#venbard

[shiori42art]

A little Kiss game I made on Twitter! It was so fun, and I'm still amazed at how far it reached! OMG, I'm so happy for all the love Venti got for his kisses! 🫶🏻✨

[wheatcak3]

Day 1: Introductions

Venti's been wanting to do this for a long time 🥺

[anilyan]

Nameless Bard, Kreuzlied, and how rebels used music to control Time

This is a theory that I started writing once leaks of Venti’s new bow came out (although some parts are even older than that), exploring how this alias can work similarly to an ancient name or, for some of the figures who have used it, even represent the same entity traveling through time or wielding time powers. Where one of them was potentially the Nameless Bard.

[Being edited on 15/12/2025]: Since I failed to publish this on time, meanwhile leaks of Venti’s artifact set (A Day Carved from Rising Winds) came out, and confirmed quite a lot of it. So I wanted to post it before letting it fester.

Before I analyze the correlation between Time Powers and rebels (at least in Mondstadt), I want to list some of the things that those artifacts tell about Old Mondstadt. Then I will list all figures who have been called Kreuzlied, explore how the Wanderer Troupe also had time-stuff going on, question parts of the weapon Daybreak Chronicles, and finally ramble about the Nameless Bard and how these recent reveals have been a long-time coming.

What the artifact set told us about Old Mondstadt:

More hints that Decarabian was a dragon (also confirmed as a god-king). I am refering to this passage “A sword piercing the nobility and the poisonous dragon”. Since this is about the Thousand Winds being summoned, it’s possible that the passage refers to some other event, but I list for example [here - in the beginning of the last section, about Mondstadt] how Decarabian and Amos were probably a dragon Sun-King and seelie Moon-Queen pair. I list the evidence I have, from fate shared with other pairs to the failure and madness while trying to attain a hivemind dream.

The bard could use the powers of Time, or at least used them once. This whole post will be about that and I’ve been working on it for months.

When he used those powers in a final sacrifice, his existence got erased from the Irminsul, apparently because he used his body as an Instrument/vessel to play the Melody of Fate (again, I elaborate here) and save Mondstadt. Venti seemingly remembers his name, or at least, “the wind” does. But I’ve been saying for a long long time that erasure was one likely reason why we didn’t know the names of the main figures from Old Mondstadt, especially not first names (same link and section).

Venti tried to reverse time to save the bard, but failed.

The verses of Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds are indeed about the bard, like I have been saying for just as long, and this basically confirmed my suspicion that the pages inside the unascended version depict the bard instead of Barbatos. I will elaborate further into this theory, including the art.

This is a small thing compared to the rest, but apparently Amos was offered to Decarabian as a sacrifice, and was surprised when he elevated her instead, so she confused her feelings for love and devotion and used it as a reason to live and fill her “hollow heart”. She committed many attrocities in the name of love, and the artifacts also confirmed that she was the one who slayed Decarabian (as suspected for years due to the description of Amos’ bow). I don’t think this necessarily denies my theory that she was a seelie, since the evidence I gave about her prophecies (same link as before) and such wasn’t countered, and she definitely had weird things going on.

It confirmed the already-known backstory of the Gunnhildr clan, how they were saved through prayer when they were at the mercy of blizzards outside Decarabian’s city, and later sorn loyalty to Barbatos and crowned him with laurels. But they slay when they swear to take Venti down if he ever became a Tyrant too xD

The artifacts mention Arcadia. The first mention of that place was in Kaeya’s story quest, and the place was mentioned again during the Narzissenkreuz questline [source]. It’s also a place in Honkai Starrail. It’s likely to be some sort of ancient civilization, and a representation of the “center of the world” with a tower that emprisons the Princess (that cares for her flowers/ppl in her eternal summernight garden, etc etc, until a rebel/hero comes to slay the dragon and release ppl from their fates. It’s a recorrent theme in genshin and imo it’s the og story of the first angel that repeats in every fallen civilization, when the seelie/angel moon-themed princess falls in love with the hero or shares forbidden knowledge, especially if there are chemical marriages involved.)

It’s nice that the set lists the name of the clans that existed at the time.

What does Kreuzlied mean, and who went by that alias?

(From wiki:) Kreuzlied in German means Crusade(r) Poem or Cross-song. This is an alias, not a real name, and the game implies (through Goblet of Sojourner and Venti’s new bow Daybreak Chronicles) that several figures throughout history have used it.

Acording to the weapon description, “The word Kreuzlied itself used to mean "The Quartering Song" in the old tongue.” That was because any figure who rebelled was considered a criminal, and consequently subjected to quartering, which was an horrible punishment. This alias became a word associated with those who failed to rebel, but also a cry for rebellion.

Some figures who used that alias, all of which whose names (or at least first names) we don’t know:

Nameless Bard - he was not mentioned in any weapon related to this alias, but he was also a figure whose name was unknown, either likely hidden on purpose, and forgotten to time [update 15/12/2025: it’s confirmed that it was erased]. From Old Mondstadt, he was the bard who lead the rebellion, whose form Venti took after he died in battle.

Nameless Shepherd - listed in Daybreak Chronicles. The weapon Song of Broken Pines mentions that, once Venessa’s revolt against the aristocracy started, he mobilized the true adherents of the Church of Favonius to aid.

Imunlaukr - listed in Daybreak Chronicles. From Old Mondstadt, he was a prominent member of the clan who inherited his name, and joined the rebellion. For some reason, his clan is now mostly forgotten.

Gunnhildr - listed in Daybreak Chronicles. From Old Mondstadt, she was a prominent member of the clan who inherited his name, and joined the rebellion, being the one whose prayers gave some power to wisp Venti.

Ragnvindr - listed in Daybreak Chronicles. Possibly from Old Mondstadt, but since he left to travel at the end of the rebellion after the death of his friends, the Ragnvindr Clan was not necessarily established there, although it was already established during the Aristocratic period when another Ragnvindr joined the rebellion as the Dawn Knight.

Midnight Role - listed in Daybreak Chronicles. No idea who that is

Dawnlight - listed in Daybreak Chronicles. It’s possibly that it corresponds to the Dawnlight Swordswoman mentioned in the Wanderer’s Troupe series

Kreuzlied - that alias is the topic of the Daybreak Chronicles (that might imply he was the last figure using that title, depending on how we interpret the section), but we first heard about him in the Wanderer’s Troupe, and seems to only use that as a name.

How the Wanderer’s Troupe connects rebellion with Time powers wielded through music

First, what do we know about the Wanderer’s Troupe (also known as Swordsman’s Troupe)?

They were a group of people adept both at music and combat, who traveled all over Teyvat around a thousand years ago (although there are some timeline inconsistencies due to the fact they crossed the Mare Jivari and its time anomalies.

The Conductor first met the Sojourner, then the Dawnlight Swordswoman, and finally Kreuzlied.

They eventually joined the rebellion against the oppressive Lawrence aristocrats in Mondstadt, but ended up failing. When they tried to strom the city, they were captured and enslaved. They all either met their demise there, or perished afterwards.

They had a Harp with them, that was the Sands of Eon artifact piece.

“When the performance was coming to an end, the troupe would play this harp.” Perhaps they turned the hourglass to control time, preventing the performance from ending?

The Harp is also strongly associated with both the first angel and Istaroth (who may be the same figure, daughter of the morning star), so those are extra connections to Time powers.

Here is the story of all members, and how it gets interesting:

Conductor: The leader of the Troupe, he used his catalyst The Widsith both as a weapon and to record their adventurer’s, and also contained musical scores. He perished while storming the city of Mondstadt and kept holding onto his catalyst even after death. One of the theme songs that the catalyst grants is Aria, the name of one of the moons of Teyvat.

Sojourner: He used The Stringless bow, and had a sundial that recorded the cycles of the sun and moon, as he is described as a traveler who pursued both Fate and the inexorable passage of time. Fell in love with a maiden in Mondstadt during the Aristocratic period, who had unfortunately be chosen as the Ludi Harpastun maiden to be claimed against her will by a member of the Lawrence Clan (as stated in the manga). When the troupe tried to storm the city to free people from oppression, the Sojourner ended up dying in battle, trying to cover the retreat of his friends.

Dawnlight Swordswoman: Wielder of The Flute sword. When the troupe tried to storm Mondstadt to end the Aristocracy, she ended up being enslaved and put to fight as a gladiator. Despite losing everything, she continued to sing of hope and freedom, and her songs inspired a meber of the Ragnvindr Clan. He witnessed her die in the arena, and took care to bury her with her sword, taking the title Dawn Knight in her honor when he decided to join the rebellion.

Kreuzlied:

Owner of The Bell. Yes, that shitty claymore that doesn’t fit with the style of the others in the troupe… that literally has a clock. The sound of clockwork marked the rhythm of the battles for the Troupe.

This Kreuzlied was a deserter of the Lawrence Clan, so even after failing to storm the city and overthrow the Aristocracy, he wasn’t at least publicly killed, and it’s unclear what punishment was deemed fit for a upper-class traitor.

It’s implied that he survived and managed to continue the rebellion more quietly, establishing a secret society that later supported Venessa when she revolted.

Later, the society kept assisting Mondstadt in the shadows, with the Wolf Pup Rostam even leading it during a time behind the Grandmaster’s back.

The last Kreuzlied: How can the last section of Daybreak Chronicles get confusing?

(this is being written before Venti’s bow is released, making guesses based on the beta description of a scrapped weapon with the same name)

First of all, in the beta version of the weapon with this name, it says “Till at last the final Kreuzlied would-awaken from a thousand-year slumber, answering the small cry of a foreign maiden who had drifted to this land, just as he had once been born from the wishes of a certain youth.”

Part of it fits the last figure we know as Kreuzlied very well: he did technically try to help a maiden being oppressed under the Aristocratic regime of Mondstadt, although that story is more fitting to the Sojourner. [edited post weapon release: I had thought the official release would change some things but the same details remain]. Even the part regarding the slumber could still work, based on my next explorations theorizing he might have been a time-traveler, and consequently potentially needing periods of slumber.

On the other hand, the very last part stating that he was once born from the wishes of a certain youth, resemble the origins of Venti quite well. And we already know that Venti needs slumbers. So it’s possible that he actually is the last Kreuzlied, even though we have never seen him use that alias. Also makes me wonder who is the foreign maiden whose cry he is trying to answer - part of me is thinking of moon maidens, or even the first angel/Koitar/quite possibly Istaroth, but who knows.

There is also the possibility that Venti and the past Kreuzlied’s are one and the same, in other words, at least some of the figures of the past are Venti in different times, Venti has fragments of them, or he basically inherited their fate/role. That is another thing I am going to explore next.

Nameless bard, and his connections to time [confirmed on 15/12/2025, but here you can see how hoyo build up to that]:

» First, yapping about weapons’s lore and CBT stuff:

Some people associate the weapon Elegy for the End (one of Venti’s signatures) with the Nameless Bard, but it doesn’t match him at all. It’s mostly because of the beta description of that bow, that specifically stated the weapon was given to the bard by Venti - however, the same is said for the rest of the old series.

From weapons that made it in-game, Windblume Ode resembles his aesthetics and those of his cutscene far more, and even hint at him by mentioning a “nameless person/flowers” and the Windblume is particularly significant (especially now that we have the artifact set):

The festival was created during the rebellion of Old Mondstadt, and the word Windblume was the rebels’ secret code.

Despite the modern romantic atmosphere, it’s a celebration of the Thousand Winds of Time.

The person chosen to be the Windblume Star is the one who, throughout the year, has done many good deeds or sacrifices for Mondstadt

The fact that he was gifted all types of weapons (from the current Millenial Movement series, that tells of the history of Mondstadt) is intriguing, and could tie with how the Kreuzlied has used many different types of weapons.

It’s interesting how the beta short description of the weapons mentioned that they were a gift from the Anemo Archon to the bard, because Venti only became an Archon after his friend died at the end of the rebellion.

Boring explanation 1: This is beta lore and so the devs hadn’t defined the lore properly back then;

Boring explanation 2: It’s being written from the present, thus using Venti’s current title;

Cooler explanation: Time powers allowed present/future Venti to hand those weapons to him as an Archon, perhaps hidden, perhaps through his past wisp self.

The weapons in the series are Freedom-sworn sword (mostly tells about Old Mondstadt’s rebellion), Song of Broken Pines (mostly tells of the rebellion against the Aristocracy), and the Elegy bow already mentioned. As for that special description catalyst, it was discarded… but it was called Daybreak Chronicles, so, the same name of the new Venti’s bow with the lore I’m exploring here.

For the sake of this theory connecting the Nameless Bard with time powers, I will consider the lore of that old catalyst/new bow, where the catalyst specifically stated that the bard had seen a thousand worlds. That is interesting considering how he supposedly never left the city of Old Mondstadt, because of the wind dome, thus why his dream was to be free of that. He was canonically the only main member of the rebellion who never saw the outside (since Amos has been outside in the snow, the red-haired warrior arrived at the city from wandering the world, and the Gunnhildr and Lawrence clans had managed to leave the city).

» Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds [wiki page]:

The book Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, so valued by the Church of Favonious that is even carried by Dahlia (who is another can of worms: between his dragon ears, dragon wings depicted all over, and constellation that is a symbol of Decarabian… I theorized he might even be the bard sort-of reincarnated)… has an illustration of the bard. Yes, the ascension has a page depicting Barbatos, but the unascended version with the brownish pages has a figure with the same appearance but a scarf-like and cloak-like thing instead of wings, and is playing a lyre, which is an imagery more associated with the bard than the Archon.

[Written before the artifact set leaks]: The book also sounds as if it was written by someone who expected to die - which might still apply to Barbatos. I’m not saying that the book was written by the bard - after all, it also mentions the oppression from the Aristocracy, and an Anemo Archon, which didn’t exist while the bard was alive. But there are suspicious things there… And those contradictions would be solved if the bard time traveled anyway, but that is finding a solution to plot holes i made up ig. [Written post artifact lore]: I guess the artifacts confirmed just that:

The dying words of the bard, after using the powers of the Thousand Winds of Time, were “My dear friend, please accept this thousand-year breeze, the hope for happiness, and the dream of freedom. Do not grieve for me; as long as the wind still blows, people can, like me, sing of tomorrow’s hope.”

Meanwhile, the words in the Lost Prayers book are extremelly similar: “Children of the Anemo Archon, heed these words: From the winds we have come, and with the winds we shall go. Never, ever grieve for me. 'Tis but my flesh and bones which rest in the soil: My soul has become one with the thousand winds. When flowers bloom, when leaves sway, That is me who sings the songs of freedom, of the winds.”

» Cecilias

The bard is strongly associated with Cecilias: he used a Cecilia-pin on his chest, and also chose it for the banner of the rebellion.

That said, they don’t look exactly like current-day Cecilias, so perhaps they are a variant or a version that was lost to time.

Either way, I suspect it was also a favored flower to represent the Windblume, since the Windblume was originally used as a codeword by the rebels in Old Mondstadt and became a celebration to the Thousand Winds, although in the present is more a celebration of love. And Venti, who knows the full story, has also chosen the Cecilia during Paralogism’s Windblume celebration, even though in the first Windblume he has made a point of saying that he wants “the right choice” to stay unknown.

With Cecilias having so many lore connotations and representing “the true feelings of the prodigal son” - associated with both Venti and Albedo - I wonder how much significance they have when tied to the bard.

There is a lot more about Cecilias that I already explore in my “Venti is Phanes (not the PO)” post

» No names [this has been confirmed on 15/12/2025 with the artifact set leaks, but i’m keeping it so you see my old theorizing]

Just like the shape of the true windblume has been lost to the winds of time, so as the name of the bard. And this is far from a coincidence, since the same as happened to all the old rebels, and might very well be more significant than the names simply being forgotten.

They could have been erased from the Irminsul; They could have been hidden on purpose because anonymity brought more power to the rebels; They could have been hidden because words grant power + names determine fate, and Decarabian was likely a dragon who knew well the power of songs (that he even banned) and words, so the rebels didn’t want to grant him that; Maybe the people of Old Mondstaddt never had first names, since the only figure from there who has one is Amos herself, who was a prophet and probably a seelie (yes I’m quite sure, check for example my Venti is Phanes post for a tiny section expanding on that);…

This aligns well with how the alias Kreuzlied is used by rebels in place of their name

[missgreenkitty]

Redraw of a print from April 2023. Two and a half years of progress!!!!

[kisekiverse15]

Nameless versión del manga de genshin impact, use una de Las imágenes de Venti🍃🕊️

[bardvenweek]

🎉✨Announcing Bardven Week!!! ✨🎉

Join us in celebrating our favorite bards once more! Venbard and Bardven are both welcome!🕊🍃

The week will be hosted February 8-14, 2026

Prompts will be announced Dec 20th!

Feel free to shoot us an ask if you have any questions

[spiritsofheroes]

BardvenWeek2026 Day 2 - Dreams

Barbatos always tried to avoid sleep–not the hibernation he knew he'd be forced into eventually, but regular old five-to-eight-hours-at-a-time sleep.

At first, he told himself it was because the land he had just inherited was still fragile. It was only recently that he had cut down the mountains and moved the people of Mondstadt to Cider Lake, after all. They were still in an adjustment period!

But the truth was far less selfless.

With his new level of power, he was far more aware of every sound around him: Some comforting, like the sound of waves hitting the coast, or the chirp of birds, others not so much. He would put the sputtering and screaming he would hear from people in the middle of the night firmly in the second category.

From what he'd learned this was part of the rebellion's cost. Not just the loss of innocent life, but the haunting nightmares for those who lived.

He… often wondered what kind of nightmares he'd have, while being too scared of the possibility to face it. So, he'd stay awake for as long as he could, even as he felt his eyes getting heavier day by day.

When sleep did finally catch up to him, it took him a moment to register what had happened. One moment he could've sworn he was watching over the new settlement, the next, he was on a cloud, standing directly across from someone who shouldn't be there.

“Huh…” The bard broke the silence as he looked around at the scenery, “This is definitely… Unexpected…”

Barbatos just stood there, paralyzed with fear as the Bard's eyes finally landed on him.

His old friend didn't seem to show any ill will to him, but he knew deep down he must hate him. He stole his face in his absence and became a god like the one they had fought against, how could he not?

A creaky “I'm sorry…” left the gods lips as tears welled up in his eyes.

So sure of his friend's feelings, he was completely caught off guard when he felt arms wrap around him. The warmth from the Bard's body felt far more real than he'd ever imagine a dream to be.

“There's nothing to apologize for, My Little Elf.” The bard comforted with the same soft voice that had always soothed him in the past, “I know you've been doing your best, both for the people, and for my memory.”

Barbatos let out a whispery laugh, “Really?”

“Yeah,” He replied, looking at the god softly until a flash of hesitation crossed his face, “Well, it's a bit complicated… I've actually been looking through your eyes, somehow?" It almost looked as if he didn't believe thw words coming out of his own mouth, yet he continued, "And I guess now I'm here… I'm not sure how any of this works.”

Well, that was a weird thing to say, the god thought as he quietly observed his friend. Dreams were known to have their own logic… was this an example of that, or was it true that he was somehow communicating with his bard from beyond the grave? He couldn't tell.

In the end, he gave the bard a smile, “If that's the case, then could we lay here for a while? I've really missed doing that lately.”

It took a handful of agonizing seconds before a thought crossed his mind. Maybe it didn't matter that much. After all, If this was truly his friend, then he should enjoy his company as much as he was allowed to, and if not, then at least it wasn't the nightmares he was dreading, right?

And of course, his beloved bard obliged.

[heirofserenity]

Venti's been stranded in Celestia since the revolution ended, and poor Nameless Bard is stuck recovering from his injuries. Venti returns and Nameless Bard discovers the infamous Babatos Bikini^TM the wisp has been wearing the entire time.... Let's just say he's quite surprised!

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