>>6151529
...Unless?

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NAUGHTY LIST GOT FUCK ON US

>>6151529
Hello, Based Department? Yeah, this Qst right here...

You are a Fortune Seeker. But that word is broad, and can Stretch to almost any being. What Are You?
>You're a Human, and hardy stock as well. They tend to vary a bit in flesh tone, size, and hair color. They neither excel, nor are deficient in tasks of all manner. They dwell throughout Yule and worship various deities and follow various schools of thought.
> You're a Elf, short, slim, and spry, and full of cheer.
>Specifically, a Gingerbread elf.
You're Shorter and Squatter, and less nimble, than an average elf, but have innate talent in Pastrymancy. You have Dark tawny skin, and curly hair. You follow The sacred rules of Hospitality
>Specifically, A Workshop Elf
You're an average elf, and have pale pink skin, and blondish hair. you have dexterous fingers and a knack for on your feet thinking, but a light frame. You follow Magnum Opus, a philosophy that states that in every creature, there is a beautiful creation in their heart.
>Specifically, a Tomten.
You are much larger than a "True" elf, but you look like one, You possess strength much more potent than your still small stature would suggest, and are capable of growing facial hair. You are often grumpy, and enjoy messing with those that draw your ire. You have pale white skin and white hair. You Follow Rown, god of evenness
>Specifically, a Tree elf
You have a green thumb and can will plants to give fruit, take shapes, and ward evil, but cannot use tools of cut wood, nor digest meat. You follow tree spirits. you have silvery skin, and dark green hair.
>You are a who, humble, yet proud
You have a short stature, yet are hearty, and agile. You have skill with polearms. You have Brownish fur, and rodent like features. You follow Liss, First of merriment
>You are a Grinch, Foul, and cunning.
You have skill with metal and know discomforting illusions, but suffer from over taxation of vascular systems. You have green fur, and usually do not believe in a god or code.
>You are an Ogre, Huge and Powerful.
You are massive and strong, but with poor dexterity. You have a strict code of ethics, that may seem alien to others. You can vary as much as humans in skintone and hair color.
>You are a Straggele, Coarse and fierce.
You are fierce with blade or axe, and can enter a state of rage. you often scare those around you. You follow Strag, Grand Arbiter of Justice. You have horns, a twisted visage, and dark, matted fur.
> You are a Lwyd, Eldritch and Inscrutable.
You have prophetic powers and a large frame. You require large quantities of good food to use it in any sufficient manner. You are equine in nature, and are covered in bony plates that shield you
>Something Else (Suitably Festive, Please!)

>>6151558
> You're a Elf, short, slim, and spry, and full of cheer.
>Specifically, a Gingerbread elf.
Straggele and Grinch tempt me sorely, but I cannot resist the lure of pastrymancy.

>>6151558
>>You are a Grinch, Foul, and cunning.
FINALLY A GRINCH QUEST

>>6151558
While I would like to play a snowmiser and collect evidence of a blue grinch...

>You're an Elf, short, slim, and spry, and full of cheer.
>Specifically, a Gingerbread elf.

Pastrymancy does sound pretty dope

>>6151529

>Specifically, A Workshop Elf

Proletarielf rise up! The cheer shall belong the masses?

>>6151558
>You're a Elf, short, slim, and spry, and full of cheer.
>Specifically, a Gingerbread elf.

>>6151558
>MARI LWYD
Failling that, my second choice if a wassailing skelehorse doesn't catch on:
>GRINCH

>>6151558
>>Specifically, A Workshop Elf

>>6151558
>SPELLS added
>CONJURE STRUDLE added
>WAFER SHOT added
>FIGGY PUDDING BARRAGE added
>SUPREME PIE added

>ATTRIBUTES gained
>OVERWEIGHT gained
>SHORT gained
>NIMBLE gained

> CURRENT STATS
>JOLLINESS: 14
>NICENESS: +
>FERVOR : 9
>KNOWLEDGE: 13
>DURABILTY: 14
>NIMBLENESS: 11
>STRENGTH 12
> HIT POINTS: 16/16
>MAGIC POINTS 45/45
You are a Gingerbread Elf, Hailing from Zuckhoem. You have innate Pastrymantic abilities. You have Hazel Skin and Hair. You are 3 ft 4 inches tall, and 65 pounds.

However, a Being is not defined by it's Shape alone. All can be NICE, and all can be NAUGHTY.
What is Your Background?
>Pastryologist
You Gain 2 additional SPELLS, RECIPEBOOK and other equipment, and a boost to KNOWLEDGE, MAGIC POINTS
>Pie Thief
You gain LIGHT WEAPON SKILL, CHEESE KNIFE and other equipment, and a boost to NIMBLENESS
>Landsknecht
You gain POLEARM SKILL, HOLLYBERD and other equipment, and a boost to STRENGTH
>Priest of Al-Flour
You gain BLUNT SKILL, TENDERIZER and other equipment, and boost to FERVOR
>Liebgarde
You gain BLOCK SKILL, BUCKLERx2 and other equipment, and boost to DURABILITY
>Merchant
You Gain DIPLOMACY SKILL, CREPEE and other equipment, and boost to JOLLINESS
>Jawbreaker
You Gain MARTIAL ART SKILL, a boost to HITPOINTS, and a minor boost to STRENGTH, DURABILITY, NIMBLENESS

>>6151870
>Jawbreaker

>>6151870
>Landsknecht

>>6151870
>Pastryologist

Might as well go all-in and become a master at the craft.

>>6151870
>Pastryologist
Though I'd back Merchant in a pinch.

>Pastryologist

>>6151870
>Pie Thief

>>6151870
>SPELLS added
>GAUFRICHOCHET added
>BOUND YULE LOG added

>STATUS added
>JOURNEYMAN OF BAKING GUILD added.

>ITEMS added
>RECIPEBOOK added
>ISIGNIA OF BAKING GUILD added
>PATTISIER GARB added
>COOKING TOOLS added
>COCOA BOMBSx2 added
>RESTORATIVE SCHNAPPSx3 added
>AURIC SHERRYx5 added
>45 FROSTGELT added

> CURRENT STATS
>JOLLINESS: 14
>NICENESS: +
>FERVOR : 9
>KNOWLEDGE: 15
>DURABILTY: 14
>NIMBLENESS: 11
>STRENGTH 12
> HIT POINTS: 16/16
>MAGIC POINTS 70/70

As a child, your parents gave you up to the Baking guild, due to your innate skill in pastrymancy, as well as the fact you nearly suffocated in marzipan in your bed. There, you learned to hone your skills under the tutelage of the Master-chefs. Once they decided you were ready, they gave you supplies and sent you on a trip abroad, to discover new and exotic recipes, and to hone your skills further.

To where did you decide to go?
>Nor, the Capitol, a place on the brink of chaos
>Kringle, The Birthplace of The former king. A hotbed of Political Struggle and Tension.
>Perdrix, A hub of Respectable Merchants, and thieves and crimelords.
>Boreal, A land of unrest, as the Straggele Dominion makes its home here.
>Prespe, a land that is all but broken away from the empire, under the control of the Sorcerers court.
>Hoarfrost, Lands to the north besieged by raiders.
>The wilderness, where monsters dwell.
>Other(write-in)

P.S. first person to roll above a 10 on a d20 gets to name the character, and if you have questions, ask, I'll try to respond in a timely manner.

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>6152503
> Fondant
> >Prespe, a land that is all but broken away from the empire, under the control of the Sorcerers court.

>>6152503
>Prespe, a land that is all but broken away from the empire, under the control of the Sorcerers court.

>>6152503
>The wilderness, where monsters dwell.

>>6152503
>Hoarfrost

>>6152503
>Kringle, The Birthplace of The former king. A hotbed of Political Struggle and Tension.

:( QM?

QM, you are ruining Christmas, lowering the Holly-Jolliness & Cheer. 'Tis Treason then....

There are four principle differences between an Apprentice and a Journeyman in any Guild; the Journeyman receives more pay, more respect, more independence and more opportunities to travel than the Apprentice. Very few Journeymen consider the opportunities to travel the best of these four differences - you yourself are not amongst them - as these opportunities are almost always compulsory, and either the route or the destination of the travel is through or to places where there are not any Masters of that Guild. This is so that no Guildman trods on another's clog, so to speak, which is all very well and good, but it remains that there are reasons why Masters of a Guild are where they are, and further, there are reasons why they aren't where they aren't.

And there are many, many reasons why there aren't Masters of any Guild in much of Prespe.

It has been near four centuries since St. Klaus II finally accepted the Submission, and while only Prespe's proudest sons care enough still to rankle over the Towers that were toppled, or the Rods and Vanes that were taken as trophies from the ones left standing, even the most libertine Prespi remains in a poorly concealed furor over the Restoration. St. Klaus II turned out all Prespi squatting in Halls or on Holdings and returned them to Guildsmen, and then he reasserted the Singular Right of the Guilds, prohibiting the practice of Guild trades outside of Guild authority and auspices. So it was that skilled Prespi - no matter if they belonged to a sorcerous or simple trade - were compelled into the Halls, and assigned status. But while there were many Prespi who were recognized as Masters of their trade, Masters and even Journeymen from elsewhere were sent in, and placed over these natives. This decision was not made lightly, and only once it became clear that native Prespi would neither enforce nor follow rulings handed down ... but no one, not even the Prespi, expected the violence it brought about, where Halls became houses of charnel.

Only once it became clear that the Guilds were too scared to actually invoke the Singular Right - and St. Klaus II was too occupied with other conquests to enforce it - did the slimmest chance for something approaching peace finally appear. At the cost of an export ban on native handicraft, the Prespi were allowed to shun the Guilds, their crafts, their rulings, and the outsiders that came with them. In the ensuing four centuries, they have only softened on the last point, and typically only so long as the outsider in question is himself not a Guildsman. Likewise, Guild Halls and Holdings in Prespe are near exclusively concerned with export, either shipping raw material to Halls outside of the province, or finished products to outside markets. Occasionally, you will hear rumors of Guilds buying native handicraft, and passing it off as their own, but there has never been any proof of such malfeasance. Not that you would ever expect there to be, even if it were true ...

You had tried doing everything you could to not dwell on this history or your imminent, impending destination ... and when that didn't work out, you thought instead of all of the Frostgelt you could make in Prespe, on account of the exchange rate. Though it is not particularly nice or good way of thinking, the thought did actually help ... up until two nights ago, when you disembarked the double-deck sleigh with your fellow passengers to find the inn you were going to overnight at had shrouded its lights in mourning. St. Klaus IV had died, without issue. You - and many others gathered in the inn - didn't even know who his heir was, and when told, most didn't recognize the name Edwin Gumdrop, or the County of Jollyforst. That level of ignorance certainly doesn't encourage you about the prospects for a clean, peaceable succession. But more pertinent to you, with St. Klaus IV dead, and Gumdrop I uncrowned, you cannot imagine that it has gotten any safer to be a Guildsman - or even just an outsider - in Prespe.

And it seems that you are not alone in this sort of thinking either; the moderately-sized inn that you were supposed to overnight at last night - with outside lights all shrouded as well, and dirges being played in the common room besides - was full up with guests fresh from Prespe. Eventually, room was found inside for your female fellow passengers to share, but as even the common room was full you and the rest of the malefolk had to sleep on the benches of the sleigh, packed in around the impotent little heat-stove. Some of your fellows had caught a little bit of news from those in the inn; nothing certain, and certainly nothing good. The only bit that seemed somewhat encouraging was that the King had an entire army wintering in Prespe's High Counties to keep the Kallikantzaroi and Krampi from crossing the border in force, which along with the garrison of Kingsmen and the Guildsmen in their Halls and Holds might just be enough to dissuade open revolt. That this was what was passing for good news, however … well, that certainly wasn't encouraging either.

Finding it markedly colder inside the cabin of the sleigh with the sun having gone down, you had thought about performing a cast of Bound Yule Log, but the Log would be too big to fit inside the puny stove, and if you were to summon it suspended in the air, or even just on top of the stove, you would have to worry about it wandering once you fell asleep, or something catching on it. Or it being seen. Your fellow travelers were good company, one and all, but you cannot vouch for everyone around who might lay eyes upon it. It is well-known that those with Magical ability commonly travel with all sorts of things that cannot otherwise be bought ... or stolen. Now, you are certain that in a fair fight, you would quickly cook the goose of any aspiring cutpurse, footpad or prowler.

Of course, cutpurses, footpads and prowlers are not in the habit of fighting fair - so you are not in the habit of doing anything to draw their attention if it can be helped at all. But once you are on the other side of that provincial border, you will have to worry about more than sneakthieves and the like seeing your craft; your blackavized face marks you as an outsider to Prespe, and by and large, outsiders with Magical ability are Guildsmen. You have been told time and time again that so long as you don't sell Guildwork, nor offer services that compete with native Pastrymancers, you shouldn't expect anything worse than nasty looks, but you are of a nervous disposition, even on this side of the border. All this being said though, another night like that out in the sleigh, and you might find yourself risking the Log regardless … or at least trying to convince your fellow travelers to bust up one of the benches for more fuel for the fire. Still, you make a point of stumbling over to the main building of the inn, looking to buy food, rather than Magicking or even preparing it yourself, all for fear of marking yourself as a man of the Baking Guild.

After all, assuming you are not waylaid or delayed significantly, you will be crossing over into Prespe today.

And in the light of the morning, the whole situation seems more, not less, dire. For as you stand in the slushy mess of the yard, for every sleigh that leaves, one arrives to take its place – and a third passes the inn by entirely, looking to make time as well as it can be made on the worn-down road. Obviously, these sleighs are all coming from Prespe.

Were things different, you might be trying to find yourself a spot on one of them; you don't imagine that all of your fellow travelers are going to be continuing on – and not even the hardest nosed Master could fault you for bowing out. It is one thing for a Journey to take a Journeyman through a bit of danger, locales where they are not wanted and they may come to harm if they are not careful – it is another thing entirely for a Journey to dump a Journeyman into a nascent revolt of anti-Guild separatists, far from help or Hall. But … it so happens that you have personal business on the other side of the provincial border, business that needs to be attended to, revolt or no.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> A friend from your old Hall – still an apprentice there – has family in the High Counties of Prespe, who are in need of some help. Around every Darksolstice, their who-holt is beset by a string of robberies - and starting last year, increasingly bizarre murders as well. So when you were told you had your choice of Journeys – so long as they were in Prespe – you knew where you had to go.
> Your destination is the Sorcerer's Court itself, to formally recall the last Guildsman sent there, a cousin of yours. He is believed to have 'gone native'. Or perhaps he was doppelgangered, or otherwise puppeted. Regardless, you are to get him – the real him, if you can manage it - on the first sleigh back to the Master Hall. Having never known any of your family, you are keen to meet and save the man – from himself, if necessary.
> You have heard tell of a town where copies of arcane – and banned – cookbooks can be purchased. And it just so happens that you have promised several to a very unsavory group of individuals as a way to clear a frankly embarrassing amount of debt. Unfortunately, you have neither the money to buy them, nor the time to earn it, so you are going to have to pinch them. While you are at it, you are also going to have to “find” enough Frostgelt that you were actually working during this time. [Naughtiness ++]

As it was my post that named the player character, I feel some level of responsibility for the Quest. As such, I am assuming the role of QM! I am going to leave this as an overnight vote to hopefully pick up some players; the first run will begin tomorrow. Updates will probably be on the shorter side, but I will aim for a handful a day, rolling to break ties and no-votes as necessary.

>>6159282
> You have heard tell of a town where copies of arcane – and banned – cookbooks can be purchased. And it just so happens that you have promised several to a very unsavory group of individuals as a way to clear a frankly embarrassing amount of debt. Unfortunately, you have neither the money to buy them, nor the time to earn it, so you are going to have to pinch them. While you are at it, you are also going to have to “find” enough Frostgelt that you were actually working during this time. [Naughtiness ++]

Closed and writing.

> Gained two points of Naughtiness
> Current NAUGHTINESS: X

You had never had a run like that night, never ... if only it had held out just a few rounds more. Or if you had just walked away once you started losing again. Normally you try not to dwell on it, but at the moment, feeling sorry for yourself is more appealing than feeling the early morning cold gusting around the inn's yard. So cook those dice! Cook Bluetips! And most of all cook yourself for thinking that dicing with a notorious enforcer of the Lollipop Guild was any way to spend an evening. Obviously, with the situation between your Guilds, this is not a debt that you could declare in your Hall ... which means that not only will you not be able to get assistance with the debt from your Guild, Bluetips could really ruin any future prospects you have - and embarrass your Chapter besides. At least there is an out for you; if you pay off the debt, then the whole affair becomes much more forgivable. You would still prefer if it never got out, of course ... but if he tried to squeeze you after you got his cooked book, then you would seriously consider just taking it on the chin. As for what would happen if you didn't make payment; it isn't nearly cold enough for you to want to distract yourself with that.

Luckily, further rumination on ruination is interrupted as the door to the inn opens just before you can reach it. One of your fellow passengers - and a fellow elf, though he is too tightly bundled for you to suss out which sort - Pingo, steps out and exhales in frustration. The resulting cloud completely obscures his face for a moment, and fogs his goggles over in one go. He speaks as he wipes them clean.

"Do you still intend to go to Prespe, Guildsman?"

"Aye, I do."

"Well, we are on a spit together then. Because our sleigh does not."

Pingo finishes worrying away at the thick glass with his mittens as the weight of his words grind you to grist.

"What ... what ever do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. Of our little company, it seems we are the only ones who are still pressing on. I just spoke - if you could even call it speaking - with the driver, and he insisted that he wouldn't take the sleigh over the border into 'trouble' for just one passenger. I don't imagine two passengers will make him much braver. Honestly, there really should be a Guild for drivers and grooms and roadporters, then we wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense!"

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> You will suggest working together with Pingo to find a way into Prespe
> You will thank Pingo for the news, and continue on into the warmth of the inn

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> Your time would be best spent finding the driver of your sleigh and convincing him to fulfill his obligations.
> Your time would be best spent finding another driver of a sleigh heading into Prespe and arranging passage.
> Your time would be best spent working out how to cut away a sleigh and team and driving yourself into Prespe [Naughtiness +]

>>6159622
> You will suggest working together with Pingo to find a way into Prespe
and
> Your time would be best spent finding another driver of a sleigh heading into Prespe and arranging passage.

It's unfortunate that the original QM vanished, probably got taken by a False Caroler. But thank you for stepping up to continue the story new QM, I'll make sure you end up in the "Good Kids List" this year.

>>6159693
False Carolers are very dangerous this time of year!

Consider this closed.

In both your estimation and by all accounts that have reached your pointy ears, the situation in Prespe is going to be more and more dangerous for a Guildsman by the minute. You don't know if you can be more persuasive than Pingo, but whatever you bring to bear on the driver must weigh against the safety and remunerative gratitude that could be his by taking the other passengers - cook those quitters! - back to Hothearth. You don't think you could manage it, not without much more Frostgelt ... or threats. Which ... of course, you would never, never, under any circumstances actually use your Pastrymantic powers to hurt or compel an unarmed, innocent civilian to do your bidding.

But ... they don't know that, do they?

You shake your head as if you could dislodge the thought. Shortcuts and taking competitive advantages here and there are one thing, but that, that is not you. And it never will. Pushing past all of this unpleasantness, you turn to Pingo - only to find that he has started to head over to the sleigh while your thoughts ran away with themselves. With a lingering look at the door to the inn and its promise of warmth on the other side, you rush out onto the yard, calling out.

"Ho! Pingo! A moment, please!"

The elf acknowledges you with a wave, but neither stops nor slows; clearly intent on getting to the sleigh and getting back inside, it seems this elf has more sense than you do, just standing in the snow.

"Perhaps the two of us should put our heads together, and find another driver of another sleigh heading into Prespe?"

To this, he stops just long enough to turn and nod before continuing on. The wind starts gusting a bit, and he must shout to be heard.

"Certainly, once we get our luggage out of the sleigh, lest we are robbed as well as abandoned."

Embarrassed that you didn't think of that yourself, you hustle as best you can through the snow.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> You will suggest that the two of you look for a Prespe-bound driver inside the inn.
> You will suggest that the two of you remain in the yard, and try to flag down any Prespe-bound sleighs as they pass the inn.
> You will suggest that one of you remains in the yard to flag and the other heads inside to search.

>>6159770
> You will suggest that one of you remains in the yard to flag and the other heads inside to search.
Divide and conquer.

Consider this closed; the next update will be the last for the day.

As you follow Pingo into the cabin of the sleigh to liberate your luggage, you conclude that you - and he as well - would be best served if one of you were to remain in the yard to watch for sleighs bound for Prespe, and the other to work through the throngs inside the inn. You start to suggest that you might head into the inn, while Pingo remains out in the yard ... when you get a rather lucid mental image of Pingo just flagging down a sleigh, making arrangements and departing while you linger obliviously in the warmth of the common room. You don't get the sense that Pingo is the sort inclined to such self-serving Naughtiness, but how much do you want to count on an elf, chance-met on the road? You could offer to stay in the yard yourself ... or you could dice for it. No harm in that, surely - there is no Frostgelt to change hands, and if you wanted to, you could use some of your trick die or your trick bowl.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> You will tell Pingo that he should remain in the yard to keep watch.You are not sure how he will respond to such a proclamation ...
> You will tell Pingo that you will remain in the yard to keep watch; you will keep yourself warm by summoning a Bound Yule Log. [-5 Magic Points]
> You will tell Pingo that you will remain in the yard to keep watch; you will keep warm as best you can without Magical aid. [-1 Hit Points]
> You will tell Pingo that one of you should remain in the yard to keep watch, and suggest that you play a round of Three-Rolls to decide who. You will not cheat.
> You will tell Pingo that one of you should remain in the yard to keep watch, and suggest that you play a round of Three-Rolls to decide who. You will use your trick die, improving your odds of winning. [-1 Magic Points]
> You will tell Pingo that one of you should remain in the yard to keep watch, and suggest that you play a round of Three-Rolls to decide who. You will use your trick bowl, guaranteeing you the win. [Naughtiness +]

Rolled 1 (1d6)

> You will tell Pingo that he should remain in the yard to keep watch.You are not sure how he will respond to such a proclamation ...

Closed and writing.

Disliking the cold as much as the prospect of being left behind, you are unsure of how you should knot this bow. By the time you have battened down your hatbox on top of your traveling wardrobe properly, you have come to the decision that you are not going to be able to make a decision yourself. But of course, you don't need to - not when you have your dice! Just the prospect of dicing with yourself is enough to improve your mood; though you are not sure if that is a testament to how deep your love of dice runs, or how miserable you'd be otherwise. You work out how many options are before you, then you draw a die - an honest one - with the same number of faces as paths before you. Not wanting to field awkward questions, you check to see if Pingo is distracted, and are quite pleased to see that he is now huffing and puffing with a chest near as long as he is tall. You assign each of your options to a number, then roll.

Inauspiciously, it comes up as one; the evil eye. That ... that does not bode well. And your chosen path - to tell Pingo that he should remain in the yard while you search the common room - if you had to name one of your options as the worst, it would be this one. Perhaps that is why you tied it to the roll ...

Further in the freight paddock, Pingo is making surprisingly good time extracting his luggage from the freight paddock. Benighted again by thoughts of being left behind in the common room by a spiteful former fellow traveler, you find yourself seriously considering rolling again. But even in the face of all this, you are not willing to cheat yourself. As you start hauling out your Baking Guild liveried valise from a pile of your female passenger's handbags - some lump-headed porter must have thought it was one of theirs, you clear your throat and speak.

"I was thinking ... that we should divide and conquer here."

There is a grunt from your fellow elf, or perhaps it was just the floor of the cabin groaning as the chest was being dragged. Whatever it was, it sounded close enough to agreement for you to press on.

"I'll head into the inn, and ask around for drivers. You, well, you could stay out in the yard, and watch the road."

There is neither grunt from elf nor groan from floor to answer you now. Pingo has stopped, and the only sound from him is ragged breathing. Again, his breath in the cold air obscures his face... but seeing all of this, you unexpectedly stumble onto an argument.

"If you were to remain outside, you wouldn't need to get that trunk of yours inside, would you?"

More ragged breathing, and nothing else. You are starting to think that your partnership has ended as soon as it started, then -

"We'll do it in shifts. You go in first, but we'll switch every quarter-hour."

A better idea than you had. It seems that you have lucked into a partner cleverer than yourself. Though as you nod your agreement, you tell yourself that you could be clever as him, if you had only had the time he had in warmth of the inn. You get your belongings out of the sleigh, then as a show of good faith, you help Pingo with that preposterously heavy chest of his. As soon as he gets it clear of the sleigh, he stops then perches himself atop of it.

"A quarter-hour now, no longer."

With that, he trundles back up into the sleigh to retrieve the rest of his luggage. Needing no further inducement, you wave - not that he could see it with his back turned - and you beat a retreat into the heat of the inn, as fast as your legs can manage, so encumbered by the snow in the yard and the weight of your luggage. Finally getting through the door and being washed in a wall of heat is like getting kissed all over. As you haul your belongings over the stoop as quick as you can, you find yourself shivering more in the warmth than you were in the yard. You only allow yourself to stop and properly look around once the door swings close behind you. The snow room you find yourself in is fuller than you'd imagine it typically is, filled with those who were not lucky enough to find space in the common room. Still, the little hearth here is putting off quite a bit of heat, and already you feel yourself to be in much better cheer for being inside.

> Gained one point of Jolliness
> Current JOLLINESS: 15

In a corner of the room, there is a counter set aside for a Bondsman, who looks to be wrapping things up with a customer. Bondsmen don't belong to a Guild - they are hired men, not skilled - but they are certainly useful. They are the only ones who can wrap Bonding Paper, which in addition to only being unwrappable by those with permission to do so, adds quite a bit of physical integrity to whatever has been wrapped - which is why the Royal Artillery has a number of Bondsman amongst its ranks, to wrap the shot for the King's cannons. In addition to all of this sorcery, they also offer delivery and storage services ... which now that you think of it, you might want to avail yourself of. Obviously, you are not going to be going about Journeying though Prespe, you are going to get that book, enough Frostgelt to pretend that you tried to Journey for a bit before getting run off, and then you are going to get out of Prepse - that is the plan. So then, if you are not going to be openly practicing your trade, then you should give some consideration for having anything identifying you as a Baking Guildsman wrapped and stored in case you are ... searched by partisans or some sort of unpleasantness in that vein.

On the other hand, who knows what you will need to get that cooked book for Bluetips. And it isn't just clothes and such that have the Guildsmark on them, you have equipment as well. Are you going to leave that behind? You suppose you could have it wrapped, and just take it with you ... but if you are stopped, they are going to want you to open it. You'd like to take more time to think it over, but with the inn as full up as it is, you don't know how much Bonding Paper he will have left.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> Get in line, and get a quote from the Bondsman for wrapping and storing everything with a Guildsmark on it - clothes, luggage and some of your kit. With important pieces of your kit missing, Magic will cost one more point to cast than it would otherwise.
> Get in line, and get a quote from the Bondsman for wrapping everything with a Guildsmark on it - clothes, luggage and some of your kit. With important pieces of your kit wrapped and unsuable, Magic will cost one more point to cast than it would otherwise.
> Get in line, and get a quote from the Bondsman for wrapping and storing all of your clothes and luggage and just wrapping some of your kit. With important pieces of your kit wrapped and unsuable, Magic will cost one more point to cast than it would otherwise.
> Get in line, and get a quote from the Bondsman for wrapping and storing all of your clothes and luggage with a Guildsmark on it.
> You will head into the common room and look for a driver now. You may come back to the Bondsman later.

>>6160300
Oh. That was a terrible choice.
Unfortunately, I can only vote around [current time], which is between me getting back from work and having to do other stuffs (not to say that you need to wait for me or anything, since I can still at least read bits of the story on working hours).
That said, good thing that our penguin named elf companion seems to be quite the reasonable fellow.

> You will head into the common room and look for a driver now. You may come back to the Bondsman later.
Penguin-kun is doing his part, we have to do ours. Plus, isn't he also a guildsman, even if a different one (forgive my memory if I'm wrong)? So maybe after we get our driver, he'll also want to wrap some of his things (and if we end up with no time to do that, then that's that).

>>6160447
>>6160347
Should have linked/quotted the other post as well...

Consider this closed.

>>6160447
Your point about availability is noted. Going forward, I will try to allow more time for votes.

You mentally juggle your options for a moment or so, but ultimately you decide to defer any decision about your Guildsmarked gear. For a start, you should be focusing on finding a way into Prespe before you start worrying about what may or may not happen once you are in Prespe. And of course, Pingo - dear Pingo! - is out in the cold, keeping to his end of your little arrangement. You owe him more effort. So it is with as much vim and vigor as one could muster up after the night you had that you march yourself into the common room of the inn, keenly looking around for anyone amongst the throngs in the most vague approximation of a sleigh-driver.

Minutes pass, and with markedly less of both vim and vigor, you conclude your fourth circuit of the common room. From approaching those who looked more or less like they could be drivers - as well as simply asking a few guests of the house who were standing or sitting alone if they knew where any drivers or road-porters might be - you have managed to turn up just three. Two of which are heading back up the road towards Hothearth, and one who isn't heading anywhere; in the overcapacity stables, his sleigh's Bush-Antler gelding got itself in a duel and ended up lame. Apparently it is to be served for dinner tonight, a mouth-watering prospect ... but of course, as much as you love venison, you cannot possibly accept staying here another night. The sooner you are on the road, the sooner you are in Prespe. And the sooner you are in Prespe, the sooner you are out of Prespe.

To that end, there are other rooms - smaller ones - on this floor of the inn. You figure you still have some time left before the quarter-hour has been entirely spent; perhaps you should find your way there and work them? If not, you could keep trying your luck in this room, cast a wider net ... or you could speak to the Bondsman now, if you were interested. You also suppose if you were feeling particularly self-sacrificing, you could head out to the yard early, and relieve Pingo now.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> Head further into the inn, looking for drivers
> Remain in the common room, looking for drivers
> Return to the snowroom, and get in line for the Bondsman
> Return to the yard, and relieve Pingo of his watch

>>6160447
Assuming I don't get any other votes overnight, I intend to leave this one open long enough for you to vote on it.

To answer your question about Pingo; he has not identified himself as belonging to any Guild.

>>6160791
> Return to the yard, and relieve Pingo of his watch
Keep our only ally on-side for now...

>>6160811
>>6160791
Actually, forget that. I just realized I misread, and we still have time before Pingo expects us. if we have time:
> Return to the snowroom, and get in line for the Bondsman
Bond our most obvious stuff, like the livery on our luggage. In dong so, it sounds like we might also render our main baggage immune to searching and theft?

>>6160791
>Head further into the inn, looking for drivers
Well, since the vote is still open, guess I'll cast mine as well, tho it'll only cause a tie, so I guess the die will decide.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6160812 on roll of one
>>6161146 on roll of two

Regardless, closed and writing.

Sorry, fell asleep on you all. The update is a short one, but I won't have any time to finish it in the next few hours. Look for it Soon™

>>6161650
Don't worry New QM, we're all tired, almost every week, on the night leading to my day off, I end up passing out halfway eating something while watching some random video (and yet I refuse to accept that my nocturnal days are over. . . at least for now).

You wrestle the options before you back and forth the best you can, but when nothing comes out on top, you once again decide to give it over to chance. After working yourself and your luggage into a quiet - or at least, quieter - corner of the room, you go fish out a Frostgelt from your valise. Looking it over, you note with some surprise that it has not remade itself yet; it is the death-mask of St. Klaus III set inside the wreath of holly. On the reverse, the bust of St. Klaus IV stares back at you, as he has done your entire life. This cannot possibly be an oversight by the Numinarimancers of the Royal Mint; either the King isn't dead - which is unfortunately unlikely, seeing how many people from all over Prespe have heard and decided to act on the same news - or that the Royal Mint is openly refusing to acknowledge this Edwin Gumdrop character as the King's successor. You find yourself wondering if there will even be an Empire to return to, only belatedly rembering that Prepse - despite its bellyaching - is in fact part of the Empire.

Looking to move past such thoughts, you set an option to each side of the coin, and without further preamble you flip the cooked thing. It shows the death-mask - again, not particularly auspicious - which means that you will be remaining in the inn for a little bit longer - which you do consider auspicious, or at least desirable. Gathering up all of your belongings again, you once again work your way through the clumps and lumps of custom in the common room, starting and stopping and sidestepping your way into what appears to be a dinning room, typically set aside for the more affluent, but under the circumstances, opened up to the hoi polloi.You spend a few more minutes working the room, but you don't turn up any drivers, or anyone who knows any drivers heading into Prespe. Not quite done with the place, but feeling that you must be nearing- if not already past - the quarter-hour given to you by Pingo, you decide to head back out to the yard. Better to be empty-handed on time than ... well, empty-handed and late.

Of course, that resolution is almost immediately challenged. As you extricate yourself from the common room and pass into the snow room, you cannot help but notice that there is now no line for the Bondsman. Noticing your attention, he smiles at you. You put a question to him.

"Do you have much of your Paper left?"

"No, not much left at all."

Muttering oaths under your breath, you put another question to him.

"I have something of an obligation right now ... do you suppose you will still have Bonding Paper in a quarter of an hour?"

"I ... I might? Custom has been pretty brisk though, what with how packed everything is. A couple of tall orders, I could be cleaned out. That said, we do offer shipping and storing of unwrapped articles as well, if that can suit your needs."

Having spent the past handful of years cooped up inside a Hall of the Baking Guild, you actually didn't know that. But you also don't know if the simple route is going to be sufficient. Or if you even have time to be considering this.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> Make arrangements with the Bondsman right now.
> Head out into the Yard now, possibly make arrangements later.

From the makers of Soon™, it is Eventually™!

>>6161870
> Make arrangements with the Bondsman right now.
Damnit.

>>6161870
> Head out into the Yard now, possibly make arrangements later.
The emphasis on the Bondsman option tells me that failing to do that will be very bad, however, we have a deal to uphold.
Plus, bringing doom is on brand for me.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6162448 on roll of one
>>6162482 on roll of two

>>6162605
Dang.

Finding yourself once more stuck between two options of seemingly equal merit - or lack thereof - and with little time to suss and sound them out, you drop all pretense of introspection to fish out that Frostgelt, so that your thinking may be done for you. With the Bondsman looking on in curiosity, you set an option to each side of the coin and flip the cooked thing. Again the result is the inauspicious death-mask - which means that you will be heading straight out to the yard. In parting, you speak thusly to the Bondsman -

"Unwrapped shipping and storage might satisfy. Moreover, with my obligation it seems that it might have to. For now, good morning."

"Goodmorning, then."

You tramp - with a bit of heat in your step - to the door of the snow room, and go to push open the door. You manage to open the door only a few inches before a gust of wind buffets the door and slams it back in your face, quite nearly scaring you to death. With a bit of struggle on account of the wind - which while not as hard has yet to cease blowing - you eventually pry the door open enough to win yourself and your luggage through. Then it is another trek through the yard as you look for Pingo. Minutes later, you find the madelf - he has forgone the yard, and instead elected to situate himself right next to the road, lying on top of his chest, with the sign of the inn positioned as a windbreak that he peers underneath for Prespe-bound sleighs. Though there is more than some sense in set up, he has certainly made a spectacle of himself - were that there any in the yard or on the road to catch sight of him. Even the stable, earlier a frenzy, seems to stand still and quiet now.

It is hard to tell, as he is wearing goggles, but you get the distinct impression that he is glaring at you. As soon as you unencumber yourself of your luggage, you spread your arms wide in a conciliatory gesture and start to apologize. He has no time for it though. Nor the time for speech. He clambers up off of his chest and starts to trek immediately back into the inn, with neither the first nor last word. Even so -

"My good elf, it took some time to find you!"

There is no response as Pingo lurches through the mess of the yard, slowly but steadily shrinking into the distance. You realize it is now snowing, though you are unsure of when it started. Cook it all! You are liable to get sick out here, even keeping off of the snow and using with the sign as a windbreak.

> Please choose ONE of the following:
> You will keep yourself warm by summoning a Bound Yule Log. [-5 Magic Points]
> You will keep warm as best you can without Magical aid. [-1 Hit Points]
> You will keep watch from the relative comfort of your former sleigh, leaving Pingo's chest where it is. You won't take your eyes off of it, and no one is about to steal it anyway.
> You will keep watch from the relative comfort of your former sleigh, taking the time to haul Pingo's chest back onto it - though you might have a hard time of it on your own. [Roll 1d6, -1 Hit Points on roll of one]