Damyan's Links
Damyan never judges a book by its cover— she first approached Sasha brightly while she was meeting an old friend at his workplace. You could say that Sasha has become one of her favorite people, and she has a lot of favourites! Damyan really enjoys talking to him and especially likes seeing him smile, so she brings him back a variation of (a sometimes odd-looking) teddy bear from several of the regions she’s travelled to.
Oftentimes, when Sasha’s hard to read expressions would appear, Damyan would wonder if he actually enjoys her company, but he surely must! She can sense a gentle calmness settle whenever she’s around. Well, that is until she accidentally causes him trouble. One day, she really hopes that Sasha can come along with her to see all the beautiful things she’s experienced and seen outside of Snezhnaya.
Looking adorable carrying her round tank, Sasha's first impression of Damyan was that of a bouncy, energetic snail. It did not take many encounters for him to appreciate Damyan's thoughtful nature. Knowing her love for reading, Sasha always keeps the latest published story book ready in his drawer. That way, whenever she stops by with a teddy bear for him, he can gift something in return. Despite his unease towards topics of foreign regions, Sasha has learnt to mask his anxiety over the numerous times Damyan has shared her travel experiences; he wouldn't want the girl to feel bad for talking about something she likes, after all. Nonetheless, their chats often leave Sasha wondering how his view on the rest of Teyvat would change if he had led a different life. He is heartened by the positive experiences Damyan has, albeit a tiny bit concerned of her solo travel considering how she can sometimes stir up trouble. Perhaps when he is better rested, he can turn his passing remark of wanting to join Damyan on a trip into palpable reality.
Damyan, oblivious to Morina’s feelings of anger, was in fact excited to meet someone new as usual. From the little snippets she heard about Morina from her father, she had managed to conjure up an image of a girl with a sharp gaze and intelligent nature. She ended up overthinking herself into sleep; Would such a smart girl (her age?) even want to be her friend?
Following the drawings Valerian had drawn for her, Damyan ended up walking into four hilichurl camps and ultimately exhausted her strength running away. She ended up camping outside the next few days she was in Mondstadt, but perhaps some other time she can head into town and get to meet Morina.
Morina heard about Damyan from Valerian that one time he was late to come home for 3 whole days. She made sure to be extra picky about dinner afterwards so her father will know she's angry. At the very least, he said he wrote their address down for Damyan, which means she won't know where to find them yet. Morina just hopes Damyan doesn't think of driectly asking Mondstadters. "No, I don't need friends!"
Damyan was thrilled to have someone to talk to while traveling, especially someone with such an intense aura! Valerian would diligently listen to her blabbering away about this and that, giving great advice and input every so often. His patience and surprising gentleness was very comforting to her, but she hoped he wasn’t just good at hiding the pain of playing along with her. (He seems very used to this!)
Over time, Damyan’s curiosity got the better of her as she pushed to know more about Valerian and his life. In the end, Valerian still remains largely mysterious, but Damyan thinks it only adds to his charm. She finds his serious nature and dry comments to be really entertaining, even though she can’t exactly pinpoint what is a joke and what isn’t.
The notebook Damyan was gifted is assumed to be Valerian’s way of showing her his “artistic” side— perhaps steps to interpretive dance? Or maybe some of his daughter's scribbling got mixed up in there. She hardly understands how this book is related to monsters in any way, but she is sure it will come in handy! Either way, Damyan is excited to give Valerian and his family a visit in Mondstadt.
A small child Valerian first came across while undertaking a bounty. The two travelled for a short while together since they were headed in the same direction. It was rather curious to see someone as young as her travelling alone. However, she seemed reluctant to share more about herself beyond her search for her brothers. In the time they interacted, Valerian came to know Damyan as a spirited child with a tendency to ignore her surroundings once she sets sights on a goal. For his own peace of mind, he passed her a notebook filled with observations of how best to react when encountering local monsters + how to contact his family in Mondstadt if she visits. Unfortunately for 3000 years of life, this man never thought of improving his handwriting. It probably looks like random scribbles. To top it all off, he subconsciously tagged along Damyan's route for an extra day and had to spend more time to return on track. Morina threw a tantrum over his late return and somehow it only got worse when he explained himself. Pain.
Damyan first met Elena while looking around for odd trinkets and spare gears for her ghost globe. It took a bit of warming up, but Damyan’s smile brightened every time the pretty shopkeeper lady would say more than a soft hello or goodbye. It was always fun to see whether she was in on certain days Damyan was in town. When business was slow, Damyan would ask Elena if she had any stories or fairytales to tell to add to her collection— even reading her a story as well, from “The Ugly Duckling, Little Matchgirl, Little Mermaid,” etc. It was always nice to have Elena read to her too.
These few interactions also got the two to speak about their experiences, about struggles and worries for the future. It was a rare instance when Damyan felt assured enough to open up as well, especially regarding losing hope. Whatever is was Elena was struggling with seemed difficult to understand, but complex, lonely, and scary. She hoped she can be there for Elena as someone who was reliable and comforting. Perhaps someday, they can all travel somewhere less harsh, warm and full of hope.
When Elena first settled in her new job, she found it very hard to imagine a "small girl carrying a vacuum cleaner on her back" that the townspeople described. However, as soon as she saw her, Elena recognised Damyan at once. She didn't expect the girl to visit her shop often, but it was always nice to have the refreshing breath of childlike innocence around. To top it off, Elena had started reading to Damyan and admittedly had gotten much more confident in herself from the storytelling. (It was a bit awkward at first, but she got some tips from a friend who works closely with children.) Over time, the two grew closer—enough for Elena to think this must be what having a younger sibling would have felt like. It made Elena much more careful when speaking with Damyan, seeing it unfair to impose any of her personal problems on the young child. This was in spite of how much Damyan seemed willing to help. She does, however, let Damyan in about a secret goal of hers: "Once I save enough money, I'll move to Sumeru!"—because it was much warmer there (from what Damyan described in stories of her travels) and surely much better climate for raising hedgehogs(?). She would set aside a room for Damyan too, if she ever wanted to stay over. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.
Damyan got to know Alexei while she was growing up, jumping from place to place alongside her two older brothers. Alexei is like a cool big sister to Damyan, though even she has a hard time keeping up with the older girl (especially when it comes to anything rock related.)
Since Alexei had no way of leaving Snezhnaya at the moment, Damyan gladly offered to bring back rocks found in the other nations. It took Alexei a long time to agree to it, but in the end only did so after paying her a generous amount of mora.
One of Damyan’s favorite things to hear about is the current news of Alexei’s rock collection. She’d honestly like to tune in every week when she’s in town. As of right now, she began to wonder if Lewis will have trouble confessing his love for Connie as she recently brought in Keith, (a crystal marrow from Inazuma.)
There is hardly anyone in Snezhnaya that doesn’t know who Damyan is, or at least have seen her running around. Even the forgetful Alexei always knows when Damyan has been around just by looking down for any footprints.
Damyan is one of the few travelers who Alexei trusts to bring back all kinds of rocks. Of course, part of her feels extremely guilty for troubling such a kind hearted girl, so she’s sure to compensate her well. (This is why she’s still broke and hasn’t even come close to having enough mora to travel outside the nation.) She should really try to be a better role model for not only Damyan, but for the other kids too. Alexei also hopes that those two brothers hurry on back soon, for Damyan’s sake…
Whenever Damyan passed through Wolvendom in Mondstadt, she’d smell a delicious aroma coming from a small cottage partially hidden behind scary looking trees. She was fascinated to see the house’s glorious garden that sparkled with fruits and flowers.
At first she was unsure whether to approach, but she’s glad she finally did! The owner of the house was a stern, but lovely fairy lady who— after some time adjusting to her presence— pampered, fed, and spoke to her warmly about all kinds of things. Her son Flax also made a fun companion. Now she’s even more excited to return to Mondstadt when the time comes.
A little girl who Yvonne often saw coming up and down the main Mondstadt path. Each time she had wanted to see why the child was alone, but she had quickly disappeared like wind before she could catch up.
Yvonne was surprised to see the girl turn up at her doorstep one day— with a huge smile and asking if there was anything she could do to earn a little bit of mora before heading to the next nation. After that, Damyan visits often whenever she’s in Mondstadt, and eventually became good friends with Flax as well. Such a sweet and gentle child…
Yvonne was unable to convince her stop travelling alone, but makes an effort to tag along with her when she can. She prays nothing ever harms Damyan.
Perhaps it is because Damyan is a so-called “ghost guide,” she had the good sense not to mention this fact to the lady when they first met. Damyan’s bright greetings were not much different from when she’d meet others, but it was likely her intuition telling her that she shouldn't be so curious about this specific soul. She found herself being much more quiet around Hisayo, not out of fear, but because of the somewhat peaceful aura she exudes.
Her first impression of Hisayo was of a soft, misty evening— one that could very well become stormy if anything were to go wrong. Even though it is usually Damyan asking questions, this time, she let herself be the one to answer them instead. Somehow, this lady made her feel protected and safe, like a motherly figure she’d never had. She didn’t know what happened to the lady exactly, but even a child such as herself could tell it was a tragic story. Surely, she has a reason for sticking around on this side, unable to leave.
The young girl with a strange glass contraption on her back was one of the sweetest, most memorable travelers Hisayo had ever encountered. The young child had been conversing with one of the more mischievous yokai of the forest, whom Hisayo disliked. Hisayo could tell that it was planning on tricking the poor girl, and ended up swooping in to take her away. Surprisingly, the three of them (Hirari, the creature and herself,) were calmed down and provided with a feast. Even the other yokai showed up to meet her.
Hirari was also happy to see that Damyan was a good influence on her daughter, who was able to socialize and express herself more. When Damyan returns to Inazuma, she’d be sure to return the favor. Truly, this young girl was a much needed brightness that the yokai needed— and one that strangely, seemed quite different compared to other humans she’d met before.
Damyan’s first impression of Caelus was of a sad, lonely prince being held captive by a witch (though not a mean witch!) Even his name sounds royal!
She noticed that he didn’t seem too comfortable around her at first, so she did her best to approach him slowly, like going up to pet a squirrel. Eventually, she was excited to look through that giant book he carried around and noticed his drawings. She made him promise to illustrate a story for her one day. In exchange, she’d travel across Teyvat selling copies, making him famous! It warmed Damyan’s heart to see that he looked a tiny bit happier. It’s a shame he doesn’t look much better while she’s helping him vacuum Yvonne’s house, though.
A rare visitor that Caelus sees Yvonne speaking to every so often. Upon meeting Damyan, he almost felt suspicion upon seeing such a sweet and cheerful girl— a literal angel in comparison to his younger siblings (and that boy…) In a strange way, he always felt as if he were the one being taken care of rather than the other way around, as the girl always had something to cheer him up with. She seems to like his illustrations too, which is a great confidence booster for him. Upon learning about his circumstances of basically being imprisoned, Damyan declared them to be “Caelus’ Cleaning Company!” and said she’d always help with vacuuming while she’s in town. He would never admit it, but Caelus cried a little thinking about that name.
“You take the broom, I vacuum! We gotta help Caelus out!” ^^
This kid is too sparkly.
“Ugh. Fine…”
A person Damyan found wandering around on her way to Mondstadt. After sharing the main road for a while, she had called out to him with a cheerful “hello!” Since then, the two had shared a pleasant conversation.
“You mean my globe? I made it of course! Are you travelling like me? Do you wanna go together for a bit?” :D
Damyan didn’t find this new friend of hers to be suspicious in any way, (though her ghost friends seem to think otherwise.) Honestly, she felt bad for him whenever people would be openly hostile to him- to which she’d scold them for being rude. He didn’t do anything wrong! How sad, hopefully her company will keep him safe. At some point when she woke up in the middle of the night, she found him to have disappeared. She has faith he can take care of himself, but was honestly disappointed to have been unable to bid him farewell.
“Your stuff is simply adorable! Where did you get all of them?”
"Ohhhh! Very resourceful child you are~ Let's go let's go. I'll follow you anywhere for a while. :D"
Finally someone who doesn't want him dead on sight. It's a pretty nice feeling, actually.
“Squirrels?! Oops-“
Damyan was probably too excited when she saw the little creatures hanging off of the girl— hopefully she didn’t scare her…
“Sorry… your friends are so cute…. I’m Damyan, what’s your name?”
It was perfectly fine that Yuzu didn’t have a lot to say, Damyan was well-versed chatting away after all. Every time she says goodbye to Yuzu, she wonders if she overdid it… oh well. She is sure to bring back many things for her to play with the next time and trade many fruits.
The way to make friends is through fruit! So Yuzu hands out a piece of citrus she happened to possess. Coincidentally, that's also the fruit that sounds like her name, so she shakes it around eagerly as she introduced herself as "Yuzu". But that's all she can say... this girl is so chatty, Yuzu can't keep up with her limited vocab..
How are you doing? ^^ Come along with me on an adventure sometime!
Talks a lot… but worth a listen I guess.