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hellonoblesky · 2 years

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ok turtle how could the Archons be portrayed in Khaenri'ahn history/mythos

Gabriel. I love you here's my incoherent ramblings (Under the cut because ummmmmm. Haha. It's long. It's so long. And I am so insane.

OK SO FIRST OF ALL, we know that Hilichurls don't worship the gods, obviously, they're Khaenri'ahns, they've worshipped the sheer elements and forces of nature alongside the Ley Lines ever since the nation was founded with the ruins of Vindagyner (and some other nameless places we don't have proper documentation on just yet). That's a given.

The Khaenri'ahn religion/general belief system doesn't worship a single figure but rather the forces of nature itself. It has always been like that, with a focus on the actual people learning the elements by force of will rather than being granted the powers by a higher force. And it's a VERY VERY starkly different belief system from the rest of Teyvat, which all operates under the belief of higher-up or more powerful beings!!!

This is important.

Because Khaenri'ah was founded on what I like to call the Godless Nations, most notably at the moment: VINDAGNYER (the previous civilization on Dragonspine).

Vindagnyer, which grew so powerful on it's own that they harnessed the power of the ley lines, the very BLOOD OF THE WORLD, that they ascended to Celestia with no assistance, that they were technologically advanced to create floating guards with LAZERS. Vindagnyer, was by all counts, a highly advanced society!! And !! This civilization existed around DECABRIAN'S ERA!! And likely only fell around the time of his fall!!!

But WHY did Vindagnyer fall?? It was because of Celestia. Celestia dropped the full Skyfrost Nail on the mountain and FREEZING A WHOLE CIVILIZATION while Venti rose to the seat of Archon and the long-standing war between Decabrian and Andrius abated.

We know from the Scribe of VIndagnyer that he went to join the then still new Khaenri'ah, still just a nation in the early stages of forming, and he went there SPECIFICALLY because it was a nation founded separately from the gods. That is important.

So taking into account that Khaenri'ah was founded with The Scribe, who was, again, a SCRIBE, I think it's likely that the Anemo Archon, just, as a figure in general, because I doubt Khaenri'ahn society at any point in time has really known much about the passing of Gnosi from Archon to Archon, is depicted as harsh.

Harsh as a biting wind, a creature of hail and monsoons swept sideways, of cold air and roaring noise. The Anemo Archon, in Khaenri'ahn history, is more creature than being of intelligence (all the archons likely are). He is a thing of wings and glinting gold, a thing that shoves you off balance, could send you tumbling to your doom with a breath, could knock things away and send them shattering in an instant. He's not the God of Freedom, he's the Creature of The Winds. The Fangs of the Tornado. He's the Blizzard's Gales and the Monsoon's Driver. He's the Hell of Hurricanes and he has no mercy.

No, the Anemo god is a Creature. A beast. A thing like a fox, curious, and sometimes approachable, but still with claws and teeth and a swift dashing bite.

Zhongli, or rather, Morax, however, I think is seen very differently.

After all, much of the history around the Anemo Archon is of him lifting Mondstadt's people to freedom, it's contained to his nation, and his nation doesn't carry as much history with wars as Morax's does.

But Morax fought the Archon War.

And Khaenri'ah was founded around the time of/give or take a little bit before the Archon War.

And a nation not ruled by gods, to people who were suddenly caught amidst god at war? It probably sounded safer than worrying about whether your entire village would be raised or flooded or burned in the flick of a wrist or the slash of a blade.

So those who fled the nation that would later become Liyue would tell stories of Morax the Warrior. Morax the Dragon. Morax the Blade. Morax who stood stern, Morax who controlled the rumbling stone and whose spear cut the sky until the stars seemed to fall.

To Khaenri'ah, Morax is a general. A General of the skies and a General of the Stone. He is a man of harsh judgment and loyalty like an attack dog. He is a beast all Claws and Eyes and Fangs. He is not the kind and fair ruler Liyue knows, he is the harsh finality of the executioner. He is a beast of war and battle and bloodshed and though he may be regarded as smart and with tactical prowess in Khaenri'ah, he is Not regarded as a man of benevolence. He is regarded as a man of War.

To the people of Khaenri'ah, the Geo Archon is the God of War. Their legends and stories don't speak of his contracts, or his defense of Liyue, they speak of his battles, of his bloodshed, of those he killed.

The Electro Archon(s) are probably beings of much less legend in Khaenri'ahn mythos

They're probably seen like a vaguer version of Zhongli. Shut off, but prevalent in battle. Strong with the thunder, with the blade, blood on their hands and violet glare in their eyes.

But they're not important in Khaenri'ahn history or mythos.

Of course they aren't not when Khaenri'ah is much MUCH more familiar with the Snake God of Enkanomiya, Orobaxi, as it's entirely possible ( and In my opinion LIKELY) that some Enkanomiyans moved to Khaenri'ah instead of moving to the surface on Watatsumi island, as they wanted to continue living underground/in similar conditions.

And Orobaxi is spoken of in fond tongues.

A gentle snake, a being who listened to the people it protected, a thing of the deep earth, bathed in the Ley Lines, slithering in power. Orobaxi is held in reverent tones, as to the people of Khaenri'ah he was no high-and-mightly god, he was the defender of their neighboring underground nation, he was the snake of Enkanomiya, the serpent of the ocean's depths. He was no god of war, he was no creature of gales and blizzards, he was Orobaxi, the Serpent of Coral.

The Dendro Archon was one spoken of almost fondly.

After all, she was one of the Ley Line's beings, she wasn't a separate thing, her consciousness spanned the world, and it's entirely likely she communed with Khaenri'ahn sages through the roots of the Imurnsil.

She was the voice of gentle guidance. The Celestial assistance of the Trees. She kept out of Khaenri'ahn affairs, generally (not her nation, far from her business, but she liked Knowing), but she was referred to as more of a whisperer in the roots, a little skitter of curiosity.

Of course, those are all PRE-CATACLYSM.

Post-Cataclysm, Venti's image as a harsh wind of gales and blizzards and knives of air solidified with the Khaenri'ahn hatred of Celestia, Morax became the Warring Butcher of Stone, blood on his blade and no mercy in his eyes. In Orobaxi's death and the fall of Makoto during the Cataclysm, the Electro Archon became a figure of Khaenri'ahn victory, but also one of Khaenri'ahn loss. She's both a dead God, Dead at the hands of the Abyss (which is good or bad depending on what part of current day Khaenri'ah you ask), and a mourning one, one seen screaming in loss on the battlefield, a body cradled close to her chest. And the Dendro Archon became a disregarded myth. The whisperer in the Ley Lines became the whispers of the Abyss.

OH and also I have a strong theory that most of Khaenri'ahn mythos and history is passed on in pictographs and stories told by mouth so regionally they have different perceptions of the gods these are just the general ones :)

#THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING. IM SO INSNAE RIGHT NOT #turtledove answers #genshin impact lore #genshin lore #genshin theories #genshin theory #genshin impact #khaenri'ah #khaenri'ah lore #AUGH THE INSANITY ABOUT IT IS SOOOO REALLLL

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