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

"I, uh... maybe have something to do with that. But it was all well intentioned!"

And Chris explains how they noticed that John, like Sam, was not coming downstairs to eat in the main tavern area of the Oak and Iron... except John was much more regular about it, to the point that Chris was worried if he was eating at all. Chris followed First Aid's example and asked the general store manager if he knew what John was eating. Since it was basically just jerky and trail mix, Chris had asked the Oak and Iron's kitchen staff to send meals directly to John's room instead.

"And that led to him doing handyman work around my house, so I think maybe he's trying to pay a favor forward now."

Sam nods, having realized himself pretty quickly that John doesn't eat much, and he almost never seems comfortable eating when other people know that he's doing so. It had surprised him a little when he thought back about it that the guy had acquiesced to sharing some of the whiskey that he'd had with him the last time the two of them talked.

"Guess so. He's not bad with his hands. Does a good job around my place too when he's there to help. We're actually gonna be able to get that done before Spring hits, pretty sure. Get a good fence around the yard when we can resupply, n' soon Lou'll have space to run around in when she starts walkin'. He loves her to death, y'know?" Not an uncommon sentiment around here, apparently.

Eyebrow raise. "Not bad with his hands, hm?" There's a playful little smirk on Chris's face. "You mean that in more than one way?"

Chris reaches out and gives Lou a light pat on the head. "She's easy to love."

For just a moment, there is no movement as Sam parses that comment, decides what to do with it, and then skates right past it. He does not have a sexual bone in his body ~~a lie~~ and he highly doubts that John feels quite that way to begin with, even if he is starting to get an inkling of the reality of the situation after having had to talk the man out of killing anyone that looked at him or Lou wrong.

"Yeah, just wait until she hits two or three. Gonna be a whole different ball game."

Edited 2024-01-06 19:41 (UTC)

Chris just goes 'tsk!' when Sam doesn't respond (verbally) to that question, but files the information away for later.

"But see, that's why she's so adorable and sweet right now. To make people love her all through the terrible toddlerhood."

You're gonna have to do better than that to get him to admit a damn thing, Freeman.

"Bet she's smart enough to figure that out and use it to commit tax fraud," he adds, laying a hand on top of Lou's head as she babbles back at them, realizing that they're talking about her.

Slow and steady, Porter. They are in the information gathering phase just now...

Chris giggles, "Have you been letting Agent Jean babysit sometimes?"

And to Lou, Chris says, "Yes, sweetie, we're talking about how smart you are. You're gonna run your poor ol' dad ragged once you start walking and talking, huh? We gotta plan for it."

"Little guy with the sharp teeth? Nah, only met 'em in passing so far. Usually Eds or Sally watches her if I'm not doin' it myself. They gonna teach 'er white collar crime?" A look down at Lou contributing the conversation in her own way, as she sticks the end of her mitten into her mouth, a sure sign that she's starting to pay attention to her teeth again.

"I'll put a leash on her and let her run in circles around me when it gets to that point. If she gets her energy out running nonstop she'll sleep, right?"

"The crime is a maybe. But according to Jean, going over the tax code as a 'bedtime story' puts Gwen to sleep pretty quickly."

Chris considers that last idea. "I believe so. Although you may want to limit it to half circles, so you don't trip over her lead and drop your packages." More seriously, Chris says, "At least here we don't have to worry about screen time messing up sleep schedules. And when Lou is walking around, Gwen will be too. So they can play together and tire each other out."

"Usually I just sing to her." 'Sing', more like just whistle or play for her, but he can't do the latter just now.

Sam huffs a quiet laugh at the mention of the screens. "Dunno about you, but I never really had any access to all that anyway. Stranding kinda specialized it to business interfaces. Still ain't got a reasonable circadian rhythm. Good and bad thing when I gotta keep an eye on the two of 'em while Mama's- while Sally's busy."

December Event - To All a Good Night

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