Snezhnaya is coming out in just a month and a half, so I suggest we recall what we know about the region.
Snezhnaya
Snezhnaya is the northernmost country of Teyvat, home to the ancient Fae, a race created over 6,000 years ago, and to the Fatui, an organization serving the Cryo Archon, the Tsaritsa. The administrative body of the nation is Snezhnograd Veche. Among the seven nations, Snezhnaya is the vanguard of the struggle against fate and the laws established by the Heavenly Principles. Furthermore, Snezhnaya is the most technologically and militarily advanced country of the seven, using firearms, combine harvesters, trains, and bionic dolls.
The country's famous cities include the capital, Snezhnograd; Kitezhgrad, the first Fae’s capital, ruled by Duke Alvis; Novokitezhgrad, a city known for its liquor and mining industries; Glupov, the main Fatui base; Morepesok, the seaside village where Tartaglia grew up in; and Snezhnaya’s port, Port Belovodye. The Tsaritsa’s residence is the Zapolyarny Palace. Snezhnaya is also home to the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, the Imperial Military Academy, the Armory Palace, and a theater where the Royal Troupe and its prima, Vodyanitsa, often perform.
Due to the low temperatures in which blizzards could last an entire month, the northern lights can be seen in the sky, and cities are built around the "Kresnik's Torch". A famous festival is “Krsnik Noc.”
Snezhnaya is currently preparing for war, as they don't have much time left before disaster strikes. People are said to be tightening their belts, and ships arriving from Snezhnaya to the Dornman Port are being thoroughly inspected for contraband. A project related to the further development of Fatui is Project Stuzha, organized by Pulcinella and Pierro. The word "Mistilteinn" often comes up in conversations about the plan. Since the House of the Hearth succeeded in obtaining the Hydro Gnosis, they have been honored to play a key role in the project. Furthermore, Tartaglia has also joined it.
Fae
Snezhnaya traces its origins to the ancient golden kingdom of Hyperborea, which existed before the Archons. Back then, humans belonged to a single civilization and flourished under the guidance of angels. But any development or free will was strictly controlled by the Heavenly Principles, who destroyed entire civilizations as punishment for testing their rules. Snezhnaya contains a special shadow realm where the ruins of the golden kingdom can be found after a catastrophe.
The first daughter of the Heavenly Principles, along with a voyager from distant worlds, decided to rebel against her creator. She transferred the power of creation to mortals, who created the Fae from the remains of giant beasts. But Hyperborea was soon destroyed, and many Fae turned into icy silver mist. The survivors followed their leader, Monomakh, and settled in Snezhnaya. For a long time, they were the aristocracy of Snezhnaya and wielded considerable influence in the north.
Initially, only the Fae could become Snezhnaya's elite Gvardiya, but this role was later taken over by the Oprichniki. Banquets and dances were regularly held in the Belyi Tsar's Zapolyarny Palace, attended by the Fae, who loved luxury. After the Belyi Tsar's death during the Cataclysm, the Fae lost their influence, but they still remain quite significant in Snezhnaya, where many still reside, typically intolerant of warmer climates.
There are many types of Fae, including the six most common types: The Vila, Domovoy (Alvis), Leshy, Volkodlak, Snegovik, and Jack Frosts (Lumi). Rarer species include Varcolacs, Water Imps, Lantern Fae (Flins), Sirens, and Augury Birds (Linnea).
Fae War
Before the Cataclysm, Snezhnaya was a rather fragmented feudal empire with numerous clans. Among the Volkodlak-Fae clans, three are the most famous: Nyholmgarthir (bovine fae), Dalegrad (water imps), and Cirnareka (wolf-like fae). The leader of the Volkodlaks and the Miscislavli clans was Miscislav the Blood-Devourer. Due to his powerful build, the fae nicknamed him "Gorynishche," meaning "son of the mountain."
One day, Miscislav declared war on Emperor Monomakh, who had violated the peace agreement and forbidden the people from paying tribute to Miscislav. King Miscislav was eventually slain when the Emperor's spear pierced through his head. It is said that the bear-shaped skull, large as a chariot, now housed in the Zapolyarny Palace Treasury, still bears the marks left by that spear.
The ruler of Cirnareka was Seriviiki, the "Gray Wolf." After Miscislav’s death, he immediately joined Emperor Monomakh and became a minister at the court of the Pale Star. After the war, when Monomakh had already become known as the Belyi Tsar, Seriviiki was honored by the Emperor.
Nyholmgarthir’s Grand Duke was Skoldyryt, the Deepwood Bull. During the war, he fought on the side of the Miscislavli clans and intended to strike the Emperor from the rear. However, Filippov learned of this, leading to defeat. The Grand Duke Skoldyryt himself died from a blow to the chest from the Emperor’s spear, which he launched from a great distance.
The ruler of Dalegrad was Vodyanoy, the "The Lackland" and Forebear of All Waterborn. He mastered the art of surprise attacks from beneath the ice. During the war, the ruler of the Domovoy, Alvis, lured Vodyanoy beyond the Frozen Lake, and Vodyanoy was killed by the Emperor with a blow to the chest.
Aksinya
Many years ago, the Belyi Tsar journeyed north to the ruins of the golden kingdom. No one demanded his former responsibility anymore, and he was unsure whether he should bear the burden. Until one day, in the ruins of Hyperborea, he discovered a life support capsule containing a white-haired infant. The girl was likely created during the Hyperborean “Elysium Project,” which aimed to create a human capable of mastering elemental energy. Monomakh decided to take the girl with him, and she was named Aksinya.
When Aksinya became a researcher, she journeyed into the shadow realm with her apprentice Domovoy to create a grand project. She did not want to inherit the legacy of Hyperborea, but to let their fire give them light. After all, even if they were unable to step into a new world, there would be those who would come after them and be able to take another step forward.
A young alchemist, imprisoned for his research on Fae, also joined Aksinya's project. Although he was slated for execution, the Belyi Tsar took an interest in him, and so the alchemist joined a research facility that violated all imaginable taboos. When he met Aksinya, her caring words wounded his pride, so during their handshake, he sprouted an ear in her palm. But the girl wasn't angry or frightened, merely saying that such abilities would help them in their project.
One day, Aksinya met the hostess of the evening, the princess of the Snegurochka, at a ball. They left the dull evening, and Snegurochka showed the gray-haired girl the paintings, sculptures, and riddles in the house. Finally, she demonstrated the Fae's mastery by creating a garden of unmelting ice. But even unmelting ice was only the result of magical power and could not last forever. It was only a glimmer of light and shadow, imprinted in the blood of the Fae's ancestors, once slaves. Yet these former servants were capable of these miracles, while the humans, their former masters, could never regain their former glory.
Aksinya's project earned the recognition of the Duke of Kitezhgrad, Domovoy Alvis, who had always treated humans with cold indifference. And though she was only human, in one short life she had achieved and surpassed all that had come before. At their first meeting, Alvis's eyes had revealed a profound disgust and fear of humanity. Still, now the Fae’s hopes and grievances were insignificant compared to the Belyi Tsar's grandiose dream. Over time, Alvis became Aksinya's mentor and friend, and his eyes revealed the warm and sincere affection of an elder for a younger.
Rotwang
The Belyi Tsar's favorite was the alchemist and astrologer Rotwang, nicknamed the "mad monk" at court. He was once Rauthvangi, a student at the Khaenri'ahn Universitas Magistrorum, and during his studies, he saw a pitch-black Elysium beyond the heavens. For studying forbidden knowledge, he was exiled from the kingdom, and as a foreigner, he should have been cursed with wilderness. But when he returned to the surface, nothing happened to him.
Rauthvangi set out to search for information about the pitch-black Elysium, but found nothing until he arrived in Nod-Krai. There, he again saw the truth he had long sought and discovered the sinful path leading to the utter darkness of paradise. Now all that remained was for him to open the door that had shone in countless dreams with his own hands.
When Rauthvangi met the Belyi Tsar and became his favorite, thanks to his knowledge of alchemy and astrology. Upon entering the court of the Pale Star, he took the name Rotwang. He knew that the Belyi Tsar was hatching a daring plan that would never allow the Heavenly Principles, but he believed the Archon wasn't thinking big enough, as the true, eternal Elysium he sought lay beyond heaven’s veil. When the Cryo Archon sent Rotwang to Nod-Krai on a secret mission to obtain the power of the Sampo Mill, the professor decided to acquire this power for his own purposes.
While still in Snezhnaya, Rotwang began communicating with the Archpriestess of the Frostmoon Scions. The Frostmoon Scions believed that when their blood was purified, a chosen one would be born who would lead them to Elysium. When the girl who was destined to bear the sacred blood abandoned her mission for a young officer from Snezhnaya, Rotwang sent men to capture her and kill the officer, but she slit her own throat. Unbeknownst to the Archpriestess, the blessed lady had given birth to a son, Avrelian, who, according to prophecy, would lead to Elysium.
After the loss of his parents, Avrelian was adopted by a private officer named Mikhnenko, and thanks to this, the boy was able to enroll in the Imperial Military Academy of Snezhnaya. But shortly after Avrelian was promoted to officer, he was marked as "killed in the line of duty," a plot hatched by Rotwang and Duke Alvis. Avrelian later returned to Nod-Krai and became the great thief Reed Miller, whom Rotwang had persuaded to join him.
After the death of Avrelian's mother, the Archpriestess offered Rotwang the use of the sacred relic of the Frostmoon Scions, the Sampo Mill, capable of creating a paradise of eternal abundance. Rotwang convinced Avrelian to take the Mill from the Frostmoon Scions, promising to create Elysium together. Later, a noble friend persuaded him to leave the Treasure Hoarders and go to Snezhnograd to explain himself to the Belyi Tsar. But Avrelian was not even allowed to see the Tsar and was sent straight to the scaffold.
Having obtained the Sampo Mill, the professor built the Pillar of Embla in Nod-Krai. He intended to use the Mill to absorb the powers of the earth and, through this tower, reach the desired Elysium beyond the firmament. If his plan succeeded, all of Nod-Krai, both the land and all living things on it, would become nothing more than fuel for him. Avrelian's friend Alia, along with his childhood friend, Solovei, attempted to stop Rotwang, but when they reached the Pillar of Embla, he was one step away from his goal. Realizing she had no other choice, Alia threw herself into the Sampo Mill and ignited it with the purified blood of the Frostmoon Scions. Alia's sacrifice thwarted the Professor's plans and destroyed him for the first time.
Cataclysm
500 years ago, when the Cataclysm began in Teyvat, the Belyi Tsar's forces set out to fight the monsters of the Abyss. But on the seventh day of the enormous battle, the black forces of the God of Darkness, Chernobog (most likely the personification of the Abyss), defeated the forces of Snezhnaya, and the Emperor was killed.
After the death of the Belyi Tsar, Anastasia Feodorovna Snezhnaya, the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya, came to power. Previously, she was too kind, but she was forced to change and become colder after the Cataclysm. Now she hides her emotions under a thick layer of ice, and everyone sees only one side of her, the Tsaritsa. Her people no longer love her, just as she no longer loves her people. They follow her only because they hope that one day she will raise the banner of war against the Heavenly Principles.
Under the Tsaritsa’s rule, the aristocratic Fae lost their former influence, and many were defeated, submitted to the new ruler, or left Snezhnaya. Anastasia established the Snezhnograd Veche to handle the administrative issues caused by the absence of the various princes and appointed the first mayor of Snezhnograd, a human named Ioanna Ivanovna N., known to us as the witch "J."
Fatui
During the Tsaritsa’s reign, the Fatui military organization emerged, whose director is the former court mage of Khaenri'ah, Pierro. The main task of the Fatui and their Harbingers in recent years has been the collection of Gnoses, the remains of the Third Descender. Although each Archon had their own reasons for surrendering the Gnoses, the Tsaritsa currently possesses at least six of them. The whereabouts of Pyro Gnosis, which disappeared during the destruction of Irminsul, are unknown.
