Not just in our world are people preparing to prepare for Christmas. In Gielinor too, everyone all around the world is getting ready for the annual Wintumber Festival, but there's always a catch. Diapolo brings us the story below.
Giftbag from the Hedge, Part 1
Not long after the eclipse and the end of Sliske's plans in the Heart of Gielinor, all of the human settlements were beginning their preparations for the annual Wintumber Festival. The streets of Falador were covered with decorations and the White Knights had changed to their festive Wintumber uniforms, while in Varrock some of the aristocrats had decided to give to the less fortunate people of the south-eastesrn slums in the form of rations and warm clothing. Snow had begun covering the ground across Gielinor from the southern Wilderness to most of the human settlements, and many were starting to rely more on their Wintumber food storage.
The city of East Ardougne was no different. The marketplace had begun selling seasonal goods such as piping-hot tea or cakes, and fur clothing was selling like crazy. The king had ordered his men to decorate the marketplace with a rare Wintumber tree as well as the new, fancy lights bought from the Dorgeshuun via the Lumbridge trading guild. Many children could be seen playing around in the snow or simply watching the hustle and bustle of the city in awe.
Not far from the city, a certain guild of legendary adventurers were also getting on with the spirit of Wintumber celebrations. Despite being a few hours of travel away from the city of East Ardougne, the festivities could still be heard and the decorative lights seen if one was to stand at the guild's top floor. A bit out of his character, guildmaster Radimus was standing in the guild's front garden, sipping hot tea while standing on the snow-covered pavement. As he gazed over the city, he could hear some of the guards talking to each other.
"Did you hear? Apparently King Lathas is planning to cancel his annual Wintumber speech this year", said one of the guards. "How odd, I don't remember that ever happening before. Are you sure?", asked another. "I've only heard from my family, but I have no reason to doubt their word."
As Radimus was listening in on their conversation, his mind began to wonder. He hadn't visited the city in years as he'd been very busy managing the guild lately, something he hadn't expected when the guild was first founded as it was thought very few people could ever overcome the quests he'd lay out for the applicants. And yet, over time he'd come to meet several strong adventurers who aced his trials like they were nothing. Not having seen his family in years, Radimus could feel a warmth of nostalgia in his chest.
"I do feel a bit sorry for the children in West Ardougne, though. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for them to live in this weather", said one of the guards. "I don't think they have much of a food reserve, let alone warm clothing. According to rumours, anyway."
All of a sudden Radimus felt a chill. "Children in trouble, huh", he thought to himself. "I suppose that would be true, West Ardougne hasn't been doing well ever since the city was split in half."
Finishing his tea, the guildmaster returned to his office. "Ah, right, I suppose it's time to brush up the place a little. With the festival and all."
The next morning, invites were sent to the guild members, excluding Linza whose current status was unknown, and Sir Owen whose whereabouts were unknown. Postie Pete was on the job, but even with his skills it was difficult to locate most of the members. The World Guardian turned out to be the easiest, as they were making quite the ruckus at the Grand Exchange by trying to sell a mountain of bones.
"Always the hard worker, eh, World Guardian? Anyway, you've got mail - Radimus sent an invitation", Pete said.
The World Guardian wasn't exactly the talkative type, but they took the envelope Pete was holding and began reading the contents. Seemingly finished reading, Pete could hear a quiet sigh, but before he had the time to ask what it was about, the World Guardian had already scattered their portable fairy ring and vanished.
Next was Ariane. She was visiting Oldak, the cave goblin inventor, apparently trying to ask him about what he'd learned about magic in the hopes of making a breakthrough herself. It didn't seem to be going very smoothly as Pete could see her completely bewildered as Oldak was explaining his research.
"Sorry to pop in unannounced and disrupt what I'm sure is a most intriguing conversation, but I've got mail for you, Ariane. From Radimus." Ariane lets out a long, vocal sigh.
"It's fine, I could use a break anyway. Hand me the message, will you?"
"Here you are", Pete responds.
Ariane took the envelope and began to read the contents. Her face began to look more troubled as she kept reading.
"I… I see… Things are that bad, huh."
"So, what did it s-?" Pete couldn't even finish his sentence as Ariane was quickly engulfed by light and, just like the World Guardian had, vanished.
"…I suppose I should've known, adventurers are always in such a hurry."
"So… could I interest you in some arcane knowledge, then?", Oldak asked Pete.
"No thanks, I'm good. And I still have a job to do", Pete replied, and left to search for his next recipient.
In Falador's famous Rising Sun Inn, Ozan could be seen hitting on the bartenders, now dressed in their Wintumber uniforms of warm colours, and telling them stories about his grand adventures. Pete didn't really want to stop his fun, but he had a job to do.
"Hey, Pete! Long time no see, what're you doing around these parts, li'l guy?"
Ozan had suddenly called out to Pete. It came as a bit of a shock, really, as most people either ignored him.
"What're you just standing there for? Come join us, there's plenty to go around! Or sit, or… whatever word I should use. Are you sitting or standing if you have no legs? A conundrum… truly one worthy of being some of the greatest mysteries Gielinor has to offer!"
"U… huh", Pete replied. "Anyway, I've got a message to you from Radimus, please read it."
"A message, you say? Do you mean this one?"
"I've got it right he-", Pete replied as he looked into his mail bag, but couldn't find Ozan's message. He then looked up at Ozan's grinning face, only to see him holding it. "How did you do that?"
"A magician never reveals his tricks", he replied.
Ozan tore open the envelope with a swift knife slash, and began to read.
"Hm, mm."
"Mm."
"Oh dear."
"I see, I see."
"Urgent, you say? Hmm…"
Pete, his curiosity intensifying, couldn't hold it in anymore. "Hey Ozan, could you tell me what the letter said?"
"Oh, this? Nothing too interesting, I assure you. But you can read it if you want - catch!"
Ozan threw the envelope high up in the air, reaching the inn's ceiling. Pete instinctively gazed at it and tried to make a jump for it. Against all odds he somehow caught it. But-
"Hey… this is empty. No wait-"
A card was peeking inside the envelope. On closer inspection, it seemed to be a business card with Ozan's silhouette drawn on it. Incidentally, he had also vanished by now.
With the final recipient to be found, Pete looked through many slayer monster locations until he finally found the Raptor wrestling some rune dragons on the Kethsi volcano. Fortunately, it didn't seem like the dragons were interested in an animated skull as dinner or a sparring partner. Unfortunately, Pete had trouble getting close to the Raptor who was now surrounded by six dragons, so he decided to wait it out. After bearing witness to some incredible suplexes and piledrivers, the raging storm had finally calmed down. Shards of rune metal could be seen scattered across the field.
"Are you done now? I hav-"
"Never done. Until the strongest of foes falls by my hand", the Raptor replied.
"…Anyway, you've got a message from Radimus. Will you please read it?"
"No", he muttered. "Words are boring. They don't put up a fight."
"Shall I read it for you, then?", asked Pete, trying to get the Raptor's attention.
"Do as you please, I'll be taking on the stragglers in the meantime."
Pete took the envelope, ever so curious to know what was inside himself. It read:
"Radimus Erkle" wrote:
To the Raptor
It has been far too long. You haven't visited the guild much, to my disappointment, but I know you're not one to mince words, so I'll keep this short.
Your services are required to save this year's Wintumber Festival. Please join me and your fellow adventurers at the guild's first floor post-haste.
I'm looking forward to meeting you again,
- Radimus Erkle, the Legends' Guild guildmaster
The Raptor fell silent, even more so than usual. As he bashed in the head of the last rune dragon, he walked up to Pete.
"Fine."
And took off.
At the same time, back at the guild, the guild staff were running around the guild's garden and the ground floor, cleaning and putting up Wintumber decorations, from wreaths to ice lanterns. A certain flamboyant, self-proclaimed master thief walked through the gates to the garden and moved swiftly towards the front door.
"Greetings, where's the party?", Ozan loudly spoke as he pushed the guild doors open.
"You're late, Ozan", said Ariane, and pointed out she and the World Guardian had been waiting at the guild for an hour already.
"Easy for you to say, I'm sure you knew a handy teleport spell nearby. Not to mention the World Guardian, I'm sure you both had some tricks up your sleeves", said Ozan. "So, is this everyone?"
"No, we're still waiting for the Raptor."
"So… would you two mind grabbing a couple drinks with me as we wait? I think we could-"
"Stop with the flirting, Ozan. We're not interested."
The World Guardian seemed a bit conflicted, but ended up nodding when Ariane peeked at their face.
"Aw, why the buzzkill? I'll promise yo-!"
"Not. Interested."
A few moments pass. The heroes hear some rumbling noise behind the main doors, and not long after a man clad in impressively heavy armour steps in.
"Ah, I see that everyone has arrived", Radimus states, coming down the stairs halfway. "Come along now."
The four heroes go upstairs, and take seats on a large table.
"First, allow me to thank you for taking on my request at such short notice. I'm sure all of you have your own things to do as the Festival approaches, but I'm glad you've at least taken the time to hear me out", said Radimus.
"As I'm sure you've noticed, everything around here is currently covered in snow, as every Wintumber. The temperatures have fallen, and the people especially in human settlements are in a festive mood. Even here in the guild, I've instructed the servants to decorate in order to inspire and give the people hope. I believe it to be an essent-"
"Get to the point", the Raptor interjects.
"…Right. However, not everyone sees this time the same way. After hearing rumours about the current situation of the children in West Ardougne I've managed to verify that their conditions are rather dire. Their food supplies are running low, the children are wearing robes that provide hardly any warmth, and from the looks of it they haven't celebrated anything for years. In fact they seem to get little knowledge of the outside world, especially the ones living far from the border between East and West Ardougne. I don't believe this is right, the children of Gielinor deserve better."
"So? How does any of that involve us? Just ask their king to do something about it", said Ariane.
"Herein lies the problem - the king of West Ardougne is nowhere to be found. In fact, he hasn't been seen ever since the rumours that the king had gone on an expedition further to the west", Radimus replied.
The World Guardian begins to quietly whistle as Radimus speaks for some reason.
"Further complicating the matters is that people can't enter West Ardougne due to the plague, meaning that most people can't do anything about the situation", he continues.
"Except for us, I presume?", Ozan replies.
"Precisely. I believe the four of you are skilled enough to not let little things like lockdowns keep you out of places not meant to be entered. And I require the skills of each of you to help those children. Will you accept my quest?"
"What's in it for us?", Ariane asked. "Not fame and fortune, I presume."
"Oh, I've got just the thing. Trust me, it's worth the job, but I'd prefer to keep your reward under wraps for now", Radimus replies.
"Well, I can't let my future fans down, now, can I? I'm in", said Ozan.
The World Guardian nods again.
"Alright, I suppose I can spare some of my time for this", said Ariane.
"If there's fighting, I'll do it", the Raptor replies, his curiosity seemingly piqued.
"Excellent. I'll give each of you a separate job. The completion of all four is necessary for this to succeed. Please keep the details of your assignment to yourselves until the end of the quest."
Radimus hands out four named envelopes, each of the signature heroes taking theirs.
"Let's save these children's Wintumber", Radimus said in a powerful voice.
~~-~- END OF PART 1 -~-~~
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