I’m shocked Natlan didn’t have a travel advisory against foreigners at risk of death in Natlan like old or terminally ill people.
We learn in the natlan archon quest that even at their best, foreign souls are not accepted by the ley lines in natlan.
What I’ve taken away from this is that if you are someone from Mondstadt, Sumeru, Fontaine, Inazuma your soul is condemned to the void, essentially dissipating slowly from existence, if you die in Natlan.
I could be wrong, but the story of Ayo’s grandparents and the other souls suggests that they are unable to make it to a leyline in another nation and be reborn.
I personally feel this is a huge plot point that hadn’t been stressed enough. Like I feel there should have been an effort to make this more common knowledge, considering the possibility of eternal damnation if you die in the wrong place.
There should have been sayings in other nations, or adages referring to “dying in natlan” as a synonym for doom.
There should have been restrictions on the borders of natlan, vetting out ill people, elderly or people at risk of dying at whatever cause, people who might have made enemies in natlan.
I’d have expected to see entire tasks forces headed by say the masters of the night wind( they seem most suitable for the role), dedicated to ferrying out dying foreigners from natlan as fast as possible into foreign soil.
Natlan doesn’t seem like a nation at odds with the others with tourists, merchants and researchers in abundance so I’d expect them to have precautions.
This makes the researcher from Sumeru we see in the people of the springs world quest seem even more reckless, since this is something I’d have expected him to come across this in his field of research.
Am I understanding the lore wrong here? I personally feel this is a huge plot point, since it’s teyvat’s version of the afterlife on the line.
Please correct me if I’m getting something wrong.
What I’ve taken away from this is that if you are someone from Mondstadt, Sumeru, Fontaine, Inazuma your soul is condemned to the void, essentially dissipating slowly from existence, if you die in Natlan.
I could be wrong, but the story of Ayo’s grandparents and the other souls suggests that they are unable to make it to a leyline in another nation and be reborn.
I personally feel this is a huge plot point that hadn’t been stressed enough. Like I feel there should have been an effort to make this more common knowledge, considering the possibility of eternal damnation if you die in the wrong place.
There should have been sayings in other nations, or adages referring to “dying in natlan” as a synonym for doom.
There should have been restrictions on the borders of natlan, vetting out ill people, elderly or people at risk of dying at whatever cause, people who might have made enemies in natlan.
I’d have expected to see entire tasks forces headed by say the masters of the night wind( they seem most suitable for the role), dedicated to ferrying out dying foreigners from natlan as fast as possible into foreign soil.
Natlan doesn’t seem like a nation at odds with the others with tourists, merchants and researchers in abundance so I’d expect them to have precautions.
This makes the researcher from Sumeru we see in the people of the springs world quest seem even more reckless, since this is something I’d have expected him to come across this in his field of research.
Am I understanding the lore wrong here? I personally feel this is a huge plot point, since it’s teyvat’s version of the afterlife on the line.
Please correct me if I’m getting something wrong.
Commentaires
It however doesn't explore these concepts fully and integrate their implications into the general setting. They are mostly there to be perceived in isolation.
Properly exploring concepts you introduce to a world that is different from our world is a monumental achievement that you will only see in very well received works of fiction which is mostly books and sometimes movies/shows, and very rarely games that employ some high level author that has the required levels of conceptualization and knowledge. Genshin is sadly not that, from what we have seen especially in Natlan and NK.
It’s just…: isn’t brushing off eternal damnation a bit too much of an overlook, even for Genshin?
Example: Fontaine's people were hydro elemental beings prior to the end act. This could have tremendous consequences that you could see in the world even if it isn't verbally mentioned, but the only thing that is somehow touched on is their ability to procreate among each other.
your point on _cultural_ references is valid though. maybe more urban legends or sayings referencing it would have anchored the concept better.
btw i dont recall which quest it was exactly but i think in some cases we helped natlanese heroes to guide/find those souls, maybe someone who paid more attention to quests can confirm/correct
And we did help some souls but there did exist a time period spanning centuries where people were very likely to be doomed.
Those are immediate fatal risks.
I was just trying to answer the question of whether they issue warnings in real life.
And I do think in this case it’s justified, because even if the risk is less probable, the threat it poses is so horrifying it warrants it. It’s like you know there is one virus causing bacteria that will end all life on the moons surface and the chance you contract and become a carrier is 1/1000, authorities will still quarantine you and monitor because the risk simply isn’t worth it.
I guess what really throws me off is that Genshin a lot of the time is like you said, relies on suspension of disbelief, but I’d say equally often puts so much of attention to detail and nuance into the story that blows me away, I find it difficult to reconcile the two sides.
Often it leads me to raise questions at certain points, “the writers didn’t expand more on this? That’s surprising”.
I’ve never felt something quite like this in other media.
It’s not a big deal but it’s rather a unique feeing.
Right now it’s not an issue but that’s a fix for the current timeline.
Till now for centuries it was such a grave danger that what I’m saying is that precautions should have been taken long ago.
And in the case of Natlan it's still the region that is the most isolated regarding strangers, and I don't think it's Natlan job to prevent strangers from taking the risk if they really want to do so. I mean, adventuring and traveling is already potentially risky for your life, more so in Natlan.
The priority should be to prevent people from dying in the first place, regardless if they are strangers or not. People that are both foreigners and "in the process of dying but not dead yet" should be very rare cases. So I don't think Natlan should really organize around something that almost never happens, especially if these people are taking the risk willingly.
edit : personally I always felt it was actually common knowledge. Because that's also the reason why Natlanese couldn't travel. And also there is the story of Stanley.