The 1st Branch

[bloomingwisdom]

Sender: Nahida
To: Everyone
Subject: Stories

It has been very interesting these past few days, trying to understand the nature of this dream world. Dreams, you see, are never this coherent. Often, they are like slimes—soft and squishy, malleable and ever changing in shape. But this world is more like a Hypostasis. It, too, can change form as it pleases, but it is far more rigid and predictable, and less prone to destruction. They are similar in nature, yet very different in reality.

But I digress. Though what sits before me is a journal, I am aware that this is a communication device, and I apologize for my initial paragraph. It felt more appropriate to start this message like a diary entry, or the beginnings of a story. Tales are often a great way to catch a reader's attention, or relate new information to them. I do hope that I've caught your attention.

My name is Nahida. I am one of the newly arrived to this dream world. I've been told much of this place already, but I find myself wanting to know more about its inhabitants; that is to say, you, who are currently reading this message. It is my hope that we could get to know each other and perhaps become friends, so to start, let me share a story about my world.

~~

Once upon a time, there lived a male Forest Boar in the rainforests of Sumeru. This Forest Boar was a peculiar one, for he never found any female boar attractive, so he lived his life in solitude, and was content to do so.

One day, the boar wandered too far into Shroom-kin territory and found himself beset by all sorts of Fungi. Try as he might, he could not fight all of them off, and was doomed to his fate. However, before he perished, a Geoshroom stepped in-between him and the other Fungi, pleading his case to its incensed kin.

The Geoshroom saved his life, and from then on, the pair were inseparable, traveling from one end of the rainforest to the other, exploring the world for its wonders and more. But alas, their joy was not meant to last forever. In a skirmish with a Rishboland Tiger, the Geoshroom was fatally wounded.

Though they vanquished their foe, they would no longer be able travel together. In his despair, the Forest Boar realized his love for the Geoshroom, and decided he would do whatever it takes to save the Geoshroom. It was then that his ardor provided him with the ability to change his form, and use his own body to sustain the Geoshroom.

Thus, the Shroomboar came to being; a union of two creatures that loved each other so dearly, they became one. They would go on to propagate, eventually becoming a commonplace animal in the rainforest.

~~

Did you find that interesting? I hope you did. Even if you didn't, I'm glad you read it all the same.

If you'd like to reciprocate, I would love to hear an interesting fact or story about the world that you come from. Or, if you'd prefer, I'd be happy to hear what you do here!

Thank you very much for your time.

Nahida

Comments

sender: Nameless Wanderer

[threebetrayals]

There's no way that's how shroomboars came to be.

[Is this just another metaphor?]

[bloomingwisdom]

Are you saying that because it doesn't conform to your understanding of the world, or do you have proof it never happened?

[ This is not a scolding or rebuttal—she knows that even the average Teyvatian doesn't know the story. But, she does want him to think about his initial reaction, and why he was compelled to react like that. Critical thinking was what allowed one to see past their own biases, after all. ]

[threebetrayals]

Because it reeks of faerie tale and parable.

[This is why he ends up in the Akademiya.]

Not only is it fanciful and overly romantic, it doesn't explain how a singular boar can "propagate".

Sender: Erichthonios

[beshackled]

'Twas a lovely tale to read. It reminds me a little of home.

[bloomingwisdom]

If you'd like, I'd love to hear a tale about your home. What is it like?

[beshackled]

'Tis a place where mankind seeks to create life, to sow the star with myriad flora and fauna and all manner of engendered concepts. The buildings of Amaurot reach into the sky, and the grounds of Elpis float amongst the clouds.

Ours is a star rich in aether. So much so that 'tis from this very fact that we call it Etheirys.

sender: Denji

[mansbestend]

my home world sucks. nuthin to say about it. don't really wanna go back.

I do have a dog here and I can talk to her, which is nice. I kill nightmares for a living.

[bloomingwisdom]

I'm sorry to hear that. And glad that you are having a wonderful time here.

I have heard nightmares mentioned several times now, but have yet to grasp the true danger they pose here. How does a nightmare bring harm to people?

[mansbestend]

they kinda turn into monsters and start hurting people in their dreams or in Reverein itself. people can turn if they gather too much nightmare energy.

The worst ones spread out like mold, infecting shit around it and make them go nuts too. So Demon-Dad, the gang and I go knock the crap out of em.

Sender: Chai | Hi-Fi Rush spoilers

[futurerockstar]

so like there's this big company where i come from, yeah? it's called Vandelay Technologies and it's pretty huge

so anyway there's this guy Kale Vandelay who was the son of the founder and he took it over by mamking this computer... thing... that can take over brains. and he did it to his MOM to get her to hand the company over to him because he's like smart but also kind of an idiot?

[Look who's talking, Chai.]

anyway he had to be stopped so i teamed up with his sister and some other people and we took him down! it was a pretty great time, all the heads of departments were like "grrr" and i was like "yaaaaa" the fights were pretty amazing. guess you kind of had to be there.

[bloomingwisdom]

It sounds like you've had quite the experience. I would have liked to have seen your battles.

All is well in your world then?

sender: Zhongli

[gentryofhermitage]

[While the name may take some time for him to recognize, the script and analogies sprinkled through are recognizable enough for the old ex-Archon. So what replies is elegant Liyuean script, the kind that probably hasn't been used in a while but would instantly make her recognize who it is who's writing it, if his name doesn't ping her already.]

An astute observation of this realm. Your insights are as sharp as ever, I see. At the very least, I am sure many here have enjoyed reading your story.

[He's careful not to outright call out who she truly is, at least not over this public communication. Not all gods announce their godhood, after all.]

[bloomingwisdom]

[ Thanks to Barbatos, she is aware that Morax is in the dream world as well, so the Liyuean script instantly identifies him. She smiles in delight and quickly pens back a reply ]

There is still much that I do not know of this world, but I endeavour to find out.

It has been a while since I've heard your stories, and I should like to hear them again.

[ Hear, specifically, because she would like to meet him in person. He's the last of the Archons she has yet to meet in this world. ]

Sender: Iris Wilson

[herlockian]

That was a lovely little folktale!

The most interesting stories I know are much too long for this communication method. As for a fact: when it comes to new species appearing where I'm from, recent science says that they evolve slowly over time based on the best traits which were passed down from their ancestors. Some research says these are blended from each individual's parents' own traits, but there's lesser-known work that implies there is a distinct set of possibilities that come together to form a single, unique lifeform, similar to a jigsaw puzzle. It's still being studied, but it's quite exciting!

[bloomingwisdom]

[ Oh, this name! She remembers this person. She'd been a young girl, much like Nahida, but her intelligence suggests that she must be older than she looks. ]

That does sound very exciting. I also love to follow the newest discoveries being made by the scholars of my world. It's very interesting to see how far their research has allowed them to understand their environment.

One of the latest publications is a joint project between Vahumana and Amurta, the Darshans specializing in aetiology and biology. It seems they've made considerable progress in splicing trees of different genera with the Cuihua tree to improve the hardiness of the fruit that they bear. With this, it should be possible to grow some fruits in regions with climates that wouldn't support them normally.

sender: hiyo

[wwtd]

Nahida-san,

It sounds like you know a lot about dreams. I've never heard of the word "hypostasis". What is it?

You don't need to apologize for your first paragraph. I find it interesting. So your plan worked! It caught my attention. [ she draws. A LITTLE FACE. like this: (￣▽￣) ]

It's nice to meet you. I'm Hiyori, the "you" reading your message. My mother would always tell me not to trust strangers on the internet back home, but I think this is different.

Is it really all that peculiar to not find other people boars attractive? Or do you think it was destiny for the Forest Boar and the Geoshroom to fall in love and that's why he never did?

I've been looking for work around Reverein, but... I've been feeling indecisive. I don't know what I want to do. Do you have any advice for someone's first job? Thank you!

[bloomingwisdom]

A Hypostasis is an elemental life forms from my world. They are among the purest elemental beings, which means they are quite rare to see. But because of their purity and their compact mass, the ways in which they can manipulate themselves is often limited.

[ Oh! That little face is really cute! Maybe if she added drawings to her future messages, people might be more inclined to reply. ]

That is a good question. It could have been that Forest Boar's fate to eventually become a Shroomboar, but I do not believe that it detracts from the boar's personal desires. Though it can be said that the future is written in stone, the path to that future is not. If it was not this boar that became the Shroomboar, another boar would have taken that role.

Is there anything in particular that you like to do? Perhaps you could find a job related to that interest.

Sender: percy jackson

[judoflipped]

can you provide cliffnotes to people who have dyslexia and adhd
thats too much

[bloomingwisdom]

I'm sorry for writing too much. I must have been too excited to reach out to everyone.

Succicintly put, I want to be friends with you, and learn about you and the world you came from. To facilitate that, I offered a story about my world: a tale of the origin of the Shroomboar, an animal that lives in the rainforests.

A boar is saved by a shroom-kin, and they travel together until the shroom-kin suffers a fatal wound. At that point, the boar realizes its love for the shroom-kin and changes its body so the shroom-kin can live off it.

Do you have an interesting fact about your world that you'd like to share?

Sender: Zelda

[multidisciplinary]

Welcome to Songerein, Nahida. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Zelda, Princess of Hyrule.

[ Now that formalities are out of the way (a politely written letter obliges a polite response, after all), Zelda can get to what she really wants to talk about. ]

I must ask: is your story a metaphor for the evolutionary biology of the creatures you mentioned or a legend more or less unrelated to mycology?

[ Because both of these things are of interest to the princess, but one of them significantly moreso than the other. ]

[bloomingwisdom]

[ Oh, a princess! Like the ones that feature in children's fairy tales. How exciting it is to actually meet one. ]

It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Zelda.

It is indeed an account of the evolution of the Shroomboar, though it is not a metaphor. The first occurrence of the Shroomboar involved a spontaneous evolution of the boar to accomodate the shroom-kin, but its subsequent proliferation followed a more natural course of evolution.

Once the shroom-kin learned of their compatibility with the forest boars, they were quick to use this potential within the boar to plant fungi upon its back, so that the boar may carry its spores further out and increase their own propagation.

Sender: Demyx

[melodiouspacifist]

[ Admittedly that's a lot of reading and he just skimmed the story. ]

I've been to a lot of different worlds. I don't know if I have a ton of stories, more like a bunch of places I could describe.

[bloomingwisdom]

I would be happy to hear those too. I have never been to another world, so I'm very curious to learn anything about them.

Sender: Hu Tao, here I am late with starbucks

[localweirdo]

Ah, I wasn't aware that you were from Teyvat as well. It seems that this place likes to bring people from our world here.

Regardless, I certainly did! But I'm afraid that I can't really reciprocate as there isn't much I can tell. Although, I could tell you a tale from Liyue!

:DDDD

[bloomingwisdom]

Yes, I have met quite a number of individuals from Teyvat. I take it that our number is unusual for this dream?

I would certainly welcome a tale from Liyue. I have never stepped foot outside of Sumeru, so I am quite curious about the other nations.