Shyni

Shyni is a carefree girl from Taodal, mostly tending to her garden where she grows Narbs and exploring the peninsula in her free time. She's the daughter of the village's blacksmith and leader, Tornoth, who tries to keep her safe at any cost. Because of Tornoth's overprotectiveness, Shyni is almost desperate for adventure or release from the boredom of the village.

She has a cheerful and friendly personality and she likes to get excited. She is, however, slightly naive and unsuspecting and very trusting of the player almost immediately. Her wanderlust and need for adventure might play a role in this, too.

Player interactions
The player first meets Shyni at the town's market, where they're noticed by her. She quickly introduces herself and leaves, inviting the player to her garden to talk more. Here, she explains some things about Taodal and Sejan. When the player wants to leave, Shyni stops them and, if they're male, asks them if they want to try to go for an adventure. If they're female, she first asks them if they want to have dinner with her (this is implemented to prevent the FemPC from dating both Shyni and Tornoth).

Preparations
If the player accepts the offer, Shyni explains that she wanted to go to a cave north of Taodal after finding a strange stone tablet with a map on it. However, her dad took it from her and locked it in a storage room next to the sauna. The player has several options how to get it: Once inside, the only option is to find a chest with the stone tablet inside. Upon returning it to Shyni, she asks for one more favour - a rope. This can also be bought from Tornoth. It is recommended to not buy the rope before asking Shyni about it, as she then gives the player the money needed to purchase it.
 * With Agility 6 and a box of nails (obtainable from Tornoth in his smithy), they're able to pick the massive lock.
 * With Strength 6 and a crowbar (also from Tornoth), they're able to remove the lock.
 * With Strength 10, they can pull the lock off with your bare hands.
 * They can also ask Shyni about it and she gives them a key into Tornoth's smithy, where they can sneak in at night. The option to sneak in only appears at night and there is no danger of being caught.

Once this is done, the player and Shyni are all set up and can leave the village.

The cave
The player travels to the cave with Shyni and after entering it and navigating the maze with the guidance of the tablet, they'll stumble into a room with a small pedestal at the end. On it is a simple wooden bowl. Here, either the player or Shyni grab it, based on their choices.

If the player grabs it, they'll immediately see a vision of a sea of blood tempting them to murder or rape Shyni. They can attempt to fight against it and will succeed with Will level of 6 or higher, waking up as Shyni slaps them and, after a short conversation where they either leave or take the bowl, possibly shattering it, exit the cave with her.

If they fail (or don't attempt to endure it), their vision also clears but, possessed with whatever was in the bowl, they attempt to kill Shyni. If their Agility is lower than 8, they'll unsuccessfully attempt to lunge at her and she'll be able to run away as the mind control fades. If the player does catch her, they can either kill her or rape her (only with Will of 5 or higher and if the player character is male). No matter which option they choose, they eventually pass out, either waking up next to Shyni's headless body or with her traumatised, smashing the wooden bowl.

If Shyni grabs the bowl, the scenario is similar but with roles reversed. With Intelligence 8 or higher, the player can slap the bowl out of her hands immediately and she quickly calms down. If not, she lunges at them, starting a battle sequence.

Winning the fight has the same effect as slapping the bowl and Shyni wakes up from the frenzy. If the player loses against her, she tackles them and attempt to rape them (male character) or kill them (female character). They can attempt to push her off - either right away with a Strength 8 check, or a Charisma 6 followed by Strength 6, or lowering the Strength cost further down to 5 with Charisma 8, or using purely Charisma 10 without any needed Strength check. If this is successful, Shyni snaps out of her possession. If they fail, she stabs and kill them, resulting in game over. Without much of a difference in result, the player, if male, can also choose to let Shyni have sex with him.

The aftermath
Unless Shyni's been killed, she and the player return back to Taodal in the evening, mood depending on the events in the cave.

When the player visits her the next day, Shyni is happy to see the player or, if raped, is shaken but tell the player that it wasn't his fault but rather the cursed bowl's doing. She then gives the player directions to Uum's house, who should know more about the bowl and the tablet.

Romance Continuation
If the player didn't do the unthinkable, Shyni also invites them to a sauna to relax where the two get closer together, engaging in a romance, unless the player rejects her.

However, still in the sauna, a culture shock occurs as in the afterglow Shyni asks the player if they want to become her archlover or a solitude sister (if male or female respectively). The former is supposedly a step between a lover and a husband while solitude sisters comfort each other when their husbands are away. She mentions a wife book and a husband book, very surprised that the player doesn't have one, let alone has no clue about its existence. Excusing herself, she hastily leaves the sauna, leaving the player behind.

When the player visits her again (and they haven't rejected her), she happily greets them and explains the wife book shenanigans. Since she had been taught since childhood that everyone has a wife or a husband book (including Tornoth getting Bykaas to lie about owning one), she had no idea what to do and ran out. Following this, she invites the player to her house where they read through her wife book. While the tome focuses on many areas of life, like growing up, children, men and chores, she and the player read mostly through the chapter focusing on sex and reenacting some of the book's contents.

If the player had rejected Shyni in the sauna or they reject her in the garden, she asks them to leave.

The next time the player visits, Shyni gives them a key to her house so that they can sneak in at night. From this point, the player can go to bed with her every night. After two nights spent together, Shyni comes up with a plan for another adventure.

The Red Forest
This time, the plan is straightforward: There's an island west of Sejan where the two would row to, camp on for two nights and then come back. She already has things set up at this point, like food, a tent and a boat to travel on. The two leave the village in early morning and later in the afternoon, they arrive at a stone formation at a beach on east of Sejan where Shyni has hidden her father's boat, claiming she had forgotten to tie it, resulting in it supposedly drifting away. In the evening, they arrive at the island and go to sleep after setting up the tent.

The following day, after waking up, the player can suggest going for a swim where a strange fish appears, circling around Shyni. With the Agility of 8, the player can catch it and Shyni then attempts to quickly and cleanly kill it with her proboscis tongue. Unlike Tornoth whom she's tried to learn it from, it results in quite a bit more fish flying around. After this, the two return to the beach where they set up a fire and roast the fish. If the fish has gotten away or the two haven't went for a swim at all, Shyni takes out some chopped up Braq meat. In case the player doesn't like meat, she has Narbs too.

After the breakfast, Shyni takes the player to a tour around the island. The first thing they stop at is the story stone, a rock with a single symbol that reads an entire story about a fisherman, his wife and the ocean goddess. Shyni takes the fact that a single, simple symbol makes anyone understand a fairly large amount of thoughts as an evidence for The Understanding, the force that allows every sapient creature on Noih to understand each other.

The second landmark is the null stone, a rock with glowing blue parts. At first, nothing seems to happen until the player tries to ask Shyni what it does. She replies by gradually more panicked growling as she and the player realise that the curiosity had taken their ability to understand each other. Shyni runs away and when the player finds her, she talks completely legibly again. Although the effect of the stone seems localised, Shyni suggests to never go near it again.

The third and final landmark Shyni knows about is a large stone tablet filled with lewd carvings, decorated with gems. She wants to take it back to Taodal but she can't carry it. The player can attempt to lift it and, based on their strength, can either lift it up above their head or not much at all. It doesn't matter anyway, as Shyni and the player quickly build a sled to carry the heavy tablet, unless the player decides to only take the gems.

During the trip back to the camp, they're surprised by a quick storm that results in a flash flood. The player can either leave the tablet to be carried away by the unexpected water current, or they can save it, either with the stat checks for Strength 8, Agility 6 and Endurance 8, or for Strength 8 and then once again Strength 10.

Regardless of what happens, Shyni and the player return safe and sound to the camp and hide from the heavy rain in the tent, going to sleep and more. The following day, they pack up and travel back to Sejan, with or without the stone tablet, arriving in Taodal in the evening, sore and tired, going to sleep together.

Trivia

 * Shyni has gotten smaller between v1 and v2 and her sprite now has shoes.
 * She can eat and drink through her nose (in addition to breathing both through it and her mouth), implying that her species has a single cavity for both breathing and nutrition intake, unlike humans who have them separate at first.