In the brand new Luofu story, Cold Dragon Young is finally back online after “wandering the streets” for so long and becomes the High Elder of Vidyadhara, Imbibitor Lunae. It is also in this story, the game presents us with more information on the Imbibitor Lunae, and further expands all aspects of Dan Heng’s background…
Dan Heng’s story is made up of two identities.
One is the High Elder of Vidyadhara, the other is Nameless on the Express.
Technically, these two are two people, Dan Feng, and Dan Heng. And what connects them, is the special gift of the Vidyadhara.
As a member of Luofu, the Vidyadhara comes from some sea world. Since their bloodline is inherited from Permanence the Aeon, the Vidyadhara has the ability of hatching rebirth cycle. They would build a cocoon with some power and repair themselves when their life is close to an end, then start the next cycle of life.
But this does not come without cost. The Vidyadhara lost memories from their previous lives after every rebirth.
That’s why they view the new self and the old self as two completely different people.
It’s how Dan Feng becomes Dan Heng. But unlike the regular Vidyadhara, Dan Heng did not lose memory from his previous life. He would dream of it now and then, and his memory emerges due to different kinds of situations. That doesn’t seem like he lost his memory from molting, but more like — his memory was sealed.
As to why it’s sealed, it probably has something to do with him being the High Elder of Vidyadhara.
As the name explains itself, the High Elder is the leader of Vidyadhara, the head of the clan.
However, the High Elder is not the only one of its kind. The Vidyadhara on each Xianzhou has a High Elder of its own, and each High Elder has their own title. For example, Dan Heng is the Imbibitor Lunae on the Luofu, on the Xianzhou Fanghu there is the Glaciator Marum, and on the Xianzhou Yaoqing, there is the Caelorum Venti.
These High Elders are not leaders selected by each Vidyadhara clan, but “the chosen one” selected through a certain way of inheritance.
Each Vidyadhara clan perhaps has its own system surrounding this inheritance.
In Luofu’s case, according to the text description, every Imbibitor Lunae is “chosen by selection” to receive the "Transmutation Arcanum” and the "Orb of Abysm." Then to obtain powers of calling lightning and commanding the waters, and re-experience the events of their dragon ancestors' lives in dreams. After all these steps are completed, the chosen one will be conferred the title of “Imbibitor Lunae”, and become the High Elder of Luofu Vidyadhara.
Dan Feng is the Imbibitor Lunae selected by this process. Meanwhile, he is one of the “High-Cloud Quintet”. He became Luofu’s hero by fighting courageously on the battlefield and achieving legendary feats, along with Blade, Jingliu, Jing Yuan, and a nameless Foxian marksman.
Then how did the High Elder Dan Feng go from the hero of his generation to Dan Heng the Nameless? All because of “the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae.”
It’s still an ambiguous event in the current game, regarding which People on the Luofu all clam up. Though we can’t be sure how the event started and developed, we are certain its results are Blade cursed with immortality, Jingliu went missing, the Foxian marksman died, while the Imbibitor Lunae was performed an exuviation charm by the senior Vidyadhara against his will, taken away half of the inheritance, and became who he is now.
About the “exuviation”, it’s probably a way to transmute Vidyadhara using external force. That’s why Dan Heng keeps sealed memories from the past.
After that, Dan Heng was exiled from Luofu, and issued with a banishment edict that “with total interception across the whole dominion.” He then drifted into the universe, finally boarded the Astral Express, and started to adventure with the Protagonist…That is the story of the identity Nameless, and the story created together with players.
A lot of elements in Dan Heng’s design are based on Chinese culture.
Take Azure Dragon (Qinglong) for example, it’s also called Canglong or Mengzhang in Chinese culture and is a figure from ancient Chinese myths and tales. It’s the Lord of the East among “the 4 Heavenly Creatures,” corresponding to “the 7 Mansions of the East” among “the Four Symbols.” It’s associated with the element wood of the 5 Elements (Wu Xing) and oversees commanding clouds and rains.
These features and abilities are highly overlapped with all aspects of Dan Heng. For example, the dominant hue of this character is set as azure, and the ability of his previous and current life are wind and water, respectively. His clothes are speckled with cloud patterns. As for his Imbibitor Lunae form, you can tell it takes reference from the Azure Dragon on the face of it.
Besides, the names of Dan Heng’s Abilities and Eidolons are based on all kinds of Chinese classics.
Like his Bonus Ability, “High Gale”, is another name for “wind of high altitude” in Taoism.
His Talent, “Superiority of Reach”, is from a proverb from The Art of War, “One inch longer is one inch stronger, one inch shorter is one inch riskier.” Meaning the longer the hand-held weapons are, the more room there is for the combatant, hence more advantages. This is the feature of weapons like spears and bats, and in line with Dan Heng using a spear as his weapon.
The naming of his Eidolons is based on Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist classics.
For example, the first part of “The Higher You Fly, the Harder You Fall”, is from the Record of Rites, “One can only learn the height of the sky and depth of the earth from the highest and farthest standing.” While the second part is from Classic of Changes, “The dragon exceeds the proper limits, there will be an occasion for repentance.”
Eidolon 2 “Quell the Venom Octet, Quench the Vice O'Flame” is from Tai Shang Dong Xuan Ling Bao Ba Wei Zhao Long Script, a sentence originating from the script used for prayer rituals.
Eidolon 4 “Roaring Dragon and Soaring Sun” belongs to Buddhism. It originates from Zheng Zong Ji Long Shu Zhang Yue, the original sentence basically means that if one can stop distracting thoughts, and remain calm and peaceful, one could strive and be fast like a dragon, bright and free like the blazing sun in the sky.
In summary, Dan Heng is a character designed by using Azure Dragon in Chinese culture as the theme, accommodating elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
In his story, we can observe the display of these elements, like the rebirth cycle of Buddhism, and the commanding of wind and rain in Taoism. As for Confucianism, it may have to wait till future plots to display.
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