There's nothing like waking up from a bad hangover only to find yourself in an entirely different place than you last remember. On a normal alcohol-fueled binge, that place normally was a tavern, out on the side of the road, or in some other less reputable location. But as luck would have it, Myouga was no ordinary person and so she naturally ended up in the most extraordinary of places to regain consciousness with a splitting migraine. The first thing she noticed aside from her head feeling like it was going to explode, was that this wasn't Zets'ki–or anywhere cold for that matter. It was also dark, and smelled like the inside of an old stuffed up fireplace or a brick oven. Coughing, she fumbled around until she found her way out of a large red sack filled with…coal?

The next thing that happened was she was roughly grabbed from behind, hoisted into the air, and shoved into some kind of cage made of metal. Her bleary eyes adjusting to the slightly less dark surroundings, the little arcanist realized she was in a cave. And not just any cave–a very, very big one. Fortunately for her it was pretty dim so her pounding temples weren't aggravated as much. A quick look down made her frown as she confirmed that she indeed had been in a sack of coal, as her clothes were a mess. Even worse, she was missing a whole lot of goldfish mints. Forgetting from the headache that she was sitting in a cage, she tried to stand only to smack her head into the cage roof. 

"Ow ow ow owwww…Nghh." Rubbing her head, she was then shushed by hushed voices. "Shhh! Keep it down! Or they'll hear us!" "Huh, whaddya mean? Where am I? Where's my hat? And where'd all my mints go?" She whined, still trying to get her bearings. Her questions were met with more shushing, and fearful voices. Squinting her eyes, she looked around. Wherever she was, there were a bunch of cages just like hers with kids in them. Well this was weird. The last thing she remembered was downing all the cider and wine she could and stuffing gingerbread into her face. How'd she get herself all the way here? "Bah it's too dark in here! I can't see anything. This cage's too cramped." Checking her pockets, she was happy to find her magic mirror and trinkets still there, so she stuck her hand in to get a few things she needed.

First was that shiny beetle necklace she'd gotten a while back. Putting it on, she used it to scout out more of the general area. Apparently this was a room full of kids in cages, with a door leading out. Normally she'd just make a portal and get out, but there were tons of kids in here and she still wasn't sure what was going on. Plus, she was still feeling less than one-hundred percent so wasting magic was not a good idea. Cupping her hands, she whispered loudly to the nearest cage by her. "Hey! What's going on here? Why're we all in cages?"

"You mean you don't know? It's the krampus! They grabbed me and my sister and all of us here! Sometimes, they come back and put more of us in here, or…" The boy gulped. "…Or they take one of us out. Anybody who gets taken out doesn't come back." Her migraine finally clearing up a little, Myouga finally put two and two together. "Krampus…krampus–Oh fiddlesticks." Right, that krampus. She remembered reading about that one, probably one of the most iconic monsters in the whole bestiary compendium. And that meant: she had been kidnapped by a krampus, was now sitting in their lair, and potentially was in a situation worse than waking up a sleeping dragon. If Lise realized she wasn't in the cathedral in Zets'ki, she'd be worried sick! And this time, she wouldn't blame her for chewing her out later.

But Myouga wasn't one to let a little life-or-death situation bring her down. She began to think on the bright side, and look at the positives. For one, she'd be able to see live krampus behavior in their natural habitat. Also if she ever needed anything related to a krampus…there couldn't be a better time than right now. The kids here were scared stiff, and who could blame them? They were just kids. But the horned goat-men had made one very big blunder–and that was kidnapping her too. With a cheeky grin, she beamed and put her hands on her hips. "Have no fear everyone! I'll get us out! You're all gonna go back home safe and sound, I'll bet you on that!"

"Are you nuts? We can't fight against the krampus! They even have those ugly dogs, and they can cast spells before we can get away!" One halfling boy with round spectacles scoffed. Holding her her finger, she shook her head. "Nuh-uh! That's where you're wrong kiddo! You know why? 'Cause I'm the Great and Magnificent Myouga, Arcanist Extraordinaire! And with me around, there's nothing we can't do! I'll prove it!" With a snap of her fingers, she teleported outside of her cage. A chorus of gasps and exclamations of surprise filled the cave, as she showed her escape trick for all the kids to see. "But you're right about the krampus. Having a bunch of them is going to be a big, sticky mess. Sooo~we just have to take them out before they know what hit 'em! Ka-pow!" Checking that the door to the place they were in wasn't open, she took out a small knife and began pressing the blade against the locks on the cages. The blade began to heat up until it was red-hot and soon the locks melted right off. Now everyone was out of their cages, and a quick headcount showed at least three dozen boys and girls from all nationalities standing inside the cavern.

"Alright! Now, time to make a game plan! If we're gonna get the jump on those goons, then we've gotta make sure this'll work!" Rubbing her hands together, Myouga's mind was racing. "Let's see…what do we have, and what do we know about the krampus? We'll need to use everything we've got to pull this through, so don't skimp on the details!"

"Gwennie? Gwennie! It's Uncle Delanac!" They'd been walking for hours, but the cave system of the krampus was massive. Bran was still tracking his cousin's daughter and with the help of a kidnapped krampus they were in the main hub of their underground lair. This place had thousands of little ones, all waiting to be freed. But that meant the same number of krampus too. The caged krampus that led them here was knocked unconscious so he wouldn't alert the others if they saw him. The half-elf woman said she'd go one way and he should go the other. Splitting up wasn't something he liked, but if it meant finding Gwennyth quicker then he had no better options. It was then that the whole place was in an uproar. "Get 'em! Kick 'em in the knees!" The voice of a boy yelled as the battle cries of several children followed.

They jumped on a krampus and were beating it senseless with pieces of coal and rocks they found, and soon more children freed from their cages followed suit. From the back, someone was floating in the air slinging spells like they were throwing confetti, hitting any unlucky krampus that wasn't being mobbed by their captives. In the mess, he began yelling as loud as he could hoping Gwennie would hear. Bran was barking up a storm, running around. Did that mean? With a heart full of hopes, the orc followed as close as he could while his jackal dashed through the hail of magic missiles and weaponized candies pelting the horned ne'er-do-wells. Bran stopped before a cage and was yapping incessantly, tail flailing as if it'd fall right off. Delanac gasped in relief, and his eyes started watering. "Unca Delly!!" The little orc girl waved through the cage's bars, and was happy to see him.

Smashing the lock off, he pulled the little girl out and hugged her as hard as he could. "Oh gods, Gwennie you're alright! You're alright! Oh thank the gods!" "Unca I wanna go home, I wanna see mama and papa…" Gwennie said, sniffling. "We'll go home to your mama and pa soon Gwennie. Stay with the dog and be a good girl, Uncle Delly is going to get the other littlies out." He said, wiping his eyes. Setting her down, he made short work of the rest of the cages. The other children who were waging war on the krampus came in and roused the newly freed ones to action. "Grab anything you can get! We're taking on the krampus and we're gonna give 'em the pain!" A girl with a bucket improvised as a helmet said. With a cheer, the ones who could fight joined the fray as Delanac began rounding up the kids from his cousin's village.

The noise outside was deafening, and it was hard to even see where anything was. Kids were both running from and at the krampus, some kicked them into their own cook pots and boiled the cloven-foot kidnappers alive, others shoved their captors into their own cages. The krampus corgis were put into cages as well, and a couple of halfling children hijacked a sleigh. The magic-slinging figure in the air landed, and opened up a portal to one of the cities. "Calling all residents of Adeluna! Get in quick! Next portal's going to Arri so don't miss your stop!" The mage looked no older than the others around her, but it was clear she was one of the ones who made fighting back against the krampus possible. When the portal to Mo'mey came, He and the village kids went through back to their parents. He didn't know what happened to the rest of the freed children, or the alchemist lady who got hold of the krampus that led them down there. But every little one who went missing that day came back safe and sound.

He couldn't have been happier. After what felt like the end of the world, it was a very merry yuletide season indeed. Later on he heard news of many of the other cities getting their children back through mysterious portals, or from commandeered krampus sleighs. The items taken from the krampus were bought up by people who were into that sort of thing, but the best news was that most of the children who were taken returned home in one piece. "That'll teach those no-good rotters to snatch up a littlie ever again." Delanac laughed, patting Bran on the head. "I couldn't have gotten them all back without you, boy. How about a nice steak for being such a hero?" The jackal barked and gave a howl, with his tail wagging like a banner in the breeze. 

The celebration for the safe return of the village children was underway, and he was getting ready to help with the roasted boars and goats. And today, Bran would be able to help himself to plenty of food as his reward.