Lesser Lord Kusanali, also known by her Goetic name Buer[10] and as Nahida, is the God of Wisdom and the current Dendro Archon presiding over Sumeru.[11]
The youngest of The Seven, she was created from the purest branch of Irminsul by the previous Dendro Archon, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, to be her successor.[10]
After all memories of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata were erased from Teyvat, Lesser Lord Kusanali is believed by all, including herself, to have always been the original Dendro Archon.[10]
Profile[]
Introduction[]
I had a very, very long dream...
In it, people were holding hands, dancing in a circle, be they sages or fools, dancers or warriors, puppets or statues of gods...
That dancing circle embodied everything about the universe. Life has always been the end, while it is wisdom that shall be the means.—Buer, Nagadus Emerald Gemstone
Despite her status as Sumeru's Archon, Lesser Lord Kusanali has little power over her nation's affairs. Due to her isolation inside the Sanctuary of Surasthana, no one in Sumeru other than the sages of Sumeru Akademiya has seen her since her birth 500 years ago. The sages rarely speak to Lesser Lord Kusanali, and rule over Sumeru in her place.[1]
Although Lesser Lord Kusanali is isolated from the outside world, she is capable of limited contact with it. As the First Akasha Terminal, her consciousness is linked to the Akasha System, not only giving her access to the Akasha's stores of knowledge, but also allowing her to possess people by occupying their consciousnesses, although out of respect for her people's free will she only chooses to possess the bionic puppet Katheryne.[1] She is also capable of appearing in the dreams of people across Sumeru.[12]
Lesser Lord Kusanali frequently intervenes in the lives of people across Sumeru, having once saved Aaru Village from an earthquake by channeling her power through the mad scholars exiled there.[13] However, since her influence is subtle, stories about her are relegated to rumors and urban legends; even the Akademiya's sages cannot confirm her activities in the outside world.[14]
Because of her isolation, most people know little about Lesser Lord Kusanali, even inside her own nation. Sumeru Akademiya promotes the worship of the deceased Greater Lord Rukkhadevata over Lesser Lord Kusanali, causing most people to be apathetic towards her and worship Greater Lord Rukkhadevata instead. However, Lesser Lord Kusanali does have a few followers, especially among the Grand Bazaar in Sumeru City, who celebrate her birthday with the Sabzeruz Festival.[15] "Lesser Lord Kusanali" is also considered to be a term of endearment.[16]
Appearance[]
Lesser Lord Kusanali appears as Nahida, a short, child-like girl with what resemble elven ears. The ends of her hair are tinted a different color in accordance with the other archons, with hers going from light gray to green — signifying Dendro.
Kusanali can also appear as different avatars; she can inflitrate the consciousness of those wearing Akasha Terminals, including non-human entities, such as bionic puppets.
In her depiction in Sumeru Statues of The Seven, she is shown to be wearing a similar cloak and draping clothing similar to the other known Archon statues. Her small frame is also shown sitting on a huge leaf, an attribute owing to her mantle as the Dendro Archon.
Story[]
History[]
During the cataclysm five hundred years ago, the previous Dendro Archon, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, perished after trying to completely remove the forbidden knowledge from Irminsul.[10] Before her demise, she took the purest branch from Irminsul to be her successor, that being Lesser Lord Kusanali, who then ascended to the position of Archon.[10][17] The day of Lesser Lord Kusanali's birth is celebrated in Sumeru as the Sabzeruz Festival.[18]
Archon Quests[]
Lesser Lord Kusanali is first mentioned in Chapter I by Zhongli and Ganyu as the God of Dendro, where the Traveler learns that she is the youngest of The Seven. After the events of Chapter II, Yae Miko suggests that the Traveler venture to Sumeru next and seek Lesser Lord Kusanali out.[16]
Kusanali is not seen in the first Archon Quest Chapter related to her region, where the Traveler tries to look for her to no avail.
She first makes a proper appearance in the Archon Quest Chapter III: Act II - The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings, where the Traveler discovers her as Nahida while stuck in a samsara created by the Akademiya sages and trying to break out of it. After they manage to dispel the samsara, Kusanali remains in the Akasha System to try and figure out what had caused the Sages to step out of line with their latest experiment.
While possessing the bionic puppet Katheryne, Kusanali reappears in the Archon Quest Chapter III: Act III - Dreams, Emptiness, Deception, where she plots to have the grand sage's assistant Setaria become a mole in the Akademiya. This plan ultimately fails, however, as Il Dottore ambushes Kusanali, alongside the Traveler and Paimon, with a group of citizens whose Akasha Terminals he hijacked to put them under his control. Kusanali subdues the citizens by taking over their Akasha Terminals, but this results in Il Dottore deducing that she is the God of Wisdom. Eventually, Kusanali reunites with the Traveler and Paimon at Pardis Dhyai, but after seeing Haypasia's vision of a "god's" memories, a group of Eremites corner them. The Katheryne puppet is impaled by an Eremite; nevertheless, Kusanali escapes by switching consciousnesses with the Traveler momentarily. In the end, Tighnari reveals that Kusanali told him that Il Dottore has found a way to trap her consciousness in the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
During the Archon Quest Jnagarbha Day in Chapter III: Act V - Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises, the Traveler is imprisoned in a confinement room. From said room, the Traveler uses their modified Akasha terminal to connect with Kusanali's consciousness, and after much effort are able to overcome her fear and self-doubt to wake her up inside her vessel, Nahida. Afterwards, the Traveler goes to the Sanctuary of Surasthana in order to free her vessel. Once freed, she apologizes to the Traveler for causing them so much trouble, and decides to block the Sages' access to the Akasha system before vowing to make them pay for their crimes.
Later on, Kusanali is able to modify the Traveler's Akasha into an upgraded version which she claims will help them in their travels. She also manages to discover the location of the false god. Despite her lack of combat abilities as noted by the false god, she supports the Traveler by trapping the false god in a Samsara-like loop, allowing her and the Traveler to analyze the false god's abilities and attempt to find his weaknesses. After 168 loops, Kusanali asks for help from all the people of Sumeru and gives all of their combined knowledge, as well as the combat experience from the loops, to the Traveler through their enhanced Akasha Terminal, allowing them to defeat the false god.
After retrieving the Electro Gnosis from the false god, Kusanali uses the power of both the Electro and Dendro Gnoses at her disposal to send both her and the Traveler into Rukkhadevata's final memory. The Traveler explains to Kusanali about forbidden knowledge, which allows Kusanali to better understand the corruption of Irminsul and King Deshret. In the final memory, Kusanali and the Traveler meet Rukkhadevata, who explains that she too was a branch of the Irminsul tree - and just like her, Kusanali is the purest branch of herself that would eventually grow and become the Dendro Archon's next incarnation. Rukkhadevata also reveals that she has been corrupted to a level which cannot be fixed and that the only way to expunge her corruption from Irminsul would be by erasing all memories of herself from the tree. Kusanali reluctantly accepts that this is the only way to save Irminsul and regretfully erases Greater Lord Rukkhadevata from Teyvat's history, changing the chronology of the entire story retroactively.
When she and the Traveler return from the journey, Kusanali's memories are completely changed and rewritten to now fit a new chronology, in which she has been the Dendro Archon since the end of the Archon War, and that at some point during the cataclysm, she lost her memories before being imprisoned in the sanctuary by the Sages of Sumeru. As the Traveler is conflicted on whether to tell her the truth or not, Dottore incapacitates the Traveler and Paimon and approaches Kusanali to directly negotiate with her for the Electro Gnosis. He reminds her that he is far stronger then her, as her combat abilities are currently lacking. In return, she threatens to destroy the Electro Gnosis, suggesting that such an event could trigger the intervention of the Heavenly Principles. Dottore agrees that this is a possibility, and relents. However, realizing that it is better that the Electro Gnosis not remain in Sumeru, Kusanali agrees to give Dottore the Gnosis under the condition that he destroy all of his segments except for the one currently talking to her. After some back-and-forth he agrees and destroys his other segments - which Kusanali is able to verify - and she gives him the Gnosis in exchange. Dottore then makes an offer for Kusanali's Dendro Gnosis as well, offering to tell her the 'truth' of this world and revealing to her that the sky is a lie. In return for this information, Kusanali willingly hands Dottore her Dendro Gnosis.
Several days later, during a party set up by the Traveler and their companions, Kusanali takes control of the Traveler's body and uses it to personally thank all their companions who have helped her escape. The next day the Traveler meets with Kusanali in the Sanctuary, where upon learning of their intentions to go to Fontaine, she tells them about Fontaine's Archon, Focalors. She also reveals that while looking through the information within Irminsul, she discovered that the Traveler's sibling had recorded information on them, marking them as being from Teyvat - despite the Traveler's memories and knowledge indicating that this is not the case. She also learned of the Fatui's list of four "Descenders", a list of visitors from outside of Teyvat. The Traveler's sibling is not one of them, while the Traveler is the fourth Descender. She suspects the Heavenly Principles to be first Descender but does not know who the second and third one could be, and finishes by saying that she will help the Traveler in their journey when she has the time.
Event Quests[]
It is heavily implied that Lesser Lord Kusanali talked to Traveler and Paimon during Summertime Odyssey, first by intercepting the Dodoco Communication signal and then by speaking directly into the Traveler's mind.[Note 1] She says she is curious about the Traveler and that they may meet in the future.
Character Mentions[]
Character Stories
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Character Voice-Overs
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As Buer:
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As Buer:
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Mails
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Trivia[]
- During Immernachtreich Apokalypse (Part 3) and Like Rhyme and Song, the Summer Reverie, the unknown entity that the Traveler speaks to through the Dodocommunication Device and telepathically is strongly implied to be the Dendro Archon Lesser Lord Kusanali:
- The entity hints that the player will meet them at some point in the near future.
- After the entity finishes speaking to the Traveler for the last time, a Dendro elemental symbol briefly appears in front of the Traveler.
- The entity seems to have the same voice as the one teased at the end of the Version 2.8 Special Program during the new region preview. (This is true across Chinese, English, and Korean, the only voiced languages with a Special Program.) This voice also sounds the same as the voice of Nahida (Lesser Lord Kusanali).
- Sumeru, the nation of Dendro, was the next playable region after this event's story.
- Despite the fact that the Dodocommunication Device was made by Alice and was only meant to allow communication between the Traveler and Venti, this entity somehow not only cuts off that link but also commandeers it.
- Persikov's Manuscript revealed that the Fatui machine, which caused the mirages and hallucinations experienced by the party and the Fatui, was modeled after the power of a God (Archon).
- The entity admits they helped "design a little something" for the Traveler and friends, referencing the machine and/or the mirages.
- Additional connections that aren't as direct:
- A "mirage" of knowledge is mentioned in Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail for Sumeru. However, the original Chinese text uses a word for "bait" instead of "mirage."
- The Version 2.8 Special Program showed a Statue of The Seven that appears to depict a child. While it is unknown whether Statues of The Seven depict current or previous Archons, the entity that speaks to the Traveler on the Golden Apple Archipelago sounds young. (This is true across all four voiced languages.)
- Wanderer's official introduction was the first time her alternate title "Blessed One of Wisdom, Mahakusaladhamma" (Chinese: 摩诃善法大吉祥智慧主), was used.
- The phrase "Blessed One of Wisdom" (Chinese: 智慧主 "Keeper of Wisdom"), which is also used in the Chinese name of Nahida's constellation, Sapientia Oromasdis (Chinese: 智慧主座 "Keeper of Wisdom Constellation.")
- Prior to meeting with Lesser Lord Kusanali, she was described in the following ways:
- Dainsleif's line about her in the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview criticizes her for allowing a "push for folly" through her own inaction.
- Yae Miko similarly calls Sumeru's treatment of knowledge as a resource "truly inexplicable," before wondering whether this was developed by Lesser Lord Kusanali or the sages.[16]
- Hosseini claims that some students in Sumeru Akademiya undergo a "prolonged period of scrutiny by the God of Wisdom" — a figure of speech for having to spend extra years at Sumeru Akademiya — when the Traveler questions Hosseini's extended status as an undergraduate.[19]
Etymology[]
- The name Kusanali likely refers to the Kusanāḷi-Jātaka, one of the poems within the Jātaka, a series of 547 Buddhist poems detailing the previous births of Buddha. The Kusanāḷi-Jātaka specifically details the encounter with a tree sprite.
- "Kusanāḷi" itself is derived from the Pali words kusa ("kusa-grass," a sacred plant used in Hindu ceremonies) and nāḷi ("a hollow stalk or tube").
- In Chinese, "Lesser Lord Kusanali" is 小吉祥草王 Xiǎo Jíxiángcǎo Wáng, "Little Lucky-Grass Monarch." The word 吉祥草 may be derived from the Jātaka verse "Yathā ahaṁ Kusanāḷī rucāyaṁ" (English: Just as (the reed-god) Kusanāḷi did to this tree; Chinese: 于此鲁伽树，吉祥草助我 Yúcǐ lǔjiāshù, jíxiángcǎo zhù wǒ, "As to the ruca-tree will the lucky-grass help me"). The word is also used to refer to the kusa-grass.
- In Korean, the name is 쿠사나리 데비 Kusanari Debi. The word 데비 Debi derived from the Sanskrit or Pali word devī ("goddess" or "queen").
- In Japanese, the name is クラクサナリデビ Kura Kusanari Debi, where デビ Debi may be of the same derivation as above, and クラ Kura may be derived from the Pali word khudda or cūla ("small", "inferior" or "low"). Kura may also be derived from the Persian word خدا Khuda ("Lord" or "God").
- Kusanali's title Mahakusaladhamma consists of three words: महा mahā, "great", कुशल kúśala, "skilled, prosperous, good", and Dhamma.
- In the demonology grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon, "Buer" is described as a Great President of Hell and the 10th demon, having fifty legions of demons under his command. He teaches natural and moral philosophy, logic, and the qualities and uses of all herbs and plants. He has been described as being in the shape of Sagittarius, which is as a centaur with a bow and arrows.
Notes[]
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | Lesser Lord Kusanali | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 小吉祥草王 Xiǎo Jíxiángcǎo Wáng | Little Lucky-Grass Monarch |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 小吉祥草王 Xiǎo Jíxiángcǎo Wáng | |
| Japanese | クラクサナリデビ Kura Kusanari Debi | Little Kusanali Devi |
| Korean | 쿠사나리 데비 Kusanari Debi | Kusanali Devi |
| Spanish | Reina Menor Kusanali | Lesser Queen Kusanali |
| French | Rani Kusanali | Rani Kusanali |
| Russian | Малая властительница Кусанали Malaya vlastitel'nitsa Kusanali | Little Ruler Kusanali[• 1] |
| Thai | ท่านหญิงน้อย Kusanali Than Yang Noi Kusanali | Little Lady Kusanali |
| Vietnamese | Tiểu Vương Kusanali | Little Lord Kusanali |
| German | Niedere Herrin Kusanali | Lesser Lady Kusanali |
| Indonesian | Lesser Lord Kusanali | — |
| Portuguese | Lorde Menor Kusanali | Lesser Lord Kusanali |
| Turkish | Devi Kusanali | Devi Kusanali |
| Italian | Sua Eccellenza Minore Kusanali | Her Lesser Excellency Kusanali |
- ↑ Russian: Малая властительница Malaya vlastitel'nitsa is a feminine term.
Change History[]
- The pronoun referring to Lesser Lord Kusanali in Solitary Fragrance was changed from "he" to "she".
- The name Lesser Lord Kusanali was introduced.
- The Dendro Archon was introduced in quest dialogue.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Archon Quest, Chapter III, Act II - The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings, Part 8: Dawn
- ↑ HoYoLAB: Know one heart, know all hearts
- ↑ World Quest, Aranyaka: Part II - Dream Nursery, Part 1: The World of Aranara
- ↑ Story Quest, Nahida, Sapientia Oromasdis Chapter: Act II - Homecoming, Part 1: Where Lies the Path Home
- ↑ Neuvillette's Voice-Over: About the Dendro Archon
- ↑ YouTube: Sumeru Promotional Video (Video Description)
- ↑ Bilibili: 《原神》须弥CM短片 (Video Description)
- ↑ Twitter: JP VA Announcement
- ↑ YouTube: 원신 | 수메르 CM 영상 (Video Description)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Archon Quest, Chapter III, Act V - Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises, Part 4: Where the Boat of Consciousness Lies
- ↑ Archon Quest, Chapter III, Act I - Through Mists of Smoke and Forests Dark, Part 2: Further Observation
- ↑ Archon Quest, Chapter III, Act I - Through Mists of Smoke and Forests Dark, Part 5: The Trail of the God of Wisdom
- ↑ Archon Quest, Chapter III, Act III - Dreams, Emptiness, Deception, Part 3: The Four at Loggerheads
- ↑ Archon Quest, Chapter III, Act III - Dreams, Emptiness, Deception, Part 1: Like a Triumphant Hero
- ↑ YouTube: Version 3.0 "The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings" Trailer | Genshin Impact
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Archon Quest, Chapter II, Act III - Omnipresence Over Mortals, Part 9: Wishes
- ↑ Archon Quest, Chapter I, Act III - A New Star Approaches, Part 3: Solitary Fragrance
- ↑ Invitation of Windblume Event World Quest: Windblume Research Report
- ↑ Event Energy Amplifier Initiation World Quest: Mr. Melancholy