since snezhnaya trailer is out i'm posting this guy again. this is how i imagined snezhnayan designs to look like btw.
this is Chernomor (Chernobog in other recordings), the Cryo Sovereign and the original creator of Snezhnaya. he was imprisoned by the Beliy Tsar thousands of years ago beneath Snezhnaya's deepest lake. the Cataclysm caused Teyvat to shift, breaking the seal that kept him beneath the water. greatly weakened, he took upon a humanlike form (still made of inorganic matter, able to "fix" himself if broken) and changed his ways. while innately good-natured, he is still a madman incapable of understanding the complexity of human emotion. his selflessness and the need to make the people of Snezhnaya happy, coupled with madness, wisdom and relative mastery over time, space and death makes him a very dangerous entity that the Fatui have failed to catch.
his current name is Jormungandr, given to him by a khaenri'ahn knight he met in his travels. the knight was the late Anfortas Alberich. Jormungandr treasures his new name greatly and used it to change his own destiny in the Irminsul. in order to protect himself, he uses the alias 'the Architect', much like the Fatui Harbingers use their titles.
the Architect is extremely lonely but has his own cryptic ways of contacting the world of living, afraid of accidentally hurting mortals by exposing them to the secrets of Teyvat. throughout Snezhnaya, he leaves the hexahedrons - advanced puzzles which reveal small messages when solved. in person, he speaks in a very old-fashioned manner.
out of the four principles (Death, Life, Space and Time) he cannot master only one - life. an inorganic lifeform, cursed with witnessing death and causing death by his touch alone, unintentionally. his love for this world is the reason for his isolation.
also he is technically Columbina Hyposelenia's uncle
since chernomor was so well-received, take a look at brighella, too!
(this is obviously a character from an AU, and i ship her with Prime Dottore, since he's alive in said AU. be warned)
this is Brighella, №8 of the Fatui Harbingers, also known as the Liar. the moment La Signora passed away, the Jester gave the 8th seat to his most loyal guard dog - how convenient! not much is known about the Liar's preferences, personality, background or exact power level - the relatively low rank suggests she's far from matching a god in strength, but what humanity is always afraid of most is the unknown. all that was solidified from her first day on duty was that you won't be able to sway Brighella with... anything, it seems. a frighteningly high pain tolerance, a perpetual condescending grin stuck on her face, and a complete disinterest in courtly matters and luxury. the woman is a disciplined soldier and tactician through and through - you can insult her to her face, and you'll get no visible reaction from her (though, no one can guarantee what will happen to you afterward).
there are many rumors surrounding her name. some are convinced that the Liar can copy other people's appearance and mannerisms. others speculate, from her appearance and accent, that she might be a steppe dweller by birth - the jaded people of the north, who still do not accept the Tsaritsa's authority fully. her friendship with the Doctor raises questions. fae tend to avoid her, pointing out her unsettlingly tall stature and strange stare. her young comrade Tartaglia complains about her excessive smoking and the habit to sleep with her eyes fully open.
few know that the Liar has no ulterior motives. the one who was raised in isolation and prepared for the fate of becoming a figure on the Jester's chessboard, the young flagbearer worried for the fate of her country, may as well be considered dead, buried beneath layers of nicotine, paranoia and cynicism.
until her true nature is finally revealed to her, at least. until then, she is merely a leashed wild animal in a politician's seat.
a monster raised and trained to be tame, while her true nature remains savage.
...aka why the Fatui have trains and radio while Mondstadtians still only shoot using crossbows
DISCLAIMER: everything in this post is part of my AU, which deviates from canon significantly. Cor Impact is a much darker twist on what Genshin Impact could've been, and I focus heavily on the Fatui and my OCs in this blog.
☾ Mondstadt
As a city, Mond is a very small settlement in relation to the region itself. The reason for this is the insane climate and just how often storms and tornadoes occur. The fortress city is protected by the walls and magical seals to keep them from breaking. It is a strategically unfavorable territory due to the climate, but Mondstadt still is a paradise for adventurers and treasure hoarders simply because the natives do not care about material goods (due to the Archon's Will in the Statues of the Seven, which I'll elaborate on later, and also because you can literally lose everything in a matter of seconds because of a storm). During Decarabian's rule, there were many more fortresses - after his reign ended, people stopped caring. Plus, Monstadt is protected by the Hexenzirkel, and the Hexenzirkel wanted Mond to be an isle of calm among the storm. You could also consider Venti's and Istaroth's influence (aka the progress is stagnating because time itself runs slower) but I'll leave that to your imagination.
☾ Liyue
If I'm being completely honest, I don't know much about Liyue (as it's the least interesting region to me), but I suppose that Liyuean progress is measured by their advanced economics and the prosperity of the region despite the formal lack of an Archon. It is truly an illustration of human supremacy over the divine, and the technologies they produce are used either to explore the Chasm and build new merchant ships, or to improve life quality for citizens. In general, they repurpose old broken Khaenri'ahn technologies they find lying around in the ruins.
☾ Inazuma
Due to the Archon's eccentricities, the rigidity of tradition, a horrifying climate and the isolation of the region, Inazuma is technologically retrograde. They do not have firearms, which is why the government of Inazuma agreed so willingly to a deal with the Fatui, since the latter gave out advanced weapons for (what seemed like) a small price. But one should not forget that the Electro Archon was the one to invent a living puppet. Before her, not many could manage to give an independent identity to a non-organic construct. In this conversation, Scaramouche is not a person, but merely an invention the existence of which is important to history.
☾ Sumeru
While their Archon was dormant, the Akademiya Sages did as they pleased. The Akademiya always was the greatest academy in Teyvat, and for the last 500 years, they used their knowledge in strictly scientific ways. In other words, all was spent on the Akasha, knowledge capsules, the experiments of the Akademiya officials and the improvement of the capital itself. A revision of laws was conducted, which also affected the Sumeran life and justice system. They did not create an army, though, our of an arrogant confidence that any conflict can be solved by their word and intellect. Regarding the eremites, those people did not use anything advanced for centuries (excluding maybe the old desert technologies left from King Deshret's times). Sometimes, those technologies became simple objects like pots, scorpion traps or simple-to-use weapons. Even with their superstitions, an eremite's hunger and pragmatism is stronger than the fear of angering their ancestors. After Sumeru's unification, the eremites still refuse to accept the tools of those who demonized them for so long.
☾ Fontaine
Fontaine is currently the capital of progress for the entirety of Teyvat. Not only do they make an unholy amount of machines, they also share them. Fontainian inventors often visit other regions with their machines, since others don't have them and you can't really shock another Fontainian with a mek. Even so, Fontainian meks do not think and have a very black-and-white perception of law enforcement. Committing any crime in Fontaine is a bad idea since you will be judged by those who cannot be deceived at all. The worst incidents there stem from malfunctioning gardemeks but such cases are often unannounced in official press. Alen Guillotine is considered the godfather of Fontainian mechanics.
☾ Natlan
The region is isolated from others with a magical barrier, among other things. Nobody wants to deal with that place, which is why the spices and minerals from Natlan are so expensive. For millennia, the land was cursed with reoccurring Abyssal attacks resulting in bloody wars, which is why they do not have much technology at all but they do have a lot of primitive yet effective weapons. The progress is also hindered by the tribes not wanting to cooperate. It is a very divided, cautious nation whose only authority is their Archon (and for the last 500 years or so, Citlali too, as her advisor), who is not always sure of what to do, too. But what Natlanese people excel at is magic - due to the energy running through Natlan's ley lines, they are capable of things like resurrection, changing a name to change a fate (which is normally inaccessible to mortals), immortality, control over the Primordial Element and many more, without any technology and science. A majority of these practices do not work outside of Natlan at all. They also have a tradition of enchanting their weapons, something other nations don't normally do. The 'friendliest' tribe is the Flower Feather Clan, the most accepting of 'the weak ones' and outsiders, and the most secretive tribe is the Masters of the Night Wind.
☾ Nod Krai
Even before the Fatui's rule, Nod Krai was in a union with Snezhnaya and received the protection of the Beliy Tsar, which is why they don't have much of an army. They do not have a formal leader and the people are free to live however they want, which is why progress is not going anywhere. There are indigenous people (the Frostmoon Scions) living on a separate island with a separate culture and society, protected by their mages and the kuuvahki energy. The remainder of the Nod Kraian society are humans and the noble fae that left Snezhnaya after the Tsaritsa's claim to the throne (a big difference between my AU and canon is that most pure-blooded fae left Snezhnaya due to their dislike of Tsaritsa and the Fatui, after Beliy Tsar's death, and the fae that remain are either non-pure-blooded, or those who have sworn their honor to the Archon (like Pulcinella's family), or the Marzana, on which I'll elaborate later). Uniting their efforts, they established settlements and the guardians of the region (Lightkeepers). The most of the work in Nod Krai is done out of good will or for an exchange ('kill a beast that terrorizes my field and you'll get half the harvest from that same field'). Lightkeepers don't get paid, normally. An important person in the region at the moment is Aino, who repurposes abandoned Fatui machinery. Since the Fatui rose to power, a big part of the region is taken up by the ominous Experimental Bureau belonging to the Science Department (the 2th, 6th and 7th Harbingers). To them, Nod Krai is an experimental polygon for new inventions, the locals are not told anything about it, the unused parts are being thrown away, creating huge dumps of scrap metal.
☾ Snezhnaya
Alright, you caught me - Snezhnaya indeed is the most technologically advanced region. But there are many 'buts'.
Firstly, the success of Snezhnaya is cause by how much they've stolen from others. They have a huge territory, the goods, and several anomalously talented foreigners at their disposal. Dottore brought Sumeran innovations (the Akasha already existed in his youth) and was the one to find out the inner workings of Scaramouche, whom he used as a blueprint for the segments and figured out how Raiden Ei managed to create an inorganic lifeform that thinks and feels independently. Sandrone is the twin sister of Fontaine's most influential mechanic and has spent years in his lab watching him work. Other things were brought by Pierro from his homeland, since Khaenri'ah was the most advanced civilization before the cataclysm. The Fatui culture and everything they do is largely influenced by Khaenri'ah, and have nothing inherently Snezhnayan as a base. Secondly, due to the climate and the enormous territory, they do not care about the cleanliness of their industry. The capital is beautiful, but there are many towns that only consist of pipes and rust, the air so polluted it's impossible to breathe. 24/7, the workers stay there with no one to care about their wellbeing. Thirdly, almost all of the Fatui's inventions (excluding Dottore's personal endeavors) are military-oriented, and all that is military-oriented is shrouded in secret. The common folk and even the aristocracy do not get the benefits, as the government is too scared of someone finding out how their tech works - due to this, they still have a cavalry with ordinary horses despite having literal land cruises at their disposal. Despite the Fatui's irrational fears, they don't have an actual enemy except the heavens themselves and the Abyss, which in my AU is a lower lifeform (a semi-sentient parasite unable to think like a human).
