#liyue chasm

[maythegnome]

Hey, here's some random Genshin screenshots I took myself! I got inspired to do this from @kojinxshi's #AllAroundTeyvat tag :D

There isnt a theme so it's just a bunch of random ones tho lol And I also edited out the logo so they look nicer!

Ochkanatlan

Hypostyle Desert + Pyramid Entrance

Liyue Chasm Mines

Nameless Ruins Upside-down Pool

Seirai Island Sunset + Storm

[niteshade925]

v2.6 Chasm Lore Thoughts Pt.4: the Traveler, and the Theme of Genshin Impact

(Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4)

Spoilers ahead! You have been warned.

The Mystery of the Twins’ Origin

In the beginning, we were told that the MC Twins literally fell out of the sky and into Teyvat.  They were people who traveled “many worlds”, but their journey stopped here in Teyvat, because one of the Twins had been captured by the Unknown God, and the other one became the Traveler in search of the missing Twin.

In the first Traveler archon quest “We Will Be Reunited”, we see that the Twin was the “Princess”/”Prince” that the Abyss Order was talking about.

We learn that the Twin undertook a similar journey, but with Dainsleif as a companion.

In the Chasm, we see the Twin talk about “reviving the homeland” (Khaenri’ah).  We also learn that the flowers Lumine wears are Inteyvats (In-Teyvat?), or the national flower of Khaenri’ah.  This begs the question:  where are the Twins really from?

Besides the main storyline that gave us clues, there’s also the Battle Pass trailer “Gnostic Chorus”.

This trailer clearly showed princess/prince twins from a kingdom in the heavens, and it lines up with the Traveler having “fallen from the sky”.

It also clearly showed that the Twin who undertook the journey earlier was “corrupted:  “but she was deceived, and the memory of her noble origins faded”, “she now believed she was the Queen of the Kingdom of Darkness”, which suggests that the Twin may not be who he/she think he/she is.

So there is a “Kingdom of Light” and a “Kingdom of Darkness”.  The “Kingdom of Light” might be Celestia, but is the “Kingdom of Darkness” Khaenri’ah?

And herein lies the reason why I don’t trust Dainsleif:  Dainsleif was the Twin’s travel companion, and the most likely person to “lead” him/her to a certain conclusion.  As the Traveler, I would like to come up with my own conclusions.

Also the “Gnostic Chorus” shows a black snake drooling dark substance on the Genesis Pearl that the Twin was supposed to find from the “Kingdom of Darkness”.  Dainsleif’s character card shows that he does have an assigned constellation, the “Snake Ring” constellation, which is also possibly a reference to Ouroboros.

It’s still possible that the Twins came from Celestia.

But there’s a third possibility:  the Travelers really did come from a different world, and the different parties in Teyvat are trying to convince them to take their side by saying they “came from Celestia” or “came from Khaenri’ah”.  After all, the two main story trailers, the “Travail” trailer and the “Gnostic Chorus” trailer, were narrated by the Dainsleif and Venti respectively.

Theme of Genshin:  History

In the previous post I brought up the one thing that every being who’s been corrupted by the Abyssal powers have in common:  they all desire to be remembered.

Of course, this isn’t just limited to beings who were corrupted by Abyssal powers.  This is a common desire shared by nearly all beings in Teyvat, not just humans.  However it was mostly the humans who developed different ways to remember.

There’s the bards singing about past heroes in Mondstadt.  There’s the legends and the opera singers singing about Morax and others in Liyue.  There’s the writers publishing novels at Yae Publishing House in Inazuma.  All of these are ways in which humans have come up with to remember the past and combat the eroding nature of time, yet all of these methods are also subject to erosion though the passage of time.  There’s a limit to the collective human memory, and stories that are passed down may well be twisted in the process.

So where does this grand conflict between the Heavens and the Abyss fit into this theme?  I think they represent different ways of viewing history.  The Heavens advocate for an “elite-centric” view of history (in real life this is the “Great Man Theory”), or in Genshin’s case, a perspective that places the gods, mythical beings, and humans who can control elemental power as the sole beings who could control how history plays out.  The Abyss advocates for a sort of “people-centric” (I will get to why I said “sort of” later) view of history, or a perspective that places people as the ones who influence how history plays out.

This is strongly hinted at in Dainsleif’s three questions during our first meeting with him:

Question #1:  The crisis Mondstadt faced was resolved by an alliance between yourself and that... Anemo Archon who calls himself Venti.  Who, in your view, was the key to ending that crisis?

A. It was Venti.

B. It was Me.

C. The Unity of Mondstadt’s people gave us the victory.

Question #2:  Rex Lapis, who has defended Liyue Harbor for millennia on end, used his Gnosis to lay down a Contract to End all Contracts, of which the stipulations are still unknown.  Who do you think will defend Liyue Harbor in the future, now that they’ve lost their deity?

A. The Adepti

B. The Liyue Qixing.

C. Everyone in Liyue Harbor.

Question #3:  This world has people who gained Visions, and those who did not.  Which of the two do you think hold more importance in the eyes of the gods?

A. Those with Visions.

B. Those without Visions.

C. Perhaps... none of them do.

As we can see here, for all three questions, A’s and B’s are the “elite-centric” views, and the C’s are the “people-centric” views.  

Now the reason I said the Abyss side advocates for a sort of “people-centric” view is because true “people-centric” views define “elites” as part of the society and thus part of the people.  However, I don’t think Genshin’s story is that nuanced, so the first and second answers vs. the third answer is likely just a flat out dichotomy, asking you to pick between the significant figures/magic users and the normal humans.  If it’s revealed to have this nuance later on, I would be surprised. But anyway, you see why Dainsleif’s three questions are very important.

This central conflict between the Heavens and the Abyss, light and dark, “elite-centric” and “people-centric”...is ultimately symbolized in the design of the Frostglaze Crystal, the only thing Zhiqiong left for you aside from her final letter:

“Under the radiance of the blue crystal and the power of the Abyss, a strange spiral pattern has emerged within this stone, and it is cold, almost chilling to the touch.

This once smooth crystal has been transformed into this shape by the great might that descended from the heavens and the miasma that arose from the earth's depths — and perhaps the form it has taken is itself a warning unto mortals.

If the interaction of these forces alone could twist stone and metal thus, if that ordinary heroine was truly able to witness the end of the pitch-dark path, how would she have faced the discovery she would make?”

Looking back, the Traveler has been traveling through Teyvat to uncover history, to write history, and to create new history in the present, all while being the rope in a great tug-of-war between the Heavens and the Abyss.  This is why I have said the story is asking you the player to pick between the gods (including the “primordial gods” aka the Vision bearers) and the humans.  

When the time comes for you to make the choice, which side will you take?

As for me personally, I will pick the third option if available, because the true correct answer is likely none of the ones Dainsleif offered, the truth is that both the Vision bearers (including the archons and mystical creatures) and the normal humans are all part of Teyvat.  As we have seen in the story so far, they live together, they work together, they fight together, and they make history together.  I don’t think it’s right to cut either group out of the picture.

But that’s just me.

[niteshade925]

v2.6 Chasm Lore Thoughts Pt.1:  Misc and Ancient Lore

(Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4)

Well that was quite a loaded map and story. Also broke the record for the Genshin map that triggered my migraine the fastest lol (the previous record holder was Enkanomiya, predictably).  

Alright now for my spoiler-filled thoughts, y’all have been warned.

Miscellaneous Thoughts and Introduction:

Well, I guess MHY is pretty straightforward with the hilichurls’ back story.  They are indeed Khaenri’ans.  Seriously though, after that reveal with the curse and all that, how does MHY expect me to just go out and murder hilichurls for dailies now?  What am I, a fucking villain?  Actually I guess I already am huh. :P  Goddammit MHY.

Putting in my bets now, Yelan is a special agent for the Qixing, a little bit like Shuumatsuban in Inazuma, except whereas Shuumatsuban serves a particular commission in Inazuman government, Yelan seems to serve the highest level of the government of Liyue (the Qixing) directly.  

A little detail about her name:  Yelan/夜兰 literally means “night orchid”, the “night” part is probably a little hint about the covert nature of her occupation.

I’m guessing there’s probably going to be more about the Chasm’s story in a later update, since right now there's just way too many things that were mentioned but unexplained, like how Xamaran came to be deep in the Chasm or what exactly the ancient civilization did to deserve a nail from the sky.

There are 3 major parts to the story of the Chasm so far as I can see, and that’s 1) the ancient upside-down city and the nail, or the ancient history of the Chasm, 2) Liyue’s fight against the darkness 500 years ago, or the Cataclysm, and 3) whatever the Abyss Order was up to in the present.  So these are also going to be how I will divide up the posts in this series.  I will conclude the series with an analysis of the MC Twins and one of the major overall themes of the story, which is perspective on history.

Chasm, Ancient Times:

There was an ancient underground civilization that was visually very similar to the one in Enkanomiya (the angled doors and the weird stone bookshelves are the same, and the statues are also the same) and the one in Dragonspine.  (Pictures below; left side taken in Enkanomiya, right side taken in Chasm)

This yet unnamed ancient civilization did something that provoked the gods of Celestia, we don’t know what it was, and the gods threw down the giant nail, the same kind as the one on top of Dragonspine, to destroy this civilization.

If what Paimon’s comments and Dainsleif implied in Requiem of the Echoing Depths is true, then at the time of this civilization’s destruction and for a long time afterwards, the towers at the Nameless Ruins were not inverted.  The inversion likely happened in the present time, as a result of the Abyss Order’s actions.

A lot of things are still unexplained about this ancient civilization, what technologies these ancient people have developed, what were their beliefs, what their culture was like, and exactly what it did to provoke Celestia.

Another rather important detail is exactly how the round fragment of the nail broke off and traveled from the westmost and deepest place in the Chasm, all the way to the Eastmost top level of the Chasm.  If the nail fragmented as a result of its impact with the city, one would expect it to sit somewhere near the nail, but it isn’t.  I have a small theory on why that is, and I will say more about it in part 3.

The round fragment of the nail clearly bear the triple spiral symbol from Celtic culture (can be called Celtic triskelion, though triskeles apparently refer more to the 3-legs Greek version of the symbol).  According to the internet, the Celtic triskelion represent three worlds:  the celestial, the physical, and the spiritual.

We do have a Celestia in Genshin, but of Teyvat and the Abyss, which is the “physical” and which is the “spiritual“?

This ancient civilization and the other two known ancient civilizations seem to be connected to Khaenri’ah somehow, since the magical glowing pool in the central tower of the Nameless Ruins offer the hilichurls and other former residents of Khaenri’ah some sort of comfort despite their curse.

I have a feeling that we would also find a giant blue crystal nail in Enkanomiya, if it wasn’t for Orobashi’s plan to bring the people of Enkanomiya above the ground, then assimilating them into Inazuma.

Also it’s confirmed that someone from Liyue obtained a part of the blue crystal nail in the deepest part of the Chasm, then forged it into what became known as the weapon Calamity Queller:

The forging of Calamity Queller happened pre-Cataclysm.  More on the Calamity Queller later.

The stone pillars surrounding the nail in the Chasm also looked peculiar.  They seem to be formed by square-ish large chunks of rock, and remind me of the powers of the Unknown God:

The book Records of Jueyun:  Hidden Jade indicates the the giant crater above ground is formed by a “meteor”.  However, this “meteor” is somehow “sentient”, “had a proud and agitated temper”, and flew back to the sky during the Archon War because it “could bear this no longer” (weird lol).

Note that Zhongli’s burst is a meteor and is also called “天星” (lit:  heavenly star”) in Chinese, same as the word used for the meteor that fell in the Chasm in Records of Jueyun:  Hidden Jade.  I’m not saying Morax/Zhongli is the one who made that meteor crash into the Chasm--I don’t think there’s any evidence he can create sentient rocks--but perhaps there is a connection of sorts.

I have a vague feeling that this “meteor” wasn’t a real meteor, but a being who fell from the sky.  Remember who else “fell from the sky”?  Lol.

Another thing to note is the curious shape of the crater in the Chasm.  The center of the crater where the rock formation radiated out from the center is what a normal meteor crater should look like.  The spiral rock formations on the outside are quite weird and don’t look like they belong there.  I don’t know if those were simply added to make the above ground map more interesting, or if they actually indicate anything in the story.

The lore of the ancient civilization in the Chasm is still fairly fragmented still, so we’ll move on to the Cataclysm next.  

[niteshade925]

v2.6 Chasm Lore Thoughts Pt.2:  500 Years Ago, the Cataclysm

(Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4)

Spoilers ahead!  You have been warned.

Chasm, 500 Years Ago

It’s pretty much confirmed that the bottom of the Chasm is where Rhinedottir/Gold’s Abyssal creations started invading Liyue from.

Ruin serpents, including Haftvad the Worm, may have been the machines that enabled this? (Ruin serpent archive description:  “If this was the case, then carving out tunnels with which the forces of this nation might access the whole continent would have been a thing of great ease”)  Bonus in that ruin serpents actually throw out oozing concretions.

The Yaksha who went into the Chasm to fight the invading Abyssal powers is definitely the electro Yaksha from the Xiao trailer.  The artifact set Vermillion Hereafter descriptions talk about a “four armed Yaksha”, and the Thundering Poise mask matches the purple mask from the Xiao trailer.

Also the beads on the artwork for the Vermillion Hereafter artifact pieces are reminiscent of Xiao’s necklace.

The electro Yaksha may have wielded Calamity Queller at the time, since the Calamity Queller’s description did mention it.  The English translation for the Thundering Poise mask description says “blade in hand”, which is pretty much the right translation for “扬刃” in the original text, however “blade” and “刃” have different connotations in their respective languages.  “Blade” can imply a sword, whereas “刃” doesn’t have as strong of a connotation.  So it’s pretty much confirmed that the electro Yaksha wielded the Calamity Queller.

The mystery here is what happened to the electro Yaksha?  Xiao’s trailer says that besides Xiao, “death came to three, while the fourth vanished without a trace”.  Was the electro Yaksha one of the three who died, or the fourth one who vanished without a trace?  So far there’s evidence for both.  The Vermillion Hereafter set suggests that the electro Yaksha died in battle, but the Yakshas:  The Guardian Adepti story trailer (aka the story from Zhongli’s perspective) suggests the electro Yaksha went crazy, similar to other beings who came into close contact with the Abyss, for example, the Oni Mikoshi Chiyo.

About the English translation here:  “succumbed” would sometimes suggest dying in English, but actually the original Chinese was “走火入魔”, which is more like “in too deep” and suggest becoming mentally unstable or going insane.  This word is often used in Wuxia and Xianxia novels to describe characters who were too deeply involved with whatever they were doing to the point of insanity.  The animation also shows the Yaksha standing on a mound of corpses with an eye glowing red.  Perhaps it’s like a Sekiro Shura ending situation:  the Yaksha killed too much and was taken over by bloodlust.  But of course it’s also possible that he died after going crazy.

The story in the Echoes of an Offering artifact set is a lot more fragmented and contains new characters, but it does seem to have a certain connection to the story in the Vermillion Hereafter set.  One of these characters is an adeptus named the “Herblord” (LMAOOOOOOO).  Actually the original Chinese is “药君”, where the character “药” is more about medicinal herbs than just...herbs.  I have seen someone on Reddit propose the translation of “Medicine Adeptus”, which definitely sounds a lot less meme-y lol.  

Another one of these new characters is a giant koi with “rainbow scales”, who eventually sunk into the depths (a word to can be used to characterize both the Chasm and the Abyss) and never came back to the surface again.  Perhaps this giant koi died in the Cataclysm?  Since the Feather of Nascent Light from Vermillion Hereafter set mentions “a fish sinking into a deep pool”.  The “bird plummeting into a forge” part could be about the electro Yaksha, since the two Yakshas whose animal forms we know about so far (Xiao and Pervases) are both birds.

Side note on the description of Feather of Nascent Light:  the end of it says “the land will forever remember”.  Here, the “land” should be understood as the ley lines.

What happened to the Herblord is unknown, but tea and tea-drinking culture from the mountain spread to Liyue Harbor, then all over Teyvat.

The domain where the artifact set comes from is located in the southwest region of Liyue.  In reality, Camellia sinensis, the tea tree (not a shrub btw; they were only kept short so people can have an easier time harvesting the leaves), did originate in and around southwestern China (Yunnan province).  Ancient wild Camellia sinensis trees still grow there to this day, some reaching 2700 years old.  The oldest tea tree in the world at 3200 years old is found in Yunnan (the “Jinxiu Tea King”/锦绣茶王 in Lincang city, Yunnan, picture below).  According to scholars, tea-drinking likely began around Yunnan, but developed into a culture when the practice reached what is present-day Sichuan (then called Shu/蜀), and spread to other areas of China from there, and eventually all over the world.  

[niteshade925]

v2.6 Chasm Lore Thoughts Pt.3:  the Present

(Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4)

Spoilers ahead!  You have been warned.

Aftermath of the Cataclysm

At an unknown time after Khaenri’ah’s fall (presumably not too long ago, since hilichurls only recently became attracted to the Nameless Ruins), Shadowy Husks started appearing around the Nameless Ruins inside the Chasm.

The Shadowy Husks were the Black Serpent Knights, or royal guards of Khaenri’ah, and Dainsleif was their captain.

There’s more Celtic culture references surrounding the Shadowy Husks.  They drop gloomy/dark/deathly statuettes, which seem to portray Odin, specifically the one-eyed wanderer Odin (as a wanderer, Odin is usually portrayed as an one-eyed bearded old man wearing a hooded cloak).  Below is an artwork of Odin by Georg von Rosen, compared with the artwork for a deathly statuette.

Also the amplification device thing in the center of the Nameless Ruins (the one right below the glowing pool) that “looked newer”, the 8-pointed star symbol on it is the same as the ones present on the design of the Shadowy Husks AND the Abyss Heralds/Lecters

Another organization/entity that uses an 8-pointed-star-like symbol is the Adventurer’s Guild, but they are not completely the same since Adventurer’s Guild’s symbol is obviously a compass rose, so.....that’s maybe just a possible connection to keep in mind.

About the Mysterious Letter item found in the Nameless Ruins locked behind 9 Orb of the Blue Depths, it has been deciphered to be largely based on a poem by the Roman Poet Catullus (Catullus 58b).  Only certain words and phrases have been modified to fit Genshin’s story.  However, after reading the translated poem, I don’t think it has any big reveals in regards to the overall lore.  Rather, it’s more like something that supplements the parts of the lore that we already know about.

The poor hilichurls in the Nameless Ruins really did fade into the darkness, just like Dainsleif said.....

Chasm, the Present

A few years before the “present”, the Chasm had been a bustling mine, but when miners dug up the shard of the Chasm nail (the blue orb with the Celtic triskelion symbol on it), miners started to be mentally affected by the shard, resulting in the government of Liyue evacuating the mines and sealing it off.

Liyue hoped to reopen the mines some time in the future, so they had a deal with the Fatui where the Fatui would send troops down into the Chasm to help combat the Abyssal powers that’s seeping out from the bottom of the Chasm.

However due to some unknown change of plans in the top levels of the Fatui and possibly the Tsaritsa’s “change of heart”, the Fatui in Liyue Harbor under Childe attempted to destroy Liyue Harbor via Osial, and the Fatui troops sent into the Chasm were stuck down there (”A Company Vanishing into the Deeps” and “Lost in a Foreign Land” quests).

The questline “The Chasm’s Bounty”.  Props to the writers at MHY for another horror short story on par with “Washizu’s Prayers” questline!  I really enjoyed this one.  But the reason I’m bringing it up here isn’t just to compliment MHY’s writers, it’s because I think it brings up some very interesting questions about how the world of Teyvat works.

What exactly happened to Qi Ding?  This one isn’t too hard to answer, since there were other people (for example, Zhiqiong) who were mentally affected by the shard of the Chasm nail (maybe the crystal was emitting some sort of radiation?).  So one might guess that “Qi Nan” was Qi Ding’s hallucination, however this guess is called into question as we examine other aspects of this weird story.

How did the doll become lost so deep inside the Chasm?  This doll is definitely a physical item that Qi Ding had on his person, but lost somewhere in the Chasm when he and other miners evacuated.  Even Qi Ding doesn’t know where he’d lost it.  Only the Chasm and the doll itself knows.

The name of this questline is “The Chasm’s Bounty”, but actually should have been translated as “The Chasm’s Gift” (original Chinese name was “巨渊的馈赠”).  So what was this “gift”?  Was it the doll?  Or was it “Qi Nan”?  Or maybe both?

While leading the Traveler to the doll, “Qi Nan” kept saying what the real Qi Nan might say in quotes.

And now for the million-dollar question:  WTF is “Qi Nan”?  Some say “Qi Nan” is a projection by the ley lines, but this one is the easiest to debunk, since we’ve seen plenty of “ghosts” who are projections by the ley lines, and they look and act completely different from “Qi Nan”.  Some say “Qi Nan” is just a hallucination brought about by the influence of the Chasm nail crystal, but we were seeing her from the point of view of the Traveler, who has been stated to be immune to those influences.  In fact, Qi Ding couldn’t see the little girl who called herself “Qi Nan” and wasn’t aware of her presence.  Also “Qi Nan” says she was “playing” with Rifthounds, creature of the Abyss.

Two best theories I’ve seen online so far on this questline:  1) due to the influence of the Chasm nail crystal shard, the doll developed a sort of temporary sentience, “remembered” everything the real Qi Nan used to say to the doll, and made a wish to return to Qi Nan, so it created “Qi Nan” to guide us to it.  The reason “Qi Nan” disappeared was because the doll was too far away from the crystal shard and thus lost its sentience.   2) The creepier theory:  the Chasm might have a mind of its own.  I myself lean towards the former theory.

The Abyss Order may have been the ones who brought the shard of the Chasm nail to Stony Halls and tried to keep it from reuniting with the nail deep below, perhaps so they can suppress the power of the nail or have an easier time siphoning power from it.

Translation of the purple Abyss writings can be found here.  I personally have deciphered the writings into Latin, but I didn’t realize the gibberish in the top half was a cipher.  Interesting stuff.  But again, the translated Latin text did not reveal anything new that we didn’t know.

The Abyss Order probably were the ones who turned the Nameless Ruins upside down.  I have a guess as to why they were doing this:  not just because in mysticism, turning symbols upside down “reverses their power” or whatever, but because by turning entire structures upside down, for that structure, the Abyss down below would be “the sky”, and the heavens and Celestia would be the “down below”.  Which leads us to the next section, and an introduction to part 4:

The Heavenly vs. the Abyssal

As Dainsleif mentioned, "more than one kind of strange power exists here” in the Chasm.  Khedive also says “We are currently akin to beans on a stone mill, on the brink of a clash between two great powers.  Albeit on a larger time scale, we are presently being crushed by these two forces — one from above and one from below — and we shall soon be turned into bean paste!”

The Heavenly powers:  the nail (aka the “spiritstone” and the “wish granter”), the shard of the nail (the orb with the triple spiral symbol on it), lumenstone adjuvant, and lumenspar....or to put it simply, light (and items with a blue/white/gold theme).

The Abyssal powers:  the dark mud, oozing concretions, or to put it simply, dark (and items with a red/purple/black theme).

The shape of Lumenspar reminds me of something else found in Dragonspine:  Crimson Agate.

On that note, maybe it’s worth comparing the situation in Dragonspine and the situation in the Chasm.  In Dragonspine, the heavenly powers (Skyfrost Nail) had the upper hand, perhaps because Dragonspine is a mountain and thus closer to the Heavens, and you were collecting Crimson Agates to help the dormant silver tree.  In the Chasm, the abyssal powers (oozing concretions/Abyss Order) had the upper hand, perhaps because the Chasm is deep under Teyvat and thus close to the Abyss, and you were collecting Lumenspar and purifying the nail in the deepest end of the Chasm.

The Traveler seems to be unknowingly playing the part of the “mediator” in each case.

Both powers from the Heavens and the Abyss seems to be able to influence the minds of sentient creatures and twist the form of nonsentient beings and things in Teyvat.

The nail in the Chasm has been shown to physically and mentally affect normal humans and make them insane when nearby.  

People who have sunk into dark mud were also mentally affected, though in a different way, for example Zhiqiong.  Durin’s blood has been shown to corrupt Dvalin and make them susceptible to the corrupting words from the Abyss Order.

It seemed that Zhiqiong had seen things while stuck in the dark mud, since she was muttering about “the golden city”, “the black watchtower" and “the heavenly envoys have left” when she was rescued.  I’m guessing she saw something either about the ancient civilization in the Chasm when it was destroyed, or something about Khaenri’ah.

Also there is something that connects every being that has been corrupted by the Abyssal powers:  they all desire to be remembered.  

There’s Dvalin, who was mentally corrupted because the Abyss Order told him that he has been forgotten by Barbatos and the people of Mondstadt.  

There’s the Millelith fighting against the Cataclysm, who said:  “The only thing I truly fear is to be lost and forgotten.  Should ill fate dictate that I am to be buried in some nameless place, do not forget me.”  And to whom the Abyss said:  “I may yet achieve my own desire, but we shall go unknown, and ultimately unremembered.  Mortals like us are like feathers caught up in a whirlwind, floating into the deep sky.  Saving, defending... In the end, these are all pointless things, void of meaning” in an attempt to shake their resolve.

There’s the post-mud bath Zhiqiong, who says in her final letter, “we don't want to be forgotten, and for that we strive hard to make even the slightest difference, or hang tough through laborious work every day with the courage of an ordinary human... Are all these acts of no meaning?”

And with that, we will get into the Traveler, and a discussion of the theme of Genshin in part 4.

[niteshade925]

One of the new Chasm battle themes. The epic orchestra + piano + violin combo gave off some pretty strong FFXV vibes. Man. This is some good shit right here. Glad to know at least some of my money went towards the creation of such great music.

[niteshade925]

OMG the music in the Chasm, I'm pretty sure a lot of it is played on a morin khuur! Morin Khuur, aka "horsehead fiddle" is a Mongolian instrument, known as Matouqin (马头琴; lit. "Horse-headed qin") in Chinese.

And of course there's also guzheng/古筝, dizi/笛子, and erhu/二胡 too.

Oh my god I can tell I'm really going to enjoy this map.

[euledesnordens]