Happy Holidays

[polymods]

✖ 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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Come on Jessica, come on Tori! Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry!

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

[unkindled_madness]

I suppose something might befall her islands, but the way they exist now is nothing to be envied.

I don't intend to stay, at the point, anyway.

[neverwither]

I suppose it's hard not to think of the people here... I mean, they could only be constructs, not entirely real, as such, but they seem so, don't they? Locals seem to go about their lives... To have lives...

( She trails off with a slight shake of her head. )

[unkindled_madness]

I couldn't say. I don't really care to interact with them.

[neverwither]

Sephiroth… Is there anything that deters you from your goals?

[unkindled_madness]

Should there be?

[Why is she saying that like it's a bad thing?]

[neverwither]

No. Not necessarily. I was just wondering. A musing on the nature of tenacity.

( Chloe is extremely convincing. Absolutely. )

[unkindled_madness]

No. You seem to think there should be something giving me pause.

[neverwither]

Only that which I’ve mentioned already.

( A shrug. A pause. ) It’s the sort of discussion that reminds me somewhat of where I’m from so it may be difficult for me to be as objective as I should be.

[unkindled_madness]

[He eyes her thoughtfully.]

Did you discuss killing gods in your home?

Or perhaps simply powerful men.

[neverwither]

No. No. Nothing like that. I don’t… It isn’t something I think about.

( Well. That’s not strictly true. It wasn’t where her mind was, though. Her preoccupations aren’t much better and so she hesitates to elaborate at all. )

…It’s more… I’ve seen this sort of pursuit of goals. But I know it isn’t really fair to you… I’m sorry.

[unkindled_madness]

I'm not certain what you're apologizing for.

[They disagree all the time. Especially when it comes to killing.]

[neverwither]

( Chloe looks genuinely torn about providing any further detail. In the end, she goes with doing so in the sparsest manner. ) Any unfavourable comparisons.

( And now it's time to veer off in another direction. ) May I ask if there's ego involved in killing the Ancient?

[unkindled_madness]

Hm. [Well, prying isn't his style.]

I would say not. I don't seek glory. But many mistake confidence for arrogance.

[There may be some ego in his assumption that it's an achievable goal.]

[neverwither]

( She doesn’t mind prying so much as she minds the prospect of offending or hurting him. He seems fairly immune to those things but one never knows. )

I’ve never considered you to be arrogant, only self-assured. ( Chloe would like to think she knows the line pretty well. )

…Is it personal freedom that you seek? Autonomy?

[unkindled_madness]

[He can be offended, just... not by a lot of more standard insults. One never knows.]

...among other things. And that sort of thing isn't given.

[neverwither]

( Hence Chloe keeping quiet. Predictably, it all stems from a place of concern, of being fearful of Sephiroth running the risk of falling into trappings she’s seen. Chances are it wouldn’t sound that way if she voiced it. )

What else are you fighting for?

[unkindled_madness]

...retribution.

[Which he doesn't expect to go over well.]

[neverwither]

( Moral posturing and outrage is replaced by consideration. )

Purely against the Ancient or because being here is preventing you seeking retribution elsewhere?

[unkindled_madness]

Am I not permitted to want more than one thing?

[neverwither]

I think you probably know I didn’t mean it like that.

[unkindled_madness]

Well, rest assured the Ancient has earned this through her own actions.

[neverwither]

…Do you think there’s a threshold? I mean, to what extent someone must pose a threat or cause harm to consider it ‘earned’?

( Serious and genuine questions. )

[unkindled_madness]

That's always subjective, isn't it? Or are you asking for my personal opinion?

[neverwither]

Your personal opinion.

[unkindled_madness]

I suppose... it's a matter of trust. Even if the Ancient were, now, to offer everything else I might ask of her, I have no faith in her intent. I expect her to repeat her actions, given the opportunity.

But when Lord Godo of Wutai surrendered to me, our battle was done. I believe him to be a man of his word.