#just like every time nikki tries to save miraland it’s different each time

[kinopeachy]

rosalina wearing star sea!

(dress is from the dress-up games love nikki and shining nikki~)

[littlesailorinthesun]

elf primer

As part of a larger joint project (a lore reading order timeline), I wanted to write a post documenting all of the elf and kindred-related weirdness in the story. Once you start diving really, really deep into trying to piece elfkindred information together, you'll find that lots of things contradict each other or become jumbled. This is in part due to our server's translation and in part just because the story legitimately retcons itself. There were also a lot of theories and misconceptions which I wanted to spend some time discussing. So here is some information that will help those who are interested in reading.

By the way, huge spoilers ahead for the newest CN hell event, which has been given the fan nickname “Moonless Voyage”. The translations I used are linked at the end!

Main Cast

Chloris: The duty-bound Prince of Forest Elves. He participated in the war between kindred and elves a thousand years ago. He has very few desires as he's very focused on the well-being of the forest. He's also very powerful. Has been kept in the dark about his family history.

Cesare: The brother of Chloris and the current Lord of Kindred. He was exiled to Shadow City, the world within Lake Bovaly, a thousand years ago. Strongly wishes for Kindred to be simply allowed to live in the forest again, after that right was stolen from him when he was young, and secretly wishes he and Chloris could be normal brothers. Now, he also wants to break the Blood Curse because it affects all Kindred even if they just have the desire to hurt others (not for the same reasoning as Nidhogg). 

Lakris: The second Prince of Forest Elves. Stated by Cesare to simply be "a part of him" that was taken. Looked just like Cesare. 

Elven Queen: The mother of Chloris and Cesare. Anti-war and fiercely protective of the elves even at the cost of her own Kindred loved ones. 

Helsin (Blood Lust): The Lord of Kindred who served as the leader of Shadow City while Cesare was missing. Her primary goal is to break the seal of Shadow City once more.

Evelyn (Flickering Pistill): An elf who was invited to Shadow City by Helsin and subsequently tortured. She became the final seal for Shadow City, never truly dying. Her story is well-known among those in the Pigeon Forest and Shadow City.

Timeline

(Note: Next to the occurrence, I wrote where you can find the source/a more detailed description of the lore.)

Many years ago: Forest Elves (Chloris' kind) guarded the Pigeon Forest since it came into existence.  (Chloris 1)

Elves who sought to cleanse the world were corrupted by the miasma they encountered, and became the Kindred.  (Moonless Voyage)

>1000 years before Year 680, New Era: Chloris and Cesare were born to the Elven Queen and the Lord of Kindred, who were lovers but could not be together. The two twins did not meet.  (Jealous Phantom)

~1000 years before Year 680, New Era: Tensions broke out between Kindred and Elves. The Elven Queen persuaded the Lord of Kindred to take all of the Kindred out of Pamir Forest (north of main Pigeon Forest) and bring them to Shadow City so there would be no more war. Lord of Kindred obliged, and opened up Shadow City, an action that took most of his strength and ultimately killed him. Every Kindred in Pamir Forest went to Shadow City.  (Jealous Phantom)

Cesare's father died, Cesare became the new Lord of Kindred, and the Elven Queen made one last visit to him to say her final goodbye. Cesare pleaded with her to change her mind, but she turned her back on him and left.  (Jealous Phantom)

The Elven Queen died (as was told to Cesare) or went missing.  (Jealous Phantom/Wake Up from Dream)

Cesare would occasionally watch Chloris play the harp from the other side of the lake, aware that Chloris was his brother.  (Jealous Phantom/Flower Feather)

Cesare continued to fight the elves. During a fight, the Elven King (Cesare's uncle on his mother's side) told him that his mother had left some words for him before she died. This was a ploy to distract him and disarm him. Elven King then picked up Cesare's sword, Dark Verdict, and stabbed him with it. Cesare sank to the bottom of the lake.  (Moonless Voyage)

Lakris appeared under the Tree of Life for the first time. However, he was asleep during the war.  (Wake Up from Dream/Chloris 4)

At some point, the King also died in battle.  (V2: 4-2)

[Assumption] Any remaining Kindred that were in Shadow City left, and so did Elaine, leaving the elves and her sister Rachel behind in the forest. The seal between Shadow City and Pigeon Forest formed.  (Minstrel of Time)

Helsin became the Kindred Lord and the most powerful person in Shadow City and amassed many followers that feared her but respected her.  (Moonless Voyage)

Helsin, who wants to break the seal between Shadow City and Pigeon Forest, invited Evelyn to Shadow City to torture her. Evelyn doesn't die; instead, she ends up becoming the final seal, believing it to be atonement for everybody who participated in the war.  (Blood Moon)

Year 670, New Era: Cesare stayed at the bottom of Lake Bovaly for nearly a thousand years until Nidhogg one day swam down and retrieved the Dark Verdict sword, stabbing him and releasing him from the seal that the Elven King had placed on him that trapped him there. (Mentioned in Ice Abyss Echo, Dark Verdict suit, and V2: 4-SS2. The year and more clarification on what happened is given in the Miraland Civilization Files book.)

Cesare returned to Shadow City, to the surprise of Kindred there, who worshipped Helsin and viewed Cesare as only a legend considering how long he had been in the lake.  (Moonless Voyage)

Infighting began between Kindred who were loyal to Helsin and Kindred who were loyal to Cesare, but Helsin declared her loyalty to Cesare, who went forth and did his best to improve the quality of life in Shadow City.  (Moonless Voyage)

Year 680: Cesare and Kindred spirits gather power in Pamir Forest again, using Noah as an agent to stir up chaos and attract the attention of Chloris. Chloris and Lakris go to investigate, and Lakris disappears into a heavy fog as they walk. Chloris goes to the Kindred castle alone and meets Cesare for the first time. It's implied that Lakris was the elven part of Cesare all along, and Cesare reclaims Lakris. Cesare disappears in the light of the Dawnblade.  (Chloris 4)

Nikki, Mela, and Momo accidentally get hoodwinked and sent into Shadow City where they nearly get eaten alive by some hungry Kindred. Chloris finds this out and makes the decision to remove the seal between Shadow City and Pigeon Forest to save them.  (V2: Chapter 3)

Most of Chloris's strength is used in removing the seal. Cesare escapes Shadow City and bites Chloris, transferring his memories and weakening him further.  (V2: 3-SS2)

Elaine and Rachel (boat lifetime sisters) along with Nikki and co attempt to find a way to heal Chloris but he falls unconscious.  (V2: Chapter 4)

When the seal is removed, Evelyn (Helsin's prisoner) disappears. Helsin goes mad with desire and experiences severe backlash from the Blood Curse, so she asks to be restrained.  (Moonless Voyage)

At some point, Chloris wakes back up.  (That one Pigeon welfare suit)

Cesare decides to break the Blood Curse. He recruits Helsin for help and they leave Shadow City and go back to Pigeon Forest. Helsin fights off Elven soldiers with her whip while Cesare tries to remove a giant crystal within the Tree of Life that binds Kindred under the Blood Curse.  Chloris approaches and Cesare explains his reasoning for trying to remove the crystal, also dropping the bomb about the secrets behind their parentage.  (Moonless Voyage)

Chloris conducts some elfin glowing crystal magic that renders the Kindreds immobile. Peace falls over the entire forest. The backlash of the Blood Curse that the Kindred constantly experienced disappears.  (Moonless Voyage)

Cesare orders all the other Kindred to return to Shadow City. He does another bonding ritual with Chloris which seems to transfer energy to Chloris. Though it's not over between them, Cesare returns to Shadow City once more.  (Moonless Voyage)

NOTE: Some assumptions had to be made for this timeline. The biggest one is that even after Shadow City had been opened, the war between Kindred and Elves continued until the seal was formed at a later date. Without this assumption, multiple events described in the story do not make sense.

FAQ

How much time passed between the war and the year 680?

Certain parts of our translation refer to it as "thousands of years", but truthfully, it was actually just a thousand years that passed. (Thank you Athena for clearing this up!)

This is almost definitely not an exact number, especially given everything else that was happening with the timeline across Miraland, as well as how many different events were written as occurring a thousand years ago.

Are Chloris and Cesare half brothers?

For a long time, this is what most people (including myself) believed. This is at least in part because of a few lines within the story suit Jealous Phantom which stated:

"Cesare often think[s] about his mother while sitting on bough in the forest, imagining how his brother, who has the blood of the Elven Guardian, spends days with mother under the bright sunlight."

This seemed to indicate that Chloris had some elven parentage that Cesare did not, which both made him a "full" elf and afforded him privileges Cesare couldn't have.

However, we learned recently that this is not true. With the release of the most recent hell event, both Chloris and the fandom was confronted with the truth, which is that Chloris is also born of Kindred and they are full brothers.

Cesare: “and you, the great Elven King, my fated twin, are also born of kindred blood.”

[...]

(a truth he has tried to ignore revealed, Chloris felt dizzy. He closes his eyes tightly.)

(Translation: RavenBlue)

We also learn that the old Elven King was actually Chloris' (and Cesare's) uncle, not his father.

What if Cesare was lying? To tell you the truth, it is highly unlikely that that's the case. Firstly, even Chloris himself recognizes the truth that he was born from a kindred. Secondly, it's very uncommon for half-sibling twins of different parentage to occur, to the point where even fans were second guessing and wondering if this was really what the writers meant to imply. Thirdly, we now don't even have another candidate for Chloris' dad now that we know the king was his uncle and not his father. 

Does this make Chloris kindred, per se? Not really. He doesn't display any of the symptoms of being a kindred. The most likely explanation is that he just "didn't get the Kindred gene" while his fraternal twin Cesare did. 

How did Cesare fall to the bottom of the lake?

There are now three different versions of this, only one (the most recent one) which actually seems canon-compliant:

First Wind: The Elven King stabs Cesare with the Dawnblade; his body is later dropped in the bottom of the lake.

Jealous Phantom: Cesare was watching Chloris play the harp when his sadness and the light overwhelmed him and he toppled into the lake. (This one could be metaphorical, even though the metaphor doesn't match the other explanations.)

Moonless Voyage: The Elven King stabs Cesare with his own Dark Verdict; his body falls to the bottom of the lake. 

The most canon-compliant one is the Moonless Voyage one, which matches the other bits of interconnecting lore about how Nidhogg acquired the Dark Verdict.

Is Evelyn the mother of Chloris and Cesare/the Elven Queen?

This is a long one so buckle in. (Yes, I touched on this briefly in my last post.)

First of all, I want to reiterate that this was never explicitly stated anywhere. Evelyn was never called the queen and was never described as having children, and the Queen's name was never given. I still believe this is up to interpretation. So here, I'll just lay out all the evidence for both sides. Right now, I don't think it's possible to say one way or another.

Some of the evidence for this theory includes the following:

In Chloris' fourth Dreamweaver, Moon Night Poem, Chloris' mother is mentioned by Cesare. 

Duke Cesare: "He was so brave and fearless... even when all hope was lost, he refused to surrender, going so far as to put his life on the line. I simply obliged him... nothing more. That's typical of the forest elf, just like your mother."

This indicates that Chloris' mother had sacrificed her life or was self-sacrificing in some way. Of course, Evelyn is also well-known for her sacrifice, as she became the final seal of Shadow City, and her sacrifice is discussed throughout volume 2, chapter 4: 

Nikki: "Those Kindred and elven specters in the Shadow City... They longed for sunlight even they knew it would burn them. Evelyn wanted no bloodshed and she sacrificed herself for peace."

Does Cesare and Chloris' mother make a sacrifice? Well, it's said in Jealous Phantom that it's a very difficult decision for her to banish the Kindred, including her lover and Cesare, to Shadow City for the sake of the elves. That's the only thing I can think of that would qualify as a sacrifice. 

One potential hint that Evelyn could have been the queen is from this line from Flickering Pistill:

Evelyn guards the quiet Pigeon Forest. When she bleeds, the reflection of stars will turn to white flowers.

However, in my opinion this is pretty weak evidence because pretty much every forest elf is said to guard the forest (as stated in basically any Chloris dreamweaver you look at).

As well, their circumstances also seemed to line up. In the spirit items from Chloris' fourth dreamweaver, Destined Twins and Wake Up from Dream, it's stated: 

Every generation, elves will have 2 guardians who protect the Pigeon Forest in turn, a Sword and a Moon.

Chloris is the first guardian and Lakris didn't appear under the Life Tree till Elf Queen went missing.

We also know that Evelyn herself leaves Pigeon Forest to go to Shadow City forever and act as the seal. However, this is largely viewed as a choice (a "sacrifice") and Evelyn herself was willing to take this on. Again, it's really up to how you read it.

Here's the evidence against Evelyn being their mother:

In the most recent CN hell event (Moonless Voyage), we get confirmation that Helsin was the Lord of Kindred while Cesare was in the bottom of Lake Bovaly for nearly a thousand years. Now that Cesare has been woken up, Helsin is subservient to him. The story of Evelyn is mentioned to him, and he knows about it, but he simply does not care. It's explicitly stated that he has no interest and only cares about Helsin for her power.

Cesare’s Underling: “Ever since the seal of Shadow City was broken, Evelyn, who was previously imprisoned, disappeared. Since then, master Helsin’s desires became more and more cruel, and the backlash on her body became stronger and stronger…..”

(Cesare has heard of the struggle between Helsin and the elf she imprisoned. But he holds no interest in this. All he needs is Helsin’s power.)

(Translation: RavenBlue)

Cesare was told that his mother was dead (mentioned in both Jealous Phantom and Moonless Voyage). In the year 680, he also still seems to believe his mother sacrificed her life for something (see the quote from Chloris 4 I posted above). It's incredibly weird that he would show no interest in this development if she was his mother; it's displayed elsewhere in Moonless Voyage that he still showed interest in his mother even after she abandoned him. But it makes perfect sense narratively if Evelyn is not actually his mother and is just the self sacrificing elf of legends.

The next part is that the timeline does not line up. 

It makes much more sense if everything regarding Evelyn, and all of Blood Moon, happened after Cesare fell to the bottom of the lake.

The war between Kindred and Elves already seems to be over as described in Flickering Pistill, as Evelyn is "atoning" in part for the winners of the war.

Helsin is described as the Kindred Lord in Blood Lust, but we know from Jealous Phantom that Cesare inherited the position from his father. Considering we know Helsin was the one in power while Cesare was at the bottom of the lake, it only seems logically consistent that she would only obtain that title after he disappeared.

Lastly, there is simply no reason to not say so if Evelyn is Chloris and Cesare's mother. The story of Evelyn is well known in both Shadow City and Pigeon Forest, and even Cesare who has been asleep for a thousand years knows it. If Cesare knows they are the same, and a great deal of Kindred lore is told from Cesare's perspective and centered around his character development, I literally see no point in continuing to talk about both Evelyn and their mother and not just say they are the same. The same is also true for Chloris, who would also have heard of Evelyn. There is nobody left who cares about Chloris and Cesare's mother to reveal the plot point to. But LN definitely seems to be fond of pulling stunts like this, so it's still hard to say.

What about Wind's Whisper?

There is another character called Evelyn in Wind's Whisper. Evelyn is described as a tree spirit in this, and it distinguishes her from "Pigeon Elves" because she hibernates. However, after asking about the original Chinese text, I have learned that there was a word left out in our translation; Evelyn is a tree elf/spirit, but she hibernates unlike other Pigeon elves. 

The words for spirit and elf in Chinese are related, and it's possible that Evelyn is the same type of elf as Chloris even though it's written differently in Chinese. 

While I'm not really sure if the Evelyn from Wind's Whisper has anything to do with the rest of the story, it's a moot point to me because whether it does or doesn't, it doesn't add any additional understanding or insight.

Thank you to Athena, RavenBlue, and bamboo snek for clearing this up!

Translation Credits

RavenBlue#2752

for their wonderful and speedy translations of the new hell event stages

for their official Miraland timeline translation

As well to athena#2202 and bamboo snek#3897 for sharing and explaining the original Chinese meaning for parts where our translation got butchered! (Noted above)

[ribbonism]

Dream Weaver Guide

Idk why I wrote this.

Dream Weaver is a resource-hungry feature (unless you have 5k or more items and unlimited materials), although it could be done casually. It’s not as annoying as crafting Black Stunning Beauty and Grice tho. As usual, please pardon my grammar.

Dream Weaver is a place featuring the NPC/Dream Weaver personal data and background/stories (Dreamland). Although generally open, some Dream Weaver’s Dreamlands are locked until the player gain Spirit of Sheen from Event or finish another Dreamland. Each Chapter of each Dreamland also locked until some requirements fulfilled.

Dream Weaver is also the only way to obtain Miracle Soul/Spirit items that can raise certain Style Attribute point.

Will be updated depend on my game play and our publisher’s patch

Warning: long and lots of images

Warning (2): might contain spoilers

In case someone still wondering: yes this is from English version; no this is not Love Nikki version

In General, You Will Need:

Any exchange currency: Golds, Diamonds, Crystal Roses, Crystal Shoes, Starlight Coins, etc

Stamina, of course

Dyes, lots of dyes, like, lots and lots, seriously

Textiles, lots of it

Clothing Materials, a lot 

Certain Wardrobe Items 

Dreamland will not consumed the items

Institute Request will consumed the items

Fluorites (will be consumed)

Stone of Love, Stone of Sky, Stone of Dream, and Stone of Night, are obtainable through Institute Request and Dreamland

Stone of Dazzling and Stone of Brilliance, are only obtainable through Floating Dream Island

Spirit of Sheens (will not be consumed) for some Dreamlands

DREAM WEAVER MENU

You can poke the Dream Weaver but they will not appreciate it.

Btw I suggest to do all Lunar’s Dreamlands before doing Chapter 15 ;;w;;

Recall Dreamland

Recall Dreamland is where you can access the Dream Weaver’s stories aka Dreamland. It will look like this:

The publisher will update the Dreamland of each Dream Weaver whenever they want. 

Institute Request

Your best source of Stone of Love, Stone of Sky, Stone of Dream, and Stone of Night! You can get the stones from Dreamland too but it’s not drop-able like Main Story’s Stages/Maps.

The 3 requests are free per day, and cost 50 Diamonds to refresh it. Mostly will cost Clothing Materials, and cheap drop/store Wardrobe items. The item left works like Decomposition feature. Always check the upper right button!

Star Dictionary

Designer Profile

The blank box will automatically filled each time you reach certain Chapter of Dreamland related to the profile.

Gallery of Appearance

Still Coming Soon. But you should now what it will contain of.

Visit Others

I don’t know why they translate them as ‘designer’ since not all of them is one. Basically just to change the Dream Weaver. 

> Current Dream Weavers: Lunar, Orlando, Louie, Yvette, Kimi, Chloris, Fu Su, Sofia, Mela.

> Future (Current China’s) Dream Weavers: Bobo, Airi, Zhong Li Zi, Royce, Yue Qian Shuang, Bai Yong Xi, Zhu Yu Xian, Ming Shui Yuan

(Floating) Dream Island

Please ignore the bad text format. Dream Island is the only way to get Stone of Dazzling, Stone of Brilliance, and Spirit of Sheen. It can be explored for free once per day.

Once in a while, a trace of Spirit of Sheen will be seen in the small island (the publisher will make it as a ‘Floating Dream Island Event’). Nikki needs to reach that place to get it (the Explore thing contain random number of steps). The problem is... the Event will appear in a limited time, so waiting for free attempt is futile (unless you’re blessed with RNG luck). There will be a ‘luck bar’ available during the Event. Every time Nikki exploring the island, the bar got higher. Higher the bar, higher the chance to get the Spirit of Sheen. 

I used 1200 Diamonds when tried to obtain Fu Su’s, and 900 for Sofia’s. Yeah, greedy MiraLand travel agency.

The Event usually will come again, so don’t worry if you missed one. I don’t know whether you could obtain it again if you already has one (but what for?).

SPIRITS

Or Miracle Soul.

Completing the early chapters of each Dreamland or gaining a Spirit of Sheen will get you the basic Spirit. It need to be evolved through the Dreamland.

Evolving normal Spirit will need amount of Stone of Love, Stone of Sky, Stone of Dream, and Stone of Night.

Evolving Spirit of Sheen will need amount of Stone of Dazzling and Stone of Brilliance.

Player will get total 4 Spirits from each Dreamland. It will not disappear even after you evolve it. Each Spirits has Style Attributes, and can increase a certain Style Attributes point. 

The Spirits has wide variation of forms, not limited as fashion items only. Some of it can be used in View Mode.

THE DREAMLAND’S REQUIREMENTS & PRIZES

To ascend next Chapter, generally you will need:

Possession of certain Wardrobe Items (ugh)

Upgrading the Spirit and/or Spirit Style Attributes (consumed Fluorites)

Styling

Answering question with multiple choices

Regarding the Styling, there’s only Pass or Failed. I've passed with S, A, or B, and there's no difference. The score standard also lower than usual. 

Regarding the Question, the Dream Weaver will told player that 'fate will become divergent from here’. However, it’s unknown what the differences between each option since the story still heading for the same direction. The dialogues will be different tho. You can pick different answer even after you already completed the chapter/Dreamland.

Completing a Dreamland usually will get you one hidden suit (I usually post it in tag /hidden-suit?), although sometimes that one suit will be scattered in several Dreamlands (of certain Dream Weaver; So far only happen in Lunar’s).

Fluorite number is (amount you have) / (amount you need)

If the image is too small, open in new tab and change 500 to 1280

Please don’t copy/save and re-publish it to any other media

Current Progress: Finish 12 from 18 Dreamlands

1a. Dreamland of Lunar ~ Millennium Dream

Silver Jasmine was from Recharge Diamond bonus suit, now available in Clothes Store

1b. Dreamland of Lunar ~ Hidden String

Midnight Hat is a prize from Dreamland of Orlando ~ Immortal Glory 

1c. Dreamland of Lunar ~ Blue Phoenix’s Letter

*screen-shot process*

Blackcurrant Tea is a prize from Dreamland of Yvette ~ Conventional Magic

2a. Dreamland of Orlando ~ Immortal Glory

Dustless Pounder was from Festival Event, now available as Recipe

Star Parasol was from Login Bonus

2b. Dreamland of Orlando ~ Officer & Wine

*incomplete*

Blackcurrant Tea is a prize from Dreamland of Yvette ~ Conventional Magic 

2c. Dreamland of Orlando ~ Cat & Yard on Sunday

*incomplete*

3a. Dreamland of Louie ~ Nameless Knight

*incomplete*

Need Spirit of Sheen 

4a. Dreamland of Yvette ~ Bunny in March

Macchiato Art is a prize from Dreamland of Yvette ~ Bunny in March

Eden Bunny Hat, Pink Bunny, and Pink Bunny Balloon, were from Festival Event, now available in Clothes Store

Moon Elf(s) were from Festival Event, now available as Recipe

Rabbit Hole is exchanged from Room of Mystery

4b. Dreamland of Yvette ~ Conventional Magic

Macchiato Art is a prize from Dreamland of Yvette ~ Bunny in March 

Magic Broom, Halloween Hat, Halloween Lamp, and Little Witch were from Halloween Event, now available as Recipe

White Swan Earrings was from Troupe Event, now available as Recipe

Locco’s Bowknot is exchanged from Room of Mystery

4c. Dreamland of Yvette ~ Time Magic

4d. Dreamland of Yvette ~ Sugar Coating Fairytale

*incomplete*

5a. Dreamland of Kimi ~ Time Flame

*unlocked*

Need Spirit of Sheen

6a. Dreamland of Chloris ~ Starry Reunion

Butterfly Flower was from Achievement

Extraordinary Elf was from Midsummer’s Night Dream Event, now available as Recipe

Princess Azhar was from Festival Event, now available as Recipe

Love of Rose was from Valentine Event, now available in Clothes Store

6b. Dreamland of Chloris ~ Forest’s Watch

Pigeon Crest is a prize from Dreamland of Chloris ~ Starry Reunion

6c. Dreamland of Chloris ~ Fate in Mirror

*screen-shot process*

Breeze and Flower is a prize from Dreamland of Chloris ~ Forest’s Watch

7a. Dreamland of Fu Su ~ Past in Flower Field

Need Spirit of Sheen 

7b. Dreamland of Fu Su ~ Garden Glass

*incomplete*

8a. Dreamland of Sofia ~ Blade Dance

*screen-shot process*

Need Spirit of Sheen 

9a. Dreamland of Mela ~ Tender Night

*incomplete*

Need to finish Dreamland of Lunar ~ Hidden String

10a. ~ TBC