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trashcanlore · 3 months

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Kabbalah in the Worldbuilding of Genshin Impact; Part 2: Descending to the Garden

Written by Sabre (@paimoff on twitter) and Schwan (@abyssalschwan on twitter)

This theory assumes you’ve completed the Fontaine Archon Quests, as well the Narzissenkreuz questlines. If you haven’t, you will be a) very confused and b) very spoiled.

A Tale of Four Descenders

Four entered the pardes (orchard/garden)...one looked and died, one looked and went mad, one looked and cut down the saplings (apostatized), and one came in peace and left in peace [1].

This Jewish legend appears in multiple locations throughout the Talmud and its commentaries, and is associated with two pre-Kabbalah schools of Jewish mysticism known as Merkabah (chariot) and Hekhalot (palaces) mysticism. Both depicted visions of the throne of God (chariot) and the heavenly palaces, and provided instructions for how one might ascend to heaven to receive some kind of revelation or knowledge. The orchard/garden represents esoteric Torah (Jewish law) knowledge; this is why the euphemism for apostatizing is to “cut down the saplings.” (I know he says “blasphemy” (which is different), but this is reminiscent of what Dottore says at the end of Winter Night's Lazzo.)

The pardes legend first appears as a warning to scholars about the consequences of teaching about the “chariot” to disciples who are not ready. Though it's not mentioned in this specific text, this process of meditating to ascend to the palaces of God is referred to as “descending” in the writings of the Merkabah mystics [2]. In other words, this legend tells the story of four descenders.

In the conclusion of the Sumeru Archon Quests, Nahida tells the Traveler about the existence of the “Descenders." Based on the information she got from Dottore in exchange for her Gnosis, she shares that:

Descenders are “external beings, ones that don’t belong to this world”

There are at least four of them, and the Traveler is the fourth

According to the Fatui, the Traveler's twin is not a Descender

The Traveler is not recorded in Irminsul, but their twin is

Nahida speculates that the First Descender is the Heavenly Principles, but the identity of the second and third are unknown to her. At that point though, we still didn’t know what it was that Descenders do, or what the exact criteria for being one is, only that it couldn’t be as simple as just being from outside Teyvat.

The Fontaine World Quest series about the Narzissenkreuz Ordo fills in some pieces of the puzzle; specifically an additional criterion to be a Descender: they must be someone with a will “that can rival an entire world.”

In retrospect, Inversion of Genesis also hinted at the role of a Descender; The Traveler witnesses the results of someone attempting to change fate and/or the world and failing.

Nahida: Changing the world, changing the past, changing the fates of other people... These are not simple things to accomplish. Nahida: What you were looking for is complete annihilation... But this is just a fantasy. Even if The Balladeer is removed from existence, the world will not heed your will. (Inversion of Genesis)

For most people, actually “changing the world” is impossible. But for a Descender, it might be different.

Will

...Though the results are nothing impressive, this is because the object they chose was pure elemental force, which lacks any will whatsoever. Like the difference between the Director (Lyris) and a Hydro Slime, perhaps? ...Actually thought of a possible breakthrough during the process... Even though the calculated result is unchanged, but if the refinement method is reflected... If the power of... then maybe we can extract the "will" within. Using this method... resist the impact… (Excerpts from Rene's Investigation Notes)

...The true source of the mysterious power unique to this place that the locals call Khvarena is unknown. But based on its ability to eliminate or reverse the influence of the Abyss (in fact, it is a type of annihilation reaction), the two powers are of the same level, that is to say, they are of the same order in terms of rules... ...In other words, both possess the power to "re-write the rules"... ...Regrettably, be it Abyss or Khvarena, all current users are stuck in an "unconscious" stage of being influenced and overwritten by their power… (Bizarre Transcript)

The Gavireh Lajavard region of the Sumeru desert introduced us to the writings of Rene, a precocious researcher with world-saving ambitions and not nearly enough adult supervision, as well as his only slightly Abyss-corrupted bestie Jakob. Like the Khaenri'ahns before him, Rene was searching for a power that had a “will,” believing it necessary to save Fontaine from an unspecified disaster that we would later learn is The ProphecyTM. During their time in the desert (which was right after the cataclysm), Rene determined that both Abyssal and Khvarena power have a will, but pure elemental energy did not.

Some time after their trip to Sumeru, Rene and Jakob would found the Narzissenkreuz Ordo, with the goal of finding a way to save Fontainians from being dissolved in the primordial sea-laced floodwaters. They would do this by dissolving all humans in Fontaine with primordial seawater in a controlled manner, melding everyone together into one Oceanid-like being to survive the apocalypse (think Human Instrumentality Project from Evangelion). Rene had predicted the coming apocalypse with something he called his “world-formula,” and in addition to predicting the doom of Fontaine, it also informed him that “unlike the world depicted in these ancient texts, there will be no more new civilizations born.” The only way this could be changed would be by introducing a new “‘variable’ from outside the system” into the formula (Enigmatic Page 1). Rene’s goal was to become this variable, i.e., a Descender.

Four Worlds

The Tower of Ipsissimus comes from an old concept from the ancient Fontainian kingdom of Remuria, and was used to describe a powerful will that could rule, sustain, and destroy the world. This tower was designed by the Narzissenkreuz Ordo, and it represents the evolution of the human soul and the infinite mysteries of the world. The Narzissenkreuz Ordo believes that people continuously refine themselves through samsara cycles. These include Hyperborea, Natlantean, Remuria, and the first half of the fourth samsara (Khraun-Arya), which we are presently experiencing. Please take note that these are just names given to these eras by the Ordo based on ancient texts, and this evolution refers to spiritual evolution. There is no intent here to antagonize any research results obtained by the Akademiya. The human spirit undergoes the loss of paradise, the defeat of evil dragons, the original sin and baptism, and finally, freedom from the gods.

The term samsara is typically used to refer to the cyclic nature of reality, and can be used to describe concepts like reincarnation. It is not, however, referring to time loops. There is A Lot to unpack about this note, but for the purposes of this theory we will be focusing on the concept of these “four samsaras” and their relationship with the concept of a Descender, specifically that there seems to be the same number of samsaras as Descenders.

You may be wondering - this is Kabbalah world structure theory and we’ve yet to discuss Kabbalah. Well, it’s time now! But before we can get into specifics, we first need to review some terms discussed in Part 1 and then go through some basics of Lurianic Kabbalah. Ah, the irony of calling anything about Lurianic Kabbalah “basics.” Caveat that what follows will be a simplification of concepts that are very difficult to grasp (I definitely don’t know what’s going on).

Creation of the World, Kabbalah Edition Previously, we compared the “limitless light” emanated by God to create the world to the power of elemental energy, and compared the sefirot of the Tree of Life to the seven elements. The sefirot are components of this divine light (like light passing through a prism and refracting) and represent attributes of God that are used to create the world. The sefirot are traditionally depicted together in the form of a tree, which maps out their relationships with each other. For more details on the similarities between Kabbalah and Genshin worldbuilding, consult Part 1 (link) if you haven't read it yet.

Kabbalah focuses on describing the relationship between the infinite God and the finite universe and how it was created, with variations between different schools of thought. In this theory, we’ll be primarily focusing on the ideas of the Kabbalist Isaac Luria. The central idea of Luria’s philosophy was a concept he called Seder Hishtalshelut, or “Order of Evolution,” which refers to the cycles of “exile” and “redemption” (creation and destruction) the world is eternally experiencing. In the Lurianic system, time isn’t linear; the world was created in the past, but it’s also being created now.

The beginning of this Order of Evolution is referred to as the Tzimtzum, or Contraction. This refers to the contracting of the infinite God to make a space where reality could be created. Once this is created, a ray of divine light enters the void and begins to emanate reality. This is similar to the concept of the Pleroma in Gnosticism. The further the divine light gets from the source, the more it starts to break down into separate parts. More specifically, it breaks down into the Four Worlds, which represent stages of the evolution of reality, but also stages of the spiritual evolution of the human consciousness.

The Four Worlds are: 0. Adam Kadmon - Primordial (Original) Man 1. Atziluth - Emanation 2. Beriah - Creation 3. Yetzirah - Formation 4. Assiah - Action Material reality is distinct from these four worlds; the ‘real’ world emanates out of the fourth world, Assiah. Each of these four worlds have their own sefirot structure, which in themselves contain additional sefirot, on and on, like a fractal. Luria called these recursive structures “tree systems” [3]. In Genshin terms, this is like how we have Irminsul, the world tree, but also the other smaller Irminsul trees in domains.

(Fun Fact: this schematic is sometimes called Jacob's ladder) The system of the Four Worlds and their nuances are very interesting in themselves, but for the purpose of this theory, we’ll be focusing on the 0th world, Adam Kadmon, and the symbolism associated with this concept in both Kabbalah and general Jewish philosophy.

Primordial (Hu)Man

The concept of an ‘original man’ is discussed in Philo’s commentary of Genesis, where he describes this being as androgynous, connected to the concept of Logos, and the Idea/Form of humanity in contrast to the ‘earthly man.’ Philo’s definition of the Logos was something closer to the concept of a demiurge-a being responsible for creation of the world. Logos literally means ‘word’ or ‘reason’, and otherwise typically refers to divine reason, or the word of God. It’s important to note that here the use of the word ‘man’ refers to a human being, not specifically a male person. Though often described as a man, the Primordial Man of Kabbalah is considered androgynous (like the Primordial One of Genshin).

The Zohar (a foundational work of Kabbalah) describes the Primordial Man as the “image of everything that is above [in heaven] and below [upon earth]; therefore did the Holy Ancient [God] select it for His own form.” The Primordial Man is the personification of the 10 sefirot together and represents a microcosm of the universe (macrocosm) [4].

Narzissenkreuz: I... I sense "reason." Visitors, are you the successors to Narzissenkreuz, or are you a threat? Narzissenkreuz: Is "Reason" that which grants you such strength? Narzissenkreuz: No, I have noticed. Have you always been in that realm that I pursue? O, you who are equal to a world! (Waking From the Great Dream) Man, as he was before his fall [first sin], is conceived as a cosmic being which contains the whole world in itself (Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pg. 215)

Lurianic Kabbalah considers the Primordial Man to be the highest level manifestation of God that can be conceptualized by humans. The world of Adam Kadmon precedes the emanation of the lower Four Worlds, but each of these worlds have their own corresponding anthropomorphic figure as well [5]. In contrast to the worlds that follow Adam Kadmon, the sefirot of Adam Kadmon are not in a Tree of Life configuration, but rather in the configuration known as “upright,’ arranged in the shape of the human body.

The concept of a Primordial Man exists in other religions and mythologies as well. There’s the Gnostic Anthropos, Adam Kasia of Mandaeism, the ‘Universal Man’ (al-Insān al-Kāmil) of Sufism who functions as an Axis Mundi, the world-soul of Platonism, Gayomart of Zoroastrianism, and more. The symbolism of the human body as mediator between the divine and the material world is not unique to Kabbalah. Kabbalah’s version of the World Tree and Primordial Man both function similarly to the Axis Mundi; they are the same emanations of the divine, just arranged in different configurations.

Will and the Primordial Man In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon represents the will of God, specifically the will to create. The blueprint for the creation of the world is contained within this being/world, all superimposed together into a “primordial thought.” Within Adam Kadmon, there is no distinction between the individual sefirot, or rather, between anything at all. Everything is contained with this world/thought, but there is no time, no space, and no limitations. WIthout limitations, individual beings and concepts cannot be created. Therefore, the unity of Adam Kadmon had to be broken; specifically into the 10 sefirot, which could then assemble themselves into new configurations and continue the process of creation [6].

Narzissenkreuz: The witness of all, the recorder of all, the designer of all. Narzissenkreuz: Only one who is worth a world can bear that title. (Waking From the Great Dream) If the righteous wish to do so, they can create a world. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 65b)

Back in Part 1, we compared pure elemental energy to Kabbalah’s divine light of creation and the ten sefirot to the seven elements. If we apply this analogy to Adam Kadmon, doesn’t a being that could (theoretically) resonate with all elements and would eventually meet their end by being broken up into many pieces sound familiar?

At the end of Act V of the Fontaine Archon Quest, Skirk tells Neuvillette that the Gnoses are actually the “remains of the Third Descender.” Neuvillette, the Traveler, and Paimon speculate that this is possible because as a Descender, they would have also had the same unique compatibility with the elements as the Traveler. Neuvillette’s character stories refer to the remains of the Third Descender as the “seven remembrances,” which were used to create a new “order” for the world, with “all fragments of the primordial…driven to devour each other.”

Rene’s notes in the Tower of Ipsissimus directly tell us that there is a connection between the concept of the Primordial Man and Descenders:

"Lies beneath the great sea" is, itself, an interesting phrase. It comes from ancient Sumeru texts, and should be read as "Narayana*," which also means "primordial human." This, too, is my goal, for not all that comes from beyond may be as one that "descends." That title belongs only to wills that can rival an entire world. That is what I seek, the way to become just such a will, one that can protect the world, sustain the world, destroy the world, and create the world.

[*Narayana (Sanskrit: नारायण, romanized: Nārāyaṇa) is one of the forms and names of Vishnu, depicted as sleeping under the celestial waters, and is associated with creation. This reference aligns with Rene’s goal of using the power of the Primordial Sea to make himself a Descender. ]

In summary, we have four Descenders, we have four samsaras, and we have four symbolic worlds that are only able to exist due to the destruction of a 0th world known as the Primordial Man, who represents the totality of the divine Will to create the world and the Idea of humanity.

Keep all this information in mind, because before we can discuss the connections between samsaras, Descenders, and the Primordial Man, we must take a detour into alchemy and psychology.

Primordial God Impact

Genshin Impact has always been about the primordial - it’s literally in the name: 原神, or yuan shen, which means ‘original god.’ Many other in-game items share this descriptor, including primogems (原石), Primordial Seawater (原始胎海之水), and the Primordial One (原初的那一位). The same characters are also used in the note from the Tower of Ipsissimus when referring to the ‘primordial human’: 原初之人, which as it turns out, is exactly the same word used for the Primordial Human Project.

The Primordial Human Project has been mentioned exactly once, in a cutscene from the Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event in version 2.3. There, Albedo refered to his doppelganger who had been wreaking havoc on Dragonspine as the “failure of the Primordial Human Project.” Albedo implied that he is the “survivor” of an experiment associated with the Primordial Human Project and considers it to be related to his origins as a creation of Rhinedottir, aka the alchemist Gold.

We know very little about Rhinedottir and her motivations. She’s a practitioner of the Art of Khemia, a member of the Hexenzirkel, is labeled a sinner and blamed for the appearance of monsters during the Cataclysm, made a dragon named Durin and sent him to Teyvat during said Cataclysm, where he caused destruction everywhere he went while thinking he was playing, and might have also made Elynas, who had a similar fate. According to Skirk, she, like Skirk’s master, is “pursuing some form of perfection.”

The Great Work

Rhinedottir’s alchemical research was focused on the creation of new life and she was familiar with an alchemical text called the Opus Magnum, which she left behind for Albedo to study. The Opus Magnum is a reference to the real life Magnum Opus, or Great Work, which refers to the alchemical process of creating the philosopher’s stone from the prima materia (original matter). The process typically goes as follows: nigredo (blackness), albedo (whiteness), citrinitas (yellowing) and rubedo (redness). Later Western alchemy would merge the citrinitas and rubedo steps into just rubedo, or include additional steps, such as the peacock’s tail stage between nigredo and albedo. Notably, the order of the last two steps in this process is reversed in the version of the process Albedo learned from Rhinedottir: rubedo is third, with citrinitas last.

This reordering isn’t universal in Teyvat: Rene’s notes disparage this choice, saying that Khaenri’ah is distracted from the true goal of the process:

..."Red" is the foundational principle, the philosopher's stone*, while "yellow" represents gold and mortal temptation. Yellow is simply bait. Red is the final goal. However, Khaenri'ah would likely seek the truth for gold's sake before turning that truth into a bread production pipeline…

[*This is the first and so far, only, time the phrase “philosopher’s stone” has been directly mentioned in-game.]

Rene has a somewhat ironic take on the Khaenri’ahn alchemical philosophy, given that Albedo’s character stories specifically say “Khaenri'ah was an underground realm, with precious few natural fauna. As such, its alchemy focused more heavily on the creation of life.” Rene often has strong opinions - but why would he care about the order of the Magnum Opus?

The Chymical Wedding of Rene de Petrichor

A recurring motif of the Great Work is the ‘chemical wedding.’ This refers to a union of opposites; male and female, sun and moon, fire and water, sulfur (Red King) and mercury (White Queen), etc, and is often depicted as taking place in a fountain. Here, in this drawing from a copy of the Ripley Scroll, sulfur and mercury wed and form the androgynous (like the primordial man) ‘philosophical child,’ which is philosophical mercury.

Philosophical mercury is the underlying principle or “divine flow” that makes alchemy and transmutation possible. Therefore, the goal of the Great Work was to pin down this mercury into matter through the four (or more) stages of the Great Work and make the philosopher’s stone [7,8].

"The Stone that is Mercury, is cast upon the Earth, exalted on Mountains, resides in the Air, and is nourished in the Waters." (Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. 1617.) The cubes represent prima materia. ;)

The chemical wedding is also used as a motif throughout the story of the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. The Book of Revealing includes a schematic of the “Seal of Chymical Marriage,” which consists of a “Tree of Emanation'' and the “Four Orthants,” and was used to seal the Primordial Sea. The Tree of Emanation component is, of course, a version of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life - for more ramblings, feel free to check out my twitter thread here.

The Narzissenkreuz Ordo is likely intended to be a reference to the real life Rosicrucian Order, and the name of the seal a reference to an important text for this order called the “Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz.” Other possible references to chemical weddings include Lyris being referred to as the ‘Red Empress,’ Rene using her power to dissolve himself and be reborn through the water, and Mary-Ann and Lyris fusing and eventually producing “pure water” aka Ann. Actually, when you dig into it, there are many suspicious interactions between sun and moon-coded gods in Genshin lore, as well as the doomed wedding of the Seelie and the traveler from afar. My Name For Now made a really interesting video about this, so if you would like more information and speculation, check it out here.

The Philosopher’s Stone and the Self

The philosopher’s stone is the Holy Grail of alchemy: an alchemical substance that can transmute base metals into silver or gold, make someone immortal, cure all illness, make a homunculus, and more. The stone represents perfection and spiritual refinement, either of nature through alchemy, or of the self (the alchemist) [8].

Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, considered the steps of the Magnum Opus to represent the process of the individuation of the self from the collective unconscious. The similarities between his interpretation of alchemical symbolism and the ideals of the Narzissenkreuz Ordo deserve their own separate analysis, but in brief: Jung defined the collective unconscious to be the shared unconscious mind between humans, full of basic instincts and archetypes, which are primordial symbols that exist in many mythologies throughout the world. Jung compared the collective unconscious to the alchemical symbolism of water, which he describes as “wisdom and knowledge, truth and spirit, and its source was in the inner man [9].” The process of individuation separates aspects of the personality from the unconscious (the water) and then eventually integrates all components together, to form the individual self, which can now bring “order” to the unconscious (at least on a personal level)[10]. In other words, the Jungian interpretation of the Magnum Opus is that the final product, the philosopher's stone, is the Self.

If we apply this symbolism to Rene’s journey, it appears he was attempting to refine himself into a philosopher’s stone, which would explain why he was so interested in the work of the Khaenri’ahn alchemists. As he stated multiple times, his goal was to become a “primordial human,” whose will “can rival an entire world.” Rene’s philosopher’s stone is a Descender.

The Primordial Human Project

After Rene’s failed attempt to dissolve himself in Primordial Water and be reborn using Lyris’s power, Jakob turned to his own research to try to save Rene and complete his rebirth. In his log of this time period, Jakob wrote:

...I've been interpreting the data in search of a solution and sharing the results with Rene. There has still been no response, but I can already envision his response with perfect clarity: criticizing the Universitas Magistrorum for putting the cart before the horse, neglecting the fundamental principles underlying everything, and diving straight into the details of how to put those techniques to use... How they inverted even the alchemical stages for other purposes… ...It seems that there was an alchemist from Khaenri'ah named "R" who joined a secret order. From what fragmentary records exist, it appears that they made significant headway.

There are two items of note here; the first is the mention of Universitas Magistrorum, which previously had only been mentioned in a namecard description. The card description reads "O Almighty Sovereign, the Universitas Magistrorum has provided the predictions you requested: The two stars have been captured by the world's gravity…” which may be referencing Khaenri’ah’s summoning of the twins (Inversion of Genesis). From the context of Jakob’s notes, we can infer that this organization was also utilizing some form of the Magnum Opus for an unknown purpose.

The second item of note is the mention of the alchemist “R,” who is almost definitely Rhinedottir, and the “significant headway” that she and this mysterious “secret order” made. It’s very likely that Jakob is interested in Rhinedottir’s work simply because he wants to make a new body for Rene; the log also mentions Remurian golems and experiments with prosthetic limbs. However, the mention of her and the Universitas Magistrorum in the same context, with Jakob’s commentary on the reversed order of the Magnum Opus, gave me the idea that sparked this whole theory (descent into madness): Is it possible that Rhinedottir’s Primordial Human Project was intended to make a Descender?

Sometimes, very important lore gets buried in character stories. For example, the first time the term “primordial (hu)man” shows up - which is in Albedo’s fifth character story.

This art of creation was known as "The Art of Khemia." Albedo had learned of this in his youth from reading his master's notes. The next stage after "soil" is "chalk," which was also something his master had mentioned. "Chalk is the spotless soil, and was used to make primordial man." Now, Albedo understands alchemy in far greater depth than he did in the beginning, and his knowledge on the subject is far more comprehensive. "From soil was birthed chalk." The profundity of this statement is well understood by Albedo now.

Albedo is also the “chalk”; Rhinedottir gave him the title of Kreideprinz, or Chalk Prince. She seems to have a habit of naming her creations after types of soil. Durin was ‘humus,’ the Riftwolves are ‘alfisol,’ and Albedo is ‘cretaceus’. According to her, earth is “the basis of all life” and the “accumulated memories of time and lives,” so it makes sense she’d use soil as the starting material for her alchemical creations.

Albedo seems to be aware of the Traveler’s unique status, although he never names them as a Descender. During his Story Quest, Albedo studies the Traveler to get insight on how to help an alien flower bloom.

Albedo: The only other life form that, like you, has come here from afar, is the seed that I mentioned. Under the effects of Teyvat's natural laws, it isn't even able to sprout, let alone bloom. Albedo: But after I observed you, I had another idea. Albedo: Imitating you helped to inspire my alchemy, and so... Albedo: Is not nurturing otherworldly life also nurturing the world itself?

Following the experiments he performs on them, he reveals to the player that he lied about some of their test results, and even compares himself to the Traveler.

Albedo: I made a point throughout of telling them how ordinary the results were... Albedo: But what was that sediment I saw forming at the bottom of the vial? It should not have been there... What could it mean? Albedo: Those born of earth are bound by its imperfections, but those born of chalk are free of impurities... You and I are alike, both composed of a substance that has yet to be fully defined...

This leaves us with questions. Assuming Albedo is similar to the ‘primordial human’, what is his role? Is he a Descender, or is he meant to work to become one eventually, like Rene tried to do?

Let’s return for a moment to the Primordial Man and Adam Kadmon. Earlier, we discussed the symbolism of Adam Kadmon; this being represents the divine will to create, also known as the “primordial thought,” as well as the Idea of humanity. Adam Kadmon is the potential for creation unified together, with no distinctions between any concepts. Hermeticism and alchemy have a similar concept, succinctly summed up in the phrase “the all is one,” which can be found written on one of the earlier alchemical drawings of an ouroboros by Cleopatra the Alchemist [11].

In Gnosticism and alchemy, this symbol refers to unity of all material and spiritual things, as well the eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation as things change form [12].

Rhinedottir shared this philosophy, as evidenced by the description for Cinnabar Spindle, Albedo’s sword.

Separate the dust in the flames with joy, and extract the exquisite from the crude. For all in the universe comes from a single source, and all things may be derived from a single thought.

The weapon description also contains instructions for Albedo that likely tie into his expected role as a success of the Primordial Human Project.

You must pursue that which your elder brother, the one-horned white horse, could not accomplish. Reach the far side of philosophy, and create a new destiny for myself and your brothers…

Albedo’s final assignment from Rhinedottir is to learn the “truth and the meaning of this world,” a phrase echoed by the Abyss Twin in We Will Be Reunited. Knowledge is literally power in Teyvat: both Nibelung the Dragon King and later, Deshret, utilized Forbidden Knowledge, also referred to as a “power of darkness from outside of this world”, believing it to be the only effective power to defeat the Heavenly Principles. In fact, it’s even possible that the Dragon King was one of the Descenders despite presumably being native to Teyvat. The process of acquiring the Forbidden Knowledge could have evolved him to true Descender status, although this power appears to be incompatible with Teyvat, especially in the wrong hands. The power of the Forbidden Knowledge is similar to the metaphorical garden of the pardes myth, where out of four “descenders,” only one was able to safely leave, with the esoteric knowledge gained. The philosopher's stone also represents knowledge-it is the lapis philosophorum; literally the 'stone of wisdom'. Knowledge is also how one ascends in Gnosticism, i.e, achieving gnosis.

Perhaps this is the true method to create a Descender and Albedo’s future role: once he reaches the far side of philosophy (learns the truth and meaning of the world) and ‘evolves’ and ‘refines’ himself from albedo through rubedo and citrinitas to the philosopher’s stone, he can change destiny.

This sounds familiar…

Fortuna and Evolution

Rene’s calculations of the world-formula predicted that following the fulfillment of Fontaine’s prophecy, there would be no new civilizations formed from the ruins, as there presumably had been in the past following similar disasters. Rene believed the only way around this was for him to become a Descender, and save Fontaine from the disaster, beginning a new age. It’s implied in the text of the Book of Revealing (the version in the WQ) that the fulfillment of the prophecy would spell disaster for all of Teyvat, not just Fontaine, but even if that were not the intent of Celestia, we can use this example as an analogy for the world-formula of Teyvat.

Rene directly compared the world-formula to the Remurian concept of Fortuna:

Kingdoms rise and fall, and when a civilization is annihilated, a new one will be born after from the ashes, which these books refer to as "Fortuna"... It's somewhat rudimentary, but theoretically at least, it bears striking resemblance to the computational scheme I have formulated and termed "world-formula"...

Let’s spin the wheel of Fortuna and return to the beginning, where we first discussed the four samsara cycles of spiritual evolution and the Four Worlds. Although the samsara cycles don’t refer directly to actual historical events, their names are based on ancient texts. It’s not a large leap in logic to suggest that each of the four samsaras refers to eras in Teyvat’s history- what others in the lore community have been referring to as ‘root-cycles.’ For example, the defeat of evil dragons associated with the Natlantean samsara could refer to the war between the Primordial One and the vishaps described in Before Sun and Moon, or the war between the Heavenly Principles and the Dragon King (which might be the same thing!). The events associated with each samsara must be what ends the samsara, since the fourth, Khraun-Arya, is the current, and represents freedom from the gods, which has not happened yet.

Given that the Descenders can (theoretically) change the result of the world-formula/Fortuna, it can’t be a coincidence that there are the same number of Descenders as there are known samsaras. In addition, if the four samsaras of Teyvat function like the Four Worlds of Kabbalah, that means that a samsara-ending event would be something that results in the evolution of the world. Apep says that during the war between the Dragon King and the Heavenly Principles, Teyvat was in danger of collapsing, and that the victor of the war would “inherit the right to shape the world”. This sounds a lot like Rene’s definition of a Descender: one that can protect the world, sustain the world, destroy the world, and create the world. The death and disassembly of the Third Descender led to a significant change in the “order” of Teyvat when the Gnoses were created to replace the “ruined” functions of the Heavenly Principles. Put another way, Descenders are able to evolve Teyvat into its next stage of evolution.

The fate of the Third Descender and ruined functions of the Heavenly Principles suggest another, alarming component to the relationship between samsaras and Descenders. It could be that as part of the process, a Descender must replace or repair an aspect of the mechanisms that maintain Teyvat. Don’t worry about the Traveler though; the fourth descender of the pardes legend gets to leave the garden in peace.

On the other hand, the first Descender in the legend is the one who dies, and in Genshin it’s the third, so maybe the list isn’t exactly in order. Of course, this comparison to the legend is partly a joke, but it is very interesting that the metaphor for apostatizing is uprooting trees….

Khaenri’ah’s World-Formula

We know from Rene’s notes that Khaenri’ah had their own version of a world-formula, or at least, their records contained information Rene could use to reverse engineer their predictions. We don’t actually know what he found there, but based on the name he gave the fourth samsara and the whole “freedom from the gods” thing, it seems they were trying to evolve Teyvat into the next samsara and make this freedom a reality. We also know that the Khaenri’ahns were searching for a specific kind of power, a power they referred to as both a “perpetual” energy source and a “secret from beyond the skies” that could “throw off the shackles imposed by this world's laws.” This power from “beyond the skies” is thought to be some form of Abyssal power, and the Khaenri’ahns who used it seem aware of a will contained in that power, a “dogma from beyond the heavens.” In fact, it’s possible that this power is the same as the Forbidden Knowledge brought in by Nibelung, which also had an influence on Apep’s behavior when they were infected with it after eating Deshret.

It appears that Khaenri’ah was familiar with something similar to the concept of a Descender, which makes Chlothar’s words to the Traveler in Caribert all the more impactful.

Chlothar: I never imagined that you, of all people, would deny the Abyss... How ridiculous! Chlothar: We once believed that you would bring new strength and hope to Khaenri'ah. Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss... A wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension... Chlothar: ...And the one who controls the Abyss can control everything! Chlothar: We yearned for that future. We looked to you to take us there.

The Future

As mentioned previously, the Four Worlds of Kabbalah are all precursors to the actual material reality, which will be emanated (created) from the fourth world. Luria believed that our world was not yet completely realized and needed another spiritual push from humanity to be actualized. (The mechanics of this won’t be discussed here - so consider this a teaser for Part 3 of Kabbalah theory.) Therefore in Kabbalistic terms, this fifth samara, this fifth world, would be the final and true reality for Teyvat.

This would be why Khaenri’ah needed a Descender or even merely a power that could defy the Heavenly Principles. That was why they summoned the twins, and why projects like the Primordial Human Project existed. It’s ironic that in their desire to remake the world in the image of their dreams, where they were free from the gods and the Heavenly Principles, they chose in the end to bind themselves to a will from beyond the sky, which ended up in catastrophe.

As the letter in the Khaenri’ahn ruins of Gavireh Lajavard says: “The gods are untrustworthy and the demons, ineffable. If there is one thing that can pry open the corners of this hollow world, then it can only be human will.”

Congrats on making it to the end! As you can see, this was already reaching a ridiculous word count, so there were some things I had to leave out, or only briefly touch on. So here are some people and concepts I pretended didn't exist so this didn't get (more) convoluted, but you should read about them: Crowley and True Will, Nietzsche and the overman, Zoroastrianism as a whole, but particularly their version of the Primordial Man, William Blake's prophecies (his Auguries of Innocence is a big inspiration for the artifact lore), Schopenhauer and Will, Atman and Brahman, Plato's concept of the world-soul, SWORDS (in Genshin lore), the Holy Grail legend, and shoutout to Otto Apocalypse the real First Descender. I do want to point out that some of the (real) people on this list, like Crowley, either were terrible people who believed terrible things, or had their philosophy used for terrible things. This also applies to other inspirations for the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. Please keep that in mind when engaging with these people's work.

On a lighter note:

Sabre’s Fun Fact Science Corner aka Miscellaneous Stuff I Need to Put Somewhere

I didn't want to have to get into explaining the lore of another piece of media but yes, this theory was inspired by a binge watch of the last arc of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, transmutation circles and philosopher’s stone and all

On the topic of FMAB, the The Black Serpent Knights archive description states: “The long years and a curse seems to have robbed them of their reason and memory. Now, all that remains within that armor is the will to ‘fight for something, someone, and some matter.’” Funnily enough, the subtitle of the Knights is ‘Aldric’ - Alphonse Elric, anyone?

Caribert becomes the Loom of Fate to “weave his own destiny anew”, Albedo has the Cinnabar Spindle and instructions to create a new destiny - I’m sensing a theme here

Rene believed that getting a Vision was a bad thing in the process of actualizing your Will, and resulted in you selling your fate to the world. So he developed a ritual to remove a Vision from an allogene (this is only mentioned in passing by Caterpillar). So even though Albedo has a Vision, he’s not out of the running to become a Descender. But also Rene was wrong about stuff so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The anthropomorphic imagery in Lurianic Kabbalah can get pretty bizarre, but in a fun way if you're into Genshin lore. Adam Kadmon is described as emanating divine light out of his face, specifically his eyes, to create the next world. Genshin eyeball lore is my roman empire.

As a full elemental dragon, Apep had a “world” inside their body. Rhinedottir seems to like dragons a lot; I wonder if she considers them to be similar to the primordial human. Also, there's evidence that the Traveler's elemental abilities mimic those of the elemental dragons, rather than the archons.

References:

Toseftah Hagigah 2:2 Babylonian Talmud Hagigah 14b, Jerusalem Talmud Hagigah 9:1.

Introduction to Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism - Part 3/14 - Merkabah Shi'ur Komah & Sar Torah

Introduction to Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism - Part 10/14 - Christian and Lurianic Kabbalah

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/761-adam-kadmon#anchor10

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adam-kadmon

https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380321/jewish/Chaos-and-the-Primordial.htm

https://dpul.princeton.edu/alchemy/feature/the-chemical-wedding

https://www.scribd.com/doc/11441835/The-Four-Stages-of-Alchemical-Work

Jung, Collected Works vol. 14 (1970), Mysterium Coniunctionis (1956), ¶372 (p. 278) via Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_psychology#Individuation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopoeia

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ouroboros

https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/april2009.html

https://alchemywebsite.com/rosary0.html

https://www.alchemywebsite.com/rscroll.html

#geshin impact #genshin lore #albedo #narzissenkreuz ordo #rene is my poor little meow meow #tfw you write a 6000 word theory because you miss albedo so much

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doctorecrz · 2 months

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San Valentrix Dia 9: Azmuth

#ben 10 #ben 10 classic #ben 10 alien force #ben 10 ultimate alien #ben 10 omniverse #Arketrix #chaquetrix #azmuth #myaxx #vilgax #unice #albedo #fanart #lore #character sheet #alternative universe

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cor-lapis · 1 year

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why was windblume day 2 a wilder rollercoaster than the actual archon quest

#PLEASE LORD ANYTHING BUT ''WE'RE FRIENDS AND COUSINS TOO''#WHY DID THEY PUT CYNO LORE AS THE POST QUEST HIDDEN INTERACTION (GO TO THE LIBRARY IF YOU DK)#WHY DID THEY FOLLOW UP THE BEMUSING NO HOMO SCENE WITH THE MOST WHOLESOME REALISTIC BONDING SCENE BETWEEN COLLEI AND SUCROSE #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #genshin impact #genshin spoilers #holy moly this is the most timely i've been in ages #albedo #cyno #tighnari #collei #sucrose #lisa minci #my art #by mildly distraught I mean I didn't realise how invested I was until I felt like I got a pie to the face #this event quest broke me so bad I reverted to the base instinct of meme redraws

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s-aprua · 5 months

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festering desire sucrose & rubedo

2023 vs 2021 >>>

#genshin impact #my art #genshin #sucrose #albedo #redraw #dragobspine christmas i miss u #also time/event gated albero lore...

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aeroblossom · 5 months

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scara mommy issues, yes. but what about albedo mommy issues?

despite her cold, strict attitude and apparent deficiency of concern for her creations, he still seeks her out, admires her. even though alice asks him to call her as mother too, albedo insists on calling her his aunt instead. he clings to his true mother. the perfectionism, the constant threat of being deemed a failure or abandoned by her - the constant threat of being assassinated by his own siblings for rhinedottir's attention, if you will. the fact he probably doesn't know the expanse of his entire family, nor the consequences of the quest she's given him. that he woke up one day and just didn't find her next to him ever again. that he had to travel all the way to mondstadt by himself for the first time. klee asks him why he doesn't call alice mother, and he just stares with a wistful smile, responding only that his mother is still out there, and he's waiting for her.

#albedo #rhinedottir #i miss him sm #genshin lore #🏷

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justaghostingon · 1 month

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Is it wrong to date a guy from an enemy faction when your country doesn’t exist anymore? Asking for a friend

A kaebedo au in which kaeya lives in a spy drama and albedo in a sitcom

Note: Minor spoilers for some lore from Pernhari lore books

Given what we now know about how the crimson moon dynasty came before the eclipse dynasty and was more focused on alchemy, i would like to submit a theory that albedo is from the crimson moon faction

His master rhinedottr is famous for her alchemy after all, and he followed in her footsteps.

Not that these factions mean much to albedo, k’hanriah is long gone, and there is so much more in the world to discover

But Kaeya! Kaeya was sent as a spy by the k’hanrians who haven’t given up yet, they still have hope and cling to old traditions.

They served the dynasty of eclipse, of course the differences between crimson moon and exclipse matter to them

Especially if i go out on a limb and theorize the crimson moon had something to do with the fall of k’hanriah. Like a revolt or political infighting. Side eyes “the exclipse was swallowed by the crimson moon”

So it makes sense why neither kaeya nor albedo were aware that they’d meet another k’hanrian in mondstat, much less another captain in the knights

Kaeya spends a day in agony, fully expecting albedo to jump him and make kaeya follow some new “mission” or something

That is until albedo mentions alchemy, specifically kemia. The pride of the crimson moon’s alchemists.

Combined with albedo’s seeming lack of knowledge as to who kaeya is, this can only mean one thing.

Albedo isn’t a spy from eclipse here to get Kaeya back on track. He’s a spy from crimson moon here to do the same thing as kaeya!

Naturally kaeya can’t let an enemy spy get to close to mondstat! Especially since they might not be friendly like him!

Plus he’s grown up on stories that blame the crimson moon for k’hanriah’s fall. (Also the gods and abyss, but come on, we all know the rival political faction was the real enemy here) he does not want that to happen to mondstat

So kaeya decides to get close to albedo, feel him out and see what his intentions are, and dispose of him if he needs to.

Unfortunately for him, a wrench is thrown in his plans in the form of Klee. Sweet, loveable klee who adores her big brother albedo so much, and would definitely cry if he were to suddenly vanish, and he just couldn’t do that ot her (also there is an all powerful witch who will definitely destroy mondstat if they make her precious daughter cry)

Now kaeya must find other ways to handle mond’s latest ticking time bomb and figure out his secrets, all while trying to ignore how those eyes make his heart skip a beat (from fear, he lies to himself)

Meanwhile, albedo clocks kaeya as a k’hanrian from the eclipse faction the moment he saw him. Given how it was all over kaeya’s clothes, he thought this was intentional.

And sure, kaeya never talks about his homeland, or his people before mondstat, but given everything that went down its probably a sore spot. No one else brings it up ir comments on his heritage so albedo just assumes everyone knows and no one talks about it out of respect for kaeya, and some other illusive social cue.

So when kaeya starts getting close to albedo, with his signature flirty moves, albedo does not think this has anything to do with crimson moon vs eclipse. He thinks this is just kaeya trying to get to know the new captain

Maybe he’s curious about alchemy?

So he shows off a few cool potions to a wide eyes kaeya

Kaeya internally: is this a threat?

Albedo internally: i am winning at social interaction 😁

Albedo figured kaeya would get bored of him soon enough, when he realized that albedo’s job of alchemy is a lot more math and a lot less cool explosions.

But when kaeya sticks around, asking questions about albedo’s past, befriending klee, expressing curiousity in what exactly his potions can be used for, albedo starts to get suspicious

It’s not the alchemy itself. Albedo offered to teach kaeya some small potions and kaeya all but leapt away in his haste to refuse (those childhood stories of “touch alchemy and u die” realy stuck with him)

So he goes to sucrose and timeaus and asks them.

Sucrose is equally baffled, wonders if maybe kaeya just really likes chopping up ingredients

Albedo: hmm. He does do it everytime i ask…

Timeus: oh my archons, kaeya has a crush on you.

Albedo decides to test both theories. He stops letting kaeya cut his ingredients, but that doesn’t deter him. So he checks to see if Kaeya is attracted to him

By silently crowding close to kaeya to hear if his heart speeds up

Kaeya meanwhile, has a stone faced alchemist pushing him into a wall, is absolutely thinking he’s about to be murdered (and that it’s hot)

Albedo notices the speed up. Ahh so he does like me.

Kaeya: i have to go now! Proceeds to rush out the door.

Albedo is confused. If kaeya likes him, why is he running?

He asks timeus and sucrose. Sucrose offers to stalk him for a while to find out why. Timeus replies that albedo was “too forward” and that people like “to be chased”

Albedo, chasing kaeya: is this what u want?

Kaeya: oh god he’s gonna kill me!

The method that albedo picks to woo Kaeya is to offer him a fancy lunch he cooked, complete with a traditional khanrian delicacy: the spider sandwich.

Kaeya does not enjoy this, his mind running wild trying to figure out what albedo is trying to say to him by feeding him spiders.

Albedo decides he can’t trust Rhinedottr’s ideas of “traditional delicacies” (who knew her spider sandwich wasn’t normal?)

So he turns to sucrose, who has been stalking kaeya. She proposes a date that she has gathered from her research: take him drinking.

Now if albedo had started with this, it probably would have gonne much easier for him. But after a week of being stalked, chased, and fed spiders, kaeya’s guard is way up.

He’s convinced this is an attempt to get him drunk to get information out of him. Well good luck with that, kaeya’s no light weight, he’s certain he can drink albedo under the table, and get him talking instead

Albedo is a but hesitant when kaeya suggests a drinking competition, but goes along with it.

The result is a very drunk albedo cuddling up to kaeya and whispering the periodic table seductively in his ear.

Kaeya was not prepared for that. Not at all. He comes back home thinking that the crimson moon really trains their spies to be good at keeping secrets

Albedo comes back to his home confident at a successful first date

Things continue onward in their will they won’t they, until one day kaeya wakes up in bed with albedo, in matching pjs, klee sleeping between them, and realizes that seduction was the crimson moons game all along, and he lost.

But oh well, its not like he’s really following eclipse’s orders anyways. He thinks as he goes back to sleep

The end

#genshin impact #kaeya alberich #albedo #kaebedo #genshin impact au #kaebedo au #pernheri #perinhari #what is that lore book called?#minor spoilers for perinheri #crimson moon albedo #eclipse kaeya #klee #sucrose #timeus #don’t take this too seriously #crack au #everyone’s a little ooc

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m1d-45 · 1 year

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I'm not sure if reqs are open, buy if you, can you please do something like this, but the reader is a teen? (15/16?) (Just like me irl lmao) (sorry if reqs are closed and for my blindness) ._."<3

still too young

a/n: straight up had no idea what to do for this one, so heres a vague assortment of headcanons about it. thank you for your request, and yes, they’re open!

word count: ~1.5k

-> warnings: spoilers for inazuma and the first sumeru archon quests, spoilers for albedo and razor lore, uhh people are unnecessarily rude to you, they kinda don’t see you as a person due to the nature of this situation—not all of them, but a major chunk. they’re simultaneously very obsessive and very lax. bad format.

-> lowercase intended!

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3

< masterlist >

right off the bat, things are going to be a lot different even as they’re very similar. when your main—who will be referred to as the favored for simplicity—finds you in the field, they still behave the same. theyre still going to be convinced that you’re the key to their god’s forgiveness, and though they’re surprised at your age, they don’t miss a beat. you’re too old to be so easily convinced, but you’re still too young to be wise enough to say no.

you’re tucked in the corner, a hilichurl’s club held tight in your shaking grip.

for the sake of this, we’ll say that you’ve been intentionally avoiding them, unwilling to taint your opinion of them. now youre cornered, and you doubt that teyvat can knit the bushes behind you tight enough to delay them. you don’t want to fight them, you don’t, but their weapon was still on display, shining in the early morning light as their shoulders heave with exertion.

they follow your eyes and dismiss it, carefully approaching you. the blessing of their god is lesser this time, but still powerful enough that they’re on the right track.

“hello,” they say, and introduce themselves. it’s useless, considering you know them already, but it’s not as if they know that.

when they prod for your name, you don’t answer, not even to give a fake one, and they frown. you do seem scared.. maybe they should try this from a different angle?

“i’m not here to hurt you,” they whisper, taking another step closer. “i promise.”

you’re too tired to think of resisting.

sumeru

• starting with this one first: no way in hell the akademiya is taking you seriously once it registers

• not a chance.

• the sages are welcoming(ish) at first, willing to allow this version of their savior—for who else could save them from their ‘god’s wrath?—to be… like this, but that must be because you want to better influence the young, right? you want to be relatable? this, all this is because you want to better be able to understand and talk to the newest generation, right?

• they’re like a corporation on twitter. that’s the nicest way to put it

• once they realize, through one mean or another, that no, you’re just young, this isn’t an alteration to your form, you’re being dismissed. you’re not their god, they don’t have to pay attention to you. they don’t have to pay attention to your odd sense of humor and whatever ‘based’ means in your eternally complex context. all they have to do is make you happy and keep you safe.

• (you’re not. to either.)

• to the sages of the akademiya, you’re a means to an end.

• if, by chance, you’re a tighnari / collei main, you’re a lot better off! they’re kinder, protective to a fault. you quickly become commonplace in gandharva ville, and integrate a lot easier. they’re probably two of the few to register you as the actual creator, but that’s mostly because theyre the ones who patch you up most often. it might take a while, but stick it out.

liyue

• more people who will laugh at you </3

• ningguang is the leader of liyue in every way that matters, and i just… i can’t see her taking a teenager seriously. you could lay out a 3-page, mla formatted—not that she’d recognize it—essay with cited sources, but she’d dismiss it all under the grounds of a minor grammatical error in line 4 of paragraph 5. oh, and it’s below the required word count for a report submitted to the qixing, so jot that down. you could use the words.

• in her mind, you’re just another task. something else to take care of, one that admittedly takes priority since you’re from their god, but still. she feeds you, makes sure you have clean clothes and aren’t sick, she keeps you safe, but it’s all hollow. keqing doesn’t care for you all that much—her creator’s on thin ice anyway—and though ganyu is kind, she can’t do much outside of bringing you a bundle of qingxin whenever you’re down(always). to the liyue qixing, you’re an assignment. one they can’t fail.

• if you’re a childe main, i’m sorry.

• if you’re a xiangling main, you have a chance at normality. she’s pretty strange but will be unlikely to turn you in or be harsh about it.

• if you’re a hu tao main, you also have a chance, just do your best to convince her not to bring you to zhongli. please.

• if you’re a zhongli main i’m sorry.

• can’t believe i almost forgot xiao, but i don’t feel i need to say much on the topic except for asking what color you want your shackles to be /hj

inazuma

• WOOO BOY

• R.I.P. to you, you had a nice run, good luck ever being able to leave the tenshukaku. the second the shogun sees you, it’s game over. to her, the people and environment are too inconsistent, too changing, too dangerous for somebody of your caliber. she’ll insist with iron eyes and a steel hand that you’re to stay there, where they can keep you safe. to her, the creator was the ultimate symbol of eternity—after all, what else is constant but creation? what else is certain besides the fact that new life will flourish, live, then die again?

• i’ll be one of the first to insist that ei =/= the raiden shogun, but it still stands that ei was still the one to give the shogun her commands. when she said to enforce eternity, her word was law, and when she says to keep you from leaving, she still carries that weight to her voice. what she says goes, and she says that you are to stay there.

• if you’re a kamisato main, rip.

• similarly, sorry to all the thoma mains.

• kazuha’s technically from inazuma so i’ll put him here: you have the best chance with him alone. the crux seem kind, but beidou is.. close with ningguang.

• if you’re a heizou main… play your cards right.

mondstat

• honestly? your best chance at living an okay life.

• they’re a nation of freedom! that isn’t to say they won’t vehemently press against you leaving the city—or springvale, if you’re smart about it—but you will have the most freedoms. they keep you from the kitchen and training grounds, but if you’re really interested then kaeya and jean might set up a very, very child-proof mock training set up for you. lisa also has a giant library, so guess what hobby you have now. sucrose and albedo may or may not let you watch—from a very safe distance with 10ft of protective barriers—and it’s a toss up as to whether diluc would even let you leave the manor, let alone mondstat.

• albedo mains are royally screwed. like you have a negative percent chance of ending up okay in this certain hyper-specific au. either he’ll keep you for evaluation and minor experimentation, or he’ll find out some way to keep you in the city / monitor your location. as a master(?) of khemia, he has a heavy interest in the creator. if you’re his chance to understanding it, them, and himself better, you are not leaving.

• quick fire: lisa mains have no chance, jean + noelle mains have an okay shot, and amber mains have a ~32% chance, diluc and kaeya mains are on the thinnest of ice. if you’re a diona main i have several questions but the only important one is who do you think she’ll turn you in to?

• if you’re a razor main 1) i love you keep up god’s work 2) you have one of the best chances! he’s not really involved with many people, just pray that lisa doesn’t find out about you. same goes for bennett, though he may be suspicious after a while and turn you in(his bad luck fades when you’re around sorry i make the rules)

• if you’re a venti main…. uh.

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chaimaybe · 11 months

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i cannot emphasize how much i love events where mondstadt and sumeru characters interact. my home and my favorite nation. i swear it makes me so giddy

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ramunnae · 11 days

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I love the genshin progenitor YT series SM I just inhaled the new episode. angsty teen Scara working with Ei is absolute fuel to me.

credit: dillongoo on YT

#genshin #genshin impact #albedo #raiden shogun #ei #scaramouche #animation #no fr the animation #i love the lore being set up #the style and aesthetic are perfect #im gonna eat scaramouche

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huiyi07 · 2 years

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Why I think Layla might be related to Khaenri’ah !

she’s the only other character who’s sitting down in their artwork aside from Kaeya, who, in theory, is sitting down because he’s sitting on his throne as a the heir to Khaenri’ah’s royal throne. Her hair and the tassels on her wrists as well as the back of her cape are the four-pointed stars we see on every Khaenri’ahn related character. Also her circlet, or crown (pointing to royalty) has some of the stars and the shading in her hair also is in the shape of the stars in a lighter, grayer color- like Kaeya’s streak of gray hair, or Pierro’s streak of navy hair. She shares a similar enough color palette to Dainsleif and Kaeya and Pierro and maybe even Albedo if you squint. What if she’s another member, or maybe even a sage, of Khaenri’ahn royalty- also sitting on a throne. Especially a royal sage or consultant of some sort, seeing as her pose looks like she’s advising someone to do something.

The four- pointed stars on Kaeya’s eye and clothes:

The four pointed stars on her:

The Official Genshin YouTube channel also posted this about her:

So she’s a sleepy character who apparently has never experienced sleepwalk, and by a stretch, has never had a dream. In the Genshin trailer: Travail, way back, the one where they show a small glimpse of the nations, Dainsleif mentions that “there are those who dream of dreaming.” He also mentions that “Some say a few are chosen and the rest are dregs.” Now I’m really stretching, but what if what happens to her here in this description is connected- what if the stars descending on her paper was her being ‘chosen’- she also calls it “The star’s blessing”. Especially with the fact that she had just woken up from a restful nap- what if she had a dream during that nap, and as a Khaenri’ahn, allowed her to be blessed by these random stars???

ALSO @genshin-impact-updates said that her constellation is apparently called ‘Luscinia’ so i googled it and (copy pasted from wikipedia) Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. It also said this:

Now who else do we know is one eyed-?? Dain, Pierro, and Kaeya- all of them not only related to Khaenri’ah, but related to Khaenri’ahn royalty. I googled what nightingales symbolize, and apparently they symbolize a LOT like creativity and nature and melodies and mystery even???

I’ve also never seen a nightingale in my life but apparently they sing a lot at night so maybe she’s really supposed to symbolize some sort of magic or dreaming or stars or whatever as a Khaenri’ahn. At this point I’m really stretching but MY POINT IS BABE WAKE UP NEW KHAENRI’AH RELATED CHARACTER JUST DROPPED

Edit; I have something to add on the visual similarities between her and the other Khaenri’ahns we know. her hoodie/ veil is twisted to cover the right side of her face more than her left side. Just like Kaeya’s hair and eyepatch, as well as Pierro and Dain’s covered right sides. I think it’s a more subtle way of pointing to how Khaenri’ahns cover their eye just like their King Irmin mentioned in Hidden Strife.

Edit2: jk she can sleepwalk my bad Idk if she can dream or not tho

#genshin impact #genshin kaeya #kaeya alberich #dainsleif #albedo #layla genshin impact #khaenri'ah #genshin lore #genshin #genshin pierro #genshin impact lore #genshin theory #genshin impact theory

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monards · 2 months

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(why and how) The Heart of Naberius is Rhinedottir's plan to absolve herself

( a slight crack theory brought to you, by yours truly !!!!! )

I think that it’s sort of just a general fact that the amount of motives rhine could have to taking the heart of naberius are as plenty as there are theories on who and what paimon is ,,, but after a long and hard night of thinking (chugging three bottles of water and listening to the silver thread soundtrack) I came to the very indecisive conclusion that may or may not be using it for the purpose of absolving her sins.

As far as we know (and can assume) ; the Heart of Naberius is some adjacent to a gnosis, mostly due to the idea of ‘hearts’ and it holding some inordinate amount of power – whether that be because it IS a gnosis, or is some sort of primitive/alternate version for another level of power in celestia’s hierarchy is debatable, but it still stands that it more or less likely holds a similar purpose and power as the gnosis the archons have. In the Fontaine archon quest; it is very much drilled into us that a gnosis has a WHOLE lot of meaning besides just being a communication gateway between both archon and celestia. We find out not only that, hey!! those are actually the third descenders’ corpse!! lolsies!!! – but also that they have SOME association with the sovereign’s power, whether that be on their own or through their respective god/archon. Since, by Neuvillette acquiring it after Focalor’s death, he - for the most part- properly gains back his abilities and powers as the Hydro Sovereign

And obviously, that's all fine and dandy!!! Woohoo for gnosis lore!! But in the case of looking at Rhinedottir; that adds a WHOLE lot of weight onto her possible plan with the Heart of Naberius.

Beginning at just the cataclysm, there’s a clear connection between Rhinedottir and ‘Dragons’; > Two of her most prevalent creations are both Durin & Elynas ; and a common thread between the two is their CONTINUOUS description of being ‘otherworldly’ or ‘disfigured’ in some manner ^ This is incredibly important because it directly aligns with what would be expected of the Dragon Sovereign. They lived in a Teyvat which is noted to be much, much harsher and different from the modern-day; And so, that would imply that, evolutionary, they would’ve evolved to be built for far, far more rugged and tough landscape then what Teyvat is today– we even see this fact in comparing Apep to just Dvalin & Azdaha ; she’s notably larger, and far, far more intimidating and ‘otherworldly’ to put it simply. ^ This is important because, quite evidently, both Elynas and Durin in no way appear to be ‘made’ for Teyvat. Both, when compared to other draconic-creatures, are out of place; Being excessive in size, notably different physical appearances (think difference between how Durin is described “black skeletal dragon with glowing red eyes. His wings have long veins running along the folds.” VS Dvalin who’s described as “that bejeweled, lovely dragon”) Both of their appearances directly align with the line of thinking you’d have with the sovereign; and even more, it’s clear from comparing just Apep & Elynas– Both have serpentine like forms, which are excessive in size, which can also harbour life in them. Which, I REALLY doubt is a coincidence . ^ Plys, even more, Just their abilities alone clearly surpass some of the more powerful entities we’ve met. As is seen in Durin and Dvalin’s battle during the cataclysm; where Durin (to put it very very kindly) almost completely wiped the floor, and probably would have, if he hadn’t become aware of WHAT he was doing. This fact alone already establishes that all of the dragons Rhinedottir has created have in no way aligned with the standards of Teyvat as it is today, because even in fighting an archon and celestial dragon– these abilities are FAR excessive in strength and power. Meaning that, more or less likely; they were intended for survival in a far, far harsher environment– one akin to Teyvat prior to the primordial one. ^ Also, although it’s a bit more crude of an idea; this can explain why subject two was not killed after being essentially fed to Durin ; as it can imply that there was some trait in his anatomy that fostered his growth while in dvalin’s belly, rather than digesting and ACTUALLY killing him. And the only known dragons, and notable creatures, to have that ability IS Apep; one of the Dragon Sovereign. > All of this would imply that, as of that point, there’d already been an attempt to resurrect/recreate the sovereign for one reason or another.

And, even more, by just looking at the real mythological Naberius himself, he “restores lost dignities and honors,” ; which aligns terribly well with the narrative of Rhinedottir attempting to restore her dignity and honor as a scientist, and someone who was clearly working to provide food and resources to the people of Khaneriah, by erasing her title as a ‘sinner’, let alone The Great Sinner

// This is maybe where I go a little more off the rails by throwing Albedo into this mess. Everything beyond this point is babbling.

Albedo’s involvement;

We know that Albedo was, obviously, born after the cataclysm; and this isn’t all to consequential until you remember a certain Iudex who was brought into power 400~ years ago, meaning that, as of the point Albedo was created; Rhinedottir would’ve been be fully aware of Neuvillete’s existence ,, which implies a WHOLE lot of things.

If the gnosis truly does hold the power of the dragon sovereign; this could explain Albedo’s purpose. At that point in time; Rhinedottir would be formally aware that The Dragon Sovereign can, and are, as far as Neuvillette goes, reincarnated as humans. Meaning that she didn’t have to keep making dragon after dragon, to fulfill her goal; and instead, just had to make a human. // Just looking at them alone; both Neuvillete and Albedo hold PLENTY of similarities in their stories that can imply that, in some way, Albedo’s creation and story/fate may or may not take major inspiration from Neuvillette himself // Both feel as if, in some way, they’re ‘separate’ from the rest of humanity; They’re both notoriously unfamiliar with a plenty of things, which if you squint a bit at; have the same base concept and ideas. They’re both actively learning to understand humanity through another person, too > Neuvillette, through Furina and her continuous insistence, learns all about humanity; their sorrows, their ambitions, their sacrifice, etc… – and, it can very easily be assumed the one reason he’s not a total and complete recluse is DUE to her pushing and prodding for him to get out, and experience humanity as it is. > Albedo shares a similar point of learning through Klee,, with her acting as his line between his research, and the people of Mondstadt– and just as Furina does Neuvillete- she acts as his reason to connect and learn about humanity, as through her, he takes break from his continuous work and research in dragonspine, to come to Mondstadt!! (this probably isn’t a very good explanation of klee & albedo’s lore,, but one of my loveliest mutuals @haidengjiehas a ton of very very very amazing explanations on their blog that explains their relationship in a lot more depth and thought if you want to understand them more !!!!!!!! )

// They also both share a common theme of wanting to learn of, or acquiring some ‘truth’ – and even though this is a common plot device in most of the characters in genshin– i think it’s very important with these two especially; because, more often than not, this truth is derived from humanity itself; > Neuvillete, prior to coming to Fontaine, was likely horribly similar to Apep in thought and perspective. We even see so in his character stories, and lack of understanding around humanity as a whole; that he had no initial understanding of humans, or modern Teyvat, prior to being Iudex. However, it’s established that as of after Fontaine's archon quest; he has officially learned what's essentially the ‘truth’ to him; that humans aren’t what he has made them out to be, all this time; that, instead, they’re dynamic. They experience both joy and sorrow, selfishness and sacrifice– and that above all, they’re not in any way the seemingly despicable entities he likely initially thought them to be for many, many years ( think his “He would never admit that he himself had become quite fascinated with the joys and sorrows of humanity.” line in his 5th character story) > Albedo also shares this common thread of narrative !!! Albedo, prior to becoming chief alchemist of the KOF, likely had little to no understanding of humans outside of Rhinedottir, which would imply it definitely wasn’t the.. best of opinions, if she was all he was going based off of. But, in becoming Chief Alchemist; he was put into a position where he was now exposed to all sorts of people. He was exposed to warmth and love , ambition and determination, and the way many people cope with the adversities in their life. ^ And, even though we haven’t seen him come to his ‘truth’ yet, we can very well anticipate that this truth is meant to be obtained through this exact manner as Neuvillete’s. In his 5th character story, we see him note "I hope this isn't just wishful thinking, but... when parents speak to their children about 'the meaning of this world'... surely they just mean the pursuit of a happy life?" which, given his very, very clear intelligence and better understanding of the world and humanity now; it’s cleary implied that he’s likely already surmised in some way that Rhinedottir had this intention in sending him out into the world (Thinking back to my Rhinedottir knowing she could never provide Albedo a real example of humanity post,) ; similarly to how Neuvillette had– she wished for him to acquire this truth through understanding and experiencing humanity.

Roping this all back into this purpose; this could very well entail that, similarly to how Neuvillette is to the Fontanians and their sins, Albedo’s purpose is to act as salvation for Rhinedottir, (or even khaneri’ah as a whole, if you wanna get REALLY into it) The gnosis, after Neuvillete's acquisition of it, allowed for him to regain his authority; and forgive the ‘sins’ of the people of Fontaine. The event during which he forgives these sins, prior to what happens, is very, very much similarly referred to as whatever event albedo is to ‘lose control’ during.

// Both of these events have inherently negative connotations. Obviously, the flooding of Fontaine was implied to result in the death of every single Fontanian; However, it ended up being the opposite– As, after Neuvillete finally realized ‘truth’ he chose to save them, rather than fulfill his original intent to not do anything to save them, which would’ve had them all killed (Think the fact he came to fontaine with a similar mindset as Apep towards humanity and modern Teyvat.) ^ As of now; whatever Albedo has been referring to has had VERY similar treatment. In almost every instance of Albedo mentioning it, he almost always implies it isn’t gonna end well; and by law of assumption, that leaves us thinking Mondstadt going bye-bye. ^ The issue with this, though, is his acquisition of truth. He has, as of yet, not found out what ‘the truth of this world’ really is; mostly due to him not fully understanding where to begin with it. He has the idea, obviously; we see the budding of those thoughts in him thinking that maybe Rhinedottir really had just wanted him to live a happy life to achieve the truth– and, if that were the case- that would mean the exact mirroring of Neuvillete’s story; which could very well imply that whatever this event of him ‘losing control’ is, can be controlled and prevented in a roundabout way.

/// We can also very well assume that, similar to Neuvillette, in Albedo ‘losing control’ ; he’s bound to gain some abilities which would shoot his power scaling up. T > This power is very likely going to come from the Heart of Naberius; as it’s a recurring theme in almost every one of rhine’s creations, that there power and entire being is derived from their heart (hence why they’re such important elements in their stories) and being as right now, out of all her “miraculous creations” , he has yet to gain a real and monumental demonstration of a physical heart ; and there’s no other painstakingly obvious source for this newfound power THEN the Heart of Naberius. ^ Upon obtaining this power, he would be made to make the choice between fulfilling what he believes was his intent to gaining that power; or the opposite, and saving Mondstadt instead– which is more or less likely to be the case; which if you wanted to get symbolistic with it, could really show him obtaining a ‘heart’– as hearts are mostly commonly utilized to represent love and compassion.

// > And, if we’re still assuming that some portion of the dragon sovereign’s authority is held within the gnosis, and the Heart of Naberius IS a gnosis of some kind; this would then align him in under the same logic of how Neuvillete describes himself, “he is one strong enough to equal and rival "the human realm," and logic would dictate that he need not subscribe to this system known as "fate."” This explanation would also explain Mona’s lack of note on his constellation in her voiceline around him. ^ The importance of Mona's voiceline is that it’s the EXACT same thing that happened in Fontaine. The Traveler & Paimon were at a point of understanding that Fontaine was destined to be destroyed, with everyone being bound to turning back into oceanids ^ However, Nicole (and what we can assume is the rest of Hexenzirkel) are aware this is not the case. And although Nicole does not fully disclose it to us, she in no way insinuates that what we know is the full truth. // This aligns with Mona’s reaction, as it shows her neither confirming or denying Albedo’s fate in discussing his constellation; she instead steers around the topic, and merely spends her voiceline about him talking about him as whole– not his constellation, or anything pertaining to it and his fate– only who he is. She would know we’re aware of what we believe is bound to happen to Albedo; because we’re REPEATEDLY established as being some of those closest to him, so it’s not as if she’s hiding it for his safety, or privacy – instead she’s vehemently avoiding the topic, implying she knows something we don't; and that she can’t tell us, as if we were to know– it’s very likely we could in some way throw off fate; Think how we, as a descender, have the power to change Teyvat’s fate. And in us knowing what is fated to happen, we could in some way act abnormally due to that knowledge, and change what was originally bound to happen– which would alter the course of destiny, which could very well then lead to all hell for Albedo. // ^ this can also explain what we assume is her ignorance towards Rhinedottir. In knowing Albedo’s fate is not what it really is, and stated to be– and is instead far, far better than it; she would be aware Rhinedottir does not have wholly bad intentions, and neither is a monster sending her son to slaughter, hence her not lambasting her at any point– and even indirectly saying she’d wish would’ve rather not had Barbeloth as her master, while discussing the way Albedo had turned out, while RAISED by Rhinedottir ; which very, very much implies she finds some good qualities in her, to warrant that opinion (Because, as much as Mona may not like Barbeloth; I’d doubt she’d prefer a supposed homicidal maniac who has fated literally every one of her children to death, had that been the case.)

// Obviously; there’s also the point and situation that the gnosese themselves don’t hold the Sovereign's power; but even then, there’s a very clear way to escape that paradox of a problem. If we follow the alternative theory that the archon/god in relation to a gnosis needs to be killed, resulting in the destruction of their ‘throne’ and release of the sovereign authority; then Rhinedottir’s obviously capable of making that happen. We see VERY clearly that Rhinedottir has knowledge and ability that can kill god, as if Durin was able to do all that to Venti & Dvalin; it’s been over 500 years since she created him, and if there’s anything to be established about Rhinedottir– it’s that she’s HIGHLY ambitious. So it’s right of assumption that at some point over the past few centuries, she’s definitely acquired enough of the knowledge/ability and power required to create an entity, or strategy, to dispose of whatever god is directly connected to the heart of Naberius. ^ This is even established by her following the Shade Of Life’s steps; She would, and does, clearly have the plan to gain some authority/power in equivalence to celestia, and it can be a possibility that she’s mirroring the Shade Of Life as her example to achieve such status. (Since shades are direct fragments of the primordial one; it can be assumed they’re some of the most powerful entities in Teyvat; which would explain why Rhinedottir would mirror one.) ^ This would then explain her absence. Similarly to both Focalors and Neuvillette; Neuvillete functions just as he does with no idea of Focalors’ plan, and Focalors works behind the scenes to orchestrate everything so that it all plays out as she intends it.

Does this imply Rhinedottir may or may not self sacrifice? Maybe. Can this also imply another Focalors & Furina parallel being established between Rhinedottir and a new “Miraculous Creation” she may have made over the past 400-ish years since albedo? Maybe. Does this also maybe-possibly mean that Rhinedottir smoked multiple pipes using the leaves of irminsul tree to obtain this absurd amount of knowledge? Perhaps. Am I gonna elaborate? Absolutely not bbecause oh my GOD are my fingers burning with how much i’ve had to type.

(big, big, BIG creds to @mchib for reading this and letting me know how insane i sounded. you are so lovely and i appreciate you very much. (can you guys tell what the verdict was.))

#hi guys. do i sound insane. :3 #(dont answer that. i already know.)#this theory's catalyst was actuallyyy lee ninglans's alchemage posts!!! funfact!!!!#“This is maybe where I go a little more off the rails” i say as this entire theory is based off copium #anyways rhine is so dear to me!!! and i think she has alot of lore you can think about for extended periods of time #guys. please dont take me seriously. I was so insane while reading this i chugged like three water bottles in 15 minutes #rhine!!! rhinedottir!! great sinner!! woohoo!!!#rhinedottir #rhine hcs #rhine & albedo #rhine #rhine family #genshin theory #crack theory #genshin analysis #crepe's insane ramblings

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