songerein | Saving Christmas

✵ SAVING CHRISTMAS ✵

As the sun sets and the moon rises on Christmas Eve, a strange sound of jingling bells is heard high in the sky as the snow suddenly begins to fall heavily upon the town. A heavy weight of sleep slowly overcomes everyone, and just as their eyes close they'll hear a loud, raging bellow—

That damn bastard!! I won't let you ruin—!

Before the words are finished, everyone will suddenly jolt awake and find themselves scattered in a strange looking town called Whoville. Although it looks as if it's supposed to be festive, none of that holiday cheer is evident. The town is completely ransacked with torn up decorations, broken gift boxes and toys. Even its colors seem faded, music distorted and muted.

All through the town the Whos stare listlessly at their hard work now ruined, some crying openly while others remain indoors in their grief. A brave few young souls try to help clean and bolster some cheer, chanting, "It's not too late, we can fix this! We can't let that Grinch get us down!" But many just shake their heads, their eyes dim. No one seems to have noticed the sudden arrival of new faces.

In the meanwhile, the tapirs appear to inform the Dreamwalkers that they are inside another large dreamscape similar to the one during Halloween. This time, however, an entity called "The Grinch" had suddenly appeared and attacked it, stealing all the presents and leaving everything to ruin as they see now. The tapirs point to a meter floating high in the sky, and although it's not rock bottom, it keeps wavering and lowering as time passes. The Dreamwalkers must help raise the meter to save the dreamscape from turning into a nightmare.

"But the big guy is really angry now," the tapirs chatter among themselves. "If they help fix things, maybe they'll gain a powerful ally!"

Dressed in Christmas themed attire, it will be up to the Dreamwalkers to try and restore the Christmas spirit before the day is ruined forever.

I. HELPING WHOVILLE

The town is an interesting looking place with its unique architecture, bright colors swirling and curving about that it make it look like it could be made of cake or candy instead. It's supposed to be adorned with all manner of Christmas decorations and lights, and yet all of it is missing and instead everything looks so drab and dreary, the colors faded and nary a carol sung. Its tree has also been stripped bare, the presents pilfered, and the much too big Christmas Star gone.

A. Gift Retrieval. The Grinch has scattered all of the presents and decorations throughout the surrounding forests and they need to be returned before Christmas is over. Dog sleds big enough to load up found presents are provided to be used, and the dogs will help track down presents. However, those who enter the forests should be cautious. While there aren't any huge threats, there are present mimics, monsters that pretend to be present boxes only to attack any who approach. They will also eat real presents, so be careful they don't reach the sled!

» BONUS: PRESENT DELIVERY. The last objective is to deliver the present to their rightful owners. However, it's possible the Grinch may have tampered the presents, and this will only be revealed upon opening. Players must RNG 0-5 to determine if the recipient likes the present or not.

» BONUS: SPECIAL PRESENTS. There are some special marked boxes that are guarded by present mimics. Get past them to retrieve the present. However, upon touching the box, it will disappear in a poof of orange and be replaced with a pumpkin pie that will help amplify one's dreamotion abilities if eaten.

B. Fixing Decorations. With broken ornaments and torn wreaths and ribbon everywhere, a massive cleanup is in order along with repairing and redecorating. While anyone good at crafts can help, positive emotions and dreamotion abilities will be key to help brighten everything from its current dreary atmosphere. Creative minds can help produce the necessary decorations while the athletic can figure out ways to bolster their skills to reach those high, hard to reach places. Another RNG for rating is here as the residents will judge their work.

» BONUS: JUDGMENT. Anyone can throw up decorations, but will it be to the residents' liking? Players must RNG 0-5 to determine what kind of rating their efforts receive.

» BONUS: CHRISTMAS STAR. The original Christmas star was smashed to bits so a new one is in order. Although anything can be used, the Whos do have some preferences on what can be used on the star, even if those materials may be hard to find. Rainbow crystals found in the forest will surely help give the start that glittery feeling; they prefer to have it gold; and it needs to illuminate on its own so some kind of light source is needed.

C. Christmas Carols. Carolers are doing their best, but everyone is stumbling over their verses and instruments are out of tune. A bit of positive reinforcement and Christmas cheer will help sort things out. Those who are musically inclined can lead the way by singing and even creating new songs to help inspire others.

» BONUS: A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS CAROL. In the designated thread, a new carol will be composed by the dreamwalkers. Each one will supply their own verse in response to the previous (click here for example). The thread is only for the verses, but there will be another thread where players can go ham for their characters to comment on the song as it goes on. Anyone can participate multiple times but must wait for another comment to be made first.

II. SANTA'S TOY FACTORY

Just beyond Whoville with just the Winter Forest to separate them is one of Santa's toy factories. It, too, has been attacked and smoke rises from the damaged buildings. With machines malfunctioning, toys are running rampant and everything is chaotic. If not fixed soon, there will not be enough toys for Santa to deliver.

A. Elf Rescue. The Grinch not only stole the presents and destroyed the toys, but they also sabotaged the machines running the factor. Now elves are trapped inside and are in desperate need of rescuing as toys malfunction and start to turn on them. The machines are even trying to box up the elves as gifts instead! Behaving similar to the present mimics, boxes, wrapping paper, and ribbon bounce around in search of anything to wrap up. Dreamwalkers must venture in to try to turn off the machines and rescue the elves without getting turned into a present themselves. The more elves rescued, the more allies gained to fix the factory and more favor earned from Santa.

B. Reindeer Games. The reindeer have been scattered all over and the only way to bring them back is to attract them with fun and games. In order to do so, dreamwalkers will transform into reindeer and will have additional abilities granted to them, such as flying and manipulating snow. As for what kind of games, they can choose from any of the following:

Ring Racing. High up in the air is a flying course with rings made of magical frost. Racers must pass through each ring to count, but they must fly quickly. As soon as they approach, the ring will start to contract, and if too late it will close and the racer will be disqualified.
Sleigh Pulling. This is a contest of strength! Sleighs will be piled high with presents and, if not enough presents are available, large rocks to weigh it down. Each reindeer must then try and pull their sleigh down a simple straight lane to the finish line. Just beware, rogue toys will appear on the track and will need to be dealt with somehow. There are no restrictions—each reindeer can use whatever ability or skill they can think of to help pull the overloaded sleigh. The contest can be 1v1 or 2v2.
Robot Reindeer. All the excitement does attract many of the reindeer back, but unexpected guests arrive as well—and they're not friendly. Sent by the Grinch, robotic reindeer will suddenly descend from the skies to ruin the festivities. It will be up to the dreamwalkers in their reindeer form to fight back against them—or try to convert them to help out instead.

C. Gingerbread Army. Giant gingerbread men occasionally appear and try to smash through the toy factory, hampering rescue efforts. Fortunately, they are only made of gingerbread and easy to fall apart. Unfortunately, they will not only regrow lost parts but grow from severed parts. Their weak point is the glowing gumdrop located among the many gumdrops on the body, and destroying it will destroy the gingerbread completely.

[Mod Note: Details can be read and questions can be asked on the Event Details post. Submit all special threads and ratings to the Event Thread Submissions form.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Good idea, here’s hoping that we can be able to find out why would they want to ruin everyone’s Christmas spirit so badly.

Bark, bark, bark!

(Pooka is getting a head start as he begins to sniff around on the ground, trying to find a scent to follow and find any potential clues.)

[If they explore the area they'll find that this town is called Whoville and Sora tilts his head at this. He's never heard of a place like this. And asking around will help them find out that it's some guy named The Grinch that has beaten this place up.

Sora crouches down to pick up some broken Christmas decorations.]

Who would want to ruin a town's Christmas this badly, though? It seems really mean.

Well, whoever it is, it seems like that person must have been a sour foul mood to ruin the mood of a party or a holiday. The last person I know of a similar mood did the last major party I was in.

(Of course, Anya is aware that Whoville’s vandal didn’t place a curse on Whoville like Rasputin did to her family, but she is starting to feel some vibes between the two.

Pooka’s hearing soon catches something: several of the locals are bemoaning how the holiday is ruined and that some by the name of the Grinch had come to Whoville and destroyed everything. This also catches Anya’s attention as well.)

Wait, excuse me. (She is speaking to the locals in question.) Who is this Grinch person you speak of?

What is with people in bad moods making it worse for others? It's not their fault!

[These poor people in this Whoville must really have gotten it from this cranky Grinch guy. Sora listens and then nods with Anya when she asks them her question.

They're told that the Grinch is a gloomy man who hates Christmas that lives on the top of the mountian. And this year he can and did just that- ruined everything...]

We should go look for this guy, right? Give him a piece of our minds?!

(Oh boy, she is starting to feel rather peeved at the Grinch as much as she was angry at Rasputin for trying to ruin her family’s lives.)

Perhaps we should try to go to the mountain he is living at and let him know not to trash people’s holiday spirit.

(Pooka is getting really mad at the Grinch, growling to the point that he could feel his blood boiling.)

[Hating Christmas can be pretty high up there on the dislike list alongside someone who ruins families, yeah! No one likes someone who ruins things for others! It's supposed to be a special time for friends and families!]

Yeah! He needs someone to remind him what the Christmas spirit is all about!

[Sora nods with a spark of determination. The walk up to the mountain is going to be a little perilous...! But he's up for the challenge! He's a champ now that he's been up and down the snowy mountains in Arendelle how many times...]

That’s great to hear. Now let’s try to make that trip up to the Grinch’s mountain home.

(Pooka barks diligently as well, his tail wagging very fast in anticipation.)

So, does anyone in Whoville knows where we could find something that we can use to reach the mountains?

[The residents seem to shuffle and think before they only mention that the path up the mountain should be the only way. They don't have any sort of lift or snowmobiles to help them up there.

Sora frowns slightly.]

Geeze, it really does look like we're walking.

That is okay though, Sora. Hopefully it wouldn’t take us too long to find the Grinch over there.

(Granted, it did took her a few days to reach Saint Petersburg shortly after she was taken out of the orphanage upon reaching 18.

She then picks up Pooka with her arms as she braces for the mountain trip ahead. While she doesn’t know how perilous the climb up the mountain would be like, she hopes to find the Grinch and give him plenty of words in her mind right now.)

Yeah, you're right! Let's get going.

[Nothing like a good snowy walk up a mountain to wake up in the morning. Sora looks a little weary about it but he tries not to complain. This will be nothing compared to the mountains he's climbed! Off they go up the pathway. It starts off easy enough with the snow falling in gentle wisps from above. It's not that sunny and a little dreary but the wind isn't harsh which they should be thankful for.]

So, are you and Pooka from another world too? What's yours like? Any big snowy places like this? You seem pretty used to this sort of thing.

Yes, both me and Pooka came from a world called Earth. Earth has plenty of countries ruled by different people, governments, and cultures that are as vast as the environments in there, although I haven’t visited many of them. I was originally from a country called Russia, although most people in there have been calling it by a different name recently.

(She still hasn’t gotten over calling Russia the Soviet Union even after living 10 years under the Soviet rule. But living in cold weather conditions is no stranger to her as she is also dealing with the gentle mountains winds.)

It is on the northern part of Earth and most of it is covered in snow, especially in Siberia. Other countries in my world are also either covered in snow or see snow in the winter often like Grandmama’s native Denmark, while others don’t see snow at all.

Wow. That sounds complicated.

[Today is Sora's lucky day to get a lesson on Earth geography. He might scratch his cheek sheepishly as he feels a little confused. But he's doing his best to listen!]

You're from the snowy part of Earth then? I have a few friends from a world that has a lot of snow too. It's called Arendelle, they're the queen and princess of land covered in a ton of snow and mountains. It kind of sounds the same, huh?

Yes, it sounds nearly identical to my country’s geography, Sora.

*Bark, bark, bark! Bark!*

(Pooka is also using his nose to sniff out any scent of Grinch as they traverse the mountain. The little pup is making good use of his really good nose already.)

[What a good dog! The pathway starts to get snowier here. The trees are thicker and the wind is starting to pick up.]

Whoa! Is this the right way to go?! Come on, let's follow!

Saving Christmas

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