Temple of Space/History

The timeline of historical events within the Temple of Space.

Story

History

The people of Great Arcadia once worshipped both Istaroth and Asmoday. They built the Thousand Winds Temple, dedicated to the Master of Time, and the Temple of Space, dedicated to the Master of Space, which were once connected to each other. Following a disaster, the Temple of Space was lifted into the heavens, where its presence and shadow were concealed from the world. During the temple's halcyon days, its god was never present; only after the temple's destruction did Asmoday's gaze briefly fall upon it, transforming it into what it is today. From that moment onward, it served as a silent watchtower overlooking the world and was designated by Asmoday as "Segment-Domain Tau." Meanwhile, the ruins left behind on the surface were eventually expanded and transformed into a sanatorium.^[1]

At some point, Asmoday disappeared from the Temple of Space. After her disappearance, Nihilita opened his eye^[2] after countless aeons of nescience and came to understand the truths of the world.^[3] By doing so, he defied Asmoday's will, abandoned his duties as a Watcher, and left the temple. Melanta, however, remained in the Cage of Suchness and assumed control of the temple, condemning Nihilita as a traitor while rigidly enforcing his creator's laws.^[4]

In Asmoday's absence, the other Shades began introducing objects they found interesting into the exhibition halls^[5] and permitting minor changes:^[4] Ronova installed the Maranasati Caskets to guard the Apathic Interval,^[6][7] while Naberius, Ronova, and Istaroth commissioned Venipi to recreate a Sumerian desert complex from memory, resulting in the present-day Desert Pavilion.^[8]

Driven mad by longing for Asmoday and the perceived corruption of her laws, Melanta sought to restore everything to its "proper" state. He punished the temple's inhabitants by trapping those in the Mahavaipulya Chamber between pages for blurring the line between history and fiction through their novels,^[9] reducing the people of Luyang Academy to ink blots trapped within paintings,^[10] and turning the inhabitants of the Desert Pavilion to sand while exiling "Maukie" for "defiling the laws of space."^[8]

Over time, the temple's laws began to falter,^[9] and the boundary between the temple and Teyvat weakened, causing Domain Keepers to fall from the heavens onto Windrest Peak.^[4]

Raumhilda's Visit

Seeking to free the Temple of Space from Melanta's tyranny, Nihilita waited in a secluded spot in Windrest Peak for someone capable of fulfilling the task. While Raumhilda was staying at the local sanatorium, she encountered Nihilita during a midnight walk. He entrusted her with the juvenile Watcher Dex and asked her to liberate the Temple of Space.^[11]

After arriving at the temple and witnessing the suffering of its inhabitants under Melanta's tyranny, Raumhilda sacrificed her memories to create the Path to the Heavens and confronted him. When the two failed to reach an accord, she promised that her younger sister Zeitlind would one day come and defeat him. Raumhilda later returned to Teyvat with her memories erased, while Melanta, in a fit of rage, destroyed half of the Corridor of Nothingness and severed the Path to the Heavens.^[9][11]

Present

During the World Quest Series A Long Day in the Mountains, the Traveler and Paimon meet Zeitlind and later Nihilita, who recognizes the Traveler as he knows about their encounter with Asmoday at the beginning of their journey. As he once did with Raumhilda, Nihilita entrusts Dex to the Traveler and sends them to the Temple of Space to free it from Melanta's control.

Inside the temple, they meet Istoria and help him in gradually restoring the three exhibition spaces while liberating their inhabitants. Although Melanta attempts to stop them, he ultimately loses control and turns the sky and the temple's structures red. Afterwards, he casts the Traveler, Istoria, Zeitlind, and Dex into the Apathic Interval, but they escape without abandoning their desires by destroying the Maranasati Caskets with Dex's help.

After returning, the group reestablishes the severed Path to the Heavens by sacrificing Zeitlind's memories, which merge with the remnants of Raumhilda's to form a stable path to the Cage of Suchness. Traversing the Corridor of Nothingness, the Traveler experiences the fantasies once shared by the two sisters before finally confronting Melanta.

After being defeated by the Traveler in battle, Melanta realizes that all creations became free the moment Asmoday disappeared. He admits that his actions such as exiling "Maukie" and severing the Path to the Heavens have triggered his self-destruction. Although he insists he only wished to "correct" the temple's inhabitants, he ultimately confesses his jealousy of Nihilita's freedom and his desire for Asmoday's approval before ultimately self-destructing, directing his final words to Nihilita.

References