#enkanomiya lore

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

ONCE AGAIN REMINDING YALL ABOUT ENKANOMIYA AND THE VISHAPS !!!!

Neuvillette is the reborn Hydro Dragon,,, but he is also the product of the old legends from Enkanomiya, of vishaps who take the form of humans to take positions of power in their governments.

I'll never forgive Hyv for removing Kokomi's plot relevance as much as they did, but at least they stayed consistent about the details they introduced

[1caru]

what if venti combined his wisp and human forms

[turtlespancake]

i love seeing out of context posts about long-running stories with deep lore because it's always shit like "MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!! i can't believe that the metallic athenaeum's envoy actually used never-ending dance of the 57th universe on rionne as if she's not LITERALLY the incarnate of august?!?!" it's like buddy boy thank you for the spoiler tag but all of those words are incomprehensible without at least 5 years of foreshadowed knowledge, 7 different fan theories, and 21 wiki entries

[nightmare-grass]

One of my biggest hyperfixations nowadays is the lore of ancient kingdoms in Genshin Impact. I wanna know what they were all about, how life was like for them, what led to their downfalls, and how or if they interacted with one another. It’s said that there used to be a unified civilization of humans in Teyvat, and that’s why so many ruins have similar architectural details despite being spread across all the nations of modern Teyvat. We still have very little lore about the Nameless Ruins in the Chasm, we still don’t even have a name for them despite Dainsleif’s quest taking place there. But there’s also strange similarities between the stories of the ancient kings and how the kingdoms fell. I already buy into the theory that King Deshret of Sumeru/Gurabad may be related to or the same as King Irmin of Khaenri’ah, since the Traveler’s twin is the Abyss Prince/Princess, and the Traveler seems to remind Liloupar of Deshret in terms of looks and powers. And wouldn’t it be fitting for Deshret, who turned down the Gnosis and challenged the heavens by obtaining Forbidden Knowledge (abyssal power) to be in some way related to the king of Khaenri’ah, a nation without a god that hid from Celestia and was later punished for it? And there’s sources about Remus, the king of Remuria, citing Remus as a god king just like Deshret. And Remuria as well as Remus were swallowed by the Abyss, reminding me of the sinking of Enkanomiya, where the names of the people are lifted directly from Greek/Roman mythology. And Remus is directly inspired by the Rome founding myth, while Remuria as a whole is inspired by ancient Rome. And the most tantalizing thing for me has to be the lost kingdom of Sal Vindagnyr, where it seems so cut off from these other lost kingdoms but their princess dreamt of events that wouldn’t come to pass for thousands of years, long after her civilization was destroyed. She was born under an offshoot of Irminsul, and had the power of prophecy through her connection to the tree. She foresaw the Cataclysm in Khaenri’ah, the coming of the abyssal dragon Durin, but she had no frame of reference for when these visions would come to pass. Think about what that would do to you as your kingdom was being swallowed in ice and snow, the gods having forsaken you, and your father asks to see a vision of the snow cleared and blue skies, but you’ve already forgotten what that looks like since it’s been so long in the blizzard. Dragonspine and the ruins of Sal Vindagnyr haunt me.

EDIT: I think I figured something out about Dragonspine. In every source I could find on the topic, people usually sort the Princess’s vision of Durin before the Celestial Nail that destroyed their Irminsul tree. I think, since the people of Sal Vindagnyr proclaimed to be in such close contact with Celestia, that Celestia dropped the nail on Dragonspine as a response to the princess’s vision. They laid down a preemptive strike against the abyss and then realized, “oh shoot, we messed up,” because Durin wouldn’t appear in Mondstadt until thousands of years later! So Celestia gets the heck out of dodge before the humans can seek retribution for the destruction of their home, that’s why they abandoned the people of Sal Vindagnyr. The humans were left wondering what they did wrong, but Celestia is the one at fault! Celestia panicked and messed up!

[blood-orange-juice]

I just learned there are glowing spider lilies on the graves of Enkanomiyan sun children

they are visible only during Evernight and it makes me wonder what exactly the Evernight/Whitenight mechanic is.

I know that some mechanisms appear only during one state or the other and I can handwave it away as "magic", but spider lilies are, you know, special.

they are "flowers of the other shore", plants of the death realm. so, uhm... what exactly does Dainichi Mikoshi do? since Enkanomiya is at the intersection of three realms maybe it sort of... nudges the place towards a specific realm? rather then simply being a very big flashlight.

also why does Dainichi Mikoshi light scare vishaps away? they are creatures of the light realm and non-artificial sun doesn't seem to scare them, so what exactly is happening there? what in the abyss did the priests build?

(also I love how in the language of flowers spider lily means "may we never meet again". the sun children really just said "do not bother us", huh?)

also I missed the Gateway Offering event but apparently at some point Danichi Mikoshi was... a tree? hello?

who forgot to weed out the Irminsul sapling and why is it an invasive species

upd:

hmmm

[welshoot]

Genshin Impact Timeline: Analysis and Theory (Part 1: Ancient History)

[Ancient History]  [Mythic Period] [Archon War-Mondstadt] [Archon War-Liyue & Inazuma] [Archon War-Sumeru & Fontaine]

So the timeline of Genshin Impact lore is questionable at best and straight-up confusing at worst. However, I’ve been working on a fic series thingie that may never see the light of day that required me to do some digging, so here I am. I put the rest under-the-cut because it gets rather lengthy. Also this is all largely theoretical and gained from the process of analysis. I used the game itself and the Genshin Impact wiki to help me along. I will possibly add to this as updates with new information or information that corrects past misunderstandings crop up. There are definite spoilers below for pretty much all of the Genshin Impact storyline  and this is a VERY long post so please beware!

The Seven Sovereigns

So, apparently at the start of everything in Teyvat, there were the Seven Sovereigns which apparently were the seven strongest elemental dragons for their respective element [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2]. As a heads up, we do not have names for the majority of these dragons. These Seven Sovereigns had a king (who was first introduced as a plot point in Nahida’s second story quest) known as King Nibelung. (It is worth noting here that the name “Nibelung” likely comes from Wagner’s opera Der Ring Des Nibelungen but is also a name that appears in Norse legends and Germanic myths). These dragons ruled Teyvat and had elemental ‘Authorities’ until they were defeated by an individual referred to as the ‘Usurper’. It is highly implied that this ‘first usurper’ is the Primordial One. Notably, the Primordial One is often implied to be the Heavenly Principles, though, so far as I know, this has not been confirmed, though it is not a bad theory. Supporting this theory is Neuvillette’s comment that the first usurper (i.e. the primordial one) was the one who bested the seven sovereigns, while Focalors said it was the Heavenly Principles that stole the Seven Soverign’s authority. However, for the sake of simplicity, I will continue referring to this character as ‘The Primordial One’ rather than ‘The Heavenly Principles.’

The Primordial One apparently appeared out of nowhere and is highly implied to be an outlander, and as Nahida suggests at the end of the Sumeru Archon quest, the First Descender and thereby from another world, similar to the Traveler. A scribe in Enkanomiya used the name ‘Phanes’ for them and described how “the eternal throne of the heaven’s” appeared at the same time as the Primordial One [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection]. No matter where they came from though, they did battle with the seven sovereigns for what is implied to have been a lengthy period before they at long last won and, upon doing so, took part of the seven authorities from themself and their ‘4 shining shades.’ (NOTE: The best I can figure is that these ‘shades’ were created by the Primordial One from the Primordial One and are thus aspects of the Primordial One, though it is mentioned in some sources, such as the Byakuyakoku Collection, that the Primordial One would work the shades, implying that perhaps these shades were more like children, or helpers to the Primordial One.) These shades are/were able to operate separately from one another, as evidenced by Istaroth, a shade who held dominion over time and wind, coming to assist Enkanomiya when none of the other’s could hear the cries of the people of Enkanmoiya [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2]. Additionally, these shades are implied to be of a ‘higher power’ than the Archons with Istaroth being labeled as a ‘higher power' than Raiden Makoto in Ei’s second story quest. Additionally, these shades may have even helped create at least some of the archons, as the thus far unnamed Shade of Life assisted in creating Egeria after the Sovereign Dragon of Water was defeated [Item: Fontaine Wind-Glider]. 

Seemingly, in the course of the forty year war between the Primordial One and the Sovereign Dragons, the Primordial one emerged victorious[Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2]. Most information states that, after the Seven Sovereigns were defeated, the Primordial One created heaven and earth in preparation for humanity [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2 ]. Humans apparently came onto the scene approximately 400 years after the first appearance of the Primordial one and made a covenant with them [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2 ]. The contents of this covenant are unfortunately unclear, though it is mentioned that the Primordial One had a plan for humans and that there was apparently one taboo: Succumbing to temptation. Interestingly, volume 2 of the Byakuyakoku Collection also mentions that the path to temptation is sealed. It is possible that ‘temptation’ refers to forbidden knowledge or something of that sort.

The Second One Who Came.

At some point in time, while Enkanomiya was still part of a single unified human nation that spanned the entire world and after the creation of humanity, but before the Archon war, ‘The Second One Who Came’ (also referred to as the ‘Second Throne in Heaven’) came from ‘beneath the firmament” [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2, Artifact: Flower of Paradise Lost- the Amethyst Crown]. It is worth noting here that the second one who came is referred to as ‘Invaders’ indicating a plural group rather than a singular person in the Amethyst Crown artifact from the Flower of Paradise Lost set. It is possible that, since Apep implies Nibelung was revived or returned after defeat, that the Second One Who Came and King Nibelung joined forces against the Primordial one and that this is when the divine nails were used for the first time, but that is merely conjecture. However, we do know that King Nibelung apparently gained access to Forbidden Knowledge and seemingly introduced Forbidden Knowledge to Teyvat in an attempt to beat the Primordial One and “gain the right to shape this new world” [Nahida’s second story quest, Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2]. While The Second One Who Came ended up fighting the Primordial One for unclear reasons, this war ended up ravaging the heavens and earth, with the Primordial One apparently ending up victorious. It was during this war that Enkanomiya sank beneath the waves [Book: Byakuyakoku Collection Volume 2]. After emerging victorious from this battle, the Primordial One used Divine Nails (like the ones in Dragonspine and the Chasm) to heal the land from the damage done by the Forbidden Knowledge. This could be when the divine nails were sent into Dragonspine into the ancient civilization of Sal Vindagnyr, the Chasm, Tsurumi Island, and the Eternal Oasis. However, if that is the case, then Khaenr’iah would have been appearing around this time since the ‘Scribe’s box’ item from the Dragonspine quest mentions ‘a new nation without gods’ and Khaenr’iah is the only nation without gods that is known to have existed [The Scribe’s Box: Dragonspine quests].  Interestingly, during this war, the Primordial One’s Authority that had been initially taken from the Seven Sovereigns ended up getting damaged, making it so that they could no longer suppress the original order of the world. In order to “continue to subdue and control the resentments and loathing of this world,” the Primordial One was forced to create the gnoses with the assistance of someone referred to as ‘the one who came after’ [Neuvillette’s Character Story: Vision]. It is worth noting here that it is unclear if ‘the one who came after’ is the second one who came or yet another descender, possibly the third one whose body has been suggested to have formed the gnoses [Fontaine Archon Quest]. Interestingly, the people of Enkanomiya did attempt to return to the surface, which is when they learned the Primordial One had been victorious. However, they also learned that the Primordial One had supposedly placed a ban that sealed Enkanomiya from the surface. An NPC in Enkanomiya called Eboshi asserts that the Primordial One/Heavenly Principles did not want anyone who knew the true history of the world to be on the surface, hence the ban. However, the ban is only referred to as a ‘heavenly order’ and the Second One Who Came was apparently connected to the heavens as well, meaning the order may have come from them rather than the Primordial One.

[persicipen-archive]

i should be thankful that genshin is not releasing dead characters. yet. i would be so broke if we got ochkan or xbalanque or nabu malikata or king deshret or guizhong or…

[stainedglassthreads]

Goooooooood I hope that the Archon Interlude involves connections to Enkanomiya because like!! There's so many connections between Fontaine and Enkanomiya and there is! SOMETHING.

Enkanomiya is the first place where an Abyssal Lector displays the ability to take human form during a World Quest. Enkanomiya contains books that talk about how the Dragon Sovereign of Water will be reborn as a human. Vishaps and marine-based animals feature in both Enkanomiya and Fontaine. The Abyss as an oceanic zone, descending deeper, deeper. Condemnation by the Heavens for the sins of your God.

Enkanomiya has weapons that look a lot like the weapons Childe makes--has people with Greek names, just like how Ajax and Teucer are Greek names. Enkanomiya has a strong theme of sin and condemnation with Aru ritualistically condemning his people before we can fight the Bloodbranch Vishaps. Children who are figurehead rulers are condemned by the masses and executed for the sin of ignorance. Oceanids that don't realize they're really Oceanids and Sinshades who don't realize they're really dead.

Enkanomiya casts the Traveler into the role of Hero and Fontaine is all about performances!

All I want is for Childe to come back with info from Skirk and then he and the Traveler both just kind. Trip and stumble into Enkanomiya and/or the Abyss. And we make some progress with *gestures generally at Childe's whole Thing*

[intogenshin]

Destroy Your Suffering

An exploration of karma and Buddhism through Wanderer’s arc

Rise and Fall of an Artificial God

Scaramouche and Watatsumi Island (as a collective identity) have a similar character arc.

Watatsumi people are descendants of Enkanomiya, who were part of the ancient unified civilization created by the Primordial One that fell to the bottom of the ocean between the realms of Light and Abyss.

They both were abandoned by a god:

Scaramouche believes he was discarded by Ei

The Enkanomiyans were, for some reason, forsaken by the Primordial One after they fell to the depths of the ocean

They both were granted divine power:

Scaramouche in the form of the electro gnosis he exchanged for the traveler’s life with Yae Miko

Istaroth, one of the four shining shades of the Primordial One, provided Aberaku with divine knowledge

They both used this divine power to create technology in order to surpass their limitations:

Scaramouche powered Shouki no Kami with the electro gnosis in order to become a god

Aberaku built the artificial sun, Helios, which gave birth to whitenight and evernight and allowed the nation to live comfortably and fend off the Bathysmal Vishaps

They both transformed this technology into a false object of divine worship:

Shouki no kami was built by Dottore and the Akademiya to become Sumeru’s man-made god

The political class of Enkanomiya manipulated their people into believing Helios was a real god

They both suffered until another god helped them out of compassion:

Nahida allowed Scaramouche to find out the truth about his past, and gave him another chance in life by returning his memories to him and taking him under her custody (although, whether as a prisoner or a disciple, who knows)

Orobashi agreed to become Enkanomiya’s new god and ended the tyrannical ruling of the Sun Children, then took the inhabitants to the surface

Their arrogance to appropriate divinity, one way or another, has consequences for both:

After realizing his actions were unjustified, the puppet feels guilt over being unable to help those he cared about in his first “incarnation”, to a point he tries to atone by erasing his existence from Irminsul.

On the other hand, the corrupt reign of the Sun Children motivated the inhabitants of Enkanomiya to seek Orobashi’s help, but in becoming their god he learned about forbidden ancient history told in the book Before Sun And Moon, and sacrificed himself in order to spare his people the punishment.

Aru: ”Watatsumi is pronounced guilty of the following sins: four counts of the sin of profanity, and a further eight counts for the sin of deceiving living souls.

Aru: This is my final task, which is to read this blessing. Its meaning is that Watatsumi Omikami is about to carry our transgressions and go to its death.

—from The Subterranian Trials of Drake and Serpent quest

Orobashi would then willingly fulfill the prophecy of his death when he and the Watatsumi soldiers —who were going through a famine due to the infertile conditions of Watatsumi soil— invaded Yashiori Island. This prompted a military response from the Shogunate that would end with the Raiden Shogun striking Watatsumi's god with the Musou no Hitotachi.

Unbeknownst to those involved in the battle, the slaying of the snake god would trigger a chain of events that would bring about pain and resentment, for both Watatsumi people and Scaramouche (among others).

The Chain of Resentment

The philosophy surrounding karma in Buddhism is based on the concept of cause and effect: each of our actions has a consequence, and whatever karma we accumulate in our life is carried into the next one in the cycle of rebirth.

Karma is not a rational thought, it’s the compulsive urge that motivates said actions, which means acting on these urges is a deliberate choice. However, these urges don't exist in isolation to the external conditions created by other people’s karma, that is to say, our existence and the way we live is also the effect of a cause that came before us.

"As a physician, I teach karma from a scientific point of view. I ask people to consider what happens to the physical elements of the body after they die. If we dug you[r corpse] up in ten years, the elements that made up the body [would] disperse and become other things. [So] If you die angry, what happens to that energy of anger?"

—What is Karma?, Jan Chozen Bays

We’re told in Liyue that the dreams and delusions of gods who are killed in battle outlive their physical forms, which is why the Yakshas are tasked with containing it and why Hu Tao’s family took it upon themselves to purify their remains with fire.

"These blazing rituals were especially commonplace during that ancient period of strife.

For the dreams and delusions of the silent corpses of gods would produce evil miasmas,

So the doctor took up that devilishly red staff, igniting all that was impure.

Those who have passed, unable to bear deep sadness, but who have since become shrouded by ill karma and calamity,

They shall be reduced to ashen butterflies in this flame, and receive relief from their misfortunes and hurts."

—Staff of Homa description

And so do the skeletal remains of Orobashi expel its own evil miasma in the form of the Tatarigami, which causes both physical illness and hallucinations to the inhabitants of Yashiori Island (when the protective wards aren’t working).

Even though Ei killed Orobashi with the intention to protect her nation (and it was a heavenly sentence he willingly accepted on behalf of Enkanomiya), Watatsumi people still resent her and the Shogunate for it —since she killed the god who brought their ancestors to the surface, after all. So much so, that when the civil war comes to an end, there are still soldiers who refuse to accept peace between the two factions.

Kouzen: Peace talks? Pfft... Everyone's been drawn in by the idea. That's why the future of Watatsumi Island is at stake. What's to stop the Tenryou Commission from stabbing us in the back? And what's to stop the Raiden Shogun from issuing another Vision Hunt Decree? We are the resistance! Everything hinges on our warrior's will! We can't trust the Tenryou Commission or the Raiden Shogun. But we can put faith in ourselves!

—from Kokomi’s story quest

They were even willing to use delusions, fully aware they were draining their life force, to their deaths if necessary.

Sangonomiya Kokomi: ...I have put out the order to seize all Delusions. The vast majority are showing some loss of vitality, but nothing serious. Sadly, a few have been... less fortunate…

Gorou: Your Excellency, I'm planning to establish a dedicated field hospital to monitor their condition. The soldiers are up in arms about the ban though. They know full well what a Delusion is, but they still intend to keep using them.

—from Omnipresence Over Mortals

The Fatui made these delusions with the remains of Orobashi, so essentially the Resistance weaponized the Tatarigami (made of Orobashi's karma) to channel the resentment that they felt for his death (their own karma).

Quite the symbolic way to represent how someone’s karma influences another’s in a chain of cause and effect.

It is curious then, that the Harbinger in charge of overseeing the distribution of delusions was none other than The Balladeer.

Can it really be just a coincidence how the paths of Scaramouche and Watatsumi people met at this crucial point in the story, through Orobashi's karma?

After all, Scaramouche's own life was affected by Orobashi's death as well.

Second betrayal:

The puppet known as Kabukimono integrated into the community of Tatarasuna with the help of locals involved in bladesmithing (Niwa, Katsuragi and Nagamasa), but he was later manipulated by Dottore into sacrificing himself, believing Niwa had betrayed him.

Tatarasuna was built as a means to dispose of Crystal Marrow, mined from Orobashi’s corpse, then bladesmiths started making Jade Steel to forge their weapons with it. The Fatui would eventually target Tatarasuna and its inhabitants to create conflict in the nation, and Dottore created the Mikage Furnace to concentrate the power of Tatarigami.

Third betrayal:

After leaving Tatarasuna, Kabukimono would take care of an orphaned child, but he later dies of the illness produced by Tatarigami.

Aftermath:

The puppet would then return years later under the identity of Kunikuzushi, murdering and intimidating the bladesmith clans as a revenge against Niwa —and possibly against the Raiden Shogun by eliminating the symbol of her martial power: the Raiden Gokaden.

This revenge would prompt some clan members to flee the nation, and one of them would end up taking a cursed sword which was granted a consciousness by the Tatarigami. This cursed sword then sought power to fulfill the will of its creator by committing a number of crimes until it met Kazuha, a descender of its creator’s clan.

The Kaedehara family had to give up the Isshin art after Kunikuzushi’s revenge, and by the time Kazuha inherited it there was nothing left of it, so he started a life of wandering.

And the Kamisato’s reputation would also be harmed in the process.

When individuals act on their karma, on these harmful impulses, it only generates more pain and leads into more resentment.

Dealing with pain in Buddhism

The main principle of Buddhist philosophy is to accept that suffering is a part of existence, both in physical pain and in the transient nature of pleasure: nothing lasts forever, and that includes things like physical health and positive feelings, but also the circumstances of suffering itself. Since everything is transitory, one should not hold onto neither pain, pleasure nor material existence.

”The practitioner seeks to understand his or her emotions and see their nature. When anger comes up, we try to look at ourselves and our anger in order to see the egolessness of our mind and the emptiness of that anger. Anger, as everything else, is not something solid, something truly and independently existing. Through this understanding, the negative emotions are counterbalanced and positive emotions gradually arise."

—Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha, Ringu Tulku

Ignorance is another form of suffering, in the way that people’s worldviews are flawed, so humans inherently cause pain to themselves and each other. If you don't know how to let go of your pain, whether it's things like grief or anger, you might choose to deal with them in harmful ways. Buddhism also accepts this is the nature of the world, with humans who inflict pain on others due to their ignorance. This isn't meant to be an excuse for people's actions, everyone makes their own choices, but rather a way for people to understand pain has no purpose, so fixating on what originates it will only cause the person more harm.

Something I find interesting about the Inazuma chapter (I’m not sure about the other nations) is they seem to use characters of divine/supernatural nature as foils for characters who are humans. Both embody certain principles or philosophies, but the divine character is depicted in a symbolic or allegorical way, and the human character depicted with a more realistic approach.

Case in point: Raiden Ei and Kazuha with Buddhist doctrines.

Ei’s character arc throughout the archon quest and her story quests revolve around her accepting she can’t sacrifice herself eternally just to ensure the physical survival of her nation. Her pursuit of eternity was not dogmatic, she didn’t believe it was superior to transient existence; she just didn’t want her nation to be in danger of destruction for trespassing the boundaries set by the Heavenly Principles, like Khaenri’ah did.

She also symbolizes the concepts of “no-self” and “no-mind” through her meditation in the Plane of Euthymia.

Kazuha, on the other hand, was able to let go of his personal burdens to live a life of inner peace. His family was a victim of the Raiden Gokaden incident and by the time he inherited the clan it was in ruins, so instead of holding onto this pain and the misfortune that accompanied his following journeys, he decided to accept life as it was and only focus on the positive.

Buddhism is separated into three major paths of practice, three “vehicles” as they call it. Theravada is the oldest surviving school after the death of the Buddha, then Mahayana was made as an alternative branch by practitioners who believed the purpose of enlightenment should be to help others find their own enlightenment as well.

Mahayana is the branch that spread largely through East Asia, reaching Japan in the 6th century where it would syncretize (“mix”) with the indigenous religion of Japanese people (Shinto).

A person or deity who reaches enlightenment but still stays in the illusory material world is known as a Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism.

"In the Mahayana schools of Buddhist teaching, there is greater emphasis on becoming enlightened for the sake of all beings, rather than simply to liberate oneself. The path for this is the Bodhisattva path of the Mahayana. The Theravadan path culminates with becoming an Arhat. The Mahayana also emphasizes embracing the illusion with love, where traditionally the Theravadin discipline distances from the samsaric illusion in order to awaken."

—Vajrayana Buddhism: Beliefs, Meditations, and Practices, Lama Döndrup

In this sense, Ei functions as a deity who has transformed into a Bodhisattva herself, symbolizing certain core aspects of Buddhist teachings, while Kazuha embodies the practices in realistic down-to-earth ways.

Ei and Kazuha found their own way to enlightenment by letting go of their pain through practices inspired by Mahayana Buddhist doctrines, but is this kind of healing through such passive means even possible for most?

After all, not everyone can be a self sacrificing bodhisattva like Ei or overcome suffering like Kazuha. Sometimes a person’s suffering is met with anything but compassion, and it creates resentment that can lead people into self-destructive paths of accumulated karma.

Sometimes the idea of letting go of anger at what has been done to someone is impossible. Scaramouche and Watatsumi Island are proof of this.

Enter Vajrayana Buddhism

Vajrayana (also known as Esoteric or Tibetan) is the third major branch of the “vehicles” of Buddhism, it was created from Mahayana Buddhism so they share the same purpose. The difference is Vajrayana uses tantras and rituals alongside meditation.

It has the same compassionate deities in the form of Bodhisattvas, but in addition they also worship fierce or “wrathful” deities called the Wisdom Kings.

"In contrast to the saintly images of the Buddha and Bodhisattva, images of the [Wisdom Kings] are ferocious and menacing, for their threatening postures and facial expressions are designed to subdue evil spirits and convert nonbelievers. They are often depicted engulfed in flames, which according to Buddhist lore, represent the purification of the mind by the burning away of all material desires."

—Godai Myō-ō - Five Great Kings

Mahayana is largely practiced in Japan, but the Vajrayana school did make it into the country and became known as Shingon and Tendai Buddhism.

These schools have special worship for one of these wrathful deities: Acala also known as Fudō in Japanese, who is depicted with a lotus flower in his head (like Wanderer's hat).

Fudō functions as a symbol of enlightenment through destruction, he's a deity who destroys your suffering and ignorance (the obstacles for enlightenment) and converts anger into salvation.

The fire ritual of Homa (known as Goma in Japanese), the same one referenced in Staff of Homa, is performed in different religions in Asia, but in Japan the deity that's invoked in it is precisely Fudō. The purifying fire represents the god's wisdom and the firewood burnt in the fire represents the source of suffering.

A puppet consumed by a raging fire will leave behind ashes. As for what will emerge from them…

—Wanderer’s “About: Puppet” voiceline

Wanderer takes its inspiration from this school of Japanese Buddhism. For example, his signature weapon (Tulaytullah's Remembrance) is designed to look like a Ghanta, a classic ritual symbol of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Both the worship of Fudō and the Goma rituals are also practiced in Shugendō, a highly syncretic religion made out of multiple existing religions and traditions that reached Japan, and is closely associated with the Shingon and Tendai sects of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Wanderer's outfit is inspired on a Shugendō monk.

Destruction as a means for healing

One thing that fascinates me about his character is that anger is justified as a rightful result of trauma through his arc. This is also shortly addressed through Nahida, since it's precisely anger at what the sages have done to her that allows her to escape her dream prison, but she's an all compassionate god, so she won't indulge anger much. Scara, on the other hand, doesn't neglect his even after his anemofication.

I once thought that deification would allow me to get rid of all of my pointless emotions, but I’ve since abandoned that view.

Anger, whether it be from others or myself, is too convenient and useful as a tool.

How can some people just never become angry? I find that impossible to even imagine. Do they just not have a single mean bone in their bodies?

—Wanderer’s ”More About Him III” voiceline

It almost feels like he’s shading Ei and Kazuha, who follow this principle of Mahayana Buddhism as a form of dealing with their pain. Especially Ei, who —much like he initially intended with his deification— also kept herself in a state of emotional neutrality inside the Plane of Euthymia.

As the audience of a fictional story, however, having a character overcome their pain (whether resentment, grief, anger, etc) through passive acceptance like that just isn't as cathartic as validating their suffering through action.

It's interesting and validating in its own way, but y'know, it's not Scara standing in front of Shouki no Kami, the personification of his own pain, and obliterating it with a smile on his face. It just hits different.

And suffering in Vajrayana is dealt with in a different manner than Mahayana:

Following the Vajrayana teachings, we do not give up or reject anything; rather we make use of whatever is there. We look at our negative emotions and accept them for what they are. Then we relax in this state of acceptance. Using the emotion itself, it is transformed or transmuted into the positive, into its true face. When, for instance, strong anger or desire arises, a Vajrayana practitioner is not afraid of it. Instead he or she would follow advice along the following lines: Have the courage to expose yourself to your emotions. Do not reject or suppress them, but do not follow them either.

The negative emotions themselves are used. The process is almost like using poison as medicine.

—Daring Steps: Traversing the Path of the Buddha, Ringu Tulku

When Wanderer faces his pain and sins in the form of Shouki no Kami, a larger than life robot that starts attacking him and traveler, it petrifies him. He's struggling to come to his senses, and yells with anger "All worthless dross will be purged, thats why... this won't be the end!" as he reaches out for his past incarnation.

Then an explosion occurs and when the smoke fades, Wanderer stands firm with the new vision he’s acquired. A battle between the two ensues, which Wanderer eventually wins.

This is nothing like Kazuha's quiet acceptance, and nothing like Ei's patient meditation. There's rage, there's violence, and even a bit of fire. Just like the symbolic destruction of pain carried out by Fudō.

Wanderer does not let go of his pain, he destroys it.

His anger is redirected into a form of self advancement that allows him to overcome his suffering.

The allegorical approach of Buddhist doctrines portrayed through Wanderer is paralleled by the more down-to-earth resolution of Watatsumi’s conflict:

Kokomi also finds a way to redirect the resentment of the Watatsumi soldiers into a path of self advancement. The soldiers understand their intentions to take these urges into action against the Shogunate are wrong, but they don't know what to do with their feeling.

And so Kokomi doesn't punish them, instead she lets them form a special division where they will train not for revenge, but for the protection of their people. The rage is not quelled, the violence is not stopped, just redirected into actions for collective and personal well being.

Sangonomiya Kokomi: It was largely an oversight on my part: I taught you to nurture a warrior's will, but never how to let it go.

Tadakatsu: It's not your fault, Your Excellency! It was ours... our selfishness. Either way, we are ready to accept sentencing under martial law.

Sangonomiya Kokomi: Very well. Then I hereby declare... that as of today, I am founding a new Secret Corps of the army. This division will be responsible for keeping Watatsumi Island safe and secure, neutralizing any and all threats to the peace of our island. You and your comrades will all be welcome to join - but be warned, the training will be grueling. Perseverance and grit will be in high demand.

—from Kokomi’s story quest

[ae-ul]

enkanomiya

[littleblueberryartist]

OOOOOOO!!!!!

Ty Lily this is very useful 👀 also don't worry about it being contradictory! I'm still in the planning stages so I'm not fully sure what I'm looking for either I welcome more info to throw at the wall XD (also yeah absolutely tell me about the irl allegorical themes of the book)

Actually, speaking of info do you know anything about the second who came? I feel like they were only briefly mentioned in before sun and moon (tho I dunno for sure since it's been a while since I've read it)

I definitely want to explore more of who would know what's going on and who wouldn't! As well as who is affected and how. And regardless of the theory I mentioned and the lore you shared know it seems like Celestia would be somewhat in the know. Also I was always sort of under the impression that Istaroth is either against celestia or at the very least neutral and working seperately of them. So her breaking off from the main group to do her own thing still works out lol (I am sort of considering mashing the two and having celestia maybe change ownership post second who came or just have the other shades + Phanes come into conflict with Istaroth)

I will admit I did always kind of take Istaroth coming to enkanomiya to rule over the people where the others did not as more of "since she is a shade she is part of the collective and could technically be counted as a representation for them all to guide the people" kind of situation which the people might've interpreted otherwise because the concept of shades is more foreign to them. But her just straight up deviating is interesting too!

I do also think it would be quite interesting if Istaroth began working against the heavens of her own accord as something that's taken to be good (I personally think that while celestia is sus as hell there's more to it than just them being the bad guys. I do however still think that we are gonna end up fighting them anyway) but then getting corrupted ending up causing her own set of problems for everyone lol

And yeah teyvat's laws definitely don't affect them as much! For one stuff like xiao's karma tends to affect vision users less, (and like you mentioned the withering too) the traveller can do the same if not more without a vision (and also straight up get elemental powers without a vision) because of whatever they really are (a star? A god? Star god????) I think it's really neat

Also that last paragraph goes so fucking hard???? I dunno if I'll end up exploring it but I am tucking that away for the au corkboard jsndndj (I hope I have the braincells to explore it tbh it's interesting I'm just kind of brain foggy today rip)

We've talked about Venti's love vs Istaroth's and how they parallel one another

But what about the traveller? What about the exception to teyvat's laws? (Also them being an exception to the whole neverending loop of twin/doppelganger deaths maybe lol)

Something something the power of love gets me so what if the unforseen factor is the traveller's love. For teyvat, for their sibling, for their friends.

I mentioned how venti's own love may have sentenced him to his fate. But what if it's the traveller's love that saves him?

Who would be better to bend fate than one who exists outside of it?

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

Hi bffs, today we're going to be talking about Enkanomiya's "Vishap people" and the curse of King Deshret's people, the birth of Eleazar bc I can't stop thinking about this possible/not likely correlation

Eleazar produces scales as a manifestation of divine punishment, for knowing "forbidden knowledge." It slowly paralyzes the patient and causes severe nerve damage.

Eleazar is positively related to a person's elemental "content", which I would gather means that people with eleazar has more elemental capacity/resistance or elemental synergy.

What does this have to do with the Vishap people? Well, I'd ask you to recall the Vassals of Watatsumi, and Tsumi the snake-masked shrine maiden from the Enkanomiya Event way back when in 2.4. Tsumi tells us that she was a reptile, a descendant of the Vishaps that had grown and evolved to further their advancement against humanity and Watatsumi. Vishaps are some of the oldest creatures in Teyvat, species wise. They are noteable for their ability and relation to elements, as they are biologically connected to specific elements. (Azhdaha, and the Dragon of Water legend of Watatsumi).

It's curious that there is a similar line between Eleazar producing scales and Vishap people, as Eleazar is divine *punishment* and Vishaps are the divinely *punished,* being that the Primordial One sent them away from the rest of the world.

a side note to relate this to irl include: the wiki calls Eleazar is a Jewish name, meaning "god has helped" /el'azár.

This is a curious decision by HYV given that Eleazar is, technically, proven to be mediated by "archon residue/ a god's remains" by the notorious Il Dottore

[protect-namine]

surely hoyoverse is aware that they already used nereides twice ("nereid's ascension" for kokomi's burst, where she dons the ceremonial garment, and "nereides" as the constellation name for sigewinne)

sigewinne "wondrous dragonheir" is going to have a promising story quest, but then again... that's also what I said about divine priestess sangonomiya "dracaena somnolenta" kokomi

ugh wait actually I'm kinda excited for sigewinne if she ends up expanding on the elynas lore and connect it back to ancient civilizations. enkanomiya part two, maybe?

but if sigewinne gets the nice dragon related backstory, that'll just make me even more disappointed with kokomi. a never ending cycle... kokomi I will always love you. I will always believe you're meant to be a better character

[aromanticasterisms]

still rolling perinheri around in my head btw. that "the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon" line from dainsleif's introduction makes a lot more sense now. lol

[canismajors]

genshin fans love lying & being racist

[perfectcounters]

In the deepest depths, the hidden aesthetics of Enkanomiya.