The Song of the Welkin Moon teaser trailer for Nod-Krai has finally been released, named Moonlit Ballad of the Night. The five-minute-long trailer includes over 11 new characters, some well-known while others are completely new to the story. Alongside the new character reveals, we also received multiple hints for the upcoming Archon quest. Here is a complete Genshin Impact ‘Moonlit Ballad of the Night’ teaser trailer breakdown, so that you don’t miss out on any of the small details.
If you are here for information on the upcoming characters, then simply head to our Nod-Krai character list. This post focuses primarily on the lore hints revealed in the teaser.
1. Nod-Krai’s Secret is Connected to Mondstadt
Varka is one of the main highlights of the Moonlit Ballad of the Night teaser trailer. No one in the community expected to witness Varka’s face reveal so early. However, my interest lies somewhere else with Varka, i.e. his purpose in Nod-Krai. Thankfully, we get a slight hint about it in the teaser. When Nefer asks about his purpose, Varka replies that “I came here for the moon (Mondstadt)”.
When Varka mentions that he is here for the moon, the English subtitles include Mondstadt in brackets next to the word Moon. Now we know that Mondstadt literally translates to the moon city, but it might not be just wordplay. There is likely a connection between the Moon goddess or powers of Nod-Krai with Mondstadt, which itself is known to have existed since before the Seven.
2. Primordial Being
One of the more interesting lore drops in the teaser was the story of an era before the Descendants arrived on Teyvat. Whether this was during the time of the Seven Dragon Sovereigns or even before that is unclear. According to Nefer’s story, that era had no boundary of life and death, and willpower flowed freely among countless beings. Then, Nefer talks about the ‘Primordial Being’ that ruled the planet.
The Primordial Being that once ruled this planet, made three moons rise from the Earth…It was not until the Funerary Year that the primordial voice once again cried out in the darkness.
We’ve seen mentions of the Primordial One, who is referred to as the Heavenly Principles and the creator of Teyvat in Genshin Impact. However, whether the Primordial Being and the Primordial One refer to the same person is yet to be revealed.
Leaving the identity aside, it seems that the Primordial Being created the three moons, which are collectively known as the three sisters— the Iridescent Moon, Eternal Moon, and Frost Moon.
According to the lore, we know that two of the three sisters have died and the corpse of one of these sisters continues to illuminate the sky. The story of Nod-Krai will likely be around the third sister, or Frost Moon.
3. The Rebellion of the Frostmoon Scions
The Genshin Impact Archon quest cannot be without the Fatui butting their nose into everything, and that’s exactly what we can expect to happen in Nod-Krai as well. During the brief appearance of Sandrone, she mentions that the Frostmoon Scions have rebelled.
This means that the rebel is against Snezhnaya or the Tsaritsa. With Columbina appearing as the ‘Moon Maiden’, and not as a Fatui Harbinger, she can be the one who is rebelling against the Fatui.
4. Ancient Shadow
During the teaser, we get a brief look at Nicole Reeyn, who mentions that beyond the Moonlight’s reach, an Ancient Shadow is brandishing its claws aimed at the stars. The ‘Ancient Shadow’ is likely the Wild Hunt, which also appears to be connected to the Abyss. Here, the stars can only be Celestia and the Heavenly Principles. So, is this a hint that what lurks in the hidden depths of Nod-Krai can be used to collapse Celestia? We can only wait and see!
5. The Veil of Lies is Slipping
The biggest highlight of the teaser was Columbina’s appearance. With the title of the ‘Moon Maiden’, she was shown artistically side by side with one of the moons of Teyvat. Interestingly, Columbina almost speaks a prophecy that, when you take a closer look, may have big story significance.
In the water, the future mirrors the past, the veil of lies is slipping, the moon’s fall is nigh.
The ‘Veil of Lies’ interested me the most. This can only refer to the lies about Teyvat from the False Sky to the constellations. We already know that Heavenly Principles hide the true identity of Teyvat, and that might be what is slowly slipping.
Next, Columbina mentions that the Moon’s fall is near. This also hints that the ‘Lies of Teyvat’ may be connected to the moon. With the fall of the moon, we may finally understand the true nature of Teyvat.
6. Silver Blood
The Moonlit Ballad of the Night Genshin Impact trailer put a ton of emphasis on Lauma, one of the new characters of Nod-Krai. She is shown to beseech the ‘Pale White Frostmoon,’ and perform a unique ritual. During this ritual, she cuts her hand with a dagger and then uses the blood to draw a crescent moon on her forehead. Interestingly, we see that her blood is silver in color and not red.
Whether this is a common trend for all Frostmoon Scions or is only specific to Lauma is not known yet. However, once the blood drips into the water, we see it turning into the tendrils of the Wild Hunt. Although it is likely done for cinematic aesthetics, there is a possibility that the Wild Hunt is tied to the Lunar power unique to Nod-Krai.
7. The Wild Hunt is Looking for a Person
Speaking of the Wild Hunt, we unfortunately only get a brief peek at it in the trailer. However, what interested me the most is that the Wild Hunt almost appeared as hands trying to grab something.
When it attacks Flinn, one of the Lightkeepers revealed to be in Nod-Krai, we witness an interesting interaction with. Flinn addresses the Wild Hunt and says that it has the ‘wrong person’ before dissipating it. This might be a hint that the Wild Hunt is searching for a specific person, maybe the Moon Maiden herself?
8. Wanderer’s Old Score
At the end, we see the Wanderer appear in the Nod-Krai teaser. Before deciding to part ways, the ex-Fatui Harbinger was with Alice and Albedo. While going away, Wanderer mentions that he has an old score to settle in Nod-Krai.
From what we know of the Wanderer, he seems to be talking about ‘The Doctor’ here, the second-ranked Fatui Harbinger. He is well known for his cruel past involving countless victims, including Scaramouche, who becomes the Wanderer. This also means that The Doctor is active in Nod-Krai, even though he did not appear in the teaser.
So, these are eight details in the Nod-Krai teaser trailer titled Song of the Welkin Moon — Moonlit Ballad of the Night, I found worth mentioning. Did you notice something that we missed? Let us know in the comments.
