#can you tell djfhg

[reginrokkr]

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈. Different uses to an equivalent of Aqua Doloris to introduce knowledge of the Abyss —Aqua Sapientiae—.

Last night in my review of Wriothesley's SQ I touched on the topic of the Aqua Doloris (water of pain) and its plausible connection to the poisonous Abyss and even Khaenri'ah (Khaenri'ahn language uses Latin and this here is outright Latin). After giving it some thought, I want to give that more depth and establish it as part of this blog's worldbuilding concerning a kingdom that was so grand but it also cast a large shadow.

It is known that the Abyss and everything that connects to it is intimately related to Forbidden Knowledge that, according to Rhukkadevata is:

«Forbidden knowledge» is a kind of knowledge that doesn’t belong to this world, and a form of “truth” that can’t be understood. It came from the very bottom of the Abyss. Even I could never understand it. The world is constantly rejecting it, leading to all kinds of phenomena. If we allow forbidden knowledge to pollute Irminsul, I’m afraid the entirety of Teyvat could fall apart. At that time, I knew I couldn’t repel the forbidden knowledge with my strength alone. Which is why I created a device that compiled human wisdom, and named it “the Akasha”.

But we know that after the last episode of Sumeru's main arc, all Forbidden Knowledge was erased from Irminsul with Rhukkadevata's erasure. Nevertheless, that doesn't stop the Abyss from continuing to be a source of truth that still lingers in Teyvat if we take into account the Sign of Apaosha phenomenon, or as per the Chinese transliteration: Burning Truth Weather Phenomenon. Before getting into this, I want to give another glimpse of truth tied to the Abyss, witnessed by Childe no less who spent three months there, three days in Teyvatan time.

There, he witnessed the endless possibilities of another ancient world.

As per what he says in the event of Labyrinth Warriors, it is highly possible that it happened nearby Irminsul, as he describes having fought in the fissures that lie between great tree roots.

No matter how negatively the Abyss is perceived (and how negative the knowledge it provides is, perhaps to Celestia as it reveals a certain truth that doesn't seem to be something they want to be known and yet the Abyss Order is sickened that common folk doesn't know and seek to shove it down their throats at the closest opportunity, however true or distorted their truth may be), it is clear that at the same time it is trying to introduce a censored truth as if it were someone from outside of Teyvat wanting to send warnings of some kind as it may or may not be interpreted through two description lines of Narwhal:

Realistically speaking, however, if a profound universe full of life exists, why hasn't any of that life made contact with Teyvat? Maybe the universe has been constantly trying to infiltrate Teyvat, or maybe a higher power created borders to protect this world.

Lastly, to conclude with the chain of indicators that point towards the Abyss being a different brand of source of truth, I want to return to the Sign of Apaosha. This celestial phenomenon is said to have appeared for the first time after the Cataclysm's apparition as a result of the constant build-up of defilement. According to Khaenri'ahn documents, it was also called Sign of Truth, as they believed that it reflected the "reality" beyond the skies of Teyvat.

Now, to jump onto Khaenri'ah, 「Caribert」 was bolder in revealing that part of the population had this belief that in controlling the Abyss, they would also be able to control the Heavenly Principles. And judging by Chlothar's status as a nobleman of the Alberich house, it stands to reason that this belief was spread among the gentry of the kingdom. As a small parenthesis, the devs also mentioned that all the time back since the conception of Field Tillers and other Ruin Guards there were people with certain obsessions, some of which can be reflected in their infatuation for dragons. Furthermore, it is also known that the Universitas Magistrorum, what could've possibly been an equivalent of Sumeru's Akademiya in Khaenri'ah, possessed great knowledge but they would also twist it to their own needs.

Their obsession for the Abyss didn't end there, however, as it is known that until relatively late years of Khaenri'ah's civilization leading to the looming Cataclysm within close years, Ley Line energy was being used as energy until they have decided to change to Abyss energy. This made them want to investigate this energy outside Khaenri'ah (namely in Sumeru) through a special unit of knights by the name of Schwanenritter at the orders of the Knight Marshal Anfortas (who would later become into a temporary regent due to King Irmin falling ill or passing away). One of the tasks of these knights was also of espionage.

So in view that they would reach as far as to be able to turn the Abyss power into energy for their own use and, no matter how twisted, Khaenri'ah was a nation rich in knowledge of all sorts, it is also possible that they used the Abyss power for other means similar to how the Aqua Doloris was. And by this I don't mean necessarily to inflict pain and control people, but for something different such as isolating knowledge in a substance instead of fear born from unpleasant memories in order to provide it or force it to people and have more join this twisted cause that even King Irmin wasn't above judging by the description of statuettes carved in the likeness of his person:

“See, my child. All that lies under the throne of heaven shall be destroyed by upheaval. The eternal peace of the pitch-dark void shall embrace us all.”

While I'm still a firm believer that there was a part of the Khaenri'ahn population that had nothing to do with the underlying darkness that permeated this kingdom (among which I think Dainsleif was, based on his pain when he talked about the civilization's fall), it is also possible that some people were abducted into a cult-like kind of belief and that manners of "drugs" were used to make these people believe what others, deep in their delusion, already believed blindly as the Aqua Doloris did.