Transcript for:
Natlan Teaser Discussion Notes

Hey guys whats up, Aru. So the latest Natlan  teaser just released, I mean was released   a while ago. But I’ve been pondering about why  Natlan’s saurians are all mixed in some way with   different elements, and how come we haven't seen  any straight up pyro element being shown, in the   land of pyro. Granted its just a preview teaser,  trailer, short video, but come on. But maybe these   6 mixed fire-breathing saurians can all become a  completely pyro sovereign? With the recent saurian   “negotiation” event, maybe we can find out what  these other saurians are as well as what element   they are mixed with. Going over each saurian in  Natlan’s teaser, the possible companions in the   Specially shaped Saurian Search event, as well  as what these entail for the Region of Pyro that   doesn't seem to have a pure pyro ecology compared  to other regions. That and some thoughts on their   culture, and traditions that will hopefully help  in setting us up for Natlan in the near future.   Timestamps will, of course, be down below if  you want a specific segment, let's get started. Now we already know that Natlan is located on the  western side of the continent next to Sumeru’s   Great Red Sand region. Which after the release of  all of Sumeru, Natlan would be located here. And   within Natlan’s teaser, we can sort of assume that  this place here is the first area of Natlan that   we’ll get to see. Natlan is known for its graffiti  and murals that can be seen all over the region,   I mean just look at this huge one here. Also  that corpse of a leviathan is all to similar to   Fontaines, and Inazumas whale leviathan corpses.  hot springs which possess healing capabilities.   This means that the natural geography of Natlan,  more specifically its volcanoes. Prominent all   over the region, and could be the likely source  of these healing properties. The reasons for why   Natlan’s volcanoes would possess such abilities  is still unknown. But we do have at least one   person whose lore reflects the recuperation from  healing flames. Bennett’s lore story mentions   being found by an adventurer after going  through scorching heat, deafening thunder,   and ripping winds. The concept of Passion, and  treasure or glory is also emphasized in his story,   as well as Bennett’s Character title:  Trial by Fire, and its Chinese translation;   Touchstone of Fate. Which ties in with  Natlan’s long mentioned lines in Traveil,   and the endless Ring of Fire that the Capitano  has taken part in, and is mentioned by Ranjit as   a reason for taming the greatest companion as  a trial for his protagonistic tale. Something   that all of these share is a story worth  telling to your friends too, a tale that   the people of Natlan might enjoy listening to.  Now, these same characteristics can also be found   in the “Mare Jivari '', a place once overflowing  with a black turbid tide, that was ventured into   by the great Tenoch, the 6 Tribes, and their  saurian companions. Today, the Mare Jivari is   a sea of flames, sea of ashes, or a sea of lava,  where journey’s would end. And is also where the   mythical Lavawalker walked until he perished.  It's also possible that certain volcanoes can   heal while others are just normal volcanoes.  Maybe places such as these are where the trial   of fire and passion takes place, and where only  those whose passion burns bright may be allowed   the healing properties of Natlan. But what does  this mean for Natlan’s dragons, rather Saurians? NO PURE PYRO DRAGON - All dragons breath fire,  but mixed with other elements - weaker descendant   forms Saurians are any of a group   of reptiles including the lizards and in older  classifications the crocodiles and various extinct   forms (as the dinosaurs) that look like lizards,  at least that's what the dictionary says. The   word saurian at some point also was exclusively  restricted to lizards or resembling a lizard.   Which means that any form of lizard/lizard-like  creature can be called saurian, and in teyvat this   means Vishaps and Dragons. But why not just call  them Vishaps? I mean they all have similar designs   to vishaps already, so giving them the same  name would have been much simpler, right? Well,   in the world of Genshin the name “Saurian” could  have likely stemmed from the Dragonlords and   Vishaps themselves. If we call anything in real  life that looks like a lizard and or dinosaur a   “saurian”. Then maybe the modern day dragon-like  or lizards of Natlan follow the same principle.   But classifying them as such would mean that they  are different enough from vishaps to deserve their   own name, and to separate them from actual  vishaps, and by extension a “Real Dragon”. Ranjit from the “Specially Shaped Saurian”  event quest mentioned that Natlan is home to   the fire-breathing saurians. Which could mean  that all saurian types.Regardless if they’re   part of the 6 shown in the teaser, can manipulate  or have the ability to use pyro. Ranjit’s lines   about slime becoming saurians is also interesting  since they are both elemental creatures. But maybe   he meant slime saurians as “pets” rather than  elemental creatures. When it comes to elemental   beings like dragons, slimes, and vishaps, they  are essentially made with their core element in   mind. In some cases these elemental vishaps can  harness different elements, which can be seen in   many vishaps and especially from the Geo vishap  Azdaha. But mixing with even a single element   means that they are adding “impurities” to their  original forms. Thus creating the lesser dragons   known as vishaps that you see today. Or maybe  the beasts of Natlan fed on a greater lifeform   similar to the consecrated beasts. And only a pure  single elemental vishap may then become a Dragon,   and in some cases a Pure Hydro Sovereign, which  we can see from Neuvillette himself, paired with   the lore of vishap findings from Enkanomiya.  Or maybe the Pyro Dragon left Natlan when they   died, which could be far more concerning. If  we think of Nibelung as the Pyro Sovereign   and Dragon King, he might have fallen into the  abyss or was consumed by it after learning about   Forbidden Knowledge. Interestingly, Durin the  Abyssal Dragon exhibited flames in his cinematic   with Dvalin. Maybe Durin came from the corpse of  the Abyss stricken Nibelung? As another thought,   one of the saurians that could traverse through  water and lava looked similar to the bathysmal   vishaps, stingrays or sea hare found in Fontaine,  especially the early concept arts. So maybe the   corpse of Elynas, whichever dragon template he  was created from, followed this same structure   of a sleek but webbed dragon. And in turn Durin,  might also have followed a fire-breathing dragon   template or vessels when Rhinnedottir gave them  “strong healthy bodies” using Khemia. But that   wouldn't really make sense since Elynas and Durin  attacked around after the Cataclysm. It does make   you wonder though how Rhinnedottir was able to  make a full scale dragon, and from what corpses   did she make them with, but thats a different  theory. With regards to Natlan’s saurians the   level of intermingling with different elements  might have occurred so much that every saurian   in the land can breathe fire, but have “diluted”  their original pyro descent. This would mean that   even if there are several breeds, or types of  saurians in Natlan, 6 or more. All of these might   be impure forms of the true pyro dragons. However,  this also means that every type of saurian has the   innate ability to focus their elemental power, and  produce a pure Pyro saurian, then becoming a Pyro   dragon. So, a Pyro sovereign is still in Natlan,  the same way Neuvillette was in Fontaine. Or if we   assume that there hasn't been a pure Pyro dragon,  maybe these 6 tribes need to be unified again to   merge all 6 different types of mixed pyro saurian  descendants into one pure pyro sovereign breed. Teaser - 6 dragon types - 3/6  showcased - other 3 is wild/untamed  Something else I’ve been pondering over is if each  saurian type relates to the six tribes, or is it   just the 6 saurians found within Natlan? I mean it  in a sense that some of these saurian types might   not even be easy to befriend. I mean a saurian  like the Teppetlisauri of the eastern mines of   Natlan might be friendlier to humans than, say,  this rathalos looking one here. And I think it   would give a bit more depth to each saurian type  if we had to befriend each one. Compared to what   Ranjit was trying to do, which is to just beat  up monsters and call it “Negotiation”. Buddying   up with saurians seems like a harder task too,  maybe comparable or even harder than speaking to   hilichurls. So having companions in Natlan would  be a show of both skill, and knowledge with each   different saurian type. Each with specific ways  of befriending, and found in different biomes   within the region. Hence the vast difference  in terrain for every saurian type that we see   in the trailer. Only 4 out of 6 have been seen so  far, with the 4th one possibly being this winged   saurian in the trailer. The other 2 I still don't  know, but they do look like a consecrated Vulture,   a Jadeplume Terrorshroom, The Mellenial  SeaHorse, as well as the emperor of Fire and   Iron. So maybe the remaining saurians look like  the monsters we tried to buddy up with Ranjit. "New Friend with Blooming "Fire"-power - Burning  Up” You may think that a Regisvine is the farthest   creature from a saurian, and your right, sort  of… But Ranjit could be emphasizing the hot   climate and the concentrated pyro energies that  can be physically felt once in Natlan. Notably   if we think of places like Africa and some  countries around the Pacific Ring of Fire;   very high humidity levels, and one of the most  tropical places in the world in comparison.   So that excessive Pyro you feel on your skin,  paired with the moisture from the plantlife is   the closest you can feel that Natlan can be,  atleast based on Ranjit. Now, as for saurian   regisvines? Maybe this saurian here is a mix  between an elemental saurian, and a whopper   flower. Maybe this saurian has a massive tail  that resembles a new species of fauna, a venus fly   trap, or a cobra plant perhaps. If dendro already  has a mix saurian then maybe this is similar to   the oceanid or the electro manifestations? Or  maybe a resurgent cryo regisvine of some sort? "Puckering Cold Puppy - Cold, Round Belly!” The  next and most obvious is the Primo Geovishap which   Ranjit said was similar to the Teppetlisauri. A  saurian specific to mining in the eastern areas   of Natlan The fact that geo vishaps also dig  could also mean that they stem from the same   gene of old world vishaps too. But compared to  both the Teppetlisauri and the vishap hatchling,   a Primo Geovishap has what Ranjit calls  “impact” for his story of how he could   have had a companion. Another hint at how  Natlans like stories with hard trials,   strong protagonists, and stronger opponents.  Seems like drinking with the people of Natlan   would be a fun time with their great  tales. But is somewhat the opposite of   what weve heard from Vanessa and her tribe  of Muratans ever since they left Natlan. "Forest-Ranging Beast, Holding Fast to the  Bitter End - For Childhood Dreams!” One of   the tales that Ranjit tells us about is the tale  of Kuntur’s redemption. Namely his father who   was blinded with golden arrows from the sun  as punishment. Which followed on to Kuntur’s   life due to being his son. Wherever Kunture  would go the sun would hide behind the clouds,   and added to his misfortune. This is  oddly similar to Bennett’s character lore,   and actual unluckiness, where rain always  follows him, and his countless misfortunes   kept him from his adventures. However, the tale  of Kunture ended when he became companions with   a saurian called “Iktomisaurus”. In Lakota  mythology, Iktomi is both a spider-trickster   spirit & a cultural hero of the Lakota people.  representing the confusion between wisdom and   folly. Such tales about the Iktomi in Lokota  culture are told as both a serious tale,   as well as light hearted entertainment. So maybe  the tale of Kuntur and the Iktomosaurus isn't as   great as it seems. If were talking about a  spider, then maybe this is an Iktomisaurus.   Something interesting about Kuntur is that  it means “Condor” in the Quechuan language.   Putting these two together makes me think of  the Golliath Birdeater, a spider capable of   eating birds. So maybe this tale is of an unlucky  bird being tricked by a trickster spider saurian?   A mural depicting this story is also found in  Natlan so here's to how thats going to look. "Fulgurating Flying Seahorse - Audience with the  Solitary King” Flying horses and Iron crabs are a   nice distinction between nobility and ferocity.  The proud and regal Millennial Seahorse vs the   brutal and cruel emperor of fire and iron.  If we're looking for an electro saurian,   maybe this seahorse reflects the electro  mixed saurian of Natlan. Proud, and regal,   yet is a solitary type of dragon. One of the  saurians we could see here also seems like a   noble looking creature, possessing not only  a crown-like headpiece but also an elegant   dress. In contrast the one on the bottom may be a  more intimidating and powerful saurian type that   is also solitary. If you played any monster  hunter game, you can think of the Teostra and   the Lunastra’s regal yet commanding presence.  The Millennial Seahorse is aIso the only flying   creature we tried to “negotiate” with, and  Ranjit speaks about flying companions here   too. And mentioning a Pegasus in this event  reminds me of the white horse god/adepti of   the Bamboo Forest in Liyue. Maybe these horses  left Liyue and ended up in Natlan long ago. This   is also where Ranjit speaks more on flying  companions, particularly the Iktomisaurus   that helped Kuntur. Now, the only flying saurian  we’ve seen is this red one in the teaser. Maybe   flying saurians are a rarer species, a species  closest to the true Pyro Dragon Sovereign. And there we go my thoughts on the Natlan  teaser/trailer/short video/sneak peak. The idea   that dragons and vishaps are named differently in  Natlan specifically is really weird to me. I mean   you could say that other regions have their own  “vishaps” that are specific to their elements,   and there actually are. But with natlan  specifically, everything seems like a mixed   bag of different elements rather than a focus  on one element. Makes you wonder why that is   and what happened in the past that led Natlan to  become that way. But that's enough for this video,   I’ll see you guys in the next one  yeah? Like comment if you enjoyed   subscribing and hit the bell for more of  my ramblings and stay mad theorist, bye!