Containment Site Sierra-Papa-Foxtrot - Hexmas Hex 0301
My contribution to the Christmas 2025 blogwagon, written with apologies to Max Gladstone. Bonus points if you know why he deserves said apology.
Neighbors
North, Northeast, Northwest: The Everfrost
Southeast: The Valley of Eternal Cheer
South: Castle Claus
Southwest: The Poison Swamp
On Approach
A squat, industrial gingerbread building glares out from amidst scraggly, ragged pine trees with few needles left. The air hums with a sickly-sweet thrum.
| d4 | Approach Encounters |
|---|---|
| 1 | Marcel, a dying nutcracker, collapses in front of you. In his pockets is a drawing of a beautiful ballerina. |
| 2 | An elite squad of 4 mouse soldiers make camp after chasing out another party of adventurers. They grouse about Garamond, saying "he will let anyone through for a good-quality candy cane. Why is he on guard duty?" |
| 3 | A geyser of B-grade cheer erupts from the ground unexpectedly, smelling of fruit and sugar. Consumption immediately poisons the user, granting them dreams of being tied up and having their blood extracted. Investigation after the geyser stops flowing reveals a septic tank buried 5 feet below the surface. |
| 4 | 2 elven researchers argue about "proper extraction methods", referencing pumps, fluids, and "concentrated C-grade cheer." They are on their way to the facility and each carry a research pass with the stamp of the Lord in Red. |
The Facility
A massive gingerbread wall surrounds a small connected cluster of low buildings. Candy-floss barbed wire prevents easy climbing. 6 watchtowers are manned by mouse-soldiers wielding candy-cane cannons - shift change every 3 hours.
At the gate, Garamond (scarred, tired of this shit, candy addict) asks for identification from the Lord in Red. He is only supposed to let in visitors with research visas from Kringle, but is extremely vulnerable to persuasion if presented with a candy cane.
Ground Floor
The main floor of the building houses the mouse-regiment who watches over the facility. Within, you can find barracks, a canteen, and an armory.
The elevator to Basement 1 is always guarded, but not especially carefully. Cambria (sweaty, chatty, lonely) is nominally in charge of the post; she assumes that anyone on the inside has permission with even the vaguest excuse. Her mouse-rapier is never on her actual belt, but she is a skilled martial artist.
Basement 1
Storage rooms full of filing cabinets with records of experiments and schematics of machinery. Raw materials are gathered in stockrooms. Two unguarded staircases lead down to Basement 2.
- Records of experiments suggest that successful extraction of Subject Sierra-Papa-Foxtrot began 2 winters ago. Levels of C-grade cheer have been stable since then, but incursions of nutcracker insurgents have been increasing.
- Schematics of machinery depict huge syringes, artificial pumping systems the size of houses, and a vast network of piping underneath the surface of the hex.
- The raw materials are all sized for an enormous project. Huge sheets of metal, rubber tubing you could drive a sleigh through, and circuit boards for centralized control.
Roll 1d6 every exploration turn - on a 1, a mouse-guard challenges the PCs and asks for identification. On a 2, a researcher does the same.
Basement 2
Laboratories full of vials of extracted cheer, gaggles of researchers working on refining plans, and a brig containing Arthur, a researcher who protested against the project.
- Extracted cheer grants a significant bonus to charisma and combat prowess for 1 hour, but grants an extravagant hangover for 3 hours afterwards.
- The plans depict a ballerina marked up like an acupuncturist's diagram. Subject Sierra-Papa-Foxtrot is connected to centrifuges that transform her blood into Christmas (C-grade) cheer. A- and B- grade is recycled and piped into septic tanks across the hex.
- Arthur believes that the sugar plum fairy is still alive and conscious. He tried to free her, but was foiled by other researchers, who cited fears of her seeking revenge. He will tell the PCs what he knows about the project (i.e., all the details above) and seek to aid them if they agree with his goal of freeing her.
Containment Chamber
The mind cannot comprehend the space below. It should be the size of a cavern or an enormous cave, but as soon as one constructs a frame of reference, the space seems to get larger.
A sleeping sugar plum fairy, who would dwarf any city's skyline were she awake, is chained and being drained of blood here. The air reeks of candied fruit and processed sugar. Her blood is piped through massive centrifuges which expel weaponized Christmas cheer, sent through pipes down south to Castle Claus for his war-engines.
If freed, she will awaken and seek her revenge on all outposts of Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, the Lord in Red. Woe betide any who oppose her.