TDM #6 - The Wheel Turns [First Edition]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette May Issue

MODERATOR NOTE

Reminder that this is our first full TDM after the age minimum removal! Currently, we are asking that all toplevels include the age of the character (or at least a rough estimate) for TDM posts, to ensure that players both old and new can quickly make informed decisions about how to interact with a given character. We also ask that if someone lists a prompt as having an age preference, that it be respected. We understand that this strategy may not work, so pardon our dust while we try out something new!

Also, as of June 7th, Pumpkin Hollow will have been around for one whole year! Thanks for an awesome trip around the sun, everybody! Here’s to another! This particular TDM is going to be a celebration of making it through our first year and all the adventures we had along the way, so please enjoy this highlight reel of our year in review and take a crack at some fun you may have missed. Have fun!

[Find our plain text version here!]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

5/10/24 | TDM #6 - The Wheel Turns [First Edition]
Weather Forecast: Fog in early mornings, occasional rain, otherwise clear.

WELCOMING NEW RESIDENTS FOR ONE YEAR AND COUNTING!

By Mayor Hellen Poe

The crop for which the town is named.

ISLAND-WIDE - Last June, Jack’s Marina saw its first overseas vessel in five years come into port as the very first ferry arrived. Ever since that fateful day, that same ferry has ushered in newcomers from all over this wide, wild universe, bringing to this island a multitude of individuals. Each new resident has been unique --- most have been the only person from their world of origin, and each has their own skills and knowledge. However, all of them are unified by one characteristic: they have served as a symbol of hope.

Our island is deeply cursed, of that, there is no question. And in the past year, we have faced many challenges together, from cursed pirate treasure to nightmare carnivals, from food shortage to turnip overflow, from train rides to alternate dimensions to a parasite-infested ship. But in overcoming those challenges we have grown stronger as a community.

As the Wheel of the Year turns once more, we move forward with the hope built for us by our newest residents, and we are pleased to continue welcoming ferries into our docks. If you’ve just arrived, please feel free to stop by Town Hall or reach out to any of your new neighbors for assistance. Welcome, offworlders, and may your lanterns always be lit.

LAKE SAL-CO-PENN FOG ADVISORY

By Yorick Aberdeen

An eerie view of the notorious lake.

LOCKWOOD FOREST (Northern Marrow Isle) -The Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety has released an important new weather advisory for everyone traveling through Lockwood Forest toward Paradesium on foot. As most of us are aware, the intense rain last month resulted in some very high humidity for this time of year, especially given that this time of year is still quite cool. This has resulted in some heavy fog around the notorious Lake Sal-Co-Penn at the base of Crane’s Ridge, particularly in the very early mornings and late afternoons as the sun begins to set.

For those not yet aware, Lake Sal-Co-Penn’s fog draws those exposed closer to the lake, where it will then subject the victim to dangerous illusory experiences. The side effects of these illusions include but are not limited to foul smells, supernatural compulsion, panic attacks, drowning, and death. If you come into contact with the fog from proximity to the lake, don’t panic! Once you see where the lake itself is, turn around so that your back is to the water and begin walking straight ahead as quickly as possible while reassuring yourself that you do not recognize the bodies in the water. Safe travels!

PAST FRIGHTS MAKE ROTATING ENCORES

By Chief Constable Janine Kilbride

ISLAND-WIDE - Reconnaissance officers set out by the constabulary, in conjunction with the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety, have reported multiple sightings of various hostile monsters and spirits that have plagued our town over the past year. These beings include recurring island staples such as Brutoks and the River Walker, as well as newer aggressive entities such as the Tristitia and some carnivorous creatures from Paradesium. They appear to be on some sort of rotation as to which will appear on a given day.

While the Board of Safety continues to monitor the situation and test theories about an observable pattern, please travel safely regardless of time of day or location. Report any monster sightings directly to the nearest Enforcer and keep an eye on the community bulletin board for information as this situation develops.

PUMPKIN HOLLOW JOB FAIR

By Yorick Aberdeen

FESTIVAL GREEN - Due to the success of our planting season recruitment efforts over the previous months, Pumpkin Hollow’s Town Council will be expanding upon its initiative to help people seek out career opportunities in a local Job Fair! Come down to the festival green if you’re interested in a new job, and one of our seasoned artisans and skilled laborers will show you the ropes!

MAGICAL CRITTERS GRACE ISLAND ONCE MORE

By Yorick Aberdeen

A little friend in the Festival Green tulips.

VARIOUS LOCATIONS (Lockwood Forest, Crane’s Ridge, Paradesium) - This past autumn, a host of eerie, magical animals resembling ghosts took over Lockwood Forest, but departed just as mysteriously as they’d arrived by the end of November. These creatures of unknown origin were found to possess incredible power, and while some were hostile, others seemed quite friendly and were content to follow us home. Those that decided upon homes remained even when their brethren vanished with the snowfall.

Now it would appear that another wave of these helpful companions has appeared in the wild! While some are familiar, many of them are entirely new. Most seem to bear plant-like features, but some whimsical pink creatures or pastry-themed animals have been spotted as well. If the pattern follows, they should be around until summer reaches its peak, so go out there and make a friend, and make sure to bring treats!

HELP WANTED: Piano Wrangler

By Dottie Siward, owner of Empty Pockets

DOWNTOWN HOLLOW (Empty Pockets Music Lounge) - Local music lounge seeking assistance taming piano mimic(?) acquired from Calloway’s Curios. Our old piano got bashed to bits in the flood a while back and we bought a fancy new grand piano for a ridiculously low price, especially for Calloway’s. This was a terrible mistake. The piano eats people. Especially people who play badly, which happens a lot on open stage nights. Please help. Half-price drinks for life to anyone who can get this thing to behave, at least until we get a new piano.

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Further Details...

Year in Review

Monsters from our previous TDMs will be making victory laps in a week-long rotation. Which creature you’ll encounter depends upon the day!

Monday's Child is Fair of Face [cw: facial mutilation]

On Mondays, Smiling Jack from TDM#3 - "It Came from Beyond the Veil!” will appear in and around the cemeteries and farmlands, primarily at night. He is a hostile spirit with a Jack-o-Lantern over his head to hide his Glasgow smile. He attempts to make his victims laugh with morbid jokes and pranks and will attack those who do not find his antics funny, exposing his mutilated face and inflicting his same injuries on them. Those who do laugh will be followed until they cross paths with someone new for him to torment. Defeat him by breaking his pumpkin head!

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace

On Tuesday nights, starry-bodied, glittering monsters themed around constellations from TDM #4 -”Aurora Borealis Blitz” can be found roaming the streets and beaches looking for people to aggress. They only appear interested in people, not in buildings. Unlike the previous iteration, they do not require the aurora borealis or a clear sky to manifest, but there are also significantly fewer of them and they do not seem interested in doing any property damage. Defeat them in combat to get a handful of magical stardust! Each monster’s worth of stardust grants one of the following wishes if tossed into the wind:


Luck: One unexpected fortunate circumstance occurs organically within the next 24 hours, and any dice rolls made during the OOC week will gain a bonus of +2.
Shimmer: A Shiny Pokemon will appear.
Weather: You can decide the weather for the next day, which can only be interrupted by Cecil Palmer’s Weather with consent from the user.
Fortune: Gain 10 Brass! Wow!
Abundance: Mysteriously acquire one delicious home-cooked meal of your choice with no apparent source.
Safety:: One immediate respawn from death (only works once per character for duration of the game).
Pants: A fabulous new pair of pants, free of charge.

Those who acquired stardust in the prior TDM can now use it for these purposes.

Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe

One of the island’s local cryptids, the Tristitia, can be found wandering the streets of town on Wednesdays. She originated from player action but made her first official appearance on TDM #5 - “Paradesium”. She is a banshee-like evil spirit appearing as a veiled woman with a hollowed-out chest.

While normally she is not particularly aggressive if given a wide berth, on her day of the week she has become more hostile. She is ever-grieving and will attempt to embrace her victims and force them to share in her anguish by drawing out their personal trauma and sadness. She is extremely difficult to kill, but will vanish on her own when satisfied with her work.

Thursday's Child Has Far to Go

On Thursday afternoons, Greenstriders from TDM #5 - “Paradesium” can be found coming all the way up from the underground jungles of Paradesium to hunt and forage in Lockwood Forest, even coming as far as Northwest Hollow to try and steal from farmers. They are violent, loud, aggressive, and venomous, and they work in small packs. Good luck if you get caught outside on a Thursday.

Monsters from Paradesium, including Greenstriders, were studied and reported on during an expedition led by Dr. Elias Coldwood. More extensive notes on greenstriders can be found in Dr. Coldwood's improved besiary.

Friday's Child is Loving and Giving

Featured in our December Mini TDM - “The Dead of Winter,” the Whispering Trees of Lockwood Forest are found to be active throughout the day on Friday. Gentle voices from the trees lure unsuspecting, emotionally vulnerable victims out into the woods by telling them that they are loved--- moreso by the trees than any other time in their lives. Following their dulcet tones resulted in hypothermia back in December, but without the aid of snow, the trees will now attempt to manipulate their victims into other deadly behaviors. Lovebombing has never been so toxic.

Saturday's Child Works Hard for a Living

On Saturdays, the River Walker from TDM #2 - “Down in the Underground” will be skulking around the Paring River which separates the town from the forest. A spider-like monstrosity with chitinous legs resembling rough hewn wood that bears the face of a drowned woman, the River Walker enjoys catching people unawares and knocking them unconscious. It then drags its victims down to labyrinthine tunnels where it will chase them through the claustrophobia-inducing burrows for hours and hours at a time, catching and killing them only when all hope is lost. However, the River Walker is quite weak and can only fight off one assailant at a time. Occasionally one can stop the Walker from kidnapping someone, but this is challenging as the creature is quite sneaky. The best way to defeat it is for two victims to find each other by sound in the tunnels and work together to escape, at which point the River Walker will avoid the pair and let them go for fear of retaliation. Escapees are let out near the mines in Crane’s Ridge!

And the Child Born on the Sabbath Day is Bonny and Blithe, Good and Gay

Last but not least, on Sundays during daylight hours, one has a chance of being targeted by one or more Brutoks. Having been the very first monster to ever appear in a Pumpkin Hollow event, they were featured in TDM #1 - “The Vengeful Forest”. Brutoks are tricksters who hide in trees and then attach themselves to victims who make accidental eye contact. If attached, they will pull mean spirited pranks, steal personal belongings, vandalize property, and eventually try to kidnap the victim. Taken victims will be planted in the ground and slowly turn into trees that must be destroyed in order for the person to die and resurrect.

To dispel Brutoks, one can look for their simple but well-camouflaged puzzles, which will be outside near the space they’ve attached to. Or, you can set them on fire. Dealer’s choice.

Additional Prompts

Lake Sal-Co-Penn

Lake Sal-Co-Penn is an infamous SCP which creates dangerous hallucinations. It presents the viewer with a vision of one or more floating corpses, which appear vaguely featureless until closer inspection. At this point the corpse(s) will take on the form of someone who the victim knows personally in an attempt to get them to enter the water, where they will be drowned and consumed. Feel free to roll dice to determine how well you can resist the illusion, and don’t forget to fill out a Death Certificate if you die!

Magical Creatures

The aforementioned mystical critters are Pokemon! Some Pokemon already exist on the island--- Ghost types were available during October and November. This time, both Fairy and Grass types can be found around the island for the duration of this TDM! (May & June). Here’s everything you need to know:

• Dual-types and pre-evolved forms of Pokemon that will gain Fairy or Grass types later are available. (Except for Eevee, due to its many evolutions. But Sylveon and Leafeon are available!)


• Evolution is possible--- stone deposits will be found in the mines later!


• Each character may have up to three Pokemon companions


• Neither Pokeballs nor the knowledge to create them currently exists in Pumpkin Hollow. Unless a PC with this knowledge shows up, you will just have to befriend them rather than capturing them properly.


• No Legendaries or Mythicals are available for adoption (for the sake of fairness), though Ogerpon can be found near Elsie’s Tree of Trinkets in Lockwood Forest. However, she is extremely shy and will flee from most people. She seems to respond to certain individuals, though…


• Shinies can be obtained through stardust or by purchasing a Sparkling Talisman from Calloway’s Curios for 50 Brass. Each character may only have one shiny. (Note that new arrivals begin with 100 Brass.)

Job Fair

The Pumpkin Hollow Job Fair is a great meet-and-greet for older residents and new arrivals! Farmers, artisans, fisherman, and more can set up booths, Q&As, or sign-ups for job shadowing on the Festival Green. New folks are given the opportunity to drop by and learn more about potential career options! Not only is this a recipe for new CR, but anyone who participates in a Job Fair thread (both presenters and newcomers) will gain an extra 100 Brass on their next (or first!) activity check! This bonus can only be claimed once per character.

Help Wanted

The man-eating piano in question is Yamaha, a staple of a previous game that much of our current player-base has migrated over from. While it has a particular taste for bad players, mistake-makers, and your sheet music, it seems to have an affinity for specific individuals. This is mostly a treat for our CRAU folks, but feel free to get eaten! We’ll see you tomorrow.

Comments

River la Croix | Like, Elf 20s | Job Fair Only, Other Prompts Possibly On Another TL

[somebodychildofanyone]

Out at the job fair is a set of tables all gathered near a banner for Infernal Arms & Armor (No Relation To The Local Demons). They are not, in fact, currently hiring, but are instead advertising their services to help with your new career. Hunters need arrows, farmers need tools, seamstresses need needles, why, just about anything you wanna do in this town has to go through a forge at some point, doesn't it? If the display is a bit enthusiastic despite River's current unwellness - her skin is extremely pale, her veins nearly black and highly visible, she's tired and leaning on a cane - well, maybe she's trying to encourage people to come to her and not, say, to Tarantulas, at whom she is still upset.

Maybe.

Tools, weapons, armor, and enchantments are all proudly advertised, and River's own table has a selection of sample weapons and armor, her own specialty. After careful consideration, she is not displaying her gravity pistols, which she doesn't want to proliferate if she can avoid it. Some of the equipment is, however, made from shaped bone, strangely lacking in toolmarks. Her chat with Celestine is on River's mind, and yeah, necromancy is, too, an act of creation. Come check out her bone leatherworking needles, you're not about to find better if you bust ass for a thousand years.

The three 'main' tables which house River and her four most senior apprentices have a second banner:

MEET THE APPRENTICES
CUSTOM WORK AVAILABLE
ASK ABOUT THEIR ASTOUNDING SKILLS!

One might find said apprentices on some open prompts below this one, which is otherwise for River Specifically...

Ruby Rose | RWBY | 19, OTA

[littlefairytale]

At one table is a young Asian woman with a simple black eyepatch over her right eye, wearing a black cloak with the hood down. This kind of public-facing thing doesn't seem to be her forte, exactly, but she's putting a good effort in and can at least let her skills speak for themselves for the most part.

There's a mix of items on display, ranging from weapons to hefty metal badges/emblems to things like walking canes, mostly with a mix of metal and woodwork—the latter of which doesn't seem to be done entirely with tools. Weapons have always been her speciality and so the blades are solid, reliable things, but it's definitely the detailing that stands out. Thanks to her particular magic Contracts, wood and the like bends to her desires and makes customising things easier—though she's still getting the hang of using it that way, just as she's getting the hang of real blacksmith work.

Come peruse and chat about what she can do, if you like.

Drelasa Veloth | Morrowind (OC) | 270-ish, OTA

[misbegottendreamer]

At another of the tables sits a masked, hooded figure, her stone visage forever frozen in a Mona Lisa smile. She seems comfortable enough, sitting out here and awaiting questions, though from time to time she will tilt her head in a particular direction, as if listening intently.

There are a lot of utility items sitting on her table- pots, pans, braided hooks for clothes and hanging plants, and, of course, The Nails. One oddity about her work is that some of the items look partially sculpted, like someone took a hand and gently shaped the red hot metal in places. But that would be ridiculous, right?

[abhorrently]

And after being relieved by Zivia at the booth, Fever's got the freedom to wander some herself. River's booth draws her in again - she's less on edge than she was at the potluck, a while of decent sleep and settling in will do that to a person, and her looking at the worked bone is more from admiration than the desperate need to be armed.

That said, she looks at River with an eyebrow raised, a questioning gaze.

"Were you recently poisoned or the like?"

By tradition I declare: damn OCs and their one-liners

[somebodychildofanyone]

"You ever just curse someone so hard that you can feel your lifespan shortening?"

[abhorrently]

"Impressive and terrifying both. I'd almost be envious if I didn't know I don't need to curse someone like that."

She has her respect for it. No question that the person deserved it. Even if they didn't, Fever doesn't know the issue at hand enough to consider the curse anything beyond a powerful piece of work, and it's easier to reason that they earned it.

"Will you be all right in the end?"

[somebodychildofanyone]

"Is anyone?" River opines. "The scythe comes down, and then the next great adventure, unknown to all. I'm satisfied enough, and that'll have to do me." She sighs, and then tries to flicker a salesman's smile. It doesn't quite succeed. "Dare I hope that more than my health has you over here?"

[abhorrently]

"I confess, it was the bone that caught my eye. Beautiful work - you'd almost swear these were grown in these shapes."

The admiration is as sincere as anything, and while she picks something up, it's with delicate care, careful eye on the work. Craftsmanship is craftsmanship, after all. Maybe one of these days, Fever'll show the woman her dagger and let her boggle over the work there.

"Reminds me a little of my old robes, in the abstract."

[somebodychildofanyone]

There is not an audible reply. Instead, River takes up one of the bone pieces, and pulls a wand of yellowed bone from her belt. She concentrates, stroking the wand across the small bone knife in gentle motions while the light around her goes greasy.

Something within the light peels away from itself, for just a moment, and then the knife shifts, morphing with incredible fluidity into a lotus blossom of gleaming white bone, which River offers to Fever with a little smile.

[abhorrently]

"Oh, that's gorgeous."

She takes the blossom, cradling it in her palms, looking it over with fascination and a touch of wonder. Fever's looking at it like the work of art it is, without a single shred of hesitation for the source material.

"That's really, really remarkable - did you start doing this before or after the smithing?"

[somebodychildofanyone]

"Simultaneously," River admits. "Necromancer and diabolist are different hats, but I started learning both at the same time. My mentor..." she pauses, suddenly self-aware. "Um. D'ya want most of my recent life story, or...?"

[abhorrently]

Fever shifts, her fingers stroking the petals on the bone flower absently, fidgeting with it "If you want to tell it, I'm a pretty good listener."

And, it's not like she's got anywhere to be in a hurry. Her interest will only grow.

[somebodychildofanyone]

For a brief moment there's a look in River's eyes that's...very soft. Fever looks so - there's something right about her, holding that flower, and in that moment River decides that it belongs to Fever now. She'll get around to that in a minute.

Ignore the pink at the tips of River's ears while she clears her throat. "So...I used to be a mercenary. Not the worst, no, but hardly scholars of ethics, and I went along to a bad job. Desecrated one of the most sacred lichyards in the world, in the demense of death herself. Pretty high on my scale of fuckups, heh..." The joke doesn't land. River sighs, ears drooping. "The lass who became my sister later on, she saved my life. Suggested maybe I submit to trial before the dead, see what they thought of it, and they thought...well, they thought I was an ignorant little shit who did evil because I didn't know my ass from my ears, so they figured, teach her up, she'll never do evil again. We dug Robert la Croix's ghost out of his grave and had him haunt me, so for months and months and months I've had a live-in ghost teaching me necromancy and diabolism night and day."

[abhorrently]

"That's pretty fair a judgement to be handed down. Kind, really, when all's said and done. Giving you a clean break from the mercenary life."

Teach her the trades, and in doing so, impart a respect for the dead and their sacred spaces that will never be un-learnt. A second chance. Fever's been listening closely, trying to envision it all, but the most she's got right now is the picture of River making breakfast while a ghost that looks something like Withers is ominously groaning. At least she got a companion out of it?

"You owned your own actions. Commendable, in my eyes. Does one need to even ask if it worked?"

That part's a tease. Look at her now, with a forge, a business, able to talk about that portion of her life to passers-by. And alive, if questionably using her own vitality to curse some bastard who deserved it for unknown reasons.

[goodweather]

At some point, River is approached by a tall bird-man on the side, a little quietly and away from the main streaks of things.

“Impressive stuff,” he remarks. “Good to know we’ve got a real smith around. Say—can you tell me the reasons someone might choose bone over metal?”

[somebodychildofanyone]

River hits Phil with a shy smile, energetic and enthusiastic, yes, but with all the telltale signs of someone whose life has only recently gotten any better. She hasn't had a lot of practice smiling. The Salesman's Gesture, Patent Pending, at the bone tools is down pat though.

"Not to open with an immediate deflection, but that depends on the work and the circumstances. There's a lot more use cases for bone than the island can actually support right now, since bones just...vanish if they're not from before the barrier." That smile fades for a grimace of professional embarrassment. It comes back quickly, though: "So the ones I'm offering need to be worth the increased price when normally they'd be cheaper. But!"

This elf is hitting her rhythm now, ears twitching pleasantly as she really slips into the groove.

"The big players are awls and needles, for leather and hide. Cannot be beaten, honestly if you buy metal you're buying worse - they're tough, long-lasting, don't rip or tear the material, and the work itself makes the bone more polished and long-lasting, a well-used bone awl or needle is one of the few tools you can dig up a thousand years later and use again immediately. Flutes and the like are still popular in some circles, but that's more of a..." she snaps her fingers a few times, "...preference! For the sound, right? They're quieter overall but it's a different sound than wood. Bone knives or sickles can be useful for gathering certain herbs that can't take the touch of a tarnishing metal, tougher than glass and easier to make, and bone combs are fascinating. Like the leatherworking tools they polish themselves and get hardier over time and use, absorbing the oils in your hair and scalp, right, so a well-done bone comb or hairpiece is something that'll last you all of your natural life even if it'll never survive long enough for the archaeologists to get at it -"

Oh god Phil she's digging at her belt now, the explanation is not stopping, you have Uncorked Something, the salesman patter has not survived this and you are now receiving the full force of someone who doesn't get to talk about her profession a lot. After a moment she places a bone wand on the table, slender and carved from hilt to tip, and River gestures at it.

"- now, not made any secret about being the town necromancer, and living or formerly-living materials are pretty favored for that. Wood implements are better for some of the divination aspects and for attacks on the senses or manipulating darkness, but I am just, absolutely made out of shit that rots your living flesh so I tend to favor bone. But, bone also bears enchantments that utilize the traits of a formerly living thing a lot better than other materials do. If you want, I dunno, a siren's water breathing you'd be better off with a bone torc than a brass one. My sister took advantage of that, used wings from a giant insect to make herself a coat that lets her fly. That gets a bit more wobbly but like, if you see a monster and go 'I'd like to do that' you're gonna want to find or shell out for bone, y'know?" She pauses, thoughtfully. "Or shells, shells work too, but they're, y'know...also bone!"

[goodweather]

Infodumping elf, meet harpy that listens to people infodump. He is listening with rapt attention, nodding along thoughtfully.

“Yeah… yeah, yeah, I hear you. Right. Would a bone cloak pin hold? Or are there better cases for an accessory you can keep on you for some enchantments?”

[somebodychildofanyone]

"Depends on the enchantment," River muses. "Like, practical example, right, my sister made some charms against mind control and they were little bone decorations we'd pin to hats or hoods, keep 'em near the head. Something for your throat, chest, or body maybe..." She taps the table thoughtfully. "Iron from a forge beast might be great for a warming charm on a pin...why, what'cha thinking?"

[goodweather]

Phil perks up at the mention of a ‘warming charm.’ Then pauses, glancing over at Ruby.

“Mind if we talk somewhere quieter? Nothing special, it’s just that it’s a gift, so I don’t want word getting around.”

[somebodychildofanyone]

River grins, reaches under the table, and retrieves the The Smith Is OUT sign she sometimes puts up on the counter in her forge, which she sets on the table. She stands and gestures for Phil to lead the way, clearly caught by her curiosity.

[goodweather]

“So—my kid isn’t conventionally alive,” he says, when they’re far enough away.

“They’re sort of an animate corpse, with another ghost fused in with them as a kind of second-chance symbiosis, and they’re also goth. And a ghost hunter. And into stuff like knights and swords. And have a bunch of water power stuff going on. Now, they’ve got plenty of swords, but I wanted to get them something made of bone. I figured some kind of enchanted cloak pin could be good, and warmth is something they’re always needing, but…”

Hums. “We don’t have a ton of forge beast corpses lying around, huh? And it’s not conventional bone.”

[somebodychildofanyone]

River's pretty sure she knows who he's talking about, having met Darcy already, and she's alight with thought. "Count us lucky honestly. Forge beasts aren't like, evil, they ain't smart enough - they're elementals of liquid metal, so, y'know. Imagine a living tidal wave of burning steel whose only urge is to alloy itself." She taps her chin, and perks up - her ears wiggle in glee. "But I've got a better idea, been learning my pyromancy. Keeping it a surprise might be...no, got an idea there too."

The smith points in the direction of her forge. "I'm gonna loan you one of my lanterns, usually use them to contain and restrain hellfire, but they're good for a lot of things. Build your kid a hearth-fire and let it warm them, and get one of the burning coals from it into the lantern. The coal and bone should be all I need for a charm as warm as home, layered with your love."

[goodweather]

... Ah. Ah. The idea builds in his head.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Actually, uh... this is supposed to be commemorating their 18th birthday--that's the sort of widely accepted coming-of-age year for us, and... it's getting a bit warm for a hearth these days, but I managed to talk them into putting together a little bonfire to celebrate. Can I use a coal from that?"

[somebodychildofanyone]

"There's two ways to look at fire, and they're both right. One is that all fires are the same, hungry, hot, and bright. The other is that every purpose we put fire to changes it," River explains, warmth in her voice. "A stove fire is not a hearth fire; forge-fire is not wildfire. A bonfire will be just fine, if that's the warmth you want to give."

[goodweather]

Phil hums, giving it visible thought as he weighs his options. It's getting warm for hearths, but there are still days cold and rainy and windy enough to make him shiver, so it's still doable.

But the bonfire--it's not just a bonfire, it'll be the bonfire for their eighteenth, where they get to have all of their chosen family around for them, in a new and free place. The idea of being able to cloak that around them is very attractive.

... But it's not as all-encompassing as a hearth fire, is it? They're outdoors and not entirely controlled. Bonfires can be patchy in their warmth. If he wants this charm to hold during the winter, the hearth is a better option.

"... Maybe, I can get a coal from the first fire I light in the hearth of our new house, when I and them and their siblings move in together. It'll take some time before we get to that point, but. Does that sound good?"