Tears of Themis Romantic Railway Getaway (II) Vyn’s Route

Since the completion of the Love Poem to Skadi event (which really killed me in terms of the amount of content it had), I have taken a break from blogging about ToT and also recovered from COVID which essentially caused me to be out of commission for at least two weeks, crossing over Valentine’s Day. I didn’t miss the ToT events though – there were three mini events:

23 Jan – Artem’s Special Consultation (similar to Vyn’s event). Grind through the special consultation events using S-chips and redeem Artem’s MR card.

6 Feb – Chubby Riceball Crisis (related to the glutinous rice balls that we eat on the last day of the Chinese New Year). Complete the event for a cute badge as well as 4 R cards.

11 Feb – Love in the Air (in celebration of Valentine’s Day, you get to redeem 4 MR cards which you will definitely need to spend S-chips on to complete the bingo like matrix. An average of 1500 S-chips to complete the matrix but you also get to earn back 400 S-Chips for each completion.) I managed to get Marius and Vyn’s MR card so as to save my S-chips for future events.

Now onto the main event which kickstarted on 25th February and will last till 13th March. Similar to the first Romantic Rail Getaway event, it will be will be split over two parts. Part 1 of your adventure railroad trip will be accompanied by Vyn to country of wine Barosk the or with Artem to the city of the arts. You can choose to start on either route first but completing both will earn you the Leisurely Getaway Badge and other S-chips rewards. Completing the respective route also entitles you to buy their dynamic invitations at a discounted price of S$16.98 instead of S$21.98 to deck up your home screen.

Unlike other events where you get to interact with all the four characters either as a teambuilding event or NXX case, the content in this fully voiced event will focus on you going on a trip with just one of them. Your relationship with them has certainly progressed much! Methinks these people have played much more than worked! Once you’ve chosen a route, you cannot switch until you completed the current route you’re on. Each trip spans over 5 days, with new content released daily. Each day contains 6 parts, during which you perform debate battles with irresponsible tourists, touts and unreasonable tour operators, so be prepared to consume quite a bit of AP. You can only use Vyn or Artem cards for these battles.

There are also event-limited visions and naturally they will only comprise these two guys. I am pretty tempted to pull for these cards as I am already nearing pity for the event limited cards. I’m beginning to be more interested in Vyn after I saw a recent artwork for an event on the Chinese server. Dang, it is so hard to remain faithful to one beau.

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Feb 27 Day 1 Lange Old District (Power Level 22051)

After attending a wine appreciation workshop with Vyn, you are thrilled to visit Barosk the country of wine during your vacation to learn more about wine while travelling on a wine-themed tourist train that will be bring you around the scenic countryside. Vyn is happy to be your guide since he has visited the country many times. While waiting for the train at the train station, you are excited to learn that there are so many different varieties of grapes that will result in different types of wine. The people of Barosk seem to take wine making very seriously and are proud of their produce. You are offered a free wine as a passenger but you couldn’t tell the difference in taste. Vyn tells you that the free wine given out are usually lower quality and the really good wine can only be tasted at the local wineries.

At your first stop at Lange Old District, you were immediately infused with the fragrance of grapes in the air. Turns out that there is a water fountain installation in the square that sprays out grape flavoured mist. You speak with a local tour guide who suggested that you visit the Historic Vineyard Museum to learn about the history of winemaking in the country, as well as the Lange Food Plaza where locals will display their own homemade foods for purchase. While checking out the various stalls at the food plaza, you are attracted by a shop selling different types of cheese – chocolate, coconut jam and hazelnut creating a very unique taste. When you commented that her cheese must be very popular, the lady gave you a forced smile. When you asked if there was something wrong, she quickly changed the topic.

At the end of the day, you recollect the multiple sensory experiences you’ve had today and look forward to visiting the Liebe Ranch the following day. Vyn told you the cable car ride to the ranch which is on top of a mountain would afford you spectacular views. Recalling your cheese tasting experience today, you wondered if the cheese made at the ranch would be even better. He tells you that the cheese at the ranch is handmade with traditional techniques and would taste richer than the one tried today.

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Feb 28 Day 2 Liebe Ranch (Power Level 23588)

When you arrive at the Liebe Ranch train station, you struck up a conversation with a shepherd nearby who shared with you the key highlights you can consider while here such as horse riding and visiting the natural gourmet festival. He told you to try out the meat stuffed with goat cheese. Vyn suggested pairing the cheese with white wine and you are awed by his knowledge.

When you enter the food court, you were surprised to see the shepherd arguing with Jennie, the lady who sold you some cheese from Lange. Jennie must have said something to provoke the shepherd and Vyn quickly stepped in to prevent him from hurting her. Apparently the reason for the argument is his disapproval over Jennie using their goat milk to make the unique flavoured cheeses as it goes against their traditional methods of making cheese. Jennie shares that she has her own farm but the milk she produces is not as good as those from Liebe Ranch. You encourage her that her cheese tastes great and one day more people will come to accept it. Vyn recommended that Jennie participates in the Creative Food Festival held at Pouille Lake which might give her more opportunities. She takes up the suggestion enthusiastically.

You end the day concerned about Jennie’s predicament and not being able to understand why the local people are against her. Vyn told you that her cheese are only popular with tourists. He added that people first reaction to something unfamiliar is fear. As Barosk’s have stuck to very traditional methods of producing cheese across its history, this custom has also affected their preferences. Vyn said that while abiding by rules is commendable, over time this could also result in stubborn adherence to old ways. However you pointed out that Barosk wine was developed because the people found a different way to store wine – as long as people were willing to adapt, they could change. Since you’ll be stopping at Pouille Village the next day, you could pop by to support Jennie.

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Mar 1 Day 3 Pouille Village (Power Level 24984 )

You were excited to see if Jennie’s cheese had hit off with the locals at the Creative Food Festival. However you were appalled to see that many of the locals had outrightly rejected her cheese, claiming that it was closer to dessert considering its taste and texture. Jennie was despondent with the feedback but Vyn offered her a way out. He told her that he has a friend Ivan who specialises in import export of cheese and he would certainly be interested in supporting Jennie’s unique brand of cheese. Jennie feeling hopeful agrees to meet both of you at the next town Bergandi.

At the end of the day, despite a day of touring Pouille Village, Jennie’s situation weighs heavily on your heart. Vyn assures you that he would be able to help Jennie and that you needn’t be overtly concerned about it. He then invites you to follow him to the outskirts of the village to the famous Wine Barrel Estate. You noticed that many old wine barrels steeped in years of wine have been modified into lounges for visitors. By lying in the wine barrel, the visitor is infused with a form of aromatherapy which helps to reduce stress. You take Vyn’s lead and lie on the recliner and close your eyes, and ended up taking a short nap. When you opened your eyes, the sun has shifted and you feel visibly relaxed. Vyn tells you that the purpose of the trip is for you to relax and hopes that you could leave your troubles to him instead. You feel intoxicated by the wine and Vyn’s intense gaze.

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Mar 5 Day 4 Bergandi (Power Level 25964)

While waiting for Jennie to arrive at the meeting place, you and Vyn decided to have a meal at the bistro. The place serves an assortment of local dishes such as black truffle oyster soup, apricot ham shortbread, white angel cheesecake and sweet liquor potica. You couldn’t decide what to order and ended up going with everything so that you can try it all.

Ivan was absolutely delighted after trying the cheeses that Jennie had prepared for him. He says it is the best soft cheese he had tasted in Barosk in a long time. Encouraged by his reaction, Vyn went on to propose that Ivan considers using Jennie’s cheese to introduce a new taste into Barosk and consequently conquer the cheese market. Clearly Ivan doesn’t approve of the regiments that the locals insist on adopting around cheese. Ivan is very sure he can work with Jennie in a partnership to achieve this goal. Upon hearing it, Jennie shared her experience trying to sell the cheese to the locals and the miserable results she had attained. Ivan told her that it takes time to do promotion and for people to learn to accept it. He believes with a good promotion strategy, it would work. He immediately offered Jennie a contract for exclusive rights to her cheese recipe.

Seeing that everything is going along well, Vyn excuses both of you to give them space to discuss further. Your next stop brings you to the Gandi Alpine Park via a transparent cable car. You were glad for the experience because it afforded you very good views of the vineyards below. You commented that there weren’t alot of tourists so you felt almost like a VIP on the way up. Vyn said that this was a new ride so many people were naturally concerned about its safety and thus opted for more traditional routes. You told Vyn that you weren’t afraid. Rather you are often inspired to try new challenges just like Vyn. Vyn replies that he doesn’t like new challenges for the sake of it. He said that it was thanks to your accompaniment that he managed to discover new delights in what he was already accustomed to. (Awwwww…)

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Mar 6 Day 5 Fia Estate (Power Level 25964)

On the last day of your trip, both of you explored the flower fields of the Fia Estate. While strolling along, you were surprised to bump into Jennie. Apparently she lives nearby and was on her way to get some milk. She thanked you for the opportunity and then offered to share more about the area. Some attractions to look out for are the horse show and lake tour. Vyn expressed interest in the horse show considering his hobby in equestrianism. Jennie shares that Fia Estate has the largest horse pasture and track in Barosk. In terms of local specialties, she suggested you try the baked venison steak and charcoal grilled beef with mushrooms. With that she leaves both of you to continue on your tour.

For your last day of the tour, Vyn suggested trying out the life as the master of an estate. At Fia Estate, tourists can rent the farming estate for the day and busy themselves with the typical activities of the owner. One of the first things you needed to do as a the owner of the estate is to prepare a Baroskan meal for guests who live there, and that the ingredients have to be literally harvested. Both of you decided to try recreating a cream stew which thus requires the milking of the estate cow.

You tried to calm your nerves as you approach the lumbering beast and then totally forgot the demonstration when the cow started to fidget. Noticing your nervousness, Vyn holds your hands and together both of you milk the cow in swift downward movements. You thank Vyn for his guidance. He told you humbly that he was simply emulating what the staff had taught you. (Vyn is really talented at picking up new skills – same with pottery and with cycling). Vyn offered to carry the bucket that was now filled to the bream with fresh milk. Not expecting the weight, Vyn stumbles slightly and the milk splashes all over him as a result. Instead of helping him to get a towel to wipe off the milk, your first reaction is to take a photo of his embarrassed look – the perfect souvenir to commemorate your trip together. Vyn tells you that he is more than happy for you to look at him in different lights.