Omniscius [Genshin Impact]

24: Those Who Bear The Burden

Blessings be everlasting...

Just as the undying silver-white tree whose roots pierced the earth.

The world would soon enter a new and brighter age. This was predestined, the future immutable.

But a question was asked.

"Would the day come that such wonderful times might come to an end?"

They received no answer. So the people appointed a chief priest, who wore a crown of white branches, and sent him out into the world, searching for answers and enlightenment.

The Prayer of Illumination.

The Envoys of Heaven were once close to the people a long time ago. They blessed the people with news of their bountiful years and walked among them as well.

The people of Sal Vindagnyr prospered with their help upon their verdant mountain, where Celestia's revelations could sometimes be heard at the peak.

It was indeed a good time. But good times must also end one day.

The first falling rains extinguished the ancient flames and brought with them a bountiful harvest. To this they offered the Prayer of Destiny.

A hundred years of bounty were written in the stars, and none can change this divine law.

But still, the same question was asked.

"What of the next hundred years? The next thousand?"

"Would there be famine where once they had plenty? Would there by poverty once they had riches? Would their altars and palaces be one with the soil with only the silver-white tree for company?"

The heavenly envoys did not answer. So to understand this doom, the chief priest who wore a crown of white branches delved deeper into the world.

The first thunder pierced the skies and the waters ran dry. Here, it is offered... The Prayer of Wisdom.

People enjoyed untold wisdom, and that wisdom was their boon.

Their prosperity brought pride and ambition, and the mind to question.

So they questioned the heavens' authority, and schemed to enter the garden of gods.

Though they had promised to the people divine love, prosperity, and wisdom, the Envoys of Heaven were angry.

For to question eternity was forbidden.

For earth to challenge sky, inexpliable.

So the chief priest who wore the white crown went forth to appease the divine envoys. Into the deep places he went, seeking the hidden wisdom of the silver tree in the ancient capitol.

But the divine was not appeased. The once green mountain where the people dwelled upon and lived was blanketed in snow, freezing so nothing can grow and the people be lost to time.

This city entombed in snow once had a proud, romantic name to call its own, just as the mountain itself was once lush and verdant in the ancient past. But after the nail that froze the skies over descended upon this mountain, the festive site where priests ascended to face the heavens can no longer hear its voice, nor will those priests ever return again.

Their civilization was forgotten and buried within the snowy avalanche. This was a punishment bestowed for going against Celestia.

***