On the Seventh Day of Christmas, the Dragon Gave to Me...

Seven Swans-a-Swimming
At first glance, the seventh of the dragon's 12 Days of Christmas gifts has no connection to the lyrics of the famous song. It appears to be seven large marbles that shimmer with constant blue-green swirls within them. They are given in a red felt pouch with a golden drawstring. Each marble radiates a mixture of summoning and transmutation magic if they are inspected with a detect magic spell. The pouch raidiates very faint summoning magic. On the outside bottom of the pouch, the following phrase in High Dragon, embroidered with fine golden thread, reads, "Best Used When Halfway to Christmas Time".

   When the marbles are examined closely, however, the "shimmering" is actually a tiny animated scene of a swan gliding across a body of water under a clear blue sky, with a forest on the far shore. Shaking or rolling a marble causes them to glow brighter while the scene of the swan dissolves into swirling blue and green colors. As the image reforms, the glow fades. Is this all there is to this gift? Of course not!

   Functions: When thrown into a stream, river, pond, lake, or ocean--or even an Olympic-size pool-- the marble turns into a large, inflatable rubber swan of the type that kids, or those young at heart, ride and play on while in the water. It rapidly inflates and then floats unerringly in the water; it only capsizes if those riding on it wishes and then rights itself immediately. It is always easy to mount by the person who summoned it, and it remains as stable as they want it to be.

   Each marble summons one swan. The swan lasts for 12 hours or until the person who summoned it is done playing in the water or on beach or is otherwise safely back on solid ground. (In extreme circumstances, a swan can thus be used as a life raft... for a time at least. When the swan's usefulness comes to an end, it dissolves into water.

   One very practical function of each of the Seven Swans-a-Swimming is that each one can detect a person in the water who is at risk of drowning within 100 yards of its present location. The swan makes it very easy for the at-risk person to climb onto it, or just cling to it, and then heads for the nearest solid ground and help. The swan might even emit loud screeches to attract attention of nearby people to provide assistance.

   The size and appearance of the Seven Swans-a-Swimming varies in a totally random fashion. 

   Trivia: Until 1935, Brigid made the Seven Swans-a-Swimming to be larger, more lethal versions of the Six Geese-a-Laying (but without the added benefit of free eggs). Once she got wind of the idea of Christmas in July, she reinvented the seventh gift to serve as a promotion of this second Christmas!

There's a New Year coming...

... and one of the benefits to being a dragon who has perfected shapeshifting into a human form is that you can use magic portals to follow the arrival of 2025 and attend dozens of parties along the way.

From the tiny island nation of Kiribati, the very first place humans flip the calendar to 2025, all the way to Baker Island, the very last place where the new year begins, and home to a very small, secret community of Witchkind, Brigid goes from celebration to celebration, joyously bringing in the new year along with her favorite lesser beings--humanity! (Although her mood to party is nowhere as intense as what will come for the Lunar New Year, which is what dragons observe.)

At each party she attends, Brigid picks one human to give a present to. It is the very last thing she does before she moves on to the next one, and the beneficiaries of her gift often chalk it up to a gag or a distortion of reality through a drunken haze.

The gift is a delicate chain necklace that sometimes has a piece of jewelry on it. Brigid gives it to the subject of her largess with the comment, "You deserve to have a great year. Wear this always and it will make a difference. And if you're ever in danger or otherwise in serious need of help, break the chain and I'll be there in a flash. But you can only do this once, so choose the moment carefully." 

THE DRAGON'S NEW YEAR BLESSING

This is a delicate chain necklace that appears to be made out of silver, gold, or platinum. Sometimes, a small amulet resembling a dragon's head hangs upon it. Both the chain and the amulet radiate a curious mixture of abjuration, divination, and summoning magic.

   Functions: When worn by the person Brigid the Dragon gave it to, the dragon's new year blessing provides a +1 enchantment bonus to all skill checks and saving throws from the first second of January 1st through the very last moment of December 31st during the year it is received. When the new year comes, all magic is drained from the necklace, leaving it just a simple piece of understated jewelry.

   For a person who finds him- or herself in a life-or-death situation or otherwise attempting to deal with a disastrous outcome, the dragon's new year blessing has a function that's even more powerful. 

   If the person it was gifted breaks the chain necklace while wearing it (DC3 Strength Check), it becomes red hot for a moment, then seems to dissolve into the thin air. At the end of the following round, Brigid appears in her human form. She quickly appraises the situation, asks the character what he or she needs (assuming it isn't immediately clear) and then takes action. If she can resolve the situation without abandoning her human form, she will... but if the danger is serious enough, she takes her true, massive form. What follows will be the nightmarish destruction that happens whenever an ancient red dragon reveals its true self to mortals who are endangering things it cares about.

   Once the danger has passed, Brigid returns to her human form, chats briefly with the character and his or allies, promises she'll show up for any Christmas and/or New Year parties they may host, then says goodbye and vanishes as suddenly as she appeared. (If she is asked about the status of the dragon's new year blessing, Brigid will say that the magic in it is spent.)

   Special: The dragon's new year blessing only provides benefit to the person Brigid gave it to; it is just a simple piece of jewelry on anyone else... except if it is stolen or looted. Then, whoever wears it is subject to a curse that inflicts -4 to all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for the remainder of the year unless subjected to remove curse with a 20th-level caster effectiveness..

Brigid the Dragon, celebrating the New Year's Eve with friends.

Brigid the Dragon in the process of abandoning her human form.
She warned them not to make her angry...

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, the Dragon Gave to Me...

Six Geese-a-Laying
One of the bulkier gifts the Dragon Who Loves Christmas might bestow upon someone is the Six Geese-a-Laying. It consists of six carefully crafted woodcarvings of geese. They are made from basswood, but then either glazed or painted through some unusual method that no mortal has been able to determine. (The coloring of the wood is part of the enchantment process.) If subjected to detect magic, all six statues radiate a moderate aura of divination magic with hints of summoning and transmutation magic mixed in. The magic is equally strong on each of the carving and it does not change in intensity if they are close together or many miles apart.

   Functions: When any one of the Six Geese-a-Laying carvings is placed within the boundaries of what the owner considers his or her domicile (including any yard, gardens, or outbuildings around it) it becomes a magical alarm and defense. If someone who has hostile intent toward the owner and his or her belongings comes within a 20-foot radius of one of the Geese, it starts honking loudly--so loudly anyone within 500 feet can hear it and individuals close to the carving must roll a successful Fortitude saving throw (DC18) or become confused for one round and be deafened for 1d6+6 hours.

   If the trespassing intruder doesn't retreat the following round, the carving animates and attacks. It is treated like a 5th level Warrior with no Strength or Size modifiers to attack and damage rolls; it attacks twice each round, inflicting 1d4+2 piercing damage with its beak and 2d4+2 bludgeoning damage with its wings; it can only be damaged by spells, spell-like attacks, or enchanted weapons with a +2 or better bonus; each construct has 35 hit points. If reduced to 0 or lower, the construct crumbles to moldy sawdust and wood splinters. Once destroyed, all magic is dispersed from the construct.

   One, all, or just some of the Six Geese-a-Laying can be deployed to provide security for the owners domicile and surrounding area. Each carving functions as described above, and no power or function is lost if one or more are destroyed. 

   One quirky aspect to the Six Geese-a-Laying (and Brigid's favorite) is that every day 1d6 of the Geese actually produce an egg. The eggs appear under the carvings that "lay" shortly before sunrise. The eggs appear to be normal goose eggs in every way, despite their obviously arcane origins. A person who eats a meal that incorporates one or more of these magical goose eggs gains a +1 bonus to melee attacks and Intimidation skill checks.

 

 

   Although the Six Geese-a-Laying are created as one unit, they can be split up and used by several people. The person originally gifted with them can give any number of the Six Geese-a-Laying away as a gift to others without any of them losing their enchantments. The gifted geese become attuned to the recipient's domicile, just as they were to the original owner. (The carvings must be given without expectation of any compensation. If the owner expects anything from the recipient other than he or she being a little safer as a result of the gift. If one of the Six Geese-a-Laying is regifted with any selfish agendas, all of the carvings immediately lose their enchantment and crumble into moldy debris.

   Trivia: Brigid made the Six Geese-a-Laying to mimic aspects of standard alarms and defenses that dragons place their "lairs" and treasures. As for the eggs... goose eggs are one of Brigid's favorite things to eat when in human form.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, the Dragon Gave to Me...

Five Gold Rings
The Five Gold Rings is among the rarest of Christmas gifts: It is intended to be re-gifted. In fact, the person to whom Brigid the Christmas Dragon gives the Five Gold Rings will benefit if he or she chooses to give most the gold rings to others.

   The Five Gold Rings are each different in appearance, with four being slender and delicate and one being hefty. This larger ring is decorated with a representation of a red dragon's head and the phrase "Christmas Blessings" in a long-lost language that can only be deciphered through the use of a read magic spell. If the rings are subjected to a detect magic spell, they are found to radiate abjuration magic with a slight accent of divination magic. 

   Function: When the Five Gold Rings are first given to a character, each functions as a +1 ring of protection. Each time the recipient gives one of the slender rings away to another person as a gift, the hefty ring with the dragon's head gains an additional +1 bonus to its enchantment. Once all four of the other rings have been regifted, the fifth ring is a +5 ring of protection. The other rings remain +1 rings of protection.

    If the character to whom the Five Gold Rings is gifted give away rings with conditions attached or expectations, or tries to sell any of them, all rings immediately lose their enchantments. The slender rings can be sold to jewelers for base values of $25+2d10, while the heavier, ornate ring can be sold for $50+2d10. The ornate ring can be sold to a character who has knowledge of dragon magic and dragon society for a base value of $200.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, the Dragon Gave to Me...

Four Calling Birds
This piece of artwork is perfect for mantlepieces, coffee tables, or shelving units that aren't completely filled with books. It consists of four blackbird statuettes made from carefully shaped obsidian that are mounted on a slab of polished marble. If subjected to detect magic, the item radiates moderate illusion magic.

   Function: When placed inside the home or place of work of the owner of the Four Calling Birds, if he or she, or any person there with permission, says the word "Sing", the sculpture starts playing the speaker's favorite genre of music at a soft volume. By saying "Louder" or "Quieter", the character can adjust the volume up or down. The music continues until the character leaves the location or he or she says "Silence".

   The user of the Four Calling Birds can direct it to play music by a specific composer, band, rock group, singer--any music performed by any human, anywhere on Earth, at any time. The user must say "Sing and Play Falco".  The music doesn't even have to exist as a recording anywhere, nor does the performers of it need to be well-known. Any music that has been performed anywhere by anyone can be channeled through the magic of the Four Calling Birds.

   If the music exists (or existed at one time) as recordings, the user can specify collections by title, or series of albums and performances by mentioned specific years, such as "Sing and play music composed by Mike Oldfield from 1985 through 2015." In this example, the selection will be random, but it will all be performed by Mike Oldfield together with supporting vocalists and musicians. Also, when genres or a broad selection of a particular band or artist is played, any Christmas music that falls under those parameters is mixed in among the rest, no matter what time of year it is.

   If a user asks the Four Calling Birds to play Christmas music, the recording you can hear by clicking below is always in the mix somewhere. It also happens to be "Brigid's Happy Christmas Theme" if the film version of The Dragon Who Loves Christmas ever gets made!

On the Third Day of Christmas, the Dragon Gave to Me...

Three French Hens
This is one of twelve magic items that Brigid, the Dragon Who Loves Christmas, has invented after being inspired by "The Twelve Days of Christmas song. It is one of the more powerful ones, but it also leaves those upon whom it is gifted a little confused when they initially are gifted with it.

Brigid, the Dragon Who Loves Christmas, also loves kindhearted humans.
She gets enjoyment out of creating magic items and giving them as gifts.

   The Three French Hens is a finely crafted feather duster with an ornate dowel handle made from stained hard wood and a brush consisting of cockatrice feathers. When first acquired, it radiates a strong auras of summoning and transmutation magic with a hint of divination magic present also.

   Functions: To activate the Three French Hens, the character must be inside a place of residence or business. He or she then swipes its feathers once over a flat surface that might accumulate dust. The feather duster then disappears and three young women in French maid outfits, carrying a variety of housekeeping and cleaning items, appear in the room. They greet the character in French and then go about cleaning the home, office, or business.

   It takes the maids ten minutes to clean each room in the residence or commercial space, no matter how messy, filthy, or large it is. Each hallway and stairway takes five minutes. The maids leave each area they access exceptionally clean with everything organized and in its proper places. Whatever dust, dirt, debris (or worse) that the maids clean and sweep away is transmuted into magical energy and used to power the enchantments on the Three French Hens.

   The maids clean the entire residence or business area, but not the entire building if it contains multiple homes or business spaces operated by others. Once their work is done, the three maids vanish as suddenly as they appeared, and the Three French Hens reappears on the surface it was being used upon to trigger the summoning.

  The physical appearance of the French maids vary from summoning to summoning. Here are some examples:

 
 

 

   While the three maids are cleaning, they are constantly talking to each other in French. Some of the conversation is about their latest dates, but some of it is about celebrity scandals that are unfolding or some politician's transgression against his or her self-declared morals. (This constant chatter is where the name of the item is drawn from; Brigid thought it was an amusing idiomatic pun. Another joke that Brigid has built into the item is that there's a small chance that one of the magical maids bears a strong resemblance to her human form. Whenever the item is used, one of the Three French Hens looks like Brigid if 30 is rolled on 3d10.)

   If the owner and user of the Three French Hens knows French, he or she will be able to ask the maids one question per Charisma bonus point. They will chatter and gossip about the topic for 1d6+2 minutes before providing an answer. The quality of the answer varies randomly according to a random d6 roll.

Roll    Three French Hens Answer

1          Completely accurate.

2          Somewhat accurate but with random rumor added.

3          Somewhat accurate but with false sexual aspect added.

4          Completely inaccurate and very salacious.

5          Completely inaccurate and so ridiculous it is obviously not true.

6          Completely accurate.

   The summoned maids clean the domicile or commercial space they've been summoned into without question or hesitation, be it picking up the aftermath of a rave or cleaning up the site of a gory mass murder. Their cleaning and straightening methods are marked with the sort of precision that a dragon inventories his or her hoard.

   The maids will never initiate combat. If even one of them is attacked, all three vanish. The attacker is subjected to a curse that inflicts a -3 to all skill checks and attack rolls until the attacker finds a dragon to cast remove curse on him or her.

   During a 12-month period that goes from February 1 through January 31 (roughly, with about a two-week window of variance from the third week of January through the first week of February), the Three French Hens can typically be used a total of 12 times. Whether the owner uses the item once a day or once a month, it stops working after its 12th use. However, on December 25, it becomes active again and is recharged with 12 more uses/charges. (The item never has more than 12 charges. Even if charges remain on December 24, the number resets to 12.)

   

Brigid always needs to call upon the Three French Hens on Christmas Day.

 

On the Second Day of Christmas, the Dragon Gave to Me...

Two Turtle Doves

This pair of small silver lapel pins are identical representation of a dove in flight. If detect magic is used on them, they radiate abjuration and summoning magic. The two turtle doves is treated as one item, but the two pins that it consists of it is intended to be used by two different individuals.

   Function: When worn on a character's collar or lapel, it grants a +1 bonus to all Bargain, Bluff, and Diplomacy skill checks, as the item's enchantment makes the wearer seem inherently more likable.
   Perhaps an even more important function of two turtle doves is that it provides a magical link between the person to whom two turtle doves was gifted by Brigid and a person that is given one of the two pins to wear. The two characters can, by taking a full round action and picturing the other person in his or her mind, get a sense of how that person is physically and mentally--whether they are injured, scared, sleeping, unconscious, and so on. On the round immediately following, the character may take a second full round action to cause him- or herself to be magically transported to a safe location within line-of-sight of the other wearer of a turtle dove pin. If it is not possible to appear in a safe location within line-of-sight, the character appears as closely as possible. A successful Listen or Search skill check (DC dependent on location) will give him or her enough clues to discern where the one they've come to help is.

   Trivia: Brigid created this item to partially mimic a dragon's ability to locate things they are very familiar with and very fond of (a particular coin, a favorite magic sword, a loyal friend, and so on).

"Friends look out for each other. Friends are the greatest treasure!"