Happy Chris' Mass to all!

The Apostles are hosting a blind Chris' Mass Gift Exchange throughout the Tavern Troupe (and friends) Chris' Mass festival!

How to participate:
1. Purchase (or locate in your vault!) a gift worth approximately 25 plat* (see below for details)
2. Give unwrapped gift to Aislynn, Haileyann, Unzew, Larienna, Laveaux, or Gamador BEFORE 9pm est on December 28th (make sure to tell them it's for the Gift Exchange).
3. Come to the winter cabin in the Winter Wonderland at 9pm est on December 28th for the great unwrapping!
4. This will be a white elephant-style exchange, using the following rules:
a. I determine the order people will pick (Randomized with dice. No, you don't get to blow on them, shake them, rub them, or bribe them. Or me. Definitely don't shake, rub, bribe, or blow on me. I bite.)
b. The first person will pick and unwrap a gift.
c. Each following person will be able to EITHER pick a new wrapped gift (and unwrap it), or "steal" a previously opened gift.
d. Anyone who has their gift stolen then gets to EITHER pick a new wrapped gift (and unwrap it) or "steal" an open one, with some limitations:
* Each gift can only be stolen once per round (so if your gift is "stolen" and you want it back, you can't get it immediately - you'll want to get a different gift, wait until your new gift is "stolen" again and then "steal" that first one back.)
* There are only two "steals" allowed per round. This means that the first person can "steal", the individual they "stole" from can also "steal", but the third person has to pick an unwrapped gift.
e. After everyone has picked, the very first person who went gets to swap the gift they have with any other opened gift.
f. Anyone who's gift is swapped gets to swap with someone else, with some limitations:
* A person can't be forced to swap twice. So, once you have been forced to swap, and instigated a swap yourself, you can leave - no one can take from you again).
* This final swapping round doesn't have the three-steal limitations - so long as the person who is "up" wants to swap with someone who is eligible (ie, hasn't been swapped with yet), the round continues. As soon as someone declines to force a swap, the exchange is over, and you are free to attempt to bribe, buy, beg, connive, and/or coerce each other to get the gift you really wanted.

Please keep the following in mind:
* Bring your gift unwrapped. We will wrap them. They will then be distributed blindly.
* If you donate a gift, you will get one in return. There is no other way to participate.
* I'm seeding the gift pool with some high end items from festivals. This means that there will be more gifts in the pool than people participating. Extra gifts will be put into the raffle pool to be raffled off on the 30th.
* The gift doesn't necessarily have to appraise for 25 plat - some things have historic, utility, or sentimental value beyond their apparent cost. I reserve the right to decline a gift if I feel it isn't comparable to the others.
* The gift can be worth MORE than 25 plat - just understand that the gift you get in return could be worth the minimum amount. There is no guarantee of getting a "nicer" gift because you gave a "nicer" gift.
* The gift can be a handful of cheaper items that add up to about 25 plat (but please, for my sake, don't give me 50 billion rat pelts - 2 or 3 items is okay, over a dozen is excessive).
* If you want to participate, but 25 plat is genuinely too steep for you, speak to Aislynn. I will be able to fund a few youngsters, but I reserve the right to tell you to go get a job instead, ya dirty bum.
* Once the exchanging begins, keep your gift in your hand. You are not required to tell the current person that you have a gift available to be swapped or stolen, nor do you have to show it or let it be appraised, but they do have to be able to see it in your hand.
* You can always ask someone to let you see/appraise/study their gift. They don't have to let you.
* During the exchanging, you are absolutely allowed (and encouraged) to try to arrange a series of trades to get what you want. Just be aware that someone else might very well be negotiating for the same thing!
* During the exchanging, I reserve the right to put a time limit on people who are picking very slowly.
* During the exchanging, please try to stay until the end. While it isn't against the rules to grab your gift and leave, it is considered bad form. You may be booed, wedgied, or snowballed. You are NOT allowed to leave and then come back - if you leave for any reason (including logging off! Sorry, folks with bad connections!), you're done.
* If you donate a gift but are unable to come to the unwrapping on the 28th, a wrapped gift will be held for you. There is a limit to how long I'll hold onto something, though. Find Aislynn to get your gift before the end of January, or consider it donated to my vault-beast.

~ Aislynn
Vice-Speaker of the Order of the Apostles