Gnosis

Name: Gnosis · Type: Definition

Divine Throne and GnosesMany millennia ago, the world was ruled by the Seven Sovereigns — seven elemental dragons, one for each element. One day, the first throne of eternity, the firstappeared in the heavens. Thedeclared war on the elemental dragons, and after forty years of battle, the seven sovereigns were defeated, and the seven nations submitted to the heavens. Heavenly Principles stole the power of the defeated Sovereigns, used it to create divine thrones, and established the cycle of seven. Now, everyone who becomes an Archon ascends to the divine throne and receives the Gnosis. As long as the divine thrones exist, the cycle of seven will continue, and the elemental dragons will not be able to gain their full authority.During the war of vengeance (probably the ancient battle between the Descenders and the dragons) the Primordial One was wounded and lost some of their functions, so they could no longer use their absolute authority to suppress the original order of this world. To continue to subdue and control the resentments and loathing of the world, the Heavenly Principles, together with one who came after, created the Gnoses from the remains of the third Descender. So it came to be that an order was made to be upheld, and thus did humans come to only possess these seven remembrances, and all fragments of the primordial were driven to devour each other. Some believe these remains bring misfortune with them, since as soon as a person dies, all their previous connections with this world become curses. After the creation of the Gnoses, Celestia declared the Archon War, a war between the gods of Teyvat for the right to ascend to the divine throne and obtain a Gnosis. Only one deity from each region could become an Archon, while all others had to abdicate the throne or be defeated.The Gnoses are chess-piece-shaped magical foci that directly link the Archon to Celestia and enhance their abilities. This artifact is the core that contains a huge amount of elemental power, which the Archons can use at their discretion. There are seven Gnoses, one for each element and region. As the Gnosis is the Archons' direct link to Celestia, it is believed that destroying the artifact can awaken the Heavenly Principles, which have been dormant for about 500 years since the Cataclysm.While the Archons use the Gnoses, many other beings use Visions, magical foci that allow them to use elemental energy. Although many believe that the Archons give out the Visions, they are not directly involved in this process. Whenever a person's wish reaches the heavens, the seven overseers of the material realm are duty-bound to grant them a gift. Though they might know nothing of who or what wish steps into the threshold of the sacred, the Seven Archons still have to impart a shattered shard of their mastery to that person. When one so gifted completes their duty, the gift the gods receive in return is still more abundant.The organization from Snezhnaya, the Fatui, subordinate to the Cryo Archon, the Tsaritsa, collects the Gnoses for their Archon. The exact purpose of using the Gnoses is currently unknown, but it may be related to Fatui's plan to overthrow the Heavenly Principles.Related Entries:AnemoDuring the Archon War, the Mondstadters rose up a rebellion against the tyranny of the God of Storms, Decarabian. When the tyrant was struck down by an arrow from a woman who loved him, an Anemo elemental, Barbatos, absorbed the slain god's power, becoming the Anemo Archon and gaining a Gnosis and the divine throne. Not wanting to become a tyrant like Decarabian, Barbatos left the rule of Mondstadt to the people.About 2,600 years later, the Wind Dragon, Dvalin, corrupted by the blood of the shadow dragon Durin during the Cataclysm, awoke from his slumber and attacked Mondstadt. He believed that Barbatos and others had betrayed him. To cleanse his friend's mind of the poison, Barbatos granted him the blessing of the Anemo Archon, and Dvalin finally remembered him. After saving Dvalin, Barbatos was attacked by the Fatui Harbinger, Signora, who forcibly took the Gnosis from the Archon.Related Entries:GeoAfter defeating all the gods in Liyue during the Archon War,ascended to the divine throne and received the Geo Gnosis, becoming the Geo Archon. During his reign, Morax minted the first coin, which was named after him — Mora. Over time, Mora became the most important currency in all of Teyvat, and its authority was unquestioned by anyone. The production of Mora took place in the Golden House in Liyue using the powers of the Geo Gnosis. When Rex Lapis parted with his Gnosis, the production of Mora ceased, and now the people of Liyue have to find a new way to create coins.3,700 years after the beginning of his reign, Morax decided to pass the rule of Liyue to the Adepti and the people, leaving the post of an Archon. He played out his death in front of the people of the region and entered into "a contract to end all contracts" with the Cryo Archon. The loss of his divine ability to defend Liyue was too great a price to pay, but the Tsaritsa was able to offer Morax a deal that balanced the scales, and Rex Lapis gave his Gnosis to the Fatui Harbinger, Signora.Besides Signora, another Harbinger, Childe, went after the Geo Gnosis. In order to steal the artifact, he released the God of Vortex, Osial (which in turn later led to the second attack by Osial's wife, Beisht), who had been imprisoned by Morax during the Archon War, to lure out the Geo Archon. Since the Adepti and people were able to protect Liyue from the god's attack, Childe's plan failed, and Signora was able to get ahead of him.Related Entries:ElectroAfter the Archon War, Raiden Makoto became the Electro Archon, with her twin sister Ei becoming her shadow. When Makoto died during the Cataclysm, the divine throne and Gnosis passed to Ei. Seeking the ideal of eternity, Ei attempted to alter the Electro Gnosis to become the core of a mechanical puppet that would take over the Archon role and rule Inazuma, but all of her techniques were powerless. Renouncing her connection with Celestia, Ei decided to permanently move to the Plane of Euthymia to avoid being eroded, and entrusted the Gnosis to her kitsune familiar, Yae Miko, for safekeeping."Aren't you afraid that I might just sell this off?""You understand the value of a Gnosis. Even if you sold it, I trust that you would have exchanged it for something of equal value, and that is no easy price to pay."500 years later, Yae Miko traded the Electro Gnosis for the life of the Traveler who was being threatened by the Fatui Harbinger, Scaramouche. After receiving the Gnosis, Scaramouche disappeared instead of delivering it to the Tsaritsa. Sometime later, he and another Harbinger, The Doctor, approached the Sages of the Sumeru Akademiya to create a new Archon from Scaramouche using the Electro Gnosis. Although the Sages' plan was incomplete, Scaramouche gained access to Irminsul, which contained all of Teyvat's memories, and was able to control the weather in Sumeru. After a battle with the Dendro Archon, Lesser Lord Kusanali, Scaramouche lost the Electro Gnosis, never becoming a deity. Although the Electro Gnosis was a trophy taken by the Dendro Archon during the battle, she understood that the foreign Gnosis could bring misfortune to Sumeru. Lesser Lord Kusanali gave up the artifact in exchange for destroying the "segments" of The Doctor, and thus, the Tsaritsa received the fourth Gnosis.Related Entries:DendroSeveral thousand years ago, Sumeru was ruled byHe refused the divine throne offered by Celestia and decided to destroy the cycle of seven. Al-Ahmar began to rule Sumeru along with the Goddess of Flowers, Nabu Malikata, and the Goddess of Wisdom, Rukkhadevata. Nabu Malikata sacrificed herself so that King Deshret could receive forbidden knowledge, and Al-Ahmar sacrificed himself to rid Sumeru of the knowledge he received since it had infected the land, people, and the silver tree, Irminsul. Thus, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata remained the sole ruler of Sumeru and ascended the divine throne, becoming the Dendro Archon.During the Cataclysm that occurred 500 years ago, Irminsul was again infected with forbidden knowledge. The God of Wisdom understood that she couldn't repel the forbidden knowledge with her strength alone, so she used the Dendro Gnosis to create a device that united all human wisdom and called it "the Akasha." With the help of the Akasha, Rukkhadevata took away dreams, the quintessence of human wisdom, from the people of Sumeru. Thanks to their wisdom, almost all the forbidden knowledge was cleared from Irminsul, but the Greater Lord was corrupted and died protecting the silver tree. Before her death, she separated the purest branch from Irminsul and created Lesser Lord Kusanali, a successor to the divine throne, from it. Although Kusanali became the new Dendro Archon, the sages of the Sumeru Akademiya considered her too weak and locked her in the Sanctuary of Surasthana.With the power of the Akasha, the sages of the Akademiya created an Akasha terminal that used the power of the Gnosis. By wearing it, people were aided by the wisdom of the Dendro Archon and gained the necessary knowledge. Gradually, the sages began to use the creation of the Goddess of Wisdom not to give knowledge to everyone who wanted it, but to place the knowledge needed by the Akademiya. Much information became forbidden, and it was no longer possible to distinguish truth from fake. Great Sages used the Akasha terminal to put people to sleep to harvest their dreams and create a false god from the Fatui Harbinger, Scaramouche, with the help of the dreams. Because the Akademiya was using the terminal for the wrong reasons, Lesser Lord Kusanali decided to shut down the Akasha. When the Fatui Harbinger, The Doctor, exchanged Electro Gnosis for the destruction of his "segments," he offered the Dendro Archon a new deal: give him the Dendro Gnosis in exchange for knowledge of the Descenders and the false sky of Teyvat. Despite her hesitation, the Goddess of Wisdom gave her Gnosis away, which was delivered to the Tsaritsa.Related Entries:HydroThe first Hydro Sovereign was the heart of the Primordial Sea, where all life originated. When the Primordial One defeated the dragons, Celestia created a new "heart" — Egeria. She stole the power of the Primordial Sea and turned her Oceanid familiars into humans, committing the original sin, for which Celestia imprisoned her. When Egeria was freed, she received a piece of the Primordial One and the divine throne, becoming the first Hydro Archon of Fontaine. Along with the original sin, a prophecy arose in Fontaine that one day all the people would drown, and only the Hydro Archon would remain crying on her throne.After Egeria's death during the Cataclysm, Focalors, an Oceanid turned into a human, became her successor. Focalors pondered for a long time how to counter the prophecy and fate, and found only one possible answer: it was necessary to deceive the Heavenly Principles during the fulfillment of the prophecy. She separated her newfound divinity from her body and spirit. She named her human counterpart Furina and charged her with taking on the role of Archon and ruling Fontaine. Focalors placed her divinity, along with the Hydro Gnosis, inside the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, a special device that converted the people's faith in justice into Indemnitium, a type of energy that powers Fontaine. Although the device was used for judgment, its main purpose was to kill the Hydro Archon and destroy the divine throne when the time came. Focalors knew that only with such a power could she hope to destroy the Archon's divine throne, undermine Celestia's rule, and crush the rules of the Seven. As the prophecy began to come true, Focalors set her plan into motion, and the Oratrice destroyed both Focalors and Fontaine's divine throne, returning the power it held to the Hydro Dragon Neuvillette.Like all Harbingers,was tasked with delivering the Hydro Gnosis to Snezhnaya and was allowed to use it to save Fontaine from the prophecy. For a long time, the Harbinger tried to find out the location of the artifact, realizing that Furina did not have it. She even sent children from the House of Hearth to infiltrate the Fortress of Meropide to find out what secret the prison hides and whether it relates to the Gnosis. With the Hydro divine throne destroyed, a new Hydro Archon could no longer emerge. The Hydro Sovereign, having regained his full authority, forgave the Fontainians for their original sin and took over Fontaine himself, granting his power to those whose will could reach the heavens. Since the Hydro Dragon had no need for the power of the Gnosis, Neuvillette gave the Hydro Gnosis to Arlecchino, as a sign of gratitude for the assistance with the disaster in Fontaine.Related Entries:PyroDue to the nature of Natlan, there are no gods in the region who could become Archons, and the first Pyro Archon was a mere mortal named Xbalanque. After ascending to the divine throne, he borrowed the powers of the Ruler of Death, Ronova, one of the shades of the Primordial One, and established the rules of Natlan — a framework through which ordinary people can ascend to archonhood. These rules are the Ode of Resurrection, which allows bearers of the Ancient Name who fell in battle with the Abyss to be resurrected, and the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame. During the Pilgrimage, the Natlanese determine the strongest of them who can become the next Pyro Archon, and create contending fire to fuel the Sacred Flame. When a person ascends to the divine throne, their inner flame awakens, and the Sacred Flame of Natlan grants significant knowledge and memories of this land. The power received by a new Archon depends on the potential of the person. The same principle applies to the power of the Ruler of Death, but the amount of inherited power does not change depending on the ability to withstand it. If a person withstands the test, they will gain unprecedented power and the ability to use powers greater than the powers of any Archon. But any power has a price, and the price for Ronova's power is death. Although this rule does not define the time of the payment, the outcome is still inevitable.Natlan differs from all other nations in that it does not have Ley Lines. Initially, they suffered during the war of the dragons and the first Descender and were later corrupted by the Abyss and began to decay during the Cataclysm 500 years ago. One of the angels, under the guidance of the Ruler of Death, created the Night Kingdom, which replaces the Ley Lines of Natlan and where rules are laid down. Due to the state of Ley Lines after the Cataclysm and the constant attacks of the Abyss, according to calculations, the region could not exist for more than 500 years. Pyro Archon Mavuika devised a plan to use the power of the divine throne and Ronova's power to save Natlan. A hero would emerge from each tribe, and when all six heroes gathered together, Ronova's power would be unleashed. In order to carry out such a risky plan herself, Mavuika gave her life so that she could be reborn when Natlan's time was running out.About 500 years later, Mavuika was reborn from the Sacred Flame, and the six heroes were recognized by their Ancient Names. Although Mavuika knew that she would have to pay with her life for Ronova's power and that her plan could fail, she didn't want to use Pyro Gnosis to destroy all souls and cleanse the corruption. The Pyro Gnosis has the ability to take people's souls and memories from Ley Lines to weave them into a giant net that can contain the corruption of the Abyss. In the process of creating this web, all souls would be destroyed, so Mavuika was hesitant to use this function. Even if the entire memory of the region had been sacrificed, the net could still suffer from corruption, and all the sacrifices would be in vain. With the power of the divine throne and Ronova's power, Mavuika was able to stop a full-scale Abyss invasion of Natlan, partially cleanse the Night Kingdom of the Abyss corruption, and use the Ode of Resurrection on all the people of Natlan who died after receiving the power.