Drawing Ajax angst because I WANT TO SEE HIM IN SNEZHNAYA. HE BETTER BE THE FIRST THING WE SEE GODDD I MISS HIM.
I've always had this fic idea where my favourite characters meet their younger self at the pivotal moment before their lives changed. Kaeya when he was left in Mond, Diluc when his father died and brother "betrayed" him.
Childe before he fell into the abyss.
Abyssal anomalies rumoured in his very own hometown, he was dispatched to investigate. Back in the same woods that spat him out with horrors he couldn't describe.
But what happens when he finds a lost young boy chased down by bears and packs of wolves?
What happens if it was himself he's staring at? A version of him that the abyss had long killed?
He slaughtered the beasts in pursuit of the boy, stopping the 14 year old from stepping down that... crack. Hole. The bottomless pit where no stars could reach.
"T-Thank you..." the boy muttered. He gulped in fear as he stared at those dead, empty eyes. His hair, his face... He took in a shaky breath.
There is NO way Snezhnaya isn’t the BIGGEST MOST ENORMOUS NATION EVER. Cus like what the heck do you mean it neighbors to Mondstadt. But it’s also above Fontaine (I think?) but it’s also neighboring to Nod-Krai. Like. Do you understand how big that land has to be then. It’s like three whole nations combined. 😭
LOOK, THIS LAND LITERALLY HAS IT ALL!! How many nations actually have more than ONE city!? Villages, sure, but actual, modern city with lots of people in it and its own government??
They have a whole academy, different palaces, cities (note it’s in plural), village[s], Fatui hideouts and fortresses—heck they even have lots of factories!!
I believe I have identified the locations in the teaser images. Heading straight into it!
Aight so at the back of this teaser image below, I suspect is Morepesok, due to the village-like homes around the large chimney, as seen in the image captured from the Temple of Space. The home village of Childe. Most likely it's a train station too, as it appears in the teaser the train is coming from that location.
Childe mentioned large frozen lakes before, and what do you know? This train is crossing a large frozen lake!
Looking at it closely, I believe it could also be the same structure as seen on this other image of Snezhnaya which can be found in the Temple of Space.
Here is the image in full via imgur.
It's actually mentioned in-game that Morepesok is a seaside village. With Mount Esus visibly close, Morepesok maybe closer to the sea? Not entirely sure yet.
Although, there's a big possibility that those two are just the same machine, the Kresnik Torch, but different locations.
Thanks to the Teyvat Map Institute, we know that the barely visible peaks at the back is Mount Esus.
Let's take a closer look at the Aerial Map provided by the Teyvat Map Institute. See that? there's a small snowy part on the western side of Fontaine. If you remember, there's a broken Aquabus line on the south-west side of the Court of Fontaine, so perhaps there could be a western harbour too? Maybe that's how we get to Nod-Krai and later Port Belovodye.
So it might be the case that Mount Esus will release alongside Snezhnaya! Who knows?
As for the second teaser image,
It's most likely Snezhnograd, the capital city of Snezhnaya. At the far back of the city, on the left, I believe that large structure could also be the Fatui fortress, Glupov, as can be identified via the vague sight of the Fatui insignia on the front of the building.
To add to our evidence, let's look at this excerpt mentioning Glupov.
On the far right of Snezhnograd, perchance I suspect will be the Zapolyarny Palace, if you look closely at the building itself.
A dome, and two towers on either side. It may not look like it, but I think it's due to the angle we're seeing it at.
Let me pull up the pictures of the palace from an old cutscene.
