At breakfast the next morning you and dAnkan once again start scheming on your new plan to bring back Santa.
— “So, have you come up with a plan for finding out where that dragon lives?”, dAnkans asks, stuffing their beak with some elven morning bread.
— “Perhaps a ranger or something? Or perhaps that won’t work since the dragon flew away what we can only imagine to be far”, you respond, as bread crumbles start dirtying your clothes. dAnkan lights up, brighter than the fire from seven elven bakeries.
— “Do not fret, my friend, for I might have a foolproof plan which is guaranteed to work… eventually. Someone out there is sure to know how to find the dragon, so let’s just ask literally everyone until we come across the right person.” dAnkan exclaims, very sure of the elegance of their plan.
— “What do you mean, ‘asking literally everyone’? Asking them where Santa got santanapped?” you try to say but is cut off by dAnkan.
— “No! We can’t let the people find out that Santa’s been kidnapped this close to Christmas. It would create a complete pandemonium and then finding him would become quite the NP difficult problem.” dAnkan says in between slices of bread.
— “Okay, so you’re saying we should go around, asking people all over, in the hope of finding someone who knows anything… That would take forever.” you interject.
— “Alas, I think you are right. Hm, what to do, what to do indeed?” dAnkan mumbles.
All of a sudden dAnkan jolts as they are struck with the energy of a foolproof plan. “I got it, I got it!” dAnkan exclaims as they lay down a map of Yuletide on the table. “It won’t take too long, we just need to do it efficiently. As long as we only visit each town exactly once it should be no problem.”
— “That would still mean a LOT of walking… My poor legs… If only we had a bicycle…” you mutter, finishing your breakfast. “I have an old pal here in Duckston named Hamilton who might let us borrow two…”
— “No time! We need to head to Ausilalulon at once!” dAnkan exclaims with confidence. “And we need to hurry! We’ve got to get back before dark! I do not want to miss out on my long rest.”
And so you walk. You walk and talk and walk and talk in what seems to be an endless cycle of walking and talking to people all over the place - and to no avail. No one seems to know anything about where a dragon might live on Yuletide, and if they did, it seems you did not manage to persuade them to tell you.
Feeling bad about spending all day essentially not advancing the plot at all you head back, but on the road back to Duckston you spot a weird looking house. You move closer to it, as if some divine hand is guiding you, all the way to the door of a large tower where you can read the sign; ‘Linus - Arch Mage’.
— “Huh… Would you look at that? Just what we need.” dAnkan says to you, looking quite relieved.
— “How so?” you ask.
— “Don’t you see? This was my plan all along! Who needs someone who actually knows stuff when we can just consult this Arch Linus dude.” dAnkan responds. The yellow duck walks up to the door to knock. You waddle up next to them and start waiting alongside your companion.
After quite some time, what seems like ages, a gnome wearing a wizard hat opens the door.
— “There we are. Hello! Welcome to my tower of magic and such and such.” the gnome who you presume is Linus opens the door.
— “What took you so long? We’ve waited out here for ages!” dAnkan somewhat irritated asks.
— “I just had to put on my shoes. I’ll have you know my boot process is the fastest there is.” the wizard responds, in a defensive tone.
— “If it truly was the fastest, then what took you so long?” you say.
— ”… There were a few bugs I had to get rid of first.” Linus responds, not faltering in his confidence.
— “Anyway, we are in need of your help.” you say, and as you say it you see the gnome’s face lighting up.
— “Well then, come on in!” he says, opening the door entirely.