Elfs
There was a flicker through the workshop. Most Elfs did not realize it had happened. They kept working like nothing happened. Toby didn’t understand how he knew, but he felt more solid, more real; which for an Elf - a spirit of Christmas- was pretty amazing. Toby knocked on batteries he was putting in some toys, they seemed more solid too. This odd feeling did not last long, as the Ultra Naughty Alarm went off. Someone was threatening Christmas itself. He quickly reached into his tool kit. Toby hefted his monkey wrench which felt amazingly stable and solid. The Elfs were going to fix this naughtiness straight away.
Full Description
Elfs are fey humanoids three to four feet tall. Generally they resemble lean human children of all ethnicities, with extremely pointed ears and arched brows. The females seem to have a touch of glitter on their cheeks, eyelids, and hair. While technically not organic, as creatures of magic and energy, they seem to be flesh and blood.
Traditionally they wear tunics and tights, in green, red, and white. They sometimes will wear some ethnic Chistmastide costume from around the world, or variations on them. Pointed shoes and hats seem to be the common thread no matter their garb. Favorite accessories are baking aprons, tool belts, and clipboards.
Elfs are Fey of the Fairy/Sprite family. They share features in common with Small Folk, the crafting/ domestic feys. They are quite skilled at building and making, being the only Fairies who are. They are flightless, which seems to be the trade off for being… well crafty. They still retain the Fairy abilities of glamour/ magic as well. They can still shapeshift and be invisible, but shapeshifting is a slow laborious process.
Like all fey, they are immune to natural forces. They are magically immune to cold (and heat) (though not of ice and fire). While they don’t need to eat or breath, Elfs seem to recharge themselves when they eat sugary foods. They do not need to sleep, but they like to dream.
The Elfs live in one of the few magical places still left in the world. Their fey place is The North Pole, a magical realm reachable only by passing over the true planetary north.
This Ring (community) of Elfs once lived in Europe. There, they were toy makers, gifting the children of their region. As the regio of light divine expanded and intensified, it became harder and harder for them to leave their domain. Thus thir community grew weaker and weaker, as they were unable to meet their 'obligations' to The Mortal. Providence provided through. Along came a mortal child whom they raised and fey touched (imbued with fey magics). The child grew to a man, and acted as their courier. This worked for many years. However, their magic began to wane because of the increasing divine light. To maintain themselves they took a new course. The Elfs moved to a safe place, a new magical domain. They aligned their way along with new legends that were sprouting up, adding themselves to those legends. This increased the flow of beliefs that empowered them. Now these ancient powers are aligned with The Spirit of Giving, though most people have a different name for the avatar of giving.
As fey energies were draining from the world, a variety of fey reached this pace, one of the last safe refuge. Most have adopted the Elf demeanor. A few haunted spirits retain their old forms and roam the Christmas tree forests around the Elf City and Workshops.
Now the Elfs have done everything they can to keep their legend alive. They have gotten into the 'creative content' creation. This started a while ago, with the inspiration of christmas books. Helping to create animated specials has strengthened their magic. Their recent innovation was to make sure that every Jolly Guy in every mall was accompanied by Elf assistants. Their pushing the secularization of Christmas to increase the number of the believers in Christmas has had both good and bad effects. The Council is reviewing this policy and might reverse it.
As time has progressed, the Elfs had to adapt more and more. After all, children had different toy needs over time. The Elfs have learned of technology. They combined it with their own magical ways, thus creating ElfTech.
ElfTech
ElfTech is an odd amalgam of fey magics and the principals of technology. They will use elements of technology, but combine the 'traditional' the forms the Elfs are familiar with. The items make some 'logical sense', if you accept the fact that gingerbread, candy, coco, and peppermint sticks are high tech items; though they are sometimes 'Rube Goldberg' contraptions. No matter what they look like or are made of, the ElfTech is very useful. With this hybrid, the Elfs were able to continue to create 'cool toys' for the children who believed.
Additional Information
This write up can be used as by itself (with tongue in cheek) or used as part of the Black Christmas setting.
If in a 'normal' setting, the Elfs are creating 'spirit duplicates' that help inspire people to give those toys to children. They are creating 'cheer' to be delivered to the mortal world, and forms that help reinforce the traditions. They will make a few real toys, to be properly delivered, but most deliveries are just 'wishes fulfilled'. After all, the Elfs are working for the Spirit of Giving these days.
In the Black Christmas setting, The Elves were not even that. They are Figments, as in 'figments of the imagination'. As The Gates (The Wreaths) opened, wyld magics, magics unforseen by the Grinches, just flowed into the world. The magic took hold of the dreams, images, and ideals of the world. It made them manifest. They came into existence, as if they had always had been there. Only a few knew they had been immaterial or non existent a moment before.
Now the Elfs are on a mission to Save Christmas. They have strapped on ElfTech and are going to go kick some Grinch butt.
They have the unusual allies of Angels. These beings have parrallel goals of stoping The Grinches, but for different reasons.
The Scroll
The scroll portion of this submission shows some ElfTech Items that you might have in the Black Christmas Setting.
Bubblegun Gun:
Combining a hair dryer and a bubblegum bubble dispenser, this fun magically powered "toy" shoots out a stream of gumballs.
Peppermint Sword:
This red and white stripped item is as hard as steel. While shaped like a candy cane, and with no sharp edge, this bludgeoning weapon is handy against Grinches.
2 Liter Jetpacks.
Combining a magical shaking decice, plus refilling charms, these two 2 liter bottles of fizzy soda allow for sticky flight.
Rocket Skates:
These magical micro rockets increase the speed of the skater and allow for really great jumps (and spectacular wipeouts).
It comes in ice skates, roller skates, and inline skates, versions.
Rocket Sled:
This is one of the most commonly seen pieces of ElfTech. These sleds were designed a long time ago to grant The Big Guy faster service without those cantankerous antlered primadonas. However, the Big Guy loves them, and since the addition of the red nosed one, they are an important part of the legend. So the various prototypes are used for the Annual Rocket Sled Races.
Well now, the Elfs need to get dozens of Elf Teams across the world. With a gleam in their eyes, the crazed rocket racers pulled out their sleds. All loaded up with Elfs and their naughty toys, they take the battle to the Grinches.
Grinch Sensor
Combine a hand held video game, a few egg beaters, and some charged peppermint candies to power it, you too can have a sensor device that spots extradimensional creatures and gates.
It takes a few missions before The Elfs begin to develop these tools (and have an understanding of the Dark Magics of the Grinches).
Thwacker
The titanium hockey stick is dangerous enough. Add some small enchanted fruitcake "pucks" drenched in magical brandy (so they can burst into fire when hit) and you get a ranged weapon of fairly leathal capabilities.
Tinsel Launcher
This odd arrangement seems to have a fire extinguisher hose attached to a backpack. In the backpack is the tinsel that collects static electricity like tape collect dust, dirt, hair, when rolled on a dirty surface.
Each pull of the trigger launches a blop of tinsel. This tinsel will cling with the mightiest of all static clings. The blop will entangle most smaller than human sized targets. Two or three will immobilize most human sized one.
Light Gun
Elfs seem to love toy guns with backpacks worth of ammo. This is another converted toy gun arrangement. The gun shoots a line of blinking christmas lights a fair distance.
This can be used for swinging, throwing tripping lines, and with a bit of skill (learning to shoot over the target and wrap it around), it can wrap or entangle a grinch.
Some carry a one or two shot version of these for emergency uses.
Easter Eggs
This brightly colored sulfer smelling stink bombs are borrowed from the Easter Bunny. Some will even create a good sized poof of green smoke in addition to the stunning spell.
Pong Guns
This is a classic of the Elf Tech arsenal. These toy guns have been pulled out of the mothballs (darn political correctness, these were great, they grumble). The original models shot ping pong balls. Newer models are semi-auto, with an impressive rate of fire if one holds the trigger.
Usually these guns still shoot ping pong balls. Well, elf tech ping pong balls. Now they have payload. Some popular ones are:
1) Paint
2) Glue
3) Acid
4) Holy Water
5) Stink
6) Cold (these balls have a touch of the Cold Miser's magic in them, freezing up just about anything that is hit.)
7) Compressed super static tinsel.
8) Oil (for making the world slippery)
However, they have been modified to shoot other payloads.
Gumballs (very, very, very popular. Probably the most common payload.)
Explosive fruitcake pellets
Reindeer scat
Razor sharp peppermint candies (the pong gun's relative is the disk shooter (again popular a while back).
Gingerbread Body Armor
These slabs of enchanted Gingerbread are used as breast plates, paldrons, shin and forearm guards, and so on. Usually they are decorated too with some delicate icing lacing and gumbdrops.
Throwing Cookies
Argy's cookie recipe was.. well pretty bad. It was really bad. They tasted like the plastic that Argy used to make toys. They were harder than rocks. The Elfs know, they tested them with rocks. Then one day Argy was making cookies while some of his product's dried. One of the drill bits broke. It was one of the magical ones, that the Head Elf would have a fit if they replaced. With a quick bit of shaping, some of his coworkers made a drill bit shaped Argy cookie. A quick bake later, and the drill was back up.
Argy made some really crappy Peanut Butter Ginger cookies, but he made a super material for shaping things. And it was a material that was not monitored by the Head Elf's #2.
It became the perfect material for making naughty toys, and not getting in trouble for it. No more political correctness. Arrowheads, throwing stars, sharp skate blades, naked elf statues, etc, could all be made without any loss of inventory.
So when the Ultra Naughty Alarm went off, Argy was making some special throwing cookies. Needless to say, Peanut Butter Ginger cookies with Mint Chocolate Chips were a very popular item to be handed out to the Various Elfs going to investigate.
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? Responses (7)
One quick question, why elfs instead of elves?
MoonHunter says, Elves are fantasy Elves. Elfs seem to be the way the sometimes say it in the Rankin Bass specials. So Elf it is.
Besides, it keeps people from stumbling over the Christmas
Special Elves when they want Fantasy Elves.
The Peppermint Sword is by far my most favorite of the elf-tech items. I particularly like the whimsical aspect of many of the items, such as the gumball spewer as they are almost children's toys in their youthful enthusiasm.
I can just hear the wielder of the bubblegum gun and the thwacker shouting "Pew-pew-pew!" as they use them. Nicely done.
Amusing and seasonal! Since some of my favorite Cartoon moments are the battles between chip'n'dale and Donald Duck, this is nice!
Do you actually run games in this setting or was this written just for post?
I actually wanted to run this setting, but alas my players did not want to playtest the rules. They did however say it was as funny as all get out, and if I ported it over to a game system they liked, they might play it.
There are a few new ElfTech items here. Anyone else want to add some?