A quiet lunch in Snezhnaya turns into a brawl in Version 7.1. A woman in a Snezhnayan uniform sits down across from the Traveler and Paimon, orders a set meal, and then proposes a coin game that immediately becomes hand-to-hand combat. It ends almost as fast as it starts, because a third party walks in and takes the coin out of the air.
Quick answer: Vesna catches Danica’s tossed Mora coin with Anemo, ending the duel. She covers the Traveler’s tab, and Danica confirms the two sides will meet again at the Tsaritsa’s audience.
Who Vesna and Danica are
Both women sit close to the Tsaritsa, which is why neither of them needs to explain herself to the Traveler for most of the scene.
| Character | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vesna Strivozha | Commander of the Druzhna | Anemo, sword; the Tsaritsa’s right hand |
| Danica | Head housemaid of the royal household | Trained by Capitano |
| Nefedov | Restaurant owner | Serves the Traveler and Paimon |
Vesna also becomes playable in the same update. She is a 5-star Anemo sword user, released in Phase 1 of Version 7.1 on September 23, 2026, on the When Warm Winds Cavort banner. Ari Thrash voices her in English and Aya Hirano voices her in Japanese.
The restaurant setup before the fight
The sequence takes place inside Nefedov’s dining room, labeled on screen as the Zolotoye Restaurant. Paimon is working through a bowl of borscht and speculating about the monster behind the enormous blizzard the Tsaritsa put down, comparing it to Dvalin and Apep. It is small talk, and it ends the moment a green-haired woman in Snezhnayan uniform walks in and asks to join the table.
She is credited only as ??? at first. She orders the set meal from Nefedov, tells the Traveler and Paimon to speak freely, and the room goes quiet. Nefedov watches the table tensely from behind his counter for the rest of the conversation.
Why Danica tests the Traveler
Danica frames the meeting as a job. The first step when a potential enemy shows up, she says, is assessing the threat level, and the Traveler is a renowned visitor to Snezhnaya with a long record.
That record is spelled out in detail. She brings up the thousands of Fatui the Traveler has defeated and more than 50 million Mora in economic damage to the Northland Bank. She also acknowledges the cooperation in Fontaine and Natlan, and reveals that Capitano was her mentor, thanking the Traveler for helping him fulfill his wish.
Then she asks what the Traveler thinks of the Tsaritsa. The answer is pragmatic: past conflicts aside, cooperation is necessary to face Ronova.
How the Mora game works
Talking only gets Danica so far, so she moves to a physical test she learned from Capitano. The rules are simple. She tosses a Mora coin high into the air, and the Traveler has to stop it from landing on the table. Everything that happens next is both of them fighting for control of one falling coin.
The duel is entirely unarmed. Danica and the Traveler trade fast blows across the dining room, dodging between tables while tracking the coin. The scene plays out the same way whether your Traveler is Lumine or Aether.
Vesna ends the fight mid-air
A blonde woman dashes into the room, steps between the two fighters, and catches the airborne coin with Anemo. The fight is over before the coin ever touches the table, and neither participant wins the game.
Her opening line is a scolding, not a threat.
Danica, why bring a military game into this modest restaurant? That is a harsh way to deal with these unfortunate diners.
Danica pushes back immediately, telling Vesna not to pretend it has nothing to do with her and that she is only picking up Vesna’s slack. Vesna’s answer draws the line clearly: gauging the Traveler’s strength before the audience with Her Majesty was supposed to be her own task, and without explicit orders from the Tsaritsa, a guest is a guest.
What follows is a brief disagreement over how they see the world. Danica dismisses Vesna’s perspective as wishful: a smooth, trouble-free life would be wonderful, she says, but it is not how things really are. Vesna labels Danica a pessimist and counters with her own metaphor: life puts oil against water, creating constant friction while gaining richness through it.
The apology, the tab, and the Caviar Blinis
Vesna wraps the incident up with hospitality. She apologizes to the Traveler and Paimon, noting that Danica is not much of a people-person, then turns to the counter and asks Nefedov to move their bill onto her own account. He agrees without argument.
- The Traveler and Paimon’s tab is transferred to Vesna’s account.
- Vesna adds Caviar Blinis to the order and says she will collect them later.
- She says goodbye to the room and leaves.
What the scene sets up for the Tsaritsa audience
Paimon still has no idea who either woman is and asks outright. Danica does not give a name. Instead she points back at something the Traveler already did, reminding them that they applied for an audience with the Tsaritsa, and says she is sure they have guessed by now.
Her parting line is the hook for what follows: they will be seeing each other again very soon. That confirms the meeting was never a coincidence. Danica showed up to measure the Traveler’s combat ability before that audience, Vesna was the one originally assigned to handle it, and both will be waiting on the other side of the request.
The Traveler never loses the Mora game. Vesna’s catch stops the coin, so the test ends without a result either way.
