Some facts about Varvara and Faeena’s home (Patreon)

If you're bored, I suggest you read the long post about Faeena and Varvara's home that I published in November. It's a very interesting post!

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Hello everyone, this is a post in which I will share some interesting facts about the sisters' house! This location is perhaps the most important in the entire game, and I approached its creation thoroughly. In addition, it was with the main characters' house that the creation of the game began in 2020 (more precisely, not even with the house itself, but with Faeena Shay's room). At that time, it looked like this:

Her room has evolved quite a bit since then, hasn't it? And Faeena herself has undergone many metamorphoses.

1) Let's start with the windows and front door. The unusual shapes of the windows and doors in the sisters' house are the direct influence of the architect, who was sent from the nymphaid clan of Xia in the Crab Archipelago, with the help of Violetta Moray and her connections. The Crab Archipelago and the small continental country of Hai An to the north are, in general, the Asian part of the world of Sikets, and the nymphaid clans living there are, of course, also based on Asian culture. For example, this is what the main characters' house looks like from the outside:

And this is what the House of Knowledge looks like, where the Archon of the clan, his family, and other employees of the House live, including experts in the psychomagical craft (commonly referred to as wizards or sorcerers), specialists in creating and casting spells, alchemists and chemists, archivists, librarians, accountants, and other collectors and keepers of knowledge:

The architect of the Xia clan himself will also appear in the game's storyline: he will come to visit the sisters, but will get into a little trouble along the way. And Faeena will have to help him. His appearance has not yet been finalized, but most likely he/she will be a dryad-kirin, which I have already drawn once before:

Dryads-kirins, as the name suggests, are based on qilin from Asian mythology. They are also based on kirins from My Little Pony!

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2) Why is Varvara's room so messy? Where did she get her homemade Stone Age spears, pile of computer parts, mountains of dishes, various posters, car parts, an entire engine, a guitar, and a skateboard? As soon as she and her sister finished building their house, Varvara finally got her own room (living in the Moray clan with her sister in a kind of dormitory, she and Faeena shared one small room between them, and after a couple of weeks of living like that, they got so tired of each other that they were ready to move out at the first opportunity; Fortunately, it was then that Violetta Moray, the Matriarch, chose Faeena for the position of the Mother of the Kin for the future Shay clan, and soon the two sisters, along with other pilgrims, set out to conquer Blue Forest, a large forest area near the city of Koboldsk). Along with the room, she also gained unlimited access to the city of Koboldsk, which, as it turned out, was full of all sorts of curiosities and interesting personalities ready to share their knowledge and skills. Collecting everything that might interest her curious nature, meeting colorful people, and joining various clubs and groups, Varvara filled her room with all sorts of junk within a month, which she loved immensely and couldn't even think of parting with. She became interested in computer technology, cars and their inner workings, electronics, extreme hiking and survival in the forest, cuisines and recipes from around the world, playing musical instruments, movies and computer games, digital drawing on a tablet, and even assembled her own gaming PC. However, Faeena is still extremely unhappy with the fact that Varya has turned her room into a “junk room”, as she herself has repeatedly said. Faeena herself is a proponent of more or less acceptable order and does not allow herself to clutter up her room or the house in general, although she does not intend to clean Varvara's room, as she does not consider it her responsibility.

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3) Faeena also has a bunch of souvenirs and relics that have traveled with her from the dormitory in the Moray clan to her own room in her own house: three shaman masks, a dream moon, a magic circle, a pot with gold coins, an haracube, and a golden lama statuette:

Faeena hung the masks above the fireplace, placed the moon of dreams on one of the decorative roots growing directly out of the wall, and put the pot, haracube, and llama on a shelf in the cupboard. The moon of dreams was a gift from her late mother and a relic that wards off nightmares and attracts good dreams. The magic circle with lit candles was a standard element of nymphaid home decor, a symbol of the calm magical currents flowing through the bodies of nymphaids. The shaman masks and the pot of gold were legitimate spoils from archaeological excavations in which Faeena had actively participated in her youth. Experts from the magical community have cleansed the finds of residual traces of spells and magic, and now they are nothing more than beautiful trinkets, the few remaining remnants of long-vanished nymphaid’s tribes and clans. The haracube is a gift from Violetta Moray and a farewell gift for the young Mother of the Kin on her thorny path: all sides of the cube are covered with motivational and encouraging inscriptions in the Old Nymphaid language, which, however, is unknown to Faeena. But she believes that the inscriptions on the cube are indeed meant to motivate her not to give up and always walk tall with her head held high. The llama figurine is a special gift from a former admirer, about whom few people know. Even Varvara, with her characteristic persistence and curiosity, knows almost nothing about this mysterious faun, who met her sister back when Varvara herself had barely learned to walk steadily on her hooves. Who this faun was, where he disappeared to, and why Faeena prefers not to talk about him, but continues to keep his gift in the most prominent place - Varvara, no matter how hard she tries to get information out of her sister, still does not know. Although she really wants to.

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4) There is a safe in Faeena's room where she keeps the cash she receives from trading with humans (the nymphaids of Sikets do not have their own currency, nor do they have market relations or trade, except for barter), as well as all kinds of particularly valuable items that members of the Shay clan sometimes bring her for safekeeping. As Mother of the Kin, Faeena greatly values the trust of her clan and tries to justify it at every opportunity. Her worst nightmare is to become a Mother of the Kin unworthy of her own clan and be exiled and eternally disgraced.

With the money earned from trading with human merchants and companies, Faeena purchases necessary materials for the clan (most often building materials, tools, electronics, and accessories) from other human merchants and companies. Incidentally, this will form the basis of the plot for one of the game's levels.

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5) In the latest version of the location, the bathroom was replaced with a meditation room. It was decided that the nymphaids of the Shay clan would visit a public bath, something like the thermae of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Baths are a great place not only to wash and clean your fur, but also to get a massage, a manicure for your fingers, hooves, and antlers, rub oils into your skin, and hear the latest rumors and gossip. The meditation room, as the name suggests, is for meditation. Meditation, in turn, is necessary to restore magical and psychic powers in the body. Using magic is very taxing on the body and mental state, and any nymphaid who has cast spells needs to restore their strength. Of course, you can restore your strength by consuming large amounts of calories, but not every clan has enough food to feed spellcasters to their hearts' content, especially since all nymphaids, young and old, from ordinary farmers to Archons, love to cast spells - teleportation, levitation of objects, remote control of various mechanisms, taming of wild and domestic animals, transmutation of matter, and much more. This is especially true for the Shay clan, which is not yet able to meet its own food needs and is dependent on the maternal clan of Moray. Therefore, every residential building in the clan must have a meditation room — a place where you can light incense, sit in a comfortable position in the middle of the Sign of Restoration drawn on the floor, clear your mind of junk thoughts, worries, and anxieties, and, thinking about good things, replenish your energy for free.

On the table in the meditation room, in addition to vessels with oils and incense sticks, there are also all the sisters' bath and cosmetic accessories: shampoos, hairbrushes, creams, lotions, skin scrapers, nail files, horn files, and hoof files. The Sign of Restoration, inscribed on the floor of the room, also helps in teleporting directly to the bathhouse buildings, so that if desired, there is no need to waste time and tire oneself walking down the street; instead, one can find oneself directly in the sauna with a towel on one's body, and from the sauna, teleport directly home. Conveniently!

The banner hanging above the table reads: “Глина поможет, глина покажет, глина научит” (“Clay will help, clay will show, clay will teach”) These are words from Yegor Letov's song “Clay Will Teach” Yegor Letov's work will often appear in my game because he is my favorite poet and musician, and his work has shaped my philosophy of life and my view of the world. There will also be many references to other musicians, artists, and writers, which curious players will be able to find throughout the game.

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6) The main characters' house is also as colorful as a patchwork quilt. However, this is true of every other house in the Shay clan. This is because many of the items that furnish the houses of the nymphaids  of the Shay clan were gifts from other clans, mostly from the maternal clan of Moray. Many nymphaids  gave the pilgrims unnecessary and superfluous things, and some even made or bought new ones - tables, wardrobes, household appliances, beds, sofas, kitchen sets, shelves, paintings, books, and much more. And that's not counting tools, ready-made materials, and resources such as cans of paint, roofing felt, tiles, wallpaper, stone, brick, clay, wood, metal, and fuel. Thus, having gathered all these goods, the Shay clan acquired an impressive warehouse of all sorts of things, which they began to use to furnish their newly built houses and other properties. This is evident in the sisters' house: they have a pile of various fittings, often very different from each other. But, as they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, and sisters, having studied their clan's large belongings, furnished their home in such a way as to not only make the most profitable and practical use of the available space, but also to create a cozy home.

Faeena and Varvara also have individual gifts, such as a painted samovar and a set of painted saucers and cups - an old gift from the Father of the Kin of the spotted nymphaid clan from Eastern Severoust. And the screen that separates the kitchen from the small storage room is also a gift from one of the clans. In general, the sisters have many gifts, and their number has increased especially since Faeena became the leader of the Shay clan.

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7) Do you know why there is a pot with a large cluster of crystals in the hallway of the house? In short, it is an electric field generator that allows you to generate and transmit electricity within a small radius without wires and use electrical appliances without the need for a physical connection to the mains for operation or recharging. Yes, it's a kind of Tesla tower, only smaller and based on fantasy minerals and magic. Such crystals of various shapes and sizes are present in many nymphaids’ homes and households, ensuring the smooth operation of the few electrical appliances that nymphaids use: most often, these are lamps, refrigerators, electric stoves, boilers, smartphones, and computers obtained from humans. In the sisters' house, for example, there are plenty of electrical appliances, most of which Varvara acquired during her numerous trips to Koboldsk. She does not specify where and how exactly, and Faeena does not particularly ask.

The crystal cluster is buried in the ground and placed in a flower pot. It stands in a corner hung with plaster plaques carved with runes that regulate the crystal's operation: voltage, frequency, number of electrical appliances connected, operating schedule, planned shutdowns for cleaning and soil replacement. In general, the Shay clan has a few specialists who work with such crystals, and another, most impressive and unusual one will be encountered in the game.

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8) And this is a small memorial dedicated to Matilda Moray, the mother of Faeena and Varvara. The mother of the two sisters died shortly before Faeena received an offer to become the Mother of the Clan Shay.

With her death, discord and constant conflict entered the lives of the two sisters, but after a change of scenery and finding new meaning in their lives, as well as thanks to the long-awaited separate rooms, Faeena and Varvara calmed down a little and quarreled less and less. The memorial includes a large portrait of Matilda (two small portraits also stand in Faeena and Varvara's rooms), a granite altar with two candles, and a shelf on which stands an urn with Matilda's ashes. In this way, the sisters immortalized the memory of their mother. However, while Varvara truly loved Matilda and always tried to stay close to her, Faeena was more distant toward her mother and often tried to avoid her. And, of course, she took the news of her death more calmly, unlike Varvara, who almost fell into depression. However, as I wrote earlier, Faeena soon became the Mother of the Shay clan, the sisters' lives changed dramatically and took a new, happier turn, and only memories like this memorial remained from their old life.

Portrait painted by artist Helga Wojik.