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tunaafishyy · 1 year

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The Nymph’s Dream Artifact Set & The Story Within (Part 1)

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for quests in the Genshin 3.6 update

Ok, with the spoiler disclaimer out of the way, it’s time to get started theorizing about the Nymph’s Dream artifact set and it’s rather abstract story!

The story within the artifact set can be broken up into 3 categories

The prophecy, recorded as a fairytale

The story of the children of the Narzissenkreuz Institute

The overviews of “story-telling devices/themes”

To try and cover all these different aspects in a coherent manner, the post is broken up into the following sections.

Section 1: The Story’s Identities — covers speculation on who the people in the story are, as well as the purpose of the institute. The most important part of this section are the names of the speculated children, but I included speculation for other roles as well for funsies

Section 2: The Story of the Hero and the Dragon — a re-telling of the story of the children using the identities defined in Section 1

While the next two sections won't be included in this post, they will be included in Part 2

The Prophecy — who’s involved, what it’s about, and how it connects Section 2 to Section 4 :)

The Story-Telling Devices — the importance of these sections, and what they mean when looking at the past, present, and potential future (based on existing lore).

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Section 1: The Story’s Identities

In this section, the most important characters for the speculated story are Alain and Rene. I’ll be covering other characters/roles in this section… but most of the artifact set (per my interpretation) is about them.

The Narzissenkreuz Institute

The purpose of the Institute, ran by the Director and Vice Director, isn't exactly clear, but let's go over what we know or can infer.

Based on the Heroes' Tea Party artifact, the Institute appears to be located underground, or at least in a place where that "would not see the light of either sun or moon".

It contains many children that often play out the roles of heroes and dragons in stories, but more importantly, these children seem to be elemental/seelie beings.

The first hint of this is also in the Heroes' Tea Party, when the Director hugs the little girl... resulting in her clothes getting soaked... which sounds a lot like what would happen if you hugged one of the lochfolk.

We also learn from Rene's notes that he and Jakob are of "a similar composition" to the "sacred lotus".

If we super summarize the origin of the sacred lotus as "from the Goddess of Flowers"... then Rene and Jakob having a similar composition means they're very similar to something that comes from a Seelie... which also lines up with the watery-hug in the previous example coming form the lochfolk.

We're also told that Oceanids come to the Vourukasha Oasis in search of their god, which could line up with Rene and Jakob's trip.

They aren’t a super great fit since previous Oceanids have names that align with Oceanids in mythology, and they're always female in myths... but since we don't know what creative liberties hoyo might take, I still think it's a possibility.

Ok, so the Instistute is hidden from the sun and moon, and holds at least a couple of children who may or may not be related to the Seelie's. But why?

Clarification: the next statement is pure speculation, and in no way related/important to understanding the artifact set…

...but I think it could have to do with statements made by the Goddess of Flowers about not being able to look upon the heavens and struggling to maintain her form. If those two ideas are connected (maintaining form by not looking upon the heavens) ... then maybe the Institute helps hide seelie-related-children who haven't lost their form from the "light of the heavens"... or something.

... Might also explain Rene and Jakob's very strange idea of growth (3 teeth... what...)

Definitely a stretch, and not super important to the story within the set... so lets get back on topic.

The Hydro Archon as the Director (or Vice Director)

From the Vourukasha Oasis artifact set, as well as multiple other references, we know the Hydro Archon was killed during the cataclysm, and her body became the Amrita.

Also during the cataclysm, the Director and her sisters journey to 'defeat the evil at its source'...

Considering the Vourukasha Oasis is located in the same area as a large door to Khaenri'ah, the Amrita is there, and a significant number of abyssal creatures flooded out from the area... I think its very likely the location the Director went to was the Vourukasha Oasis… and that she is the Hydro Archon who died there.

Now, one thing that threw me off a bit about the passage was the use of the term "Director and her sisters". The term 'sisters' immediately made me think Hexenzirkel, and a Hexenzirkel member being part of the Institute feels like it would go well with the "prophecy being turned into a story" part of the artifact set...

If the Director isn't the Hydro Archon, I think they’d still be a part of the story, just as the Vice Director instead. Support for the Hydro Archon in this role might be found on Rene’s notes:

In Rene's notes, he comments on how "seeing all this" (the Vourukasha Oasis), he believes the Vice Director will be "unable to return".

So, if they thought that the Vice Director was the one at the Vourukasha Oasis, and the Oceanids who journeyed their were in search of their dead god (per Zirvan), then maybe the Vice Director was the Hydro Archon instead.

Phew… so far we've speculated the identity of the Director and Vice Director, as well as the purpose of the institute. Now, it's time to talk about who actually matter for understanding the story...

The children of the Narzissenkreuz Institute.

Alain as "The Machine Lover" & "The Hero who slays the dragon"

Alain Guillotin is the founder of the Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering, and was considered a genius inventor. In particular, he was renowned for his inventions related to clockwork mechanisms and kinetic energy.

From Rene's notes, we also learn that he was at the Narzissenkreuz Institute. It doesn't specifically state that he was one of the children there, but there's a couple of descriptions related to clockwork and energy that would line up with him well.

We're told one of the children loved machines, and made a pocket watch eventually gifted to a friend...

We're also told the story of the hero, after becoming victorious over the dragon, 'conceives a kingdom powered by machines and energies not derived from the elements'.

Considering that the research institute established by Alain is specifically for "Kinetic Energy"... this description lines up well with researching power sources not derived from the elements (if that wasn't obvious already).

The question is... is Fontaine's power source a result of "kinetic energy research", or did the push for "kinetic energy research" result from the 'special' power source Fontaine runs off of?

I believe it's the latter... which bring us to the next character

Rene as "The Fell Dragon"

We learn in the "Fell Dragon's Monocle" set that the dragon "thinks of the time he once spent with the hero" prior to being slain, implying that the hero and dragon spent time together at some point.

Additionally, the one who Alain gave the pocket watch to eventually "fell into the primordial liquid that dissolves all"... which sounds very similar to the description of the dragon falling into the "chasm that dissolves all things".

So, then why Rene for this role? Well, out of three names we're given... (Alain, Rene, Jakob)... Rene seems like the best fit to me. It's very possible the role belongs to someone we haven't been introduced to yet... but we'll stick with Rene for now.

While I don't want to go to far in depth on Rene's notes (since evaluating those really needs a thread of its own), there's a couple of important points that make him a good fit for the fell dragon role:

The fact that his notes are being used by the Abyss Order in the first place makes the content of his research pretty suspect.

He uses some 'taboo' energy to keep Jakob and himself from weakening... and based on the description of Rene's notebook... with the goal of "surpassing mortality."

He and Jakob are running calculations to prevent the "destruction" caused by a certain "impact"... and eventually they come up with a solution they want to bring back and share with Alain.

In summary, Rene and Jakob go to the Vourukasha Oasis, possibly in search of the Director / Vice-Director, discover a way to utilize a certain energy to prevent some type of destruction (possibly of Fontaine... maybe from something like a divine nail dropping?), and want to bring the info back to Alain.

Assuming they actually make it back to Fontaine... If we consider that Rene was utilizing power with potentially dark implications... then it seems very likely that he, like almost everyone else who messes with taboo power, could have ended up becoming "evil"... at least in the eyes of Alain.

Rhodeia as "The New Arrival at the Institute"

As mentioned in the Institute subsection, a little girl gave the Director a hug that ended up with the Director getting soaked.

While I think this role could probably belong to any of the lochfolk, I'm giving it to Rhodeia because of what we learned about her during the Wishful Drops event.

During that event, Endora tells us that Rhodeia "fled Fontaine, harboring a longing for the previous Hydro Archon."

Rhodeia only desired to "keep the dreams of yesteryear alive."

Her desire to keep the dreams of yesteryear alive reminded me a lot of one of the sections about the children in the Odyssean Flower:

Some still reminisce endlessly over the afternoon adventures that have yet to continue...

Jakob

I don't want to leave Jakob completely out since he was one of the children at the institute, but I don't have too much to say about him. As far as the story goes, I speculate that when the Vice Director asks [redacted] to watch over [redacted], she's asking Rene to watch over Jakob, and that's why they're traveling together.

EDIT (added 2023-08-08)

It was pointed out in the comments by opticor that Jakob would be a good fit for the evil mage:

“regarding the [redacted] names, the children who are urged not to fight (the "knight" and "dragon") both have 2-symbol names, matching how Alain and Rene are written in Chinese; the second pair of children have 3-symbol names, and so does the one who is given the Vice Director's feather. given Jakob's preoccupation with her, i would assume he is the "evil mage" of the group (Jakob is spelled with 3 symbols)”— opticor

I really like the idea of Jakob as the evil mage… both Rene and Jakob having “evil” roles aligns well with them both being involved in the questionable energy experiments.

And looking at the feather description:

But in the end, this feather would never become the mystical staff used by some evil mage.

It would instead follow its new owner and reach the source of that which caused the calamity of parting, before returning to from whence it came...

The part about going to the source of the “calamity of parting” could refer to Rene and Jakob’s trip to the oasis!

END OF EDIT

Section 2: The Story of the Hero and the Dragon

Reminder: this story (more like a small fanfic XD) is based on the speculations in Section 1

The Narzissenkreuz Institute, run by the Director and Vice Director in a location hidden from the light of the Sun and Moon, is the home of many children.

The children, when not taking snack breaks, spend most of their time playing out the stories of heroes and dragons. While their existence is rather stagnant when looked at over the course of time… they live happy, carefree lives...

Until one day, the Director and Vice Director tell the children they have to leave on important business.

“... don’t go running outside,” the Vice Director tells them.

Sound advice, considering the world is being ripped apart by a cataclysm.

After giving Rene Jakob her prized feather, and promising to return, the Vice Director heads off the Director.

… but they never come back.

Eventually, Rene and Jakob leave the Institute, making their way to the Vourukasha Oasis in search of the directors.

Slowly, as they continue their research and experiments in the area, it becomes more and more clear that the Director and Vice Director won't be coming back as promised.

Their state slowly begins to weaken due to the unfavorable conditions, and Rene begins to become concerned that their trip back to Fontaine will become impossible.

Utilizing a power considered 'wrong' by pedantic adults, he alters his and Jakob's compositions so that they're able to live without sustenance. Not wanting Mr. Karl to becomes suspicious of the power he used, Rene tells Jakob they must continue to pretend to require sustenance, and to continue eating even though they no longer need.

They continue their research. Running experiments to prevent a 'greater destruction' caused by an 'impact', eventually theorizing that combined with their power and the divine will extracted out of an energy source, they can reflect the imminent destruction.

They return back to Fontaine, sharing what they've learned with Alain.

They utilize the energy source in Fontaine, and all is well for awhile.

Until one day, Rene's corruption from continuing to use the taboo power finally reveals itself. Alain learns the truth of the 'not fully understood' power Rene uses, as well as of his increasingly radical mindset.

Having no other choice, Alain knows he must slay the dragon to stop him.

Thus, Alain and Rene, children who grew up acting out tales of heroes and dragons with each other, become the hero and dragon of our story.

“... but if you had seen what I had…”

Alain, bittered by how the unnatural power darkened his friend, vows to never again believe in anything that the sum of human knowledge cannot completely grasp and understand, and to the end of his days, strives to make Fontaine a country powered by machines and energies not derived from the elements.

He founds the Fontaine Research Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering, determined to free Fontaine from the unreliable and questionable power that Rene and he had put in place.

(Alternatively, Alain slays Rene as soon as he returns, and the unreliable energy source used by Fontaine is kinetic energy.)

The End

Ending Summary

So, there you have it! I know this theory makes a lot of assumptions, so it's certainly a super stretch, but I hope you enjoyed!

Part 2 will cover The Prophecy (why Narcissus is the Director, but not the dragon) and Story-Telling Devices that appear (taking a look at to Dehya's Story Quest, Rene Girard), so keep an eye out for it!!

... and maybe Part 3 to actually talk about the symbolism of the different names and such, but that seems a little overzealous, so going to try and finish up Part 2 first XD.

Thanks for reading!

Edited on 2023-08-08 to fix typos and add comment from opticor to Jakob’s section

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