Krissmass

"...He sees you when you're sleeping,

He knows when you're awake,

He cares not if you've been bad or good,

He'll mount your heads on stakes.

...So you'd better watch out,

It's pointless to cry,

And senseless to pout,

I'll soon tell you why,

Sahnta Klaus has come for your town." -Elfese Krissmas song.

Krissmas is a widely cherished midwinter holiday celebrated across Gaiatia on the 25th of Turquoise, when snow smothers the hills and even the gods are said to sleep. It is a time of warmth and wonder, of gathering hearthside with kin, sharing gifts and food, and offering gratitude for another year’s survival. Children across Everwealth eagerly await the arrival of Father Krissmas, also called Sahnta Klaus, a portly, red-cloaked Dwarf with a flowing white beard who soars the skies on a great flying stag. The creature’s nose is wreathed in flame, cutting through the thickest fog like a torch, guiding Sahnta from rooftop to rooftop. Well-behaved children wake to small wonders left at the foot of their beds. The misbehaving? Only spoiled eggs, or worse. Though filled with light and festivity today, the origins of Krissmas are tangled with blood, bondage, and ancient vengeance. Many traditions obscure this darker truth, but certain legends, especially those held by the Elfese, refuse to forget. In their telling, The fabled Sahnta Klaus was no gift-giver, no benevolent fat man with red cheeks but a warlock freed by fury, twisted by power, a taker of children and ruiner of lives. The fate of such menace in Elfese lore, however, remains unclear. Among scattered Krissmas tales, one Elfese legend holds that Sahnta was run through by a vengeful father, wielding a crimson-bladed adamantine kriss enchanted not to kill, but to seal. Allegedly, Sahnta’s soul and power were entombed beneath The Cloudrend Mountains, locked in eternal slumber within an icy cave until the kriss’s magicks fail. If true, the Old Man may yet rise again, but of course, that’s just a story...

History

Contrary to modern assumptions of the Dwarfish as deep-dwelling tunnelers, their pre-Schism culture was a vibrant, mobile one. The Dwarfish of early Kathar were hill-dwellers, cliff-climbers, and airship-builders, a roving people with few fixed epicenters, thriving on ingenuity and trade rather than permanence. It was this lack of infrastructure that made them so devastatingly vulnerable during The Great Schism. The Krissmas tradition traces its roots to these Katharan hill clans, whose winter feasts called The Great Roasts, were built on mutual survival: shared meals, exchanged goods, and long toasts to kin and kindness in the darkest nights. Over time, these customs mingled with human seasonal rites and bardic tales of Sahnta Klaus, gradually crystallizing into the Krissmas celebrated across Everwealth today. The Elfese tradition diverges significantly. Their ancestral records, fragmented though they are, suggest a much older myth: that Sahnta Klaus was once a captive Dwarf, enslaved by the Elfese before their earliest years. In this telling, he struck a dark pact with an unknown entity, becoming if-true the first Warlock of Gaiatia. He freed his kin with fire and magic, but for the Elfese, Sahnta’s vengeance was cruel. In a single night, it’s said, he stole every Elfese child, twisting them into shriveled mockeries, believed the origin of the "toy-making elfs" in modern tales. To this day, many Elfese scholars insist this tale holds some truth, if not in detail, then in shape. And while modern Krissmas stories paint Sahnta as a benevolent old soul, some whisper that the pointed red hat he wears was once the slave-cap of the Dwarfish oppressed, stitched to their scalp to mark the wearer in shame. After The Fall and the Schism, many nations reframed the legend into a tale of cheer and charity, but the Elfese never forgot. Even now, they bar their windows on Krissmas Eve.

Execution

The Eve of Krissmas (the night of the 24th of Turquoise) is marked with ceremony across Gaiatia:

• The Lighting of the Hearth: A central fire is lit in each household or town square, meant to guide Sahnta Klaus through the darkened skies.
• Offerings and Plates: Plates of food, commonly honeyed bread or roast chestnuts, are left out overnight as a sign of goodwill to passing spirits and Sahnta himself.
• The Red Thread: A thin red cord or ribbon is tied around one’s wrist or hung from doorways to ward off ill omens and “remind the old man who you are.”
• Children’s Watch: Children are instructed to behave impeccably and retire early, lest they find spoiled eggs (or worse) in their sheets come morning.
• The Morning Feast: On Krissmas Day, families gather for a great meal, exchange handcrafted or enchanted gifts, and offer blessings for another year’s survival.

• In Half-Giant enclaves, the tradition is more intense, children are hidden in cellars, and offerings are burnt in large, open fires to appease the “Child-Taker.”

Components and tools

• The Pointed Red Hat: Worn in honor of Sahnta Klaus, though its design mirrors the ancient Elfese slave-caps once sewn into captives’ scalps.
• Krissmas Bells: Rung to ward off restless spirits, particularly in regions where the tale of the Child-Taker is strong.
• Emberlight Candles: Special red-and-gold candles, often imbued with faint enchantments to emit warmth without flame.
• Roast Feasts: Dwarf-inspired dishes like spiced boar, tuber stew, and honeyed rootcakes form the culinary centerpiece.
• Krissmas Ribbons: Red silk ribbons tied around gifts or worn as charms, meant to invoke Sahnta’s favor.
• Spoiled Eggs: The "gift" given to misbehaving children, sometimes literal, sometimes crafted from wax or illusion spells.

Participants

• The Hearthkeeper: Often the eldest in the home or village, tasked with performing the first toast and lighting the hearth.
• Children: The focus of many traditions, especially gift-giving and moral storytelling.
• The Sahntan: A chosen villager (usually rotund and theatrical) dons the red robe and white beard to play Father Krissmas, delivering gifts or good cheer.
• Street Revelers: In cities like Catcher’s Rest, parades of jesters, musicians, and costumed spirits wind through the cobbled streets in celebration.
• Elfese Wardens: In Elfese communities, holy wardens walk the streets on Krissmas Eve, placing protective glyphs and whispering old verses to keep Sahnta’s spirit contained.

Observance

• Krissmas is always observed on the 25th of Turquoise, marking the depth of winter and the spiritual midpoint of the frost season.
• Krissmas Eve (24th): Night of rites, food offerings, and quiet reverence.
• Krissmas Day (25th): Morning feasts, gift-giving, and festivals.
• The Ember Nights (26th-28th): Days of solemnity and story, where families honor those lost in the past year with firelight and memory.
• Some mountain cultures observe a Red Moon Watch, if the lunar flame shines crimson on Krissmas Eve, it is said the Old Man’s seal stirs.

"Whispers of the Old Man":
Katharan Hillfolk:
“He’s a bringer of coal and candles, aye. Comes through the chimney, eats the bread, and leaves an old coin by the door. It’s good luck to find it before anyone else.”
Cloudrend Monasteries:
“The flame-nosed stag is a star-beast, older than Klaus himself. The Dwarfish bound it, not raised it. That’s why its eyes cry embers when it flies.”
Half-Giants:
“Children are hidden on the Eve. Not from Sahnta, oh no, but from his ‘helpers,’ the Hollow Jesters. They carry wicker sacks and wear red caps soaked in truthwine.”
Dock Dwellers:
“They say Sahnta rides the sky, but on the sea, he comes by boat, a red sail, a black hull, no crew. Just gifts. Or knots.”
Catcher’s Rest (Urban):
“City kids hang stockings, but we hang a shoelace. If it’s tangled in the morning, you’ve been judged.”

Item: The Crimson Kriss:
First Alleged Use: Early Origin Age, Cloudrend Range
Material: Unknown; presumed adamantine with blood-gold inlay
Purpose: Containment via arcane sealing (non-lethal binding magick)
Excerpt from Archivist Vellan Thorne, Society of Antediluvian Lore
“If the legends are to be believed, this is not a dagger but a cage, a blade forged not to draw blood, but to bind a soul. The enchantment resembles binding sigils found in pre-Schism elven magework, though the fact that it pierced Sahnta suggests a dwarfish smith. Possibly one of his own kin.”
Reported Sightings:

• A shrine half-swallowed by ice in the Cloudrend Cradle.
• A sealed vault beneath Ironglint Hold, warded by warlock runes.
• An ornate blade depicted in stained glass within the Chapel of Bound Flame, though records claim it's “purely symbolic”.
• Conclusion: Existence unconfirmed, but persistent across cultures. If real, the kriss may be key to not only Sahnta’s return, but his past.