Sultry Sleigh Bells

The monthly picture for December, suggested by 10 dollar patron James the Tiger and voted on by our 10 dollar and 5 patrons! Thank you so much for all of your support!

Lore time!

The Gathering is a very special time in Unity, a celebration of the Council of Divines bringing lost souls from across the universe together to populate their new planet. During the cold winter months, the Gathering is a warm and wholesome holiday that is loved by children and enjoyed by everyone else on the planet. For a whole week leading up to the planet's birthday, entire families gather together and share food, gifts, and merrymaking. Then on the dawn of the new year, a ritual is performed by the Council of Divines and a group of nine mortal volunteers who prepare for the whole week of celebration. This ritual uses an immense amount of magical power to give every person on the planet a gift. It could be a toy for a child, or it could even be a small miracle like good fortune or favor with the gods. Because of the scale of such a ritual, the nine mortals need to spend a lot of time preparing their bodies and their spirits for it. So, they're brought out to Camp Hollyjolly at the planet's north pole and given intense magical training regiments... along with some drastic transformations to their bodies.

Layla is a volunteer for this year, and as you can see she has become a reindeer! This tradition goes all the way back to the first Gathering celebration where nine legendary reindeer provided the magic needed to perform the ritual. While not everyone has the magical power to match that level of skill, the nine volunteer reindeer have two major methods of getting that level fast. The first is lipomancy, the ability to convert body magic into mana for spellcasting. People who use this first option stuff themselves all week to get as fat as possible. The second, if you're female, is to carry a spirit of one of the nine original reindeer in your womb to temporarily embody their power. Guess which option Layla chose. X3

Seems that she's taken to her new form and her training technique really well.