A Very Trog's Thanksmas

[5a Violista]

[Rose and Venus]

"I've heard it from several people so far, so...I'm probably going to just stay like this for a while longer," Venus tells Rose.

She returns to the kitchen to grab two more things, and bring them out.
Oh! That's Sekhmet! She's got to go over and thank her, but...
...she can see that Sekhmet's kind-of in a disagreement of some sort. Should probably wait until that's all over.
Venus puts those next few things on the table.

"So why are you a salamander?" she asks when Rose and her are together again. "I didn't know that was a thing that could happen."

[Recaiden]

You appear quite different. It is a ... surprise.
Spike takes a moment to stabilize their disguise and waves an illusory wing to beckon Sekhmet and Prumathe.
But, um...there are gifts for you two. Changing the subject! That'll help.

[Deathkeeper]

People arrive!

One is a very pink dragon with lavender fluff on her underside and pink glasses. She's hoping to find a certain someone again this year. But what are the odds that he'll be here? Not very high. But a dragon has to try sometimes, right? Maybe she'll look around the gifts.

In addition, G'nichi arrives looking for his friends Kara and Navvy. He brought presents for the children. Navvy might as well be his brother at this point. And Kara well, he owes her a lot. A lot. Oh, are they talking to other friends already? He can wait a little bit. Maybe check in with Zee again while he's there.

[Rebonack]

[Eao and Navvy]

"Golly, sis, just wait a little!" Navvy replies, exasperated. "You have to wait until the REAL party starts! We're still just decorating. You'll know once the party starts for REAL because someone will sit in the Santa throne."

Then he glances over at the Santa throne which is currently occupied by a catgirl.

"Umm... someone will sit in the throne while wearing the Santa hat? She hasn't got one."

The hat is very important.


[Rose and Venus]

Rose, likewise, fetches some more snacks! This time around they're two plates of little disks of baked sweet potato with a roasted marshmallow and a pecan perched atop it. They smell sweet, sticky, and absolutely heavenly. One tray goes to each of the tables. Really, it's nice that the hostess is making sure the Nexus' recent influx of faeries can enjoy the ThanksFeast, too.

"If that makes you feel safe, then it makes you feel safe," Rose concludes. And... that's a good question, too. Why DOES she have a salamander for a butt instead of a deer? "I think any gaiad can have an elemental lower half instead of an animal one. Maybe we're mostly the same since we all used to be Buttercup? I rooted in a lava-filled caldera instead of a garden, so I guess my body just changed to match when I manifested? I guess maybe I could try looking into it? I really doesn't know a lot about faerie magic works. I, ah, mostly studied infernal magic."


[Post Devil-Things]

Once she's done moving food to the snack table Rose will duck outside for a few minutes before coming back in with a Thanksmas gift in a box large enough to contain a big candle. She sets the rather heavy package under the Thanksmas tree. She's glad Zee mentioned the white elephant gifts to her. That's a really fun, festive party game.

Oh no time is already getting twisty in here. Zee is going to be annoyed.

Rose is going to be keeping an eye on Sekhmet, waiting for that opportune moment when she's alone and Sapphira's attention is elsewhere. And when that moment comes? Rose will trot over to the rather uncomfortable looking fiendish woman. What's she going to say. How's she going to start this in a way that doesn't sound like a trap Sapphira is setting up? ESPECIALLY since there's a whiff of hellfire on Rose thanks to... well. Everything. She's really hoping Charcoal at least started barfing outside the park grounds instead of into the caldera. There had better not be MORE hellfire pyres when she gets back.

"Hello, you're Sekhmet right?" asks the gaiad as she approaches the demon. "You don't know me, but I know a little about you. And... more about your mother. Unfortunately. She did sometime to me and a friend of mine and someone told me that you might be able to undo it."


[THE FLOOF!]

Hey look here comes a pooka. A woolly, leggy little creature that looks like a cross between a cat, a lamb, and a calf with a great big long tail ending in a little swirly pomph. A literal black sheep. He's wearing a silly looking Thanksmas sweater featuring lots of flying sheep pulling Santa's sleigh. Three guesses where he got the wool for the sweater from. He comes bouncing into the Tavern and heads straight for the Thanksmas tree, depositing a wrapped gift box under it because he's a good Thanksmas guest who remembered to bring the white elephant gift.

Once the box has been treed?

He sits down on his haunches watches the door. Where's Isaac? If Isaac doesn't show up after Lucas lost that bet and had to come to the party woolly he's going to be annoyed. Though, frankly, the real reason he's here is that he's hoping to meet that cute girl with the pink hair again. She was at the last Thanksmas party so maybe she'll be here, too? Sure it's a long shot but maybe worth a try?

[Deathkeeper]

The FLOOF

Oh! That looks like that jerk of a fairy who tried to help Gara last year but did it in the shiftiest way possible and almost made her lose her chance to help Rey!
And Gara remembers that when he poofed he left Lucas behind. Maybe they know each other? Maph looked a little different and was wearing all sorts of shiny things.

Gara slips a little box by the tree behind him.
"Um. Hi. Do you uh. Kind of. Um. Do you know someone named Lucas?" asks Gara with her customary bluntness.

[bc56]

Foxy Christmas

The Santa-hatted fox trots over to the tree and deposits a small gift there. It was attached to her collar with a little clip she could easily remove with her teeth.

Then she trots over to Zee. "Hey Zee. I need to talk to you." Who is that... Jade? Since when is Jade a fox? "It's about faerie things." Uh oh, that's serious. Jade shifts back and forth on her paws nervously. She doesn't feel good about talking to an empyrean about this. What if Zee snaps and kills her?

Later Devil Things

Sekhmet stares at Rose. "Uh, what?" Then she looks closer. "Ugh. You've got a, uh, lot of her essence swirling around in there." She looks at Rose again. "How, uh, do I know I can trust you?" The salamander lady smells very strongly of Sapphira's fiendish power. She could be a warlock. Or some kind of lesser devil created to deceive Sekhmet.
But nothing harmful can be done at the party, right? Presumably, that means one can't lure someone else out of the party to do harm to them, because that would also be harmful. If that would work, why didn't Sapphira just grab Sekhmet as she was coming in?
Rose has some sense for these things, so she can likely sense the corrupt power in Sekhmet, far more than she has. Could someone this corrupt really hold the key to removing corruption from her? Wouldn't she have done it to herself already? Sekhmet's hellfire is a bit different though, not as greasy or smoky, with hints of burning coal and hot steel.

[WindStruck]

And then Solstice is here! Wait, no... was she always here?

Spoiler: description

Show

Absolutely beautiful, to the point of looking unnaturally so. Solstice appears to be a girl in her young teens with a slight, slender body and fragile, spindly limbs. She has long fiery-red hair similar to the color of carrots, which cascades down to her thighs with some slight curls. She has fair porcelain skin, and emerald-green eyes with feline-like irises. Her face holds a number of appealing features, such as thin eyebrows, a straight and relatively narrow nose, and exquisite lips: not too thin nor too thick. Her fingers are long, dexterous, and delicate.

She's currently wearing some minty green silk robes. They are similar to her other robes, but just better in general: exquisite, sheer, and delicately embroidered with intricate floral designs. It's reminiscent of pleasant Summer mornings and breezes and springtime foliage. The gossamer fabric is extremely light and appears to be more like something you'd lounge around home in, as opposed to wizard robes or adventuring gear. Nevertheless, she's here. At a Thanksmas party in Trogs. Also some dainty sandals with a few small, decorative gems adorn her feet.

It's so strange. Almost like the entire tavern shifted! Wait, there wasn't a party here before, and all this.. you know what? never mind. Don't question it!

Solstice had a box in her arms. It was full of wreaths. And people were already coming! Somehow she was already late decorating for this party, but she began to look for some nice places to hang up the wreathes. It's not like there was much available space to put them up, but regardless, not just any blank space would do! It was all about aesthetics and how all the decorations were distributed.. what seemed most pleasing to the eye?

In any case, there were already people coming in, chatting. A dull murmur of various voices was mixing incoherently with the soft Thanksmas music. Oh, hey. Zee got that problem fixed already? Out of all the people chatting and bustling about, only Raven Ebondark seemed to really catch Solstice's attention for now, though she didn't know what she was on about.

Wow, this was weird. It almost felt like Solstice was working at Trogs! ..almost.

[Recaiden]

[Arrivals]

A bunch of dragons arrive.
Four are quite small, one is sort of medium-sized, and one is disguised as a human in a santa outfit.

Two of the little ones, the pair with black scales and red eyes, they gambol over to Raven Ebondark.
The one in the lead cries out "Are you Santa? You've gotta be since you're on santa's throne, right? I want a present!"

The medium-sized one, Sandstone, flies up into the rafters. To admire the decorations?

And Cleo, the human-looking one, she slides a present in a bag underneath the tree for the gift exchange.

[Rebonack]

[The FLOOF!]

This pooka looks pretty mischievous. All pookas do. But he looks WAY less mischievous than the hedley kow. That isn't saying much, though. Being less of a pest than the King of Pookas is a pretty low bar. Just for example? When he looks at Gara he doesn't have that 'I am absolutely up to something' grin on his little face. Mostly because it is more of a 'oh no' sort of face.

Does he know this person?

Those sort of fox like ears and that absolutely dorky scrub brush tail definitely reminds him of Gara. Gara already knows that he's... unusual. So if this IS Gara then letting her know that he's Lucas would be okay right?

"Depends," the pooka replies. The smart thing to say next would be, 'are you Gara?' because then the question would be answered and that would be that. Problem is, when Lucas is pooka-shaped his mind is also pooka-shaped which means he will more often than not do and say things that are pretty pooka-shaped.

Such as?

"Should I know someone named Lucas?" he asks, now perched atop Gara's head and peering down at her from his superior vantage point. Ugh. Why did he do that? Now everything is going to be all weird if this IS Gara. Stupid pooka-brain having to turn everything into a game.


[Foxy Thanksmas]

Zee blinks.

Wait a sec.

Why is Jade a fox?

Why does she want to talk about faerie... things.

Oh.

Ooooooh no. No way.

Zee's eyes narrow. "You better have a pretty great reason why I shouldn't boot you out of here for eating my friend."

Ugh. Kumiho are terrible. One hundred percent the worst. Any monster that eats people and steals their identity is terrible in Zee's book. She felt about the same way about the skinwalkers. But this IS Thanksmas, so she's gotta give this face-stealing monster the benefit of explaining herself.


[Post Devil Things]

Well... Ananias DID say that Sekhmet was both profane and sanctified. Maybe Rose just can't feel the sanctified part? If it turns out that Sekhmet can't help Rose and Charcoal she'll just have to find someone else that can. The Nexus is a big place, after all. And there are a LOT of really nice people who live here.

"I know I do," Rose admits. "I was caught up in the Buttercupocolypse, but your mother found a way to turn the Buttercups into devils. I agreed to let her do it to me if she promised not to corrupt any more of my friends, but I was so twisted up after 'cured' me that I didn't care what happened to my friends. I actually LIKED it when she tortured them and turned them into devils," Rose says, tears welling up her in her eyes. "She turned all my kindness and joy into cruelness and spite. But... there was still a little Buttercup left. Enough for it to sprout and grow stronger. That's me, Rose. So while Alexandria the tiefling is asleep I'm trying to find a way to remove the stain your mother left on my soul."

Then she takes a deep breath and reaches into her fannypack to pull out a small wrapped jewelry box and holds it out for Sekhmet to take.

"I know that you can help me. And other faeries like me that your mother has corrupted," Rose says. "And the reason I know-"

Should Sekhmet open it she'll find a pendant with a small lime green crystal in a bronze setting, a string of what looks like delicately woven rose vines strung through it. Inside the gem is a small lock of dark brown hair.

"-is because your father told me so."

[bc56]

Foxy Thanksmas

"Because I didn't? Another kumiho ate me and stuck a mask on me to get at one of my friends," Jade explains, "And because I'm trying to get a cure and go back to being just regular Jade, a human." Does Zee believe this ravenous evil monster in the guise of a cute fox that happens to also sort of be her friend?

Post Devil Things

"That's horrible! That sounds, uh, like something she would do." Sekhmet replies. Then Rose gives her the jewelry box. Sekhmet opens it, sees the locket, and stares, dumbfounded. "My father is dead." She's never met her biological father, but she knows he was a high-ranking cultist of her mother. She knows that she can get one of the Hive's weavers to confirm whether the hair actually comes from her father or not later. But on the assumption that it's real, this is an actual thoughtful gift. That means there's no way Sapphira's behind this. Sekhmet fastens the pendant around her neck, right next to her other necklace, the one with the nickel shooting star emblem she always wears. "I can try to help you and your friend, but, uh, I'm not very experienced."

[Deathkeeper]

The Floof

Gara’s ears turn to face the pooka but she doesn’t throw him off. Mostly because throwing around fluffy critters isn’t in the spirit of Thanksmas.
But that might change if he pulls at her fins.
”Well, you look exactly like someone I met last year who knew someone named Lucas. And if you knew him he might have told you not to play games with me. People who do tend to lose.” She says that less threateningly and more proudly because she is very proud of both that joke and her arcade champion status.

[Rebonack]

[Foxy Thanksmas]

See!

Evil!

Right there! And only sort of her friend.

Definitely something fishy going on.

"Even IF I believed you," Zee says, wagging an admonishing finger at the fox. "There's no way to be cured of being a faerie. It eats the victim's body up and replaces it with dream stuff."

Hmm.

Maybe she doesn't know about the Icon thing? That's definitely possible. There are many things that Zee doesn't know.


[Post Devil Things]

"No, he's alive. But I think he wanted to be dead. He begged me to kill him but I... I couldn't do it," Rose admits, her eyes falling to the ground. "He talked about how your mother is using him. He... wasn't very coherent. Practically a lunatic. But he cared about you. He told me to find you. And how special you are. And to protect you, if I can. I'm not really sure how much help I would be, though."

Rose offers her best reassuring smile.

"He seemed to think I could help you. And that you could help me. That we could help each other! He had some uncanny insights if you could pick them out through the gibberish."

There was lots of gibberish.

"I'm rooted over at Brimstone Park. There's a pyread there named Charcoal that your mother corrupted, too," Rose explains without talking about where she found poor Charcoal. "She's becoming more and more like a succubus. I don't know if removing the corruption will reverse the changes or just stop them, but sooner would be better than later."

It sounds like Rose is asking Sekhmet to slip away from the party with her.

This couldn't be a trap, could it?


[The FLOOF!]

The pooka flops over atop Gara's head, his little legs dangling on either side.

"Sorry! Sorry... It's just pooka things. I have to be a nuisance," he admits. Gara may be able to tell this is taking a bit of effort on the pooka's part not to be a cryptic little beasty and turn everything into some sort of prank-filled game. "You're Gara, right? The girl from the party last year? I'm... I'm Lucas. The real Lucas. I'm an awful little black sheep."

She will probably hate him now.

Forever.

Since she hates annoying prankster fae.

[bc56]

Foxy Thanksmas

C'mon, Zee, the narrator was being sarcastic. Can't you tell? Jade's not really evil.

"Huh. I thought you would've known." Jade smiles foxily at Zee. "You're wrong. It's not easy, but it's doable. You wouldn't happen to have any icons of Hyle lying around, would you?"

Post Devil Things

Sekhmet looks back and forth. She shoots a quick telepathic message to the Hive telling them to keep an eye on her and have backup ready in case it is a trap. Then she sends another to Prumathe telling him exactly what she's doing and where she's going, and that she'll be back soon. "I'll, uh, come help you. If I can." Sekhmet follows Rose out of the party towards Brimstone Park.

[Rebonack]

[Foxy Thanksmas]

Zee is really bad at detecting narrator sarcasm.

Okay, so, that reply kind of surprises Zee. They just need an icon? That's all? But she very specifically remembers a few things from her human life before and among those was being told that once someone is consumed by the fae they're gone forever. If they just need a matter-aligned Icon then why wouldn't...

An expression of intense anger briefly flashes across Zee's face. White hot rage. But just as quickly it's gone, replaced by that cheerful smile.

"I think I get it. The Watchers COULD cure people. But they would rather use Icons to make cool magic items instead of saving randos," she summarizes.

...does that mean it might be possible to somehow undo apotheosis?

No way.

Definitely not.

"I don't have any laying around here. That would be irresponsible. They're dangerous. It would be like leaving high level radioactive waste just sitting out in the open," Zee says. "But if you go to the Shrines at any of the places I've fed you could find one at the top. I just feed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"

*deep breath*

"-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out in the middle of nowhere to make sure I don't hurt anyone. If you've got a map of Outside I could show you the spots."

[bc56]

Foxy Thanksmas

Jade laughs. "Do I look like I have a map on me? I'll stop by later when I'm less quadrupedal." She doesn't look like she has a map on her. She looks like a cute red fox. With a Santa hat.

[Rebonack]

[Foxy Thanksmas]

No map?

NO MAP!?

Well that isn't going to do at all, will it?

Zee raises a single finger in a 'hold on a moment' gesture and hurries off behind the counter to fetch-!

A child's coloring place-mat!

Children who come to Trog's with their families for dinner usually get one. It's got a maze, and a crossword puzzle, and some riddles, and the kid's menu on one side! And its blank on the other.

Zee flips it over and begins drawing on the back with a crayon.

"Okay, so, here's Inside. Here's Riverside. Here's Mount Improbable. Way over here are the neon geysers. So you go due north from there until you get to the big valley surrounded by mountains. I've been chewing that place up for the last few months so there are probably dozens of Shrines there by now."

[bc56]

Foxy Thanksmas

"Okay. North of the neon geysers, surrounded by mountains. Valley full of unnatural alien terrain." Jade's been to a place where Zee had fed before, and it wasn't pleasant. "I'm going to have a group of other faeries who want to turn back with me. We're hoping to collect a whole bunch of icons to help the Buttercup victims."

[5a Violista]

[Rose and Venus]

Venus brings out some spiced watermelon.
Oh, it looks so good. Definitely mouth-watering, she thinks.

"Oh. I don't really know that much about it, either," Venus says.

A lava-filled caldera? That's got to definitely feel weird, she thinks. "When I'm not at work, I've been hanging out in an old run-down church," she says, talking about her own garden. "Looks like it was abandoned long ago, so it's got trees and flowers growing inside. Very overgrown, so nobody goes there. Just me, and this doll." She gestures at the spooky doll sitting in her bag.

[Earl of Purple]

Devil Things

Prumathe will go towards Spike. He doesn't trust the Hive, either, but at least feels they have something resembling Sekhmet's interests at heart. And a gift is more likely to be useful and less likely to be horrific, too.

The White Elephant Tree

At some point, Prumathe breaks away from Sekhmet- possibly whilst she's out with Rose- to put a soft, squishy gift under the tree.

Abi also puts a gift under the tree, a shoebox sized parcel wrapped in metallic blue paper.

Mishnehel also leaves a gift under the tree, a very small box wrapped in brown packing paper.

[Deathkeeper]

The FLOOF

Gara responds to this incredible revelation by tipping her nose down to deposit Lucas onto the floor.
And then curling up like a fox, inflicting upon Lucas the full force of her soft yet bristly tail-fluff.
"And I'm a dragon princess, but you don't see me complaining about it. You have to own these things, Lucas! Especially when you're so soft and fluffy."
Oh no now the dragon is tickling him with her nose. But that's what you get for being the avatar of the Hedley-Kow, Lucas. You quite literally have the dreamiest, fluffiest coat. No one can resist that.

Solstice

Solstice is approached by a very large, very muscular dragon-like fellow in a red flannel and green glasses. His scales are mostly bronze with swirls of silver. He bears a striking resemblance to Zee's son Navvy, if Solstice has met him.
"Hello, Miss. Are you picking up a shift here? You wouldn't happen to have seen Navvy, would you? Small bronze dragon, one of Zee's?" He's pretty sure he saw Kara talking to someone before.

[Rebonack]

[Foxy Thanksmas]

Zee's really conflicted here. On the one hand she knows that trusting a kumiho is dumb. They're dangerous, malicious liars. On the other, she doesn't want to believe that her friend was killed. Even IF Jade was eaten... This kumiho is identifying herself by Jade's name. That means she considers herself Jade. That means if the Icon works and Jade's material body is rebuilt then...

Well.

Regardless of who or what this kumiho was. Whether it really WAS Jade and she got fox-masked or whether it was just a wild-fox who ate Jade and is now being gaslighted by the Dreamheart the outcome would be the same.

She would be Jade once she's got her physical body back.

The totally normal barmaid sighs, closing her eyes. A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.

Then she stoops down to scoop Jade up and begin petting her.

This is what you get for being a fox, Jade! You're going to get pet!

"I really hope it works. The fae have upended a lot of lives."


[Rose and Venus]

Rose looks at the indicated doll.

Wow is it ever spooky.

Why is Venus carrying that thing around with her, anyway? Is the soul of her little sister trapped in it or something? Rose decides that maybe it would be best not to ask about it.

"An old church sounds like a really nice place for a garden," Rose decides. "Once I'm feeling better, I think I'll stroll around Inside and see how many gaiad gardens I can find. They'll probably look really pretty and it would be fun to see how many people like us there are. Oh! And I might meet someone who has an elemental bottom half like me, too."

Technically the gaiads all have an elemental bottom half. They've got leaves growing in their fur and hooves made of stone. They just tend to lean more on the animal side of things since that's how Buttercup worked.


[The FLOOF!]

Lucas is flopped onto the floor and then cuddled!

Oh no! The cute girl that he likes it touching him! OH NO he touched HER first!

Now he's not sure what to do!

Quick Lucas! Say something clever and witty! Impress her with your charm!

Lucas manages to make an adorable bleating sound and that's about it.

[bc56]

Devil Things

Sekhmet joins Spike and Prumathe, happy for the distraction from her altered physique. But she's still obviously uncomfortable. She walks very stiffly, obviously trying her hardest to avoid putting anything that could be interpreted as a sexy sway into her movements. Even though she's covered them with illusion, she still has her hands up to ward eyes off her breasts. She's hoping the Hive didn't get her something as weird and unpleasant as Sapphira did, but that's a low bar.

Foxy Thanksmas

Jade is held and petted! She obviously likes that. Her tail is wagging and her mouth is wide open in a fox smile. "I hope so. I have a few friends who were Buttercupped and would like to go back. And there are hundreds more. I'm afraid the demand will be far greater than the supply." She gives a barking laugh. "I never thought I'd ask you this, but could you maybe feed more?"

[Deathkeeper]

The FLOOF

Gara starts giggling madly. Her tail flicks over Lucas again. He was probably pretty well-kempt for Thanksmas but that giant scrub-brush tail isn't just for show. It makes everything squeaky clean. And bubbly. And smelling kind of like strawberry and bubblegum shampoo.
"I hope that wasn't a 'please stop' noise. Because I can stop if you want. Oh, uh, I guess you were expecting small-me, huh?" Gara came full size today because the kids really like the big pink dragon in glasses.

[WindStruck]

Solstice was just finishing hanging a wreath. Three more to go!

She turns to the large burly dragon that speaks to her. "Navvy? I do not know that person, er, dragon, no."

She turns back to fluff out the needles of the wreath and adjust it slightly. "I am just helping decorate. I think to say I have a 'shift' here would not be correct.."

[Rebonack]

[Foxy Thanksmas]

You know what happens next?

More petting. That's what.

Who's a fluffy little fox? Who's a cutie wootie? You are!

The sheer volume of people who have been twisted by the Dreamheart is a topic that weighs heavily on Zee. She hates it when people are changed like that. It happened to her, after all. Just from a different source. It's the reason she's so harsh toward Libra. It's why she's so careful herself to avoid corrupting others.

But most of the faeries that can do that to people?

They just don't care. It's all a game to them.

...okay yeah it is technically a game to Zee as well but it is one that she takes seriously.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I pace myself carefully because I don't want to cause too much harm to the world. The more I take the more the Dreamheart may feel justified in corrupting big chunks of the Nexus like what happened Inside."


[The FLOOF!]

Lucas gets scrubbed before he can object!

Oh no, this is terrible and embarrassing he's such a loser.

By the time Gara is done Lucas bears a humorous resemblance to a black marshmallow with legs. He wobbles a little unsteadily.

"Y-yeah, that's what I was expecting. I don't normally like going out places pooka-shaped but I lost a bet with Isaac."

Wonder what the bet was?

[Recaiden]

[Sekhmet things, no devils]

Spike works on maintaining the (literal) illusion of someone who is just full of holiday cheer, and not someone who has just realized that their friend Sekhmet is very sexy and is upset with how inappropriate that is to even think.
"For Prumathe."
First he gets a little box about the size to hold a fancy watch. It has air holes poked in the top and the label has a little picture that indicates it's from the queen. When opened, it will turn out to be a vox, one of the hive's little living communication devices, along with a note on use and care-and-feeding.
Second he gets a long heavy package, whose labels says it's from Spike. This one turns out to be an antique silver sword. Once weilded by a real paladin, although there's no explanation of that.

"For Sekhmet."
There is a tremendously large and heavy package, square base and relatively tall, with lots of ribbon. Like Prumathe's, it has air holes poked in the side and is from queen Aaiesi. It contains a mysterious cocoon, and the impression that "It's all yours, Sekhmet".
Next there's a flat soft box that's from the other marquesses together. "If you need to, just take that one back to a hive cluster and they'll fix it up." It's a streamlined flight suit like the marquesses have, sized and detailed for Sekhmet's taller, more-on-fire body. But now that she's looking so different, it probably won't fit.
And finally there's a little box that rattles a bit, which is from Spike (although they had help making it). This one is an amulet with a thin crystal rhombus at the center. It can turn someone invisible for a little while, just like the Stalkers do.

"Uh, merry Thanksmas!?"
Although the concept is sound in some circumstances, they have no practice giving gifts. Even Sophia never got up to it much.

[Morty]

As is the case every year, the Thanksmas area is full of wolves. Adult wolves, young wolves and clumsy-pawed pups. They wander around, offering pets and cuddles to all who want them. They all belong to Dipsnig Razortooth, the CEO of MERC, and how or why the cranky goblin agrees to bring them here each year is a mystery of Thanksmas magic.

[5a Violista]

[Rose and Venus]

That would be weird if the soul of her little sister was trapped in it. Luckily, June would be able to see if there actually was, but because she's trapped in a painting plot at the moment she hasn't had the chance to actually look at it yet.

"Yeah! Maybe," she says. "You can't be the only one."
Since most of the food is out, Venus looks around to make sure everything is put in good places. "I haven't really gone around looking at all of them. Or, any of them, really. Mostly, just been doing my own thing, I guess."

[bc56]

Foxy Thanksmas

Jade is a cute fluffy fox! She just soaks up the attention. "Sort of a tit-for-tat thing? That sucks. There's got to be a good way to mass-produce these things." She's definitely Jade, no doubt about it. Always thinking about science and engineering and whatnot."

Sekhmet things.

Sekhmet takes her gifts graciously. She's not sure about the cocoon, and she immediately sends to the Queen about it. Uh, thank you. What's in it? The flight suit gets a much more positive reaction, as Sekhmet holds it up and gets a feel for the material. "Oh, it's wonderful!" Perfect for flying in, much better than the dresses she normally wears. "Tell them I said thank you!" And then she opens Spike's gift. Wow, the amulet is beautiful. And magic too, she can feel it. She hangs it around her neck beside her holy symbol. "Thank you Spike! I love it!" Then she gives Spike a hug, before searching through her own set of gifts. "Here, this is for you." She hands Spike a small box. Inside is a steel necklace with a pendant cast in the shape of a Hound on it. Sekhmet made it herself.

[Deathkeeper]

The FLOOF!

Well whatever the bet was it probably wasn't Isaac's offer to go as an elephant, because he does that all the time anyway.
"That doesn't sound very nice. Well, tell you what. You've seen most of my shapes. I'll use whichever one you want for this party. And I won't tell you friend if you do the same."