eulalia | Veridia Round 7: Drustan (Reply)

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Yessss, it's finally Dunk's round.
Throughout Thessos, you might see some familiar faces—along with my own Clara Blanch from Middleground, I grabbed some sims who were shared by various community members and townified them. I'll try to point them out when they show up.

Everything about Thessos is so different, it makes Drustan's head spin, from the mix of languages shouted across the docks to the bright, clear color of the sky. Even the sweet air and the sea are different. At home, the sea is a gray and churning thing, but here it's so calm and blue. The sailors laughed at Drustan's awe at the calmness and told him that winter would bring storms to the area, and that he had better be sure he was staying that long, for he would find few willing to cross the sea then. That suits him just fine; he's planning to stay through to spring. After that, who knows?

The library and its associated buildings aren't hard to find, perched atop the hill above the town. There's a dormitory there for visitors to the library. He makes his way up, sweat dripping down his face and spine in the hot sun, and only pauses to gawk at the big white and red temple with its garden and statues. The shrine in Veridia suddenly seems very small in comparison to this mansion for the gods.

Clerk: All set! Rent for the room is due each Monday after this.

Drustan: Thanks. I like your hat.

Clerk: Thank you. You know, you might want to head over to the market and find something cooler to wear. You're going to be sweating your butt off in all that heavy wool.

Drustan: Yeah... I'm getting that impression.

He's fortunate enough to find a tunic and even sandals that fit him well enough at a stall in the market selling secondhand things. It is a lot more comfortable, even if not wearing trousers is going to take him a minute to get used to. The market with all its many stalls and buildings crammed together is a little overwhelming right now, though, so Drustan skedaddles back up to his true destination: the Library of Pelusa.

~~Clara~~ Parisa thinks my choice of decor is hilarious. Typical.

Drustan: Hello, errrr—I was told to look for someone here named Parisa?

Parisa: You're lookin' at her. Welcome to the library! I'm the current keeper here.

Drustan: Oh, uh, I'm Drustan. My father visited the library once and told me I ought to introduce myself to you if you were still here.

Parisa: Who's your father, boy?

Drustan: Liu Xiang. But that was a long time ago, so if you don't remember—

Parisa: Of course I remember him! Charming young man. Utterly besotted with both literature and his traveling companion.

Drustan: Ah, that's my other father. Eisu.

Parisa: I see, I see. So you've come here to study as well? What is it you're interested in?

Drustan: I'm... not entirely sure yet. A bit of everything, I guess.

Parisa: Hm, well, you should come back tomorrow and sit in on some of the lectures. And I'll have to give you a tour of the library! Come on, let's get to it.

Parisa is not quite what Drustan expected. She's very... exuberant, for an old scholar. She shows Drustan the archives and explains the library's organization system and what one is and isn't allowed to do with the scrolls and books. It's mind-boggling to look at the shelves and imagine all the information waiting to be found within them. There are even special tables set up for particularly dedicated visitors to copy books, so that they may take them home even as the originals stay safely within the library.

* * *

There's only one other person currently staying in the scholar's dormitory, a young woman named Chen Zhi. Drustan sees her occasionally playing some game with their landlady, but mostly she keeps long hours at the library, spending even more time there than he does. It doesn't help that Drustan mostly keeps to himself unless someone approaches him.

The library is open to all here. Several of the residents seem to come to study, but there are others, like a boy who just comes to reread several of the storybooks that the library houses, or a woman from town who stops by regularly to play a board game with Parisa.

There's another newcomer to the isle who stops Drustan to introduce himself—Katatty's Duncan Huckleberry of the Robin River round robin legacy fame! You guys know I love a good fuckboy in my game. Between his bookworm trait and all the local beauties he could potentially woo, I thought he'd love Thessos.

Duncan: Hey, man! I've seen you around the library and thought I'd say hello. I'm Duncan.

Drustan: Drustan. I'm Drustan, I mean. Duncan—that's an Avalonii name. Are you from the island? I came here from Abona.

Duncan: My parents were. A little north of you, I think? They were traders, had their own boat and everything. Me, I feel like I've been everywhere!

Drustan: I see. Did you come here to study too

Duncan: Eh, well, I got into a little trouble where I was living before—nothing illegal! Just a pissed off husband or two... anyway, I figured, sun, beautiful ladies, and the library's pretty interesting too, might as well come here. There's loads of stuff here to keep a man's interest. Like the theater!

Drustan and Duncan actually get on amazingly, which I'm so amused by.

Drustan: Uh... thanks for introducing yourself. It was nice to talk. I guess I didn't realize, but I've been feeling a little lonely.

Duncan: No problem. Hey, you should come out to the tavern later! I'll show you the local card games and make sure you don't get swindled the first time, hah.

This is Duncan's landlady, btw. Penelope owns a small vineyard and lets travelers stay in her villa in exchange for work. It doesn't hurt that this lodger is pretty easy on the eyes, huh, Penelope?

Unfortunately, if Duncan is interested in Penelope, he has some stiff competition in the form of Echo the pirate. I mean, look how handsome this man is, and he's a pirate? He's literally a romance hero come to life.

* * *

While visiting the market the next day, Drustan meets Parisa's assistant, Kynna.

He is, unfortunately, back to his normal charming self.

Alexios Quickhand: Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious~
Dude, how the fuck did you get here? Were you on the boat with Drustan? Did things get too hot in Veridia for you after that last heist???

Oh no, the hot goss that Glamaer almost burned down his house ten years ago is spreading to other countries now.

This bartender looks suspiciously familiar.

Drustan has not gotten swindled out of all his money yet in tavern card games. So disappointing.

* * *

I meticulously crafted that staircase pathway down the slope so sims wouldn't whine about the routing and does anyone use it? NO!!

Oh, wait, Granny Frogspawn (from virtualpeople) used it. Thank you, Granny, I appreciate you so much.

I've been keeping an eye on Chen Zhi while playing Drustan, and I have to say, she has excellent taste, like here, autonomously flirting with local Junia (my beloved Judith from Epi's amazing Foxfire Forest. Jonas is here too, of course, because I couldn't stand to separate them, but I rarely see him outside the library).

Zhi: Hi there. I'm shocked to see you outside of the dormitory or the library.

Drustan: I could say the same about you.

Zhi: True!

Zhi: Thanks for cooking.

Drustan: Oh, sure... no problem?

Now that they've actually starting talking, Drustan finds that Chen Zhi is a rather interesting woman. It turns out that she's from the same country as his father Xiang, though from a different region entirely. She was studying medicine at home, but heard about the Library of Pelusa's collection of medical texts and got a bug in her brain about studying and comparing how different cultures treat patients.

Zhi: There are many things we don't know, but I believe that if you combine the knowledge from each place, you end up with a more complete picture of the body and how to treat its maladies.

Drustan: Huh. That makes sense. That's very.... ambitious.

Zhi: Well, I am ambitious. Maybe you could tell me some about how medicine is practiced in... what is the place you're from called again?

Drustan: Abona. Or, well, the isle is Avalon. But I don't really know much, so I don't think I'd be helpful... my uncle is married to our local healer and I just take whatever herbs she tells me to when I get sick.

Zhi: Hmm. What did you come here to study?

Drustan: Um... everything?

Zhi: Now that's ambitious.

Drustan: Parisa keeps telling me I should narrow my focus, but there's just too much interesting stuff. It's like I start on one topic and another is mentioned and catches my interest and I go haring off.

* * *

Drustan: So I was thinking, I've been here for a little while, but I've hardly seen anything but the library and the market...

Zhi: And the beach.

Drustan: Right. I was thinking of taking a break from the library and visiting some of the sights around the island. Want to come along?

Zhi: That sounds fun. I could use a break too.

Drustan: This place is huge.

Zhi: I've seen bigger shrines. It is very pretty, though.

Drustan: Not as pretty as you are.

Zhi: *laughs* I'm not sure we're comparable, but thank you. Flatterer.

The pair visits the theater too, listening to a harp performance with cups of wine from the concession stand, before returning up the hill to the dormitory.

Drustan: So, uh, I'd really like it if I could kiss you.

Zhi: Please. In fact... I wouldn't say no to more than kissing, if you get what I'm saying?

Chen Zhi is definitely someone who knows what she wants.

* * *

Who knew all Drustan needed to make more friends was to move thousands of miles away?

Never mind.

Drustan has quickly become infatuated with Zhi. He's smart enough to know that's what it is—infatuation—but... if neither of them wants anything more serious, why not just enjoy it for what it is?

lmaoooo. As soon as Drustan was leaving the lot, SOMEONE (Starri, who was supposed to be another tourist and is now... a fake tourist I guess) swooped in to try to charm Zhi off her feet. Good for her.