Hey it's me Roozevelt. And we're in patch 4.5.
There's a new book called Peri Peri Chicken. It has an ominous eye on the cover. It's about
Khaenri'ah. Yes, I did lose my mind, in fact! How did you know??? so although this book is technically a tale
based on a legend, and a hodgepodge of unverified hearsay over many generations, and truth could be
interspersed with legend and fiction... this book may have had one of the legitimately biggest Khaenri'ah lore
drops to date. So I'm running with it, Leroy Jenkins-style. To start, Khaenri'ah had at least two dynasties: the
Crimson Moon and the Eclipse. The earlier Crimson Moon Dynasty favored The Beastmaster Knights who
regularly used alchemy and riftwolves (also called DarkSprites) as warbeasts. The later Eclipse
Dynasty which we're familiar with because of the cataclysm valued machinery over alchemy for
their weaponry. These first two sections are going to be summary with some commentary, so you can
skip those if you want to indulge yourself in more "creative speculation." But the tale based on a
legend starts with a practice of the Crimson Moon Dynasty... During the Crimson Moon Dynasty lots of
threats would slip into Khaenri'ah and their weaponry would wipe out any invading calamities. But what
of the non-threats, like a child of a destroyed kingdom? So an adviser of the Kingdom had a
great idea. He relayed a story from another world to the ruler: "The gods came from the
ocean, so shipwrecked men were seen as those gods on clandestine missions to investigate the
mortal realms. So they were rescued and treated as gods. We should totes do that too." The King
was like, "I don't get it, but that's cool, so sure." Of course Khaenri'ah as an underground realm didn't
have oceans - but they did have a Starry Sky as a metaphorical ocean. So Khaenri'ah built an orphanage
to scoop up these shipwrecked sailors. But these "sailors" were actually anyone who happened to drift
into Khaenri'ah, presumably from the Starry Sea. Khaenri'ah's hope was that these would be gods - or people who
could transcend to godhood - so it kind of sounds like they may have already been looking for
Descenders all the way back then. This brings us to the titular character, Perinheri, who was
one of these "sailors" who drifted in. Their first memory is going through some ritual in a dark
corridor. The adults would ask, "Are you dead?" and then, "Did you see IT?" During this trial, Perinheri
would hallucinate seeing the blood red moon turn around to reveal a gigantic, horrified
eyeball gazing at him. Perinheri emerged covered in soot, surviving the fires of two worlds. The
story goes on to say the Crimson Moon set, and the Dark Sun descended into a yet darker dusk.
The orphanage would never catch the gods or transcendent ones they were looking for, but
the orphanage would produce great warriors. For example, Perinheri would rise in those
ranks. He was only matched, if not excelled by, his best friend, Hleobrant. But their friendship
would change with the arrival of a third party. At some point, an alleged "princess" and "divine
envoy" entered the realm, claiming to be from a land conquered by Deus Auri. Basically, Zhongli killed her
master, and she was left homeless. Upon arriving she proclaims she will marry the strongest warrior.
Hleobrant was immediately infatuated. This princess, named "Angelica" in the book would tell Hleobrant
about the outside world. On the other hand, Perinheri was suspicious of her identity
and intention, as well as the effect she had on Hleobrant. But at the same time, Perinheri was
fascinated by her stories of the outside world, as well. He was concerned for his friend, but was
also infatuated in a different way. So Hleobrant completely changed, instigating fights to prove
his worth to her. Angelica's wishes would cause a great dilemma for Hleobrant as his actions could
be deemed treacherous. But Hleobrant, at the very least, did not want to betray his best friend Perinheri.
As for Perinheri, he believed he could only fix Hleobrant by killing Angelica, who he saw as a
wicked witch. It was a weird love triangle? Friend triangle? And-they-were-roommates triangle? Anyway,
with tensions rising, the three would eventually leave the kingdom for unclear reasons. Upon setting
foot outside the kingdom, Hleobrant would clutch his face, the words from his mouth seeming more
like the howl of the wild. What happens here when he leaves the kingdom is reminiscent of a note
left behind by a Khaenri'ahn as the kingdom was falling: "Those who fled to the surface were afflicted with
a strange disease and turning into monsters..." So it sounds like Hleobrant was changing into a
hilichurl as he left Khaenri'ah. Given the timing of the legend, this tale supports the existence
of hilichurls for thousands of years prior to the cataclysm. Like Ukko, presumably the priest
of Sal Vindagnyr. Angelica, cool as a cucumber, would explain that Hleobrant was cursed because he was a
descendant of those who betrayed a god. That's also why Khaenri'ah was a stickler for "full bloods." Angelica
goes on to explain she and Perinheri were not affected because neither ever betrayed a god:
Angelica's god was killed, and Perinheri never had such an association to begin with, as someone
who drifted in. So, the root cause of the curse of the wilderness then seems to be an inherited
betrayal of the gods. Perinheri battled all night, most likely against a transformed
Hleobrant, but eventually the sun would rise and Perinheri would see Angelica's True Form: not a
princess, not a wicked witch, but... nothing. All he saw was an expanses landscape. And that's the end of
the tale, followed by technical notes and attributions. So there's obviously a lot to unpack, but
this book, I think, is ultimately about fate, and we'll get to that. I'd like to take a stab first
and a closer look at the general history of Khaenri'ah. We can surmise Khaenri'ah was founded after the Second
Who Came, around the same time of the destruction of Sal Vindagnyr. But it's unclear when and why
the dynasties changed. The only differentiation between the two dynasties we get is the shift from
alchemy to machinery we know Guizhong studied Ruin Machines prior to the Archon War, but Perinheri
starts off during the Crimson Moon Dynasty. And Angelica claims to be from a nation conquered by
Morax, perhaps during the Archon War likely after Guizhong's death, so the timeline is a little wonky
already. Perhaps because time works differently in underground realms, or the whole tale- based-on-a-legend thing. But it seems likely that alchemy and machinery coexisted throughout both dynasties,
with the dynasties favoring one over the other. For example, Njord, a BeastMaster of the Dark Sprites,
and Alberich, the leader of Schwanenritter, seem to have lived at the same time. Side note: I'm assuming
that "half the knights" is Schwanenritter, the pilots of the Ruin Golems, given their leader was an
Alberich. And Rhinedottir was still using khemia at the end of the Eclipse Dynasty... obviously.
I think this shift then may have had to do with a switch in the power sources. Back in Sumeru, Jazari
explains that although all Khaenri'ahn Ruin Machines have a dark power source, the early ones had a
backup system of energy blocks, called Azosite, containing condensed leyline energy. This power
system most likely had been in widespread use long before the first Ruin Machine was ever built
in ancient Khaenri'ah. But this energy system could not compete with a newly discovered "perpetual" energy
source, and after the Royal Machine Workshop "Gnade" was shut down, there was only the Schwanenritter
Workshop that had a complete Azosite-based system. So perhaps the Eclipse Dynasty actually signaled
Khaenri'ah's usage of dark powers as "perpetual" energy for their machinery. But more significantly, this
was only possible because Khaenri'ah started to look outward. They caught a glimpse of the edge of the
universe, and spied upon secrets From beyond the skies. Perhaps they were actively reaching out for,
say, maybe a type of knowledge that has a specific flavor of "forbidden." Also, solar eclipses have
bright rings around them, and rings are shaped like passageways. Like a passageway to another
realm or another world. ~Guuuys what what if the Eclipse Dynasty made a Stargate so they could
get Knowledge from Aliens bro~ okay okay I'm just joking about the Stargate. Kind of. But the
dark power shift was from peeking beyond the skies, so I still think that could be the Eclipse's
deal. But I'm also inclined to think that there's more to this than just a shift in methodology,
particularly because of a well-known line about Dainsleif. In Dainsleif's introduction, there is a line
that reads: "The Eclipse was swallowed by the Crimson Moon." Now, there's just a lot in general
going on with his introduction, but in retrospect, this seems to be referencing the dynasties.
However, in the original Chinese, this would have been more literally translated to: "The
Crimson Moon seeks vengeance on the Black Sun [or the Eclipse]." See, the Chinese provides an
angle of intent and motivation; it implies that the Crimson Moon would have something to seek
vengeance for. And, as it turns out, as far as we can tell, there was a Crimson Moon during the
cataclysm. Now, aside from Perinheri's giant red moon eyeball hallucination, we've already
seen a decent amount of red moon imagery, mostly connected to the cataclysm. For example, in the "We
Will be Reunited" trailer, and also in the chaotic time space in the Chasm. And we also hear the red
skies mentioned in many other sources, like from Chlothar, in Aranyaka, and also Ei. But the cataclysm
isn't the only time it's mentioned. It's implied that the fall of Gurabad was also accompanied by a
Crimson Moon, and "The Faded Castle" also suggests that the fall of Remuria was accompanied by a Crimson
Moon as well. So this imagery all correlates with death and destruction. But it's more than just
random death and destruction. What do Gurabad, Remuria, and Khaenri'ah all have in common? Well, in Sumeru, "Shiruyeh's
plague" was seen as divine retribution, and Liloupar orchestrated the fall of Gurabad as punishment
for their transgressions. In ancient Fontaine Remis, wanted to defy fate, but escaping destined
judgment was a mortal sin. Its people accepted the violence they inflicted on others and thus were
also violently destroyed. For Khaenri'ah, well... whatever they did deemed them to be Sinners. The destruction
for all three was punishment or judgment for their actions. This means that the blood moon, then, is one
of retribution and judgment. And it should be no surprise that an emblem of judgment would also be
associated with death and destruction. For example, some versions of the Bible say: "People are destined
to die once, and after that, to face judgment." It also makes sense then why Perinheri saw a red
moon during his "death" in the chimney: the Crimson Moon was the Eye of Judgment at death. Although
for Perinheri, this was an odd case, but I'll get to that later. So this doesn't yet explain what
exactly the Eclipse Dynasty did to incur the wrath of the Crimson Moon, or rather, the Crimson Eye
of Judgment. But I think the answer to this is not where you would expect to find it. Because we
actually already have a Crimson Eye of Judgment in game. We've had it for a very long time: it's
something called the Auge der Verurteilung. That's literally "eye of condemnation" in German. And it has everything
to do with the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, Fischl. As a side note and disclaimer, I'm talking about a
book character named Fischl in game, not playable Fischl. But playable Fischl basically crafted
her lore based on these books because she's like LARPing. Fischl, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung is a character
from the Mr. Nine novels, "Legend of the Shattered Halberd" and "Flowers for Princess Fischl." In the latter,
she's an outlander and traveler of worlds, and Sovereign of the Immernachtreich, a world she created. She
has a raven companion named Oz. Fischl also canonically has crimson eyes as red is rubies.
Durng a fated battle with the dragon Tasraque, the dragon scorched her heart, turning her eyes red.
I've made quite a few videos talking about her if you want an in-depth look at her story, including
one where I argue that she's basically a Descender, and the shattered halberd represents the gnoses. There
are actually quite a few reasons why I think the books are important, but the takeaway point is this:
Fischl, the Princess of Condemnation, can see all fate in the world, and renders judgment at the end
of time. She's considered a World Beast who at the end of the universe will swallow all dreams
and grant benediction to souls and cleanse the ugly and wicked. This is all possible due
to her left eye: the Auge der Verurteilung, or eye of condemnation. the eye sees not only the threads of fate but all
that is true in the world. She claims to conceal her left eye for two reasons: it would not only
be agonizing to see the truth of everything, but also disappointing to see through fantastic
delusions. So you can basically say that the Auge der Verurteilung is the Eye of Fate, Truth, and Judgment. These
are three inherently intertwined concepts. So to summarize Fischl's role in her story: "every good,
bright, and noble thing must eventually fall to inexorable and entropic destruction, and the
final destination of the universe is the realm-in-waiting of the Prinzessin, Immernachtreich. This is the
fate of all worlds, of the universe, and all who live in it. So I hope I've Illustrated the Intrigue
behind the Auge der Verurteilung, or Fischl's crimson red Eye of Judgment. Because I now want to pivot to an
important plot point, and it's the story of how Fischl meets her companion, Oz... because it's now more
interesting than ever. Princess Fischl was traveling alone to the Kingdom of Eternal Twilight,
the Dämmerung, and encountered fate-resisting royals. They didn't acknowledge her stature, and
denied their royal lineage. They went as far as to basically attack her. She would be saved though
by the Prince Nachtraben, Oz. Oz would actually destroy the Dämmerung, as the Dämmerung or the Twilight,
is the nemesis of the Nachtvorhang, or the Night. So the fate-resisting royals of the Kingdom
of Eternal Twilight forsook Princess Fischl, Sovereign of the Evernight Kingdom and the bearer
of the Crimson Eye of Judgment, and turned against her. Oz rescued Fischl, rendering judgment on the
kingdom by destroying it. Methinks this may be an allegory... Based on the discussion that the switch
between alchemy and machinery was really about a switch in the power source, we can infer that
the real difference between the dynasties was looking for otherworldly knowledge and power.
Consider the letter addressed to the Schwanenritter Captain to petition the King to
preserve the old machinery. It acknowledges that the four pillars of the Kingdom achieved
prosperity through spying upon secrets beyond the sky; however, the old Azosite system should
be preserved, because this "perpetual" dark energy is not perfect either. This is also reflected in
the Mocking Mask, where Pierro urged against the unveiling of sin which ushered in the eventual
retribution. Fischl's story may be getting at what this unveiling of sin truly was. Compare the
Evernight and Twilight kingdoms with the Crimson Moon and Eclipse dynasties, respectively, and pay
particular particularly close attention to the key phrase, "fate-resisting royals." Fischl explicitly says
that sin defies fate's rightful decree, so defying fate is the ultimate sin. This makes sense then if
the Crimson Moon represents the Eye of Fate, Truth, and Judgment. Perhaps the Crimson Moon Dynasty,
like the Evernight Kingdom, submitted to fate, ... but the Eclipse Dynasty would not yield. And thus
the Eclipse turned to otherworldly means to defy fate. Okay, pause. But this may feel contradictory
given Khaenri'ah was a godless nation outside the realm of Teyvat. Especially if you equate the Heavenly
Principles to fate itself. But also, the Sustainer cubes do have Crimson Eye symbols on them... soooo... there
are a lot of things we don't know, and the Crimson Moon may be entirely different from the Khaenri'ah we
actually think we know. And perhaps being human simply means being subject to the rules of fate.
But regardless, the existence of the orphanage also suggests they wanted a Descender for a reason.
And Perinheri's "death" and "rebirth" aka the chimney trial may be revealing something about
that. It's very weird that Perinheri's first memory is being directed to crawl through a small
sealed dark corridor filled with coal ash, right? One seemingly designed for children, and then was
asked if he was dead, and then was asked if he saw something weird? The adults embraced him, saying
he survived the fire of two worlds, and was thus reborn? Like that's a weird first memory, right? Well,
knowing that the Crimson Moon Dynasty regularly used alchemy, combined with this specific imagery
of soot and ash and death and purifying flames... it may actually make more sense than you might think.
This Hearth full of soot reminds me of the first stage of nigredo in alchemy. Nigredo is literally a
stage of death. In alchemy, a decayed black starter material is subjected to a purgatorial fire,
which purifies it into white ash. The transition from nigredo to albedo, or from the blackness to
whiteness, is typically seen as "resurrection" or "rebirth." So there is a lot of truth, then, to Perinheri
answering that he was, in fact, dead. And Perinheri surviving the fire and his rebirth may be
referencing the purging flames from nigredo to albedo. This is to say, then, the orphanage - at least
at first - wasn't literally taking in children from another world. Instead, they were perhaps taking
the primordial forms from the starry seas and creating life alchemically. Because remember,
the orphanage originally took in beings who could transcend the gods. It wasn't until the later
days that they took in the Kingdom's orphans or children who wandered in from the outside. I
recently made a video on Khaenri'ah and alchemy so give that a watch if you want more of a deep-dive.
In that same video I explored the idea that Rhinedottir ultimately wanted to create
a Descender as the philosopher stone's through alchemy. So perhaps there may be a theoretical
pipeline of originating from The Starry Seas or the abyss, and becoming a Descender. And the
orphanage of Khaenri'ah was doing an early version of what Rhinedottir is doing now. Of course, the fact
Khaenri'ah never found that transcendent one indicates that the alchemy of this Hearth was never fully
complete. But that's just the beginning of Perinheri's story. His encounter with Angelica, I think,
interrogates the true nature of the Crimson Moon Dynasty. Angelica's claims for her origins, I feel,
are dubious at best. Hleobrant was madly in love with her and Perinheri wanted her dead. But
at the same time, Perinheri was intrigued by her as well. Both Hleobrant and Perinheri were
infatuated by her in different ways. The end of the tale implies that they both wanted what she
represented to them: "I am Freedom, that which has broken free of Fate." She was not a princess nor witch.
She was something more abstract. Her final words to Perinheri: "this is what Hleobrant sought in
agony, but that which is now yours for the taking." This to me implies that despite not having a
curse, Perinheri did have what some might consider a curse: being bound to fate. Because at
the end of the tale - which, if you treat as more of an allegory - he has escaped fate. To me, this
fits thematically with one of the very first lines of the book: "It is said that in those days
of the Crimson Moon Dynasty, birds had not yet split into domestic and wild kindreds." You could
see this as talking about those bound by fate, and those free from fate. Perhaps Perinheri's
ending with him finding freedom represents the split, with him becoming a wild bird. This has very
important implications. It implies that the first undifferentiated birds had no concept of freedom,
completely bound by fate. This would also line up with the Crimson Moon Dynasty submitting to fate.
But let me put it this way: you may not follow the gods, but how could you truly yearn to break the
shackles of fate, if the concept of freedom didn't even exist? It only existed as a feeling in the
desire and ambition of Perinheri. So the book starts off with one type of bird and ends up with
a new type of wild bird. And between these two, Perinheri had a vision of the Auge der Verurteilung, or what I
consider the Eye of Fate, Truth, and Judgement, and it was horrified. Horrified, perhaps, because
it foresaw the desire of breaking those shackles. There's one last thing about this Crimson Moon or Auge der Verurteilung I need to talk about. Because there are a few characters who share striking similarities
to Fischl. And there's been a bit of speculation so far since my summary but I
wanted to uh give a disclaimer that we're going to get really "creative." So we're going to have fun. So King Irmin seems to be a reference to Odin, the All-Father of the Norse pantheon. Mostly
because of their names, and they both have one eye. And because the silver twig references a famous
Odin myth, with a king who found an underground nation after hanging from the world tree and
gaining hella knowledge. I've drawn a lot of comparisons as well between Odin and Fischl. They
both have Raven companions who let them spy on on the entire world, and they also have the gift
of seiðr. Seiðr is the magical art of foresight and prophecy, or, you know, seeing fate. So you can
draw a lot of parallels between Irmin and Fischl, then, down to the fact that the deathly statuette,
seemingly representing Irmin, has a single ruby eye. And this isn't even considering their connection
in the Mr. Nine books, with Irmin and Fischl as the first and last Divine Halberds. But I've previously used
this Odin-Irmin-Fischl connection to suggest that Irmin himself also has the gift of seiðr,
or in other words, the Auge der Verurteilung. As a side note I originally made this connection to suggest that
King Irming and The Sinner were linked because The Sinner can also see fate, and resides at Fate's End.
Also fun fact: as Fischl travels space and time, with every world, and every countless story and
tragic fate she sees, she sheds a tear, similar to how The Sinner will shed a tear at the end of time.
Kind of like how the eye on the cover of Perinheri is also crying. I don't actually
have any real thoughts about The Sinner, I just uh I just miss him, okay? I digress but let's go back
to this idea that Irmin also has the Auge der Verurteilung. This would imply that he would be associated with the
Crimson Moon Dynasty because... he'd be the Crimson Moon himself. Which may seem contradictory because
he's mentioned in the note to petition for saving the old machinery, and he was the last king before
the cataclysm. Although you can be first and last, and the Alberichs perhaps ran a very very short regent
dynasty. But you know what? This is the FUN section and it may be Vibes Only, but heck it, I'm running with it.
King Irmin had the Auge der Verurteilung. He was the Crimson Moon. Simply because I think it'd be super hecking
funny if King Irmin were just a giant eyeball! He's the one-eyed king! LITERALLY! Listen, I already have
an insane list of things I think about King Irmin, so this should surprise no one. He's everything
because he's MY everything <3. Okay, now that I have that out of my system, there's something else I
want to talk about, because there's yet another character who seems to have a lot of ties
to Fischl, Irmin, Khaenri'ah, and the Crimson Moon. Someone everyone is excited to see more of. Someone
mysterious, someone with strange eyes, four-pointed cross star imagery, and a connection to orphans, Yes
I'm talking about KAEYA. Of course it's Kaeya!! of course!! did you really think I would let you out of the basement
without me talking about KAEYA in a video about KHAENRI'AH?? hey and listen. he has a double orphan
connection because he lost TWO fathers. okay and real talk. I think no doubt this book is somehow
foreshadowing Arlecchino in some way, but other people have been making a lot of videos, so I'll let them
cover that. But for now... it's Kaeya time! First off, in the Hidden Strife note, Kaeya mentions his 'Father'
with quotation marks. It's a strange way to write it, especially seeing Lyney and Lynette and Freminet
refer to Arlecchino the same way. Arlecchino, of course, runs the House of the Hearth. Now, knowing that Khaenri'ah
placed great significance on this orphanage of theirs, I wonder... could he have actually come
from this orphanage? Ignoring the wonky timeline because time is an illusion anyway. But if this
is where he really came from, maybe this is why Kaeya isn't cursed, just like Perinheri. Secondly,
Fischl and Kaeya both compare themselves to each other. Kaeya jokes that maybe he's also a prince
just like Fischl, and this isn't the last time Kaeya jokes about being an actual prince, either. He
teases us a lot about it in his hangout. Now this could just be a reference to the Alberichs being
regents, but it's always kind of been odd to me that the Hidden Strife note makes such a point to
say that the Alberichs were NOT of Royal Blood. It makes me wonder if they actually forsook their
nobility... like if they denied their 13,000-year lineage as a branch of the royal family. You know,
like fate-resisting royals, with a fortune-mocking pedigree. Fischl, on the other hand, remarks that
Kaeya's fate is vexing, and she wonders if Kaeya also has mystical sight. Here Fischl specifically means
the Auge der Verurteilung: the eye that can see all fate, the eye that can see all truth. Which is weird when you think
about it, because every time we meet Kaeya he's like "wow I didn't expect to see you! Fate sure is craaazy!"
and in his story quest, which is like the second one you can do like super early in the game, he
mentions an abyss dragon, an eight-headed hydra, and a silver-haired banshee... which all seem to be
references to Dvalin, Osial, and Signora. And I also personally think in his story about his grandpa's
sword, he was referencing a holy blade that would defeat these three, meaning he knew from the get-go
that you were a Descender. So let's put all of this in a blender and see what comes out. So maybe
Kaeya somehow has an alchemical origin himself, and maybe the Alberichs also actually had royal
blood, and somehow Kaeya ended up with the Auge der Verurteilung of Irmin himself. So there's only one thing this
can really mean... KAEYA is a vessel for KING IRMIN and has the Auge der Verurteilung!! I will LITERALLY bet you,
EVERY single viewer, RIGHT now, $10 ($20 if you subscribe) that his eyepatch eye is RED. I've done
it, folks! My insane list of Irmin theories has met my insane list of Kaeya theories! We have converged!
We have reached the SINGULARITY!! It's turtles all the way down, except instead of turtles, it's just KAEYA.
[Jarvis Johnson] YES girl you are on to NOTHING! Cook!... Somewhere else! [Music] [Music[ [Music] I got to check the smoke detector
so you don't burn down the house [Music] [Music fades]
