If there is a "least Fey" spot in the city, this has got to be it.  Nothing but stone and concrete, where Humans spend all day working at that strange and mysterious wizardry called "finance".  But it is here where the library believes the Nisse will appear next, and the head librarians have put out a call for help in watching this place over the night, as the Nisse will only appear when the streets are deserted.

And though this area is very alive during the day, in the wee hours it can be silent, nothing but the occasional night guard, or passing random pedestrian.

Strangely, though everyone knows "Wall Street", the stock exchange actually faces Broad Street, where the tree is.

Though the lights are on in this pic, this thread occurs before the tree is lit.

Amara walks over and looks at where the tree is and looks around. She can see the lights are not lite yet.

Elliot flutters over from the tree and lands precariously on Amara's shoulder. "Hi there! My name's Elliot. What is someone like you doing in someplace like this?" Elliot swings his legs back and forth as he sits there and also sways back and forth, almost as if he was being blown by the wind.

"I am Amara. I was just looking at the tree, what about you?"

"Well I'm just doing a little sight seeing, cause I'm pretty new in town."

Slowly making his way towards the tree is a slender young man. Even in the cold of New York, he looks to be wearing a pair of simple jeans, a long sleeved black shirt and a long red and black striped scarf. Pale blonde hair seemed to be blowing lightly in the cold air around his shoulders. His arms were wrapped around his sides as he stood, looking around, seeming a bit nervous as he did.

Mouse ignores the little nature spirit.  Instead he focused on the hunger spirit approaching him and his friends. He watches intently, his eyes burning green as the emaciated creature approached.

Although cautious, Mouse shows no sign of either fear or aggression.  The Gurt Dog knows what it means to be of a feared and maligned breed.  But, as his ancestors before him, he had chosen to protect and care for those who feared him.  It was possible that this fae had made the same choice.

Besides, bad comes to worst, Mouse can easily show him what it's like to be eaten as a snack.  But he's sure the cookies would taste better...

Spotting the eyes that seemed to glow green, the young man took a noticeable step back, his eyes widening. Though the lower portion of his face was hidden behind the scarf, it seemed reasonable to guess that he was likewise being quite wary of the other group. Though he stared for just a moment, he quickly turned his head away as his arms seemed to press further around himself, as if trying his best not to make full eye-contact with them.

Violet was somewhat curious about the Christmas Elves, and about Elves in general since apparently she was one, but she hadn't really worked out what that was or what kind of magic that meant she could do. The others hadn't really been very helpful on that front.

She'd done a little research online, and boy had that made things MORE confusing. From house elves that really seemed more like brownies, to talking about Tolkien there was a lot of very contradictory information. But it seemed like in the more traditional texts they seemed to be related to beauty, deception and alchemy, like making potions and things out of flowers and poisoning sheep?

She sighed to herself. If she wasn't going insane (what with seeing pixies in the park and magic dogs) then trying to work out everything might just drive her that way.

As Violet wandered towards the stock exchange meeting point, musing on the nature of magic, she was re-reading A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K Hamilton. After all the actual research had given her a headache so she deserved a break with smutty faerie stories.

Amara looks at Mouse "What is wrong? Do you see something?" she looks around. She looks for a good place to hide so they can watch the tree from several places.

The bookish young Julian walked along Broad Street in the same manner as he often did anywhere, with his nose in a book. Despite his mousy nature, the man had adapted a rather impressive talent for being able to follow along a sidewalk or path, avoiding obstacles and other foot traffic while seemingly lost in the pages he had before him. The book he seemed presently occupied with was titled, "A Field Guide to New World Trolls." which he held upright in his right hand, while with his left he maintained a vice-like grip on a disposable coffee cup. Even at this late hour the man never seemed to be without his customary addiction.

As he neared the Stock Exchange, his cellphone bleated a sing-song like ding to alert him he'd reached his destination. He'd learned from experience he needed the help of such apps to keep him focused, otherwise he might make it all the way to Jersey while lost in one of his books without knowing. Not that he'd walked so far before...that time he'd only made it to the outskirts of the city before he'd finished his book.

Looking up and blinking in surprise at the gathering of people. Julian fixed his glasses back squarely upon the bridge of his nose, looking about at the various individuals a moment before speaking. He'd only known a few in passing or by reputation as his dealings in the Library were often a bit more dry and outside the overall enjoy of non-researchers.

"Oh...well...Hello." Julian offered at first as he nodded to those gathered, "Should we...well...should we divide into groups? The Nisse might think something is up if a bunch of people are just standing around..."

Violet looked up from her own book, though it was a novel rather than a research text.

"By Nisse you mean the Christmas Elves right? And do you think small groups will be less conspicuous? I might be new to the magic thing but can't we do a glamour or something to hide us? Or people would see the pixies and so forth? Or would they be able to see through it because they're fey?"

Violet took a breath and made herself stop, flushing slightly in embarrassment. Bad enough she didn't know the first thing about what she was (or how that had happened) but she had to spew questions at everyone without giving them a chance to respond.

Looking down at her feet Violet tried to imagine herself invisible, partly to see if she could and partly because of her outburst. She took a deep breath closing her eyes and concentrating, then another. To anyone watching her she seemed to fade, like a stained glass window, still there but becoming less and less noticeable, until she opened her eyes to look at her hand, when she was right back to visibility again. She sighed, not aware that she had actually done anything.

Julian listened to Violet's questions and was about to respond before he noticed she was doing some sort of magic. His mouth simply hung agape while she seemed to fade and then suddenly return, tilting his head in confusion. Startled back into gear after a moment a silence, the man blinked several times before attempting to offer answers.

"...I um...yes, the Nisse are...Christmas Elves?" He considered the statement a moment, before shrugging it off. I guess he could see the resemblance somewhat, "...Since the Nisse are Fey, the veil won't effect them if that's what you're asking. Since it is rather late....I think any group of people would be considered suspicious, yes? But if we separate into smaller groups, perhaps we'll have a better chance of blending in...well, as well as Fey can blend in I assume."

He blinked again, realizing he'd forgotten something, "I'm Julian by the way..."

"My name is Violet." She smiled holding her hand out to Julian. "I'm kind of new to all this..." She shrugged apologetically. "I can't even make a cookie appear so I don't know how I'd do something like make myself invisible but I figured there had to be something keeping people from seeing things." She looked a little depressed but shook it off and looked around.

"Well if Amara is walking Mouse, and umm... well we have our books... but that leaves the pale guy and the boy that's two different sizes... That is a little confusing. Maybe he could hide IN the tree though?" She bit her lip thoughtfully, trying to come up with a reason why a man with a scarf over his face might be hanging around outside the stock exchange.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Sun 08 May 2016.

As the other fey and the bookish human approach, Elliot continued to fly around the group. Upon hearing himself come up in conversation, Elliot flutters over in a position that makes him appear to be lying on his back. "I could totally hide in the tree, but that doesn't sound like much fun. I could hide in your pocket. That would be fun! Oh and I'm Elliot!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Sun 08 May 2016.

He happened to glance just as the woman seemed to become slightly transparent before becoming wholly opaque again. It was clearly Fey magic of some kind. Nervous, he slowly made his way towards the woman, only hesitating when another young man approached her first. He said nothing, listening for a few moments instead. Nisse. The word sounded somewhat familiar. It sounded like something he'd heard the old ones of his family mention, something from the old country, though he wasn't entirely sure of exactly what a Nisse was, or Christmas elves for that matter.

 As he overheard mention of a "pale boy," his eyes moved to the woman. True, it wasn't as if he had been exactly hiding in plain sight, but he had to be careful. One never knew who exactly was friend or foe, after all.

"I'm Felix. I.. I hope it's alright. The Library said that help would be appreciated, so I came." He spoke, scarf conveniently hiding his mouth from view.

Even in the darkest hours of the night this corner of the city is not empty, only relatively empty.

Down the street, workmen throw bales of shredded paper into a truck- Wall Street is far too busy during the day to allow interruptions for things like that.   Further away, the traffic on Broadway can be heard.  A few couples wander around in the darkness, headed back to their apartments... or maybe for a last round at a late night bar.

And the rats search for anything overlooked by the throngs of people who flood this place in daylight.

There... moving from shadow to shadow, much like the rats, they can be seen.  Three of them.  Only a foot tall, with pointed hats.  Dragging something that snakes over their shoulders like a fire hose.

It glitters in the streetlights.  Garland.  They are running towards the tree.

Gremian was late to the meeting point. Holding a touristic map and cursing about it, he finally spotted the group. He ran for some steps, but, because of the noise he made with his claws/boots, he preferred to fast walk instead. He was surprise that one of them displayed magic openly after all the speeches from the Library. "Sorry I'm late. Stupid ma..." he stopped as he saw the Nisse. He pointed them and whispered: "Are they the reason we are here?

Violet wasn't entirely sure she wanted a teenage boy (or someone who looked like one sort of) climbing into pockets in her clothes... but before she could comment on it either way Felix introduced himself. She held out her hand to shake his, intending to ask what this had to do with a library.

"Hi..." She trailed off as Gremain pointed out the Nisse's approach. "Um... so what now?" They hadn't really told her what the plan was when they arrived, did they stop them? Or ask them what they were decorating trees for? Or just watch them?

She waved at Gremain but didn't really have time to introduce herself, focusing on Julian for an answer as he seemed to know what was going on here more than most.

The three little figures run for the tree, apparently unaware that they are being watched.

Until… one of them, the last of the trio,  stops, and looks around nervously.

But in stopping, he did not let go of the garland.  The other two creatures are pulled to an unexpected halt.

“Dammit, Karl!” says the middle one, a short, stubby looking female.  At least, it appears that way, not having the bushy white beards the others do, and being large and round in places they are not.

“Others nearby,” Karl says.  “I feel it.”

The lady Nisse tugs on the garland, trying to get him moving again.  “We know, the workmen down the street.  And others will come, so we must be fast and stealthy.  Much power is here.  One more after this, it will be enough.”

“No.. I mean Fey folk.  Magic, like us.  The Rune Stones are trembling.”

“They won’t pay us any mind,” the Nisse woman says.  “This is not for them or about them.  This is about us.  Freedom, Karl.  Let’s move.”

Julian shot a glance toward the tree, before offering a nod that encompassed all of them, "...we try to catch one of them. We need to know what they are up to and where they are keeping the Troll Prince...if we can't catch one, we need to follow them back to their current home or whereabouts. Either way, we need answers from them and quickly."

Amara was looking around and noticed the little elves at they moved to the tree. "You all, go after them, I will cut off their retreat" she says with a giggle." she turns to a swirling mist and speeds off in a round about way so as to cut them off.

Like a dog chasing a rabbit, Mouse sprang after one of the the Nisse.

Moving quickly and confidently, he turns the little fae's direction of flight back towards his companions.  Like a farmdog herding cattle, he nips and turns, keeping the panicked little creature running towards Mouse's goal.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:54, Tue 10 May 2016.

"Minimal pla..." begun Gremian, just at the dog sprang out. "Not the plan, dog!" he mumbled to himself as he ran toward the lady Nisse. He was not running as full speed yet, he wanted the chance to react. If she chose to charge him, he would receive her by sticking to the ground. If she fled toward one of his companion, he would let them capture her. His least favorite option was to pursue her at full speed.

Julian blinked at the speed at which his companions sprung into action, and moved to join the would-be assault against the Nisse. He was unsure of what exactly he would do if he caught one, being just a human after all...but that would have to wait for later.

As the group begins to spring towards the Nisse, Elliot flies a tight circle around everyone. As he does so, he laughs really loud and says "This is really fun! We should do this more often!"

"We could have just asked them nicely... I mean if Amara had cut off the escape the worst that would happen is that we'd have to chase them after all." Violet sighed looking at the chaos. She wasn't really sure what she could do to help if she couldn't even make a cookie, but it seemed mean scaring the little creatures when they weren't even sure what they wanted or why.

Violet knelt down, her arms spread wide. "It's okay, come here, we don't want to hurt you..." She tried to sound comforting rather than jumping about trying to catch them like the others, perhaps they would come to her, even if only to get away from Mouse.

Mouse has a certain effect on Fey creatures, especially the smaller ones.  Perhaps it's magic, or perhaps it's just a perfectly reasonable response to a big black animal with obvious carnivorous tendencies and long sharp teeth, charging towards you.

"Jinglebells!  Run!" the Nisse in the lead shouts.

In desperation he hurls the garland at Mouse as the others drop it and run.

He must have some wicked garland tossing skills because the sparkly garland drapes itself across Mouse.  But it doesn't hinder the dog in any way, it merely decorates him.  In more than garland.  Tinsel and lights now hang from Mouse's ears and tail.

The three Nisse run.  And scatter.

Perhaps if the whole gang worked on this plan first things would be different, but as it is, there is a flurry of chaos, and two of the Nisse get away.

But Mouse, Julian and Gremian trap one.. it hops up onto the curb, ducking past security bollards, heads for a door.. but the door is locked.

It is the Nisse woman.  She turns around, and faces her pursuers.

"Aw, hollyberries," she says.  "Go away!  Bad dog!  Eat somebody else!  I'll buy you a pretzel."

Amara tries to chase one that gets away from the main group.

Grateful that they were able to catch at least one of them, Julian steps forward to question the female Nisse, taking a knee to examine her, "We know what you're doing, but we don't quite yet know why...What power are you trying to gather and what is it for? And what do you know about the whereabouts of the Troll Prince? You better tell us the truth...or...or my canine friend might get hungry."

Julian didn't like the idea of threatening the woman, but they needed answers and quickly. NYC could be in great trouble.

Felix's eyes widened, was the creepy dog seriously going to hurt those tomkins, er.. brownies? Little people, whatever they were. He found himself following after the scattering fey, fearful that they were about to get eaten. Thankfully, two had gotten away, but the third seemed caught.

 He moved towards the remaining nisse woman, his eyes narrowing at the Human as he gave his threat. That seemed very harsh, especially given the circumstances. He stepped closer, looking to the small woman. "I think what he means to say is that we could really use your assistance, miss..?" He tried, drawing out his final word in order to give her a chance to respond, holding out his hand towards her.

Violet frowned at all the threatening both verbal and in terms of body language. She smiled as Felix offered his hand to the small woman, at least someone seemed to want to try being civilised BEFORE scaring her little Christmas pants off. She was dying to ask if the freedom the woman had been talking about before was from Santa but she didn't want to interrupt Felix's attempt to build a rapport or sound silly.

Sighing, Violet moved to crouch in front of Mouse, slightly putting herself between him and the Nisse, with her back to the woman in a way that she hoped seemed more non-threatening than dismissive. She took hold of the garland and started to try and unwind it from Mouse.

"Hold still, you've gotten yourself well and truly tangled in this..." She murmured soothingly, trying to draw a little of his attention so he might seem less menacing.

Elliot stops flying in circles and lands on the sidewalk beside the small Nisse woman. "Wow! You're almost as small as me! Hi, I'm Elliot. I'm a Nature Fairy. That's a very pretty tree, don't you think?" Despite the tense atmosphere, Elliot is talking in an extremely friendly tone. He seems to take no notice of the threatening remarks of Julian or the attempts at friendship made by Violet and Felix.

Julian blinked at the responses of his companions, but realized they'd not been clued in to the full extent of what was going on, "...My apologies...you all don't realize that these Nisse may have in their possess a staff belonging to the Troll King. They might also have the missing Troll Prince in their custody....I mean...these threats are because that staff is capable of great harm...the city itself is in danger. And we need answers now!" The researcher turned back to point an accusing finger at the captured Nisse, "Now tell me what you know."

Mouse looked at Violet and whined slightly.  Laying on his belly, he passively resisted her attempts to remove the garland.  It seems he has taken to his new, festive look.

He looked at the Nisse mournfully,  his ears and tail down,  He hadn't meant to scare her and he certainly wasn't going to eat her, no matter what Julian said.  He whined mournfully in her direction before simply laying there with big, sad dog eyes watching the proceedings.

Gremian didn't say a word after the Nisse was cornered. He quickly looked at Mouse to make sure he was okay. Gremian was happy to see Violet taking care of the mutt. He focus his attention back on the Nisse, ready to jump on her if she move.

When Julian mentioned the staff, he showed his sharp teeth. "Did they really stole something from our kin? I almost had sympathy for her."

If Amara looses the other 2, she will float back to the others.

Now that they have more of a sense of teamwork, the Library team manages to corner a second one.

It's Karl.

They almost have the third, there seems nowhere he can go, and then...

The Nisse pulls a large red sack from his belt as he runs, stretches it open, and... jumps in.

Karl yells out to him:  "Rolf!  Help!  It's..."

He looks around.  He's been cornered only Amara and now he looks kind of embarrassed.

"Aww..." he says.  "Umm...   you can fly!"

He says it like Amara was just caught cheating.

Meanwhile, the female Nisse, surrounded, looks confused and frightened.  It's probably Mouse, though Julian did not help.

"Was only going to two more trees after this," she says.  "South Street Seaport, then Rockefeller Center!  So close.  Oh, you don't know what you've gotten into here.  We're sooo close!  We can change it all, forever!"

Amara grabs him and fly's up, holding him "Hi, I am Amara and we are wondering what the heck are you doing?" she says as she starts to fly back to the others.

Julian rose a brow, tilting his head at the Nisse's answer, "What are you trying to change? And where is the Troll Prince?"

"They said something about freedom." Violet said as she gave up on removing the garland from Mouse and just started rubbing behind his ears between the lights instead. "Maybe, if we know what's going on, we might help. Desperate people do desperate things, though kidnapping and theft are pretty bad... you really shouldn't do those." She glanced over her shoulder at the Nisse as she said the last part. "Obviously we need to get the troll prince and the staff back, but we also need to know why they were taken." She was NOT going to say evil Santa sweatshops... she was not.

Up in the air above... though not too high up...

"Be careful!" Karl says.  "Humans will see us.  Can't have that.  I was only decorating a tree, honest, I'm not the smart one!"

** ** ** **

Down below, the female Nisse apparently is the smart one, or one of them, at least.

She looks distraught.

But, surrounded.  No hope...

"Alright, alright, tell your friend not to drop Karl, and tell the hound not to eat anyone.  Or take any souls, whatever it is he does.  He's got a scary look about him.  I'll tell you.  But I must warn you, what you'll hear might shock you.  It is... a hard thing to hear, for some.  Those who become easily upset, or depressed might want to find some other place to be.  I'm Arna, by the way."

Julian offered a nod, thankful he didn't need to go through with any threats. It's not like he knew how to anyway.

"Very well, Arna. You have a deal. I'm Julian. I'm with the Library. We're looking into the Troll Prince's disappearance...especially the missing staff. I've been told it's capable of causing earthquakes. We certainly can't have that in NYC."

Amara fly's down to the others. She continues to hold Karl up "What, can't fly? guess you not a pixie. " she stands near Arna "OK, as a Djinn, I have seen a lot of stuff, I would be surprised if you could shock me"

Gremian pondered for a short second. "Well, as long as you don't spew lightning, I should be okay", he announced seriously. "It happen to my cousin, the pilot was crazy, flew into a cumulonimbus. We found both on the ground, toasted.

He waited to see if Julian would complete his part of the deal, before poking his hand. "Psst, you didn't do you part, you should tell them what she asked and that you agree to do."

Julian blinked a moment at Gremian, before offering a sudden nod, "Oh...of course! Amara, was it?" Julian turned his head to call to her a moment, "We've come to a compromise. Please don't drop that fellow. You can come over here. We're going to all discuss this." Looking to the dog, Julian tilted his head, "...and if you could, well not eat her, that'd be great. Thanks."

Looking back to Arna, Julian offered another nod, "There, now please explain what's going on."

"All right, all right, only..." Arna begins.

"Nooo!" Karl cries out.  "I know what you're going to say!  I've seen what happens when mortals hear that.  The tears, the agony, the crying!  It's too much!  Too much!"

Arna shook her head.  "They're FEY, Karl, well, most... I think.. and what choice do we have?"
She turned back to Julian.  "He has a point.  I've heard that some take this... badly.  Please, steel yourselves for what you are about to hear.  And I promise you, it is truth.  You can take it from someone dressed like this."

She indicated her bright red woolen frock with the white fur trim, the red and white striped stockings visible beneath, and the curly toed little boots.

The Humans here have seen that outfit in any number of "Christmas Specials" on television, their whole lives.

Arna looks like she has to prepare herself, too.  She takes a deep breath, then looks at the others in turn, as if checking to see if they were ready to receive her terrible revelation.

Finally, she says, in a quiet, serious voice:  "There is no Santa Claus.  He's a myth.  A story figure created by Human imagination, nothing more.  Reindeer cannot fly, and there is nothing at the north pole but ice, and the occasional polar bear, seal, and beluga whale.  All the presents... your parents and grandparents bought them.  Mostly."

Arna hangs her head down, as if she had passed along the most dreadful, ominous and soul crushing news anyone could possibly be forced to deliver.

Violet looked slightly disappointed, but to be honest the only reason she'd considered the possibility was the Christmas elves... But more importantly...
"So what do you need to get free from?" She continued petting Mouse as she spoke.

Felix blinked, not a single change in his face as he looked to the short woman, then the short man that had been brought, and then towards the others.  He was silent for a moment, seeming very confused before he finally spoke up.

"Um... what's a Santa Claus...? Er, never mind, I'm not sure that's really important...."

Mouse looks at the young Devourer for a moment.  His head is tilted pensively.  Finally he shugs with a quiet woof.

He looked back at the Nisse, waiting for the story to start making sense.

They seemed remarkably composed.

No tears?  No crying?  No desperate denials?

Seeing it was safer than she might have thought, Arna continued.

"A Santa Claus is the leader we do not have.  The one who... we are Fey, like you, our existence is different.  It is an existence partly made of magic, and magic is two parts belief to one part everything else.  You, there, you are a Gremlin.  Ever wonder what your people were before the Machine Age?  Of course not.  You had no existence, at least, not in your present form.   Two centuries ago, we were merely the Nisse, and we lived where we always did, in Norway, and had our own lives as we did for centuries.  But... there is so much belief, so strong... there is so much Christmas here and Christmas has eaten up our Yule and all that belief has taken us here and.. just as belief remade Gremlins, so it is remaking us... But without a Santa Claus because he's not real.  You see?  If we are to be Christmas Elves, we need him, and without him... we must invent him.  If our plan works, if we can harness enough power, and unleash it at the right time, on the morning of the Winter Solstice, everyone will know about the Yule Troll.  What's more, they will think there has always been a Yule Troll, they will think they have always remembered the Yule Troll, and they will be fairly certain that the Yule Troll is the real origin of the Santa Claus myth.  And we will have our leader.  The mighty Yule Troll Santa King."

"I've been making Yule Troll internet memes," Karl says bashfully.

Julian stood there motionless for a moment, simply blinking and trying to comprehend what he was hearing. These....these Nisse, now made Christmas elves...were trying to MAKE Santa??

"...That's all well and good...but you can't just go and kidnap people. The Troll Prince is being searched for...and the staff...if something doesn't go right, you could level the city!"

Gremian almost gasped at the revelation. He was surprise to learn that the big fat old dude in the red suit wasn't real, but he didn't care beyond that.

When Arna talked about his past, Gremian crossed his arms and clenched his teeth. The second time, he growled. But because of hospitality, he wait until she stopped talking before shooting: "Stop using me as an example! I remember the time before, I was, ... we were ... it's none of your business what we were before! And we didn't come from that wet and hungry fluffy doll!"

As Julian spoke, Gremian regained his composure. He added calmly: "Why a troll? Or why not switch side and serve Krampus, or ask the prince to add that to his reign? Anyway, rewriting human memories is never a good thing. Or, you know, just faking it, three or four of your kin in a red suit should do the job."

Felix blinked, seeming to think over the notion carefully. <periwnkle>"Yule... I've heard of that. A winter feast of plenty in the cold, isn't it? I.. I don't know this Santa thing but.. why use a Troll? It seems odd to me.. I.."</Periwinkle>

 Hehesitated, seeming nervous. "You.. your people need a winter leader..?" he asked, folding his hands quickly around his sides, seeming nervous. "Would.. what would the requirements be? I mean.. there are.. some who could fill such a role, but aren't a troll, and wouldn't be causing potential earthquakes.." He tried.

Amara continues to hold the one Nisse "Well, as noble as it sounds, you can't just go around messing with people memories. Maybe we can work out another solution with out have Mouse eating the 2 of you"

"Yes, we need a leader," Arna (the female Nisse) says.  "That's how it goes, that's how our whole... the system we have been believed into... it's all focused on the leader.  We're just the assistants.  And it has to be a powerful being.  Anyone can't be Santa."

"So we're kind of stuck," says Karl.  "I know our plan looks... extreme... but aside from the possibility of mass devastation unleashed by magic that might be a little too much for us to control, what could possibly go wrong?"

"And we didn't exactly kidnap the Troll Prince," Arna says.  "We're just little Nisse.  He's a TROLL.  It would take fifty of us."

"And there's only five," Karl adds.  "He's... um... sorta... kinda... voluntary.  He does like the Hot Cocoa.  Since we're supposed to be Christmas Elves, we've been learning how to make it.  Because that's what they say we do.  Make it by the barrel full.  We've been getting pretty good.  But, we can't do everything.  I mean, the stories, the belief, it's very very strong.  But Reindeer are strictly terrestrial animals, 100%.  So we have to tweak things a little.  That's why we have to, um... mess with people's memories.  But it would be good!  We're giving them BETTER memories!"

"But you can't mess with their memories. We can't have such powerful magic just hitting all the people. What would be next? So fay that want to do an Easter bunny?"

"How about we try giving the troll a makeover instead? I could make the costume and I know where to get a very good beard and we'll have him looking like Santa in no time. Then maybe the belief will do the rest of the shifting like it did for you if you just keep calling him Santa? And if you could get the sleigh to fly there's lots of interpretations of Santa with an updated sleigh and the reindeer having retired... though in most of those version someone steals the new sleigh and they have to get the reindeer to save the day in the old one..." Violet trailed off, aware she had no idea if any of that would work or not... but it had to be worth suggesting. She had the strangest feeling making a magic flying sleigh should be doable... and maybe even magic harnesses to make the reindeer fly. A feeling that if she knew how to do it she might just be able to, with some materials and effort. When on earth would she work out this magic thing?

There was quiet from Felix as he shifted from one foot to the other nervously. He kept his arms close against his sides before finally, he held out his right hand.

"I... might be able to help with the reindeer problem."

As he spoke those words, his fingers coated in a thin layer of ice which sprang up from his fingertips, each thin icicle forming into a leg of what quickly became a crude deer-like shape of ice.

Mouse continues to lay there, looking morose.

He knows he's big and scary, but he tries hard to mitigate his appearance.  And, now, they're using him as a threat.  He decides he doesn't like it.  No, sir, not one little bit.

"No messing with memories..." Arna said.  "Gonna make it much harder on us.  Still, got to have a leader.  This Christmas magic... you know, it's exceptionally strong in this city.  They just seem to get into it.  They light up the buildings, mob the public areas just to see some trees glitter..."

"And the Tubas, don't forget the Tubas," Karl adds.

"Oh yes.  It's so strong... it's why we can't resist it, why it's been changing our identity.  It wasn't that much at first, but it grows on you."

"Like mistletoe," Karl says.

Then, they watch the Winter Fairy make an ice reindeer.

Their eyes soften, and they speak a little in what Julian now recognizes as Old Norwegian.

"Like home, in the old country," Arna says.  "That's so sweet.

Karl looks at Violet.  "You can make the troll into Santa?  We should talk to him about that."

"Well, that would be a new one, a troll make over." she goes over and knee's beside Mouse, making dog biscuits for him. "So where would this Santa live?"

"That's another problem," Arna says.  "Since there's no real North Pole place we can use... well, that's why we thought we'd go with Yule Troll.  Everyone knows Trolls have caves.  And so does ours, back home in Norway.  Northern Norway.  Close enough to the North Pole for people to think, well, that makes sense."

Gremian pitched his nose between his eyes; he was starting to regret coming here. "It look like our group could help you better merge with Christmas without messing with human heads. But we need to see the Troll Prince for that. Can you bring us safely to him and back? And a thought about the north pole base, you could always said that Santa or you are vacationing or something like that and that why you are away."

"Well, I'm kind of new to this, so I don't know if I can, but I feel like I can, if he wants to. Like you said it grew on you like mistletoe, so maybe I just need to nudge things so it starts growing on him as well? It might not be as quick as huge spells to change people's memory but faster isn't always better. As for the cave, if we can make the troll more christmassy I don't see why we can't do the same for his cave and make it INTO a grotto... maybe put in a toy workshop and some reindeer stables and a place for the sleigh, whether they can really fly or not. But Gremain is right, first we'd need to go there, if you can take us with you? I can pick up a few metres of red velvet, some red and green satin, white fur for the trim..."

Violet pulled out a notepad and pencil, scribbling down design ideas and the things she'd need to take with her. As she muttered to herself the fairy lights on Mouse flickered, small glowing colours separating from the bulb that caused them to float away, fortunately the bulbs lit back up again as the lights that had come from them began to float around the group, drifting like fireflies. Though it might be hard to tell Violet was the cause as she was entirely unaware of the things, concentrating on her notepad.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Wed 18 May 2016.

They have two of the three Nisse that were part of this team.  The leader of the team, Rolf, is nowhere to be seen after he hopped inside the sack he was carrying.

Curiously, that sack is now lying on the ground, not far from where it was when Rolf jumped in.

It looks quite flat.  Not one wrinkle or lump that would indicate a Nisse hiding inside.  But both Arna and Karl look at it.

"We shouldn't," Karl says.

"They're Librarians," Arna replies to her partner.  "Olvi told us, don't do anything rash in New York City, they have Librarians watching over the place.  Maybe it's time we come clean.  They could... bad things could happen to us.  Maybe this won't go entirely poof."

Arna points to the bag.  It's a big sack, made of thick red velour.  "That's the short way.  The long way... we don't fly.  Probably best to to take the subway.  Sugar Hill.  You know, it has nothing at all to do with sugar?  Humans are weird.  We moved in, thinking, sugar.  We'd find some, open up a little confectionery.   No sugar.  I miss those times, when we all thought we'd be quiet little Nisse, hard working and hidden.  Why did we have get all mixed up in American Christmas?"

"You remember, it was when that child said 'look, Christmas Elves' and left porridge out..." Karl explains.

"That was melted ice cream.  They don't have porridge in this country," Arna says.

"...and the television on," Karl continues, "and we sat there eating porridge and watching ourselves on the television.  That's powerful stuff, television."

"Ice cream is pretty powerful too,"** Arna says.

**It's well known that the smaller Fey have a strong liking of dairy products, especially rich dairy products.  That's why the traditional gift Humans give Brownies and their kin is a bowl of cream.  Yogurt... well, yogurt is fermented milk.  It's been known to effect Fey in much the same way as fermented fruit juice affects Humans.

When Amara comes to him and offers a cookie, Mouse's tail thumps once, happily, against the ground.  He nuzzled her hand gently as he looked at her with his startlingly green eyes.

He doesn't, however, take a cookie.

Karl looks at Mouse, with an Aha! expression.

"So that's how it's done," he says to himself.  And then to the dog:  "You know, we small folk can be pretty good bakers.  The best.  There's a whole marketing campaign by a major Human cookie baker, claiming Elves do their work.  It's mostly lies."

Then Karl turns to Violet and adds, "I'd... umm... avert my eyes from the television, when those ads come on.  These Human mythologies have a way of sticking to us.  Case in point, us. But we can bake gingerbread and shortbread like nobody's business, it's true."

Amara goes over and get the sack, holding it takes it over to Mouse so she can pet him "So, what if I let Mouse into this sack? I can shrink him and me enough to go in" she says with a grin

Julian gave out a sigh of relief at the conversation turned. He'd had no way of actually backing up a threat, and he certainly didn't want to hurt anyone. With the city in trouble though, he considered a "bad cop" attitude to be a sure way of getting info.

Now that things had turned civil however, and the Nisse were willing to cooperate, the young man had no reason to attempt such an aggressive ruse, "Thank heavens...You'll please forgive my earlier outbursts...I had no intention of harming anyone, and I'm sure my canine companion didn't either...it's just that with the threat of an earthquake and all, well, I just wanted to make sure we were taking this seriously."

Eyeing the aforementioned sack, the librarians brows raised, "Santa's sack? How interesting...who knew that tradition had such a strong effect on the fey. We can certainly take the subway. Perhaps we'll run into some of my friends down there." He smirked, musing a moment on the prospect of meeting more gremlins. Such curious little creatures.

Well, that certainly sounded interesting.  Mouse was capable of embiggening himself, but he'd never been ensmallened before.  He stands, his tail wagging enthusiastically as he sniffed at the bag.  He chuffs happily, looking from Amara to the Nisse with a doggy grin.

"So does the sack lead to Norway or to Sugar Hill? And which of those places is the troll in?" Violet asked, slightly confused by where they were supposed to be going. If the cave was in Norway but the Nisse lived in New York how did that work as their home for Santa?

When the Nisses and Julian spoke of the subway, Gremian shivered. It was underground, so maybe there was natural caves down there. He took his touristic map out and searched for "Sugar Hill" on it. "So, where is Sugar Hill? This good for nothing map is so inaccurate, I got lost more with it than without", he asked while showing his map towards Julian. "And can we take the bus instead, or the yellow taxi. The subway is probably close at this time, right?" He was cautious to follow them, as they didn't promise safe passage yet and they wanted to go in those damn tunnels.

As the more city experienced characters know, this is New York.  The subways are 24/7.

"Sugar Hill is... north, 155th street, by the river," Arna says.  "It's just a neighborhood.  And our home.  The sack can take us there, your size isn't a problem.  Inside the sack isn't as big as outside.  It's a.. well, it's in many places at once.  We'd have to guide you. I don't know how it works, it's a very old thing, but it works, as long as you're a Nisse.  Or someone guided by one."

"Yeah, we could take the bus, too,"  Karl says.  "Slower, though.  The Troll Prince is staying with us.  In the confectionery.  So we can go.  Whichever way you want to.  Up to you."

"Well, I can become Smokey, so I could float though it" she says with a smile. "But if we all want to stick together, I can also do the bus"

Julian blinked at Gremian's question, surprised he didn't want to take the subway, "We can grab a cab if you like...but your brethren are in the subway. I know them fairly well. You don't want to see them?" He tilted his head at the question, looking between the gremlin and his map.

Gremian mouth fell when he heard that gremlins lived in the subway. He never thought to see his kin in this city. "I thought I was the only Gremlin here. And if they live down there, it must be safe for me too. It's okay for taking the subway now and meeting them." he answered Julian questions. "You could have told me sooner that you already meet some Gremlins, plumber" he mumbled.

Julian smirked at Gremian, offering a chuckle, "Ah, but you didn't ask, my friend. I just assumed you already knew them. Buhzhuhz is their chief. There are other gremlins in the city, I'm sure, but I only have a good standing with our friends in the subway."

"OK, lets take the subway and get going" she takes the sack in case they need it. She hated being underground.

Mouse made his way over to stand by Amara.  He looks at her, then at the harness he is still wearing, then back to her.  He woofs quietly as he waits for her to grasp the leads on his service animal disguise.

Amara takes hold of the handle of Mouse's harness "OK, on to the subway.

An hour later, they were far, far uptown from Wall Street, in the Sugar Hill neighborhood.  It was a strange place, a neighborhood of once-was and could-have-been.  Once, this had been a place for those who were rich but not entirely accepted by "high society", such as wealthy minority members, and others who didn't fit in.  (Like, "circus people".  One of the most fabulous houses here was built for James Bailey, one of the two most famous circus managers of all time. Bailey was the man who bought "Jumbo the Elephant" from the London Zoo.  That elephant helped make "Barnum and Bailey" known to virtually every American for a century.  A few weeks ago, that circus, still in existence, retired the last of its performing elephants.)

Now it is a troubled neighborhood, not the worst by far, but underpaid, underserved, run down, and struggling with poverty and other urban problems.  Only the strange shapes of the buildings, some of them seeming like castles and palaces, marks it as something different.  In the darkness, the architecture is even more strange and imposing, Gothic fantasies lining the main street.  It is so late that the streets are deserted- almost- there are still people still here: shift workers going to and from their jobs.

Mouse intimidated before, but now, in a darkened street in a questionable neighborhood, the two Nisse keep close to the dog.  They lead the way to a long shuttered storefront.

"Once it was a candy store," Arna says.  "We were going to re-open it.  It would have been nice."

They open three locks, and lead the crew inside.

There is the third Nisse, the one they saw before.

"Hopping hollyberries, Arna, you led them here!" he howls.

Amara glares at the third Nisse "Try anything, and I will set off a whirlwind sandstorm in here. We just want to talk" she says as she lets go of Mouse's handle.

Gremian was a little disappointed that no Gremlins showed up on the subway ride. But he didn't say, nor show anything about it. At the candies store, he stayed alert, searching for signs of danger: hidden Nisses, weapons, magic runes.

Julian rose his hand in parley at the other Nisse's alarm, doing his best to appear non-threatening...or even less threatening than he already appeared anyway.

"...We've come to an agreement, it's quite alright. We're with the Library, you know. We only want to help make sure this whole situation is settled peacefully."

The researcher fixed his glasses once more upon his nose, trying to look the part of a capable field-agent and not so much the researcher he truly was. The others about him were Fey after all, he was still very much human and rather nervous about the fact faced with possible unknown magic.

Once Amara had dropped the leads, Mouse began thoroughly sniffing the place over.  Partly because the whole place smells delicious and partly to get a good sense of who or what might also be in the building.  His nose twitches as he sorts out smells too subtle his allies to even notice.

The Nisse here was obviously the leader of the three when they were back at the Stock Exchange.

Now, he extends a cautious hand.

"I'm Rolf," he says.  "They told you everything, didn't they?  The gathering of power, the Christmas Troll... we're not causing any kind of problem, are we?  I'm sure we can come to some agreement.  We can cut you in for some of the.. um... well, whatever we'll get out of this.  Cocoa and cookies, at least."

"We really can't let you change everyone memories. We have to figure out something different" she is not wild about coco and cookies.

Gremian snubbed Rolf's hand. "Like she said, we can not have an deal with you while you want to change human memories. And yes, that mean you are causing problems right now." He frown for added effect.

Mouse sat and politely lifted a paw to shake.

"We think we MIGHT have a better plan as to how to go about this... if you're willing to listen." Violet added. Rather than simply say that they disapproved of the Nisse's memory altering plan. They had discussed an idea after all.

"They do seem to think Human memories are important," Arna says to Rolf.

"I wouldn't have thought so," Rolf says.  "Look at all the effort they make, just to fill their heads with things that aren't even real.  I mean... every Human out there remembers what Santa Claus looks like, and he's not real.  Yet.  If they were so concerned with memory, they'd take better care of it and not fill it with nonsense!"

"But the Library," Arna says.  "We dare not cross them.  Perhaps the Veil is not the only powerful magic they have."

Rolf sighed.  "Tis true.  The Library... we picked this city for the strength of its Belief, the power of thought they possess, focused on the Yule.  But the Library chose this city also.  There is strength there.  I do not wish to oppose you.  What is your plan?"

Julian was glad the Nisse were seeing reason. It was perhaps a good thing that some Fey feared the Library...though as a researcher he had no real understanding why.

"First...could we see the Troll Prince please? That was the whole reason we had to find you. The staff he has, it's dangerous and powerful. We need to make sure everyone is alright and safe and then we can consider how to fix your problem in a way that will benefit everyone."

HOW they were going to do that, Julian had no idea...

"Yes, we need to see the troll prince so we can work all of this out. So where is he?"

Mouse lay on the floor, his head on his front paws.  His tail wagged occasionally as he listened to the conversation.

Although, frankly, if the kob didn't require biting something or scaring something he wasn't really that much help.  Maybe, he decided, the troll would be all wicked.  He hadn't bitten a troll in a long time.  They were tangy.

Rolf looks at the other two.  "He's in his cave," he says.  "Karl, why don't you.. and be mindful, of course... he won't be asleep at this hour, Trolls being fairly nocturnal, but never surprise a Troll in its lair.  Bad move, always."

Then the little Nisse turns his attention back to the party as Karl scurries away.

"There's a rock outcrop in the park, not far from here.  The Troll Prince made himself a little cave there, wanted to be at home.  Best if we fetch him, instead of going there, I think.   Well... while we're waiting... would you like a cookie?"

Gremian was relieved to heard that the Nisses would fetch the Troll. He didn't want to go anywhere near a cave. He hoped that they wouldn't need to bring back the Troll home. The offer of cookies took him off guard, he was hungry, but he feared that it was a trap. He would wait to be the third one to take a bite.

Mouse lifts his head and yips happily at the mention of cookies.

He would, very much, like to have a cookies.

Amara grins "OK, lets get going to meet this troll prince. Then we can see what we could work out with him and you. We at the library want what is best for everyone. And no I don't need a cookie right now. I normally make them" she waves her hand and makes several sugar cookies appear in her hand.

"Well Mouse and I will have some cookies." Violet said firmly, smiling at the small fellow. She was a bit disappointed by the hostility of the group and general disparagement, despite what they had already discussed they seemed to have forgotten ideas and hope and focused on telling the Nisse what NOT to do rather than how they could try and help. "We have a plan, hopefully it will work. If the magic is making you into Christmas Elves, rather than making the memories fit the troll, we make the troll fit the memories. Decorate a grotto, make a big red suit, get some presents to give out... Then hopefully the magic will take things from there."

The party does not go to the Troll.  The Troll is brought to them.  The Nisse are adamant about this- they do not want to shock "their" troll.

Most of the party has now seen at least one Troll- Shvunker.  This one is similar, but taller, and with a decidedly more regal bearing.  Muscular, rocky arms on either side of muscular, rocky shoulders beneath muscular rocky head.  Somewhere in there is a neck, at least in theory.  It's hard to tell.

But the Troll glitters with gems and precious stones.  It is hard to tell whether they are actually part of the Troll's skin or just stuck on.

"I am Dovregubbenson," the Troll grumbles in a voice reminiscent of rolling logs. "You are friends of the Nisse?  You have come to help free them?"

Amara looks at the troll "What do you mean free them? We are trying to help them as we can not permit them to do they plan they wanted to.

Julian took a moment to eye the troll, making mental notes of his appearance versus Shvunker. Perhaps the gems denoted a measure of authority?

"Your highness..." The researcher was unsure of what title to use precisely, "We have been sent to help find you...your disappearance and that of the staff have been very troubling to your people and your King."

"Free them," the Troll repeats.  "For they told me they were held by a terrible magic, and only a great leader could help them overcome the spell."

"We might have, err.. insinuated as such," Rolf says.

"They also told me the power of the Troll Staff could bring about their liberation, as well as making me a great and beloved hero."

"Well technically, all true," the Nisse says.

"All they had to do was focus the attention and belief of the mortals.  They would come to see the trees they decorate... they do quite a lovely job, no?... and from them, the rune stones on the trees would gather magic and deliver it to me, to my staff.  Where there is sufficient belief, there is always magic."

"Also all true," Rolf says.

She glares at Rolf "Well, technically. We will have to discuss this further." she said though she was not sure how at this point. It wasn't like she should turn them all to toads or anything.

"Your Trolliness", said Gremian with a small reverence, "I'm asking you to be careful and listen to us before doing something. When they told us their plan, it sounded more like you will be transform to fit into the hero's suit than make you one." He paused. "But with that said, we do want to free them, just not with their plan as if.

Dovregubbenson looks down at the Gremlin.

Fey come in different categories, and even though the Troll has never seen a Gremlin before, there is an instinctive recognition of kinship.  If the Pixies were born from the first laughter of children, the Trolls, Goblins, and even the ancestors of Gremlins were born from the first unexplained noises in the dark, echoing through the deep halls of caverns that mortals explored only as far as their light would go.

"I will listen to you," Dovregubbenson says.  "I am new to this land.  There is still much I do not know. Have the Nisse misled me?  They say they spoke the truth, I do not think they have the courage to lie to a troll prince."

"Oh dear me no," Karl says.  "Cowards, the lot of us.  Just watch me snivel, I would never lie to a troll!"

Mouse had calmly finished the cookies while watching the goings-on.  Finally, he rose to his feet and padded over to sniff curiously at the troll.  This was the first one he had encountered.  His tail wagged cautiously as he studied Dovregubbenson.  Were all trolls so... sparkly, he wondered.

"I am sure the fairies didn't lie but were not as sure about what they are doing. There might be other ways to get what they want. Their original plan has some flaws. Ones I can not allow to continue.

"Thank you for listening to us, your Trolliness", said Gremian with another reverence. "First, like my companion said, your King and your people sent us, the Library, to find you. A message should be sent to tell them about your well-being. The sooner the better, I guess." He paused, thinking that he should paid his respect to the Troll King someday. "Second, from what they told us, the magic that had trapped them is Human belief, nothing else. It is because children got them mix with another myth: Christmas' elves. So, they told us, they wanted to alter the belief to include you as the leader and get a little more power for themselves. And I'm under the impression that if they do it, you, your Trolliness, you would be trap like them in this new belief, condemn to be the Yule Troll Santa King or something like that", he conclude with yet another reverence.

The Troll Prince looks at the Nisse, who are now shaking.

"Trap??  TRAP!?  We Trolls say, Be Thyself Alone," the Troll says.  "Don't worry about what that means, it befuddles every literature student who has ever studied Ibsen.  For me it means this: I should never be what I am not!"

"Humans do not speak like that," Rolf says.  "Humans say to be all they can, and be what they wish..."

"I am NOT Human!  I am Troll!"

And the Nisse now well, angry Trolls can break very large things very easily.  Nisse, not a problem.

"We meant only the best," Anna says.

"We need cookies," says Karl.

Amara waves her hands and a large plate a of cookies of various types appears in the middle of the group. "There you go, cookies." she picks 2 up and throws one to Mouse as she eats one.

Mouse snaps the cookie out of the air and then moves to place himself between his friends, and even the Nisse, and the troll. His attention focuses on the angry troll.  His tail is held straight out behind him as he stood ready to protect his friends.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:59, Tue 21 June 2016.

"Oh oh!" though Gremian as he angered the Troll. He slowly step back, wandering how he would retreat he if needed to. After Mouse moved in front of them, Gremian relaxed his stance a little. He was both impressed by the noble attitude of the dog and scared that Mouse wouldn't survive an angry Troll.

Julian blinked at the Troll's outburst, quietly following Gremian's lead and taking a step back as well, seeing Mouse move to block the Troll Prince however, the researcher did his best to whisper to the hound. "...Mouse...maybe you should cover over here..."

Amara floats up and looks at the troll in the face "Look, everyone had a different idea what was going on, so we need to discuss before there is any Nisse smears on the floor.

While Arna takes one of the cookies and divides it up into Nisse sized, portions, the Troll pauses and thinks.

"Yes," he grumbles, "Everyone does have a different idea of what is going on.  Now I am not sure what is going on.  Am I supposed to be a great king or am I not?  Am I the next Yule Troll?  What happened to the other Yule Trolls?  Why do the Nisse need me to lead them?  And what am I freeing them from?"

He looks down at the Nisse and adds, "Start Explaining."

Rolf steps forward, cookie segment in one hand.

"Well, your gloriousness, it's like this.  We are... um... the Humans, you see, their magic is very strong here, especially around the Winter Solstice.  And their magic is belief.  What they believe... well it becomes.

"It has something to do with Quantum Physics and a cat that is both dead and alive," Arna says.  "It's both and neither, until a Human opens the box and looks at it, and then the cat decides which its going to be."

"Why would the cat decide to be dead?" the Troll asks, baffled.

"It's a magic cat," Arna says.  When in doubt, magic explains anything.

"But the point is," Rolf continues, "the Humans here believe that we are supposed to be working for a big white bearded guy in a red outfit.. much like ourselves, but larger... no beard on Arna of course.. but you get the idea.  And it's such a strong belief that it's... well it's something we can't fight.  We must have him.  So we thought... well.. you."

"Me? Why me?"  the Troll asks.

"You understand us.  You're from the home country.  Like us." Rolf says.  "So we've set up spells to capture the Human belief-magic, at the trees, and we knew that if strange and amazing things happened at the trees, it would draw out Humans, and their belief.  You see, Human belief is often squashed behind their science.  But when things happen that doesn't work with their science, they start to believe again.  So there would be so much belief, and we would capture its power and use it to weave a great magic spell."

"They, um, exact terms of that spell is something these nice folk have a problem with," Arna says.  "You see, in order to accept you as the Yule Troll, the Humans have to belief that Santa Claus was always a Troll.  So we'd have to fiddle with memories a bit.  That seems to be a problem."

"Yes, that is a big problem. I don't like memories being fiddled with. So no screwing with the memories, got it?" she says with a glare at the Nisse

"Troll magic will not change a person's memories," the Troll says.  "Only real things.  Solid things.  Make you look like a duck, yes, but not make you think you are a duck."

"Our magic is a little more flexible there," Rolf says, "but we needed your power.  The staff."

"We cannot do this," Dovregubbenson growls.  "If someone starts a fight I will finish it, but I did not come to this land to cast a spell on all the people here, and change what they know.  This is not a Troll thing."

"Then we're stuck," Arna says.  "Doomed to be... Christmas Elves with no leader."

"The Library People said they might have another idea," Karl says, looking at them hopefully.

"Well, I was under the impression you knew a little more about this than you seem to have been told but... if the belief magic changed the Nisse it could change you to be more like Santa rather than changing people to believe Santa was always a troll. Make the red outfit, build a grotto, help hand out toys... that kind of thing. If you want to be the kind of ruler the Nisse need then we can help you be that. But if you don't want to then we won't make you." Violet explained, mostly to the Troll. "To use your example of a duck, we can make the bill and the feathers and maybe you'll be enough like a duck for the Nisse to be happy, or the magic of belief and Christmas will do the rest?" She shrugged. "It seems worth a try, doesn't involve messing with people's memories... but it does rely rather on you wanting to do that." She supposed they could probably find someone else... but she didn't want to say that until it was clear the troll had made his decision.

Julian nodded with Violet's reasoning. With the magic of belief at their backing, the Nisse might just be able to pull it off without obtrusively changing everyone's memories, "The Nisse said it themselves, the magic is strong here. Belief is a powerful thing."

With things calming down, Mouse begins wagging his tail again.  He stepped back and sat next to Julian.

"I am a troll," Dovregubbenson says.  "I want to stay a troll.  To be a troll and true to all trolls, and sing to rocks as old as the Earth.  Also, I am the next king of the trolls.  If I give up being a troll, there is no future troll king.  And that would be bad."

"We thought you could have it both ways, if there was a Yule Troll," Rolf says.

"Wait, who's going to be a duck?" Karl asks.

"You cannot change me, into a duck or an Elf or a Human," the Troll says.  "I will not let you.  You little Nisse, find another way.  I must be what I am.  I can be more, but not less."

"This wouldn't exactly be less... more different, but I can see that it might cause problems. Have you considered other candidates for the job? I mean as the Prince has pointed out he has his own people to consider and to care for. Perhaps we could find someone truly able to embrace the role?" Violet suggested, hoping it would not upset the troll.

Gremian wanted until it was clear that the Troll Prince wasn't angry anymore. Or at least, less angry. But at the same time, he grown annoyed with the Nisses; their way to give partial responses that could have more than one meaning.

Violet suggestion gave Gremian an idea. "Well, someone able to embrace the role, why not one of the human, a willing human" he insisted, "that already don the suit. I'm sure some of them would love to have real Christmas Elves to help them." And he grinned at the thought of a drunk Santa that would make the deal unbearable to the Nisses. "Or, instead of having a king, why not faking one. I mean, when a kid ask you about him, you answer something that make your presence here acceptable without Santa, humm, like, I don't know, like you are on a secret mission for him. That should do the trick, no?"

Amara puts her finger to her lips "Wasn't there a movie like that? The Santa Clause? Maybe we could bless someone like that"

The Nisse look at each other.

"Make the Santa out of someone else?"  Karl asks.

"Would have to be someone dedicated to the cause," Arna says.

"Must like the far north, too," Rolf says. "And look good in red.  Probably helpful if he was really well versed in the lore."

"And of course, be a volunteer.  And no, you know, Earthly mundane responsibilities that would hurt people if they were ignored," Arna says.

The three Nisse continue to look at each other.

"Probably helpful if he already looked a little.. you know, thick white beard..." Arna says thoughtfully, sizing up the beards on the two male Nisse.

"Some extra pounds in the gut wouldn't hurt," Rolf says.

Karl looks down at his belt buckle and clears his throat loudly.

Well, from Gremian point of view, the Nisses accepted a good solution to their problem, one that didn't involve meddling with memory or the Troll Prince. He looked around to see if everyone else were okay with their new plan.

That sounds good to me. The next question is who or what?"

Julian tapped his chin in thought, looking about the gathered group, "Perhaps we should report back to the Library? Let them in on our progress and maybe they can help us with his little challenge of whom should fill the role?"

"We get to see the Library?" Karl asks.  "I've always wanted to."

"We... um... didn't want to attract attention," Rolf says.

"It's quite late at night, do you think we'd be bothering anyone?  Should we go in the morning?  Is it open so late?"

As the party is well aware, there are "mundane" issues to consider in the city.  While it is true that the city never sleeps a group of people going into a place such as the Morgan Library, in the small hours of the night, is the sort of thing that can result in calls to the police.

"I like it," Rolf says.  "We can get the library behind us, and start looking for our Santa."

Of course, they must be newcomers to the city, because as the more experienced residents know, this being November... in one month, the city will be swarming with Santas.

"We should go someplace to sleep probably and go to the Library in the morning. There we can discuss things more closely. So does anyone know a good place for a group like us to crash for the night?"

"I don't recommend my place for a large group. It's small and full of machines. And humans sometime patrol there. Beside, you think that we are all needed to babysit the Nisses until tomorrow morning? "
This message was last edited by the player at 02:02, Sun 31 July 2016.

"Not my cave," the Troll grumbles.

"Personal space," Arna says quietly.  "Very much a Troll Thing."

"There's always here," Karl says happily.  "In the morning, we can make waffles!"

"We don't have... umm... furniture big enough," Rolf notes.

"We'll make do," Arna says.  "Perhaps if Amara can magic up a cookie, she can do furniture?  Though it is a lot bigger than a cookie, Seven Laws of Conjuring and all that, you know.  Still, our bakery and our little home in the back is open to you, if you want to spend the night here."

"We might be able to all crash at the library, I can't remember if they have any places there" She is thinking they do need to babysit the Nisses  till the morning. She doesn't really trust them to do smart things.

We are going to transfer here to the new thread: The Library, New House Guests