[Nexus] Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah 5: Now with Mall Santas!

[happyturtle]

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/mallsantas.jpg

The Mall. Is there anything more iconic of the Thanksmas holidays than rushing through crowds of harried shoppers, trying to fight with them to snatch the last Magbox U-station from the hands of a trampled Magbot?

No. No, there is not.

For its fifth anniversary, Thanksmas has sold out and gone commercial, setting up in the promenade of Mallside. A little Santa's Village has been set up around the fountain. There's a low fence separating the Village from the mall corridors - though once you step across the fenceline, you can see that the space is bigger on the inside.

The colourful fountain is now spraying coloured snow that leaves a blanket of white and red and green all around (though it magically vanishes if it's transported outside the Village to avoid puddles and slips for shoppers). There is a giant Thanksmas tree, sparkling with pretty lights. Here, Magbots dressed as elves frolic and play, building toys for good little girls and boys. Every day, if you listen closely, you can hear their screams of agonizing pain as they're forced to do this instead of kicking puppies or similar evil deeds.

In the centre of the village is a giant chair, where you can line up to have your picture taken with whichever Mall Santa is on duty and tell him, her, or it what you want for Thanksmasnewyearskwanzaakkah. Nine times out of ten, it'll be in the sack sitting beside the chair. The sack, like the village, is bigger on the inside.

There's also singing, candy, and all sorts of Thanksmasnewyearskwanzaakkah events, like the traditional Pin The Knife On The Duck.

Have fun!

Edit: Any character can roleplay as Santa Claus. Keep it silly and lighthearted and don't give away anything too powerful. :smallsmile:

Edit 2: All welcome here. It can be in canon or not for your character, as you choose.

2011 thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223677)
2010 thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177579#post9853861)
2009 thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134643)
2008 thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99465)


http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/avatars/wolfyclaws-1.pnghttp://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/Yitsockl/magtokgrinch-1.gif

[Morty]

And in the middle of all this merriment is Santa. This is a pretty small Santa, mind you. He does have the mandatory enormous belly, but he seems a bit challenged in the vertical department. Most of his face is hidden in a white beard, but it cannot conceal the big, bat-like ears poking from under the hat.

More importantly, this Santa is surrounded by wolves. Seven of them, two adult and five pups, who are almost fully grown. They're all wearing Thanksmas ribbons on their tails and necks and are lying comfortably around the Santa chair.

"Ho ho ho." :smallannoyed:

[Shadowcaller]

As Dipsig is sitting in his chair being generally grumpy there is a blue flash as a naked woman that looks like she just stepped out of a garbage pile (and smelling like it to) appears before the goblin and his wolves. "Hey! Do you know where I can find some 'clothes'? I'm kinda... naked."

[Morty]

Dipsnig glares at the woman. "No idea. I'm sure someone has something. Unless you want presents, I can't help you."
The wolves raise their heads and sniff at the woman. She smells weird.

[Shadowcaller]

"Ohhh! Presents can be clothes right? If so, I want some!" Libra exclaims, glad to have finally found someone to help her out with her cloth problem. The last six people she had talked to had been very rude.

[Morty]

"The rules say you need to sit on my lap," Dipsnig says in a tired voice. "But they don't seem to have taken Santas from properly sized species into account. So..." he reaches into the Santa sack, fishes around in it and pulls out a package containing, by the looks of it, a pair of jeans, a leather jacket, a green shirt and some underwear. "Here you go. Clothing."

[happyturtle]

Two little girls come running into the village. "Lottie! There's a naked lady!" Jefferies yells.

Lottie giggles. "She must be so cold! Let's build a snowman while we wait."

"Okay!"

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/9025/tek50ae92da1e9a02172902.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/51402941) http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4981/tek50ae93dec9d0b7420939.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/51402972)

[Morty]

Two of Santa Dipnsig's Thanksmas wolves - one boy pup and one girl pup - get up and trot over to the two little girls, sniffing at them with curiosity. They're pretty big by now - almost as big as adult wolves.

[Shadowcaller]

The woman stares at the clothes with a puzzled look before she looks up Dipsnig in confusion. "What? Am I supposed to put them on too?" She had never done that before!

[happyturtle]

Both girls squeal "Doggies!", but Jefferies is a squeal of delight, while Lottie's is a squeal of alarm. Lottie jumps up onto the fountain's edge for safety, while Jefferies jumps on the wolves for a bit of wrestling.

[Morty]

"Yes. Look, I'm the Santa, not an instructor in clothing. Sorry," Dipsnig says. At least he didn't hear the two girls call his wolves "doggies".

The two wolf cubs will gladly wrestle with Jefferies. They'll go as easy or hard on her as she wants, having been very well-trained.

[happyturtle]

Lottie lets out an ear piercing scream. Jefferies wrestles very enthusiastically, so from Lottie's point of view, her friend is being DEVOURED BY WOLVES!

From Jefferies point of view, she's having a jolly fine wrestling match. The fact that she uses nails and teeth and tusks shouldn't be any problem for the wolves, who are used to wrestling with each other. Despite all of Jefferies bravado, a pair of nearly grown wolves could actually tear her to bits if they felt like it.

[Shadowcaller]

"Hmph, well then I just have to try to put them on... elsewhere!" And with that both she and the clothes are gone in the same blue flash she appeared with.

[Morty]

Santa Dipsnig leans back in the chair, glad that the crazy naked woman is gone.
"Next please," he says, raising his voice.
The wolves will wrestle with Jefferies for as long as she wants. When she wishes to stop, they'll back away. They've been very well trained by Roxie and Dipsnig.

[Reinholdt]

Concerned parent number one: "Those dogs are attacking those little girls!"
Concerned parent number two: "What sort of shopping center lets this happen?!"
Concerned parent number three: "I'm going to tweet angrily about this instead of trying to save them!"

Murmurs of discontent rise up when Lottie screams. You have to be deaf not to hear that.

That's not to say that anyone does anything. And risk being held liable for something?

[Morty]

Santa Dipsnig sighs. Stupid human whelpling. Can't she tell that the pups aren't going to hurt anyone?
"Calm down over there," he says. "The wolves are harmless."

[happyturtle]

Lottie keeps jumping up and down on the fountain edge screaming hysterically. Something about how the doggies are eating her friend. She doesn't hear Santasnig's reassurances.

Jefferies is in her special happy orc place. Nobody is telling her that she's ruining her dress (which she is) or that she's going to hurt the doggies (which she isn't, but when it's just her vs Gorgutz, injuries can happen when they get too rough). She doesn't even register Lottie's screaming, let along Santasnig's weary words.

Presumably there's a parent of one of the girls nearby. Probably had to go to the loo and thought there was no way they'd get in trouble in Santa's Village.

[Morty]

Santa Dipsnig sighs wearily and whistles sharply. The pups stand up and go back to the Thanksmas Throne obediently.

[Reinholdt]

CP1: Wolves! They let dangerous animals roam free here? I'm never shopping here again.
CP2: Her parents should be ashamed of themselves, leaving their kids to be devoured.
CP3: This is going straight to Nextube.

Concerned parents then disperse and refuse to add anything else to this scene. Crazy people.

[happyturtle]

Once the wolves leave, Jefferies gets to her feet and Lottie stops screaming.

"Look, Lottie! Ders Sanna Claus! And he's a gobwin and der are no naked ladies annymore!" Jefferies announces.

Shame the CPs missed Naked Libra. They'd have had the vapors!

"But... the doggies will eat us!"

"No dey won't. Dey is nice doggies! Come on!"

Jefferies grabs Lottie by the hand and drags her to Santasnig. Lottie fearfully clambers up on Dipsnig's lap.

"Will they eat me?"

[Morty]

Dipsnig - who is not a whole lot taller than Lottie and not at all taller than Jefferies - manages a pleasant smile. Well, as pleasant as a goblin can manage, anyhow. Good thing he's got a fake beard.
"Of course they won't. See? They're perfectly friendly and won't do anything I tell them not to," he says.
The wolves are, indeed, lying around the chair lazily.

[happyturtle]

"Axe Santa for what you want, Lottie!" Jefferies urges.

Lottie grins. She's been thinking about this for a long time. "I want my own phone so I can call Jefferies and my other friends and it can take pictures and play music and I can play my favourite games on it." :smallbiggrin:

[Morty]

"I think the sack can manage that," Dipsnig says. He reaches into the depths of the large back and produces a shiny new Blackberry phone. Very shiny, in fact. It's pink and glittering. And covered in a white floral pattern. "Here you go." Well, at least that was easy.

[happyturtle]

"Thank you, Santa!" Lottie squeals, and hugs the goblin tightly. "It's so pretty!" :smallbiggrin:

[Morty]

Dipsnig is hugged. He handles it bravely. Why are human children so unreasonably big?
"Ho ho ho! It sure is. Go and enjoy your phone now. A lot of other kids want to get their presents." And it might get him off this chair faster, hopefully.

[happyturtle]

As soon as Lottie climbs down, Jefferies climbs up - and she's heavier than her friend. Poor Dipsnig!

"I dun has to axe for a mommy for Thanksamas acuz I gotted one now!" she announces to Dipsnig Clause.

[Morty]

x_o The orc kid is probably the universe's way of screwing with him after he internally complained about the human one. And she looks like she's from a different kind of orc than he's used to. By the looks of it, an even bigger kind.
"That's great. What would you like from Santa instead?" he asks, his voice somewhat strained.

[happyturtle]

"ROCKET SKATES!" :biggrin:

[Morty]

Dipsnig winces and his eyes droop. Not so loud, please.
"Ho ho ho. Let's see what the sack has for you then, shall we?" The goblin santa reaches into it and produces a pair of rocket skates. They're red, with stylized flames on them. While they look pretty cool, they are in fact rather kid-friendly, and won't make her go much faster than a bike.

[happyturtle]

"Da red ones go fasta!" Jefferies says in delight, but being less polite than Lottie, doesn't remember to say thank you. She jumps down and runs after Lottie, and the two girls continue to play in the snow.

[Morty]

Much to his relief, Dipsnig vacates the chair, which is ready for another victim Santa. The wolves continue to wander around the place though, offering Thanksmas pets.

At the same time, four other goblins enter the Thanksmas area. Brinika comes with her parents, as excites as ever. They are also accompanied by Reelshka, obviously.

[Lost_Deep]

After precisely 30 seconds of the chair being empty, it is filled by the ever-eager tech-savy non-robotic Eliza Hexadeicmal! She's wearing a fine and simple Santa outfit with a Santa hat easily three feet long, and as she settles into the chair Mannheim Steamroller begins to play in the background.

"Happy Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah, everyone! Step up and present your holiday wishes!"

[Morty]

Brinika wants to look for her friends and fun things to do in the Thanksmas area, but first things first. She has to get her present from Santa. She runs up to the chair and hops on Santa Eliza's lap.
"Hi Santa!"

[Lost_Deep]

"Hello there! And what do you want for Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah?" Eliza replies, matching Brinka's enthusiasm. And possibly confusing her slightly with her use of the holiday's full name.

[Morty]

Brinika has an answer ready for Eliza.
"I'd like a big dollhouse! My friend Natalie told me about them and they sound really cool!" she announces cheerfully.

[Lost_Deep]

"Well, then, let's see what santa has in the bag of gifts, hmm?"

Eliza will reach into the bag, and pull out a BIG box! It's an Amazing Auto Mansion! It's a dollhouse of the future, complete with an autobutler robot doll! And it has all kinds of little light and sound things and magnet goodies and is completely safe and also happens to be for dolls of Brinka's favorite size!

"Ho ho ho! Happy Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah!"

The box might be too big for Brinka to carry all by herself...

[Morty]

Brinika's father steps forward with a smile and takes the box, which Brinika watches with wide eyes and a huge grin.
"Weeeeeee! Thanks, Santa!" she squeals, trying to give Eliza a big hug.

[Lost_Deep]

"You are quite welcome! Happy Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah!"

Given Eliza's predictable (but totally nonrobotic, of course) tenancies, she'll probably continue to wish brinka a merry thanksmas until she leaves.

[Morty]

Brinika runs off to look for her friends. There'll be time to examine and/or show off the dollhouse later. Looks like her father is stuck carrying it around for the time being.

[Zefir]

A little green creature enters the village. Mr. C is fascinated by the lights that he miss the wolve he collide with. As he looks up they may notice his fear. Well hsi green vanish slowly as he turns white.

[happyturtle]

Jefferies waves. "Hi Brinika! I gotted ROCKET SKATES!" :smallbiggrin: She's carrying them by their tied together laces, as even Jefferies has figured out that skates and snow don't mix. "And dis is my fwiend Lottie from school, and she gotted a shiny phone! And dere is doggies here too!" :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

[Morty]

Brinika jumps up and town in excitement.
"Hi Jefferies! Hi Lottie!" She's very glad to meet a new person. "That's cool! I got a big doll house!" She waves in the direction of her father, who's leaning against the big box as he talks to Reelshka and Tralka. "And I think they're wolves, not dogs," she adds.

The female pup Mr. C walked into looks down curiously and sniffs at him.

[happyturtle]

Lottie is glad to meet Brinika, but is not a big fan of her news. :smalleek: "They're wolves? Jefferies, we have to run away! Wolves eat people!"

[Morty]

Brinika looks around. "They're not eating anyone. They're tamed wolves! I think they belong to a rich, grumpy goblin. Aunt Reelshka says he's got a lot of pet wolves. Or they could come from Underside Colony. We've got a lot of wolves there too."

[happyturtle]

"But what if they're NOT tame?!" Lottie screeches.

"Dey didn't eat us yet," Jefferies points out.

[Morty]

"Yeah!" Brinika nods. "They're just walking around and getting pets from people."

[happyturtle]

Lottie still seems unsure, but finally she says, "Let's make snow angels!"

"Okay!" Jefferies says, but as Lottie flops back in the coloured snow, Jefferies looks confused. "How does you build a angel?" Then she thinks again. "What is a angel?"

[Morty]

Brinika scowls and her ears twitch, which Jefferies probably recognized as a sign that the goblin owner of those ears is confused.
"I think angels are winged people, but I don't know how to make snow angles either."

[happyturtle]

"Like this!" Lottie demonstrates, with the arm and leg waving in the snow, then stands up to show them. "See? It left an angel imprint in the snow."

Jefferies kind of squints at it. "It looks like a Lottie, not a angel."

"It's an angel! These are the wings and these are the angel's robe!"

[Zefir]

Brinika jumps up and town in excitement.
"Hi Jefferies! Hi Lottie!" She's very glad to meet a new person. "That's cool! I got a big doll house!" She waves in the direction of her father, who's leaning against the big box as he talks to Reelshka and Tralka. "And I think they're wolves, not dogs," she adds.

The female pup Mr. C walked into looks down curiously and sniffs at him.

Mr.C looks back, the green of his skin gets white and he starts to sweat.
Bad moment. I shouldn't eat that steak Mr. C thinks.
He smells of steak and fear, not a real good combination in front of a wolf.

[Morty]

"Like this!" Lottie demonstrates, with the arm and leg waving in the snow, then stands up to show them. "See? It left an angel imprint in the snow."

Jefferies kind of squints at it. "It looks like a Lottie, not a angel."

"It's an angel! These are the wings and these are the angel's robe!"

Brinika squints as well and tils her head.
"I guess it does sort of look like an angel."


Mr.C looks back, the green of his skin gets white and he starts to sweat.
Bad moment. I shouldn't eat that steak Mr. C thinks.
He smells of steak and fear, not a real good combination in front of a wolf.

The wolf's tail swishes. This lizard-y thing smells of food. But Roxie told them that they shouldn't eat anything while in the Thanksmas area. It would be pretty awkward if they ate someone's pet. So the wolf only stands over Mr. C, unsure what to do.

[5a Violista]

Harley the Evil Shapeshifter enters this mall's holiday to see what's going on. Harley Zorzo is a woman who isn't particularly pretty. She has a scar running down her left cheekbone, and she has a very old sword across her back, rusted to a scabbard.

She stares at Eliza, who is dressed like Santa. Then, Harley makes a triumphant gesture. "I knew it! I knew that Santa exists. Take that, childhood upbringing!"

[Zefir]

Brinika squints as well and tils her head.
"I guess it does sort of look like an angel."



The wolf's tail swishes. This lizard-y thing smells of food. But Roxie told them that they shouldn't eat anything while in the Thanksmas area. It would be pretty awkward if they ate someone's pet. So the wolf only stands over Mr. C, unsure what to do.

Mr. C slowly starts to wave with his paw. Then he starts to speak in wolven language. It's possible that these wolves have another language then normal wolvs, but he can trie at last.

*bark*bark*
"Hello there!"

[happyturtle]

Jefferies decides to try it herself, and flops down to make a snow angel. When she gets up, her angel isn't as neat as Lottie's, but it is recognizable.

"I radder builded them." Jefferies says, and starts scooping up snow to build a snow-person.

[Morty]

"Oooooh! Good idea!" Brinika squeaks, bouncing up and down. She begins to help Jefferies with scooping up the snow.

The wolf's ears flick when the little green thing speaks in a language she can understand. She lowers her head and gives a short bark of greeting.

[Slii Arhem]

Mintbalm's wandered into the Thanksmas area with awe glimmering in her eyes. She didn't expect her trip to the mall to teach Vriveka (who's currently sharing biomass with her) a bit about the Nexus to wind up here in a holiday, but this is awesome!

See? Toldya things were different here. How many fey do you know who celebrate dates instead of just having a party whenever they feel like it? There's themes to it and everything. This one is about giving stuff, so do you want a gift from the Santa on the throne?"

[Lost_Deep]

You're the one with the body, you do it. Show me how it's done so I can do it... how often does this thing happen? Every month? Or just whenever snow falls?

Silly Vriveka. Doesn't know how humans base their things around years.

On the other hand, guess who's still on the Santa seat? Yes, Eliza greets Mintbalm quite happily! "Merry Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah!"

thankswhatnow?

[Slii Arhem]

The name of the holiday. It lasts for a month and a half at the end of the year. Mintbalm replies. She had no idea it was even coming up since she didn't really own a calender, but she knew the basics about it.

"Hi there, I'm Mintbalm! Happy Thanksmas to you too! Uhm, I've kind of got a crazy person living in me right now and I'm teaching her the meaning of Thanksmas. Mind helping out?" The pixie says as delicately as possible as she tries to gently half-sit on Eliza's knee. She's small, but she's not child-sized, so she doesn't want to cause any pain.

[Lost_Deep]

"The meaning of Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah?"

Eliza seems to zone out for a minute.

"Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah is, realistically, a conglomeration of several different holidays of varying traditions, time frames, and origins that have been mushed together into one celebration. This particular part of the celebration comes from a number of traditional sources of jolly men that give gifts! If you want a gift, just say what and I will try to pull it out of this huge sack of gifts!"

Blah blah huge sack of gifts I love it great idea I'll have to talk to the gloamings about it!

[Slii Arhem]

I'm pretty sure having them steal from the Thanksmas sack is against the rules. Anyway miss crazy-lady-in-my-head, what do you want for Thanksmas? I'm not sure I can get two gifts even with you in here, but I don't really need anything, so it's your turn this time! Mintbalm also zones out for a second, telling Eliza absently, "Hold on, I'm asking the Psycho what she wants."

[Lost_Deep]

"Of course, Take your time."

Pfft, I need less than you do. You need those human things like a house and whatnot, right? What could I need?

...

Yeah, what do you think I need?

[Slii Arhem]

...

"Right, she doesn't know either. Do you know anything you could get for an artist who gets bouts of random lack of creativity and flips out about it?" Mintbalm's not very hopeful with those vague guidelines, but maybe Eliza will know something she doesn't.

[Zefir]

"Oooooh! Good idea!" Brinika squeaks, bouncing up and down. She begins to help Jefferies with scooping up the snow.

The wolf's ears flick when the little green thing speaks in a language she can understand. She lowers her head and gives a short bark of greeting.

Well that's good for Mr C he could at last say some words the wolf understands befor ending as a meal.

*bark*bark*
"You won't eat someone speaking your language right?"

[happyturtle]

The little girls build a snow person, but whether it's a snowhuman, snoworc, or snowgoblin is anyone's guess. It's not likely to be identifiable as any of the three.

[Lost_Deep]

"Well, there is something for everyone if you know where to look!" Eliza pulls a large tablet out of the bag, with a red ribbon tied around it. "If nothing else, she can flip out anonymously!"

What is it?

[Morty]

Well that's good for Mr C he could at last say some words the wolf understands befor ending as a meal.

*bark*bark*
"You won't eat someone speaking your language right?"

The wolf pup shakes her head. Grandmummy told her not to eat anything in the Thanksmas village anyway.


The little girls build a snow person, but whether it's a snowhuman, snoworc, or snowgoblin is anyone's guess. It's not likely to be identifiable as any of the three.

Indeed. Much fun is had in the process of building it, though.

[Slii Arhem]

"Well, there is something for everyone if you know where to look!" Eliza pulls a large tablet out of the bag, with a red ribbon tied around it. "If nothing else, she can flip out anonymously!"

What is it?

Dunno, I guess you'll have to figure it out yourself. Maybe it'll even keep you occupied for a while." Mintbalm replies cheekily as she accepts the present.

"Do you think I could have something for myself too? I know it's not really normal for one body to get two gifts, but I did have one in mind if I was able to ask."

[Lost_Deep]

"Hmm...."

Eliza thinks for a minute. If mintbalm listens carefully, she might be able to hear an odd sound like a phone dialing.

Eliza seems to ponder for a moment. "Well, there can be an exception this once. What would you like for Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah?"

[Slii Arhem]

Mintbalm smiles beatifically, "A tophat that animates whatever you put it on into a happy singing golem!" She replies, eying the little snow-person that the three kids just made and plotting.

[Lost_Deep]

"Well, what do you know!" Eliza pulls a top hat out of the sack. "Look! You can even customize the playlist like an MP3player!" It's full of festive songs, of course.

When Mintbalm takes the hat, Eliza will try to slip a small slip of paper into Mintbalm's hand. It's a sheet with the names and contact numbers of a few psychologists, and the web address of some websites on dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia.

[The Bushranger]

It might, suddenly, be noticed that the line for people to meet Santa just got a little bit longer.

[Slii Arhem]

"Whoops, you nearly dropped this. Wouldn't wanted to forget who's naughty and nice, would you Santa?" Mintbalm pushes the list back into Eliza's hand with a wink, taking the hat and skipping over to the trio of little girls so she can slip it onto their snow-person's head.

[Lost_Deep]

The note is accepted back and disappears into a pocket or something. Probably better for everyone involved to pretend that never happened. Vriveka doesn't say anything, but does send Mintbalm a mental smirk.

Eliza's attention will then turn to the next person in line. "Happy Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah! What would you like this year?"

[The Bushranger]

Next in line happens to be a particualy bouncy, short, energetic redhead!

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/7091/tek50b94ec0081c86926075.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/52016842)

...and Dani skips up with a broad, happy smile to deposit herself in Santa's lap.
"Hi! I, um, actually want something for my wife..."

[Lost_Deep]

"Well, then, what would you like to give her for Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah?" Eliza reaches over to the bag, and begins to rummage around.

[The Bushranger]

"...something that will protect her," Dani says quietly after a moment's thought. "She's...not reckless, but bold, and I worry."

[Lost_Deep]

"Hmm..."

She rustles around in the sack some.

"You know, I'm going to default to a version of the best present!"

Eliza pulls out a tablet and gives it to Dani. It has a red ribbon tied around it. "This tablet is manufactured by B2, which prides in making products that outlive their owners! In addition to being waterproof, having satellite uplink, and a two day battery life. And it can stop anything that wouldn't puncture tank armor!"

...oh my. I guess they really do want their products to outlive their owners.

[The Bushranger]

Dani raises an eyebrow.

Decides that maybe Eliza shouldn't quit her day job.

But smiles brightly as she accepts the gift.
"Thank you!"

...and now Eliza will find herself being hugged by the talkative redheaded blur!

[Lost_Deep]

"Happy Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah!"

Yeah, she probably should keep her... wait. Her day job is basically this, but she gets money for it. Huh.

[The Bushranger]

Dani smiles happily and hurries off!

A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!

[Lost_Deep]

Others might be surprised, or upset because they have things to do, or maybe a little tired or kind of bored.

"Happy Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah! What would you like this year?"

Or at least a little bit less enthusiastic about the situation. But no, Eliza continues to be an ever-chipper Santa for the next person.

[5a Violista]

Harley, the woman with the sword and the scar, gets in the back of the line before it gets too big. After all, it's an important holiday! Maybe this is exactly the best opportunity she needs to get what she needs.

She waits as patiently in line as she can. Which, to be honest, is only a little patient.

[Zefir]

The wolf pup shakes her head. Grandmummy told her not to eat anything in the Thanksmas village anyway.



Indeed. Much fun is had in the process of building it, though.

Mr. C calms down a bit. At least his high amount of lanuge he knows does help him out. (He can't know about the Grandmummy thing.:smallbiggrin:)

*bark*bark*
"What are you doing here?"

[Morty]

"Whoops, you nearly dropped this. Wouldn't wanted to forget who's naughty and nice, would you Santa?" Mintbalm pushes the list back into Eliza's hand with a wink, taking the hat and skipping over to the trio of little girls so she can slip it onto their snow-person's head.

Mintbalm walks by the three girls with a varying degree of smallness and puts the hat on the snow-person. The snow glows for a second, then the snow-person shifts and starts to move. He appears to be sliding above the ground and eyes and a mouth appear on his snowy head. He's smiling and humming.


Mr. C calms down a bit. At least his high amount of lanuge he knows does help him out. (He can't know about the Grandmummy thing.:smallbiggrin:)

*bark*bark*
"What are you doing here?"

The wolf cub's tail swishes. They're there to make people happy by offering themselves for Thanksmas pets and hugs. People like fuzzy wolves.

[happyturtle]

Lottie, predictably, screams and jumps up on top of the fountain wall again.

Jefferies laughs and claps her hands. "How dat happen?" :smallbiggrin:

[Zefir]

The wolf cub's tail swishes. They're there to make people happy by offering themselves for Thanksmas pets and hugs. People like fuzzy wolves.

Mr. C nods.

*bark*bark* ((Strange sounds allways the same but has so many meanings^^))
"Can you give me a ride then?"

[Morty]

"It must be a magic hat!" Brinika squeals enthusiastically, jumping up and down.

The wolf's ears flick and she grins. She can give the little lizard a ride, sure. She stretches herself on the ground to let him climb onto her back.

[Slii Arhem]

The gliding snow-person's grin splits into a wide-mouthed, cheerful song that belts out over the whole of the Thanksmas area.

"Fuuuuuuuuzzy the wolf cub
Was a cheerful happy pup
With his toothy grin
And his black wet nose
When he fell he'd bounce back up

Fuzzy the wolf cub
Loved to hunt and howl and play
Then he met some kids
Who looked just like you
And he chased them night and day

Runnity flee flee
Runnity flee flee
Look out, here he comes
Runnity flee flee
Runnity flee flee
Hide inside your homes

Fuzzy the wolf cub
Chased the kids until they hid
Then he sat alone
On a cold flat stone
And he cried a little bit

For Fuzzy the wolf cub
Loved to hunt and howl and play
But the kids were scared
And they ran away
So he made no friends that day."

Mintbalm giggles madly from where she sits on a partly snow-covered bench. It seemed to her that the hat even had context-sensitive magic that altered the songs it played to fit the situation it was in. She doubted that it just had that song in its playlist on its own.

See that? Three kids being happy, and all it cost me was a gift I didn't really want anyway. I might take the hat after they're finished playing with it though. There's all kinds of tricks I could play with animated singing things. Oh wait, two kids being happy. That one's screaming. Mintbalm shakes her head at how silly Lottie is being.

[happyturtle]

Lottie stops screaming when the snow golem starts to sing. Personally, I think I'd be more scared of a singing snow golem than a mute one, but Lottie is silly.

Anyway, when the song is over, she claps and yells "Again! Again!"

[Halae]

A certain half-dragon, currently decked out in a red outfit with white trim and a festive hat on his head, will go up to Eliza, "Alright, my turn now." He'll wait patiently for Eliza to leave the throne.

[Lost_Deep]

Eliza will vacate the throne for Harnel, and then head back to her store.

[Gullara]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Sakura enters this part of the mall and takes a look around. She's dressed up in a red dress with white trim that drapes nicely over her pregnant belly. It's fairly long and warm looking, but it's lacking sleeves. In her flowery hair, a number of bows are tied.

The dryad hurries over to the chair before anyone else can get there first and plops down in Harnel's lap without much ceremony. "Well hello there, handsome. You know, I don't think you're wife would appreciate cute girls sitting on your lap." She maintains a disapproving look for all of two seconds before her face splits in a wry grin.

[Zefir]

"It must be a magic hat!" Brinika squeals enthusiastically, jumping up and down.

The wolf's ears flick and she grins. She can give the little lizard a ride, sure. She stretches herself on the ground to let him climb onto her back.

Mr C climbs up the wolf. He isn't very heavy. As he is on top a cowboy hat appears on mr C's head.

"Yiha"

He is ready for the ride and maybe now he won't need half a year to get to santa^^.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel smiles, "She's here, just not 'Here' yet. She should be along in a minute. Alright then, what can I get you little one?"

Given she's a foot and a half under his height "Little one" might be appropriate :smalltongue:

[Gullara]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Sakura rolls her eyes at him, but she's still smiling. He's just a giant. "Well, I'm not getting anything for myself I don't think. I want to get something for Laela and the new baby. Got anything in there for them?"

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Well, let's just take a look, shall we?" Harnel reaches into the bag and pulls out a series of children's books, based around helping them learn to read.

[Gullara]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Ooh, those look great. We do't have too many books for them yet." Sakura takes the books and looks through them briefly. "Thanks Harnel." She gives him a half hug and then gets off his lap. "Don't forget you can't give Cessie anything when she gets here. I'm sure she's on your naughty list." The dryad gives Harnel a little wave and laughs as she walks off.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel grins and rolls his eyes, "Alright, who's next?"

[Morty]

Mr C climbs up the wolf. He isn't very heavy. As he is on top a cowboy hat appears on mr C's head.

"Yiha"

He is ready for the ride and maybe now he won't need half a year to get to santa^^.

The wolf cub begins to trot around the Thanksmas area at a moderate pace, so that Mr C doesn't fall off. Carrying people on her back is fun.

Meanwhile, Brinika listens to the snowgolem's song with wide eyes.
"Yeah, again! That was great!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"That would be me." Harnel can see a very familiar figure appear in the middle of the thankmas celebration. The sorceress is dressed in a red robe (http://www.paradisecostumes.com/product_images/wizards/35013_Period_Santa_Wizard.jpg) with some clear thankmas inspiration. After her follows Garn carrying a large sack filled with something.

Without any hesitation she will attempt to sit down in his knee. It was after all not every day she could do that in public without feeling awkward about it.

"So you grant wishes right Mr. Santa?" Cessie then asks with a smile.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel grins, "And what wish can I grant for such a lovely thing as you, hmm?" Knowing how she feels about public displays of affection, Harnel doesn't wrap his arms around her or anything. For now, he's being chaste. Mostly.

[Zefir]

The wolf cub begins to trot around the Thanksmas area at a moderate pace, so that Mr C doesn't fall off. Carrying people on her back is fun.

Meanwhile, Brinika listens to the snowgolem's song with wide eyes.
"Yeah, again! That was great!"

As Mr. C rides along the wolf he whistle a song. He enjoys the ride and takes a good look at the villag. It's really nice of the wolf to carry him around. Mr.C needs to give him something in exchange.

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

So he isn't even going to use thankmas as an excuse eh? :smalltongue:

"Oh, I'm sure Santa says to every woman that sits in his knee." She teases. "But before I made my wish, I want to know what Santa wants for thankmas." Her wish was probably going to be considered boring anyway.

[Meredit]

Meredit pulls up the velvet rope and walks under it to the elves. She borrows some yarn from the doll-making assembly line and a mushroom and hook too, and soon makes a long thick string. She pulls that out of the bottom of the mushroom and coils it around and hooks it together with more yarn. Now it's a ball! Meredit tosses that under the Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah tree but her aim isn't very good and it rolls away from the rest of the presents.

[Morty]

As Mr. C rides along the wolf he whistle a song. He enjoys the ride and takes a good look at the villag. It's really nice of the wolf to carry him around. Mr.C needs to give him something in exchange.

The wolf cub will carry Mr. C around for as long as he likes. She finds it quite fun.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel grins, "My wish is to to spend time with my family of course, and for them to be happy. On a more personal note, however, I'm curious about motor vehicles, given I've never had the chance to even be in one."

"And now it's your turn."

[Zefir]

The wolf cub will carry Mr. C around for as long as he likes. She finds it quite fun.

Mr. C will enjoy the ride, but after some time he will speak to the wolf again.

*bark*bark*
"We should check for the throne over there, don't know what it stands for."

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Cessie laughs. "You're in luck then Santa." She doesn't expand upon that however. "As for my wish, I have under a number of occasions ended up in violent situations and as of yet, I have no clothes for that. I can't find anything that would suit me in the stores so I wish to see if Santa can grant me something with a bit of his thankmas magic." She could use the word magic when it meant something that wasn't real. It was just a phrase.

[Morty]

Mr. C will enjoy the ride, but after some time he will speak to the wolf again.

*bark*bark*
"We should check for the throne over there, don't know what it stands for."

The wolf heads for the Santa throne, then. She's not sure what it's for either. People sit on it, talk, and then leave.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel smiles and reaches into the bag, "I may have just what you're looking for."

And he pulls out this (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/pyranack/CessieArmor.jpg). the exception to the image being that the breasts on this armor aren't highlighted. Seriously, whose bright idea was that?

The armor itself is made of supple leather (With some light metal parts), and it's enchanted as a kinetic barrier. The more force going into it, the more force it'll exert to stop it; a hug is fine, but a punch will hit it like it's solid metal, and it'll stop a bullet cleanly.

He holds it up for Cessie to look over.

[Meredit]

Meredit has made a nice little pile of yarn balls for giving away. They're knitted by hand with love. How much better is that than toys made by robots with begrudgery and hate?

Not better at all. That's a very nice suit of armor. She gets worried. What's an independent crafter to do?

Market research, that's what.

She picks out the biggest and the best yarn ball. The biggest yarn ball is almost the size of a soccer ball. Meredit rolls that one towards the baby wolves. The best yarn ball is knitted from chunky alpaca/wool blend in lucky red. She takes this one to the line for people to talk to Santa. Meredit is too old to talk to Santa but so is the girl on his lap right now.

[Morty]

"Baby wolves" is something of an innacurate statement. The wolves are almost a year old and quite big. Nonetheless, two of them pounce on the ball with great enthusiasm and begin to wrestle each other for it.

[Zefir]

The wolf heads for the Santa throne, then. She's not sure what it's for either. People sit on it, talk, and then leave.

As they arrive mr. C looks at it confused. A big red scaled halfdragon in Santa outfit? And he gives out presents?

*bark*bark*
"Seems like this guy has to many stuff he doesn't need. Maybe he has something for us as well?" he asks the wold.

[Morty]

The wolf's tail swishes. She's not sure what's going on there, but she doesn't understand many things people do. But she can bring Mr. C there if he wants to meet Santa.

[Lost_Deep]

Vriveka will have been quite for a while now, just watching the situation. However, she will eventually send Mintbalm something... basic.

I don't understand this at all. None of this makes any sense. What's going on?

[Slii Arhem]

The kids are happy because I shared my Thanksmas present with them, and because holiday songs are awesome. I'm happy because I just made a bunch of kids laugh and because holiday songs are awesome, and the rest of what's going on here is pretty evident. People are getting presents and being happy. That's all there is to it. Well, that and the winter theme, but that's just because of the season.

The jolly little snow-person hears the kids cry out and repeats its song rather than go on to another one. This time though, it tries to get them to sing along by waving its snowy arms and singing slowly so they won't get lost and fall behind.

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"It's very gallant." She comments, obviously a bit impressed even though Harnel Santa technically haven't made it. "Is it practical though? I had expected an armor to be more sturdy-looking."

[happyturtle]

Jefferies sings along, badly out of tune. Really, she's terrible.

Actually, Lottie's pretty terrible at singing too. Her only advantage over Jefferies is not having tusks mess up her pronunciation.

[Morty]

Brinika sings along too and of course, she does quite well.

[Lost_Deep]

I don't get it. I just don't get it.

The situation is just different enough from what Vriveka knows that she's reacting with confusion despite the fact that there isn't anything to be confused about. Or maybe because there isn't anything to be confused about; it's all very straightforward and chaos-free: two words that no one has ever used to describe a fairy party.

[Meredit]

Meredit calls kids cute even when they're not cute. So she calls the wolves "good puppies" and watches them play. And those kids over there singing are very cute! She claps her hands along with the tune because she does not know the words to this song.

[Slii Arhem]

Okay, what specific things don't you get, and I'll try to explain them. Mintbalm relents while the snow-person goes into a little more faithful rendition of "Let it Snow" for the audience.

[Lost_Deep]

...um... well... uh.... I don't know.

That's not very helpful, Vriveka.

Nope, no idea. This situation weirds me out, but I don't know why or how. Maybe... I don't know, is it quiet to you? Or... I don't know!

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"It's very gallant." She comments, obviously a bit impressed even though Harnel Santa technically haven't made it. "Is it practical though? I had expected an armor to be more sturdy-looking."[Thanksmas Throne]

"It's enchanted to deflect physical blows, so you should have no trouble with it being practical. I imagine you can handle anything that isn't physical with eldritch or something else."

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"And how do you know all this?" Cessie asks with a smile as she puts a hand on his shoulder. This didn't count as intimate right?

[Slii Arhem]

...um... well... uh.... I don't know.

That's not very helpful, Vriveka.

Nope, no idea. This situation weirds me out, but I don't know why or how. Maybe... I don't know, is it quiet to you? Or... I don't know!

Nah, it's pretty noisy with all the singing and people talking. Seriously, something's gotta be up that you can put a finger on. It's cold, people are happy, everyone's giving gifts freely, no one is trying to trick or harm anyone, and that's it. That's why everyone is celebrating, because it makes them happy and they don't have to worry about nastiness.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Thanksmas Magic," Harnel says, waving arm mystically.

[Lost_Deep]

...No one is trying to get anyone? Oh my word. There isn't any screaming. Nor is there any declarations of revenge or whatever, despite the fact that there isn't anything real big going on to distract everyone! How does that work? People are just standing around, singing, or having conversations, or handing out presents, or... does this kind of peace happen often in the nonfairy world, or is this some kind of neutral area?

Oh, my... Vriveka never looked into mortals past as potential mischief targets. She doesn't actually know how they live. Like how pranks are maybe a once-a-month-thing at most.

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

The sorceress giggles and leans onto Harnel Santa a bit more. "Once you're done I can show you some more 'thankmas magic' back home." She whispers.

[Zefir]

The wolf's tail swishes. She's not sure what's going on there, but she doesn't understand many things people do. But she can bring Mr. C there if he wants to meet Santa.

*Bark*bark*

"Let's head for the throne guy."

Mr. C points at the thrown with his little cute paw and some people seeing it defnitly make a 'aw'.

[Morty]

Meredit calls kids cute even when they're not cute. So she calls the wolves "good puppies" and watches them play. And those kids over there singing are very cute! She claps her hands along with the tune because she does not know the words to this song.

After some wresting, one of the cubs grabs the ball in his teeth, then both of them pad over to Meredit and sniff at her.


*Bark*bark*

"Let's head for the throne guy."

Mr. C points at the thrown with his little cute paw and some people seeing it defnitly make a 'aw'.

The wolf cub walks over to the Thanksmas throne and waits there.

[Meredit]

Meredit scratches one wolf with each hand. No playing ball with animals that can rip off a human arm! Tails wag and fur gets shed. Lots of fur. Meredit starts to smell doggy aroma and the shed fur tumbles and gets caught on her and the tree and the colored snow and the gifts.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel just grins in response, "Alright. We'd better let someone else up here before I lose control of myself," Waggling eyebrows ensue.

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne]

The sorceress giggles softly before pretending to stop a cough as she slowly glides off Harnel's Santa's lap. "It'll be okay if I stay around though? I'm 'Santa's' wife after all." She wonders out loud as she steps behind the throne, allowing the others to get their turn with Santa.

[Zefir]

[Thanksmas Throne]

As the woman is away Mr.C will ask the wolf to get closer. If that works Mr.C tries to get on Santa Harnels lap, which may be hard for the little creature. It should need some time, if noone helps. He will then smile at the big Santa.

"Hey there."

[Morty]

Meredit scratches one wolf with each hand. No playing ball with animals that can rip off a human arm! Tails wag and fur gets shed. Lots of fur. Meredit starts to smell doggy aroma and the shed fur tumbles and gets caught on her and the tree and the colored snow and the gifts.

The two pups gladly accept pets from the new person. Meanwhile, Meredit is approached by their owner, who happens to be the small brown-skinned goblin from his player's avatar.
"Hello there."

The other pup will get close to Santa so that Mr. C can get onto his lap and then wait patiently.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel will help Mr. C up if he seems him struggling, "Alrighty then, what can Santa do for you, little guy?"

[Zefir]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Mr. C looks up. Then he speaks up in common.

"Well. Could you give me something for my friend here? He or she carried me around and I want to give her something in exchange."

[Meredit]

Meredit watches the little kid hop up to Santa's lap. This is more like it! Meredit is shy about being so old and still in line for Santa. Then she says "hi" to the new person and holds out her hand. The puppy doesn't want to stop being petted and nudges back under her hand.

Oh. This person is brown. And that little kid is green. It's all a dream after all. :smallfrown: That's why the presents seemed like magic. Time to wake up soon?

[Slii Arhem]

...No one is trying to get anyone? Oh my word. There isn't any screaming. Nor is there any declarations of revenge or whatever, despite the fact that there isn't anything real big going on to distract everyone! How does that work? People are just standing around, singing, or having conversations, or handing out presents, or... does this kind of peace happen often in the nonfairy world, or is this some kind of neutral area?

Oh, my... Vriveka never looked into mortals past as potential mischief targets. She doesn't actually know how they live. Like how pranks are maybe a once-a-month-thing at most.

Oh so now you get it? Yeah, people just generally aren't arses to each other the majority of the time. I mean, there's a few who are pretty awful, but it's nowhere near as many as there are among pixies and grigs. There aren't really many pranks, and the ones that happen usually are just to make people laugh a bit at their own expense. It took me some getting used to, but I wasn't really all that into suddenly changing someone's life entirely for a week or more, so after working most of it out of my system I settled down pretty easily. Mintbalm waves a hand nonchalantly, not really expecting Vriveka to find that as such a revelation. She'd been to the Nexus more often than most fey, so Mintbalm had figured that she'd know all this by now.

[Lost_Deep]

"I hadn't really ever thought about living that way..."

"I need to think about this. This is a weird thought."
Mintbalm has successfully flung Vriveka free of her comfort zone. Does that count as a point?

[Slii Arhem]

I don't think they were even playing right now, so Mintbalm certainly isn't thinking of counting it as one.

Hey, can you make my skin and hair red and white stripes like a candy cane? I feel pretty festive all of a sudden. Mintbalm chirps mentally, getting up from her bench to walk over to where the snow-golem is belting out a non-denominational version of Ode to Joy.

Feel free to toss some other effects in there as you think of them too, if it'll calm you down some.

[Lost_Deep]

Mintbalm's skin and hair will change, The roots of her hair being red, then with with a white stripe, then a red stripe, and so on... but the stripes become smaller further along the hair, so at the very tips Mintbalm's hair looks pink. Something similar happens along her body, with her skin becoming stark white and red striped, the stripes becoming closer together down her limbs, looking pink at the tips of her fingers and toes.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Of course," Harnel says, reaching into the thanksmas sack. He pulls out... a roast ham? He seems fairly surprised by that too, "This is for all of the pups, alright? They have to share." Otherwise, they'd just make themselves sick. And possibly fat.

[Morty]

Meredit watches the little kid hop up to Santa's lap. This is more like it! Meredit is shy about being so old and still in line for Santa. Then she says "hi" to the new person and holds out her hand. The puppy doesn't want to stop being petted and nudges back under her hand.

Oh. This person is brown. And that little kid is green. It's all a dream after all. :smallfrown: That's why the presents seemed like magic. Time to wake up soon?

The goblin shakes Meredit's hand, examining her curiously.
"It looks like you're quite new here. Name's Dipsnig Razortooth. Those wolves are mine, sort of."
At this point though, the pup that carried Mr. C barks and the two wolves who have been sniffing Meredit run off to eat the roast ham.


[Thanksmas Throne]

"Of course," Harnel says, reaching into the thanksmas sack. He pulls out... a roast ham? He seems fairly surprised by that too, "This is for all of the pups, alright? They have to share." Otherwise, they'd just make themselves sick. And possibly fat.

The pup's tail swishes happily. She gives a loud bark and all the other pups come running to the tasty meat.

Meanwhile, once the singing is over, Brinika twirls around happily.
"That was awesome!" she squeaks. "Where'd you get that hat, la- oooooh." She was going to ask Mintbalm a question, but then the pixie's skin changes color and she just kind of stares.

[Meredit]

The wolf stops nudging for pets and runs for ham. Now Meredit can shake Dipsnig's small hand too without the handshake getting licked. "I'm Meredit. Not Meredith. It was written down wrong on my birth certificate but my parents liked the sound."

She looks at Dipsnig too. He is still a goblin. She still isn't waking up. :smalleek:

"They are good dogs. Aren't you supposed to wake up once you realize you're dreaming? Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud."

There are no such things as goblins but here he is. She can feel his hand in hers. Meredit's dreams don't have touch.

"Yes, I'm new here.

"Oh my god."

Meredit drops his hand and looks around in a panic!

"I'm not dreaming! I'm not dreaming!!!"

[Zefir]

[Thanksmas Throne]


Meredit may also notice that the person on Santa's lap isn't a kid, not even a human. It's a living plush doll.^^

"All of the pups?" Mr. C asks confused. Then the barking and the other pups appear.

"I just hope that will be enougth for them." he says worried about his own live. And now he needs to get the ham to the pups. The ham should be 5-6 times his size, even if tere are only 3 pups right now.

[happyturtle]

Mintbalm might find a snowball hitting her in the head. I wonder who threw it?

It could be the little orc girl who has built a snow fort and looks like she's prepared herself with loads of ammunition. Or perhaps the little blonde human girl who is using her new tPhone to take photos of the snowman.

HOW EVER WILL ANYONE TELL?!

[Slii Arhem]

"It's Thanksmas Magic!" Mintbalm proclaims to the adoragoblin seconds before getting splatted in the noggin with a ball of ballistic sub-zero compressed water crystals. Ooooh, this means war...

Vriveka, I'm going to need a lot of arms, please and thanks. There is one acceptable bit of mischief you can get into during the winter holidays...

[Morty]

The wolf stops nudging for pets and runs for ham. Now Meredit can shake Dipsnig's small hand too without the handshake getting licked. "I'm Meredit. Not Meredith. It was written down wrong on my birth certificate but my parents liked the sound."

She looks at Dipsnig too. He is still a goblin. She still isn't waking up. :smalleek:

"They are good dogs. Aren't you supposed to wake up once you realize you're dreaming? Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud."

There are no such things as goblins but here he is. She can feel his hand in hers. Meredit's dreams don't have touch.

"Yes, I'm new here.

"Oh my god."

Meredit drops his hand and looks around in a panic!

"I'm not dreaming! I'm not dreaming!!!"

Dipsnig presses his fingers against his forehead. Yyyep. One of those people who just got dumped into the Nexus without warning.
"No, you're not dreaming. You're in a place called the Nexus. And it doesn't look like you know how you got here..."

Brinika, meanwhile, giggles when Mintbalm gets hit with a snowball and quickly scurries off to get out of the line of fire.

[Lost_Deep]

Mintbalm will suddenly have two more sets of arms (each of which also have the candy cane striping), and Mintbalm will probably notice that she isn't harmed by the cold from the snowballs, meaning that she can work snowballs without gloves!

Play nice with the kids, Minty. It's hard to tell just how sarcastic Vriveka is being.

[Slii Arhem]

Not a chance Psycho. Mintbalm snarks back mentally as she scampers over to the psychedelic snow fountain and begins grabbing and compacting handfuls of rainbow coloured snow with her four new lower arms, delivering each completed snowball to one of her upper hands for throwing. In addition, she adds a tiny sprinkle of pixie dust to each ball just before she throws it, causing them to be bigger, fluffier, and completely harmless as they arc through the air towards all three of the little scamps.

The snow golem accidentally gets tagged with one, giving it a big bulbous red nose right in the middle of its face.

If any of the three little girls do get hit, they might find out that the pixie magic has flavored the snow like candy canes as well.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Perfectly Innocent Duo]

Somewhere in here, a portal flicks open and a Magtok hustles through.

Moving at a faintly more reserved pace, the reaper Libby follows after.
Of course, she has no clear idea what is going on here for the two of them, so mostly just looks on with a smiling curiosity.
"And here we are. What is Phase 2, Maggy dear?"

[Meredit]

That seems to calm her down some. "But I'm not dead? You're sure I'm not dead."

She looks into Dipsnig's face. He has seen it before. Meredit swallows hard and decides to talk some more.


"I went to the mall to do some snoop shopping. I'm not copying. But sometimes customers would ask me to knit the same sweater that's for sale at the mall except in this color and their size. Do you know how hard it is to get someone to describe that sweater?"

"I remember sitting down across from the frozen yogurt kiosk. I had my knitting bag with me so I was working on some chunky yarn balls. Maybe I fell asleep? I got up after awhile and saw the holiday setup so I decided to put the yarn balls under the tree for a toy donation. And then your dogs," she looks at them closer and shakes her head, "your wolves? They started to play with them."

[Lord Magtok]

Perfectly Innocent Duo

The cyborg points towards Santa Harnel.

"Next, I leave you to your own devices. Don't really have any ideas for the distraction, so you can pretty much do whatever you feel like to get the jolly fat man's eyes away from his bag. Once the lobster is in the bag, I skedaddle, you end your distraction, we watch the aftermath up until someone starts looking for us."

It's a fairly simple prank, honestly. Pretty anonymous too, which is fairly odd, when you think about it. One would expect something a bit more convoluted and sinister from Magtok, with maybe a musical number and his name plastered everywhere so nobody forgets who it was that did such an awful thing.

[Morty]

Dipsnig shrugs and nods.
"Sounds typical. And no, you're most definetly not dead. This is Nexus, a place where realities... converge, I guess. It connects to everywhere and everywhen. Sometimes it pulls people in at random and it did that to you."

Meanwhile, Brinika is hit with a harmless snowball in the back of her head. She quickly turns around, crouches, forms a little snowball on her own and throws it at Mintbalm with surprising precision.

As for the wolf cubs, they're waiting patiently for the ham around the Santa chair.

[happyturtle]

Lottie turns around just to get smacked in the face with a pink snowball.

"Mmph! Mmph!.... Mmmmm!" Lottie's muffled yelps of outrage turn to yummy sounds as she discovers the snow has gone tasty!

Jefferies ducks down behind her snow wall and continues to lob snowballs (packed hard, alas, not fluffy like Mintbalm's, and not tasting of candy!) at anyone and everyone in the thread who wants to participate.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel hands the pups the ham for Mr. C instead, "Alright, time for someone else to get their Thanksmas wish," and he'll move to put Mr. C on the ground so that he can accept the next comer as the pups enjoy their ham.

[McBish]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Angie makes her way over to Santa avoiding the snowball fight. She had been doing some shopping in the Mall when she spotted the display a thought of a gift she could ask for that hopefully Santa could help with. So the 20 something year old woman wearing a nice heavy blue and white sweater makes her way to sit on Santa's lap.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Santa Harnel smiles to the newcomer sitting in his lap, "And what can Santa get for you then?"

[Zefir]

Mr. C can easily be put away, not really a suprise due to his size.

He will then head over to the pups.

[Morty]

The pups are happily eating the ham. When Mr C approaches, they raise their heads and then go back to eating.

[McBish]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Angie looks more then a little embaressed to be sitting on Santa's lap, she hasn't done this in years, not even when she was a little girl did she often get to go visit Santa.

"Well I was hoping your magic sack of goodies would be able to help me out. I was hoping you might be able to get me the photo of me and my grandfather that I lost years ago. It is the only one I had of him and me and I always kept it with me in my hat, that I lost."

She figures holiday magic is her only real chance at getting this photo back. Even as she asks though it is clear that she has doubts that Santa will be able to grant her thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah wish.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel will reach into the bag, "I can't make any promises..." he says, as he pulls out a photo, "But is this the one you were missing?"

Unless something is preventing its return, this should be the exact photo that went missing, exactly as it was the day she lost it.

[McBish]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Nothing stops it from happening. The photo is an old black and white photo of an older gentleman holding a young girl that looks like Angie except she is about 6 years old. As she sees it her face lights up and a smile blossoms on her face.

"That is it. Thank you so much, I thought it was gone forever."

Harnel's going to get a nice big hug in return for the gift.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel will accept the hug, but his wings may make it awkward for the woman in his lap, "Glad I could help you with that."

[McBish]

[Thanksmas Throne]

After years of living in the Nexus one learns to hug people with wings. She will hop of his lap shortly after that taking the photo and carefully putting it away in her pocket.

"It's the best present I could have got."

[5a Violista]

[Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah Throne Line

Harley, a woman who, at the moment, looks to be 33 years, 5 months, 3 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes, and 21 seconds old, moves forward in line. Looks like she's up soon!

If it weren't Santa, she would think it very awkward to sit on someone else's lap. But it's Santa, so everything's alright, she figures.

[Zefir]

The pups are happily eating the ham. When Mr C approaches, they raise their heads and then go back to eating.

Well not really what Mr. C thought they do, but as long as they don't want Mr. C flesh he is all right. He will wait until they are done.

[Meredit]

Meredit sways a little on her feet. She never faints but it's still a lot to absorb all at one time even if none of it is bad news. Everywhere she looks she sees something impossible or something that used to be impossible. So seeing nice normal Harley is a huge relief.

She is hugging her before Meredit realizes what she's doing and in a very clingy way.

[Morty]

Well not really what Mr. C thought they do, but as long as they don't want Mr. C flesh he is all right. He will wait until they are done.

The wolves finish their ham, lie down and yawn. The one that Mr. C rode on before bows her head in thanks. That was tasty. She'll let Mr. C ride on her back for as long as he wants.
They haven't noticed Magtok yet. This is but a temporary respite however. Also, Viima and Kullervo are approaching him.


Meredit sways a little on her feet. She never faints but it's still a lot to absorb all at one time even if none of it is bad news. Everywhere she looks she sees something impossible or something that used to be impossible. So seeing nice normal Harley is a huge relief.

She is hugging her before Meredit realizes what she's doing and in a very clingy way.

Dipsnig shakes his head. The relief about seeing a human instead of a creature she thought was a fairy tale must've been overwhelming, he guesses.

[5a Violista]

Before the Hug

Harley is plotting something..."Oof!" she grunts as she is mercilessly hugged.


Meredit, while hugging Harley, may will notice that Harley has a sword in a scabbard across her back, with the hilt over her shoulder.

"Oh. Hi," she says, now returning the embrace. She doesn't know why she's being hugged, but it's probably for a good reason. "Are you alright?" she asks.

Another very noticeable fact about Harley: She has a massive scar on the left side of her face, running from her eyebrow, down her cheekbone, to her chin.

[Meredit]

"I'm fine now," Meredit takes a deep breath and stops clinging, "it was just everything crashed in on me at once. You know?"

It's a girl thing. Hugging a guy would not have worked. It doesn't matter that Dipsnig is a goblin, just that he's a guy.

Meredit pulls back and looks at Harley at arm's length. Ok. She does look intimidating but it is hard to be scared of someone you just hugged. "Go ahead. I was in line but I have no idea what to ask for any more."

She swings the knitting bag down to the ground. It lands with a thump further away from Santa than Harley is. It's got regular purse stuff in the bottom and the yarn on the top. "I'm Meredit. And thank you."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Not A Devious Plot]

Libby stares at her mark for a few moments, pondering.
What could distract this particular Santa?

Technically, many things could be a viable distraction, but it should probably be something at least vaguely amusing.
Or not. Hmmm.


Let's wait for the next person in line to get started.

[5a Violista]

Next in line...?

"I know how you feel," says Harley, sympathizing. "Just wake up one morning, and bam! everything's different."

"I'm Harley Zorzo," says Harley to Meredit.
"Anytime."

Seeing that nobody's in line in front of her (at least, noone she can see...), Harley figures that it's her turn to go up to Santa. Finally! Meeting the real Santa Claus for the first time ever! If she kept a journal, she would write this day in it.

Being a distraction, Harley goes up to Santa in order to make her wish by sitting on his lap, waiting for him to ask her what she wants.

[Zefir]

The wolves finish their ham, lie down and yawn. The one that Mr. C rode on before bows her head in thanks. That was tasty. She'll let Mr. C ride on her back for as long as he wants.
They haven't noticed Magtok yet. This is but a temporary respite however. Also, Viima and Kullervo are approaching him.



Dipsnig shakes his head. The relief about seeing a human instead of a creature she thought was a fairy tale must've been overwhelming, he guesses.

Mr. C will place himself next to the wolfs.

*bark*bark*

"Let's take a short nap, can't be wrong."

If the wolf allowes Mr. C will try to crawl on his back again for the nap.

[happyturtle]

Jefferies continues flinging snowballs, but can't possibly keep up with Misha. She does have the advantage of the snow fort wall though, so the little orc girl is not ready to give up yet.

Lottie, however, tries to hide behind the singing snowman. "Protect me, Mr Snowy!" the little human girl yelps.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harley will be invited to sit down on Santa's lap, "What can Santa do for you then?"

[5a Violista]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Well," Harley starts off saying, before taking a deep breath and replying. "There's this certain book that I've been trying to get for a couple of months now. The only problem is that it's a very old book, and it's not the kind of tome that you would find in a bookstore."

She demonstrates with her hands how big it is. "It's pretty heavy, too, so anyone that has it wouldn't really be carrying it around wherever they go." The woman shows that its height is around the size of a chimpanzee, and just as wide, too, and only a couple hundred pages thicker than Les Misèrables. Finally, she says the name of the book. "It's called "Mythology of the Elodia Daimaru," and it's a collection of ancient folklore and myths. Do you know where I could get one?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Vaguely Near the Thanksmas Throne]

A little elfboy bearing a bright green, bow-endowed Present gleefully skips towards Cessie.
Boy does he look ever so excited!
"Tra la la la la..."

[Meredit]

Meredit leans against the boundary and picks up some needles with a sparkling festive blue toe and heel hanging off of them. It will help to pass the time until it's her turn and other sellers would be surprised how many agnostics have sworn off red and green but still want 'seasonal' traditional items.

She knits while watching the happy scene until she stops in the middle of a row. That's a thought. Is there a market here at all? There's a mall. There's magic.

There's also hugs and concern for a stranger. People still value the human touch. :smallsmile:

Meredit smiles to herself. There's something to ask Santa about.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Give me a moment then..." Harnel says, reaching into the Thanksmas bag once more, and pulls out book. It's of the proper size, but it's made of modern materials built like a textbook, "I'm afraid I unfortunately don't have an original copy."

[Shadowcaller]

[Vaguely Near the Thanksmas Throne]

A little elfboy bearing a bright green, bow-endowed Present gleefully skips towards Cessie.
Boy does he look ever so excited!
"Tra la la la la..."

[Vaguely Near the Thanksmas Throne]

The sorceress don't pay much attention to the boy, assuming he's going to visit Santa and not her. She was standing right next to the throne after all. It was nice to see so many happy people though, even if she wasn't all that good dealing with children.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Vaguely Near->Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

The little elf (North Pole elf, mind) boy seems utterly unperturbed by Cessie's initially lacking attention.
He can fix that in a jiffy, by golly!

Mostly be staring up at her with big beaming eyes and nudging the gift at the side of her leg a bit.
Nudge nudge.
Nudge nudge nudge.

[Shadowcaller]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

The sorceress turns to look down at the boy. "Oh, hi there." Her eye sets on the present, a gift, for her? How odd. "What's this?" She asks with a smile as she accepts the gift, trying to get a eldritch reading of it to see if it's enchanted in some way.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

It's not enchanted at all!
Well, faintly magical in origin, kind of like how a summoned apple is technically magical in origin, but otherwise completely ordinary.
Just like whatever's inside.

The elf boy just looks pleased as punch that she's noticing him, and doesn't seem aware of her scanning at all.
"Hiya! It's a present! For you! And Santa! Well, assuming you're Santa's wifey-friend-lady. Which I think you are, because why else would you be standing there next to him this whole time with that kind of smile on your face and stuff?
Right? Right!
You're his wifey-friend-lady right?"

[Meredit]

Meredit stifles a giggle. Kids are kids even when they're elves. No indoor voice at all.

[Shadowcaller]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

"Eh, yes. That's right, I'm Santa's wife. So who might you be?" She asks the little elf boy, holding on to his present as she figures putting it away might give the wrong signals. She was curious what sort of gift it was though.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

Hoozah, he was right!
First try too! Take that, faint risks of mistaken identity!

Upon accepting his gift, the elf's hands snap together in a giddy clap and he does an energetic little hop.
Goody goody!

"My name is Boregard, Missus Santa!
Boregard! Present Deliverer!"
He even does a happy beaming pose.

How he wishes there was a glorious burst of wind and he was wearing a cape.

It would look so. Awesome.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Sort of Close to the Thanksmas Throne

A short tiefling girl slowly goes towards the Thanksmas throne. She wears a too-long Santa-like robe (http://www.paradisecostumes.com/product_images/wizards/35013_Period_Santa_Wizard.jpg), looking sort of frieghtened. She sees aother person with red skin and eeps!

[Shadowcaller]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

The sorceress stifles a laugh, this little guy was just too adorable. "Oh? So who is this gift from then?" She asks, taking another curious glance at it.

[Lady Serpentine]

[On The Periphery of the Throne]

The tiefling girl might notice a drow, with a spiderweb pattern of scars on her face, starting just below her eyes, and, so far as can be told, covering the rest of her body, judging by the fact that the same pattern continues on her hands, as well as extending up onto her ears, who seems to be waiting her turn for a wish.

((Lellienth fits your request OOC, but she can also just be someone to provide interaction, if you prefer.))

[Chaotic Bob]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

Oh right, another Present Deliverer duty is of course source-relating!
Don't forget that part Boregard.

"Oh, um. It was this little purple guy with these biiiiig pointy ears, like, four times bigger than my ears bit!"
He initially does a little bunny ear impression, but appears to realize at some point that this is a terrible indicator, and instead puts his hands a ways up from his head.
"He seemed kinda sorta shy, but wanted to thank you for something or other and so here I am! Delivering a fancy present!"
A little pause.
"I think his name was Podge. Or maybe it was Jared?"
He has no idea. Did he even ask?

[Meredit]

Meredit is busy listening to the elf and almost doesn't notice the little red-skinned girl. She is just about to cut in line just from being too shy to look up.

"Excuse me, little girl," says Meredit. "I will let you go ahead of me but you have to ask first!"

[Dark Elf Bard]

No, no, sorry! I didn't know... She quickly goes behind Meredit, the long robe's hood over her face.

She steals a glance at Lellienth, too!

[Lady Serpentine]

Lellienth smiles gently at the girl, taking a place in line behind her, though for now, since she seems to be talking to someone already, the drow doesn't say anything unless she does.

[Meredit]

Meredit smiles but she turns to the next grownup in line. "We are grown up, we can wait, can't we?" She points down at the little one trying to disappear into her cloak between them and winks. "Aww look at her, she's trying to wrap herself up like a present! All she needs is a bow!"

[Dark Elf Bard]

Near The Tree

She shrinks down in her robe-nightgown, seing the scars.

[Lady Serpentine]

"I can, at least," Lellienth agrees, nodding, though when the tiefling shrinks away on seeing the scars, she flinches somewhat, flipping up her hood, and pulling on a pair of gloves, which effectively hides every scrap of her skin.

[Shadowcaller]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

Once again Cessie have to keep herself to giggle at Boregard's antics. She didn't actually know anyone like that that however which made her even curious, what was this? "Where did you meet him?" She asks while starting to very slowly unwrap the paper, completely forgetting it was supposed to be for her and Harnel.

[Dark Elf Bard]

"I can, at least," Lellienth agrees, nodding, though when the tiefling shrinks away on seeing the scars, she flinches somewhat, flipping up her hood, and pulling on a pair of gloves, which effectively hides every scrap of her skin.

The tiefling girl suddenly becomes conscious that she might have been making the drowsy uncomfortable, and turns a pale blue. She grasps the long folds of her robes uncomfortably.

Um, what are you two asking Santa for?

[lord pringle]

[Somewhere Near the Throne]

A thirteen year old girl (http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1599/tek50cd14aaaa35a8494865.png) stands around. She sighs exasperatedly and says half out loud, "Coldcoldcoldcoldcold coldfreezingcold." She then adjusts her scarf and goes back to muttering.

[Meredit]

Meredit puts the stocking back into the bag and kneels to answer the little red, oh, now she's blue-skinned, girl at her level. At least the little one is not hiding everything any more. "I'm new here! I am going to ask for help to find a place to stay here. A home. Someone will know better than I do."

She looks sad for a moment. Meredit knows now that there is no way back to the world she grew up in. But something makes it impossible to look back in sadness. She touches her pendant.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

Boregard does a little quarter-turn hop and snaps a pointing finger off in some direction behind him.
Off towards a small group of what looks suspiciously like carolers. No big-eared fellow though.

"Oh. Um, guess he left. Guess a shy person wouldn't really like it here..."
Lots of other people, after all.

And then Cessie tries to open the package!
Which gets the little elf boy to start prancing up and down on his feet flailing his arms.
"Nooooooo! You have to wait for Santa toooooo!"

[lord pringle]

[The Environs of the Throne]

The girl walks up to Meredit and the others. "Hi! Nice to meet you all. I'm Char." She says before rubbing her nose with her scarf and grumbling about the evils of the cold weather.

[5a Violista]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Give me a moment then..." Harnel says, reaching into the Thanksmas bag once more, and pulls out book. It's of the proper size, but it's made of modern materials built like a textbook, "I'm afraid I unfortunately don't have an original copy."

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harley immediately leaves Santa's lap, standing by the throne now, so as to no longer make my odd offline schedule impede others from visiting Santa.

"Oh, no, that's fine. It doesn't have to be an original," Harley says. "It'll do the job, regardless."

She looks as pleased as a little kid on Christmas day. That's pretty pleased, in case you don't know. On a scale of one to seven, that's at least a red six.

Harley grabs the hefty book. "Thank you," she says to Santa Harnel as she smiles. "It's perfect." So that others may come up to the throne, she backs off and finds an empty bench to flip through the book.

Specifically, she flips to page 374, chapter 14.3, and seems intent on reading what it says on that page. It's a very important page.

[Meredit]

"I'm Meredit," she says. "This little one has not told us her name yet. And I don't know her," says Meredit and looks at the girl who just put gloves on.

Meredit sees the gloves and then notices Char and her scarf wrapped up. It is kind of cold even with fake colored snow instead of real snow. "It's a pretty scarf! That kind of fashion yarn is not going to keep the heat in though."

She opens up the knitting bag and pulls out a solid colored scarf. It's not dyed a pretty color. It's too wide and too short. But it's insulating wool instead of man-made fibers. "I was testing this yarn and the pattern on its wrapper. It works better than it looks. Try it on!"

[lord pringle]

[Near the Throne]
Char grins and grabs the scarf. "Wow, thanks! I'm just sorry I don't have anything to give you." She does a quick pocket inspection and then looks mildly sad. "Sorry, I don't think I have anything you'd want." She then does a scarf swap and stops shivering.

[Meredit]

Meredit studies the look of Char and this scarf and then does a closer inspection of the striped scarf. "I made some of these as presents!" She leaves out the part about selling most of them first.

"But if you don't mind waiting a little bit past"

Meredit stops for a moment. How do you say Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah?

"Wait a little bit past the holidays and I can copy your original scarf in wool. There's a post office here, isn't there? I can send it to you once I'm done? With tags and everything?" She is anxious. "Please don't tell people I made the one you're wearing now. There's no fashion in it. It's not a good advertisement."

[lord pringle]

[Throne Adjacent]

Char beams. "Thank you sooo much! I'll try to get you something else soon." Char thinks for a bit before saying, "Do you knit often?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

"Ah... yes." The sorceress says as she promptly stops opening the present, she didn't realize it was so important, but she figures he takes his job seriously. "I guess we should wait for Santa to be less distracted then."

[Dark Elf Bard]

Near the Thanksmas Throne

Oh... I'm asking for parents and a place to live... The little tiefling girl is further enfolded in her coat!

[Meredit]

Meredit giggles. "I've had so much practice lately I could do simple cables now and talk to you at the same time and never miss a stitch!"

Then the little girl shuffles a little bit from foot to foot. Meredit recognizes a shy child working up the courage to speak and is quiet.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Near the Throne

Um... I'm Quiet. What's your name?

[lord pringle]

[Throneward]

Char extends her hand and loudly states, "I'm Char! Nice to meet you, Quiet!" Once again, Char botches her interactions.

[Dark Elf Bard]

ThroneWard

Quiet shrinks back slightly, and then extends a robe-folded hand.

[lord pringle]

[Close Throne Proximity]

Completely obliviously to the tiefling's nervousness, Char attempts to shake hands. While smiling like a crazy person.

[Meredit]

Meredit has to sigh a little. She offers a hand at shoulder level for support. Quiet looks too old to just be taken by the hand like a preschooler.

"Look!" she tells the line. "Santa is ready to see someone."

[lord pringle]

[Throne Vicinity]

((Could I get a description of Meredit?))

[Dark Elf Bard]

Near Throne

Quiet is shaken, and looks overwhelmed and ready to shrink into a little ball.

[Meredit]

"Excuse us," explains Meredit to Char and to the other grownup.

Meredit is just plain human. The only thing odd is that she's got pale Caucasian skin and Asian eyes. Ok, maybe spiked short hair is a little odd but where she comes from even body mods are normal and she hasn't got those. She's got leggings and a hoodie and that big knitting bag.

Meredit talks just to Quiet. She is clear but not very loud. "You want a home and I need one too. Let's go ask for one, ok?" She sort of scoops Quiet up around the shoulder and guides them both to Santa's seat.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Throneward

Quiet tenses and looks ready to burst into tears, but allows herself to be guided to Harnel/Santa.

[Lord Magtok]

The wolves finish their ham, lie down and yawn. The one that Mr. C rode on before bows her head in thanks. That was tasty. She'll let Mr. C ride on her back for as long as he wants.
They haven't noticed Magtok yet. This is but a temporary respite however. Also, Viima and Kullervo are approaching him.

Oh crap. Magtok's hand tightens around the lobster hidden away in his pocket, and he slowly starts moving away in the opposite direction. He doesn't dare run; running will just encourage those mutts to chase him, and then everyone will be looking at him, and this whole plan will be ruined.

[Morty]

Viima and Kullervo don't slow down, heading straight for Magtok. What's more, four of the cubs join them, meaning that six wolves are now closing in on him.
The cub that doesn't move is the one Mr. C is napping on. She doesn't want to disturb him.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Santa Harnel is still here, and now that there's a group of people approaching he turns towards them, and will invite the smaller of the pair up onto his lap. Of course, a certain Tiefling girl may recognize Harnel from the tournament...

"What can Santa do for you, hmm?"

[lord pringle]

[Moving up to the Throne]

Char starts whispering to Meredit, "Since you said that you two were looking for a home... Well, my dad is out of town on 'business'... Char's Brain tries to tell her to stop, but it's too late. And if you wanted you could stay at my house for a while... I guess you could. Then what she just volunteered to do kicks in and she squeaks out, If you don't mind demons.

[Dark Elf Bard]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Santa Harnel is still here, and now that there's a group of people approaching he turns towards them, and will invite the smaller of the pair up onto his lap. Of course, a certain Tiefling girl may recognize Harnel from the tournament...

"What can Santa do for you, hmm?"

This is her sister, though. :smalltongue:

Quiet's eyes widen to see another red-skinned person!

She lets Meridet go first, though.

[Meredit]

"Thank you" Meredit starts to say. Then Char adds the important part.

It makes sense that demons are here and real. There are goblins. There are elves. There are wolves. There are little girls with skin that changes color. But Meredit holds her pendant tight in her fist. The goblin said that she was not dead. This girl does not feel evil. Why is she saying "demon"?

Meredit twists a round looking for help. Santa? A Santa is definitely not a demon. Except for that one icky story in her dad's old Weird Tales magazines.

"I" she said. She swallowed and started again. "This is my home now? I don't even know what it is. How to live. Where to live." Her hand is shaking bad enough for Quiet to see. "I used to know how to live. I had a job. I had a family and a home. Now I don't think I do. They're not here with me now."

"I, I think I can make friends. I can sell things and make money and rent a place to live. But I don't know if that still works here. Please give me a map or a guide or I don't know" Meredit is babbling.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel sits quietly and waits for Meredit to finish. Santa is supposed to be patient, after all; may as well let her continue.

Once she's finished though, he says, "There's a camp near the city, cabins and such. They call themselves GLoG, take in people that don't have anywhere to go. You can probably stay there until you get back on your feet." He'll also give directions, if requested.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Thanksmas Throne

Quiet's quiet hand quietly grabs Meredit's hand, quietly.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Right Next to the Thanksmas Throne]

Boregard takes his job very seriously!
If she opened the present without both involved parties present, it would be a grievous breach of...some protocol or another!
He assumes so, anyway. It kinda makes sense. What if she decided it was such an awesome gift that she had to keep it to herself and Santa never saw it?

That'd be terrible.

"Yyyyyyyep! We'd better wait!"
And with that, he rather snappily clasps his hands behind his back and watches Santa work.
Fairly quietly, for a few seconds.

Dooo doo doo.
Dee doo.

"Doo dee doo doo doooooo..."

[lord pringle]

[Next to the Throne]

Char grabs Meredit's hand and looks her in the eyes. "Look. You can do all of that, and I can get you a map and a guide and probably point you in the direction of a job, but can you really get that all in a day?" She sighs. "If you need me to I could get the demon out for a night. I think he's practicing with his band anyway." She writes down a number using a pen and some paper from her pockets. "If you need anything, just call me."

[5a Violista]

Sitting on a Bench, alone

Harley Zorzo, confident that this is the book that she needs, shuts it and sets it next to her on the bench.

For a couple seconds, she looks very pensive. She even strokes her chin, wishing she had a beard. Beards always help people think more clearly.

Suddenly, she snaps out of her thoughtful state and pulls a pen out of her pocket. She commences to use her left forearm as a notebook, and makes a checklist. Anyone who spies over at her will notice her writing this:

☐ 0.5 kg of 11 karat gold (5:3 Ag:Cu) (mol)
☐ 1 Dragon Heartstone (red = black)
☐ 1 gal Mermaid Tears
☐ 1 Pewter Bowl
☐ 5.1g Phoenix Ashes
☐ 1 lb baby ♂ unicorn horn
☑ 1 tsp fair folk blood
☐ 1 thermometer accurate to ±0.07°F
☑ access to fridge

Then, she checks off the "Fridge" and the "Fair Folk Blood".

Harley seems satisfied. "Now, that's progress."

[Meredit]

"Thank you," Meredit says now that she's more steady. Then she turns and repeats it softly for Quiet.

"Thank you. I'll wait nearby if you like while you ask Santa if you want." She turns to talk to Char without upsetting Quiet.

I don't think I should describe my pendant or I might get another message. But it means I believed in demons and angels while I thought that elves and goblins were fairy tales.

"Yes. Please can we visit and stay for two nights? If it's too weird around with the"

Meredit stops for a moment. Then the kid sings "doo dee doo dooooo" and she has to smile.

"demon around or your dad doesn't like it, we can go and find the glog place."

[lord pringle]

[Throneways]

Char shrugs "Meh, the demon is a prick anyway. And the last time I went to GLoG, I nearly died of anaphylactic shock." She goes back to beaming. Just tell me when your ready to go. It's too cold for me here.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Thanksmas Throne

Quiet fidgets, not sure whether to let Santa speak first or not.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Throne]

"Come on little one. Come sit on Santa's lap and tell me what you want." Harnel is all smiles and warmth, quite welcoming.

[Zefir]

Viima and Kullervo don't slow down, heading straight for Magtok. What's more, four of the cubs join them, meaning that six wolves are now closing in on him.
The cub that doesn't move is the one Mr. C is napping on. She doesn't want to disturb him.

It will need a while until Mr. C wakes up himself again, but if the wolf barks or otherwise gives Mr.C a sign he will wake up earlier.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Thanksmas Throne

Quiet looks terrified as she makes her way onto Santa's lap.

May I please have a family or a place to sty or Thanksmas?

[happyturtle]

Santa 2

Suddenly the Thanksmas magic that rules this place notices that the line is getting rather long. So with a sluuuuurrrrping sound, a 2nd Santa materialised on a 2nd Santa chair, complete with his helper.

The new Santa is dressed appropriately in the red and white suit, but it hangs rather loose on him, because Elias Claus is a 14 year old boy who is in that state of puberty where he suddenly shoots up in height faster than he can put on the corresponding amount of weight.

His helper, Hekta, appears next to him, complete with her own tektek.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/8973/tek50d213e8c23bd2969947.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/52179801)

Elias looks around at the crowd and winces. He is so not cut out for this. Finally, he forces himself to say "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Thanksmas."

((People can visit either Harnel Claus or Elias Claus.))

[Meredit]

Meredit finds her old and cheap phone in the bottom of the knitting bag. It always falls down under everything. She adds Char's number then takes out the sparkling blue yarn project again and works on that while waiting for Quiet.

Meredit drops a stitch when Char says what she thinks about GLoG. She goes back and fixes it while the new throne appears.

[Shadowcaller]

Santa 2

Hekta stands with her arms crossed over her chest rolling her eyes at Elias statement, it sooo wasn't him. At least she didn't need to pretend that hard to be someone else, nope, she just needed to play along just enough to score some snacks.

If anyone approaches the throne they will see that the demon girl is holding out a large red thankmas sock with both hands, looking like she wants them to put something in it.

[lord pringle]

Meredit finds her old and cheap phone in the bottom of the knitting bag. It always falls down under everything. She adds Char's number then takes out the sparkling blue yarn project again and works on that while waiting for Quiet.

Meredit drops a stitch when Char says what she thinks about GLoG. She goes back and fixes it while the new throne appears.

((Should we just move to the home thread?))

[Gullara]

[Thanksmas Throne 2.0]

Kirk makes his way over to where Elias and Hekta are at the throne. He has a couple of gifts to get, and what better way to get them? He stops in front of the throne and raises an eyebrow at Elias. "You don't expect me to sit on your lap, do you?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Thanksmas Throne 2.0]

As Kirk approaches the throne Hekta is quick to come up to him with a huge red thankmas sock outstretched between her two hands. "Snacks for Santa?" She asks, looking at the drow with big red eyes.

[Meredit]

((Should we just move to the home thread?))

It's a good idea. I wanted to wait for Quiet and not dump her. If she can follow us without being told then I will follow you. :)

[happyturtle]

Santa 2

"Um... " Elias thinks for a minute, then reaches into the bag and pulls out another chair to set next to the Santa throne. "You can sit there." The second chair has a Santa painted on it so that the person sitting on it is still technically sitting on Santa's lap.

[Gullara]

[Santa 2]

Kirk holds his hands out to the side, revealing them to be empty. "Sorry kid, I'm empty handed." With a flick of the wrist a silver coin appears out of nowhere and he flicks it into her bag. "Buy yourself something on me."

The drow chuckles at the Santa chair and takes a seat. "That'll do. Alright, I've got a couple gifts to get for a pair of women. The first some kind of jewelry with stones in it. Earrings, bracelet, necklace; something like that. The other is for someone more practically minded. She's the 'adventurer' type if that helps the bag turn up something."

[Lord Magtok]

Viima and Kullervo don't slow down, heading straight for Magtok. What's more, four of the cubs join them, meaning that six wolves are now closing in on him.
The cub that doesn't move is the one Mr. C is napping on. She doesn't want to disturb him.

Shoot! This wasn't part of the plan! Stupid canine monstrosities, why do you always have to be around at the most inopportune of times?! Magtok speeds up, briskly walking in the opposite direction, trying to hide himself behind a crowd of caroling NPCs.

[Halae]

Thanksmas Throne

Quiet looks terrified as she makes her way onto Santa's lap.

May I please have a family or a place to sty or Thanksmas?[Thanksmas Throne]

Harnel smiles, "The girl I that asked for something before you? She was looking for a place to stay too, and I told her where she can find one. why don't you follow her?" Harnel will point out Meredit before she's gone.