The Tragic Tale Behind the 5-Star Weapon in Genshin Impact’s Chenyu Vale

Chenyu Vale, the newest area on the map of Teyvat, has deep lore hidden in every nook and cranny. With this new addition to Liyue, Genshin Impact has added hours of content that further explore the storied nation’s creation. The land has been shaped by the actions of adepti, like the game’s newest 5-star character, Xianyun. Chenyu Vale is a gorgeous, mountainous vista known for its tea production, but it wasn’t always so idyllic. One of the relics of the Archon War left behind in the Vale explains just how brutal the distant past was in Genshin Impact.



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Genshin Impact Player Finds Powerful Weapon in New Chenyu Vale Area

A Genshin Impact player finds a powerful five-star weapon, the polearm Calamity Queller, while exploring the recently added Chenyu Vale.

Who Wielded the Genshin Impact’s Calamity Queller Before?

In a cave in the Yaodie Valley of Chenyu Vale’s southern mountainside, players have found a familiar-looking polearm stuck in a rock. Although dusty and forgotten now, the design is undeniably that of the Calamity Queller, a 5-star weapon that was first released in Version 2.4. As it turns out, this is the original version of the weapon, and it has been languishing in the dark since the end of the Archon War. A “wind-worn inscription” on the polearm reads:


…This spear once had the name ‘Calamity Queller’ engraved upon it, and it was meant to head off disaster. Its previous owner–my comrade–swore to inherit its will and suppress a great catastrophe, but failed to live up to this oath… The demons have yet to be purged, but this treasure has been damaged by a quarrel between old friends… Thus it has been left, and here it will lie until sins have been cleansed, and the time comes when this spear shall be retrieved once more…

The previous owner in question here is the Yaksha Bosacius, one of the Five Yaksha that served Morax during and after the Archon War. The Five Yaksha, save for lone survivor Xiao, all met terrible fates. Because of the karmic darkness that the yaksha faced, each one steadily went mad over the centuries. The “quarrel between old friends” in the inscription refers to the battle between Yaksha Bonanus and Yaksha Menogias, and it is implied that they killed each other in a fierce fight.


Menogias has been given particular attention during this year’s Lantern Rite. His Chinese title translates to “General Monkey-Mind” and this is reflected in the giant, monkey-like statue of him illuminated in Liyue Harbor to celebrate the new year. Furthermore, Xianyun shares a memory of him with the Traveler, saying that he was a tailor who foisted new outfits upon his fellow yaksha. Even when Rex Lapis himself complained of the clothing’s impracticality, Menogias was stubborn and could not be swayed.

Shenhe’s Signature Weapon in Genshin Impact

The new wielder of the Calamity Queller is Shenhe, a 5-star Cryo character and adoptive daughter of Xianyun, who is known as Cloud Retainer in the world of adepti. Though Shenhe is not an adeptus herself, she has the otherworldly temperament of one due to the red ropes binding her soul and keeping her homicidal tendencies in check. It is interesting, then, that she was chosen to wield the Calamity Queller given its description:


The Calamity Queller was also lost, together with the Yaksha who wielded it — both returned to silence. In times thereafter, those who wielded this spear would largely meet similar fates. But there were people who would fight without requiring orders or protect people without taking any oaths. For them, such a fate was hardly one to be lamented… It is also said that this spear was once borrowed from someone. And in a deserted, water-eroded cave, it would bear witness to a clash between intimate friends.

The two descriptions connect to tell the tragedy of Xiao’s former friends. It also implies that the weapon is cursed, much like how Shenhe was described as a “cursed child” after the events that led her into Xianyun’s care.

Xiao, who was once known as Yaksha Alatus, is on the current banner for the Version 4.4 update. He is less apt to share details of the past in the way that Xianyun often does. Given her knowledge and having lived through the era of the yaksha, it is entirely possible that she is aware of the history behind the Calamity Queller.


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Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact is an open-world RPG made by MiHoYo. Focusing on the interactions between seven elements, Genshin Impact is a free-to-play gacha game with a host of characters, weapons, regions, and more.

Released
September 28, 2020

Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer

Engine
Unity

ESRB
T for Teen – Fantasy Violence, Alcohol Reference

Metascore
86

Platforms That Support Crossplay
Mobile, PC, PS4 & PS5

PS Plus Availability
N/A