Khaarchana (Companions of Christmas)

One of the SchweizerCraft "Companions of Christmas" series (#XmasF 12)

Khaarchana is the granddaughter of both Chyskhaan on her mother’s side and Ekhe Dyll on her father’s. From birth, she learned to bounce back and forth between their very different holiday celebrations and expectations. Chyskhaan’s reverent and solemn traditionalism and Ekhe’s edacious, riotous merrymaking are often at stark contrast, as are the grandfathers themselves: Chyskhaan has, on more than one occasion, called Ekhe a classless, gluttonous yokel, and Ekhe has let Chyskhaan know that the former considers the latter a stuffy, bumptious snob.

When the winter giftgivers were, for a generation, expelled from Russia following its revolution, Khaarchana realized that children across Siberia would suffer greatly from the absence of her grandfathers. Despite the danger posed by Stalin’s minions and the difficulty in reconciling the two seemingly different approaches to the holidays, Khaarchana decided to fill their shoes, making sure that no child in (what is now) the Sakha republic would go without during winter festivities, and that the festivities themselves would be as rich and wonderful as they had ever been.

Going in with no experience, she consulted the longtime friend and colleague of both grandfathers, Santa Claus, whose advice was to be true to herself. The celebrations of the winter holidays are always changing and growing, and reverence and merrymaking needn’t be mutually exclusive. Knowing the peril that her mission would put her in, Santa gave Khaarchana a magical snowflake, which, when worn on her head, would render her invisible, allowing her to plan and maneuver under the eyes of the Russian secret police, only removing it and allowing herself to be seen on the New Year when she would hand out the presents she had strategically hidden in homes across Siberia.

When her grandfathers were eventually permitted to return to the Russian-controlled region, they found that Khaarchana had kept the spirit of love and giving alive during their absence, and had unified their two approaches into one one messy, inconsistent, glorious celebration. Though both were resistant to change, and to each other, Chyskhaan and Ehke began to accompany Khaarchana on her rounds, and, though they still bicker like old hens, they have become close friends, while Khaarchana, in addition to her role as giftgiver, is the patron of all who have to navigate the sometimes-conflicting holiday celebrations (and schedules) of more than one family.

1/4” Baltic Birch, roughly 3.12” tall

This figure can be purchased individually here, or with the 25-figure Advent Collection.

Figure comes with a 2.75 x 8.5” card telling her story. The card fits in the story shelf on the Santa’s Workshop DisPlayset.