Albedo

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.

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, 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, 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, something which Venti and Dainsleif are well too aware of.

Albedo stands at around 5'6 in height. He has bright teal eyes with three dots in each iris, pale skin, and pale, wavy blond hair reaching to his shoulders. He typically ties it back using two connected braids to hold the rest out of his face. Due to being a synthetic human, a gold diamond marking can be found on his neck. Though he appears to be in his mid-to-early twenties, Albedo is over 500 years old. Due to his homunculus nature, he will never age and never die of natural causes.

Despite his great achievements in the field of alchemy, he does not speak of the nature of things too hastily.

Wandering among ordinary folk oblivious to various truths of this world, he treats them with nothing but sincerity and kindness.

Polite and graceful, he seems withdrawn on the surface, but never hesitates to lend a helping hand. No matter if you go way back, or he has just befriended you, he can always find time to draw an exquisite portrait for a friend.

The Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, Albedo, is a truly remarkable young man. All admire his scholarly attainments — citizens of Mondstadt and members of the Knights of Favonius alike.

'Genius,' 'Kreideprinz,' or 'Captain of the Investigation Team'... Such titles and honors are of no consequence to him when there is so much more research to conduct.

The pursuit of fortune and connections cannot hold a candle to his heart's desire — acquiring the limitless, obscure knowledge left behind by previous generations of scholars.

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.

'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...

From birth, Albedo 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. It was the very type that created Albedo himself at the hands of his master.

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.

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.

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.