Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah 2018 - 10 Years of Thanksmas!

[Felandria]

Off to the side

The next Santa is preparing herself.

Her Little rock puppy, Pebbles, has his adorable little hat on and everything.

And, in addition to whatever perfect gifts come out of the magic sack, she has a stack of play cards for The Olympian Barcade and Restaurant ready to give out to the kiddies.

[Earl of Purple]

Gnome & Goblins

"You haven't played hide & seek with him. I have, several times. I wondered how he always found me so quick." Pookie appreciates Brinika sticking up for him, though! So much so he tries to give the goblin girl a very sticky hug. Brinika probably knows his hugs are always sticky by now, though. So if she wants to avoid getting sticky she can try warding him off. "That might work." Cheasadh quite likes that idea, although I don't know who has longer legs. That may prove an advantage.

Elsewhere, Headed to a Cauldron

Alfred and Ben are going to one. Somebody else might be there, but he's mainly going because he's thirsty. Alfred is a young man with brown hair and a sparse beard, with green eyes. Also human. He's wearing a pair of thick work trousers and a thick black jacket, with a brown satchel over the side. His one nod to the festival is a bright white-and-red striped hat on his head. Sat on his shoulder is a little plant-thing with a big yellow head and two small leaves. The Bellsprout wouldn't enjoy wading through the snow much, so Ben's pretending to be a parrot for now.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Elfpocalypse!]

"I do," says the elf. "I usually prefer playing a more easy to carry instrument, but... 'tis the season."

She smiles, taking Anika's hand and shaking it. "My name's Rain. I was just about to get started. Are you also a musician?"



Meanwhile, wolves! Ugh, go away wolves. Can't you tell when a girl is trying to be anti-social and sullen? I mean, sure, you are awfully cute, but... appearances need to maintained! You can't just go around ruining a perfectly good sour mood by petting wolves.

Well, maybe just one pet wouldn't hurt. A small one. Maybe a few little ones.

patpat

[Shadowcaller]

[Elfpocalypse!]

Anika's handshake is firm and her hands are rather large for a woman's (even one that is about 7 feet tall). "Oh, I'd wish." She replies as she lets go of Rain's hand. "I love music, but I'm actually a druid, a shapeshifting one specifically, and turning into a bear would probably improve my singing voice. But let me tell you, if you need snake, bear or hawk noises to accompany your tunes, I'm your gal."

[5a Violista]

Campfires and Cauldrons

The fox tries it. It certainly smells good, so...he starts drinking. Awen never lets him drink something like this, so that must be why he likes it so much. He makes a barking sound.

Awen was about to say something, but then she realized she's still giving the fox the silent treatment.

Anyway.
The witch looks down at her own drink. She drinks it.

...
It's a bit too strong for her.

She takes another drink from her mug.

Nope, still to strong.

One more drink, though?

[Deathkeeper]

[Dragons and Dragon-blooded]

"Yup! My pip-drake does everything! It's the coolest! I got it for Thanksmas two years ago!" Nick says proudly, showing off his wrist-computer.
Nick can't speak with animals like Nav. He can only speak to aquatic things.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Dragons and Dragon-blooded]

Karaglen could probably have been doing a few different things here.
Setting up snacks for easier transportation away from the sleigh. Quipping at Navvy's need for more warm clothing if he doesn't want to be a dragon-cicle. Complimenting Nick Jr.'s super cool mega-watch.
But instead, she's mostly just standing there with her jaw metaphorically on the ground for several seconds, staring at Navvy.

Then at the wolves.
Then at Navvy again.
"YOU CAN TALK TO THEM?!"

[Rebonack]

[Dragons and Dragon-blooded]

"They say it would be the bee's-knees to help you hand out the treats, KarAH!"

Navvy starts a bit when his sister suddenly shouts at him.

It's like surprising a cat. That sort of half-jump they do, realizing part way through panicking that they aren't actually in any danger.

His eyes flick from his sister, to the wolves, and then back again. "Yeeeeeah?" he replies, drawing out the word a bit. "All metallic dragons have got keen stuff they can do. Silvers walk on clouds. Coppers can walk on the ceiling like a spider. And bronze dragons like me can breath under water and talk to animals. My friend Nymmurah taught me about other dragons, she's-" he looks a little downcast. "Well... she was really nice. She was a really nice dragon."

He takes a deep breath and wipes a little tear away with his wing.

Gotta steel his resolve a bit, here.

"The wolves will help. Golly, this is going to be so swell. Who should we give treats to first?" he asks, looking around the gathering. There are a bunch of other children. And a WHOLE bunch of elves! Geeze, look at all those elves!

Meanwhile!

"Yeah, I... um... I hope it turns out okay for them," Zee replies to Calm Reed. Not really sure what else to say here. "I figured you wouldn't be able to use the path I found. But mostly I just wanted you to know there ARE paths back to your home. Probably lots that I don't know about. So maybe you'll be able to return some day."

Hope.

Zee is dealing in hope, here.

[bc56]

Moping around a campfire

"That sounds a lot better than sitting in this cold." Admittedly, he doesn't care about suntans, and his issues with skating extend to surfing and other such sports. "I could do with a bite to eat. What do you say?"

[5a Violista]

Moping around a campfire

"That sounds a lot better than sitting in this cold." Admittedly, he doesn't care about suntans, and his issues with skating extend to surfing and other such sports. "I could do with a bite to eat. What do you say?"

[Moping around a campfire]

"Sure," she says. Juliana looks down in her hands at the wrapped brownie plate. "All I've really had to eat are these brownies that a cute little dragon gave me."

Then, she looks around. "Luckily, the food tables are right here so we don't have to go far." She stands up and steps across her seat towards the nearest table. "So much of it looks really good, I can't decide. What are you going to get?"

[bc56]

Moping Around a Campfire

Tethrik doesn't reply.
He's too busy loading his plate with turkey, ham, and roast beef, as well as a few brightly colored sugar cookies.

[billtodamax]

Snowgoblin

I guess it's different cause he can see ghosts? Olon asks, patting a bunch of dirt and grass in place for the beard. When we become wizards we're gonna cast a spell so we can see ghosts too. She adds confidently. We'll cast a whole bunch of spells! We're gonna be able to make snowdwarves with a snap of our fingers. Endok adds. He glances over at his sister works and turns back to the goblins. Do goblins get beards?

Cauldrons and Campfires

Hey hey hey yeah that's enough. Save some for me alright? Violet says, pulling the drink away from the fox and taking another long draught for herself, before refilling her cup. She finds a nearby log and sits down. Ay! There we go! Regular booze hound here. Violet says to Awen, motioning with her cup (and spilling a little on the ground). It's good eh?

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Ithuriel's Sleigh]

Yes, Khannie definitely deserves something special. Santa Thuriel winks as she reaches back into the sack, pulling out one, two, three things.

"First, a sack full of coal from the sack full of gifts!" She offers the sack across - a small, plain white sack, filled with perfectly rounded pieces of coal, just the right size to be snowman eyes, snowman buttons, whatever they need to be.

"Second, I absolutely must do something extra-special for you for being so kind-natured. So, I'm making you an official assistant!" She hands over a spotless red uniform; coat, trousers, gloves, hat and boots and belt and all, all somehow neatly arranged on a single hanger, just the right size for Khannie. But this isn't just a costume, oh no! As an Official +1 Assistant's Outfit, the wearer is granted magical protection and an aura of joy that should warm even the coldest of hearts - but only as long as the assistant is acting with the intent to spread joy.

"Santa can't be everywhere at once, and I spend a lot of my time helping the young and old in unfortunate circumstances in Inside. But with this-" The third item! A plain brown sack - a lesser sack of joy! Though not as big or as powerful as the sack behind Santa Thuriel, this little sack is still good for 100 gifts for children, plenty for our budding assistant to pass on the Thanksmas cheer! "You can give the children in Skyside- or anywhere else for that matter- all the gifts yourself! And your official assistant's uniform will make sure you'll come to no harm in your assistant's duties. Enjoy!"

Hopefully Khannie puts her gifts to good use as Santa Thuriel sets her down and nudges her on her way. Now where did her own assistant get to? "Ambriel? Ambriel, where did you run off to?" She sighs and gets up out of the sleigh, vacating it for the next Santa to step into with one last "Ho ho ho!" for good measure as she dashes off to track down Ambriel.

[Felandria]

Noo Santa!

The next Santa is already here as Felandria Claus takes the seat.

Merry Thanksmas, everyone!

Who’s next?

[Rebonack]

[Santa! ==> Snow Goblins]

Khannie takes the sack of coal, a bit puzzled when Santa starts fetching other stuff, too. Didn't she just say that Santa should give her gifts to the poor children?

And then Ithuriel explains what the second sack and the little uniform are for.

Khannie gasps, her little hands going to her cheeks in delighted shock, her mouth a great big 'O'.

"OHMYGOSH that's so COOL!" she exclaims with unchecked glee, gathering up her uniform and giving Santa a hug. "I promise I'll be the best Santa assistant ever Missus Santa!"

No sooner do her feet touch the ground, Khannie is racing back toward her friends babbling out what just transpired.

"Guys guys! I went to talk to Santa to get a bag of coal for snowman faces since Santa gives coal to bad kids I thought she would have lots of extra and she wanted to know what I wanted for Thanksmas but I told her I didn't need anything because I was thankful for what I have and that she should give my gift to the poor kids at Skyside but then she gave me the coal AND this Santa uniform and a bag full of gifts for poor kids and now I'm going to go to Skyside and make all the kids there happy because they've never had a Thanksmas before!"

She sounds very excited about this.

Somewhere in the middle of that explanation she'll hand the bag of coal over to Olon.

[Recaiden]

[Raril and Nadas]

Raril gives his son a curious look, frowning. "I don't want to give my sister any more power than she already has." He replies, before going back to answer his previous question. "I don't think you were here when that big undead blight blew through. Got attacked by a woman, werewolf, killed her only to have her get up and attack me again, thanks to that blasted plague. Barely survived it. Wasn't sure if I deserved to. Never got myself healed properly to get rid of the infection in time, so now I'm stuck with the curse, such that it is."

"No, I think that was before my time, as it were."
Nadas shakes his head.
"That's just terrible. But what do you mean? Of course you deserved to survive." he gestures vaguely at his father.

"But speaking of curses - I need to know about my mother. Obviously I'm not well, and-" Actually, Nadas, I think you're hiding your demon-ness pretty well with your Thanksmas outfit. It's just the red arm that's giving you away now, and that could be a garden-variety fashion statement.

[Frozen Pond]

Kikkawa is in her early 20s, so she's only been skating for about two decades. She's done well in a bunch of competitions, though. Probably would've won even more if she hadn't run away into a random unknown portal to get out of therapy.

"So what's your homeworld like?" she asks.

She continues skating as they converse; not point in standing on the ice and not skating! At the moment, she's skating backwards so that she can keep on facing Tavlii.

"Mine was pretty normal," she says, even though she has no frame of reference to define what "normal" is, anyway.

Tavlii takes to skates as well, of course. That's what the ice is for. At the moment she's fine facing forwards.

"Well, pretty normal, I'd say. Just before I was born, there was a war that sunk the east part of the world into the ocean. It's all old folks talk about. There were more walking dead, and fewer birds."

[Morty]

[Deer and Hobgoblin][

"That's fine. The season's not over yet," Batu says. If Div wants to get him something, he won't mind, though he'll have to come up with something in exchange. "Besides, everyone who comes here is entitled to a gift from... I think it's some winter spirit that takes many forms, called Santa. That includes both of us." He pauses. "And I guess I can explain what cards are later."

[Snow Goblins]

"Some of them do," Blaggut says.

"Not many, though," Oortka adds. "Just some very old goblins. Our grandpas don't have beards."

Then Khannie arrives and... talks a great deal. The two goblins and one woblin just stare at her in confusion.

[Dragons and Dragon-blooded]

"Maybe I will, Dragons willing." The monk sighs. "But let's not dwell on my troubles, shall we? This is supposed to be a joyous occasion. And it seems your children and their friend struck a rapport with the wolves."

[Drow, Wolves and More]

The wolves accepts the sullen young drow's pets happily. She sees through the lie that is her sulky attitude. You love the cute wolfies, drow.

Still more conspire to make her social. A young goblin is header her way, likely accompanied by a young human.

"Hi!" the goblin says brightly. "Those wolves sure are friendly, aren't they?"

[Zefir]

Cauldrons and Campfires

"Excuse me" the stone scorpion asks the two. "Is one of those small once yours"
He points with his sting at the kids around Santa

[Earl of Purple]

Drow, Wolves, Goblins & Humans

A young human is with the young goblin! She's older than when she arrived, due to Mysterious Reasons that nobody should notice. She's a sixteen-year-old with black hair and green eyes, wearing a pair of hiking-boots, thick tights and a green skirt with a design of red and white berries, as well as a red woollen jumper with a green holly leaf design. Slung over her back is a battered red rucksack. She's going to ask Santa for a new one at some point, but not yet.

She's going to stroke one of the wolves. "Yeah, they're really fluffy too."

Tieflings, Cloves & Oranges

Jack approaches! She's a human-seeming woman, aged somewhere between eighteen and twenty-four, she's hard to age. She's got black hair, pale skin, grey eyes and a pair of black wings with a pair of grey eyes in the middle joint. She's wearing a red knee-length dress with a furry hem, with a pair of white stockings underneath and a pair of black hiking boots. She's wearing a red cardigan with holes for her wings, just to keep warm because it's a bit chilly here and her dress isn't very well-insulated. "Hi, what's with the orange?"

[Murkus]

[Deer and Hobgoblin][

"That's fine. The season's not over yet," Batu says. If Div wants to get him something, he won't mind, though he'll have to come up with something in exchange. "Besides, everyone who comes here is entitled to a gift from... I think it's some winter spirit that takes many forms, called Santa. That includes both of us." He pauses. "And I guess I can explain what cards are later."

Div gives up searching after a moment or two, lowering his hands to his sides. "Well, alright then! Should we go and see the Santa right now?" He asks boisterously. The young buck might offer to take Batu's hand and head over toward Santa's throne, or at least the line leading up to it.

[5a Violista]

[Spilled Chocolate]

*continues waiting for the halfling*


[Moping around a Campfire]

Julianaka, not getting a response, sees what he's getting and starts to put things on her plate as well.
Mostly meat, like him, but a few other things too.

"Mmm, this is pretty good," she says as she sits back down.


[Cauldrons and Campfires]

Know what's hard to do?
Drinking while wearing a veil.
Know who has a lot of practice doing it?
Awen.

The fox, sad that he can't drink any more, just resorts to licking Violet's cheek.

Meanwhile, Awen obeys and sits down as well. "No, not really," she replies even though she takes another drink from her mug. She must be confused, obviously; if she didn't like it, why would she keep on drinking?

She hears the stone scorpion.
"Hm? Oh, hello," she says. She follows the stinger, and looks at the kids. "No, I don't have any kids." She looks back at Violet. "How about you? You know any of those kids?" she asks her, gesturing towards the same kids that the scorpion pointed at.


[Frozen Pond]

"You mean like Atlantis?" Kikkawa asks as she turns around and starts skating forwards again.

"I heard that's what happened to Atlantis. Got sunk to the bottom of the sea because the gods were mad, or whatever, adn then they kept on living there afterwards and everybody forgot about them."

No...that's not really exactly what she said. She just said that old people always talked about it.

She doesn't actually have any kids. Doesn't even have a boyfriend yet.

[Gullara]

[Amongst the Trees]

From one of the portals, Adir comes a'wandering, likely hand in hand with his flowery wife. The latter probably looks a little startling in the winter wonderland, but Adir fits right in. His hair is a snowy white, his antlers covered in velvet, his size abominable enough to be comparable to a real reindeer. Furthermore, he's even clad in festive dress. Or, half dress at least. Adir, too, lacks a shirt beneath that big fluffy fake-fur coat. The cold does not seem to bother him even a little.

"This is... kind of insane," Adir comments as he starts to look around. "Does somebody live here?"

[Amongst the Trees]

"I'm not sure, but I think so?" Sakura looks around with keen interest. The dryad is like a patch of spring among the snow. A splash of pale pink and rich green, without the fluffy white trim she'd be totally off theme. "It's so pretty, though. Someone put a lot of work into this." A bit more time than they've had at home recently. New babies typically eat all that up. It's a wonder they're here.

[bc56]

Moping around a campfire

"Yeah. Beats my cooking, that's for sure. Little overdone though." Tethrik says, biting into a leg of turkey before chewing it up, bones and all.

[5a Violista]

[Moping around a campfire]

"I think it's fine," Juliana says even though she is chewing on some food right now.

Seriously, someone should teach her how to not talk while eating.

"Maybe you're just better at digesting bacteria in meat or something," she says, as way of explanation. "Like a komodo dragon or a cat." She heard someone say something along those lines once, Maybe.

She swallows.
"This yam is pretty good. You should've got some." Only thing that would make this a perfect holiday meal is rice and black beans.

[Everybody Else]

Look 3 posts upwards

[Reinholdt]

Every Time A Bell Rings

Ambriel nods, takes the rhino, and vanishes into the skies! What's Thanksmas without a few surprises now and then, a bit of yuletide magic? Better time this just right, sail overhead and drop off the stuffed rhino directly in front of Atry, when she's least expecting a gift to inexplicably tumble down from the heavens (which is probably all the time). No good deed goes unrewarded when Santa Thuriel's running things around here, no sir.

Every Time a Bell Rings

Suddenly! A stuffed rhino with wings comes tumbling out the sky and lands in the snow in front of Atry with a soft poof! That was unexpected. The little girl stops in her tracks and stares at it as if unsure if it'll start moving. After a moment she wanders up to it and looks at it closer. Finding nothing unusual about it, she looks up into the sky trying to find the origin of the rhino.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Tieflings, Cloves & Oranges]

Kal smiles invitingly as he's approached.

"Here, take it and find out," he says, attempting to hand her the orange. If she takes it, the orange's magic will pass on knowledge of the game and how to play it. Convenient, that.

[Drow, Wolves, Goblins & Humans]

Indeed, they seem to have figured out her secret. The secret of the drow girl who is now also older than she was when she arrived, through similar powers of Mysterious Reasons.
She gives the goblin a suspicious and guarded look, but at the very least doesn't say anything untoward until the human arrives.
"They are very fluffy," she admits, her voice smooth and refined. "Are wolves normally this friendly?" She asks. Not normally a tunneling creature, wolves. Not a common encounter in Underdark caves.

[Elfpocalypse!]

Rain giggles at Anika's joke.

"Maybe not for any of my songs, but I do tell stories as well, and some of them have animals in them."

She looks Anika up and down... and then does it again, a little slower this time. There is rather a lot of her to look at, after all. "Can you really turn into a bear?" She asks, sounding very much impressed.

[Artemis97]

[Raril and Nadas]
"No, I think that was before my time, as it were."
Nadas shakes his head.
"That's just terrible. But what do you mean? Of course you deserved to survive." he gestures vaguely at his father.

"But speaking of curses - I need to know about my mother. Obviously I'm not well, and-" Actually, Nadas, I think you're hiding your demon-ness pretty well with your Thanksmas outfit. It's just the red arm that's giving you away now, and that could be a garden-variety fashion statement.

Raril waves a hand, dismissing the idea. Of course he deserved to survive, he'd come to terms with that now.

Then Nadas starts talking about his... Mother? oh dear... did he not know? The elder drow gets a sort of deer in the headlights look on his face. but then... "Wait, what do you mean you're not well? Nadas, what's wrong? What does this have to do with... your other parent?"

[billtodamax]

Snowgoblin

I guess we won't give the snowgoblin a beard then. Endok says, nodding. Looked pretty good to him!

Meanwhile Olon has finished up the snowdwarf's new beard when Khannie gets back.

Gosh that's a lot of talking.

While she talks Olon takes some coal for eyes before passing the bag to Endok, who does the same.

I don't know what skyside is but that seems fun! She also doesn't really understand the concept of a poor kid. Noone's really poor in Oshurfeb (Although confusingly, there are still nobles).

Cauldrons and Campfires

Ok, ok jeez I'll get you a cup too. Violet says as the fox starts licking her. And I'll get her a second one so she can make up her mind on whether she likes it or not won't I? She adds, standing up. Oh, but there is a scorpion to deal with.

Uh... no? God you get some weirdos here. What, you hungry or something? Chow down dude don't let us stop you. She says, as she refills her cup and grabs another couple for the fox and Awen.

[Shadowcaller]

[Elfpocalypse!]

"So I could reenact your stories, that sounds fun." Anika proclaims, giving Rain a confident smile as the bard is looking her over. "Oh you bet I could, it's a natural talent of mine. Just let me back away a bit and I'll show you..." She takes a step backwards and raises her index-finger. "Just remember, the un-bear-word is 'frosty'." Anika grins cheekily and winks at Rain just before she holds up her arms in the air and a green cloud-like substance envelops her.

As her form disappears within the cloud, the proclaimed bear appears once its gone, and if Rain though Anika was large her bear form is gigantic. A big cuddly mass of thick grey fur with a slight tint of teal to it. Just like Anika's hair color. It also have unusually long and pointed ears (for a bear) but nothing that would make one suspect its anything else than a really big grizzly bear.

Promptly sitting down, the bear clumsily waves at Rain while its sitting there like a enormous baby.

[Recaiden]

[Frozen Pond]

"You mean like Atlantis?" Kikkawa asks as she turns around and starts skating forwards again.

"I heard that's what happened to Atlantis. Got sunk to the bottom of the sea because the gods were mad, or whatever, adn then they kept on living there afterwards and everybody forgot about them."

No...that's not really exactly what she said. She just said that old people always talked about it.

She doesn't actually have any kids. Doesn't even have a boyfriend yet.

"Bigger than Atlantis. A whole country. And it was, I suppose, just other people who were mad at them." Also realer than Atlantis. At least to them.
"And just about everyone could do a bit of magic, but we didn't have nearly the technical advances and machines some people here have." Like electricity.

I feel like that line about the kids may have belonged to a different scene, but for completeness, we can say that Tavlii has at least one daughter, who was left to be raised by wolves. If she weren't wearing gloves for the cold you could easily see that she has a wedding ring on.

Marcie is skating loops elsewhere on the pond. She's actually not bad, much better form than when she got onto the ice. Except that like the centipede, if she thinks about what she's doing, she messes it up.

[Various Xar'Chas]

Raril waves a hand, dismissing the idea. Of course he deserved to survive, he'd come to terms with that now.

Then Nadas starts talking about his... Mother? oh dear... did he not know? The elder drow gets a sort of deer in the headlights look on his face. but then... "Wait, what do you mean you're not well? Nadas, what's wrong? What does this have to do with... your other parent?"

"My non-elven blood is killing me." That's not strictly true, Nadas. It's just replacing your body and warping your mind.
He refrains from any dramatic demonstrations for obvious reasons.
"It's been wearing me away faster and faster since last summer. I need to know everything I can in order to do something about it."
Ilpholin found a solution, but they're not on speaking terms. And Ilpholin ended up crazy, so he can't be too enthusiastic about whatever she did.