The lore ofGenshin Impactnever fails to amaze when it comes to building complex histories across the world of Teyvat. Ancient civilizations lay buried in lore, and some are only talked about in books, enigmatic pages, or scattered journals. Not only was time spent developing these worlds, but there’s always the chance that they may bring insight into the current situation inGenshin Impact’s Teyvat. After all, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
The one ancient civilization that most players are sure to be familiar with isthe ancient civilization of Khaenri’ah. But this isn’t the only old world out there. After all, when people first move somewhere, there is history to be found there before the modern era comes to be. Every nation that players have access to has a history of people who came before, even Mondstadt.
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Updated July 26, 2025, by Blade Moore: As more regions come out and more information surfaces, even more extinct civilizations will come to light. After the introduction of Fontaine, the ancient civilization of Remuria was found. More ancient civilizations like this one are sure to be added as each patch or region comes out with more lore for players to discover.
Khaenri’ah - A Nation Outside the Gaze of the Gods
Most players are familiar with this ancient land, as it is the most prominent and most mentioned among all ancient civilizations. The Abyss Sibling witnesses its destruction and seems to want to avenge it. However, in its day, Khaenri’ah is described as prosperous for its innovation and technology. It was most known for the ancient art of Khemia, a dangerous sort of alchemy capable of creating synthetic humans when in the right hands, like those ofRhinedottir of the Hexenzirkel.
The ancient civilization was not ruled by a god, but rather, by the Eclipse Dynasty. They were a royal family, though it is not known just how many members there were. One thing that is known is that there was a king named Irmin, bearing a striking name-resemblance toGenshin Impact’s Irminsul tree. There were also royal guards called theBlack Serpent Knights, which were under the Twilight Sword’s (Dainsleif) command.
Ultimately, the underground nation fell when Rhinedottir’s creations attracted the attention of Celestia. Some Khaenri’ahns were cursed with immortality while others were turned into monsters.
Sal Vindagynr - A City on Dragonspine
Interestingly enough, there is not much known about the time period in which Sal Vindagynr was active. Instead, there is a lot of lore hidden throughout ancient texts about the collapse of this civilization. This place was whereGenshin Impact’s Dragonspineis today, though back then it was not so snowy. The in-game text describes the old land as a lush, green mountain. Most notably, the land had a princess capable of seeing the future. One day, she foresaw a dark dragon that would bring ruin to their land — this dragon was Durin, the dragon whose corpse lay in Dragonspine.
Supposedly around the time of the princess’s vision (the details are unclear), the Skyfrost Nail fell fromGenshin Impact’s high-above ‘nation’ of Celestia. Mysteriously, it shattered into three pieces before breaking even further. It is unknown why the Celestial Nail fell at all. The kingdom had once been home to an important white tree that was broken when a piece of the nail hit it. The princess attempted to save the tree by grafting it onto another, but she failed and perished by the original. Eventually, the only survivor of the land was an outlander who felt betrayed by Celestia for these events.
Guili Assembly - Morax’s Settlement Before Liyue Harbor
Happening well over 3,000 years ago, Geo Archon Morax and the God of Dust Guizhong ruled over the Guili Assembly with support from other adepti and gods such as Marchosius (now known asXiangling’s companion Guoba). It was an expansive land known well for its engineering skills. Even the adepti and gods held friendly competitions to show off their inventions with one another. Cloud Retainer and Guizhong often held competitions and asked Morax for his opinion on whose invention was better. Guizhong was often the winner.
However, when the Archon War began and Guizhong fell, so too did the Guili Assembly. Sometime after this, Liyue Harbor was established and the people were devastated at the loss of Guizhong. Before this war, she had begun construction of the Guizhong Ballista but had not finished it. Cloud Retainer finished the defensive weapon, which was designed to aim automatically at any perceived threats, even as small asGenshin Impact’s Treasure Hoarders.
Enkanomiya - Home of the Danichi Mikoshi
Underthe island of Watatsumilived possibly one of the most ancient civilizations in Teyvat’s history. Shortly after the Primordial One defeated the Seven Sovereigns, humans were made to roam the planet’s surface. It’s implied Enkanomiya was above the surface before The Second Who Came dueled with the Primordial One and sunk the nation as it got caught in the crossfire. The people still managed to thrive underwater. However, it wasn’t until three years passed that they could truly prosper.
It was then that Istaroth granted them the knowledge needed to create the Dainichi Mikoshi to create light, sinceGenshin Impact’s Vishapsdid not like the light and the lanterns the people had been using prior were not enough to keep them at bay. However, there was a society of corrupt nobles who ruled the land and pushed all the blame onto puppet rulers they called the Sunchild. As they were a child, they could not truly rule, meaning the nobles were the ones forcing them to carry out the dark tasks they wanted. But when Orobashi fell into Enkanomiya and was asked to act as their god, they overthrew the ruling class and brought some people up to the surface, to Watatsumi.
Remuria - A Roman Allegory in Fontaine
Remuria is the ancient civilization that Fontaine has to claim. The kingdom was ruled by God King Remus, whose authority could not be challenged — being vaguely reminiscent ofGenshin Impact’s Celestiain that matter. He was not the only one at its helm, as he had four others to assist him: Boethius, Cassiodor, and two other unnamed humans. Their role in government was known as Harmost, likely taking inspiration from the Roman word by the same name, meaning military governor.
King Remus valued music and taught the people of Meropis this alongside the basics, such as farming and construction, when he arrived there. He did his best to conquer the lands while keeping his people in mind. However, he wasn’t necessarily a kind soul — he knew Remuria was prophesied to fall (similarly tothe prophecy of Fontaine) and tried to eliminate all that might oppose him, such as Vishaps.
He tried to have his people escape the flood by mixingGenshin Impact’s primordial seawaterwith a so-called “immortal stone” to create a device that would hold his people’s minds and souls so he could save them. But since he had slain so many Vishaps, they’d gathered under a ruler known as Scylla and rebelled against him. Right as he went to give one last order, Boethius took Scylla into the same device meant to hold the people and the Abyss swept the people away.
King Deshret’s Civilization - The Rise and Fall
At the beginning of Sumeru’s human civilization, King Deshret had made a deal withDragon Sovereign Apep. Apep would grant him a vast swath of land in the desert, but would receive all of his elemental power and forbidden knowledge upon death. King Deshret began to gather the scattered tribes, using the Jinn as messengers to connect with the humans. Meanwhile, King Deshret created the city of Akhtamun.
TheJinn players know best, Liloupar, was seeking out a vessel at the time. Once she’d gotten him, she created Gurabad and gathered the humans there as King Deshret had instructed. The land prospered and the vessel, Ormazd, dedicated much of this glory to King Deshret, even though his inclusion in Gurabad is foggy. At some point, Liloupar grew to love Ormazd, but he soon disappointed her. She thought he could be the one to lead humanity into an era without slavery, but he grew to be tyrannical. Seeing no other way, she sought revenge.
Liloupar planned to destroy Gurabadusing her own children. First, she said her daughter would fall in love with someone and bear a child greater than the father. She said her family would have sweet ends and that she alone would inherit the land. And she was right — Liloupar’s daughter, Shirin, killed her family with poisoned honey. With everyone dead, Shirin was the only one left standing. When King Deshret heard of Liloupar’s plot, he was furious and spread her spirit across the desert to stop this from continuing.
But even without Liloupar’s destruction or betrayal, King Deshret was doomed to fail. His obsession with forbidden knowledge was his downfall. He cursed his people with Eleazar and brought the Withering to Sumeru.Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, one of his dearest friends, did her best to try and ease the suffering he had caused. But eventually, as per their agreement, Apep had to consume him and all of his forbidden knowledge.
The modern-day Eremites are descendants of King Deshret’s people, and many think it’s possible that he can return and reclaim his throne over the land of Dendro.
