The Perchten are quite perturbed. If you don't know who the Perchten are, we may already be in trouble!
The Perchten are the offspring of the fabled Frau Perchta, (known as The Bright One), an ancient winter goddess figure from pre-Christian Alpine paganism. Along with her entourage, she would drive out the wicked spirits of winter and bring good luck and a fruitful spring during the Twelvetide period (after Christmas).
By the time Krampus came along centuries later, Fra Perchten had grown weary of punishing the indolent and greedy, and she was thrilled to see that Krampus punished malefactors when they were young, before they could grow into ne'er-do-wells whom Frau Perchta would be obliged to discipline.
The arrival of the generous Greek bishop St. Nicholas in the 4th century A.D. made for a perfect foil to Krampus' punishments, and it didn't take long 'til the duo had established a good cop / bad cop routine spanning December 5-6. Frau Perchta then brought up the rear by covering the 12 days of Christmas, beginning December 25 and ending January 6 with Epiphany.
Things had been humming along nicely since the Middle Ages, until just recently when Krampus decided to pack it in and retire to the beach. "In an age when every kid gets a reward for participating and children are allowed to do whatever they want, there's really no need for me anymore," his caprineness was quoted as saying.
Frau Perchta is beside herself, overwhelmed by the increase in her workload posed by Krampus' departure.
And so she and her Perchten are counting on you to help lure Krampus back into service, lest the streets be overrun by badly behaved children who will turn into worsely behaved adults!
Show Krampus he matters by completing the following quest in his honor. Let's go!