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In ages past, before the Liyue was even founded, a mysterious woman who's neither human nor adepti came upon the southern shores of this land.
Driven by wanderlust and an innate desire for knowledge, she journeyed across the untamed and uncivilized wilderness, crossing unnamed hills and forests until she eventually stumbled upon a mountain where the Lord of Stone would one day descend.
- The Lord of Mountains and the Stargazing Fae, Chapter One, verses 10 - 12 (Copperplate no. 1)
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Long ago, in an age when humanity just left its cradle in the sky and began to wander on the face of Teyvat, a mysterious figure from beyond the boundaries of existence had unexpectedly arrived upon the shores of a newly reclaimed world.
She was a visitor unlike any other, for she was neither human nor dragon, neither of Teyvat or any of the other worlds within that particular cosmos.
She was a foreigner, a denizen from a far distant reality.
She's a Fae (fairy), a nature spirit native to a small blue planet.
Her own existence is unique even amongst her kin for her birth was foretold in prophecy from her own home world.
She alone came into being through the will of her planet…destined to be its holysword against the darkness.
Found and raised by the venerable leader of the Mirror Clan, Ainsel, she would grow up strong, learning the secrets of her world's magecraft and mysteries (magic).
She would eventually become the savior of her people, uniting all Fae clans under one banner against the forces of gods and other foreign entities who sought to control them.
And after many years of endless struggle and loss, she ended the war that had nearly destroyed her world, claiming victory and stewardship over her planet. She would then ascend to become the undisputed ruler of the Fae kind, becoming their Queen and the one to bore the title of 'Prime of the Fae'.
She would go on to rule her people and her world for hundreds of years overseeing the transition of her people into something remarkable and mundane before quietly passing on the throne and venturing out into the stars and beyond.
And her name was....
"Damnit, Altria! How could you screw up using the Kaleidoscope for the 3rd time in a row!" A lone blonde figure in white dress shrouded in a blue cloak cursed herself as she tried to get herself up from a newly formed crater.
She had apparently misjudged her aim once again and crashed into an unfamiliar planet, blazing like a meteorite before crash landing on a seaside hill!
"Oof! Agh! My entire body feels like it had been squeezed by a bunch of frost giants! Ughhh...where the hell am I this time or rather when the hell am I?!" The woman grumbled as she finally got up.
Mastering one of the ultimate forms of mystery is one thing, applying it correctly is another thing. Unexpected errors due to either miscalculations or interference can result in the practitioner being flung across different realities and timelines! She herself is a living proof of this mishap as she had experienced this kind of dimensional mishap numerous times since she began her journey beyond the boundaries of her own reality.
"Ughh...note to self, choke that stupidpeepingvampire to death next time I see him..." She grumbled as she dusted herself off and climbed out of the crater.
When she finally got out, she looked out at the brand new world before her and took a deep breath, tasting the salty sea breeze as the wind howled around her.
She had apparently crash landed on a hill near a coastline which offered her a fantastic view of an endless sea that stretches over the eastern horizon with the sun just barely rising.
To the west stood a large rugged mountain covered in mist with an expansive lush green forest around its base stretching towards both the north and the south.
The sight before her was new, fresh and untamed, unlike so many other worlds which she had visited in the past.
A world brimming with raw unbound potential. Untouched by the influence of unchecked progress and greed from both the mortal and divine.
"It almost feels like being back home again before....before the war." She said to herself as a wave of nostalgia hit her.
This world, for whatever reason, felt 'right'.
She then calmly sat down upon a patch of grass and continued to gaze upon the unspoiled natural treasure that laid before her.
'If only all the worlds are as beautiful as this one, then maybe...'
Her musing however was cut short when she suddenly caught sight of a strange structure floating high above the eastern sky.
"Is that a...castle?" She mumbled as she squinted her eyes to get a better view.
It looked like a floating island in the middle of the sky with several tower-like structures built all around its perimeter, and at its center was what appeared to be a large building reminiscent of a castle that radiated a faint silvery glow.
"Huh? That's odd."
At first, she thought of it as an advanced technological fortress of some sort, but as she continued to scan the gravity-defying anomaly, she began to sense something weird, something unexpected coming from the said structure.
She began to feel a strange foreboding sensation that made her very skin crawl, as her centuries honed instincts began to scream at her in alarm!
Something about that structure....didn't sit right to her.
It felt too alien...too synthetic, as if it did not belong with the rest of the world.
It exudes an unnatural presence that was in stark contrast with the natural world that surrounds it.
And the more she looked at it, the more she felt like it too was trying to stare back at her!
'Not good!' The Fae ruler thought to herself as she immediately averted her gaze away from the floating fortress.
Years of battle and rule had taught her to trust her instincts, especially when it came to dealing with foreign powers. It has saved her life countless of times in the past and she has no reason to doubt it now!
"Alright, that flying castle thingy is a huge red flag. I better get a move on before that thing or whoever lives on it decides to strap me to some sort of dissection table!" She told herself as she quickly cast a concealment spell over her form and quickly made her way into the nearby forest, out of sight from the prying eyes of the floating fortress.
Once inside the forest, she immediately began to gather her bearings and started to formulate a plan. She needed to find signs of intelligent life or any sort of local civilization on this planet and determine the current state of this world. Information is the most valuable currency in these situations, and she was determined to get it.
"Let's see what strange new world I've stumbled into this time." She said to herself with a sigh as she began to trek deeper into the woods, her curiosity and her innate sense of adventure slowly taking over.
As she walked through the forest, she couldn't help but marvel at the native flora and fauna that surrounded her. The trees, the plants and even some of the critters she encountered all looked awfully similar to the ones she had already encountered during her past travels in some other worlds with a few unique exceptions of course.
She also sensed that the Primordial Animus or Mana as she prefers to call it, is much denser in this world compared to the other ones she had visited, but not as abundant as her home world. This was a good sign of course for it meant that this planet's life force is stable and strong!
A planet with a stable life force is thriving so to speak and can theoretically harbor and support the development of intelligent life, yet at the same time an abundance of Mana can also lead to the potential emergence of life forms which are more in tune with the mysteries of the world itself. This in turn could lead to the formation of magically inclined beings such mages or even unique entities like nature spirits and even native gods.
This notion could be viewed as both a blessing and a curse, depending on the nature of the said beings in question. In her own personal experience and travels, some could be benevolent and wise, building and guiding their respective societies based on wisdom and knowledge, and setting an example for others to follow. Then there are those, however, that could be considered malevolent, destructive and even downright apathetic with their usage of power and mysteries.
"That old fart told me that his world is plagued by those kinds of practitioners. Mages, they tend to call themselves. Always risking everything for the sake of their goals and obsessing over the very nature of the Akasha (The True Emptiness) that no mortal should ever dare to touch."
It's a gamble, a roll of the dice that she had witnessed numerous times before.
"Let's just hope I don't have to deal with any more self important 'divine' pricks or deranged power obsessed lunatics this time. The last thing I need is to get entangled in another global power grab of sorts." She mused as she continued making her way through the thick foliage.
Over the next few days, the Prime of the Fae continued her trek across the dense untamed forest of this new and mysterious world, and although conventional logic and common sense dictates that a person would normally be cautious and even fearful when traversing an unknown territory such as this, she wasn't.
She was, after all, a self-proclaimed Traveler!
The one who has journeyed across several worlds and realities! A simple leisurely hike in the woods is not something that would faze her!
In fact she found it quite refreshing!
Gone were the days that she had to shoulder the burden of an entire world. She had already done her part of the story and her people had already grown and matured to a point that they can now stand on their own without her constant guidance and protection.
No more politics.
No more scheming nobles.
No more dealing with arrogant gods and other cosmic entities.
.....
...
…
No more self-sacrifices and selflessness for the sake of others...
Now...it's just her and the unknown path that lies before her.
That's why she left. That's why she traveled.
It's now her turn to be selfish!
To live for herself!
To be free.
"Freedom...what a wondrous word." She smiled as she continued to march on towards the unknown, staff in hand and her blue cloak fluttering in the wind.
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