The Tomtom Hunt

"Quick! After him, stalwart companions! I hear that rascal just ahead!" says Parish. He raises his shovel in the air, like a sword, and charges forward along the trail, his dented armor clanking underneath his warmer outerwear. "I will catch you forthwith, you naughty gnome!"

Parish charges forward along the trail, blundering headfirst through heavy branches and deep snow. Each step leaves another dent in his old armor. Once the knight stops shouting, he realizes he can no longer hear the Tomtom’s clogs. The wily gnome must have gone in a different direction!

Amelie checks over their shoulder. "I might have looked here before, but…"They use FoPTooL’s zoom lens to scan the area.

Yazeba curses, seeing the empty pine cone bucket. "That little...!!!" She clencher her fists.
As Parish thunders forward, Yazeba's anger swells and magic erupts from where her heart used to be, shooting out across the white snow until it hits Parish's shovel. The shovel's head promptly doubles in size, yet not in weight. His dented armor straightens and regains a former sheen.

"I'm losing my patience with this one." She says, following the others.

Amelie’s scan fails to uncover the icy trap before it’s too late. A thin layer of snow gives way beneath their feet, and the robot plummets into a sinkhole ten feet deep! Fortunately, there are plenty of leaves at the bottom to break their fall, but there’s no easy way back up.

Amelie flashes their emergency light!

BWEEEEE🚨YOOOOO!!

She calls out, "I have fallen, and I cannot get up." —and not for lack of trying. A maid-bot is equipped with several extensions that are ideal for climbing rooftops and sweeping chimneys. But the sheer weight of a robo-maid, crumbly dirt and slippery snow… that’s the trifecta of conditions that make climbing out of a hole completely impossible.

—without the aid of a heroic knight and/or magical witch!

Yazeba sighs when she sees Amelie fall for another trap. She shakes her head. "That robot needs to get her optical receptors checked." She makes a note to herself. "She might be missing a lot of dust around the house."

She walks up to the hole where Amelie finds herself in and puts a hand next to her mouth so she can yell down it. "These grounds are full of rabbit tunnels, you know." The red alarm light gives enough light inside the dark shaft for her to spot one. "There, that one looks big enough for you to squeeze through." She doesn't wait for Amelie to get out and sets off after the Tomtom again.

"Parish?" She yells. "Have you found the bugger yet?"

Amelie looks at the rabbit hole.Amelie downloads a skill to become a transformer! "Time to Transform and Burrow Out!"Amelie becomes a robot-rabbit, and quickly navigates the rabbit hole. "I am Dust Bunny!" they explain as they pass by several rabbits wearing various outfits.

"It seems the chase continues," Parish says. He pulls a thermos and several paper cups from his jacket pockets. "Here! Cups of hot chocolate for everyone! I put in a little cinnamon and a shot of espresso to give us a bit more pep for this grand adventure!" He offers a cup to Yazeba and Amelie.

Amelie sniffs the hot beverage with a constantly twitching robo-nose… then transforms back to drink it since an opposable thumb and an extendable pinky are required for this type of mug.

"Thank you. I will take this to go…

*sssiiippp…*

—after him."

The trail wends onwards, but the Tomtom himself doesn't seem to be nearby...

Amelie lifts a rock and discovers—

—a creepy bug hole!The rock is gently put back in place so the creepy bugs will remain protected from the cold.

"Was he painted in a corner, and I walked away from him?"

"Ah Grackle! A wonder to see you out on wintry day! It's as cold as a witch's tit out here!" Parish says, trying to build comraderie with another worker at the B&B. But then he realizes what he said and that it is less a harmless platitude when it references your boss who is standing nearby. "A witch's tent I said. TENT. Ahem..." The color drains from his cheeks, leaving them a light minty green color.

Yazeba shows up just as Parish makes his comment. She gives him a look that could kill a yack from 200 meters away, but then Parish corrects his saying to one that's acceptable. After all, witches tents were notoriously cold! They really didn't bother with heating what so ever.

"Taking yet another break? Grackle?" She asks the grounds keeper inquisitively. "You know, I think you could get the work done in half the time if you weren't eating most of the fertilizer yourself." The annoyed undertone becomes more of an overtone in her voice.

Amelie decides to be more methodical, studying the snow fort before making another reckless charge.

"Be careful to avoid traps, FoPTooL…

…yes, I realize I am the only one who has been trapped multiple times, FoPTooL, but that is not important right now."

The Tomtom's pointy tracks lead to an old, old clearing in the woods--one you've never seen before--then vanish. It's unearthly quiet here...

"Amelie" Yazeba's voice calls out from behind. "Which directing is your flap tool saying the Tomtom went?" She's getting so fed up with these shenanigans and her temper isn't getting any easier to control because of it!

"Foes fire! I need to get my hands on that little... hoodlum." It sounds like Yazeba wanted to say something more offensive there, but corrected herself in the nick of time. "And where is Parish? Is he still talking to Grackle? Don't tell me he's given up already!?!" If Yazeba's eyes could shoot fire, which they probably could, it would probably happen within the next 28 seconds.