The Spirit(s) of Christmas

@Akanee @TnT

Clover Town. Despite its unknown prestige to Akane, its design of only one way in and out was perfect for some wintry mischief, although she called it a public service for she will be soon liberating mortals from suffering. Relaxing in an supposed 'inn' just on the other side of the bridge to the town, Akane was relaxing as she sat on a wooden chair in front of a wooden table that had her hot cup of choco. She was wearing a Christmas costume that had a skirt. A person came in looking for shelter and warmth from the snow and Akane was more than happy to oblige to serve her. She had given her warm food and drink, that was akin to the customer's favorite. She had asked Akane where everyone else was and she just giggled at her and telling her not to worry about them because they are all free now. Confused at Akane's reply, the customer just brushed it off and continued to eat. That was until she noticed at the corner of her eye things of people that came in before her. In fact, there were a lot of them. Now she couldn't help but fear for her life and thought of an excuse to leave right away. But Akane pleaded her to stay and even held her hand, saying that she hasn't take her gift yet. The customer nervously replied that it was ok, that she can keep it. But Akane insisted, that it was Christmas after all. "Besides, who would say no to the gift of freedom?"

The customer just stood there silent, really not getting what was going on. While Akane brushed across her hand and to her chest from which she lifter her hand and a trail of warm life force trailed behind it, leaving the female's body. The victim's eyes widened, having full grasp of the situation now, but it was already too late. She fell to her knees and just watched as the smiling maiden slowly take her life away. All she could manage to say was Why.

"The warmth of life is a lie. A curse. It is suffering. Even nature, or the earth has winter to erase the warmth. But humans in their ignorance chose to rise above natural order and live past it and control it. Only for there to be more suffering under more complex circumstances. So be free. Liberate yourself from the lies. Embrace the cold." she would be finished sucking the warmth and life out of her at the end of her reply. The very moment the last trails left her body, the victim immediately fell to the floor, and Akane dragged her body across the floor to the back of the building where the rest of the lifeless husks were after she had absorbed the orbed life force she had taken. Satisfied with her harvest, Akane left the house and decided to head in to town to have some fun. The kind of fun that would fit any other person's description of it.

Not being deep in town yet, Akane was already recognized by someone she had met before. She had hoped it to be either Wren or Katsumi but it unfortunately had to be Odhran. The 33% beating the 67% percent was baffling to her. In any case, she decided to just ignore him and be on her way. But Odhran wouldn't stop. His huge ego is somehow bigger than she remembered and her annoyance towards her had only gotten stronger. She could hear him moving closer now, even worse, he touched him. The moment she got dragged towards her, she turned around and immediately stabbed Odhran with her knife. Albeit the wound being shallow, it felt good for Akane.

"Goodness! I'm sorry, you startled me!" she yelled out to avoid any suspicions that she is a murdered in the loose, and that she only did it in self-defense. The on-lookers then thought nothing more of it, especially after Akane offered to make it up to Odhran by saying "Please, let me make it up to you! Uhm. As a gift I'll let you suffer by staying alive - I mean! I'll treat you to something uhm... Oh! How about we decorate trees over there!" she said, hiding the fact that she doesn't want to kill her because Akane though it would be a mercy to free Odhran from suffering while she hurried to the tree decorating contest. When they got there, Akane randomly picked up a box of decorations and gave them to Odhran frantically. "Here, see what you can do with these!"

WC: 773
Akane: 773
Total: 1,346
@Odhran Aegisbane
@TnT

Also a roll for Tree Decorating

The member 'Akanee' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Tii stamped her feet in frustration. How dare Turashi abandon her on this winter holiday of mortals? After she'd so thoughtfully put everything up too. The ignorance and malfeasance of one male was too much to handle. Someone else would have to appreciate the mistletoe she'd stolen and put on her hat. She could make a snack of it too.

The dragonling skipped down the snow laden road of some random town. It was cute, for mortal work. Zarharthum had much prettier locales. A few males whistled at her as she skipped. The dragonling stopped, turning to face them. Short skirts really did work magic. A small smile curled over her lips. She crooked a finger at the males as Tii slipped into an alleyway. The males followed as if on a string. Idiots. Tii waited until they couldn't be seen to thrust her energy into their mouths. To anyone watching, it would look as if Tii had glowing blue tentacles for arms. "Blessed Stars, your energies are pitiful." she sneered in disgust. Oh to have her former power. She could have wrung them dry for this disappointment. Instead, the dragonling pulled everything she could. The glow of her tentacles got brighter. Her body grew more defined with the influx of energy.

"Crawl in a hole and die, you worms." Tiisha sneered. The two males dropped bonelessly to the ground. One began drooling. She made a face. Disgusting creatures, mortals.

Stepping from the alley yielded an interesting sight. A dark haired woman in a Christmas outfit not unlike her own - if a bit more modest - was standing with a white haired male. The energy she could feel coming off both was intriguing. Enough that she might deign to let the male touch her even. The dragonling followed them. A station caught her attention along the way. Multicolored boxes lay stacked on a table. People seemed to be guessing the contents of the boxes. Tii glanced toward her quarry. They were headed to the trees. Excellent. She'd see what this stupid mortal game was.

Tiisha was careful with the selection of her box. She didn't want one too big or too small. The awkward shaped ones were out too. The dragonling picked up a medium sized cube and inhaled deeply. She shook it as well. A puff of magic descended on the dragonling. A shocked shriek left her mouth. "What kind of game is this? You fools! You dare try to assassinate me?!" Tiisha threw the box down. "There is nothing in there." Someone mirmured she was wrong and pressed three hard round objects into her palm. Tiisha eyed them suspiciously. They'd have to be tested on someone. A gleam shimmered in her eye. There was a perfect test subject nearby.

Tiisha marched into the weird tree contest thing. She shoved a peppermint into the male's palm. "Here, try this, peon. You, female, I have mistletoe. I believe we are to kiss, yes?" The dragonling made a kissy face. A little dabble into the mortal pool couldn't hurt. Not when it was paired with that beauty.

WC: 517

Roll for present guessing~
@Odhran Aegisbane @Akanee

The member 'TnT' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Completed Ugly Sweater, Mistletoe, and Gift Guess

Still flustered by the embarrassment she had to endure publicly because of society’s so called morals of basically not stabbing anyone you don’t like especially if it looked to be a general objective consensus which Akane has grown to dislike very much as she grew older, Akane had to make it up by making a tree for him. That she would very much like him to consider to be her gift to him because she, again as she could not emphasize this enough, would very much like to deny him the gift of freedom, and let Odhran suffer to walk the painful path of existence; mortal existence. Though, underneath the pained embarrassment that she exhibits that could very well be aptly described - according to some civilians she had come across, lured them into deceitful comfort, and finally released from mortal suffering - as an adorable little schoolgirl. Well, school was right, she should be at least in college now if it weren’t for all the things that happened to her in Hostia, but she digresses.

The box of ornaments Akane frantically picked up earlier as a show of good intent towards Odhran was luckily full of simply the best decorations any could buy. So much so that she believes she had seen some, if not, all of these ornaments from a tree of a wealthy family both in Hostia and in Fiore. She would even go far as to say that could very well be the same ornaments used in the wealthy dagger household she had read so much about when she was attempting to know more about the country she had decided to be the first to be free of suffering. Still, in all her studies, in all her efforts of gaining knowledge through means aside from reading, none would prepare Akane for the outlying phenomenal uhm… being - for lack of a better term - that is Odhran and she being indebted to him certainly leaves a foul taste in the mouth. But Akane could choose to focus on the tree itself.

The winter season was also something the people of Midi looked forward to. And while the way it is celebrated is certainly entirely different. Cultural differences, traditions and the like played a part in that of course. But Akane, ever the adapting one, ever the flexible one was able to not let most of them show. And it may very well be in part because of dark reasons. Deeply personal reasons that she would keep to herself. Is it because of her past? Her family? Her village? Their entire mindset? No one would know but her, and she intends to keep it that way, and she swore that the first people to be free of this mortal suffering would be the people who’d know. And if anyone asked her, it’s not that steep of a price to pay.

These thoughts manifested themselves in a manner so literally crushing as the first golden Christmas ball ornament she held on her hand were shattered. The small and shot crushing sound it made brought her out of her mental world filled with demons and back to reality where would shake her head and drop the shards to the snow by simply tilting her hand slowly and letting gravity do the work. After which, Akane would unpack the rest of the box. There wasn’t any great attention needed into decorating the tree. As far as she was concerned, it practically decorated itself with how perfect the ornaments from the box were. By that point it was as simple as picking an ornament and putting on a branch that didn’t have any hanging on it yet and she did it incredibly quickly as well. Perhaps it was the fact that she was doing this for Odhran which pisses her off greatly contributed to the speed of which this obligation to perform was to be extinguished.
In any case, the tree had been done in record time, which lends itself to the factor to be considered in the aspect of being impressive. Although Akane thought nothing of it as humbly as she could when receiving this praise, lifting her left palm over to her right cheek. In fact, Akane really didn’t think anything of it. It was a tree that had pretty things on it. Big deal. Indeed, the spirit of Christmas was lost to her, as this was in essence a celebration of life, and life sucks. However, her efforts would in fact yield something tangible, an actual reward if you will. The attendant for the tree decorating contest presented the shy and regal looking Akane with three peppermints which she gladly accepted as she slowly held out her right hand to receive it from the kind attendant. Akane would then take the pieces from the attendant’s open palm gently. Letting the smooth skin on her hands glide, skate, and caress through the palm of the attendant. Faint whiffs of black lines and smoke that are hardly ever visible to absolutely anyone would evaporate out of the attendant’s hand, carrying with it bits of white essence: a piece of the attendant’s soul.

Akane then gave the attendant a giggle and a wink with her thanks as she turned around to present the tree to Odhran while the attendant stood there stunned about what had just happened. As if the attendant was questioning everything, even his own life, focusing on the miseries and hardships, all the suffering he had endured in life, realizing that he was only really looking forward to sleeping everyday, to be at peace on an activity that closely resembled dying, or shuffling off one’s mortal coil. The attendant turned his head from side to side as if he was lost before deciding to head home for the night. With any luck, the attendant would kill himself within a couple of days in the latest.

“Anyways, Odhran there’s your tree. Now we’re even. So Merry-” Akane said to Odhran. But the self proclaimed god didn’t even let her finish and just proceeded to talk to one of his spirits about the tree Akane had just made. It was such a jerk move. Akane didn’t even know why she even bothered to explain it to Odhran. The clearly self absorbed mage can - in Akane’s opinion - only see himself and his spirits, perhaps especially now he was apparently handed a box that changed her gender which was truly infuriating because Akane had to low key admit, Odhran did look adorable as a girl. But in any case, he shall suffer in life. However, there was nothing to distract Akane now from being annoyed and for once, as if being slowly infected with the mindset of the holiday, wanted to be happy.

Fortunately, that opportunity would come to pass as Akane would be approached by a rather beautiful young woman. Akane looked up to her and listened to what she had to say like any normal person would. And while her request was but a construct of mere human traditions that hold minimal meaning to her and to the overall essence of existence, she wanted to do it. It was the concept of being different, curious and in Akane’s eyes as still a bit somewhat of a conservative type, inappropriate. The last point allures Akane greatly. She had been willing to throw her life away to sin or as the demons would call it ‘Explore the true pleasures of this world that they would hide from you.’ Of course it would actually help that the girl in question had an impressive figure, fiery braids of hair, and eyes that are simply captivating. This prompted Akane to bite her lower lip, imagining the prospect of the opportunity until finally she agreed. She would slowly go closer to the girl’s face that was already ready to provide a kiss. But Akane desired more than just a simple pucker. No, she wanted to indulge and once she had gotten their lips together, Akane would do just that. Indulge in the intimacy and passion, and no to mention the length of the kiss she wanted. She was getting so into it that she closed her eyes. But she realized that the girl may not have had this in mind, so in an effort not to be hypocritical for condemning Odhran’s actions, Akane would pull away at the same time as the girl should have wished it. But still, deep down, she would have wanted more. “Thank you. I’m Akane by the way. You can call me Aya.” she said to the girl that she had just kissed.

After they have kissed, Akane would then engage in a conversation with the spirit that made herself known to their group “Hello there. You seem reasonable to talk to compared to… whoever we want to call her. I’m Akane.”

WC: 1,484
Akane: 2,257

@Odhran Aegisbane @TnT

Activities Completed by the group:
Ugly Sweater Crafting
Gift Guessing
Tree Decorating
Kissing under the Mistletoe

Tiisha's body felt hot as she waited for a response from the female. The heat expanded from her chest. It was unlike what she'd ever felt. Was this liking someone past carnal desire? The feeling extended into her arms and legs. She might grow to like this. A feeling so powerful it erased everything and made you feel changed. It was only as the heat kicked it up a notch that Tii realized something might be wrong. That present had kicked something into her face.

Before she could conduct an investigation, the female slammed her lips down. Tiisha moaned, wrapping her arms around the feminine form. She let the other lead for a bit before she countered, thrusting with her tongue. Her feelings of lust were transfered into the kiss. Tii got so engrossed with the action that she nearly lost control of her form. It rippled under her natural magic but held shape. Good, she didn't want to focus on anything else.

Yet all good things must come to an end. The female pulled away to introduce herself. Tiisha smiled slowly, seductively. "My name-" She cut herself off. Her voice wasn't that deep. By the stars, why did she sound male? Tiisha tried again. "My name is... Tiisha. You can call me Tii, Aya. Slip me a line if you want any more. I love to entertain beautiful women." It irriatated her that the line was delivered in a male voice. Males could be pleasurable, she admitted but she did not identify as one. The dragonling looked down.

He would have screamed. Almost did. But the discovery of his change was overcut by the pompous male presenting a speech. Wait, herself. Had they both been hit by the same spell? Damn, that placed her over himself. He had to listen politely until he could shapeshift back. Tiisha wrinkled his nose at the titles. Were they supposed to be impressive? Ha! When the speech finished, he tried to change back. His form flickered but remained fully male. Well then. He'd match little miss peabrain in ostentatious -ness. A snap of his fingers transformed his clothing. A start. Now to show the pompous windbag real titles.

Tiisha tittered. "Oh, sweet Odhran, you fail to impress, my dear." He laid the fingers of his left hand on his face, emphasizing his eye. "For you see, I am Tiisha Heartsbane! Priestess of the eleventh zurta, Heir to the seventh Instance of Zarharthum, forthmost claw to the Dragon Empress of Secundus, Ruby Star of Elysian Knights, Slayer of Saphira Hellsfyre, Defeater of a thousand challengers and goddess to the poor masses of the material planes for my beauty is not known upon this land." He smiled demurely. "So, godling, please go sit in the kiddie corner until the adults would like to play. Though..." He bit his lip, looking over the new feminine form. To get his hands on that. Unfortunately,
Odie would have to keep her mouth shit for the durationfor it to be any fun. It didn't hurt to look though. "This form is pleasing. Spin for me. Let me inspect. Chop, chop."

As another female appeared, Tiisha sighed at the injustice in the world. Clearly, once again, females were proven superior. Yet on this backward plane, the female still served that irritating god boy child. Still, Tiisha was happy with the kiss to the cheek. Having the lips of a beautiful female on you did wonders for the soul. The spirit's words confused her however. "I know not what you mean. If you imply that I am human, I am offended that you could liken me to such. I am like the sun to the dirt in such a comparison." Had that idiot infected him? He snounded much snobbier then usual. To prove his point, his body shifted into his true form - that of a dragon. He towered above the trees. Tiisha laughed, a terrible sound, before striking the ground nearby with his tail. Sparks showered onto the christmas trees nearby. They caught fire, burning the hard work of some poor mortals. Satisfied, he returned to a humanoid form. Still male. The dragonling snorted at the injustice.

Tiisha felt a chill go down his spine. Looking for the source, pinpointed a girl floating through the air. The unusual energy signature had Tiisha stepping away from the others. What could put off that kind of power? The girly raised her hands, spraying an area with ice. Tii's brows rose. Interesting. So beings like this one were capable of magic. She wanted to try eating it. What would it do to him if he absorbed that twisting vortex of emotion, spiritual energy and magic power? His tongue darted out over his lips. Glancing at his companions, the male held up a finger. "I'll be right back. I just saw a tasty snack."

He darted forward. His shape twisted to streamline, adding speed. "Hello, my sweet" Tii taunted as he surprised the girl. His jaw unhinged, extending to envelop the girl. His mouth snapped shut. The energy felt ice cold as it pressed into his core. Hmm, most energy didn't have taste but there was a faint hint of mint here. Tiisha grinned toothily. He wanted more. Patting his stomach, he asked it, "Are there any more of you?" The energy tangle pulsed in response. Two sisters and some old male. Excellent. A brief hunt for snacks which might fix his condition too.

Tiisha sat down in a meditative state. He wouldn't underestimate these opponents. This one had been a lucky break. The sisters and whatever the male was probably wouldn't be as easy. The middle sister rode a deer. She also used ice but in weaponry form. A Ice Make Mage as they called it here. The eldest sister was far more terrifying. She wielded ash, decay, and illusion in addition to ice. Tiisha clambored to his feet before studying the male. Males were weak. Nothing to worry about there.

The middle sister would appear soon. She was a spirit of vengeance when her sisters fell. Hooves clattered against stones. Speak of the devil. Tiisha stepped onto the road to face this one. The deer appeared to be rotting, dropping large swaths of meat and such behind it. The sister astride it was dressed in white. A crown adorned her head and she held a lance of ice. Tiisha chuckled softly. Like something of ice could hurt him. He beckoned her with two fingers.

The deer charged with a shriek of rage. The rider was eeriely silent. Tiisha leapt, landing on the antlers. Bad judgement had one of the tines piercing his thigh. No matter. He backhanded the spirit off her mount. Then, with a blade arm, decapitated the deer. It crashed to the ground. Tii rode it down, steppingelegantly off the corpse. As he approached the spirit, he admonished her. "Tut, tut. Poor form. You should have made a close range weapon like a dagger or sword. If someone pinned your mount, cornered it or brought it down, that lance can't do much. Pity. Goodbye." Tiisha enveloped the spirit before she could recover. Ice might not do much damage, but that didn't mean he liked to get stabbed.

The eldest spirit might be a little more difficult to track down. Even focusing, the two eaten spirits had little idea where their sister might be. Tiisha thumbed her chin. Would the spirit of Christmas Future react to taunting? It worked well on some people. He threw back his head and laughed. With careful manipulation of his vocal cords, it amplified the sound. Tiisha began walking to expand the range. "Two down without much fuss. What a pity. I thought the minions of.... Duke Scrooge would provide more of a challenge. I am sorely disappointed. Come, Christmas Future! Can you do better than your pathetic sisters?"

He laughed once again. Mortals were staring at him like he was crazy. He snarled at them. Pathetic. Judging someone on thier mental state. Only the lowest picked on such. It was better to kill those hatchlings before they were birthed into the world. Avoid all the suffering such a condition brought. Tiisha waited a few minutes before sighing. Taunting clearly didn't work. He'd have to hunt the eldest some other way. He turned. A black shape stretched long thin bony fingers toward his face. A sharp word and his vision went black.

A baby wailed in the darkness. Dragon fire briefly lit and the crying cut off. Screams accompanied the flames, this time of a grown woman. Tiisha was startled to realize those screams were his. His hands slammed over his stomach. Someone was going to hurt his baby? Anger rippled through his being. The present spell burned away under it. Turashi screamed in the background. This one Tii could see. Her brother was being taken back to Zarharthum. Not by her blessed stars. She reached for him. Chains clinked and she couldn't reach for him. "Tii! Help me!" Tura cried desperately. Tiisha roared, straining. The chains snapped. Her fingers passed through her brother. It wasn't real. "Enough, witch" Tiisha said sweeping with her hand. It smacked into a bony arm. The dragonling ruthlessly snapped it before swallowing the spirit. As the darkness fell away, Tiisha saw the damage. Part of her left arm was missing. The end flickered with spectral blue light. With a snarl, she evened out her body even though it weakened her overall energy.

A slow clap had Tiisha whipping around. The male stood there. He opened his mouth to speak. Not by the Stars. She leapt for him. The Duke stumbled backwards. A waving motion of his hand tore the spirits from her stomach. Tiisha roared with fury. Stealing her snacks? His better's source of sustanance? This pitable male? No. Better yet, not by the Burning Comets. She transformed as the spirits reappeared. They assaulted her with everything they had. Ice, ash and decay crashed into her scaly skin. Illusions attempted to confuse her. Tiisha waited until their guard relaxed. Then she ate them all in one gulp.

Tiisha stumbled when she returned to her humanoid form. She'd expended much of her energy. The spirits and the Duke would take a bit to digest. Tiisha waited til her legs stopped trembling. Then she heading back toward the interesting pair she'd met earlier. This day hadn't been a complete waste. Time to make it a star blessed day.

WC: 1748
Tiisha: 2265
TWC: 6205

Activities Completed by the group:
Ugly Sweater Crafting
Gift Guessing
Tree Decorating
Kissing under the Mistletoe

Defeated Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Future and Duke Scrooge