Happy Holidays

✖ THE MALL
Ⅰ. THE REASON FOR THE SEASON
Boy, wasn’t November exciting? How about those Black Friday deals, huh? Hope you’ve had fun camping out in furniture stores! You can of course continue to bunk there, but the High Temple is also open to all Travelers again this month if you’d rather sleep there. Don’t forget to stock up on items that could fit inside your Traveler bag - this is the perfect time to get that fancy moisturizer you’ve been missing, some books, or maybe a copy of the hot new video game Bonestorm!
As December rolls in, you’ll notice that there’s even MORE holiday cheer to be found! Pressing in on all sides of you! Suffocating you! Or maybe you’re one of those people who just lives for carols and huge plastic evergreens decked out in tinsel and lights, in which case you’re going to be thrilled!
There are indeed plenty of those aforementioned trees throughout the mall, alongside wire and light reindeer, glowing stars, and oversized novelty gift boxes. If you have keen eyes you’ll notice that hidden throughout the mall are dozens of small, creepy elves with dead vacant eyes. They don’t do anything. They just… watch.
Who on earth could they be reporting to?
Ⅱ. HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING
At the center of the mall concourse there is now a miniature village set up, themed entirely in ice and snow and candy. At the center of this plastic paradise is a lavishly decorated chair, and in front of it a camera. At times marked clearly on a schedule at the village gate you can wait in line behind a red velvet rope for your turn to see him.
Who? Well. That depends.
In many worlds, there is a benevolent figure who appears in December, bearing gifts for all the good children. Santa is the most likely person you’ll find sitting on that big chair, ho-ho-hoing and looking as kind and jolly as any creature possibly could.
Maybe you’re from somewhere without a Santa Claus, but with some other equivalent. In that case, you might see what you’re familiar with instead!
Regardless of his exact form, the figure who beckons you to sit beside him has only one concern: have you been nice?
Niceness is subjective, but if you’ve managed it you will be rewarded. With a twinkle in his eye, the Non-Denominational Mall Figure will reach into his magic bag and pull out a gift, JUST for you! What could it be?!
Oh, and don’t forget to smile for the photo! You may pick it up in half an hour once it is developed.
But if you’ve been naughty, or if you sneak over to that chair during the OFF hours? In that case there will be a cracking noise and the sudden overwhelming scent of rank goat.
“Better luck next year,” the Non-Denominational Mall Figure says sadly, his eyes trained on something over your shoulder. Turn your head and you’ll see that your naughtiness has attracted another holiday staple: Krampus.
Yes, this hairy, horned devil carries chains and bitch rods, the latter of which he uses to whip the everloving shit out of you if he catches you. You’ll have to outrun him long enough that he gets bored, or find some other way to distract him or pay him off. Maybe there’s a German market set up in the mall somewhere where you could get Krampus to do a Smorgasvein with you?
Ⅲ. WINTER WONDERLAND
As you wander through the mall you will notice that amongst all the holiday decorations a large area on the first floor that was closed last month is now lit up and has a welcome sign standing outside. Whatever could it be?
Perhaps a bigger and better Orange Julius?
No silly! It's an indoor ice skating rink. And as if that isn't cool enough - get it? Cool? - it would seem that for the whole month skate rentals are free. So go on, slap on a pair of skates and take a whirl around the ice rink! Show everyone your fancy moves or just try not to fall on your ass.
Don't feel like skating? That's okay, there are dorky performances happening at noon and 5pm where a group of people dressed up as holiday creatures will skate around in formation and do tricks.
If you’re more mature, at 8pm there's a live jazz band that will play music for the skaters.
There’s plenty of beverages and foods to be sampled from the holiday kiosks that have popped up close to the rink.
Ⅳ. ALL I WANT IS YOU
Cheerful generic holiday music fills the hall as the Christmas celebration hits full swing with a slightly panicked glee. The same rotation of a dozen different carols cycles through, one after the other, hour after hour. There are only a few refuges from the mind numbing music through the mall - that one New Age import shop that hasn’t changed its world music CD in a decade, and Spicy Subject which only plays pop punk covers of carols. Even the bathrooms aren’t safe from that rise and fall of notes that let you know a certain diva is going to tell you that you’re all she wants for Christmas.
Just as the hundredth iteration of the song is about to drive you mad, there’s a tremendous crash. A twenty foot tall Christmas tree that had once been suspended in the middle of the food court has crushed the Pizza Corner and taken out the power source for half the Mall’s sound system in one go. A caped figure escapes along the rafters that once supported the tree in a cloud of heavy fragrance. He pauses only once to bow as banner unfurls. Crude letters have been painted over a previous black Friday announcement: You have been warned: The Phantom!
The crowd begins to murmur and huddle in groups, and if you get nosy there are plenty of rumors. A teen from one of the ear piercing boutiques mentions a ghost story about a Luxuriate employee who got in a terrible accident while mixing bath bombs on site that rendered him permanently aromatic and with a permanent splitting headache that would have killed a lesser person. An older man from the Hotdog Hut pipes up that he disappeared into the labyrinth of hidden hallways that allow employees to navigate the mall for restocking and avoiding the overly aggressive salespeople. Every year the Phantom emerges in an attempt to banish the sky high notes of that ever popular Christmas carol, and every year the people who run the mall put it back in rotation.
Even after the incident with the choir.
A mother with two small children who are more puffy coat than person hushes the hotdog seller. It’s all nonsense of course. Some kind of interactive theater to drive up sales before the holidays. The looks that pass between the other employees, and the signs that the poor twenty-something postgrad working at Pizza Corner might have been crushed say otherwise.
So does the pungent waft of multifloral scent that starts to stalk you through the mall. Apparently, someone’s formed a crush, or are you giving him a terrible headache? What is it about you that you do better than anyone that might be appreciated by this deeply eccentric murder? Or what makes you the most annoying? Either way, it might be good to keep your hand at the level of your eyes because you’re about to be whisked away to the depths of the Mall into the Phantom’s lair.
Come on Jessica, come on Tori! Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry!
Boy, wasn’t November exciting? How about those Black Friday deals, huh? Hope you’ve had fun camping out in furniture stores! You can of course continue to bunk there, but the High Temple is also open to all Travelers again this month if you’d rather sleep there. Don’t forget to stock up on items that could fit inside your Traveler bag - this is the perfect time to get that fancy moisturizer you’ve been missing, some books, or maybe a copy of the hot new video game Bonestorm!
As December rolls in, you’ll notice that there’s even MORE holiday cheer to be found! Pressing in on all sides of you! Suffocating you! Or maybe you’re one of those people who just lives for carols and huge plastic evergreens decked out in tinsel and lights, in which case you’re going to be thrilled!
There are indeed plenty of those aforementioned trees throughout the mall, alongside wire and light reindeer, glowing stars, and oversized novelty gift boxes. If you have keen eyes you’ll notice that hidden throughout the mall are dozens of small, creepy elves with dead vacant eyes. They don’t do anything. They just… watch.
Who on earth could they be reporting to?
Ⅱ. HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING

Who? Well. That depends.
In many worlds, there is a benevolent figure who appears in December, bearing gifts for all the good children. Santa is the most likely person you’ll find sitting on that big chair, ho-ho-hoing and looking as kind and jolly as any creature possibly could.
Maybe you’re from somewhere without a Santa Claus, but with some other equivalent. In that case, you might see what you’re familiar with instead!
Regardless of his exact form, the figure who beckons you to sit beside him has only one concern: have you been nice?
Niceness is subjective, but if you’ve managed it you will be rewarded. With a twinkle in his eye, the Non-Denominational Mall Figure will reach into his magic bag and pull out a gift, JUST for you! What could it be?!
Oh, and don’t forget to smile for the photo! You may pick it up in half an hour once it is developed.
But if you’ve been naughty, or if you sneak over to that chair during the OFF hours? In that case there will be a cracking noise and the sudden overwhelming scent of rank goat.
“Better luck next year,” the Non-Denominational Mall Figure says sadly, his eyes trained on something over your shoulder. Turn your head and you’ll see that your naughtiness has attracted another holiday staple: Krampus.
Yes, this hairy, horned devil carries chains and bitch rods, the latter of which he uses to whip the everloving shit out of you if he catches you. You’ll have to outrun him long enough that he gets bored, or find some other way to distract him or pay him off. Maybe there’s a German market set up in the mall somewhere where you could get Krampus to do a Smorgasvein with you?
Notes:
1. This month if your character has been nice, they may receive ONE special item! They may only receive this gift once - multiple attempts to see the Non-Denominational Mall Figure will result in Krampus appearing instead.
The special item you may pick for your character can be one of the following:
- one animal companion. This animal can travel with your character from island to island from now on. The only stipulation is that it must be able to fit comfortably on the ferryboat. If your animal is too large, your character can instead get a mini version!
- one carriable item from your character’s homeland. In the case of weapons, this must be something that is not game breaking in terms of power level. (ie: yes, you can get a gun, no you can’t get a gun that explodes the sun.)
- a collection of holiday candies, all of which have magical healing properties.
2. You determine if your character’s actions put them on the Naughty or Nice list
Ⅲ. WINTER WONDERLAND
As you wander through the mall you will notice that amongst all the holiday decorations a large area on the first floor that was closed last month is now lit up and has a welcome sign standing outside. Whatever could it be?
Perhaps a bigger and better Orange Julius?

Don't feel like skating? That's okay, there are dorky performances happening at noon and 5pm where a group of people dressed up as holiday creatures will skate around in formation and do tricks.
If you’re more mature, at 8pm there's a live jazz band that will play music for the skaters.
There’s plenty of beverages and foods to be sampled from the holiday kiosks that have popped up close to the rink.
Notes:
1. This is a public ice rink so you will have to share space with people, so if you plan on throwing out a triple lutz or whatever then you might want to make sure you don't hit or slice into anyone with your skates.
Ⅳ. ALL I WANT IS YOU
Cheerful generic holiday music fills the hall as the Christmas celebration hits full swing with a slightly panicked glee. The same rotation of a dozen different carols cycles through, one after the other, hour after hour. There are only a few refuges from the mind numbing music through the mall - that one New Age import shop that hasn’t changed its world music CD in a decade, and Spicy Subject which only plays pop punk covers of carols. Even the bathrooms aren’t safe from that rise and fall of notes that let you know a certain diva is going to tell you that you’re all she wants for Christmas.

The crowd begins to murmur and huddle in groups, and if you get nosy there are plenty of rumors. A teen from one of the ear piercing boutiques mentions a ghost story about a Luxuriate employee who got in a terrible accident while mixing bath bombs on site that rendered him permanently aromatic and with a permanent splitting headache that would have killed a lesser person. An older man from the Hotdog Hut pipes up that he disappeared into the labyrinth of hidden hallways that allow employees to navigate the mall for restocking and avoiding the overly aggressive salespeople. Every year the Phantom emerges in an attempt to banish the sky high notes of that ever popular Christmas carol, and every year the people who run the mall put it back in rotation.
Even after the incident with the choir.
A mother with two small children who are more puffy coat than person hushes the hotdog seller. It’s all nonsense of course. Some kind of interactive theater to drive up sales before the holidays. The looks that pass between the other employees, and the signs that the poor twenty-something postgrad working at Pizza Corner might have been crushed say otherwise.
So does the pungent waft of multifloral scent that starts to stalk you through the mall. Apparently, someone’s formed a crush, or are you giving him a terrible headache? What is it about you that you do better than anyone that might be appreciated by this deeply eccentric murder? Or what makes you the most annoying? Either way, it might be good to keep your hand at the level of your eyes because you’re about to be whisked away to the depths of the Mall into the Phantom’s lair.
Notes:
1. The Phantom is now more archetype than human. Killing him will probably not solve the issue, but it will make you smell like you’ve been eating bath bombs and drinking essential oils until New Year. Which could be fun.
2. Alternatively, if you agree with him about the music, you can always agree to team up to take out the rest of the sound system.
3. The Phantom has an excellent tenor voice. Just, you know, in case you were wondering.
iii
Ordinarily, he wouldn't pick a familiar face out of the crowd for anything less than necessity. Idle small talk isn't a skill he's kept honed, over the years, and one he's got even less use for. But - it's not like there's a whole hell of a lot else to do around here, and even he can only spend so many hours out of the day paranoid and preparing for the worst.
He's not sure what she's preparing for, with a veritable mountain of gingerbread, but it sure seems a lot more serious than a simple taste test, given the mass quantities. "You plannin' on feeding an army?"
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"How have you been, Joel?" she asks, all perfectly pleasant and like they're not stuck in a world where any means of magical mischief can strike at any moment. In the midst of chaos, one must seek to make calmness where one can. "This is all..." She peers down into the bag holding her festive treasures. It is a lot. It hadn't seem quite so excessive when she was picking bit after bit up at the various stalls.
"Well... some of it is for a gingerbread house," she half explains, half justifies. "And some is..." Examining her wares again, she picks out a package of star shaped cookies wrapped in clear cellophane and tied up with a red ribbon. Offering it to him, she smiles. "...just because."
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"More of the same." Short and only informative by the loosest definition, but it's something. He can't really say better, anyway, no interest in mustering up the lie or putting on a front.
He almost rebuffs the offer, hand half raised to ward her package of cookies off (after that carnival, the thought of more sugar just makes his teeth ache). But he takes it, instead, after that halting second of indecision. "You're gonna need more than just the gingerbread to build a house."
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She nods and decides not to pry any further. He's making an effort, and she doesn't want to spook him by delving any deeper than he's willing to give.
In the same vein, her smile is small, though no less warm. Where she wants to hesitate, uncertain of herself, she forges on ahead. Any awkwardness on her part might make the whole encounter more stilted than it needs to be. "Yes, I'd say you're right. Have you ever built one before? If so, I could use the advice."
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There are easier parts of the past to navigate, though. Less personal.
"Built enough real ones to know that won't hold together on its own, though."
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“Since it’s bound to be a transferable skill, do you think you might be able to lend me a hand?” It might serve as a distraction for a while. It’s a relatively normal type of activity (the fact it’s with an android on a mystical Christmas island notwithstanding).
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What the hell, though. There's nothing better here to do.
"I might." He nods, the closest thing to agreeable he's bound to be.
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"Thank you, it's very much appreciated." A thoughtful look crosses her face as she considers the best way to proceed. "It would seem to make sense to do the more intricate decorating before assembly... I think we're going to need quite a lot of icing..." Probably not what he signed up for, exactly.
Her contemplation gives way to a sparkle of amusement. "My offer about homemaking skills might come in handy after all."
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"Just how much detail are you thinkin' of putting into this thing?"
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"Well... there are windows and doors, of course. Tiles for the roof. Then there's making it fit the season with snow and suchlike..." she explains like she's planning the next great monument and not a candy house. "I'd like it to be special."
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"You makin' this for somebody?"
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"But I do have to admit that it's also for me. It isn't something I'd really do where I'm from and so... I thought I'd try now." A gingerbread house of wholesome rebellion.
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"All right." He nods, a gesture angled back toward the long hall of shops behind them. They've got shopping to do, if they're really gonna make this work.
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"I assume structural integrity would be the best place to start...?" she asks, genuinely consulting for his opinion so he isn't merely along for the ride. "I'd probably get caught up in the decorative aspect of it, you see."
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"You just worry about your decorations. And maybe sketching out a basic idea of what you want."
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"I'd say that's a good start for making it pretty. Now for the practicality." She gives Joel a smile and nods towards cutting mats, knives and suchlike. A decorative silver board is also scooped up to give the finished product a place to sit.
"Is there anything you think we should add to the house? Since we're doing this together, it seems only fair you have your stamp on it, too." Well. Other than his knowledge of how to build something that won't instantly fall apart.
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"Pretty sure you're supposed to cover these things in candy, too." He gestures to the bags lined along the other side of the aisle just behind them, stuffed with peppermints and gumdrops and candycanes.
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“I think we might have everything,” she announces with a pleased smile. “I can draw up a plan for you or would it suffice for me to just give you the dimensions I have in mind? I think we could improvise the decorating to some degree, hmm?”
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...Hopefully, anyway. He is still kind of picturing something about as dangerously avant garde as your average birdhouse.
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All of the supplies are unloaded and quickly organised; tools for construction first and together, the decorative elements grouped. She makes a brief retreat to fetch her sketchbook. When she returns, she takes a seat next to Joel and turns to a blank page to lay out her design.
The house she draws is simple (there's no need to test his generosity further by making it needlessly complicated). She includes all the measurements in her sketch, all neat and precise. It looks straightforward enough.
"What do you think? I've tried to keep it an even weight distribution rather than it being too top heavy."
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It's less of a pain than he would've thought - especially with a fresh, sharp knife, which still feels pretty novel, all things considered.
"Looks fine." Better than, really, given she actually put that much thought into it. A subtle raise of his brows is the only definitive notice that forethought elicits, of course. "You wanna open the rest of that stuff, and I'll get started piecin' it together?"
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Icing is prepared, bags of decorative candies are opened and all that they'll need is within easy reach. Sitting herself next to him, she watches as he works, making sure to keep her gaze on the gingerbread rather than him. She's ready with that edible glue so she can contribute something to the construction and lend him a hand. Teamwork makes the dream work.
"It's exactly like I was thinking," she compliments. Doesn't matter that the biscuit is still bare. It's all coming together beautifully and she's already pleased.
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Though with the pieces slotted fairly neatly together, they don't need much help to stand, bracing each other up. It should hold up decently well under a mountain of candy and glitter.
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House proudly standing, Chloe sets a piping bag and a few of the decorative bits and bobs in front of him. "It's okay if you'd rather not but you're very welcome to add some things."
For her part, she starts adding detail to one of the gingerbread walls. Palladian windows are delicately piped, tiny dots put into a couple of corners to make it look like they've been catching snow. The android herself looks focused and content.
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Still, his expertise ends with how to fit the pieces together. He leans back in his chair while she gets to work (with that almost eerie precision), only glancing at the items offered.
"Looks like you've got it covered."
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