The story so far...

"Welcome to the North Pole!" you hear as you step down off the sleigh, freshly arrived after a smooth and on-time flight. The greeting comes from a sharply dressed elf, giving you a warm smile and wave. "I'm Red, Santa's Chief of Staff," he introduces himself. This must be the elf you've been in contact with to coordinate your trip.

Before you can respond, you get interrupted by shouts of "Red! Red!" A second elf comes running up, frantically waving her arms. The two elves enter into a furious whispered conversation. You watch Red become increasingly distressed. Red buries his face in his hands as they conclude their conversation and the other elf runs off. He gathers himself with a deep breath before turning back to you.

"I'm terribly sorry about that. That was rude of us. It's so lovely that you're able to join us here," he says, visibly making an effort to appear friendly and cheerful. He takes a deep breath again before continuing, "Unfortunately, we're in a bit of a crisis right now. You see, Santa has gone missing. We've been looking all over, and we don't know where he is... Oh sugarplums! What are we going to do…" he says as he drops his head back into his hands.

"I do apologize," he says, swallowing hard. "I know you came all this way, but I'm going to have to postpone some of the activities that we had planned for you. All of the elves are busy ramping up production for Christmas, and I'm the only one who can make time to search for Santa. It's a real puzzle where he could have gone… oh, and I've only just started learning to solve puzzles..."

Wait a second, you like puzzles! You quickly offer to help Red with his search.

"Really?!" he responds with relief. "Oh, thank you so much. No wonder you're at the top of the Nice list." He beckons you to follow as he sets off towards the village, saying "First, we'll go search…"