@Bassummoner OOC: Sorry, the tagging didn't work, I didn't notice your post.

Naoto smiled, he got to know one more person because of this inn's gathering. As Freya made her statement, he nodded in agreement. "I'm surprise that this inn could hold everyone and still have some space to walk around.". Naoto reminisced about his life in the city when she mentioned about the city, Naoto himself was a city boy and what Freya said was true, probably because all citizens were pretty busy so they couldn't be a great companion in a meeting or even in some meet-up. Freya raised her hand and ordered for a vegetarian dish. Naoto stared at her in awe, her stomach could hold a lot. She had two drinks and now she ordered a dish. Anyway, Naoto laughed at the situation. "Oh no problem, take your time. You can eat if you want. " He smiled.

Few people started to leave and the mayor stood up, it seemed that he would like to deliver few last words. Naoto kept staring at the mayor because he was the spotlight at the moment. However, everything changed when a cloaked figure came to the middle, floating. Naoto changed his attention towards that cloaked figure and was dumbfounded. It was his first time seeing someone floating, a ghost?. When the cloaked figure opened the cloak, a small girl appeared. Naoto's jaw dropped in awe, "She's cute." Naoto suddenly spit out a compliment. That small girl was a Harvest Goddess, Naoto had heard about her but never actually believe in it. A price suddenly sat right on Naoto's lap, he was startled by the sudden appearance, and he showed interest on this magical thing. He tried to ask the Harvest Goddess but she was gone in the moment they changed their attention to the gifts. Naoto opened the box and found a somewhat strange book. The title kept Naoto's interest at bay, but the content was simply annoying, it seemed like a child wrote the book. It was weird with the finger-painting style, however, Naoto was able to read and understand. He thanked the Harvest Goddess and he said to Freya, "It seems the Harvest Goddess gives things based on our occupations or lifestyles. What did you get?"

@Rune_Alchemist
(Sorry for not posting sooner, computer problems)

Lawrence happily shook Grady's hand, before letting go. He heard Grady say that he was a farmer, too, and then Grady asked him what he was going to raise. "Not really sure right now. Guess I'll probably raise crops to pay the bills, mainly because it's cheap and I have a bag of turnip seeds, then, once I have some money, I'll get some livestock. Expensive to buy and raise, but they're worth it in the long run. Once I have some cows, sheep and chickens I'll probably just plant some grass to make use of the farmland and that'll be the end of crops for me. Maybe I'll even get some horses over there." He replied, before taking another sip from his drink. "So... That's about it. Maybe you could teach me a thing or two about raising crops, just so I don't accidentally cut 'em down or plant the seeds in soil that's not tilled, haha."

Freya blushed, knowing that she was being a cow, but she wasn't used to people cooking for her. She loved it. As the cloaked figure appeared and revealed herself, Freya was in both confusion and awe. She had never heard of a Harvest Goddess; at least, not from where she was from. She was one of the people who startled upon finding a box in her lap; mostly because she had quite a buzz going from her two drinks. As the box returned to her hands after falling into the floor, she was taken aback. She giggled as she opened the present to see what she had gotten.

A locket? How strange. It doesn't even open. She frowned a bit from confusion, but she was still pleased with the fact that she had even received a gift. She toyed with it in her hands, looking at it closely, until she heard Naoto from across the table.

"I got a locket. It's pretty, but for some reason it doesn't open. I don't really know why I got it, but I think I'll put it on and see what comes from having it." She attempted to put it on herself, but she fumbled with the clasp behind her neck. Her hair kept getting in the way, and she couldn't quite seem to get the clasp in place. She blushed a fiery red as she awkwardly tried to put it on, but she gave up after a minute of trying.

She giggled nervously and returned her hands and the locket to her lap, looking down at them. "I'm having a little trouble putting it on. I suppose I can try again tomorrow morning." She smiled and looked up at Naoto. "So what did you get?"

@zellected

@Simple Unicycle

~Grady Keefe~

"Well, I'd always be happy to help another farmer out. It'd be nice to have some competition around here." He cheerily replied with a laugh. "So don't worry, I'll help ya get going. It'll be tough work if you haven't done anything like it before, but its definitely rewarding. Nothing better than eating a freshly grown vegetable you grew yourself." Most of his crops though, were sold. He made enough to live off of himself, but made sure there was enough to make a profit on as well.

It was then the bar grew quiet, a cloaked figure making their presence known. Well, that was odd. What was even more odd, was when they threw off the cloak it revealed a girl who didn't look any older than twelve. Who then introduced herself as the Harvest Goddess. Well damn. That was definitely not what he was expected the Harvest Goddess to look like. If Grady had one word, he'd have described her as adorable.

As she spoke, he suddenly found a weight in his lap as the present she mentioned suddenly appeared. Eagerly, he opened it revealing the flute inside. Reading the note, a grin spread across his features.

"Well dang, this is awesome." he laughed, picking up the flute and studying it. It was definitely well-crafted. And it'd help with calming rowdy animals? This was the best gift he could have asked for at the moment, especially with him wanting to get into the livestock business. He should probably thank her, but by the time he looked back up, she was gone. That put a small damper on his spirits, but it didn't last long. He'd make sure to thank her next time he saw her.

"So what'd you get?" He asked Lawrence, obviously curious.

@Starinabox
~Charlotte Lachance~

The night wore on fairly normally. Charlotte still wasn't entirely enthralled by the number of people and chatting. Arianna was pleasant enough company, but well - she was really wanting to get back to her own things by the time the Harvest Goddess made herself known. Honestly, Charlotte was a little skeptical at first. Aside from the fact the girl looked nor more than twelve, she had heard stories of the goddess before and that she was supposed to be some beautiful goddess or something. Not some bratty looking kid.

And then she received the cloak. Still skeptical that it was some sort of prank or something, she hesitantly took it out of the box, holding it out in front of her. It was nice enough to be sure, and soft. And warm. And...ah, what was she being skeptical for? She took off her old cloak, folding it neatly and placing it on the table and donning the new one. Well, she had to admit it was extremely comfortable.

And it'd protect her from things in the forest? What exactly did she need protecting from? Bears? Ravenous raccoon's? Or gods forbid that monstrosity known as a frog. Ugh, she really hoped she didn't run into any of those.

@Rune_Alchemist
(totally didn't miss the post in the IC when gifts happened)

Lawrence took a second to open up his gift, his heart filled with hope that it'd be more money... *gasp* Or maybe donuts! But, that wasn't the case. When Lawrence opened the box, he was greeted by a treasure map, leading to the foot of a mountain. "Oh, cool... I guess. Maybe it'll have some more money so I can start comfortably off." He laughs to himself nervously, before folding up the map and sticking it in his jacket pocket. "Guess you have to get used to odd gifts around these parts, eh?" He asks Grady.

Arianna smirked and crossed her arms, giving a nod towards Charlotte. She guessed that if she was living by herself in the forest to begin with, she must have been just have capable. "Well, even so, make sure you watch your step, alright?"

As soon as Arianna began to make more small talk, a new mysterious figure stood up from a nearby table, wrapped in a hooded cloak. Gee, what was with all the cloaks around here? She saw everyone seem to turn their attentions towards her, and even the focused Mayor Dink was swayed by the new face. Then, just as the room grew quiet, and the figure stood in front of the band, silencing them by just her mere presence, it would seem that the next logical course of action was to tear off her cloak and reveal herself to the Inn as a beautiful, powerful-looking female who was up to something very, very important.

And tear off her cloak she did to reveal but a child, but barely past double digits in age.

If it wasn't for the aura that she possesseed to capture the audience, Arianna would have been bent over, laughing her poor head off at the small child. As soon as her excited speech ended, which added to the comedy of the situation, she felt a small pressure on her lap. A small box, just materializing from thin air it seemed.

At that point the situation was all too much for her to contain. It started small and soft, a few chuckles, before the room started to pick up and she absolutely lost it. She picked up the box off of her lap to set it on the table so she could bend over in her chair to laugh.

It took a good solid and enjoyable minutes for her to stop, righting herself and wiping a tear from her eyes. "Well, how about it! Looks like it was some kid goofing off in the woods after all!." She looked over to Charlotte, who had opened her box to find another cloak for her. Truly, it must have been a new fashion trend. She never understood young girls and their one-foot tall heels and so on.

Arianna went to retrieve her box from the table, curiously finding it instead in her lap again. She eyed the thing, cautiously opening it, eventually shaking the caution away once she found what was inside. She held the beautiful, well made golden compass in her hands, examining it closely in the light of the Inn. "Well, would you look at that..." She set the compass in the center of the table for Charlotte to see. "Now how do you suppose miss 'Harvest Goddess' got a hold of something like this?"

@Bassummoner@dndragons

Naoto held the book tightly in it, at that moment, the book became something precious to him. Naoto smiled, wondering why the Harvest Goddess gave them these things. It seemed there was something on the mind of Harvest Goddess, would these things even benefit the owner? Naoto couldn't think of an answer. "Oh, I get a book, a guidebook perfect for my job." Naoto answered. Naoto had an extensive collection of herbs in his home, used to prepare medicines that he sold to his patients. He believed that he could harvest several herbs from the Gnarlwood Forest, too bad he didn't know the way around the forest.

Anyway, he shifted his attention towards Freya, and saw that she received a beautiful locket. It seemed she was having some trouble with it. Naoto decided to help her with her locket. It was somewhat in his nature to help someone in need, so, you could say that it was his male's instinct working. Naoto was about to stand on both of his feet, but a woman came first towards Freya's side. The blonde woman suddenly appeared from somewhere else and it seemed she had her eyes on Freya first. She obviously outstripped Naoto, and Naoto couldn't do anything about it. Naoto returned to his seat and leaned his back against the chair while looking at both of them. "You outrun me, Girl." Naoto chuckled at the situation.

@Simple Unicycle
~Grady Keefe~

"Haha, I wouldn't say odd." Grady enthusiastically replied. "I'd say they're a little more heartfelt though. You'll get used to it, there's some good people here." He showed Lawrence his flute. He looked around the Inn, still lively from the appearance of the harvest goddess. Most seemed to enjoy their gifts, as they were eagerly looking at them and showing them to others. It seemed most of them had been tailored specifically to the person, if his flute was anything to go by.

"I wonder where that map leads, though." He said, commenting on the map. A little treasure hunt sounded like a lot of fun, now that he thought about it. Maybe it'd be a good town-wide event, too! With prizes and stuff. Everyone surely loved finding treasure and stuff like that. Huh, well, maybe an idea for later. For now, he was wondering if he could possibly get seconds.

@StarInaBox

~Charlotte Lachance~

After donning her stylish new cloak, she folded the old one and placed it on the table as Arianna opened her gift. She wondered what exactly the woodcutter could have gotten that was relevant? A new axe or something? Maybe a lot of wood? What would someone who was a woodcutter find useful anyways? She honestly had no idea. When Arianna showed her the compass, she was completely speechless. What could a woodcutter possibly need/have use for a compass? She didn't think Arianna was going to get lost in the forest or something.

"Well if she is the harvest goddess, can't she just do whatever she wants too? Couldn't have been hard." Charlotte replied in response to her question. It made sense to her, at least. "What are you going to do with a compass, anyways?" She asked in return. She couldn't imagine Arianna would have much use for it. Then again, she did have no idea what being a woodcutter involved anyways.

@Rune_Alchemist
"Hm." Lawrence said(?) to himself after listening to Grady's bit about how the gifts are heartfelt. 'This town is getting stranger by the second... Better than the city, though.' "Maybe there'll be some sort of secret underground city there, thought to be lost millions of years ago, with many secrets and a civilization who hasn't seen outsiders in hundreds of years... Imagine how great it would be to discover this ancient tribe and learn their culture and their way of living. This place could become one of the biggest vacation spots in the world, people coming from miles around to see it!"

"Or maybe it leads to donuts? Sorry, I just REALLY want a donut right now." Chuckles Lawrence, before he takes a drink from his beer.

Freya smiled and accepted the help from Willow. "Thank you so much," she sighed. "I really do love it." After receiving the help, she stood and smiled at her. "The food tonight really was delicious! I'm so happy you had something vegetarian for me. I haven't eaten meat in years," she explained. "I just think animals are too cute and sweet to eat." She looked over at Naoto and smiled at him, acknowledging that she was sure he was willing to help her, even though Willow beat him to the punch.
After standing, she realized just how much she had to drink that night. She almost stumbled a bit, but she was quite used to drinking, so she caught herself with ease. "I do think it's about time for me to head home, though." She looked outside through the closest window, and realized just how dark it was. "It's getting pretty late." She dreaded the walk home alone, but she thought she could handle it. She thanked Willow once again, and looked over to Naoto. "It was really nice to meet you both. I suppose I'll meet everyone else around town!" She slowly walked towards the door, just in case there were any volunteers to walk with her that lived near her store.

@zellected @dndragons

Willow Falkner

Willow gave Freya a smile in return as she gently took the chains of her locket and moved to clip it around the girl’s neck. Doing so deftly and quickly as she was used to it before stepping back one and stating. “It really does look beautiful on you; the harvest goddess seems to know what she is doing.” After he comment she took a step back she turned to Naoto and realized he was going to offer to help the girl. As Freya turned back to Naoto Willow gave him a quick apologetic look as she didn’t mean to interrupt them and his chance to help her. Even mouthing “Sorry,” quickly to him before returning to her smile and replying to him. “I’m simply light on my feet around here, I pride myself on quick service~” Her last part giving a wink meant to simply poke fun and be light hearted about it. She had no desire to actually take Freya away from Naoto if he was interested after all nor get in-between them if they had something going she didn’t know about. However, her smile dropped for a moment as she moved to make sure Frey was steady. Luckily not needing to catch her as the red headed girl regained her footing which allowed her arms to retreat.

“I was my pleasure you serve you, both of you. However, I think we should have someone at least walk with you. I must attend to my lodge though and can’t go myself. Would you like me to go find someone?” Willow asked Freya with simple kindness and a polite voice. “This night was fun, but if something happens to you while it’s still cold out on your way back I would feel guilty for not having asked.” After her statement and question she allowed the girl to respond as she wished. Not turning or indicating anything to the Doctor due to not wanting to force him into an uncomfortable position of taking her home if he wanted to get home fast himself.

Arianna shook her head, picking up the compass and slipping it in her pocket. "Well, I'm not sure I personally believe in anything like that," she stated. As far as religion went with her, she believed that people would choose their own fate, and something about letting a "God" decide it for her was pretty ridiculous, and kind of scary. "Anyways, I don't get lost in the forest very often, but this compass will be sure to help me out."

After drinking the last few drops of whiskey from her glass, she stood up and stretched her arms, the food in her belly makinhg her a little drowsy. Oh, what a night it was! Good food, new friend, very cool compass, and one heck of a laugh. "Well, I think it'd be best to head home, at least for me. You need someone to walk home with you? It's pretty dark out this time of year."

A new sun rises over the small village, and the townspeople are greeted for the first time in weeks to the sound of birdsong. The snow has begun to melt, the critters have crawled out of their holes, and a new season is upon Sugar Pine Village...



The streets seem a little more lively now that the weather has lifted- customers shopping, couples strolling, and children playing. The mayor, along with a few volunteers, can be spotted shoveling snow off of the last remaining covered streets. The library has an outdoor book sale in honor of the warmth, overseen by Miss Clemens. Garland Square is buzzing with townspeople, chatting over a playful dog who doesn't seem to have an owner. The spring season is a time for new beginnings, new friends, and new achievements, and Sugar Pine Village has the potential to be all of these things for you.

[OOC: Take your time to wrap up the prior night as you wish. This season will last until mid-next month so it doesn't seem to fly by. Your characters can participate in any of the mini-events listed above, or create their own events in/out of town.]