Welcome to Gaia! ::

stage 1: blending in
Dylon and Chris are now dressed as Santa's helpers (your choice of elves, reindeer, or snowmen), while Dawson has been appropriated to St. Nick himself!

The mall is jam packed this close to the holidays and quite noisy. Certain halls are strangely avoided and appear more shadowy than normal, but other than an eerie feeling there doesn't appear to be anything substantially incriminating yet. First you should get situated with your job (hyping up the event to passerby, especially those with children, while staying in character) and help prep the area for the photo op. Roll 1d4 (or choose a prompt if you’d rather!):

1. A teen excitedly approaches you after mistaking you for a certain celebrity they’re obsessed with. Given the right sort of spin on the truth, they may be willing to help your investigation. Whether you choose to impersonate the celebrity, tell the truth, or tell them to get lost, you’ll continue to see their face in the crowd every once in a while for the rest of mission.
2. A concerned parent appears and asks you if you’ve seen their child. They speak broken English and have a thick accent, but you manage to understand that their child has been missing for half an hour and was last seen in a popular toy store chain (where they were supposed to be waiting). They believe that you are a mall employee and would know the layout of the area better, thus they ask for your help. If you choose to abandon your post and help their search, roll 1d20.
3. A mall cop stops you, notes that you’re a new face, and asks if you’ve seen anything suspicious. Regardless of what you tell them, they sternly tell you to keep to your designated area and make sure to watch out for shady folk; there’s been a series of strange kidnappings going on and security needs to tighten up.
4. At some point you notice there’s something in your pocket: a red letter and a well sharpened pencil the size of your pinky. In scrawled writing it reads: R U NAUGHTY OR NICE? : ) Whether you choose to indulge an answer or not, both items will mysteriously disappear while you work.

4. At some point you notice there’s something in your pocket: a red letter and a well sharpened pencil the size of your pinky. In scrawled writing it reads: R U NAUGHTY OR NICE? : ) Whether you choose to indulge an answer or not, both items will mysteriously disappear while you work.

R U NAUGHTY OR NICE?

Naughty wink <3 <3

stage 2: reconnaissance
Working together as Santa and his helpers, Dawson, Chris, and Dylon must keep a close eye out for clues and conduct discreet interviews of the children coming to visit the photo op to gather more information.

status effect: Throughout the several hours of investigation, Dylon will begin to feel strangely anxious, though he won't be able to place why. The more points the group receives, the more it will start to feel like he's done something wrong.

Roll 1d8 until they collectively reach 10 scouting points:

1. In the crowds you see a figure that looks a little off, but they disappear before you can get a better look. (+1 SP)
2. Several kids (friends by the looks of it) are seen interacting in a shop before shaking off their parents and disappearing. Later, however, you see the same group of kids completely withdrawn and clinging to their parents, pale and unable to say a word as they approach for their photo. If asked what’s wrong, they mumble fragments of things about hearing chains and laughter, and being chased by an evil shadow. (+3)
3. On a bathroom break you notice an excessive amount of hair around one of the sinks. A closer look reveals that it’s fur, and not the fake kind. (+2)
4. The child looks nervously around and is spooked enough that the flash of the camera makes him wet himself. They don’t answer any questions but instead promises multiple times with tear-stricken eyes that they promise to be good. The child smells strangely of sulfur. (And now urine too; Dawson needs to get new pants.) (+2)
5. The child sits on Santa’s lap and gets their photo taken with no problem. Afterwards, one of their family members approaches you and surreptitiously asks if that “weird drunk Santa from before” has been fired yet or not. If asked more about it, they claim only secondhand rumors about hobos squatting in the backends of the mall to avoid the snow. (+1)
6. As the child acts like a relative nuisance during their turn, you hear snippets of their parent on the phone reporting what they believe to be a goat running around, no doubt another of a series of bizarre pranks that’s been plaguing certain parts of the mall. You can also hear them cite evidence of other misdemeanors such as muddy hoof marks, misplaced holiday gift shop stock, and missing change from the charity bucket. (+3)
7. The child is smug as they approach. They tell you that it doesn’t matter what this Santa thinks because they already know they’re on the nice list. If asked why, they claim that they met the real Santa already and he told them so. They cannot provide an actual description beyond the red suit and hat, though his clothes looked like they had seen better days and he did look a little funny. (+2)
8. As the child takes their photo, you hear someone loudly complain about how their shopping bags got filled with coal somehow. (+1)