I might be one of very few players that hasn't already settled on thinking Signora is the Crimson Witch. But it's thanks to that I think there's even more to my previous theory than I thought.
"I had a long, long dream. I dreamed that you and I met again in the pure white world that we created. But I woke up at last, having long been consumed by the raging flames, while you had long returned to the earth along with that poisoned blood."
One of the big defenses I got when I brought up my belief that Signora can't be the Crimson Witch is that all of Signora's drops point to her being the same witch. With a surface level glance that's just not true. But for a different theory I was looking into I took a closer look at these and that's where the new stuff on my other theory appeared.
It might seem obvious for the people assuming Signora's the witch that poisoned blood must be talking about Rostam because Rostam was involved in the Cataclysm and Durin poisoned Dvalin with poisoned blood. Seems like an open and shut case. That is until we look deeper and realize Dvalin's not dead. The poison corrupted his mind but didn't kill him. (You could actually argue the same for Chiyo but we don't know yet if the thing that ate her had poisoned blood like Durin.) Besides that we don't know that Rostam ever encountered Durin and none of the Abyss enemies we've spent over a year fighting have any kind of poison blood attack. Actually we only know that Rostam was killed and nothing more than that.
On the other hand
we've actually seen "poisoned blood" before. In the manga Collei along with other experiments were injected with Archon Residue. Archon Residue is also an ingredient for making Delusions. The manga tells us that but we also know from the Archon Quest what Archon Residue could be. The Fatui were collecting Orobashi's marrow to help make their new Delusions. Marrow is the part of the bone that makes blood and we know what Orobashi's has been doing to the people of Yashiori. And from the image above there's a visual connection too. (even more from another panel where the purple stuff appears as a big snake)
I think it's even more likely now that Signora was another one of these poor kids who was experimented on and then indoctrinated by Pierro to join the Fatui. She may not even know that Dottore created her and only thinks that Pierro saved her from dying from the residue. That friend of hers who dreamed up a pure white world with her was probably another one of these kids who wasn't lucky and when they died it filled Signora with anger and hatred. That fueled the residue and gave her her Pyro powers but just like we were seeing with Collei it was eventually going to kill her.
From the Ashen Heart drop: "The First Fatuus found her just before her heart could be destroyed by the eternal blaze...... Molten-hot agony and rage rush through her veins, oozing from her tear ducts."
That's why I hope Sumeru will be about this at least in part. We're learning more and more as we play how much damage the Fatui are doing. Dottore was last seen researching the residue and Delusions and is based in Sumeru. I hope we will be teaming with Cyno and Collei and that the Archon Quest will have us finally end their experiments. It would also be pretty satisfying if Collei was the one to kill Dottore and maybe when the power gets out of control Kusanali will be able to do something to save her.
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On another note the Crimson Witch of Flames didn't have this problem. Just like Lisa she graduated from Sumeru's Academia and had almost full control over her power. In her vengeance she burned her face and rumor had it she turned herself into liquid fire but she is known to have only burned the monsters and there were birds that comforted her when people were scared away. Also Signora hated being called a witch while the Crimson Witch wore a witch's hat just like the Witch of the Purple Rose. Probably not an accessory you'd wear if you hate being called a witch.
Tips and Tricks from a Super Casual Genshin f2p
