The Outlander Who Caught the Wind

Stranded in the unfamiliar world of Teyvat after an unknown god sealed away their twin, the Traveler fishes the fairy-like Paimon out of a lake and gains a guide and companion. The pair arrives at Mondstadt just as the dragon Stormterror attacks the city; with unexpected help from a mysterious elemental power, the Traveler helps drive the beast off.

Welcomed into the city by the Outrider Amber, the Traveler meets the Knights of Favonius — Acting Grand Master Jean, the librarian Lisa, and Cavalry Captain Kaeya — who enlist the newcomer's help against the ongoing dragon threat. A carefree bard named Venti takes a suspicious interest in the Traveler, while the aloof tavern owner Diluc watches the Knights' efforts with open disdain.

Investigating the temples around Mondstadt, the Traveler clears out the Abyss Order's corruption and learns that Stormterror — the dragon Dvalin — is not evil, but wounded and manipulated. The act ends with Venti proposing a plan: to soothe Dvalin, they must borrow the holy lyre from the cathedral.

Back in Mondstadt, the Traveler reports to Jean and witnesses a Fatui diplomat urging the Knights to simply kill Stormterror — a suggestion Jean rejects, for the dragon is Dvalin, one of the Four Winds who once protected the city. Named Honorary Knight for their service, the Traveler tracks a mysterious presence through the streets and discovers that the bard Venti knows Dvalin's true story. Better yet, the strange gem recovered near the dragon — a Teardrop Crystal — has been purified in the Traveler's pocket, proving their power can cleanse Dvalin's corruption.

At the great tree outside the city, Venti explains that Dvalin suffers from the Abyss Order's poison and hatches a plan to soothe him with the Holy Lyre der Himmel. The church refuses to hand it over — even when Venti announces he is the Anemo Archon Barbatos — and the attempted theft goes doubly wrong when a Fatui Cicin Mage snatches the lyre first. Fleeing the Knights, the group finds refuge in the Angel's Share, where the tavern's owner Diluc misdirects their pursuers and agrees to help.

Joined in secret by Jean — acting as a private citizen, not as Grand Master — Diluc extracts the lyre's location from captured Fatui, and the group raids a stronghold outside the city to retrieve it. Restored with purified Teardrop Crystals, the lyre summons Dvalin at Starsnatch Cliff; but an Abyss Mage intervenes and turns the dragon against them. Dvalin flees, and the holy lyre lies shattered.

Diluc hunts down the Abyss Mage hiding at his winery; the energy it releases on death shows Venti what has been severing his bond with Dvalin — and how to break the seal on Stormterror's Lair, the ruin of old Mondstadt where the tyrant Decarabian once ruled. While Jean fears the dragon must be put down, Venti insists the Traveler's purifying power offers another way, and the group fights through the corrupted lair to reach him.

In a battle above the clouds, the Traveler cleanses Dvalin of the Abyss Order's corruption. Venti explains why he never simply commanded his old friend's loyalty: freedom ordered by a god would be no freedom at all. Dvalin departs in peace, Jean clears his name among the people, and Kaeya reveals he stayed behind during a coordinated hilichurl assault to foil an Abyss infiltration of the city — learning that the Order answers to a single leader.

The victory sours at Favonius Cathedral. Moments after the lyre is returned to the deaconess Barbara, La Signora — Eighth of the Fatui Harbingers — ambushes Venti, freezes him, and tears the Anemo Gnosis from his chest. The diminished god explains what the Gnoses are, how the Tsaritsa broke with the rest of The Seven, and what the cataclysm five hundred years ago destroyed, then sends the Traveler onward to Liyue, where the Geo Archon descends once each year at the Rite of Descension.