Sitting in the local tavern, each drinking a pint of eggnog, you and dAnkan reminisce about previous adventures when suddenly the barkeep approaches you.
— “You can’t expect us to pay before we’ve even finished our drinks!” the mighty paladin dAnkan rapidly responds before the barkeep even has a chance to say anything.
— “dAnkan, you misunderstand me. I am in dire need of your assistance. You see-…” the barkeeper firmly says.
— “We don’t have time for your silly side quests, you see we’re on a great mission already.” dAnkan smugly interrupts. “Isn’t that right, my dear Cleric companion?” dAnkan turns to you and say, all the while sipping eggnog.
— “I mean, what is one more quest…?” you say, trying not to ruin your relationship with the only tavern owner of the only tavern in town. You turn to the barkeep nod for her to continue.
— “Well, you see when Santa Claus comes down to drink our novelty milk I just put it on his tab, for him to pay at the end of each month, but I have not gotten any money yet and it has been kind of a while since I sent the last invoice. Would you kindly go check if everything is alright, and perhaps bring back my payment?” the barkeep says to the both of you, becoming increasingly annoyed by dAnkan slurping eggnog.
— “Weeeell… As I said we already have a lot on our plate…” dAnkan says while finishing their eggnog, followed by dunking it down on the table and exchanging glances for the barkeeper to fill it back up.
— “But dAnkan, what about your Oath of Christmas?” you glance at them.
— “I mean, just because something vaguely connects to Santa does not mean it falls under my vow to protect Christmas.” dAnkan corrects you.
— “What about this, if you do this for me you’ll get to drink here for free… for the duration of next mon… day.” the barkeep pleads while filling dAnkans mug with another pint of eggnog.
— “Now that’s what I call an Oath of Christmas. Let’s go!” dAnkan responds while quickly chugging the eggnog and rapidly walking away from the table. You in turn finish your drink and run after dAnkan, all the way up to Santa’s workshop atop Summit Claus.
Finally reaching the top of the mountain you find it more desolate than usual, especially at this time of year. You approach the gates of the workshop and knock, getting no response.
— “I’ll go check if the back door is open.” dAnkan says, already walking away from you. “See if you can get that door open meanwhile.” After dAnkan disappears around a corner you try to open the door, finding it locked. You try to lockpick it and surprisingly manage to get a critical success, opening the door and entering Santa’s workshop on your own.