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Perinheri is one of the books that Arlecchino talks about in Genshin Impact's Archon Quest, "A Nation That Doesn't Exist." This is a book that has existed in-game since the release of version 4.5, and only recently, players are visiting its story again because some of the lore is becoming relevant in the main storyline.It was released as a two-volume book collection in Fontaine, available for purchase from Hubel at his Newsstand. Although it reads as an old romance with tragedy and a love triangle trope, there's more to it because the setting of the story is during the period of the Crimson Moon Dynasty in Khaenri'ah. Let’s break down Perinheri’s story, its parallels, and the recent easter eggs of lore in the main story.The story behind Perinheri in Genshin ImpactAbyss Sibling running through the ruins of Khaenri'ah in Genshin Impact (Image via HoYoverse)Perinheri was written for many generations, according to the author, and they claim that the setting of this legendary story existed long before the Cataclysm. The first volume begins in an unknown era where the Crimson Moon was in the sky instead of the dark sun that later defined Khaenri'ah's Eclipse Dynasty in Genshin Impact.This is relevant as it matches the same truth relayed by Arlecchino, who also acknowledges that the details about the kingdom during that era match those from her memories and records. The kingdom was built at such a point that things from outside the world would come leaking into it, or rather, crashing into it. This ranged from beings, objects, to children whose homeland was destroyed.As a player, you must find this part of the story oddly familiar in Genshin Impact's lore. The Traveler and their sibling once mentioned that their own homeland was destroyed too. Only after that, they began their journey, traveling from world to world until they reached Teyvat.Instead of being afraid of this phenomenon, the kingdom chose to shelter them in an orphanage for the children where they mixed their native borns with them. In fact, the public also regarded them to be signs of divine intervention (Descenders) because of their ability not to be held back by the laws of Teyvat.Perinheri's role in his storyIridescent Moon or the Crimson Moon in Genshin Impact (Image via HoYoverse)Perinheri himself was one of the children who came from beyond. His first memory after he came was crawling through a pitch-black chimney filled with coal ash, which was a ritual meant to test his and other children's spirits. The people on the other side kept asking him if he had died or seen the Crimson Moon. After much time of hunger and exhaustion, he did see an illusion of the red fiery moon with an eye looking at him. When he was finally allowed to come out, covered in soot, the adults declared that he had “traversed the fire of two worlds” and been reborn. Whether this was an initiation rite or an attempt to create similar beings is unclear, but it shows how Khaenri’ah even experimented on divine potential. As time passed, Perinheri became one of the kingdom’s most accomplished knights. He stood beside his friend and rival Hleobrant, and they both represented Khaenri’ahn’s chivalry with their able bodies and strength.The love triangleHowever, the arrival of a woman named Angelica changed everything. She claimed herself to be a foreign princess from a nation that was conquered by “Deus Auri,” (Zhongli/Rex Lapis). She carried herself like a prophet, calling herself “one who is as a divine emissary.” Her presence did fascinate the knights, but none more so than Hleobrant, who immediately started crushing on her.Perinheri, on the other hand, remained skeptical of Angelica. He followed his friend out of concern while strongly suspecting that Angelica’s words about the “outside world” were too strange to be true. But he knew he couldn't ignore her power and the hold she had on his friend.Things did take a turn for the worse as Hleobrant's infatuation led him to challenge all the knights to duels to seek constant validation and worthy of Angelica's affection. Instead of stepping in and taking matters into her hands, Angelica encouraged this behavior of his by mocking his methods even more. She further fueled his jealousy even more by listing how Perinheri and four other warriors in this land are more powerful than him. And sure enough, his obsession made him completely mad and unpredictable. Perinheri believed that only by killing Angelica could he save his friend and the kingdom from her influence. The pursuit and the rise of the dark sun in Genshin ImpactThe door to Khaenri'ah under Sumeru (Image via HoYoverse)A very chaotic pursuit soon occurred, where all three of them even went beyond the borders of their kingdom. And sure enough, Angelic reveals her true nature to them, claiming that Hleobrant's madness wasn't caused by her but by a curse. She further explained that he was likely a descendant of those who once betrayed their god and fled with his bloodline tainted from this sin. Perinheri carried no such story or a bloodline as he was a drifter or a wanderer from beyond, just like her, except she didn't belong to any god or divine order. At the moment of sunrise, Perinheri finally saw the real sun for the first time. The book describes how he dropped his sword and covered his face in awe, looking at how dark it was. The land was vast and lifeless under the sun, with no gods, as if it were a paradise or a curse altogether. This was the moment in Genshin Impact when the Crimson Moon Dynasty had come to a decline, becoming 'eclipsed' by the dark sun and ushering in the Eclipse Dynasty of Khaenri'ah.Themes and parallels in Perinheri’s storyArlecchino with Lyney and Lynette representing House of the Hearth (Image via HoYoverse)When looked at closely, Perinheri reads less like a knight’s story and more like an allegory about Khaenri’ah’s struggle with divinity. The orphanage represents the kingdom’s attempt to create or nurture beings that could reach beyond the grasp of the gods (Heavenly Principles). The repeated mention of “children from beyond” mirrors the concept of Descenders, like the Traveler in Genshin Impact.The changing of the scenery from the Crimson Moon to the dark sun marks the transition between their dynasties and the shift from the moon to an age of alchemy, technology, and the Abyss. Hleobrant’s curse shows how Khaenri’ah’s obsession with purity and bloodlines led to self-destruction, which is also seen in the recent Archon Quest Act IV, "An Elegy for Faded Moonlight."The book also reflects a parallel to the Fatui’s House of the Hearth in Genshin Impact. The orphanage described in the tale resembles the Hearth’s function of raising “special” children under Fatui care. Considering that Pierro, the First Fatui Harbinger, was a former Khaenri’ahn scholar, this parallel seems deliberate. Perinheri’s legend is one of Genshin Impact’s most layered pieces of lore by mirroring Khaenr'ah's ambitions and their flaws. Beneath its tragic love story, it also reflects the era it was set in. It may continue to hold even more clues connected to Genshin Impact’s ongoing Nod-Krai storyline, focusing on Teyvat’s ancient past.
