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rex lapis essay notes & sources

(canon lore notes)

so like. i was very well-trained in school on how to write argumentative essays, and i am nothing if not a kind of a fucked-up little creature, so in order to feel Prepared™ for this au, i jumped into reading all the liyue lore i could find to have proper essays set aside for them to argue over.

(i probably talk abt this on the essay mockups page, but i am writing this page first! ehe. :HuTaoBlep:)

anyway, idk how interesting this will be, but here are basically the notes that made me start to joke that i could probably be an akademiya scholar in liyue lore!

scribbles started 21 november 2021.

essay scope

  • the scope of the essay doesn't cover stuff like rex lapis's role in the archon war, so while that would probably be important historical context, it should not overshadow the actual point of the essay, namely: " has the role of rex lapis in the prosperity of liyue been exaggerated over the course of history? why or why not?"
  • to argue no, it's not exaggerated would mean to focus on the historical context and the technology available.
    • probably bring in evidence around the magnitude of the archons' power back then, as well as historical records n writings by people from that era
  • to argue yes, it is exaggerated would mean to focus on the fact that historical records can often be biased.
    • books are burned (thinkin again abt that one gq fic where rex lapis had historically ordered the adepti to burn records/kill rebels in order to strengthen the legitimacy of his archonhood/rule…), and history is written by the victors
    • people are thriving today just fine w/o the same levels of intervention from celestia/the archons that was apparently so common back then, so surely some aspect of rex lapis's influence/help has been exaggerated by the people back then who were simply grateful to be out of wartimes?
      • this argument would probably be pretty heavy on the role of the qixing (see: customs of liyue, vol. 2)
      • funny enough, its natural counterargument, that the qixing still served rex lapis first n foremost n they were essentially his translators to the masses in the pre-jade chamber era also comes from customs of liyue, vol. 2
    • plus, according to the records, khaenri'ah just mysteriously disappeared one day— what's with that?

ganyu's thoughts on rex lapis

  • her main duty as secretary of the qixing is to compile n summarize documents.
  • obvs she's very pious, having been through the archon war herself, so she knows firsthand the man who hurled the stone spears that destroyed his enemies and formed guyun stone forest
  • the essay itself is probably gonna be on something like "the impact of rex lapis on the prosperity of liyue"… if ganyu was there, she'd obvs have a lot of opinions n forget that her being an adeptus is a given n would therefore probably get a lot marked off for not citing her sources lol
  • to quote her character story 2:
    The more important the matter, the more Ganyu strives for perfection, and the more nervous she becomes. Under pressure, her nervousness does result in the occasional error.

selected in-game books & lore snippets as mock sources

(for full text of the in-game lore i looked at, please see the full source texts page, though bear in mind that it is still in its raw state ~basically straight from the gdoc.)

  • stone tablet compilations: volume 1 — talks abt the origins of liyue n rex lapis's role in that
  • verses of equilibrium — "a historical record of the ancient belief in the geo archon"
    • basically just a record of rex lapis's accomplishments in the early days of liyue
  • customs of liyue
    • volume 2: talks abt early relationship btwn humans n geo archon
    • volume 3:
      "in the age where divine beings coexisted alongside lowly mortals, the adeptus guided humans to learn the ways of courting and romancing… [blah blah blah]"
      • point being that there was once a point when adepti n humans lived alongside together— who's to say that rex lapis or truly any divinity wasn't actually just human all along, elevated to divine status through the years just bc of how legends come to be
      • how the fuck do you counterargue that lol
  • records of jueyun
    • volume 3:
      the bright lights of liyue harbor, rex lapis's pride and joy, burned ever brighter, while another neglected human village turned into a silent ghost town
      • overall tells of the legend of the oceanid and how she wiped out the first qingce village settlement n all the children were lured away blah blah blah
      • why would rex lapis allow for such a thing to happen? Did liyue not constitute more than just the harbor?
      • strengthens argument that many historical records come from the harbor, their capital, and are likely biased from their privilege as a result.
      • also ties into oceanid lore and the changing of the hydro archon from the original to current one; might have to hc our way through this one a bit [1]
    • volume 5:
      "following the barbarous age of the archon war, many adepti became unable to continue living among the clamorous world of mortals. As a result, under the direction of rex lapis, they withdrew themselves from society to live in seclusion in the bamboo groves and mountains. No longer would they interfere w/the human world, content instead to enjoy a realm of mountains and water and pursue their own interests."
    • volume 6:
      "With the coming of the black calamity and the rise of the abyss, the residents of dunyu sealed the ancient city and departed for other lands. None know why these refugees chose to shut the gates of their home"
      • While it can be pretty easily figured out that they witness the cataclysm and the smiting of khaenri'ah and didn't rlly wanna live w/the fact that celestia is evil n stuff, this is from a meta gamer perspective, not an in-universe persp
      • Ganyu would know and understand, but would she think to include it in an essay? Would she be able to rlly talk abt it w/o being criticized for being "purely conjecture"?
      • I'm pretty sure there are historical records of the star/meteorite that created the chasm and went back up in the sky when shit hit the fan, so keqing can't necessarily chalk that up to legend, but she might be able to argue
        • The star leapt back into the sky during the archon war tho, but this might be smth corroborated by many sources? In its place came dunyu, a fort city, which:
          stood tall and maintained prosperous relations w/liyue harbor up till 500 years ago
          and no one wants to talk abt why bc that was the cataclysm
        • I have no idea what conclusions a skeptic would draw from this but. I'm sure keqing would find this odd
  • records of the gallant: volume 2 —
    "but as the lights of liyue harbor consumed the deserted countryside villages day by day, this legend too would slowly disappear"
  • rex incognito — yes, in-universe this is a fiction novel. however, as a novel written during rex lapis times, it can be considered noteworthy enough to study to better understand the culture of the time, probably similar to dream of the red chamber irl.
    • volume 1:
      "as you can see… mortal wisdom is quite a fascinating thing. They were making their own way in the world even before rex lapis had made provisions for them to do so" — fantasy zhongli
      "although there are plenty of rumors to this effect, the claim that rex lapis once took the form of a woman is not attested to by any of the historical evidence, and no physical evidence of it ever occurring…"
    • volume 2:

      back in the age when the gods still walked upon the earth, the deity whom we now worship as rex lapis was but one among many.

      in those days, the rumor among the common folk was that the lord of geo was a cold and unfeeling god. His conduct was just in all things and his judgements were rational and dispassionate, but he lacked normal human sentiment. Like the rocks, he was w/o warmth or softness. Despite this, people revered and placed their faith in him all the same. This was bc his laws served to guarantee that trade was fair and that life was safe and orderly.

      • This would probably be more in favor of ganyu's arg, since why would people exaggerate the kindness/impact of a "cold and unfeeling god", even if he was just and rational?
      • Humans are the sentimental type, and even if their god did nice things for them, if they were not kind and loving (alongside being revered), then they would not have any reason to exaggerate his role in their prospering. The fact is that despite being seen as cold and unfeeling (rather personally unlikeable), he is still widely attributed as the main source of early liyue prosperity
        • Counterarg would be that it's not the people at that time who are exaggerating his impact, but modern scholars and historians
        • Countering that would be that we have the historical records, and the historians are simply recording and analyzing trends already present in historical records
        • Countering THAT would be that historians all have their own biases (again back to the biases), which could honestly just be frustratedly argued against with, "and what makes YOU have such an unbiased perspective??"
    • volume 4:

      like a jade smith wandering deep into the mountains, or the youth of the fisherfolk whose habits are strange, those considered deviant often in fact strike closer to the heart of things.

      rex lapis laid down the rules and contracts, but never forced them by his authority to live by them as a perfect template, for her knew that laws and stipulations were a means, not the end. The timeless balance lay, in truth, in a person's awareness and their ability to make choices for themselves.

      as humans are, so too are antiques. […] the worth of a relic lies in its backstory.
  • diary of roald the adventurer
    • since this is Most Likely some kind of wack-ass cross btwn a polisci class and a history class, maybe this was, like, a supplemental reading of theirs or smth? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    • volume 1: sal terrae
      • basically havria, god of salt, lore
      • supports ganyu's point that early liyue was a very different, very violent time, and human beings could not survive on their own: see the legend of havria and how she died bc she was too kind.
        in the safe haven of liyue harbor, under the rule of the geo archon, they and their stories survived, and that is why we still hear abt them to this day.
        The strength and power of morax is what kept liyue safe and independent; the archon war was no joke, after all
      • Conversely, can also be used to support keqing's argument, since it was her OWN PEOPLE who killed her for being too weak. Human beings HAD THE POWER to kill gods, but this can be considered a weak argument since the sheer power that was released on her death destroyed her temple.
        • Keqing might be able to argue that since we don't know how many people were present in the temple at the time of the deicide, the majority of her people went on to scatter and live… in… liyue harbor… (she just received checkmate lol)
    • volume 2: qingce village
      having seen the prosperity and convenience of the city, it's hard for these young people to go back to the rural life here [in qingce village]
      • this seems like kind ofa contentious quote hehe
      • Ganyu could use it to argue that rex lapis did a good job setting up the harbor, as it prospered greatly
      • meanwhile, keqing could argue against that by saying that this text is from a different age of liyue, so far into the future that the butterfly effect has taken place. Yes, liyue is prospering AT THAT TIME (and continues to today), but it doesn't prove whether it was the power of the people or rex lapis who made it so
      liyue harbor has brought peace and prosperity to qingce village for the time being, but eventually it will also be the cause of its demise
      an elder said that thousands of years ago, morax defeated the sea serpent and brought peace back to liyue
      • and then according to legend, body turned to stone n became the mountain of qingce
      • connects to world quest "chi of yore":
        perhaps the corpse of chi is long gone and this monster-turning-into-a-mountain thing is nothing but an ancient tale?
    • volume 4: luhua pool
      it is said that during the era of the archon war, two lovers […] made this place their rendezvous. However, the times were merciless, and the man left his lover to follow the geo archon. He plunged himself bravely into the conflict as a mortal among gods… and like so many mortals in those dark days, none heard from him again for centuries.
    • volume 8: qingxu pool
      the whole of lisha was covered by water at the time of the archon war. […] After peace was restored, the region of lisha unfurled once more as the tides withdrew.
      • referencing records of jueyun: volume 2 and the sea god who drowned the village in lisha plains before rex lapis ruled over liyue
      I met a scholar from Sumeru called Soraya. She had done a fair bit of research on the ruins in Lisha. Once she got talking about it she could talk all day. What she told me was that these ruins were left behind by an evil god, whose name has been wiped from the record, and its people.
      • soraya gave us that one world quest, "treasure lost, treasure found", which is guizhong and guili lore.
      • anyway, i personally think "evil god" is kind of an odd translation in en bc it's like. Guizhong was also called "魔神", but she was a well-known on the records as an ally.
      • this quote is also implying that zhongli destroyed the records of the old civilization that used to be at qingxu pool
      maybe these crumbling ruins have been left as a nostalgic reminder of a bygone era for the adepti and the other deities. In any case, this […] place has, for whatever reason, remained entirely unperturbed by the relentless development of liyue harbor and untouched by the mining operation based at the chasm.

misc

  • Could also take the angle that yes, rex lapis's hand in the prosperity of early liyue is overstated by historians w/o actually saying humanity could've done it on their own by citing the fact that as gods get forgotten, they get consolidated into the archons, like how guoba was once the god of the stove n soil, but in modern liyue, most people just assume it's another name for rex lapis
    • However, keqing is a skeptic, and she'd only use this if she's desperate bc she wants to make the argument that people could've survived on their own maybe?

footnotes

[1] — remember that this was scribbled in late november 2021, which is when we were on the inazuma arc in canon. [ return]

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