Chapter Text
Oh, Rex Lapis, our divine benefactor!
Please provide us bountiful harvests and fortune in our trade!
We so humbly lay this tribute at your feet so that we may seek your favor!
The year of tribute has come once again to the country of Liyue, presided over by their god, the Geo Archon—Morax, Rex Lapis—oldest of the seven archons. From the outside, the country appears wealthy and self-sufficient by means of lush land and skillful merchants; but those who live within the warm land know that the true source of their affluence comes from the blessing of their god.
Rex Lapis is known as many things: the God of Commerce, of Wealth, of Martial Arts, and of War. But he is most commonly known as the God of Contracts. Thousands of years ago, the first settlers of Liyue formed a contract with Rex Lapis in order to protect their new home from the hordes of creatures that still roamed Teyvat. The god accomplished his side of the agreement, casting down his stone spears to eradicate the humans’ foes and laying the foundation for the settlements that would dot the Liyuen landscape. The only payment the god asked for in return was a tribute every forty years of their finest goods produced from his charity.
And thus the tradition began, and the country flourished.
Every forty years, the people of Liyue provide results of their god’s blessing in the finest clothes, the most precious of jewelry, the most exquisite food, and other items of similar value and lay them at an altar atop Mount Tianheng. After the worshippers finish their prayers and depart the holy mountain, their god descends from Celestia with amber wings to collect it.
One such year, however, things are different.
Morax touches ground at the familiar altar and surveys his bounty, but an odd sound immediately catches his attention.
A baby’s cry.
Curious at the noise, he approaches the grand pile to find a plain basket near the offering table nestled among golden valuables and fine linens. Within the basket lies a baby boy with fiery red hair and eyes as blue as noctilucous jade.
Morax is furious.
How dare the humans give such a mockery of an offering! The god fumes. Human life is not nearly valuable enough to pass as tribute.
Human life is fleeting, a mundane thing that cannot compare to the constancy of mora nor match the shining beauty of the fine clothing the archon adorns his divine body.
This baby…is an insult.
Morax lifts the basket under his arm and walks to the mountain’s edge, eyeing the Liyuen landscape below him. One of the cities or villages out there must be the culprit. The god scolds himself for not keeping a closer eye on his worshippers. If only he had monitored their delivery of his tribute, he’d have known who would dare to insult the archon and deal punishment solely to that community. But he had not, so his rage sits unabated.
Well, almost. He can still reject the offering by casting it from the mountain for the mortals to find later.
That will show them what their god thinks of such paltry offerings. They will know better for next time.
He raises the basket in the air and hangs it over the edge, fury burning in his golden eyes.
Then…a tiny hand reaches up and grabs his thumb.
The flame within the archon’s chest extinguishes immediately.
He pulls the basket back towards him and eyes the tiny boy, his clawed thumb still firmly within the babe’s hold. Big blue eyes look up at him filled with wonder, and a coo escapes his little mouth.
Then a thought enters Morax’s mind.
This boy…was abandoned. He means nothing to anyone anymore.
Would discarding the boy truly make the impact he wishes to make?
No…the child was already cast out, treated no more than an object to appease an ancient god in exchange for fortune. His worth was already determined before he was even given a life to live.
Morax stares at the baby and feels his sense of justice stir within him.
At this moment, he is in control of this child’s entire existence. His decision here can either prolong or end its life.
What do the mortals think he will do with him? Eat him?
No, Morax would not do such a primitive thing.
Instead, he pulls his thumb away from the babe to press it firmly onto the boy’s chest. A golden symbol representing the god’s element—of geo—pulses on the boy’s flesh before it fades away. The boy only babbles in response to the seal placed upon him.
I will right this wrong that has been done to you. The god promises the boy in his arms. I will raise you until you are old enough, so that you may return to the mortals and prove to them the value of your life.
This is the contract the Geo Archon makes with the child before he ascends with him and his bounty back to the heavens.