#but if i did't i'll go back and make edits

[mtkanna]

nymph's dream & the narzissenkreuz institute

nymph’s dream provides a few insights into the narzissenkreuz institute, the narzissenkreuz ordo, and the people within. i’ve done my best to determine which artifact is about which person, and what their wider lore implications are.

the odyssean flower

the flower isn’t associated with any specific member just yet. instead, it acts as an overarching theme of the narzissenkreuz ordo, and thus represents separation and new beginnings. the ordo’s name roughly means “order of the daffodil cross,” where the daffodil is usually symbolic of new beginnings and rebirth.

if anything, the flower should be associated with cater—a hilichurl rogue who keeps a flower yet to bloom, a memory and a reminder both, and “the flower within one’s dreams will always remain in full and fragrant bloom.” if not that, then perhaps mary-ann, whose memory remains in a field of blooming sunflowers…

“...a shadow still fell over the kingdom…”

so. the cataclysm happens. the director and her sisters aim to “defeat the evil at its source,” which most likely means that they went to the sign of apaosha in sumeru; at the same time, basil elton takes the sponsian to fight elynas. the other members of the narzissenkreuz order are mentioned:

alain guillotin – “[seeks out] the path ahead using the secrets of machinery,” who established the institute for the development of more meka and to try and make khaenri’ahn technology work on the surface;

jakob ingold – the “journey beyond normal comprehension,” who took on abyssal secrets and now works independently, fulfilling his own agenda;

caterpillar – “some still reminisce endless over the afternoon adventures…” the wilted flower, who spent an unknown number of years imprisoned as atonement for his acts beneath narzissenkreuz…

wicked mage’s plumule

a feather from basil elton’s hat. the feather itself—the original—can be found in annapausis, and contains “the power to advance a story forward.” so, then: the feather was basil elton’s, and came from an unknown bird. as part of the games they played as children, basil entrusted the feather to mary-ann, who later gave it to ann.

the feather would finally “reach the source of that which caused the calamity of parting…” and then return “from whence it came.” the calamity of parting most likely means the events that took place within elynas, or could mean elynas itself—the cause of basil elton’s death, the place where mary-ann died and the narzissenkreuz ordo was eventually divided…

which leaves the question: how does the feather make its way to annapausis, in a part of the story that ann has yet to reach? is there a greater chain of ownership than basil elton → mary-ann → ann?

nymph’s constancy

the first paragraph refers to the doomsday clock in the narzissenkreuz ordo. “their circle will begin anew [...] until such a time [...] where nothing will.” there are broader links here to the ideas of the samsara—that everything can be repeated and observed, again and again, throughout teyvat. the narzissenkreuz ordo is just one microcosm of it.

the pocket watch’s owner was most likely carter scherbius. “a tiny champion who loved machines” describes both him and alain guillotin, but we know that alain lived to an old age and was able to retire—carter, however, died young and was assimilated into the narzissenkreuz consciousness, perhaps by falling into “the primordial liquid that dissolves all.” the enigmatic pages mention that the pocket watch was left behind, when carter was being “[processed for rebirth.]”

we know that those who die in the primordial sea are ‘preserved,’ and though they lose their bodies their voices are still there, and can be heard with enough exposure. since everyone in the institute—particularly jakob ingold—was involved in researching the primordial sea, that would explain the records which state that carter’s vocal cords were preserved, inasmuch as a consciousness can be.

the second half of the timepiece just details the helixsplit and circumstances of ann’s creation. it can be read in annapausis at the fountain with the statue of mary-ann in a fuller form. the most crucial detail is that lyris “plunged into a stagnant slumber [...] and so remained untainted.” while this could be talking about the narzissenkreuz consciousness, i think it could instead be about the tainted waters in fontaine following the cataclysm, that led to every oceanid either leaving the land or dying.

heroes’ tea party

this one doesn’t give as much lore information. it does say that mary-ann was deeply attached to basil elton, and confirms that she was the one basil gave the feather to. the new home being one that “would not see the light of either sun or moon” feels like an implicit connection to enkanomiya, which has the clearest sun/moon motif i've seen so far.

but!! the most important thing to me is the narzissenkreuz ordo itself. depending on your quest progression, one of i think five tracks can play? these all use the same motif based on a six note-structure, the simplest form of which is the track ‘nymph’s tea party.’ it can also be observed in ‘dream through the looking-glass’ and ‘rondeau des fleurs et des rapieres.’ this draws my favourite conclusion up: sure, we know that the narzissenkreuz institute and the narzissenkreuz ordo are connected (it’s very very obvious from name alone), but this shows that mary-ann, alain, and the other named characters were all familiar with and even friends with the ordo! isn’t that neat!

also, the motif featuring in rondeau… the roundel of flowers and swords, the daffodil & the holy blade… it’s interesting, i think. very interesting.

fell dragon’s monocle

rene de petrichor, who later became the oceanid narzissenkreuz, had a monocle through which “one might be able to see the future.” this could be how he derived the ‘world formula’ through which he determined the fate of the world and the moment of disaster; or it could be the ‘looking glass’ entrance to the other world, the mirror of the book of revelation.

the heroes’ “different (expedient) holy swords” suggests that several holy blades did exist. there are the two holy swords which the traveller finds within annapausis, one real and one false within the bounds of the story, and the ‘key’ that rene used to create his own oceanid. the traveller sought out the true blade; rene chose the most convenient one.

like they were when they were younger, rene is the dragon and alain guillotin is the knight, now hero. the dragon “falls into the chasm that dissolves all things” and thus becomes the dragon; rene says a lot of things that are familiar because of elynas, like mentioning the ‘amniotic fluid of the world.’ the hero also becomes consumed by “a kingdom powered by machines,” begun through the creation of the research institutes, that aimed to understand and recreate khaenri’ahn energy sources, but still had yet to succeed. the dragon is dead and holds all of the answers; the hero dies later and creates a legacy for himself, but even that cannot find what he seeks.

conclusions

right now, the doomsday clock is minutes away from midnight. the pieces of the ordo are coming together again: ann as a vestige of mary-ann and seymour one of alain, caterpillar a shadow of himself… i think the next step is the resurrection of narzissenkreuz/rene at the moment of disaster, to see the fruition of his own world formula. the monocle does indicate that he will be reborn one day, after all. and maybe amidst it all the traveller finds another holy blade—a key, through which the door to another world can be shut.