quod's hot and Chang's quick to become the first player covered in hot sauce. This must've been clever planning, and Vercoer spends the rest of the game thinking the young Mothgardener needs to be bullied off the field.

These saucy Quods have remarkably short tempers this fine morning, and it's a Peckenpaugh Sparrow and Mondragon follow Chang rapid fire right after. Vercoer's Slootmaekers finally gets one to obey at least long enough to dunk it, but Peckenpaugh’s Kestrel Co-Captain and LaRue aren’t nearly as lucky in the follow up and troop off the field.

E. Waxweiler definitely doesn’t make eye contact with J. Waxweiler when he steals the next Quod from her and contributes a point to tie the game. On the tails of her captain's expert dunk, Wolff nails a breathtaking three-pointer and takes Peckenpaugh into the lead. Her star shines bright but brief, Wolff winds up next in line to get a face full of spice after her crowd wowing shot. Vercoer's Esposito and Huff ride her coattails to the ground next. Next Ngo scores a point with a rumbling quod, and right after W. Quackenbush proves she doesn’t need that blue rabbit’s foot to score. The fact that she got bitten by a rare spider as she dunked the Quod probably has nothing to do with the rabbit’s foot. Slootmaekers stays far away from Quod spiders by shooting from outside the scoring zone, and he ties the score at 5 - 5.

J. Waxweiler is still not super sure who that other guy on the field with her name is, but she's knocked out before she can get her answer. Another Peckenpaugh Sparrow goes down after her. With player count dwindling, Hatfield makes the rare choice of shooting from within the scoring zone. The effort brings Peckenpaugh back into the lead, and for a few moments their control of the Quod dominates. C. Quackenbush won’t get close to the pot for fear of spiders. Their shot goes wide and, mercifully, takes them out. Ngo shows no fear when he delivers one more Quod to the pot, but that fearlessness doesn't do him any good when he's flavor blasted off the field in the next round. Gupta finally gets a chance to handle the Quod and makes a three-point shot to bring Vercoer into the lead, 7 - 9. Slootmaekers follows that up with two more points, so who needs Ngo, anyway.

Zilberschlag gets a bad Quod from the hands of H. Quackenbush and goes out, followed by H. Quackenbush himself, possibly here to inflict more pain on her. Babineaux has no problems racking up another two points for Vercoer soon enough, but Peckenpaugh won't take it lying down. After losing W. Quackenbush, Ahn's impressive shooting adds two points of his own to keep Peckenpaugh within striking distance at 9 - 13. A third faceless Peckenpaugh Sparrow gets blasted out of the air next, and when Hatfield tries to make up the point difference with a three-pointer, she gets sent packing too. E. Waxweiler takes on Babineaux, twisting through the air to catch his quod, but before he can do anything with it, the Quod blows on him and sends him off the field.

The last Peckenpaugh player on the field, Ahn gets his hands on the next quod, and he desperately tries to get a shot off. It’s blocked by Babineaux, who proves he’s learned nothing from others’ mistakes when he bats the Quod out of the air and gets taken down. Not yet ready to give up, Ahn beats out Gupta and Slootmaekers for the next quod, but they won’t let him go anywhere, circling around him to block his every option. With a ticking Quod in his hands, Ahn makes a desperate attempt to get past, shooting the gap as Gupta and Slootmaekers dive to stop him.

With all three players knocked for a loop and covered in sauce, it’s up to the color-change gloves to confirm: Ahn, the last one with the Quod and the last Peckenpaugh player on the field, is eliminated.

🎉 VERCOER JV WINS 🎉
9 - 18!

varsity game It's winter competition redux between games today, and both brands bring the fire onto the field for their shows. Tough to say which school is the better performer. Midway through Peckenpaugh's show, [CHARACTER A] shrieks and leaps out of their seat when they feel something jab them in the butt. Everyone around them jumps up, too, mistaking their start for the beginning of a crowd wave. As the wave ripples across the stands [CHARACTER A] discovers the cheeky culprit: a smiling felt-and-plastic WizElf on the WizShelf doll. Creepy. They toss it out onto the field to even greater cheers from the crowd, and the little doll hits Presley Mondragon in the face. It giggles wickedly, then seems to disappear before hitting the ground. The mayhem just enough to decisively mark Peckenpaugh's marching band as fan favorite once again.

It takes a few minutes for everyone to calm down, but the silence is complete once they do. With the second and third place Quodpot teams on the field, this promises to be an exciting game, and tension settles heavily as Captains Valkyrie Horvat and Adrian Gildersleeves shake hands with Captains Viking Vroom and Eden Mondragon. They kick off their brooms to join the rest of their teams in the air. Blandine Fuentes and Ida Clapsaddle take position in the middle of the field for the first face-off, their teammates spread in a circle around them, poised and ready to attack.

00:00:00 - 00:01:59 : From first slap, the game's fierce. First face-off goes to Clapsaddle, but Fuentes doesn't let her keep it for long. She knocks the Quod out of her hands with a well-aimed knee, and Desjardins is there to snatch it out of the air leaving Clapsaddle blinking in shock. Not to be totally shown up, Clapsaddle dives after Desjardins, but he's small and quick and there's no catching him. Within two minutes, Vercoer nets the first score of the game.
00:02:00 - 00:06:29 : Desjardins gets the Quod again, and he knows better than to press his luck—not with De Witt bearing down on him. He lobs the ball up pitch to Walkenhorst, who quietly slips it to Fuentes at her back before taking off. With all eyes on Walkenhorst streaking toward the pot, Fuentes can more leisurely make her way toward the goal. It's Webberley who notices what's up, catching up to her and spotting the Quod. He throws his hands out to stop her shot, but it’s too late: Fuentes scoops a neat three points, bringing the score to 0 - 4 for Vercoer.
00:06:30 - 00:11:29 : Horvat yanks the Quod away from Borg, but Toft is quick to rescue it from her. Gildersleeves is already at Peckenpaugh's defensive line waiting, and he doesn’t intend to let Toft get any closer to the pot. She shows no signs of slowing, though, as she rockets toward him, not even blinking as she stares into his eyes. Gildersleeves doesn’t flinch, eyes on Toft and the quivering Quod in her hands—so when she passes abruptly, up and back, over her shoulder, to Mondragon on her right, Gildersleeves moves to block, diving to knock the Quod out of the air.

And then Toft crashes right into him, slamming him and his broom back against the pot just as Mondragon dunks her Quod to loud groans and boos from the crowd. Hope you were wearing a cup, Adrian. The whistle only blows after Mondragon makes the point, and the referees ain’t here to argue intent and if this counted as attempted involuntary sterilization. They give Mondragon her point, send Toft to the penalty box for three minutes, and allow Gildersleeves a penalty shot. Despite smarting something fierce, Gildersleeves takes advantage of the opportunity and gets Peckenpaugh on the board at 1 - 5.
00:11:30 - 00:21:59 : Peckenpaugh just can't keep up with Vercoer's feints and hidden passes. Vroom fakes out Vega, Desjardins out maneuvers De Witt, Walkenhorst is too fast for Webberley, and Borg is just begging for another elbow to the face as he pops up to ruin every single pass made by Peckenpaugh. He never gets what he deserves, distracting Peckenpaugh's Sparrows just long enough for Fuentes to sink another impressive three-pointer.
Samaniego and Vega take control of the next quod, but Desjardins forces them apart, sending Samaniego’s broom spinning toward the ground and blocking Vega’s way out. She tries to pass to Rider and ends up breaking a nail when Desjardins steals the pass and takes yet another three to the pot. 1 - 11 for Vercoer.
00:22:00 - 00:26:59 : It's been a rough 22 minutes for Peckenpaugh's scoreboard, and not a single person has left the field. History tries to repeat itself when Vega and Samaniego get the Quod again, faced with Vercoer players ready to block and knock as they approach the pot. Samaniego is undeterred by the sight of Desjardins in her path. She refuses to move and this game of chicken ends with both of them hitting the dirt, Vega stranded. It's looking rough for Vega, who backtracks in search of a shot, an open pass, or just a gap to slip between, but she's alone—until De Witt arrives, barreling through Vercoer's wall and giving Vega a giant window to the pot. She doesn't hesitate; before Vercoer can recoup, Vega sinks a longshot for three points. 4 - 11, still favoring Vercoer.

With Samaniego back on the ground and unable to count how many fingers Vercoer's Healer is holding up, they decide to sub her out for JV's Wolff. Don't worry, Samaniego, you're young, you'll shake that concussion!
00:27:00 - 00:28:29 : As soon as Fuentes gets the next possession, she has a target on her back. De Witt and Webberley split her off from the others, forcing her toward the sidelines. Long arms and big shoulders block her every attempted shot, pass, and escape route. When the Quod finally blows, all three of them get a taste of that hot sauce, but it's Fuentes who's butt is on the bench.
00:28:30 - 00:30:59 : Toft’s shot is blocked by Zettler swinging in from above and swiping the Quod with a wink and a polite “thank you” before hurling it directly to Duke. Oh, it could have been such a classic move if that bomb didn’t immediately explode on Duke, making her the first Peckenpaugh player without a head injury to take the bench.
00:31:00 - 00:35:29 : Desjardins is headed for the goal and Deverill is determined to stop him. Slippery as he is he just cannot get past the Wildgulch Sparrow, and they both wind up looking like tasty snacks when the Quod blows. Slippery Desjardins is out of the game. There still ain’t a lot of breathing room on the pitch, though, and the next Quod to come out leads to a pile up: Lachance, Gildersleeves and Clapsaddle all come at a stranded Stenger from the same angle, but instead of passing, Stenger zips through the confusion and makes a dive for the pot. It's good, racking up another point for Vercoer. Now 4 - 12—just unnecessary, Vercoer.
00:35:30 - 00:39:59 : Trailing well behind now, Peckenpaugh's captains Horvat and Gildersleeves convene to reconsider tactics. A brief time out is called and the bands blare fight songs as both teams convene by their benches. Whatever pep talk Peckenpaugh receives from their captains seems to have done the trick: Appalachia's Fighting Critters return to the pitch with renewed intensity. Frisk may get the Quod first, but she doesn’t get far before De Witt and Webberley are on her. Despite a good effort, Lachance just can't break through those defenses. Frisk tries to pass to him, but De Witt effortlessly plucks the ball from the air and gets it to Clapsaddle to take up the pitch. She makes a break for it, but the Quod has other plans: a heaping helping of hot sauce benches her halfway there.
00:40:00 - 00:42:59 Xu has the Quod, but she’s all alone, blocked from all angles by Rider and Wolff. Cornered and desperate, she presses flat to her broom and dives through their legs. Wolff takes advantage of the lapse in judgment and scoops the Quod right out of her hands, sending Xu into a spin out. With only a moment to act before Xu recovers, Wolff doesn't have a lot of time to line up a shot. Peckenpaugh's crowd holds its breath as the Quod soars to the pot and bounces once, twice on the rim... then finally drops in. It's good! And Wolff picks up three points for Peckenpaugh to a deafening roar from the stands.
00:43:00 - 00:52:59 : Zettler tries to narrow that point gap further, but Mondragon isn't about to let Peckenpaugh get comfortable. She snakes up as he shoots, grabbing the Quod right out of the air and spirits it up pitch to Peckenpaugh's pot for a single stolen point. Mondragon tries a repeat performance in the next round, but Deverill aggressively yanks it away, the wrestling match gets ugly, but Deverill manages to shoves it in De Witt’s hands. De Witt won't let anyone else touch the ball; broom pointed directly at the pot, he barrels through all obstacles. No one can stop De Witt, and that Quod makes for a fine gumbo at the other end of the field. With the game at 9 - 13, Peckenpaugh's claws are really out.
00:53:00 - 00:55:29 : Stenger gets his hands on the next Quod and things get heated. Deverill pursues, but gets knocked for a loop by Borg. Stenger's not clear, though. Gildersleeves, De Witt and Horvat are all still in hot pursuit. He tries to shake them with a steep dive to no avail. They're blocking his exits, all streaking toward the ground—and then Quod explodes. A coating of sauce shouldn't be too much of a problem, but somethings up with the self-cleaning charms in place on Peckenpaugh's goggles. It's hard to know when to pull up when all you can see is red, and both Stenger and Horvat slam into the ground. It's a wonder De Witt and Gildersleeves don't follow suit, though their landings are only slightly less turbulent.

A timeout is called for everyone to assess their damages. Goggles are replaced, the originals taken by Healer Greatheart for investigation. De Witt and Gildersleeves are more grass-stained than anything, but the Healer insists Horvat and her two broken wrists take a seat. In her place, JV’s Ahn takes the pitch.
00:55:30 - 00:57:59 : Barely more than a minute later the audience gets another reminder of how dangerous broomsports can be. Wolff is headed down pitch, flanked by too many opponents to risk taking a shot, when Mondragon throws herself between Wolff and the pot. Quod raised, Wolff takes aim anyway, showing no signs of pulling up. The dramatic collision is further complicated by an explosion of red sauce. Both the girls crash into the pot, and there’s a sickening crack as Mondragon’s arm hits the pot. Wolff is eliminated and takes the bench, while Mondragon is subbed out for JV’s… Mondragon? Well, that’ll certainly make it easier on the announcer.
00:58:00 - 01:02:59 : Xu fumbles a pass to Borg, letting the Quod loose. Rider's there to make a dive for it, but he’s cut off by a quick Lachance. Spinning in from just below, Lachance spirits the Quod away leaving Rider to break away to avoid a collision. No dice, he winds up slamming into Vroom, anyway. The crowd yells as the two of them go tumbling into the benches, hot sauce-covered players scrambling to get out of the way, and Lachance’s Quod showers them all with more spicy seasoning.

Rider’s fall seems to have been broken by Vroom, and try as he might, Vroom can’t quite hide that broken nose from the Healer. He’s taken out for JV’s Zilberschlag.
01:03:00 - 01:03:59 : Webberley tries to be a team player and share the Quod with Deverill, but winds up elbowing her in the face when the Quod explodes in his hands shortly after instead.
01:04:00 - 01:08:59 : Despite some difficulties, sharing is still caring for Peckenpaugh. Deverill shows Webberley how it’s done when she successfully juggles the next Quod down pitch with Zettler and Ahn. It's a fight the whole way, with Xu managing to separate Zettler from the others. Zettler can’t be sure how much time this Quod still has, and without thinking twice (or possibly even once), he jets abruptly upward away from the others and narrowly avoiding Xu's grabbing hands. It's a longshot, but the Quod finds the pot with a brilliant splash and three more points are earned for Peckenpaugh, bringing the score to 12 - 13.
01:09:00 - 01:12:59 : As the game stretches further past the one hour mark, Xu gets cocky. She's in the perfect position to score, but she doesn't anticipate De Witt getting in the way. He's the only one close enough to stop her, and he does, throwing himself in front of the pot and catching the Quod squarely in his chest. A full blast of hot sauce follows, De Witt sacrificing himself to avoid another Vercoer point. His eliminated teammates meet him with cheers on the bench. The game's still going, though, and seconds later, when Xu tries to shoot again, Deverill slams that Quod right back in her face with a vengeful shout. It’s not like Deverill cares about De Witt getting eliminated. It's just the epic highs and lows of high school Quodpot.

The Quod bouncing right back in Deverill’s own face before exploding was, unfortunately, entirely unplanned. Welcome to the bench, Felicity.
01:13:00 - 01:15:29 : The next couple Quods are quick and merciful: Zettler and Vega get sauced in the face when they try to wrestle the Quod out of Xu’s hands, but Xu's the one who takes the bench. The pitch is an absolute mess of red. Not only are brooms and Quods getting harder to hold on to, with Vercoer's colors matching the Quod filling, it's difficult to tell who's on which team. The crowd's screams are starting to come in delayed as they aren't sure whether to cheer or boo various plays. Still, Rider manages to get the Quod to Zettler and when it almost slips from his fingers, he pawns it off on Vega, another player struggling not to slide off her broom. It’s chaos, made more chaotic by the addition of more hot sauce, and Vega is just ready for a shower when she finally gets the ax.
01:15:30 - 01:20:59 : At an hour and fifteen minutes, Rider is again trying to cling to that Quod, but Frisk and Toft pin him down and force him to make a desperate move. Inching closer and closer to the sidelines, Gildersleeves and Ahn too far away to help, Rider dead drops right out of their grasp and makes a pass to Zettler. Frisk intercepts and tosses the Quod up the pitch to the second Mondragon. Gildersleeves doubles back to protect the pot, but not fast enough, and Mondragon hits a layup to bring the score up to 12 - 15 for Vercoer.
01:21:00 - 01:21:59 : Somewhere between Zilberschlag and Toft, the Quod disappears, and it's a second before anyone sees where it's gone. Flying high above their heads, Zettler's the one with the ball, having intercepted a pass at lightning speed. It's a beautiful moment with a clear shot at the pot. Unfortunately, the celebratory cheers from the stands are cut short when the Quod goes off like a sloppy firework in Zettler's hands.
01:22:00 - 01:27:59 : With twice as many Vercoer players on the field as Peckenpaugh, it’s easy for the Critters to get split up. Gildersleeves has to scrap to get the Quod, then finds himself with no one to get it to, Rider and Ahn pinned down in the far reaches of the field. Walkenhorst snatches the Quod as Gildersleeves makes the decision to carry it himself, just in time for it to blow up in both of their faces. With Walkenhorst gone, Gildersleeves succeeds in the next round; the few extra seconds of breathing room gives him just enough time to line up an outside shot. With that, the game is tied at 15 - 15.
01:28:00 - 01:33:29 : Creeping up on an hour and a half, the remaining players on both sides are looking rough. Frisk is on a path to the pot with a bruised and weary Gildersleeves on her tail. He still has enough in him to kick that broom into high gear, intending to battering ram her, but just before they collide, Frisk banks left and drops the Quod to Mondragon. Mondragon hand delivers the Quod to the pot as Gildersleeves sails by ineffectively, and Vercoer just barely takes back the lead at 15 - 16.
01:33:30 - 01:36:59 : Ahn's still got some energy in him. He denies Mondragon the Quod when she goes for it again, steaing it right out from under her nose. He takes off toward the pot, swinging wide around the players left on the field, but Zilberschlag catches up to him, intent on forcing him out of bounds. Thinking he’s got a clear pass to Rider, Ahn makes a wild throw—which blows as soon as Zilberschlag slaps it. The skies get that much clearer seconds later when the next Quod ruins Borg's chance at greatness within moments of being introduced to the pitch.
01:37:00 - 01:39:59 : One point apart, with three players a piece left on the field, this game could go either way. The players may be tired, but the people in the stands are eating it up. Gildersleeves is determined to hold it together out here, and though Frisk blocks his shots and Toft his passes, he refuses to give up. The fight goes on, and Gildersleeves's relentlessness seems to be paying off, but the moment he's opened a path for a shot, the Quod blows. Didn't even have time to decide on a dance.
01:40:00 - 01:42:29 : It's 2v3 but Rider is undaunted. He's able to nab the Quod before Toft, and he and Ahn stick close together as they shoot up the nearly empty pitch. Ahead of them, Frisk takes aim, diving into their path, forcing them away from each other and the goal. They split, Rider diving down, Ahn climbing higher, and Frisk can’t tell which one has the Quod. She chooses Ahn, tearing after him as he races away from her. Her guess is right, but she hardly needs to claim him, when moments later drops of hot sauce rain down from above.
01:42:30 - 01:46:23 Once again, Rider finds himself the last Peckenpaugh player on the field. The Quodpot gods see fit to bless him when forty-five seconds after Ahn is removed, Toft gets the quod and hot sauce bath.

One against two is no less intimidating, but Rider has been here before. Mondragon and Frisk may easily take the next quod, but Rider won’t let them get any more points. Quick and slippery, he squeezes between the two girls to steal their pass, disappearing in the opposite direction before they can even react. Mondragon eventually closes the distance, but he dodges her hands and swings around Frisk as she throws herself in his path. His heart is pumping and his hands are sweating as he speeds toward the goal, getting bigger, closer, until he can almost smell the solution.

Rider lifts the Quod to shoot, and there’s an explosion of hot sauce.

🎉
🎉
🎉
🎉
🎉
VERCOER WINS
15 - 21!

what's next?Please keep all Quodpot game spoilers under an lj-cut for 24 hours after the game is posted! Whether you're an athlete, a band member, a cheerleader or a fan in the audience, we encourage you to post a reaction or thread below. :)

WELCOME TO VERCOER ACADEMIE! This is an AWAY GAME which means Peckenpaugh's Quodpot players, school cheer squad, marching band, and any students that decided to tag along get five hours to futz around semi-supervised in the Bayou Sauvage/New Orleans area. The Yeehawls are scheduled to leave by 8PM, with return to Peckenpaugh anticipated by 11PM.

We've established a few set pieces below, including an "AROUND NEW ORLEANS" header for scenes that fall somewhere specific within the city. Please assume that while students are being trusted to be responsible, there is probably a chaperone nearby, whether school staff, town NPC, or helpful parent volunteer. If you'd like to run off and get up to something naughty, dropbox us to get a roll.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was a good game, played well, even if they hadn't won. He has a lot of people to congratulate and bounds around after the game to do it. Most especially, though, Tybalt makes a point to shake his curls, which by the time this is all over could buffalo about a million wings, into the newly ungoggled opponents' eyes as he claps them on the shoulder in congratulations.

Justice, sometimes, is very petty.

Oh, that was...a lot. Adrian has been doing his best to hide a limp from Healer Greatheart, not wanting any gross smelly herbal thing smeared anywhere, and the smile he wears when the game finally ends when he greets the other team's captains again is held with gritted teeth. It's more a bruised body than a bruised ego. Peckenpaugh fought hard, and they're going to keep fighting for at least four more games. As loses go, this was a good one.

There were certainly some points to practice on — picking out fake out passes and feints, handling slippery equipment — but those are worries for practice. Right now, with every sauce-covered hand high fived and the field emptying, the first order of business is a shower.

Presley hadn't expected his cousins to talk to him before the match. For one thing, they're busy Quodpot captains, and second, there are few things that the Mondragon twins love more than to treat him like dirt underneath their shoe. One time, when they were ten, Eden and Eve spent two weeks pretending that he was invisible. Frankly, Presley would've welcomed a second round of that game, but the two girls cross the field while the cheer team is warming up. Eve wears her hair in a sharp bob and Eden has a high ponytail, but otherwise they're identical, strong and confident in their movements, with doll faces and determined eyes. Presley is taller, but not by much.

"Presleeeey!" Eve Mondragon yells. "Are you playing today?"

As though Presley isn't obviously wearing a cheer uniform. "No," he says coolly.

"That's right, you have a fear of heights." Eden bounces the handle of her broom against her shoulder. The brand new paint job, Vercoer red, gleams in the sunlight. "Honey, are you going to be okay with all those somersaults?"

"I don't—" Presley bites down on his response, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing him get angry. "Please. If it's a crime to not want to be bathed in hot sauce, then hand me to the authorities."

Eve ignores him. "Edie, don't be mean. It's better that Presley can't play! Vercoer goes hard, and I'd hate to see him get hurt out there."

"Worry about yourselves," Presley says in the same sweetly insincere tone. "You clearly haven't seen our team in action yet. Peckenpaugh is more than capable of taking you out."

Eden grins. "Ooh, so confident. How about we put money on it? If PP can beat my team, then I'll give you twenty-five dragots—"

"Same if you beat Junior Varsity," Eve chimes in.

"And if PP loses both matches... well, you're the guest here. You can give us twenty-five dragots instead of fifty. Fair?"

Presley's jaw clenches. He doesn't have that kind of money, and they know it. "Gambling is against the rules. Don't you two have reputations to maintain as school captains?"

Eve laughs, so loudly that it draws people's attention. "Oh my god, you still have no sense of humour."

"This is boring." Eden takes her sister's arm, and starts tugging her away from the Peckenpaugh cheerleaders. "Come on, we can't let them deliver a pep talk without us. Good luck, Pressy."

Eat shit, he thinks. "Good luck, Edie," Presley says, with as beatific a smile as he can manage. "Evie."

He doesn't turn his back on them until they're clear out of hexing distance.

ALRIGHT QUOD KIDS! You're going to need a shower after that one, and Vercoer's impressive facilities certainly provide. There's plenty of time to see sights and stuff your face, so get out there and snack!

Students have about five hours to kick around the Vercoer-Bayou Sauvage-New Orleans area. (We are hand-waving that your kids are safe and supervised.) They'll need to meet up at the Yeehawl Station to head home by 7:30PM.

Edited 2020-01-04 20:40 (UTC)

The pitch, used dually for Quidditch and Quodpot, is just north of campus and it's a short walk back to civilization. Vercoer Academie is a lovely campus, all French Creole architecture, tightly packed buildings lining narrow brick streets, all splashed with bright blues and greens, warm oranges and reds. It looks a bit like a miniature version of New Orleans's French Quarter. Every multi-level building features wrap around decks and wrought iron fencing, some of which is living, animated to writhe. It looks decidedly worm-like, which is appropriate considering the ver in Vercoer. The campus is much smaller than Peckenpaugh, concentrated across a couple of blocks and ringed by the village of Bayou Sauvage. It's difficult to tell where the school ends and the town begins with this arrangement, but somehow it makes the tiny town feel so much more metropolitan than Peckenpaugh's college campus-style arrangement.

Vercoer is a three House school, with each house seeming to fall under Sun, Moon or Star iconography. The motifs feature prominently throughout the campus, celestial objects fashioned from copper, bronze and steel, draped with moss and ivy and arranged seemingly without rhyme or reason. Instead of one central classroom building, classes seem to be conducted across several smaller buildings, some of which are open to explore and decorated with pieces of Vercoer and New Orleans history.

It's a nice day. Unfortunately, true to their reputation, most Vercoer students seem to know just how much more exclusive their school is than Peckenpaugh, and campus visitors may find they're dealing with a bunch of condescending space alien nerds. Thankfully, unlike the school's students, the local residents of Bayou Sauvage are a great deal friendlier, funnier and more engaging. Just about everyone wants to stop for a chat, tell you about the town, and compliment players on "one hell of a game."

While the bright paint job persists throughout Bayou Sauvage, many windows are darkly tinted and lined with thick blinds. Some shops are even closed outright with hours posted for evenings, only! The reason for this becomes immediately evident: Bayou Sauvage has a significant vampiric population, and they need to take special precautions to protect their residents from the sun. Still, there are plenty of shops open, places to eat and explore. The local bakery is giving out free beignets to students of both Vercoer and Peckenpaugh, and there is, unsurprisingly, a jazz band playing outside the local bar where residents have gathered to grab lunch and discuss the game.

Vampire Hunting With Chanel (Open!)

necrodanseuse - 2020-01-05 04:00 (UTC) - Expand

Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani

teratophilia - 2020-01-05 07:14 (UTC) - Expand

Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani & Eddy

quidditched - 2020-01-05 14:44 (UTC) - Expand

Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani & Eddy

necrodanseuse - 2020-01-05 16:47 (UTC) - Expand

Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani & Eddy

teratophilia - 2020-01-05 19:50 (UTC) - Expand

Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani & Eddy

quidditched - 2020-01-06 01:18 (UTC) - Expand

Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani & Eddy

necrodanseuse - 2020-01-06 02:39 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Vampire Hunting With Chanel & Armani & Eddy

teratophilia - 2020-01-06 02:51 (UTC) - Expand

Beignets (OPEN++)

numerologest - 2020-01-05 20:40 (UTC) - Expand

Beignets and Quodboys

recordskip - 2020-01-06 07:05 (UTC) - Expand

Beignets and Quodboys

numerologest - 2020-01-07 02:07 (UTC) - Expand

Beignets & Oblivious Band Members

ohwormhole - 2020-05-08 22:15 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

infamously - 2020-01-07 22:52 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

bratsquatch - 2020-01-09 01:30 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

infamously - 2020-01-10 05:14 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

bratsquatch - 2020-01-12 19:18 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

infamously - 2020-01-13 00:12 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

bratsquatch - 2020-01-13 06:06 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

infamously - 2020-01-14 22:45 (UTC) - Expand

Presley & Felicity

bratsquatch - 2020-01-17 17:32 (UTC) - Expand

VERCOER ACADEMIE: Claudia the Vandal (OPEN)

nublada - 2020-04-24 23:34 (UTC) - Expand

Peckenpaugh's staff organizes a group trip to New Orleans proper, and while they could certainly portkey their way there, they decide to take the boat, instead. It proves to be the right choice, the ship is lovely and the weather is beautiful. A quick magical jaunt across Lake Pontchartrain will deliver students right into the arms of New Orleans proper. There's enough time to grab a snack or a mocktail and watch the water whisk by at the little cafe tables scattered around the deck.

The line between magical and mundane New Orleans is almost non-existent, making for a fascinating experience you won't find anywhere else. Muggles walk right past Apothecaries and Wandsellers tucked in beside restaurants and boutiques, not noticing them at all, only to turn right into shops clearly labeled as being for magic.

You've got five hours to eat as many po'boys and crawfish as you can, kiddos. Use this space to enjoy yourselves!