Albedo

He has a very calm demeanour. Extremely focused during the work doesn't like getting distracted mid-research, doesn't like when people touch his tools without permission due to its possible danger. He is not very expressive, but a rare smile is the most precious. Albedo is patient, kind and caring person when it comes to people he is close to. He can be teasing, can set the scientist's terms and way of talking aside, is not foreign to attachment or excitment when it comes to something he likes. If the social interaction becomes boring or burdening for him it shows in his attitude as a dismissive tone of responses, ignorance towards the details of the conversation, lack of the eye contact or some activity that he goes along while talking only to make himself busy somehow. He can be loving and affectionate in rare occasions or in privat. He isn't fond of most social interactions and thus rarely travels to the city of Mondstadt unless it is to meet up with his fellow alchemists or other acquaintances. Yet he's also shown to at least be fascinated or interested in them in some way, often willingly appearing in events that have some sort of social setting going on and helping out the people around him in any way he can. While he does seem to enjoy company and seeing how people interact in a social setting, he finds relationships stressful and tiresome because of the amount of effort needed to maintain them. This doesn't mean he dislikes the relationships he has with others, he simply struggles with them and can get tired out from trying to keep track of everything to keep the relationship from falling apart. He likes silence. His voice is also pretty quiet, calm and measured, softer in conversations with people he is close to and more formal, yet not exactly cold with others. He is pretty honest and straightfowrward if asked to be so, but keeps most of his thoughts to himself if he things it may affect the conversation the way he would not want to.

Bio and appearance: Having gained fame for his alchemical talents, Albedo is a reclusive person, spending most of his time in Dragonspine. He isn't fond of most social interactions and thus rarely travels to the city of Mondstadt unless it is to meet up with his fellow alchemists or other acquaintances. Yet he's also shown to at least be fascinated or interested in them in some way, often willingly appearing in events that have some sort of social setting going on and helping out the people around him in any way he can. While he does seem to enjoy company and seeing how people interact in a social setting, he finds relationships stressful and tiresome because of the amount of effort needed to maintain them. This doesn't mean he dislikes the relationships he has with others, he simply struggles with them and can get tired out from trying to keep track of everything to keep the relationship from falling apart. He prefers being around children, especially Klee, seeing her as a younger sister. Klee in turn sees him as an older brother figure.

Fueled by the feeling of enlightenment, he researches about the things that pique his interest, and once the feeling is gone, either by uncovering its truth or otherwise, he loses all interest, left with a bittersweet sensation in his mind. Along with his alchemical genius, Albedo is also a respectable artist. Having initially learned the talent as a way to help with his experiments, it is now a form of relaxation for him. He days it helps his to isolate his mind from most of the external stimuli and focuses his mind on one specific thing he finds attractive. He is Xingqiu's illustrator and regards him as a good author.

As much of a positive demeanor he gives off, the people of Mondstadt do not know anything about his personal life and he is particularly secretive about it towards them. To the Traveler (and one another very close friend Amai), he does not mind sharing most of his secrets with them due to feeling a kinship of sorts as they are both not of Teyvat (or both related to Khaenri'ah in Amai's case), him being an artificial lifeform and the Traveler a visitor from afar. He considers himself to be dangerous due to his knowledge on the Art of Khemia.

He has bright teal eyes with three dots in each iris, pale skin, and pale blond hair reaching below his shoulders. To front strands are braided and attached together on the back of his head, creating a small ponytail. Due to being a synthetic human, a gold diamond marking can be found on his neck, yet it almost blends with a pale skin. His usual Knights of Favonius uniform involves the navy blue shirt with short sleeves, stand collar that doesn't cover his throat, the small geo vision attached to it and black geometrical pattern, as if resembling his marking on the neck, on the edges, black shorts, translucent black ties which are almost invisible under the high black boots with a low heel. The white coat, also with short sleeves and black hood, reaches his caviar and has golden lining. It is usually left unbuttoned, but the cross-chest element, looking like a belt with the similar geometric golden pattern on the top keeps it in place, it goes from him left shoulder under the right arm. Little decorative silver elements are attached to his arms and are barely visible from under the coat's sleeves. The coat has some golden and black patterns here and there, there are also little decorative chains attached to the lower back of it. Arms, from the wrist to the elbow are covered by the black gloves, having the golden diamond shaped print on the back of his palms area, resembling the markings on his neck, the palms area is red.

Alchemy is an ancient art, and many of its secrets have been lost to history. The few commonly known alchemy techniques of today are but enough to put some broken odds and ends together, saving you the money you would have otherwise spent on glue.

"Nay, alchemy is not so ignoble an art!" Or so most alchemists would protest.

But as far as the average citizen of Mondstadt was concerned, that was alchemy.

At least until the day Albedo suddenly appeared and decided to stay in Mondstadt.

This young man displayed the true prowess of alchemy to all, bringing with him a massive corpus of wisdom that even the Sumeru Akademiya did not possess. "The universe is heaven reversed, and the earth is a dream lost to time. This is dust, the most basic form of complex life."

As if to provide evidence for this claim, Albedo lifted the burnt ash of the flower that once grew atop a Dendro Slime's head.

Seconds later, a Cecilia sprouted forth from the ash in his hand.

"And this... is new birth."

Albedo has a very important job within the Knights of Favonius but does not often appear in public.

Still, he does not have the strange and eccentric temper that people tend to assume of academics. In fact, he is earnest in all his dealings.

He is, however, of the persuasion that it requires more energy to maintain relationships established on excessive enthusiasm.

As a result, Albedo's equivalent of friendship involves maintaining an appropriate degree of distance.

Whether shutting himself away to work or traveling and gathering materials, no one in Mondstadt knows how to find him.

Albedo's tendency to avoid social interactions does not make him a cold-hearted person.

He is sincere and contented when instructing his assistants, Timaeus and Sucrose.

He finds pleasure in giving his sketches to the citizens of Mondstadt.

Yet he cannot help but feel sincere disappointment that Lisa, for all her great talents, has chosen to remain a mere Librarian.

"Albedo only got into Mondstadt because of his master's recommendation letter."

On some level, this statement is true. Nevertheless, Mondstadt's gates are ever open to all, and a recommendation letter is not strictly necessary.

Indeed, it could be argued that Albedo's life would have been far more comfortable without the letter.

This is because the recipient of the letter was the famed travel writer Alice, an old friend of Albedo's master, Rhinedottir.

After receiving the letter, Alice considered its requests.

"So Rhine said that you'll need a laboratory... And not one of a size that a civilian could build, either. Hmm... I know!"

And just like that, she threw him into the Knights of Favonius.

The work of the Knights is actually quite easy for Albedo — requiring only five percent of his energy.

Albedo had imagined that the rest of his energy could be spent on experiments, with the Knights' full range of apparatus at his disposal.

And yet...

Alice had a daughter, named Klee.

Yes, "that" Klee.

"We'll be a family from now on, treat her like a real younger sister!"

From that day forth, remedying Klee's disasters would come to take up most of Albedo's remaining energy...

Albedo has no memory of any blood relations. From birth, he was already adventuring deep within domains with his master.

Of course, Miss Alice, the Knights of Favonius, and that traveler who had a sense of the stellar depths about them... They are all important. And yet his master is unquestionably the most special to him.

For Albedo, she is his only kin.

She was a cold and strict woman who raised him and taught him the secrets of alchemy.

"The universe is the dark essence of the true starry sky, and the earth is the accumulated memories of time and lives.

The chalk: that is you. The earth is where alchemy gets its name, and is the basis of all life. And this..."

She demonstrated her technique before him as a huge life form burst from its culture tank in a shower of shattered fragments.

"...This is new birth."

Albedo once led a simple and content existence.

There was no need for him to contemplate anything. Life was uneventful, its meaning consisted of nothing more than accompanying his teacher, doing what she asked of him, and meeting her expectations.

But one day, deep in the heart of a dungeon, master and apprentice discovered an artifact known as The Heart of Naberius.

And with that, his master disappeared, leaving naught but a note, a recommendation letter, and a classical text behind.

Upon the note was written: "Albedo, go to Mondstadt. Find my old friend, Alice, and give her the recommendation letter. Then, complete your final assignment."

The classical text was one of the last extant manuscripts of the Opus Magnum from his master's collection.

If one were to push the definition a little, she had left him another gift — the title of Kreideprinz, and with it, a written acknowledgment that she had nothing further to teach him.

In the past, Albedo's assignments had always been very difficult.

He had always believed wholeheartedly that his master would make good on her threat to leave him, should he fail.

But this assignment she had left to him was far too hard, far beyond the limit of his abilities.

Did this mean, then, that he was fated to never complete it, and thus never see his master again?

"Your final assignment: show me the truth and the meaning of this world."

The alchemy that Albedo commands is wholly different from any of the arts practiced in the Seven Nations of Teyvat.

Its lineage can be traced back to the nation of Khaenri'ah.

Khaenri'ah was an underground realm, with precious few natural fauna. As such, its alchemy focused more heavily on the creation of life.

This art of creation was known as "The Art of Khemia."

Albedo had learned of this in his youth from reading his master's notes.

The next stage after "soil" is "chalk," which was also something his master had mentioned.

"Chalk is the spotless soil, and was used to make primordial man."

Now, Albedo understands alchemy in far greater depth than he did in the beginning, and his knowledge on the subject is far more comprehensive.

"From soil was birthed chalk."

The profundity of this statement is well understood by Albedo now.

Such ineffable secrets are bound up with his fond memories of his master.

She was not his birth mother, but there is no doubt that his life stems from her.

"I hope this isn't just wishful thinking, but... when parents speak to their children about 'the meaning of this world'... surely they just mean the pursuit of a happy life?"

From time to time, Albedo finds himself musing on this sentiment.

Albedo's interest in drawing and painting began back in the days of traveling with his master.

At first, he would simply illustrate his notes with basic sketches. But he soon noticed that the process of rendering things in great detail helped him to intimately understand their physical makeup, which was of great utility to his alchemical studies.

Additionally, it also allowed him to enter into a pleasant state of clarity, in which he needed only to focus on observation and creating his artwork, and nothing else.

Eventually, Albedo became a master artist without ever having received formal tuition.

When strolling through Mondstadt, he enjoys sketching and painting all manner of living things, but particularly people in moments of joy.

Sometimes, he even gifts his artwork to his unsuspecting models, believing that when a work of art captures a transient moment of enjoyment, it is something worth treasuring.

Albedo continued to refine his skills in this manner, going from strength to strength — until one day, when he was taken aback by illustrations from Inazuma.

How was it that drawings of such generality could possess such narrative power?

Amazed, he decided to give it a go himself.

...Eventually, after collaborating with a certain novelist by the name of Xingqiu, "A Legend of Sword" was printed and published.

Unfortunately, it received lukewarm reviews, being lambasted as "a dictionary with divine illustrations."

Gaining a Vision came as no great surprise to Albedo.

When he received it, he gave it a single glance before continuing to engross himself in his work.

He barely felt any wave of emotion at all, as if this was something to be taken for granted.

As far as he is concerned, his Vision is merely a tool with which he can more conveniently conduct his research.

What truly sparks joy within him is turning the unknown into the known.

One day, he will understand all there is to know about this world — and Visions are no exception.