The region of Enkanomiya was introduced to Genshin Impact players after the main Inazuma update. This abandoned land, enshrouded in darkness and sin, is located beneath the pearly waters of Watatsumi Island and known among the player community for its similarity to the legends of Atlantis. Since the release of Watatsumi Island, the game has left subtle clues and hints about a civilization beneath the depths who are the true descendants of the people now living on Watatsumi Island.
The area can only be accessed via the deep pool east of the Sangonomiya Shrine and can only be unlocked after breaking the five seals on the Goshou Rocks. The story states that, after breaking all the shrines, one can obtain the Key of the Moon-Bathed Deep, which would then allow entry into Enkanomiya. The Key of the Moon-Bathed Deep is a quest item that can be obtained through the Genshin Impact Heart of Watatsumi World Quest series.
The Origins of Enkanomiya
Before the world of Teyvat was ruled by the Archons, it was initially ruled by the Seven Dragon Sovereigns, with there being one for each element. These Seven Dragons were known as Kings among their own elements and revered for being the strongest example of their kin, which are the Vishaps that Genshin Impact players see around Teyvat. The Vishaps were special beings who had the capability to evolve not only in environmental adaptability but also in communication. Ancient texts say that they even have the potential to evolve into the Dragon Sovereigns should they perish, simply due to the fact that they are high elemental beings that can shape the habitat to suit their own needs for survival.
In the book, “Before Sun and Moon,” players are told the story of how the Primordial One came down to the world from the heavens and challenged the dragon-lords of the old world. The Primordial One, currently suspected to be Phanes, had wings and a crown and an androgynous appearance. The Primordial One also created four shining shades from within itself to aid it in the battle against the dragons and, after 40 years, the era of the dragons finally came to an end. The Primordial One in Genshin Impact was then hailed as the great sovereign and began to split heaven and earth for the sake of its creations.
This resulted in the formation of the three realms:
- The Light Realm: this is where the Vishaps and many elemental beings originate from. They are the original inhabitants of the world from before the Primordial One descended.
- The Void Realm: this is where the Abyss resides
- The Human Realm: this is where the people made by the Primordial One — humans — reside. This is also the realm in which the game is set.
The civilization of Teyvat slowly began growing, cultivating an era of prosperity for humanity where they became a single unified civilization under the Primordial One. This civilization spanned across the world. Enkanomiya, which was once called Byakuyakoku, was also once part of the regular world. However, this peace and prosperity did not last long, as a being known as the “Second Who Came” waged an all-out war against the Primordial One. This war in Genshin Impact is not officially labeled and is said to have happened only a few short decades after the birth of the new world. Unfortunately, as a result of the war, the world physically split open and Byakuyakoku sunk into the depths of the sea.
The Light Amidst the Darkness
In the darkness of the ocean, the people of Byakuyakoku realized the calamity that had befallen them. Beneath the seas and its underground caverns lay the Vishaps (the descendants of the dragon sovereigns) who had fled here after the Primordial One reshaped the world. These Vishaps in Genshin Impact soon began to terrorize the people and were dubbed the “Dragonheirs.” Soon, the people were fortunate enough to find out that these Vishaps were afraid of the light and no longer needed to live in fear of being cut off from the rest of the world.
Over time, the people used thousands of lanterns along the area to try and ward them away, but their efforts were in vain. The people of Byakuyakoku cried and prayed to the Primordial One for salvation but were ignored. The only one who answered their call was one of the Primordial One’s shades, Istaroth.
The person named Istaroth in Genshin Impact is a god who ruled over time and wind, often more affiliated with the City of Mondstadt and going by many names. She is also more commonly referred to as the embodiment of a Thousand Winds. In Enkanomiya she was known as Kairos or Tokoyo Ookami, for she was the only one who had not forsaken them. She imbued Abrax, a man of particular genius who players learn is also named Aberaku, with knowledge on how to overcome the Vishap problem — the Dainichi Mikoshi.
Aberaku created an artificial sun called Helios or Hyperion, which was eventually called the "Dainichi Mikoshi" after the assimilation of Narukami (Inazuman) culture during Orobashi’s rule. This “Divine Chariot of the Sun'' provided enough light to scare the Bathysmal Vishaps away for good, and it also allowed the people of Byakuyakoku to experience day and night. Peace settled into Enkanomiya, and this ushered in the first year of the Sun and Moon.
The Era of The Sunchildren
In the second year of the Sun and Moon, corrupt nobles began to manipulate the people into worshiping the Dainichi Mikoshi as a god and used a child to act as their puppet ruler. This child ruler would come to be known as the Sunchild, who they would then use as their agent to rule over the land. Unfortunately, when the children grew of age, they began to realize the misdeeds they had been forced to commit and started speaking out of turn.
The nobles of the land found this to be a challenge and hatched a plan to make sure the children stayed young forever. Once a Sunchild reaches a certain age, the elders decided that each puppet leader would have to take part in a certain ritual known as the Rite of Solar Return. This ritual would have the children being lifted into the Helios of Genshin Impact, where they would then be burnt to ashes due to the rising hot temperatures.
In addition to that, the Sunchildren were not revered by the people of Byakuyakoku partly due to the fact that they were children and because many knew they were just spokespeople for the evil intentions of the corrupt nobles. The children were forced to read pre-written speeches and texts, which greatly angered the people. Even the citizens who were aware of the manipulation chalked their actions up to ignorance and treated these children like tyrants. Aberaku of Genshin Impact was the only adult among his people who confronted the elders about their wrongdoings. He wished for the Dainichi Mikoshi to be acknowledged as a work of genius and not worshipped as some false god for their own intentions.
Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan as the elders used the present Sunchild at the time, a child named Rikoru, to convict Aberaku of high treason. They manipulated Rikoru into believing that Aberaku was after his life and imprisoned him underneath the Helios. After Aberaku’s death, his bones and clothes were scattered around the land as a show of respect, and his memory is now preserved as a Sinshade (a ghost/aberration caused by the Leyline disorder that is linked to people's emotions).
The land continued to be governed by the Sunchildren and the elders began to experiment on the Vishaps' relation to the Dragon of Water. They would eventually come to learn that, although the Vishaps are descendants of the Sovereign Dragon of Water, they can no longer evolve into the Dragon of Water. This is due to the decades of isolation they experienced. Instead, the people of Enkanomiya learned of a prophecy stating that the Dragon of Water would be reborn as a human, who Genshin Impact players will come to know as Neuvillette.
Genshin Impact: The Rise and Fall of the Dragon Sovereigns Explained
The Seven Dragon Sovereigns in Genshin Impact are Teyvat's original rulers, but it isn't clear where some of them are in the modern world.
The Reign of Orobashi
Orobashi was a dragon-like serpent god who was supposedly born sometime before, or during, the Archon War. It fled Teyvat after being unable to defeat either Morax or Ei and found itself in a cave within the Dark Sea. The Dark Sea is also a more commonly used term by the people of Tevyat for the lost area into which Enkanomiya sank. A child who had sailed to the edge of Enkanomiya found Orobashi hiding and asked it to rule over them instead of the Sunchildren. The serpent God agreed to this and overturned the current government. Orobashi established itself as the new sovereign of Enkanomiya and was named the Watatsumi Omikami of Genshin Impact.
Due to Enkanomiya being cut off from the rest of the Genshin Impact world, Orobashi realized they were a civilization frozen in time and took measures to slowly incorporate the Narukami (Inazuma) culture into the lands. The people began to learn the language of Teyvat, the customs, and changed their personal names to mirror Inazuma linguistics. The region began to flourish under Orobashi's rule and a new prophecy unfolded, stating that Orobashi would save the people of Byakuyakoku by taking them up to the surface world.
How Watatsumi Island Came To Be
Orobashi soon came across a book called Before Sun and Moon, which recorded the history of the world that Celestia wanted concealed, partially because it revealed that the Primordial One and other gods came from outside Teyvat. This book had information on the existence of the “Old World” in Genshin Impact, the Seven Sovereigns, their defeat, and the war against the Second Who Came that caused Enkanomiya to sink into the depths of the ocean. This knowledge was deemed too great for any god to know and Celestia charged Orobashi with four counts of profanity and eight counts of deceiving living souls. They gave Orobashi an ultimatum, to either be sacrificed or the people of Enkanomiya would perish with it.
Orobashi adored its people and so decided to become the sacrificial pawn that Celestia requested of it. However, before doing so, it hatched a plan to conceal the real reason for its death and chose to fabricate a false truth. It decided to tell its people that it was running a military campaign against the Electro Archon of Genshin Impact due to lack of land and resources, which they suffered from. In addition to that, Orobashi also planned to bring everyone in Enkanomiya up to the surface and so told them to get ready for the ascension.
Orobashi then lifted the people up to the surface and created a clump of land near the entrance of Enkanomiya. This new land would come to be known as Watatsumi Island in Genshin Impact and its people built a shrine called the Sangonomiya Shrine to worship their god. Now that the first half of the plan was completed, Orobashi soon began the campaign against the Electro Archon. Sadly, the serpent god perished under the Shogun's Mosou no Hitotachi as planned, and the people of Watatsumi resented the Shogunate for slaying their god. Only the recordkeepers of Enkanomiya knew the truth, which had long been concealed, including the sacrifice that Orobashi made for its people.
Genshin Impact
- Released
- September 28, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Step into Teyvat, a vast world teeming with life and flowing with elemental energy.
You and your sibling arrived here from another world. Separated by an unknown god, stripped of your powers, and cast into a deep slumber, you now awake to a world very different from when you first arrived.
Thus begins your journey across Teyvat to seek answers from The Seven — the gods of each element. Along the way, prepare to explore every inch of this wondrous world, join forces with a diverse range of characters, and unravel the countless mysteries that Teyvat holds...
MASSIVE OPEN WORLD
Climb any mountain, swim across any river, and glide over the world below, taking in the jaw-dropping scenery each step of the way. And if you stop to investigate a wandering Seelie or strange mechanism, who knows what you might discover?
ELEMENTAL COMBAT SYSTEM
Harness the seven elements to unleash elemental reactions. Anemo, Electro, Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, Dendro, and Geo interact in all sorts of ways, and Vision wielders have the power to turn this to their advantage.
Will you vaporize Hydro with Pyro, electro-charge it with Electro, or freeze it with Cryo? Your mastery of the elements will give you the upper hand in battle and exploration.
BEAUTIFUL VISUALS
Feast your eyes on the world around you, with a stunning art style, real-time rendering, and finely tuned character animations delivering you a truly immersive visual experience. Lighting and weather all change naturally over time, bringing every detail of this world to life.
SOOTHING SOUNDTRACK
Let the beautiful sounds of Teyvat draw you in as you explore the expansive world around you. Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the soundtrack changes seamlessly with the time and gameplay to match the mood.
BUILD YOUR DREAM TEAM
Team up with a diverse cast of characters in Teyvat, each with their own unique personalities, stories, and abilities. Discover your favorite party combinations and level up your characters to help you conquer even the most daunting of enemies and domains.
JOURNEY WITH FRIENDS
Team up with friends across various platforms to trigger more elemental action, tackle tricky boss fights, and conquer challenging domains together to reap rich rewards.
As you stand atop the peaks of Jueyun Karst and take in the rolling clouds and vast terrain stretching out before you, you may wish to stay in Teyvat a little longer... But until you are reunited with your lost sibling, how can you rest? Go forth, Traveler, and begin your adventure!
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, iOS, Android
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action, Adventure, Gacha, Open-World
