TDM #9 - The Weather Outside is Frightful [FIRST EDITION]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette: Winter Issue

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Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

12/13/24 | TDM #9 - The Weather Outside is Frightful [First Edition]

WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW

By Yorick Aberdeen

The crop for which the town is named.

Hello and welcome, one and all! As time marches on and the ferry continues bringing newcomers to our fair land, we start our newest edition of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette with a warm welcome to anyone who has just made landfall in our accursed but cozy little town. It’s winter, which can be a challenging time of year for a secluded place like Pumpkin Hollow, but you’ll also be able to join us for beloved traditions such as Mourner’s Night, Givingstide, the New Year, and Merrymeet! Local experts have also reported to the Pumpkin Hollow Safety Board that we should be in for perfectly normal and utterly harmless auroras this winter, barring any complications. The night sky will most likely not try to kill you this year. What luck!

We invite you, as with all those who came before you, to enjoy your stay at the Oak & Iron tavern inn while you settle in. Please stop by Town Hall to discuss opportunities for work and more permanent housing! All newcomers get 100 Brass in their pocket upon arrival as well, so we encourage you to take advantage of this as well. Reach out to your neighbors for help if you need it, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette whenever you need the local news!

WINTER WEATHER REPORT

By Phil Connors

The Paring River looks gorgeous this time of year.

Wrap up in those winter cloaks, plug those drafts, and stock up on the oil and wood. It's frost season, and it's only getting colder from here. These nights will be the longest nights. Keep your toes warm and your rooftops clean; when we get snow, we're getting inches of it. The end of the season will get a little warmer, but prone to temperature drops and refreezes, and the wind will still be just as chilly. There will be ice all season long, so be careful on the streets, because there won't be any wet floor signs to warn you. Because it's ice.

Snowfall means roads blocked, and roads blocked means roads need clearing! Town Hall is recruiting volunteers to help shovel the walkways in public spaces. Shovels not mandatory for those of you with powers that can clear snow, or perhaps a machine like a snowplow, or perhaps machine snowplow powers. (No heat-melting allowed; we're not making a skating rink here.) Inquire at Town Hall to sign up!

WINTER ACTIVITIES AROUND TOWN

By Timothy Stoker

A peek at the Winter Market.

Speaking of snow, it turns out shoveling and falling face-first into a mound of snow on your way to market aren’t the only things you can do with all this fluffy white stuff falling out of the sky! All throughout town, there’ll be opportunities to take advantage of this weather’s unique charms all winter long.

The Safety Board is happy to report that several of the lakes and ponds around town are now thick enough to ice skate on. Ice skate rentals will be available at the Oak & Iron for 5 Brass a day. You’ll find that the safe places to skate are marked with a notice from the Safety Board, so make sure you check, unless falling through the ice sounds like your idea of fun! One of the safe locations, to the shock of everyone involved, is Lake Sal-Co-Penn, so take this opportunity to enjoy its scenic location while it’s completely free of horrible visions of dead loved ones. Just don’t look too hard at what’s in the water under the ice.

Additionally, check out the Winter Market all season long on Main Street. It’s a great place to check out deals on artisanal crafts for Givingstide (or whatever else you might celebrate) and will also feature baking, cooking, and crafting contests of various kinds every weekend from now till the end of February. Grab some hot cider or cocoa at the refreshment booth, and consider taking a friend or date on one of the horse drawn sleigh rides available.

And last but certainly not least, head on out to the farmlands in Northwest Hollow to take part in the Neighborhood Sanctioned Snowball War. No sense letting those big plots of land sit empty all season! If you enjoy frozen architecture, have applicable tactical experience, or just want to throw stuff at other people, the Snowball War is the place for you.

TOWNSFOLK BEWARE - SNOWSTORMS MAY HOLD SINISTER SECRETS

By Yorick Aberdeen

Friend or foe?

Stay alert during inclement weather, neighbors--- and not just because of the fall risk! Locals particularly around the Prague Mill and Bluffs area have been reporting that, during low-visibility snowstorms, insidious-looking figures have been appearing in the snow.

It’s unclear what exactly these mysterious figures might be, lurking in the roiling blizzards throughout town, but they’ve been known to vary in size and in shape. Tread with care when the weather begins to turn, and keep your lanterns lit!

GINGERBREAD CURSE DEEMED UNLAWFUL AND UNSAFE

By Cecil Gershwin Palmer

A most dastardly dessert, indeed.

Town Hall would like to remind all citizens and denizens of Marrow Island that gingerbread is not on the list of approved construction materials for buildings zoned for residential, commercial or farming purposes. Whoever is turning local homes and other buildings into gingerbread, complete with candy decorations, is asked to put it back, and not coaxingly, like when you try to get a cat to come down from the ceiling fan, but demandingly, like when you’re telling a dog to spit out the clearly-not-food item they have in their mouth. No, stop chewing. Do NOT swallow that! Come here, spit it out!

Local candymaker, Ambrose Macarius, had this to say on the matter: “I worry a bit, you know, that with the abundance of candy made available with this gingerbread house hoo-hah, that no one’s going to come visit my shop for the stuff I make by hand. I don’t use magic in the candy, you know?” Meanwhile, local ice cream parlor Gourd En Glace is selling a gingerbread sundae to commemorate the occasion.

Citizens are advised to be particularly careful with liquids in gingerbread buildings for the time being, until this matter is resolved.

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Further Details...

Winter Fun!

The bit about Lake Sal-Co-Penn is mostly a joke and it is genuinely safe to ice skate there. However, if you would like to do something spooky with it, feel free! It is functionally SCP-2316 but frozen. You can have a totally safe visit or a terrible one, your choice!

The costs of hot cocoa/cider and sleigh rides are negligible, don’t worry about taking them out of your Brass. Winter clothing sets cost between 100-300 Brass depending on its complexity, and pricing at the Winter Market will be comparable to the normal pricing we have on items. To avoid an absolute onslaught of price check questions, we’re more than happy to let you use your best judgement on pricing for Winter Market items based on previous pricing. Our Buyer’s Guide and this simplified Pricing Menu are great resources! Existing characters can modify their ledgers without mod approval, and new characters can wait until they app in to worry about it. Givingstide, our winter gift exchange holiday, takes place at the end of December, but the market will be open all through the Winter!

The Snowball War will be centralized around Cèsar Salazar’s farm, per the player’s request, but the whole farmland area of Northwest Hollow is free game. Have fun!

Shapes in the Snow

We give you the winter gift of creative liberty for this one! Rather than have a set creature or person lurking in the blizzard, you can have whatever you like! It can be an existing monster like the Tristitia, a Brutok, or the River Walker. It can be an eerie doppelganger of someone from your home world. It can be an opening for another player character or an Infernal Servant. It could even be a creature you make up! If you make an excellent monster, we’d love to incorporate it into the game’s canon! But whether you’re looking to have a run-in with the Pine Devil, you’ve devised a new menace to stalk our fair town, or you’re about to attack your neighbor who has innocently come to ask for a cup of sugar, remember that communication is key and feel free to get as weird with it as you like.

Gingerbread Curse

The gingerbread curse is pretty self-explanatory and is basically exactly what it seems. That one witch who turned all our crops into turnips that time probably did it. Gingerbread buildings can appear fully formed or gradually transform over time, or just take up chunks of your home or workplace. They will eventually change back on their own (the timeframe in which this happens is up to you) but if the cookie gets softened by liquids or eaten, the architecture may come back looking a little funny. Good luck!

Comments

fever (dark urge) | baldur's gate 3 | adult

[abhorrently]

first frost.

It's winter, for real. Fever can forgive how cold it is for the sheer wonder of it happening at all - snow, ice, and the changed world. Her first true winter that she can recall, if one ignores the time jumble in her head, and so small things become intensely exciting. Bundled up, she's often at the Winter Market after work, perusing the stalls with interest and thinking about the upcoming holidays, or watching the sleigh rides go by with a curiosity.

Other times, she might be out ice skating, determined to master this before the season is out. That at first, it's going to be rough...well, she's never minded looking foolish in public before. Only practice will build grace, and Fever eventually begins to find a rhythm with it at a point. The truly brave, though, might have the same idea she does about going out to the hot springs in this weather. The combination of the warm soak and the icy air is more pleasant than one would think, and she finds it worth the trip out there. Ask politely, and she might even share the refreshments she's brought with her to make it a full experience.

carving ice.

The monsters in the snow aren't the only hunters out there. What approaches with malice may find itself cut down, hot blood upon the snow, and their killer sets about ensuring they cannot rise again without significant intervention. It is inevitable. It is dangerous. And in such a state, perhaps those nearby are the bigger threats than what comes out at you. Fever's mind is strained, drawn thin, and every slash, every cut, helps by degrees. Her head, full of blood, yearns ever for more.

Winter is here. So everything inside is louder than it was in autumn, and her footsteps are muffled by the snow. Someone known might get a direct challenge - someone unknown might need to prove theirself. And those who find themselves in true danger...do you risk calling for help? Will the distant figure in the snow be friend, or a new foe?

[ooc: up for both aggressive confrontations and friendly encounters, as well as rescues.]

wildcard.

[other options? let's go.]

Fool of the First Frost - Market

[nostradamnit]

"Beg pardon."

The man slipping past Fever is nearly six and a half feet tall, but he carries himself like he's trying to apologize to the world for being that tall, and his voice is rough at the edges. It's the sound that a steam engine on a stately old train might make while edging past another train on the next track. He's looking curiously at a stall of potions offered by a local alchemist, a vague frown on his bearded face.

[abhorrently]

"Oh, let me move-"

He's so tall, and mentally she reminds herself to check again if any taller shoes have yet come into fashion in this world. But beyond that, the look on his face catches her, and she can't help but to add:

"Not seeing what you're looking for?"

[nostradamnit]

"I'm not certain what I'm looking for. The world from which I hail is one where magic is not real."

That fact has been his anchor while facing many Fucked Up Situations (because we love a guy who gets put in Situations), and suddenly being in a place where that's demonstrably not true is one of many things breaking him a little right now.

(Being dead is another, but everyone's got that on their list, so his hardly matters.)

carving ice

[singlestar]

Fever can see a frail but tall figure being pecked at by snowy birds the size of a human torso. They are trying to kick and run away from said birds, but it is so obvious that their twig like figure is not meant for fighting.

They do not want to fight.

They are wheezing, out of breath, as they see Fever and run towards her.

"H-help, please-" They cry out as they run.

[abhorrently]

"Get behind me."

It's more a command than a request, and she moves towards them, to put herself in the front. Her hands move, a building violet light between them, and when Aster's safe at her back, she throws the spell forward.

"Detono." It is a wave of force that sweeps across, disturbing snow and ice and slamming hard into the birds to knock them off their feet. Even if they'll stagger back up, they'll be dazed from the thunder ringing in their ears, and it won't stop her following up with red darts, energy that hits like a strong punch, two to each in another fluid motion - they seek their prey, and will find it.

[singlestar]

Aster stumbles, their hands fly up to their head in a protective measure.

Snow flies across. Reminiscent of something more visceral. The birds that aren't destroyed in one hit are pinned down. They squawk, their screeches sounding like people going to door. Several footsteps. Loud bangs that would be unfamiliar to fever's ears, the closest description would be to an explosion of some sorts.

Aster covers their ears.

And then. Silence.

They slowly regain themselves, standing. Aster carefully walks forward to check on Fever, make sure they're unharmed.

"Are you- are you okay?" They say softly, eyes still wide with fear.

turn of the year - semi-closed.

[abhorrently]

Those close to Degas Clayton in one form or another will recieve a call on their sending stone one evening.

"Do you have a bit to talk? I want your help with something."

If they're unavailiable, a note will be sent to them in the post.

Contact me when you can. I have time sensitive plans regarding one Degas Clayton.

-Fever

[lovethyneighb_or]

"Oh? Is that you, Fever? Yes, I have a moment. What is it?"

[abhorrently]

"Degas's birthday is coming up - on the 31st. I was wondering if you would want to attend a small gathering for him, or at least write him a small note for the day that I could give to him."

She pauses.

"He said he's accustomed and fine with being overlooked in favor of the new year, and I'd like to challenge that assertion to prove a very specific point."

[graveling]

"Hey, Fee. What's going on?" Angel's voice is soft and rumbly as ever. "Anything to help."

[abhorrently]

"Degas's birthday is at the end of the month. He thinks he's going to get overlooked again. I've decided he won't be."

She wrote it down, after all.

[tehilim127_1]

"Yeah, I've got a bit, one second --"

There's a pause, and some shuffling noises. "There. I have got to rig up some kind of headset for this, the shoulder grip's almost as bad as with cellphones. What can I do for you?"

[abhorrently]

"Degas's birthday is at the turn of the year. I'm gathering a few people who'll either want to come see him, or write him notes to wish him well." A tiny pause. "He told me he's used to being overlooked because of the importance of the night. I think we can do better than that, no?"

[amourtician]

The stonecall reaches Anzu in the evening, as he's idly making the final, clean copy of his personal journal — if he tried to keep the bloody thing without drafts, it would be truly unreadable.

"I have the time, darling," he says. "Aught amiss?"

[abhorrently]

"Not at all. I call with good news, for both you and Lyubov. Degas's birthday is in a few weeks, and I'm aiming to give him a little surprise. I was wondering if you two would want to attend a little gathering on his behalf, or write a note for him, or something like that." A tiny pause. "He's used to being secondary, what with it being at the turn of the year, but I can't abide that."

[hereticofthewilds]

One of these days when Fever is in the market, she may sense that there are eyes upon her, watching from above. If she looks up to the eaves of the roof above this stall, she'll quickly realize it's just Elsie, shyly crouching up there watching Fever's every move. But why?

[abhorrently]

With a smile, she waves upward to Elsie, tilting her head just a little before making a few gestures. Will she come down, or should Fever come up? Either works, but she has to choose.

[hereticofthewilds]

Elsie chooses down, now that she's been spotted. She flits into and out of the shadows, to land before Fever on her still bare feet, shuffling them in the dirt sheepishly.

"Fever found me..."

Carving Ice

[redlightgreenlight]

It is not hard to follow the red trail through the snow. A drip here, a drop there, sight if not scent, and of course the dangerous aura that belongs to her partner when threats are about, and sometimes when they aren't. Revelations hangs on her hip, ready to be drawn if necessary, but so far, it seems Fever has cleared the entire area of monsters or anything else living that seeks prey.

Valdis knows better than to sneak up on Fever when she's in such a state, so she calls out to ensure the other woman knows she's there.

"Fever!"

[abhorrently]

"Valdis."

She stands still, rousing herself from the haze she's been in to look over in Valdis's direction. There is a tension in her that would be hard to hide even if she felt otherwise fine - as it is, it stands out like the blood in the snow, while she vaguely thinks about getting herself back together.

What time is it. How long has she been here. She doesn't know.

[redlightgreenlight]

Fever had said she had spoken to Mortanne and others about a new way to become more stable, but Fever hadn't mentioned it again and it's clear that they haven't tried yet. She hasn't seen Fever like this in several months. Her first instinct is to send soothing emotions to her, to share that connection they both have once again. But it might not be what Fever needs in this moment.

"What can I do?"

To help. To soothe. To indulge...whatever Fever needs.

first frost

[yournewsidekick]

"YEAH! WOOOOO!!"

From the edge of the lake, a bright pink otter takes a running leap and bellyflops onto the ice, skidding across it with a speed that's not all physics's doing. As she zips past Fever -- maybe a little uncomfortably close if Fever's already wobbly on her skates -- and goes into a flat spin, her voice dopplers after her: "Hey Feverrrrrrrrr...."

[abhorrently]

Fever's still wobbling, but tries to lean the other way when Nimona slides by, nearly unbalancing herself altogether and only staying up by striking an awkward pose and sloooooooowly straightening back up.

"Hey Nimonaaaa-"

There she goes, with another thump on the ice.

[yournewsidekick]

As she turns another slow flat loop on the ice, Nimona catches sight of Fever's spectacular wipeout and bursts out laughing. She twists into a somersault and reforms as a penguin, the better to propel herself back toward her friend.

"How's it going? Skates giving you trouble?"