Knight/Emissary of Santa Claus

[Nyarlathotep5150]

WoJ is that he's a winter lord, acting as the balance against winter's cold. Just as the Erlking represents the darkness of summer.

   I haven't seen the dragoncon stuff, so all I had to go on is the mention in Storm Front. In any case that makes sense.

  Taking that into account, I absolutely agree that a "Yuletide Knight", would require his own version of sponsored magic, as unseelie magic doesn't fit the yuletide feel. Seelie magic would be closer, but a Winter Lord giving full on summer magic seems a little weird.
   The yuletide magic could have themes of feasting, protective warmth, rewarding the good and punishing the bad, health, community... probably even travel (though I might just tack that on as a separate power yo the Knight).

[Richard_Chilton]

If it's sponsored magic then he'll have to repay his sponsor...

Might I suggest working on the lists?

Something along the lines of every couple of times he uses magic he has to do what appears to be a random act of kindness - but it's really rewarding someone on the nice list.  Or a random looking act of something not-so-nice to someone on the naughty list.

Hmm, just thinking he might be armed with a item of power - glaces that reveal if someone is on the nice or naughty list.  Maybe revealing how many nice points and how many naughty points they have.  Nothing that gives out any details (he'd have to ask for access to a list for that) but maybe that Jack has 324 Nice points and 32 Naughty points.  Something like that would be an instant plot device, especially when you nice an average looking guy (or maybe a kid) with a ridiculous amount of naughty points and can't helping WTF he's been doing.

Richard

[Drashna]

Which is canonically wrong, because Santa is a Winter king and the Erlking is a Summer king.

how so? nowhere does it actually say either way. And not to mention that Erlking is supposed translate to "elf king", yet we see him surrounded by/with goblins, which feel like winter fae in personality (cruel, to the extreme).  And I'm more tan willing to dg up WoJ.

not to mention, i choose the erlking for spring as he would assist summer into coming into fruition/power as Claus would assist winter. Especially as Jim is very quiet about who is on whose side.  

[sinker]

how so? nowhere does it actually say either way. And not to mention that Erlking is supposed translate to "elf king", yet we see him surrounded by/with goblins, which feel like winter fae in personality (cruel, to the extreme).  And I'm more tan willing to dg up WoJ.

not to mention, i choose the erlking for spring as he would assist summer into coming into fruition/power as Claus would assist winter. Especially as Jim is very quiet about who is on whose side.  

It was something Jim said at Dragoncon. The Erlking is the harshness of summer and Santa Clause is the warmth of winter.

[Nyarlathotep5150]

yet we see him surrounded by/with goblins, which feel like winter fae in personality (cruel, to the extreme).

  The books (changes I believe) state flat out that Goblins aren't Winter. They're Wild fae (as are most trolls and ogres), they don't belong to either court. It also implies that the Erlking is sort of a king of the Wild fae.

[Richard_Chilton]

If you read the quote carefully you'll see that the Erlking and Santa "are independent of their Queen’s courts. "

- to me that's basically going wylde fae again.  You don't have to come when the queen calls.  You do, however, have to do the jobs that define so if Mab calls for the Wild Hunt (because someone brought Summer Magic into her stronghold) and you're one of the leaders of the hunt then you have to show up and hunt the poor, scared little wizard.

Richard

[Bruce Coulson]

I don't see Santa as being Fae at all (although certainly an inhabitant of the Never-Never).

He is what he is; a very powerful being working to spread joy, charity, and good will throughout the world.  And probably the Never-Never as well; he's visited Oz on one occasion.

[Drashna]

Actually, Jim has stated that Santa Claus is a unique brownie.  So definitely fae.

[sinker]

Even wyldfae belong to (or at least lean to) one court or the other. It was demonstrated in summer knight, when even toot was called to pick a side.

[Quazar]

Actually, Jim has stated that Santa Claus is a unique brownie.  So definitely fae.

Santa => Brownies
Erlking => Goblins

Except Santa probably has the upper hand.  How many Neo-pagans worship the Horned God, versus how many little children believe with all their hearts in Santa?

[Nyarlathotep5150]

He is what he is; a very powerful being working to spread joy, charity, and good will throughout the world.  And probably the Never-Never as well; he's visited Oz on one occasion.

   Actually, the modern myth of Santa is just a reinterpretation of a character known in many Germanic traditions (Someone else mentioned one of them Zwarte Piet "Black Peter"), who around midwinter would travel the world giving gifts to good children and savagely punishing (usually beating or kidnapping) naughty children.
    So the "real" Santa would probably be more like this (as infact the real life santa was, until he was Disneyfide into the Santa we know).

Even wyldfae belong to (or at least lean to) one court or the other. It was demonstrated in summer knight, when even toot was called to pick a side.

  What it said in Summer Knight was that in times of great imbalance, the Wyld fae could be "called", basically drafted for the war, but even in those circumstances, they got to choose which side they fought for (also choosing a side would be necessary since no fae would be safe from the war). Now yes, the nasty Fae usually chose Winter, and the nicer Fae Summer, but that was just a rule of thumb, not a compulsion.
   In the end, each wyldfae chose for itself whether to fight and who to fight for. This is proven by the dewdrop fairies choosing to side with the Pizzalord.

[RyanR]

how so? nowhere does it actually say either way...

here

Where are the Farie kings?
Yes they do.  The Erlking as sort of the Hunter king, and Santa Clause, the Winter king who is not the commercial Santa Clause.  The kings are sort of the opposite of the queens in their given season.  They are independent of their Queen’s courts.  The Erlking is not a particularly friendly guy, whereas Santa Clause is kinder, the spirit of generosity in a time of bleakness.  Yah I’ve gota have Harry ask Mab about him so she can roll her eyes.

  Actually, the modern myth of Santa is just a reinterpretation of a character known in many Germanic traditions (Someone else mentioned one of them Zwarte Piet "Black Peter"), who around midwinter would travel the world giving gifts to good children and savagely punishing (usually beating or kidnapping) naughty children.

Actually, Zwart Piet is one of a number of companions of Saint Nicholas/Sinterklaas. See also Belsnickel, Knecht Ruprecht, Krampus, Le Père Fouettard, Grýla (and her husband, big black Yule Cat, and 13 Yule lads). Some slightly less (overtly) terrifying companions include Mrs. Clause and Snegurochka.

As for overt Santa analogues you've got Joulupukki, Père Noël, and Ded Moroz among others, while the giant Olentzero, and old woman Befana are slightly more interesting anologues for being noticably different.

   So the "real" Santa would probably be more like this (as infact the real life santa was, until he was Disneyfide into the Santa we know).
  What it said in Summer Knight was that in times of great imbalance, the Wyld fae could be "called", basically drafted for the war, but even in those circumstances, they got to choose which side they fought for (also choosing a side would be necessary since no fae would be safe from the war). Now yes, the nasty Fae usually chose Winter, and the nicer Fae Summer, but that was just a rule of thumb, not a compulsion.
   In the end, each wyldfae chose for itself whether to fight and who to fight for. This is proven by the dewdrop fairies choosing to side with the Pizzalord.

Actually, some of the Wyldfae chose and some were overtly abducted- it varied.

[Quazar]

The Krampus has gotta be super scary for the little ones.  He looks a lot like the Buffy version of a werewolf.

You know what's funny?  Modern Santa was designed by Coca-Cola more than anymore else.  But then, who has more pull than Coke?

[sinker]

Getting back to the original topic, should we give him a high burglary or would you deal with that any other way?

[devonapple]

Getting back to the original topic, should we give him a high burglary or would you deal with that any other way?

Possibly for flavor, but magic would overcome most all need for such skills.