DECEMBER REWARDS 4

If ya wanna follow me on other sites or help me survive by sending money or buying merch, here's ways to access my other content! https://linktr.ee/darkmastern -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DrZock I'm biased, but I feel like Victoria would be perfect for all kinds of holiday shenanigans. Replacing Clara in a twisted version of The Nutcracker? Getting hauled away by a Krampus? Stuffing her face with all the goodies aboard the Polar Express? Hell, I even drew some holiday-themed art of her myself! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Across the Underside, across the candy wastes, beyond the Cocoa mountains, you find the arctic Winterlands. A cold and snowy region in the Underside known for having harsh and unbearable weather. The ground is frozen and hard and it’s almost always snowing there. There are large landscapes of ice cream hills within the winter wonderland, along with whip cream snowdrifts where the candylands connect, and it even rides up adjacent to the Toylands and the territory of the Grognards who police some of the arctic region. Though there are dangerous creatures that roam the winter wastes, the further you travel into the snowy wilderness, the more like home it feels. The ice cream and whipped toppings and candy become more scarce, and the snow falls as frozen water in a gray sky just as it does in the outside. Eventually you may find some small settlements, sometimes made of gingerbread, and other times old “Christmas towns” of children barely getting by in the arctic wastes. Going far enough will present you with what appears to be a massive sprawling theme park that spreads across the landscape. It seems to be named Weinachtswunderland. Dotted with carnival rides and beautifully lit Christmas trees and gifts, this Winter Wonderland is like an oasis for tired and traveling children. This place has warm lights, and Christmas music, the smell of roast nuts and caramel apples, and a warm feeling of love and joy that permeates it. This is a promised land for many children, simply known as Wonderland. Stories persist among various kid towns that Santa Claus lives here, and that any child that can brave the harsh winter and evade the horrible creatures of the world can find Santa and he can grant their Christmas wishes, with some even believing that he can bring them home safe and sound and free them from this nightmare. Unfortunately the children that do make it through the arctic wastes and find themselves in the Wunderlands will not find the joyous establishment of which they dreamed of, and instead will find a hunting grounds for clans of insane undead children, wandering spirits, violent automatons, and an entity only known as, the Krampus. Also known as Santa Claus, Santy, Santa Claws, Atnas, The Old man Winter, Percht, Strohbart, Klaubaufmann, Bartl, Niglobartl, or Belzmarte, The Krampus is a massive antlered creature with a huge, fat belly, and a hunched camel like back. It’s neck is long and lined in matted hair that hangs down his neck and back as well as climbing up his neck and resting as a beard and moustache. His wide toothy mouth sets beneath two chubby, jolly cheeks, and a long bulbous nose, as well as two pitch black eyes. His ears are like that of a goat or deer, and he has spines that run along his neck and the hump of his back. His arms are fat at the bicep, but become lengthy, spindly, and grasping as they continue outward, ending in 6 clawed fingers. His bulky body is held aloft by two large hooved legs, and he possesses a massive, long tail tipped with black spiked thagomizers similarly to that of a Stegosaurus. Wreathed in fine silk robes lined with unknown furs and wool, rattling rusty chains, and a necklace of children’s skulls, the Krampus is a hideous sight to behold standing in the winter wilderness at nearly 16 feet tall, or up to 24 feet if he decides to stand fully upright. On Earth, stories are told of St. Nicholas, bringing good children gifts every Christmas eve so that they have presents to wake up to on Christmas morning, and leaving the bad children a stocking full of coal. However some tales say that he travels with a demonic creature known as the Krampus that will steal away children and bring them back to hell with him. These stories are widely regarded as false, however there is certainly truth behind these stories. The Krampus is a powerful Fae creature. Once a powerful Fae king on Earth, the beast ruled over an arctic wasteland in war against the Jotun. The Krampus was a tinkerer, crafting strange devices, puzzle boxes, toys, and clockwork men out of precious metals, and wood and imbuing them with life. He would then lure in younglings and drag them back to his workshop to build more toys for him, or to eat them and use their souls to power his toys. He would be kept at bay by leaving delicious pastry treats and milk by the fireplace, as well as a stocking of coal as an offering to power his strange machines. To those whom would offer such things he may repay them with small trinkets and not take their children. It is not really known as to what exactly transpired, however it is believed that the Krampus was eventually struck down by St. Nicholas or perhaps Odin, bound with iron chains to dampen his power and bind him from whence he came, and was banished from the Earth. The Krampus now lurks in the Weinatchswunderland, also known simply as Wunderland, which appears to be a huge Christmas theme park that extends across the arctic regions of the Underside. The Krampus rules over this strange, mechanical wonderland from inside his workshop which sits at the heart of the Wunderland. Here he tinkers away, crafting new strange devices to pass the time, and forcing children he captures to work for him. The Krampus can run at up to 60 miles per hour, and leap even faster, with the ability to leap hundreds of feet in a single instant. Despite his huge size and weight, Krampus appears almost weightless when he leaps, and he can silently run across rooftops without damaging them. He can levitate and even fly, but also make other things around him capable of flight. He has a mental command over various woodland creatures and can make them fly as well as bend to his will. He can also squeeze himself into small areas, able to fit through openings as small as 10cm in width in a fairly speedy manner, sneaking into people’s homes through their chimney. He is incredibly powerful, able to lift and throw a vehicle with relative ease. Krampus possesses an extremely good sense of smell and he can track creatures for miles, with the added ability of being able to smell one’s faith, fear, and the darkness in their heart. If someone has committed crimes or done bad deeds that go against the laws presented to them, the Krampus can smell that they have broken said rules or laws and track a creature, with their scent becoming more intense with the more rules that have been broken. They also can smell one’s faith in their religion, able to tell if a creature believes in a specific religion, how much they do, and what religion it is. The Krampus can also smell fear, being able to track more fearful children at a greater distance. The Krampus is able to create blizzards, through his own magic and altering the weather, or by emitting a cold blast of wintery death from his maw that can freeze things solid and make them brittle. In addition to this he can easily hide in snow, sinking down into it as if it were water and swimming through it with ease, or teleporting through snow and ice in an instant, but only when no one can see him. He possesses other powerful magical effects, such as the ability to scry through ice and watch creatures at a distance, and various other magic abilities as a spellcaster would possess such as transforming other creatures, shrinking them and placing them in snow globes, or causing his voice or haunting melodies to carry on the wind to cause panic. The Krampus also possesses a keen mechanical mind, and can craft many toys, dolls, and devices, and will often steal the souls of captured children and implant them into these creatures and grant them life. One of his strangest abilities, however, is the ability to store gifts and toys he creates inside of himself to regurgitate for later use. He often times will do so to lure in children with his gifts, or to bring out toys that will aid him in his hunts. However he can also use this to actually grant a child something useful. On rare occasions a child will do something to please the Krampus, such as one legend in which a child braved the wilderness to bring the Krampus a bell he had lost, and the child was given a wool knit cap that made him immune to the bite of the winter and gave him the ability to freeze his enemies blood in their veins. The children that aid in crafting his toys are worked like slaves in his workshop, and are monitored not only by him, but by the Elfenkinder, hideous little elf children that he creates to aid in doing his bidding. He not only has the Elfenkinder to do his work and aid in raiding nearby settlements, but also has them raise and tend to the Peryton (also known by the children as “Skeeters” which derives from “Sky Deer” being yelled in fear and broken down over generations). These are hideous deer headed, fanged fae bird creatures that Krampus uses to aid in his hunts. Children in the Underside know the Krampus simply as “Santa” in most cases, though some German, Austrian, or Bavarian children may refer to him by his real name. In newer kid towns, often formed by settlers that only recently found their way to the underside, or whom haven’t been there for long, may only hear of the good that Santa brings. However further into Kid culture and those whom have been in the Underside for quite some time may know of the Duality of Santa and may even take part in the Church of Christmas. This is further pushed by the various religions that follow a strange form of bits and pieces of Christianity that put Santa as a God or Jesus like figure, and “Atnas” as a devil like figure known as the Santas. They believe that these two entities are all one in the same, and that Santa is benevolent and will grant the good children gifts, while his bad side “Atnas” or “Backward Santa” punishes the bad children. This religion, known simply as Christmas, Yuletide, or the Church of Santa, is one of the most popular across the underside and there is a church of Santa in almost every major Kid town. There is a period of 31 days known as Santanacht by some, and simply as Christmas by others, in which Santa could appear in neighboring regions collecting new children to drag back to his home. When Christmas approaches in the Underside, the various kid towns will often times decorate and prepare themselves accordingly. Members of the church will go from house to house performing tribal rituals, preparing with offerings of milk and cookies for Santa, and caroling to sing Santa’s praises. They may often times light fires in their chimneys and fortify their homes and close their windows, remaining indoors for as long as possible so as to not be caught outside when Santa Claus comes to town with the church leading much of the services. Many children will also be brought to the church for shelter and to hide if they have no place to go, where they will pray to Santa for protection. In times like this the entire town will come together, giving gifts and preparing for Santa. When he arrives, they will do everything within their power to keep his Elfenkinder from getting into their home, and some members of the church may even stay outside and attempt to protect the town. There is a darkside to this however as sometimes the church does believe a child sacrifice is needed. As such they will often take children being held in the jail, selecting the worst offenders, and offering the children up to Santa to keep their people from being killed. Whenever the night has ended and they have gone, there is a huge celebration and the survivors have a feast as Santa never comes to the same settlement twice during a Santanacht period. When the period ends, it is denoted by a figure dashing into the night sky like a shooting star that disappears into the starry void. This day on Earth is known as Krampusnacht, and is the day in which Krampus leaves the Underside to attempt to track down children to bring back to the underside himself. Christmas towns, located closer to where “Santa” lives in the Winterlands, have similar, though much more violent practices. Not every church of Santa protects against him, and some towns do not hold back in offering criminals, rulebreakers, and even simply non-believers to Santa as offerings. During the Christmas Season, these highly religious towns will wear scary masks and participate in events closer to Trick or Treat or old hunting rituals, and they will send hunting parties to other towns to kidnap kids and pets from each other to bring back as offerings. Some of them may even practice human sacrifice and cannibalism during these times, especially towns that have had a history of needing to partake in cannibalism due to food scarcity. These towns will openly invite “santa” in, and often times are rewarded with gifts of coal and food by Santa who takes the offered children away. Children from these towns may make pilgrimages to the Wunderlands to make offerings and may even be visited by the Elfenkinder on off seasons, and they are often the first towns that children who escape from Krampus find. Because of this they are often captured and returned to Santa. The church of Santa calls the more violent followers of theirs “Cultists” or sometimes “The children of Atnas”. Though they themselves simply call themselves the Church of Santa. Some children have claimed to have “Seen” Saint Nicholas himself, or to have seen some Christmas miracles, but none of these can be proven…. We also see here, Elfenkinder, Known as Winter Elves, Christmas Elves, Verfluchtekinder, or Weinachtselves, are children whom have been transformed by Krampus into fae through working in his workshop for long periods. Children that are forced to work for Krampus will either be eaten by him or his elves eventually, have their souls used to create new toys, or they will become Elfenkinder. The ones who work the hardest and earn his respect become Elfenkinder. They are slowly transformed from simple children through fae magic. As their skin grows pale and their arms lengthen. Their teeth sharpen and their ears get longer and pointier as their skin turns mottled and green, giving them a sickly, undead look. Their bodies grow strange patches of white and red striped skin, patches of reddish flesh that bloom around their necks and wrists similarly to a flower also appear, as well as long thick tails that often grow tufts of fur at the end. Their faces become strange and sunken, and they often wear friendly masks to appear similarly to how they appeared in life. In addition long, black spines, similar to Krampus’ appear on their backs which they can use as weapons as they are tipped with a venom that causes inebriation. Much like Krampus, they are good at leaping and climbing, and they can even hide in an instant or teleport short distances with a jingling sound. The Elfenkinder live in and around the workshop, with many of them setting traps and hunting in the Wunderland amusement park outside to find and trap children that arrive there and bring them back to the Krampus. Elfenkinder may form hunting parties and leave out into the greater winterlands. Elfenkinder are not true elves, even if they possess many similar qualities such as the long lifespans, long limbs, necks, and wide mouths with sharp teeth. And are closer to changelings than actual elves, however they are often times still accepted by other fae as actual fae regardless, though regarded more like pets than as actual people. Elfenkinder often wear typical fae outfits, appearing similarly to a little jester, wearing a hat and tunic, but otherwise don’t wear a lot of clothing. Some wear armor or other outfits depending on their position, or if they go hunting, and they may even wear large fur coats or even child skins in some occasions. The elfenkinder don’t all work directly for Krampus at his workshop, and some have their own small settlements in the snow, setting up camps and moving about to collect resources from nearby locations. Some Elfenkinder command Perytons, also known as Skeeters, to aid them in their hunts. The large beasts standing roughly 6 feet tall and working as mounts for the diminutive Elfenkinder to swoop down and take out enemies or collect food. Elfenkinder that are killed by children are often times looted for their various gear, and their spines can be used to create weapons as the elfenkinder aren’t immune to their own toxins. Their masks can be taken and used to pretend to be Elfenkinder to trick them in some circumstances. Often times they carry small trinkets that may have magic capabilities, or may simply be worth a bit in kid culture. In addition, some children who kill Elfenkinder will take their blood, organs, and teeth, especially those apprenticed to a witch as they are rich in magic potency. And some may even consume the heart of the Elfenkinder in a ritual to gain ties to the fae themselves and learn to teleport. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Underside lore with another one of the Gods of the Underside. Father Winter... also known as Krampus... or Santa Claus by the kids.... Victoria is sneaking around trying not to get caught by the fat man himself... She most likely got captured or lured in with sugar plums and candy apples and is now regretting her life, like usual. Some of you may remember Santa being mentioned once before as a joke by Laila on Deviantart in her Laila explains christmas short comic, Which I used as a basis for this design. This one's gettin posted publicly because it has underside lore! If ya wanna suggest cool stuff like this for me to draw! SUBSCRIBE!