It's a gorgeous December day--there is lots of sunshine peeking through the fluffy clouds, the grass has a thin layer of frost, and the air is crisp and cool. The weather is not quite cool enough to be considered "winter," but you still appreciate that the temperature isn't 15 below just yet.
You've just begun work on setting up your holiday decorations. The smell of pine trees and the glow of Christmas lights always puts you in a cheery mood, so you make a point every year to get into the spirit somehow. You've decided that this year, you will throw a holiday party for you and your friends in a few days. You're not entirely sure what everyone celebrates though, so you're sticking to generic winter themes. Still, it's looking pretty good so far, don't you think? Maybe you'll move that garland to the left a bit...
Ding dong, bing bong!
You're snapped out of your home-decorating-groove when you suddenly hear the doorbell ring. You jump a bit in surprise and instinctively look at the clock. What!? It's already past 10 PM! How long have you been in the decorating zone? You hurry to the door and open it to find no one standing there. The bitter cold wind of nighttime hits your face as you peer around your front porch just to check. ...Nothing. You begin to go back inside, but the glint of something sparkly catches your eye, and you look down to your feet.
It's a... snowball?
Huh. That's a pretty big snowball. And why does it have this big bow on it? You figure that this is a bit too elaborate to be a prank, and yet, you have no idea what the significance of this thing is. Reluctantly, you pick it up to look at it in better light indoors. The surface is ice cold, with small snow crystals coating the surface, but this is definitely not a snowball. It is very firm, and after brushing away some of the crystals, the surface appears to be more like a shell of some sort. Upon closer inspection, there are shimmering veins of ice running over the surface that reflect beautifully in the light, and the giant bow is firmly attached to the egg, and won't budge even with a forceful tug. You don't want to break this thing, so you let it be. The sprigs of pine needles and cranberries are also tangled in the bow, and you don't want to attempt pulling them out.
You set the... thing, by your fireplace, and sit on the sofa wondering what to do with it. However, after a few minutes, it begins to shake violently, and a small puddle is forming around it. Sensing it's reacting somehow, you jump up and quickly pull several bags of ice from the freezer, place the object in a large bucket, and pour ice around it. The tremors subside, and the ice crystals begin to reform almost instantly.
You get a very strong (and rather alarming) feeling that this thing is alive. Perhaps an egg of some sort? Either way, you decide to devote yourself to taking care of it. Maybe it's some kind of... weird Christmas gift?
Hey there everyone! In this holiday event, members will work to complete certain tasks to nurture and make their egg hatch and grow! The creature inside is a mystery, and only by completing the assigned tasks, will you come to raise an adult creature mysteriously left on your front porch.
Anyone is welcome to join at any time! However, keep in mind that the creature will stop growing on January 10th, 2018, 12:00 AM (your time zone). This will freeze your creature at whatever stage it is in. Only winter magic can make your pet thrive!
There are 7 stages of growth for your new pet.
Young egg
Cracked egg
Splintered egg
Open egg
Newborn
Juvenile
Adult
You have found your egg in the Young egg stage. You will start out with the sprite shown in the narrative.To advance your pet's growth, you must do each task list in order! You can't jump around to the Newborn tasks if you're still on Splintered egg tasks.
You may only complete a maximum of one (1) task lists a day. You can not advance more than a stage a day. You are, however, welcome to work as slowly as you'd like. Theoretically, this could only take you a bit under a week. Or could it? ;D
The task lists are as follows:
Young egg - Stage 1Participate in at least 1 forum game! Has to be a new post after this event is published-- no recycling!
Ask a question in 3 different members' AMA threads. The questions don't have to be answered yet for you to submit your entry! List of AMA's:
♠♠♠♠♠Screenshot or link all these posts and PM a participating staff member.
Cracked egg - Stage 2THIS STAGE CAN ONLY BE DONE ON THE WEEKEND (FRI-SUN)!
Make 3 posts in the 'Say Something Nice About the Person that Posted Before You' thread, to 3 DIFFERENT people. Posts must be at least 3 sentences, don't do bare minimum!
♠♠♠♠♠Send 5 (or more!) of your friends on FT a fun winter/holiday greeting via PM!
Screenshot the sent messages, as well as your posts in the Say Something Nice thread, and PM a participating staff member with the attached images.
Splintered egg - Stage 3Make a holiday/winter themed drawing/song/story/poem/other artistic endeavor and post it! Again, no recycling! Has to be new stuff. Explain your inspiration behind it!
Post one positive or happy thing in the 'Things that Don't Make You want to Kick Someone' thread!
♠♠♠♠♠You know the drill-- send evidence to a participating staff member.
Open egg - Stage 4THIS STAGE CAN ONLY BE DONE ON AN ODD-NUMBERED DAY!
Send someone a holiday wish! Doesn't have to be Christmas/New Year's related; just anything nice you want to wish another member!
♠♠♠♠♠Post in 3 different people's art threads! Tell them what you like about their drawings!
Once again, screenshot/link the evidence and send it to a participating staff member!
Newborn - Stage 5Tell us what your favorite holiday is! Christmas might not be everyone's cup of tea, so tell us what you look forward to!
♠♠♠♠♠Create something for someone else on the site! Can be anything, music, art, literature, etc. Giving is always in season! Try to pick someone you haven't done something nice for yet!
Send proof to a participating staff member.
Juvenile - Stage 6THIS STAGE CAN ONLY BE DONE ON AN EVEN-NUMBERED DAY!
Participate in at least one other Holiday 2017 event.
Post 6 compliments in the 'Compliments to a Forum Member' thread. Can all be in one post, just has to have at least 5 different people in it.
♠♠♠♠♠Link your posts to a participating staff member.
Adult - Stage 7, FinalCongrats!! Your pet has grown up.
However, if you PM a compliment to every active staff member (active meaning you see them a couple times a week), your pet may pick up a little something extra!
(just remember to send in evidence so your pet will know you did so!)
List of Participating Staff
-Red Velvet
-Graham
(on hiatus; please send to other staff members for the time being!)
-Mystic
Do not send in your evidence to any other staff member. They will ignore it and your baby egg won't grow up!
Your pet's progress will be displayed on your profile page in the 'Pets' field! They're similar to awards, except we gave them a nice cozy playpen on your profile, so they don't get cramped in your signature. Please allow for a bit of time for your pet to grow after submitting your tasks. They're only babies y'know--they can only grow so fast!
Feel free to copy the image url and have your pet in your signature if you'd like! Then everyone can see your progress, or you can just show off that lil' cutie.
And that's it! If you have any questions feel free to post them here.
Be sure to let us know you're participating below so that your egg can be added to your profile playpen!Happy egg-raising!
Slight side note-- staff has been really busy with holiday stuff and finals and all that jazz, so sorry for starting the events a bit late! We're letting them run a bit longer to make up for it. Other events should be up very soon, so keep on the lookout!
