[Xanth]

On the 21st of December, Xanth gave with seasonal cheer:

20 Karma Points to Piper.

On the 22nd of December, Xanth gave with seasonal cheer:

20 Prize Points to Piper.

On Christmas Eve, Xanth gave with seasonal cheer:

A strange new pet to Dazadi.

On Christmas Day, Xanth gave with seasonal cheer:

50 Prize Points to Eivyonydd;
and a toy each for his friends.

Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Anime Rain ¤ Aethereality ¤ Keira Knightley

[Piper]

"Hey, I'm serious, man. We're talking total ugly, man. Dripping fangs, snarling and hissing - real old school."

Piper dodged around kid on a skateboard as she sucked her breakfast through a straw, not even marvelling anymore at the fact she was drinking real blood regularly now. She'd discovered that Elysia had a wealth of cafes and restaurants who'd invented a whole range of dishes - usually liquids - that could provide the, ah, nutrition she needed without clubbing her over the head with the knowledge of what she was drinking. She'd recently discovered Bloody Mary milkshakes, of all things, quite by accident: One of her forays into the unknown parts of the city had led her a small ice cream parlour. She'd been too chicken to try the blood varieties her first couple of visits, but now...

"No way, man. Those guys were all, like, slayed or whatever."

Having ignored their conversation as the pair walked behind her, Piper's curiosity was piqued and she slowed down. Xanth's Grotto was right across the street and she'd decided she'd make one last visit to wish the deity a happy new year, but she was wondering now what the boys were talking about.

"Slain, dude. And I know, right? But I swear, my dad's ready to explode, man. He was all "we can't let it infect anyone". I guess they're worried about a new wave of those really mean vampires, like they used to be."

Piper stopped dead, the straw still stuck between her teeth. One of the kids almost crashed into her and they glanced at her with expressions that made her want to crawl into a hole. They were talking about a vampire?

Suddenly feeling rather sick, Piper yanked the milkshake from her lips and swallowed heavily, watching with wide eyes as the pair continued, completely unaware that she'd even heard what they were talking about, let alone been upset by it. She almost followed them, but they only made it a few steps before they were both distracted by a leggy blonde and the subject changed.

Her feet dragging as she crossed the road, Piper tried to shake off what she'd heard. In all her time in Elysia, she'd been blissfully ignorant of the prejudices and tensions caused by the vampire presence and knew next to nothing about them. She'd made a number of attempts to change that but she was always distracted by something. It was a shock to hear something that suggested they weren't as readily accepted as she'd always thought.

"I think it's time I met some other Vampires," she told Xanth's ice throne absently as she stood there with a present in her hands. She didn't even remember picking one up and was staring at the throne as if Xanth would appear right then to give her some answers. But no, this was something Piper had to do for herself. She just hoped that, this time, she actually followed through.

It was several hours later, as she checked her website orders, that Piper realised she never did wish Xanth a happy new year.

Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Aethereality

[Calanthiel]

Cal had sort of noticed the Christmas decor that adorned Xanth's Quadrangle, but hadn't really paid much attention to it. A couple of Earth-based Christmases and he already had total command of the knack of tuning out all Christmas nonsense and calmly going on his way. Not even Cal could ignore a snowball to the side of his face, though. He jumped, squeaked in a rather undignified manner, and then started to laugh. It was another hot summer's day and if you could get past the delivery method, the cold snow felt quite wonderful. Curious now, (not to mention encouraged by the idea of cooling off for a few minutes!) he stepped inside and reveled in the cold as he wandered through the ice maze.

The summer sun sparked and glinted through the ice, dazzlingly bright, and surrealy beautiful. A whimsical little smile played about Cal's lips as he admired it all. He just wished he'd registered that this was a real ice palace earlier! He'd assumed, not paying close attention at all, it was just some fakery, and now it seemed it would be gone very soon. Still, better late than never.

On reaching the throne and the pile of presents, he murmured a soft thank you to Xanth and took a smallish box, wrapped in an appealingly shiny cherry red wrapping, and tucked it into his pocket, before slowly wandering back out through the maze, still marveling at the display.

[Isaac S.]

Isaac traveled to Xanth's Grotto with all of the fledglings. An older Anyeli escorted them so they wouldn't cause any trouble. All of the fledglings, including Isaac were exceptionally excited. He would have come sooner but his superiors would not allow it until they were satisfied with his training progress. "Hurry up now, were not her to diddle-daddle." The older Anyeli said as he urged the fledglings towards the ice maze.

When Isaac reached the ice maze he was astounded at the beauty of it. He paused in front of the entrance to look at all of it, which gave a snowman the perfect chance to throw a snowball right at the side of his head. He immediately turned towards the direction that the snowball had come from, but when he saw who had thrown it he could not help but laugh. He ran into the maze, intending to catch up to the rest of the fledglings who had already entered but he soon slowed to a walk as he watched the sun glisten off of the walls of the ice corridors. He reached the heart of the maze in an average amount of time, before some and after others. He stared at the icy thrown and felt the urged to sit down and look at it for a while. He walked over to the side and sat down in the snow. It felt cold on his bottom but he pushed the sensation aside so that he could focus all of his attention on what was before him. He mind wondered, thinking about what Xanth would look like if she sat in the ice thrown. Some more fledglings pasted by but Isaac barely paid attention to his peers who rushed to the presents and hurried out.

After some time Isaac got up and walked over to the presents. There was a plethora of shiny boxes adored with fancy bows and beautiful ribbons. Isaac didn't think there would still be so many presents this close to the end of the year, but there was. He scanned the pile, but could not decide which one he wanted to pick. The older Anyeli that had come with the group suddenly appeared from the exit. "Come on, Isaac, everyone is waiting for you." Isaac quickly grabbed the present that was at his feet and hurried out. He turned around as he was about to exit the maze and said, "Thank you, Xanth." Then left with all of the others, a smile on his face even before he opened the present.


((ooc: I know I did not post a wish list, but I don't think it is needed since I only get one present. Surprise me, I like surprises.))

[Xanth]

On the 30th of December, Xanth gave with seasonal cheer (and growing sadness that Christmas was over):

Yet more Prize Points (10) to Piper, because she was running out of ideas for the girl.

On the last day of December, Xanth gave, with bittersweet cheer:

A pair of silver cufflinks with the word "Peace" written in Greek to Calanthiel;
A wheatie bag in the shape of a seat cushion to Isaac.

No sooner had the second hand hit 12 on New Year's Eve did the magical ice grotto disappear.

[d=purple]OOC:[/d] Happy new year, guys, and I hope you had a great christmas and that your characters love their gifts. Until next year! *waves*

Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Anime Rain ¤ Aethereality ¤ Keira Knightley