Lottery

Antheia and Piri

"Lookit!  Lookit what I got from Klaus!  Lookit, lookit, lookit!"

"I'm looking, little one!  What a precious toy.  It looks like Lady Artemis!"

"She's my hero!  I've wanted one my whole life!  And Klaus knew!"

"Well, it appears he always knows exactly what good little pups want."

Antheia smiled indulgently as the overexcited bane pup scampered away, the sturdy little pulltoy carved to resemble Artemis bouncing by the pullcord in its wake.  The pup was not the only one visible with new treasures.  Every tiny soul, and more than a few of their elders, were gathering in this quaint little village square to show off, and share, the things they had found in their homes when they had risen from their beds.  Even Antheia herself had awoken in the spare room of the family of Earth wajas that had graciously offered to host her for the night to find the thin golden string leading from her bed to the pups' nursery, out through the kitchen, and ending at the front hallway wardrobe where she had left her satchel.  And inside the satchel, a small burlap bag.  The pups had stared in confusion and disappointment.  And then Antheia had opened it, and had felt her heart fill with wonder and gratitude.

"Seeds," she had explained.  "See the little golden spots?  These are Solarian golden apple seeds.  I have been searching ever since we planted the sapling for viable seeds to try and reform the old orchards lost during the Sundering.  I have been sadly unsuccessful."

"Until now," the mother Earth waja said, as her pups cheered and danced around them.  "It will be wonderful to see those orchards again."

Antheia continued on her way, briefly raising a paw to rest it against the little bag, which she had hung around her neck with some of the string that had guided her to it.  On this beautiful, bright Yuletide day, there was just as much happiness as there was to be found in Lunaria.  The boon of the Pear Tree sapling had ignited a flame of hope brighter than had ever been seen before.  The precious coals the Solarian wajas depended on through the winter were proof in of themselves, or so her host Earth family had said.  Never before had they seen the coal glow with such strength and warmth.

"The first year of many," she said to herself.  "Good times are returning again."

"Antheia."

The Chosen Forest turned, her smile brightening as she easily recognized the source of the voice.  

"Piri, my friend," she said to her Corps counterpart.  "Did the spirit of this wonderful season visit you as well?"

"As he always does," Piri replied.  "Every year I marvel that the old soul still sees me worthy of gifts, but he has never passed me by."

"What do you mean?" Antheia asked curiously.

Piri cleared his throat, his expression suddenly turning sheepish.  As it always did when he recalled another event that contributed to his unfortunate moniker in the Corps.

"Well, I was still young.  I didn't know any better.  But Klaus had left my father and mother new wheels for the old wagon the previous year, which is something we'd desperately needed.  So I wanted to give him more than was was traditional as thanks."

"Oh?  Something more than cookies and milk by the fireplace?"

Piri eyed her in confusion, and then let out a huff of realization.

"Ah, right.  The tribute Lunarian pups leave for Santa Apollo.  Well...our tradition is more complex.  And I daresay more meaningful, no offense intended.  I..."

"Oh!  Oh!  Can we tell her?  We wanna tell her!"

The bane pup had returned, this time accompanied by a small mob of fellow youngsters and trailed by their highly amused parents.  Antheia chuckled warmly.

"Alright.  Go on then," Piri said.  "Tell her what you left for Klaus this year so she will understand."

It came out in a thoroughly overexcited rush, but with patience and a few helpful clarifications from the adult wajas gathering, Antheia got the basic idea.

"Klaus gives us so much fun, so we try to give him fun too!  We save for him something special from our mummies' baking, the last tart or cookie, or of we don't have tarts or cookies we make him something!"

"I like drawing him pictures!"

"Me too!  And little notes!  I been practicing my letters all year specially!"

"Each family does its best to save a little something, Lady Antheia.  It doesn't have to be much.  But when it is time our children wrap it up, decorate it, leave their own little tokens if they have them, and then hide it for Klaus to find."

"Not hard hide!  Just something a little fun for him too!  But he only takes the treats, not our wrappings.  He makes the wrappings into little orna...ornamens...orna...?"

"Ornaments, dear.  And then we add them on to the family wreath.  Like a little homemade heirloom each family keeps to remember each season."

"That sounds absolutely wonderful!" Antheia praised.  "I am sure it makes old Klaus so happy to see such expressions of gratitude.  But what happens if a pup hides the treat too cleverly, and Klaus does not find it?"

This the pups did not immediately answer.  They glanced at one another, their tiny expressions confused.

"I never heard of that happenin', Miss Antheia," one finally said.  "Klaus is magical!  He always finds it, 'cause he always leaves the ornaments behind."

"Old Tomtom has kept his since he was smaller than us, and now he's a big old gray-nose!"

"Tashi, hush!  That is rude!"

"But that's what he calls himself too, Mama!  Old Gray-Nose Tomtom!  Come on, let's go see his wreath!"

Once again the pups rushed off in a horde, happily kicking up snow and leaving their parents, and a pair of Corps and Chosen Forests, laughing indulgently in their wake.  They started following, unwilling to disappoint the overjoyous little ones.  But after a moment she returned her attention to Piri.

"So what were you saying before?"

Piri huffed an embarassed chuckle.

"Well, like I said, I wanted to leave Klaus something extra special.  It was a better year thanks to the wagon being fixed for the summer work, so to add alongside my mother's last butter pastry, I worked a full month gathering reeds for my neighbors to buy a cherry cinnamon popover from the baker in the city.  Might not seem like much, but cherries were a delicacy beyond measure back then.  Well, I took the popover and the pastry, wrapped them in a pretty piece of cloth I found in my father's bag, decorated it, and hid it in a tiny nook in the stone just inside our hearth.  Wanted to keep them warm for him.  And...as it turns out, that pretty cloth had a silvery sheen because...well, because it was what my father used to carry flint dust."

"Flint dust?  Oh...oh dear, and you had it near the hearth."

"Yes.  The first spark made it pop like a firecracker.  Burnt it to a crisp, and singed my mother's old rug.  I remember crying myself to sleep that night.  Not only did I did pretty bad damage to my mother's best rug, I didn't have anything to offer Klaus at all.  Didn't even have any spare paper to write an apology."

Antheia frowned, but she could see no remorse from the memory on Piri's expression.

"So what happened?  What did Klaus do?"

Piri paused.  After a moment he let out a long sigh...and smiled widely.

"He left my mother a new rug, my father a bag full to the brim with flint dust--he didn't have to scavenge for any for years after that--and for me...for me he filled my mother's garden basket with cherry cinnamon popovers.  Enough to share with every other pup in the village."

Antheia stepped sideways, nudging Piri gently with the edge of a wing.

"He knew you had good intentions."

Piri nodded, his gaze distant with memory.  Then he cleared his throat and broke into a steady trot.

"We had better catch up, there's still a lot more to do today!"

******

 I hope everyone out there has had an absolutely wonderful holiday!  The denizens of Solaria awoke to all the treasures and joy that they could ever hope for, and I hope every one of us experienced the same!

Though the waking and discovering of treasures is not the only thing to enjoy on a Yuletide, Christmas, or bright holiday morning!  So let this be the next lore question.  Imagine yourself a pup in Solaria.  As this day draws to a close, think of how your day would have gone.  What would you have done after waking up and finding all of the things Klaus left for you?  Tell us a story of how this day is seen as the most anticipated and celebrated in Solaria, even in the darkest times.  The most heartwarming and heartfelt will be granted a CWP prize!

And speaking of prizes, yet again the staff was inspired by the wonderful imagination of two players.  So I am happy to announce the winners of Lore Question #3:

Witchy Pyrecat (#364334)
Twilight Princess (#62526)

Answers for Lore Question #4 will be accepted until EOD December 29th, with the winners being announced with the conclusion post of the Festival of Frost on January 1st.

The staff thanks everyone who took the time to participate in this FoF minigame this year, and to help us expand the lore of our site!  We hope you have been enjoying all the festivities, and wish you and yours a wonderful holiday!