ph_logs | December Event - To All a Good Night

To All a Good Night

Givingstide

Winter is hard for everyone, but none more so than the residents of an island that has been isolated by the cruel hands of fate. Where the rest of the Emerald Isles is able to rely on imports from other nations in warmer places, Marrow Isle has no resources but her own. All the while, her mettle continues to be tested against the horrors brought on by the curse.

It is for this reason that among all the holidays celebrated by the Mothers' children, Givingstide is particularly beloved. A warm and cozy festival based around wishing each other prosperity and love in the new year, the lengthening of days, embracing generosity even in the lean times, and celebrating the fact that the darkest part of the year is coming to an end.

The fireplace is lit at the Oak & Iron. A wreath of pine boughs hangs over the merry blaze, paper horses and snowflakes decorate the walls, and a table in the center of the room has been done up to look like a silver sleigh. As people file in, hot food and warm drinks begin coming out of the kitchen and bar, and gifts begin piling up on the sleigh table. (Ultimately, a fair amount of them end up on the floor around it.) Everyone greets each other warmly with hearty handshakes, firm hugs, and wishes of a blessed Givingstide. Perhaps if you have a clever eye, you may even see a horned figure drinking hot cocoa in the corner harmlessly, enjoying the atmosphere of good will and keeping watch over the party to prevent any troublemakers. And for once, just once, for the first time in so long on this frightful, forsaken island, there is true peace.

[ Enter the Tavern. ]

The tavern is warm. Orange firelight flickers, as if dancing with the shadows. Decorations of shimmering silver and hunter green, the colors of Givingstide, adorn the dark wood decor of the Oak & Iron. The stucco and timber walls of the dining hall safeguard those within from the bitter wind and snow. It's no Leeds gala--- the food is simple, but it is beautifully made. Roasted chicken, potatoes, onion soup, and fresh-baked bread. Slices of pumpkin pie are passed around for dessert. Hot cider with or without alcohol, mulled wine, coffee, and spiced tea are served with the meal. It isn't glamorous, but it's made with love and tastes like coming home somehow.

As dinner carries on, music begins to be played from the tavern stage, and Mayor Poe has Yorick assist her in doling out the gifts from the table. They read the tags and summon the recipients to the table to recieve them. You can open yours right there or at your table, and decide for yourself whether you care to announce the name of the giver to the room.

Once the gifts are distributed, the partygoers are left to their own devices, allowed time to laugh with friends, dance to music, drink to their hearts' content, sneak off to while away a private moment in one of the inn's sitting rooms, or head home for an early night. Regardless of your choice, let it be with a loved one. A friend, a partner, a member of your newfound family. Blessed Givingstide, and may your lantern ever stay lit.

gifts and vouchers

Some important information regarding gift-giving and vouchers can be found below.

[ Review. ]

Gifts can be purchased using your own Brass, or via the holiday bazaar vouchers found in our December TDM. If you haven't taken the trivia quiz on the TDM, you still can! You can take it for each character or just once and give all your characters the same voucher.

For simplicity's sake for both our mods and our players, we will allow you to decide for yourselves the prices of your items so long as they are reasonable. You can use other purchase requests in the bank as a reference or simply decide on a price you believe is fair based on your experience. You do not have to list prices. We will trust you to make fair decisions! If you're still unsure how much an item ought to cost, feel free to ask us in the question thread on this post, but in the spirit of the holiday season (both real and fictional) we would rather allow your characters to get gifts for all their loved ones than worry too much about financials. Perhaps your character is simply a very good bargain hunter!

As a slight aside, we would love to thank each and every one of you for being a part of making Pumpkin Hollow amazing this year. We truly could not ask for a better group of players and are extremely grateful to have met all of you delightful, creative, talented, funny, incredible people. We hope you had a great holiday season, whatever that looks like for you, and we're so honored to greet the new year with this fantastic community!

Hand in hand, we put the darkness to our backs and step into the light. Rejoice, spring cometh.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bart is flushed and pleased upon spotting Chris in the crowd, a few glasses in on the strong cider on offer with the dinner. He's got his coat over his arm, a sprig of holly in a buttonhole on his vest, and a flat package in hand that he holds out to Chris themself.

The package is flat, and a bit fragile, containing a sectioned bar of chocolate with sea salt and toffee broken up through it. The bow adhered to the paper is sparkly and blue.

"Hello, Doctor Freeman! I hope you're enjoying your Yule!"

"Thank you!" Chris says, accepting their gift, and passing over a package labelled with Bart's name. Once again, they're letting that 'doctor' address slide, as they do for so many locals. People will want to use titles...

The package contains an apple-green toque with a fuzzy yellow pompom on top. It clashes horribly with Bart's fancy coat.

"I'm having a good time, even if nobody can agree on what to call this get together," Chris says, a gentle joke before they take another swig of spiced cider.

They'd better let it slide, because Bart is just excited and doesn't mean anything personal by forgetting!

It's even further forgotten when he's presented with such a ridiculously bright hat, and as soon as he's handed Chris their gift of assorted candied things, mostly fruits and nuts, including something very much like some Jordan almonds, he pulls it right onto his head with no attention paid to the way that it would mess up his hair.

"I've got no real idea what would be appropriate either. At home, it would be Independence Day in a couple of days, and then New Years. Givingstide seems very much like Christmas, or perhaps American Thanksgiving. Perhaps both! Yule seems like a decent catch-all, though there is something that looks very much like the Krampus roaming about-" a cup tipped in the direction of the horned figure off in its chair "-and Krampusnacht wasn't something that was observed in my time. Happy holidays!" he concludes, then returns to his own cup. It is woefully emptied in seconds.

"Happy holidays is always the safe option," Chris agrees with a giggle. They look intrigued by all the little treats, but the responsible thing to do is save them for later. So they will.

They toast Bart once he's wearing his new hat. "I'm glad you like it. Toques are good for keeping the ears warm."

The way that he understands it, gifts of this type are supposed to be like little frivolities, things that someone wouldn't normally get for themselves and in turn are truly getting something fun and interesting to brighten their holiday. He'd gone out of his way to find interesting little snacks and pretty things for the people that had made him feel most welcome here, so of course he was happy to treat Chris.

Bart has no real inkling that he must look very silly in his new toque, it's warm and lovely and loud and does not match anything that he owns, and that's honestly the best part of it.

"Absolutely. I'm sure it will be very welcome when I go out to the forest again to meet miss Elsie and her clan. Oh, perhaps I should bring something along for them... Do you know much about them?"

Chris gives a little sigh. "I met Elsie once, but she never gave me her name. I had to learn it from Angel. So I don't know much."

A huff. "That seems to be the consensus, yes. She's flighty, capricious, and I don't know if I could ever persuade her to talk with me. But I thought, perhaps an offering for her tree out there might give her a reason to show."

Maybe he should have saved some of his brass from the Bazaar to get something nice for her. He wishes he'd thought of that sooner.

"I just hope she has somewhere warm to stay. I'm pretty sure she stays out in the woods... but maybe she has a house out there?"

"Surely she must... If she has other people out there then they must have some form of shelter, right? Even our friends that don't strictly have houses like the rest of us have places to bed down out of the weather."

December Event - To All a Good Night

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