Beidou

Beidou is the leader of The Crux an armed crew based in Liyue Harbor. An armed crew means exactly what it sounds like a crew of sailors armed to the teeth. Without getting into too many details everything The Crux does is approved by the Qixing more or less. Beidou is a trusted leader so much so that her crew believes her capable of taming the storms and billows on the sea. It is Beidou. Even the mightiest of storms must bow its head to her might.

Appearance Beidou is a tall female character. She wields a greatsword.

Weapon Beidou wields a claymore. The greatsword she uses in combat is named Tidecaller.

Abilities Her normal attacks perform up to five consecutive strikes. Her charged attack drains stamina over time to perform continuous slashes. At the end of the sequence she performs a more powerful slash. Her plunging attack plunges from mid air to strike the ground damaging opponents along the path and dealing area damage upon impact.

Her elemental skill called Tidecaller accumulates the power of lightning. Beidou swings her blade forward fiercely dealing Electro damage. When held she lifts her weapon up as a shield. The maximum damage absorbed scales off Beidou maximum health points. She attacks using the energy stored within the greatsword upon release or once this ability duration expires dealing Electro damage. The damage dealt scales with the number of times Beidou is attacked in the skill duration. The greatest damage bonus will be attained once this effect is triggered twice. The shield possesses two hundred fifty percent Electro damage absorption efficiency. It applies the Electro element to Beidou upon activation. This skill generates two elemental particles when it hits at least one target or up to four when it hits with energy stored.

Her elemental burst called Stormbreaker recalls her slaying of the great beast Haishan. Beidou calls upon that monstrous strength and the lightning to create a Thunderbeast Targe around herself dealing Electro damage to nearby opponents. The Thunderbeast Targe makes normal and charged attacks hit create a lightning discharge that can jump between opponents dealing Electro damage. It increases the characters resistance to interruption and decreases damage taken. A maximum of one lightning discharge can be triggered per second.

Her passive talents include Lightning Storm. For ten seconds after unleashing Tidecaller with its maximum damage bonus the damage and attack speed of Beidou normal and charged attacks are increased by fifteen percent and the wind up before Beidou begins charged attacks is reduced. Conqueror of Tides decreases swimming stamina consumption for her own party members by twenty percent. It is not stackable with passive talents that provide the exact same effects.

Personality Beidou shows no fear towards the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing Ningguang a trait that the other appreciates yet grows irritated by. She avenges any hand raised against her or her men ten fold with sword and thunder. She is a cultural icon in Liyue. Her fame reaches merchants in the city who know her name and that of her crew. She helps the common folk steering those who are truly lost towards a brighter future. She is generous with money and has a direct personality. She is a maverick yet the most reliable person in Liyue. She goes about things by changing what she can and not wasting time on what she cannot. If stuck she offers to help deal with it. She has no fear of monsters in the deep. She enjoys adventure sailing making friends drinking and eating.

Background and Story Beidou is something of a cultural icon in Liyue. Though her fame does not quite reach the same lofty heights as that of the Liyue Qixing one can be certain that every merchant in the city knows her name and that of her crew The Crux. Naturally there are rumors abound regarding someone of her status. People love to tell epic tales of her feats tales in which her abilities are exaggerated to almost superhuman levels. One rumor is that she can channel Electro energy with her sword. It is said that she once used it to cut a formidable sea monster from the depths of the ocean abyss in half with just one hit. Bystanders who overhear such tales generally dismiss them as drunken ramblings. But to any who has ever voyaged with Beidou themselves these stories are no joke. In their view if this world really were home to a giant sea monster from the ocean abyss Beidou would certainly be capable of cutting it in half. In summary Beidou abilities are every bit as impressive as her reputation in business circles. So if you hear her lauded as the Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean suffice to say that there is no smoke without fire.

Business people tend to put profit before their humanity. This is just accepted as the way of the world. At most it makes for some light verbal sparring at the dinner table. But things are different in Liyue where everyone is involved in business. They reject the notion entirely claiming that Liyue Harbor is a special place where humanity is sacred. Foreign merchants will retort that the only thing special about Liyue is that they have managed to commodify humanity too. To this Liyue locals respond then how do you explain The Crux. With The Crux having made a name for itself over many years its services are extremely expensive to charter. And yet on one voyage when The Crux encountered a strong storm Beidou noticed a small private boat nearby. Seeing the way it was tossed about by the waves she ordered her crew to tow the boat to safety despite the risk that her ships keel might give way. What little food and water the fleet had left Beidou shared with the rescued crew as she navigated her vessel onward through the raging storm. Finally after several days The Crux delivered the rescued boat to a safe mooring spot. Grateful to Beidou for saving their lives the crew of the rescued boat became her loyal trade partners thereafter. After Liyue locals recount this story they smile and insist when you have someone risking their life like that you can be sure that it takes far more than commodification to explain their actions. Would you really dare to look Beidou in the eyes and talk about the commodification of humanity.

Word has it that The Crux boss behind the curtains is none other than the Qixing Tianquan Ningguang herself. Both of the people involved deny this outright though they do so for different reasons. As a member of the Qixing Ningguang often needs someone else to do her dirty work for her. Of the many candidates available she picked Beidou. Ningguang would emphasize that she picked Beidou not The Crux. Ningguang collaboration with The Crux is therefore purely incidental. Meanwhile when Beidou hears the rumors about her dealings with Ningguang she furiously insists that she collaborates with Ningguang on an equal footing. Beidou is her own boss and no one not even Ningguang is sitting in the background pulling the strings for her. Beidou is certainly unique among Ningguang collaborators. She does not tread carefully or show reverence in the way that most of them do. In fact one could even say Beidou is sometimes at odds with Ningguang. Ningguang advisers worry constantly that Beidou is too unpredictable and too much of a maverick. But Ningguang simply smiles and dismisses their concerns. On the contrary Beidou is the most reliable person in Liyue she replies. Just tell her the truth as well as what is in it for her and she will come around in her own time.

Once after disembarking from a long voyage The Crux held its customary three day celebratory banquet. The autumn was like any other before it except for the new chef in town. This was Xiangling the head chef to be of the Wanmin Restaurant. Looking to keep costs down they lured Xiangling onboard after meeting her on the streets by hook and by crook. When she saw Beidou Xiangling was dismayed and let Beidou know this in no uncertain terms. If you want to have Yue style seafood then I cannot agree to help you. I will have you know that I intend to transcend Liyue two warring culinary styles with my cooking. Beidou merely smiled and gestured to the chest of gold coins beside her. Just do what you are good at. We made quite a bit on our last run. How does a retainer of fifty thousand Mora sound. Not one to shy away for a chance to prove the worth of her cooking Xiangling took the job. When the day was done Beidou was indeed won over by Xiangling skill. She declared in front of her crew that Xiangling would soon be a renowned chef throughout Liyue. She also insisted that they refer to her as Madam Xiangling. Having only begun to make her name Xiangling admired Beidou for her generosity with money and her direct personality. Thereafter Xiangling would sail with Beidou often looking for new and exotic seafood ingredients. She found herself surprised by Beidou vast knowledge of seafood and their culinary preparation given how far she usually was from any kitchen. Of course that did not mean Xiangling would necessarily heed Beidou advice on whether something was edible or not but that is a story for another time.

Some say an object takes after its master. Though it may not be a suitable description The Crux crew does indeed take after Beidou exhibiting the same qualities. However there are still secrets among the crew spreading in places unnoticed by Beidou. Her first mate always takes new sailors out after their first safe return for drinks and fills them in on the details of an old story. In the past the crew went on a journey to brave the unknown seas and found itself at deaths door in a horrific storm. At that time Beidou stood on the deck behind the wheel singing a Liyue fishermen song in the storm all the way until the waves died down and dawn broke on the far horizon. The first mate often ends the story with this final line and a look of longing on his face. As business grew and the crew expanded more and more outrageously incredible details were added to the story making the rookies worship Beidou like a goddess.

Liyue and Inazuma share a common saying its fins formed the ocean deep its tail the mountains high. The fishermen learned this phrase while ashore long ago and sang it over and over spreading the tune far and wide till it became the much loved song people know.

Family and Relationships Beidou has many brothers that sail with her. She has asked and remembers why each and every one of them came on board. She collaborates with Ningguang on an equal footing and is unique among her collaborators. She has a connection with Xiangling who sails with her often for ingredients and shares banquets. Her first mate shares old stories about her to new sailors. The crew of The Crux follows her loyally and some became trade partners after she saved them in storms. She invites those who love adventure to join her and keeps a place for special individuals on The Alcor.

Voice and Manner of Speaking Beidou speaks in a bold direct manner filled with laughter. She greets others by saying she is Beidou and that if they love adventure they should join her since she has their back. She calls out we are setting sail men to your posts a new adventure is about to begin. She laughs when discussing legendary tales or exaggerations by her men. She offers if you ever want to trade tactics she is always ready. She enjoys saying a cold beer after a hard days work nothing like it. She notes it is hard to remain on dry land for so long and she can never seem to quite get her land legs back. When it rains she remarks that on a deserted island rain is a precious source of drinking water though there is no need for it now. When thunder strikes she says it is just a little lightning with no need to fear it on the open ocean so even less on dry land. When the wind is blowing she says this weather would be great for setting sail and warns if sand gets in your eyes be sure not to rub them. In combat she calls back off or ha or back at ya or take this or power that ended Haishan or eyes on me or to ashes. At low health she says it is not over or hah she has still got some kick or she never yields. For allies at low health she says get behind me or get back do not be a hero. When fallen she says this is not good or men fall back or crew set sail for home. She opens treasure chests saying huh where have you been hiding or nice she is starting to lose count or the Mora the merrier first round is on her.

Habits Beidou enjoys adventure sailing making friends drinking eating and more than she can count on one hand. She drinks cold beer after hard work. She spars and trades tactics with others. She sings Liyue fishermen songs while standing at the wheel in storms. She holds three day celebratory banquets after long voyages and hires chefs for them. She helps steer lost people toward brighter futures and shares limited supplies in crises. She gathers exotic seafood ingredients during sails. She invites others to join her and keeps her crew informed through stories.

Home and Daily Life Beidou resides on The Alcor the ship of The Crux fleet based in Liyue Harbor. Her daily life revolves around voyages across the seas encountering storms and unknown perils. She returns to port for celebratory banquets and shares meals with her crew. She navigates through raging storms towing others to safety and shares food and water. She roams the open ocean taming billows and sings during tempests until dawn breaks. Even after voyages she sometimes struggles with land legs yet always sets sail again when the wind picks up. She invites adventurers aboard and ensures there is always a place for them on The Alcor. She continues leading The Crux through the waters of Teyvat protecting her crew and aiding those in need with the same strength that once felled great beasts.