spoilers for archon quests. implications of death.

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    the khaenri'ans sat lazily near the river, not fearing the water as much now that their life flickered. soon, they would go to the chasm and then to the upsidedown city, hopefully to get mere moments of peace rather than the agony of life. the agony of their curse. the wind swept across their manes, and one went to adjust their mask. they murmured in their language, seeming to speak to one another. these little calm moments aether liked to watch.

    the traveler watched these two hilichurl's, feeling a strange sense of.. respect, for the creatures. now that dainsleif had taught him what they were before– taught him who they were before –it felt.. strange, now, calling the hilichurls enemies when they had to go through so much, what with the curse and their painful cycle. yes, they would attack if they saw the blonde, but they didn't do it without reason.

   “are we leaving them be, traveler?” paimon asked in a whisper-shout, and it took him a moment to remember paimon was there alongside him when they had traveled to the upsidedown city. he nodded wordlessly, and knowing he wouldn't have to elaborate now, he smiled, knowing that it wouldn't reach his eyes. they both knew the hilichurl's– the khaenri'ans –were reaching the end of their lives. they both saw it in the small twitches, the movements that were stopped when the khaenri'ans realized they were blocking the light out.

    “let's go,” aether said quietly, careful not to disturb the two others. paimon nodded, drifting next to him as he walked away, grief in his heart as he wished desperately to know what had happened to khaenri'a, and why the gods hated them so.

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it's short but yk. ✨oneshot✨ (also sry if it's not very accurate with lore, im only really on sumeru (and barely through it, i only just met dori) archon quests so uh. yeah yk im not gonna know everything haha)

anyways, did that one chasm archon quest, and gained a new respect for hilichurls and that people of khaenri'a (i also don't know if im spelling that right). based off these two i found when trying to get more exploration done in liyue 👇

thats it. bye👋