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The Character Gift Train (ALL WELCOME)

@Riorlyne pets Tolkien’s Apprentice forum 78 comments schedule
pets
@Riorlyne pets

(side note that where I live we call the anonymous exchange of Christmas gifts a Kris Kringle)

The Game:
Your character opens the previous poster’s present. What do they do with it?
They then give something to the next person.

The Rules:

  • You can give universe-specific presents, but if it’s not something we earthbound writers would know of, please provide a description of the thing or a link to what it is. Pictures are fine. :)
  • No double posting. As fun as it would be to write your character B’s response to getting your character A’s present, let someone else have a turn. Once someone else has posted, you can jump in again.
  • Let’s keep it PG. It’s Christmas after all. :)
  • Don’t forget to choose a gift for the next person!

Ben has - rather messily - wrapped his present. It’s a dagger with a gilt handle, and the scabbard seems to have gotten lost in transit somewhere. But that’s okay - several layers of woollen socks make a good scabbard replacement.

@ImNotCrazyImAFangirl

Despite the messy packaging, Kirin is excited for what’s inside the present. He almost laughs out loud when he sees the socks wrapped around the blade of a fine dagger, a stark contrast to each other. The package he passes on isn’t wrapped, just tucked into a cardboard box with straw for padding. It’s a book of fairytales, bound in blue leather with gilded letters and beautifully sketched artwork.

@ninja_violinist

The only thing greater than Cassandra's joy at finding an ornately decorated, expensively dyed, painstakingly illustrated book (written in a language she can read!) is her guilty conscience. She really should have taken this gift exchange seriously.
Her little bag of kuneskin powder with the little note tied to the pouch ("it's not poisonous, it cleans your teeth") looks pretty pathetic. She scans her pack for anything else she could possibly add to bulk the gift up a bit - it turns out there are, in fact, downsides to traveling lightly.
In the end, there are two things lying in the same cardboard box she received the book in - the small powder pouch and a small sapphire pendant hanging from a leather cord. At least no one will ever trace this miserable gift back to her.

Kaliyah grinned when she saw the little bag. "Perfect! I needed kuneskin powder for my next remedy." She picked it up and read the small note hanging from it. She smiled and then looked inside the box to find a small sapphire pendant as well. She trailed a finger across the the stone and smiled. Kaliyah set the box aside to look st the gift she prepared.

It was a small box bUt in her opinion, it was filled with joy. She had put small bags of treats from her fathers bakery, a small book that had a few sketches of plants on the front page, and a handmade art set with crayons, paintbrushes, a small watercolour box, and pencils. She wrapped it in a simple brown paper then drew a snowflake on the edge. Kaliyah set it down and hoped that whoever got the kit would be happy to use it.

person_off
Deleted user

Teddy tore open brown paper on a small box and gave a small sound of happiness. "Oooh! Nice, I need a new art set. And the cookies, I really need to learn to bake…" Teddy said with a smile, setting the box into his large bag as he pulled out his gift. It was a polished silver and gold necklace he had made, it was originally going to be for Lex, but they had sent him here instead.

group
@evastardust groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL

Meg opens the necklace from Teddy.
"Woah!" She gasps, and holds it up to her neck. "I love it!"
She puts it on and smiles.

Meg puts her gift in the circle. It's a red jacket that she made, complete with golden stitching. It's immaculately wrapped, but with far too much tape.

(Yay! Handmade gifts!!)

group
@Cookies group

Jordan struggled to open the heavily wrapped package.
Eventually they asked Avannah for some scissors, which she gave them.
"Woah!" Jordan held up the jacket. "This is so cool!"

They pulled out a Walmart bag that had both a bag of sour cream and onion chips and some chocolate.
"I hope whoever gets this enjoys them!"

@Yamatsu

Yamatsu takes the food out of the bag, ponders them for a moment, then digs in. He's had chocolate before, but these potato chips with the strange flavoring were new. They felt weird on his tongue, maybe his dog would like them.

Yama hadn't much time to prepare his gift, but he had a nice set of silverware that his friends hadn't needed. Sharla was rich, and Aqua ate with his hands anyway. He figured someone else would appreciate the sentiment if not the craftsmanship. On the bottom where the utensils widened, there was his insignia stamped into the metal (it's the "Yama" Kanji).

book

Aria took the present excitedly. It was going to be so nice to have a bit of civilization on their travels. She tucks them into her pack and pulls out a small hunting knife. She smiles as she wraps it in a scrap of deerskin and sets it down for the next person.

pets
@Riorlyne pets

It doesn’t take long for Dana to find the present. His eyes light up with joy when he sees what it is. It might not be carved of ivory or inlaid with rubies, but it’s a knife - one with a decent blade, too, not one of those spreading-butter ones - and his father has never let him own something this dangerous before. Fingers crossed his father lets him keep it. He hides it under the overhang of his tunic just in case.

He leaves behind a basket of pastries from the castle kitchens - he’s quite proud of his success in sweet-talking the cook out of those. And in an effort of sheer self-control, he has only eaten one of the apricot creams.

book

(I love him.)

@ImNotCrazyImAFangirl

Reyna poked through the basket of pastries semi-suspiciously before tearing off a bit and offering it to Ace. The card ate it happily and all but snatched the rest of the pastry, which led Reyna to smile softly and try one of her own. She grinned and set the basket off to the side, pushing a blanket-wrapped object to the next person.
Inside was a full chessboard, made of polished wood and silvery ornaments. The pieces seemed to be sleeping, and started moving when revealed to the light.

group

Lux happily took the chess set with a small grin on his face, and admired the craftsmanship of every single piece. "Beuatifuly made. These will be a treat to play with in my spare time!" He looks at Reyna. "Thank you deeply, young one." He gingerly sets the chessboard aside, and pulls out an ornately carved dragon, which he whittled himself. The carving is inlaid with gold. Leaning over the dragon, Lux whispers a simple spell, and the object springs to life. Lux lets out a quiet huff of air as he smiles, satified with his work, and hands the dragon to it's recipient.

group
@evastardust groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL

Joan picks up the tiny dragon and holds it in her hands, looking at the intricate gold design.
"Ace power," she whispers, and then looks up "This is amazing!"
She hands her gift to the next recipient, a small knife with a silvery handle.

group

Jason picks the knife up, looking for any flaws. Not finding any, he slides the knife into his pocket after checking how well it cuts. Removing a large block of coal from his bag, Jason squeezes it, lighting his hands on fire, and gradually applies pressure and heat at the same time until a rather large sparkling diamond is formed. Once finished, Jason passes the newly formed diamond to the next person.

Alena gasps when her fingers come into contact with the diamond. This would do wonders to help start her business. She pocketed the diamond then passed a small enchanted arrow to the next person.
(Think of the arrow from the trials of apollo)

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@Starfast group

Gerard panics, nearly dropping the arrow upon receiving it. It's a nice sentiment, but he's never liked the idea of hurting people. Weapons just aren't for him. He doesn't want to appear rude though, so he forces a smile and says, "Thank you. This is quite…. lovely." He tries to sound genuine, but he starts to worry that maybe it was too obvious that he didn't really like the gift. "I'll be sure to make use of this," he adds, hoping that he sounded a little more sincere this time. He knows that most likely the arrow will end up collecting dust in his study. Or maybe he'll give it to Caleb. Yes, that's a much better idea. Caleb would actually use this.

Gerard takes out an envelope. Inside is a detailed portrait of the next person. "I don't normally share my stuff with other people," he says as he hands the envelope over, "But I thought you'd like to have this."

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@Cookies group

"Woahhh," Cara gasped. "It's so accurate! Nice job!"
She focused for a moment then conjured up a little puppy.
"I adopted him yesterday; I know people tend to love dogs." She sneezed.

group

William is suddenly attacked with puppy kisses. Pulling the dog off of himself, he laughs. "Hmmm…. I think that I shall call him Cujo." He sits still, silent in thought. "I have to admit that I didn't actually bring anything to give in return…. However, I can give you a unnaturally long life; bare in mind that this doesn't make you immortal."

@ImNotCrazyImAFangirl

“Well, uh, thank you?” Valerie said hesitantly. She quickly turned away to her present to pass it on. She held out a poorly wrapped scythe, a bright red bow stuck on the hilt. “Um… yeah.”

person_off
Deleted user

Willow gave a devilish smile, but one that was not unkind. "This is wicked! I can add it to my weapons collection and hold it over my cousins head!" She said as she grabbed a box out of her satchel. Inside the box, was a bottle of booze and some rainbow fishscales.

language
@that1_T0ad language

Zahara reached out for the box so quickly she almost knocked it off the table on which it had been placed. Though she caught it at the last moment, she felt her face growing warm (though not like anyone would would notice). She, more gingerly, opened the box and badly concealed a squeal of delight. "Fish scales? That's so cool! And– what is that?" She held up the bottle. "Gross. I'm totally gonna prank someone with this. All right, where's my gift?" Her head whirled from side to side as she searched for her bag. Once she had found it, she pulled out a tiny, blue box, which contained necklace made from a shard of the Crystal she had found in the cave. The shard dangled delicately from a silver chain.

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@Dragoncita group

Mutaro had arrived, a bit late, but he was there nonetheless. He was in his human form, seeing as if he had been in his full/true dragon form, he would have most likely destroyed the place by complete accident. Either way, this was a rather interesting area to investigate, as well as what was happening.
He tilted his head as a box was handed towards him. The male bowed his head slightly in respect towards the female, removing the cover to find a necklace with a crystal attached. A small smile appeared on his face, "Ah, very nice indeed."
Mutaro chuckled, "Well, this should entertain the little ones."
Seeming to pick up on what was happening, the male removed a cloth from a pocket. Wrapped within the cloth was a beautiful, dark purple scale, one of his very own. Now, due to his species of dragon, whoever possessed the scale would have minor protection against fire and some arcane magic/spells. The draconic male set the present down on the table for the next, turning to leave out the door.
He needed to return back home, his mate and the chicks were waiting…

@CopperQueen

Blake rushed up to Mutaro and grabbed the shiny dragon scale. He stared at it with big eyes.
"It's… It's so cool…" He tilted it around to see it shift colours. He was yet to know what abilities it possesed, but he was sured it would come in handy. He couldn't wait to show it to everyone else, especially Cameron, They loved everything collectible.
Looking around,he realized he had to give something too. He digged around his pockets but found nothing. He took a small gun out of his belt and loaded it before handing it to the next person.

@Wry_Wyvern

Ryo tried to hide his distaste at the gift. Weapons weren't his style, especially guns; they were so loud and reloading them was inconvenient. Magic was so much more efficient. Maybe he would give the gun to Caelyn… no, she had more than enough weapons already. Saren, maybe? Yes, Saren would enjoy this gift.
He thought for a moment and then conjured an enchanted silver ring that would grant the wearer telekinesis. As he passed the ring to the next person, Ryo was surprised to feel a bit nervous. His magic meant the world to him, but he told himself that he didn't really care whether the recipient would enjoy their new power as much as he treasured his.

language
@that1_T0ad language

Novalee wanted to laugh; but it would have sounded hideous. Oh, what I wonderful gift, quite useful too, she thought, but telepathic ability is enough for me. Maybe I should regift it…? She glanced back at the boy, wondering if he would be offended, and to what degree. No, I'll give it to Ethan. He'd love it! She signed her thanks to the boy, wondering if he could even understand sign language at all. She started to walk away, but suddenly remembered that she was required to give a gift as well. Oh, I forgot… She fumbled in her purse. Where is it? Ah, there we are! She pulled out a large, hand-knitted sweater and handed it to the next person. Woven from multiple shades of blue, it represented her deep love for the sea, and for Ethan, whom she thought of as the color blue (if that made any sense at all; though it seemed nothing in her mind ever made sense). She signed with one hand, "I hope it fits," then stopped herself. Silly, they can't understand you, she thought, rolling her eyes. Oh well.

pets
@Riorlyne pets

It wasn't the same sign language that he used with his sister Jessem, but some of the gestures were concrete enough that Tal was able to guess at the girl's meaning. He accepted the jumper with a big smile and a nod of thanks and immediately pulled it over his head to find that it did indeed fit him quite well. The sleeves might be a little long, but that would only serve to keep his hands extra warm in the cold southern winters.

And so blue! Jess was going to be envious of it.

He left a small flute for the next-comer. It only played a handful of notes, but they did have a very sweet lilt to them and he'd whittled it out of rosewood himself.

pets
@Riorlyne pets

@shiiaa - that's from the last gift on page 1. Do you want to go from the latest post (we're on page 2 now)?

@Brooklyn_Is_Here

Cierra was curious when she opened the gift to find a small wooden flute. She could tell it was handmade since she had seen lots of people play them while she was on her mission in Asia. She remembers how beautiful the sound was they made when it was played. She wasn't a musical person herself, but it gave her something to go.

She felt a bit guilty that her present might not be as good as the others, but she thought it was good. It was a special necklace that allowed you to see the happiest memories of your life when you touched it. She had asked Victoria to help her make it since she didn't know what to get besides a weapon. The necklace didn't have any memories yet, but there was a pair of instructions of what to do which was pretty easy since you just had to touch it and think for it to absorb.