[DROP] laughing all the way

random event Ho ho ho, or something. There are probably legends about this sort of thing in Deepfrost - red-clad men pulled by luxere dropping presents to good boys and girls - but none of them probably involve car sleigh crashes. Not that you know if there's been a crash just yet, of course. No, all you know is that at the top of one of the snowy Barrows, brightly wrapped gifts are scattered everywhere. And if you look closely, there are tracks in the snow leading down the hill and deeper into King's End. They look like luxere tracks, and perhaps the runners of a large sleigh. Oh dear oh dear. Someone better get those presents back where they belong! WELCOME TO THE DROP! You have 48 hours to post your character arriving to collect PRESENTS. The prize for winning this drop will be 500MP!

Dantalion

but you can't be free

One might not expect an Ancient to be trekking the Barrows in the middle of Deepfrost, but one clearly hasn't met the Maverick and his apparent idea of fun. In truth he'd only been intending to test how well his new clothes are working agains the cold - a plus side in that the answer is pretty well, actually - only now he's fucking lost and there's a big hill and presents all over it.

Turning the collar up on his coat and adjusting his scarf and gloves, Danta scowls at the brightly wrapped gifts, before promptly doing what all morally grey individuals might do in this situation: he gathers as many as he can into his grabby little hands.

---

Danta is in and starts to steal collect presents!

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

there is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin

It's probably a good thing, in retrospect, that the skyships make a few stops en route back to the Hollowed Grounds, because Fox is likely to keel over and die if he's expected to do the entire journey all at once. And despite the cold, given that they've got a couple of hours before they're expected to board the flying death machine, the hunter has suggested a romantic walk in the snow.

Except he's not sure this counts, given the sudden and chaotic mess of presents all over the hillside and the implication that there's a crash nearby. "Do you think anyone was hurt?" he asks Kiada softly, leaning down to pick up one of the parcels to turn it over in his hands, looking for any labels or names.

---

Fox arrives and picks up a present to examine it.

The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)

Fox Sinclair

am i still waiting like a lamb to the slaughter

It’s fucking cold. But at least Astaroth has his wool coat, fur lined, and fur scarves wrapped around his neck and mouth, gloved hand shoved in his pocket while the other grips the cane to keep him upright amongst the icy snow. The dark red is in contrast to the snow (similarly enough to a gothic Santa in a way, if he knew what that even was). So for now, sporting a familiar blonde head over the drift up ahead and a few presents poking out of the snow, Asta reaches down with a little shiver to collect it.

That one is set in the crook of his arm, utilizing the cane to start to dig out more presents from the falling snow, pulling more and more out to collect in his arm, eventually making his own little path as he follows the trail.

---

Asta collects presents!

Astaroth

does your god believe in you?

flora

"You're gonna turn into stoooneeeee." Flora sings in Dantalion 's direction as she skips through the snow.

Clad in an outfit she'd borrowed from her mother, the Doubletook looks absolutely dashing in an ursur fur coat with taupe leggings and a cream cable-knit sweater. With her hair in a fishtail braid, she's utterly the picture of winter chateau living, which, given she's just come from the House of Midnight, absolutely makes sense.

Waggling a mittened-hand towards the ancient, Flora turns her attention back to the gifts. Not unlike her fellow guild-member, Flora isn't at all interested in gathering the gifts up that she might give them back, but instead was looking for what might contain something valuable.

---

Flora gathers presents that look like they might have expensive things, like rings or jewelry.

i scream for whatever it's worth
"i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

it's 2am and i took 17 shots of vodka trying to forget your name
but the only name i forgot was mine. and sober —

Meeting Fox for the trek back, Kiada’s content to help him wherever needed for the motion sickness of the skyship, so that when they land in Kingdoms End briefly, she is absolutely more than willing to take a walk in the snow. After all, it felt like home in one instance (and it doubled up on the first time they’d actually spent time together and started this whole romantic endeavor). Aka, the last time this happened she was curled up in a bonfire in the woods and he’d taken pity.

Either way, she’s in her jacket which makes this walk far more comfortable for her (after her practice in Halo with the red coat), and she sidles up beside him as the presents become visible, brows pinching as she reaches to collect another. “Hopefully not, but… it does look accidental, doesn’t it?” She asks with a wrinkling of her nose. “Maybe we should find who they belong to?” She notes as Fox is already scanning for labels or names.

---

Kiada also collects presents!

The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)

KIADA

— or drunk, you're the only thing on my mind

Parcels scattered about the landscape and unlikely to reach their proper destinations? Somewhere nearby, Tal's courier senses had started tingling like crazy and he showed up with his dragon in tow to start retrieving boxes. Goggles firmly down over his eyes to see through any obscuring snow, he started hunting for the ones that had fallen into shadowed or hard to see places. He had his professional pride, after all, and Boreal had endless curiosity for these brightly-wrapped cubes.

Her motivation was decidedly different from Tal's, though. While the courier trudged through the snow with a long-suffering sigh, picking up fallen presents and stuffing them into his Bag of Holding for sorting later, the dragon was sniffing experimentally at each box she came across.

In particular, she was sniffing for any that smelled like food.

"Hey, Flora," Tal called. He gave Dantalion a little wave, surprised to see the Ancient out in the snow. "Any idea where all these came from?"

---

Tal and Boreal arrive to get some of these boxes to their proper destinations!

The Goodest Boy despite having done some very naughty things as of late, Everest arrives clad in sleek black fur and a tail that hadn't stopped wagging since he arrived.

With a few barks of excitement, the attuned loped around through the deeper snow, before lowering his nose to the sleigh tracks and following along the path it had once taken. He could scent luxere, and had it not been for the way everyone seemed to be going for the presents, the young shepherd would have been off at a gallop. Instead, he perked his ears up and trotted towards Dantalion and Flora, tail wagging.

Though he couldn't communicate with either of them, the shepherd did what he could to assist by picking up package after package and depositing them at the Queen and Theocrat's feet.

---

Ever brings presents to Danta and Flora.

Walk me down your broken line

Hearing of a shrine dedicated to Safrin and Vi in King's End, the Tidebreaker had chosen to make a pilgrimage now that Haulani was protected from the corrupted flora and fauna. He was uncharacteristically bundled up against the cold, though his winterwear was decidedly a bit thin for the season's chill so far north.

He had followed the directions to the Barrows when he had come across the strange sight laid out before him, and a gathering of people he largely recognized. In spite of the faint blue tinge to the tips of his ears and nose he gave those he recognized a dignified nod and then picked up a package, slightly perplexed as he studied it.

Seeing that everyone else was picking up as many as they could carry he, too, began to collect the strewn gifts with a slow but steady efficiency. Perhaps the owner would return soon?

---

Hadama arrives and starts collecting boxes in the hope of returning them to their owner.

"If I could fly I would never come back", you said

It was too cold to be flying, really. Despite her many promises to herself to never set foot on the ground ever again, Maea was forced to pause frequently to thaw out her stiff limbs by a roaring fire. It made for a halting journey across King's End, but she didn't mind.

Drifting on a frigid wind and lamenting her inability to use magic while shifted, the albinistic gore crow spotted a good number of familiar figures below, all congregating around what looked like a treasure trove of gifts spilled across a hillside. With tracks leading off into the unknown, she assumed that the owner couldn't be that far away.
Swooping down, giving Astaroth a wide berth to spare his nerves from her oh so terrible guise, Maea snatched up a present in each taloned foot, then tried to fit another into her beak.

---

Maea picks up gifts in her talons

Citizenship Ability:
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)

Maea

this is the reckoning

Tracks in the snow, presents amidst the mounds of powder and ice, and people flocking to the wide-open fields had Deimos tilting his head in that vague canine way. Half of his notions were summoned on pure instinct, perhaps to follow scents (luxere) over hither and yon to wherever this sled had gone too, and the other half keenly aware that there were multitudes all over.

His gaze caught upon Kiada and Fox, and he barked a contented motion as he rambled by on long strides and keen intentions, teeth beginning to snag at some of the presents with bows and string.

--

Deimos snags presents near Kiada and Fox.

Regional Score bonus: +3 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +3 should be included)

DEIMOS

wolf image credit

your dreams are all full of war
you are from another time

What’s that old saying? Finders keepers, losers weepers?

Since Melita had done enough weeping in the last few days due to her death experience, she was well on track to restoring proper order and getting her shit together. Which inevitably led her to King’s End, staring out over tracks in the snow, and everyone else diving for presents.

That greedy, avaricious portion of her brain melded instantly to the chaos too. Spying Flora nearby, she might’ve instantly melded towards her family, but upon seeing Talyson, inwardly blanched and gagged, and rounded elsewhere. Ah well, she and her companions could go off on their own, snag at a few strays.

Which was precisely her intention, rounding towards the outer edges where the sleigh had bounded or bounced, fingers grasping for boxes, while Fangorn’s vines and Sila’s fangs did the same.

--

Melita and her companions go for presents!

Regional Score bonus: +1 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +1 should be included)

salvation doesn't look like light
So what remains?

Melita

Lena

King’s End was a welcome distraction from the rattling portions in her mind, and the Caretaker flew, dazzled by the sights, the sounds, the array of the world around her. She might’ve kept on flying too, had there not been a crowd of onlookers doing much the same – though her attention was caught on the tracks, the scent of luxere in the air, and everything else fumbling into the snow.

Worried, perhaps, that these presents wouldn’t be granted or given to those who required them, she utilized her talons to grab at string and bows, and began to summon others to help her. A semblance of compulsion, for other flying proportions, so that they could gather and snag in multitudes as well, a realm of assistance on wings and flight.

--

Lena compels other birds to help her grab presents.

Can call like-minded animals for assistance (1 large, 3 medium, 5 small, from the same animal family.

we are more weather pattern than stone monument
sunlight on mist; summer lightning

Ophelia

I'll be yours until the sun no longer shines
Until the poets run out of rhyme

Ophelia would marvel at the amount of Ancients cavorting about in the snow, but they're too busy sprinting around cackling madly, disrupting luxere tracks and concealing random presents in sprays of snow as they snag at wrapping that calls to them particularly. More enchanted by the exteriors than whatever may lurk within, Ophelia loads them into their own arms, tail whipping about excitedly like a dog and fanged smile utterly manic.

What will they do with the gifts? Certainly not return them. Ophelia has little need for material items either, but the idea of ripping them open is the enticing part, and they can't wait to do it. So long as they don't turn to stone first. But that's why they're sprinting, right? Right.

- - -

Phi runs around like a hellion and picks up random presents in their arms to keep.

Citizenship Ability:
The world is new to you, and you to it. During PQ/PQ+/KQs/Drops, you roll with advantage on luck-based rolls and receive an extra name during drops. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post)

Until the mountains crumble into the sea
In other words, until eternity