Rex Lapis (2024)

This article is about the Geo Archon. For the playable character, see Zhongli.

Rex Lapis, also known by his Goetic name Morax, is the God of Contracts and a member of The Seven. He was the Geo Archon who presided over Liyue prior to revoking his providence during Archon Quest Chapter I.

Along with Barbatos, he is one of The Seven's two original members who are still alive at the start of the game. He currently wanders the world, disguised as Zhongli, a mortal man and a consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

He goes by a plethora of names and titles, including the Prime of Adepti, the God of Contracts, the God of Commerce, the Warrior God,^[1] Deus Auri and the Groundbreaker.^[2]

Prior to his retirement, Rex Lapis descended in his Exuvia (Chinese: 仙祖法蜕) form during the annual Rite of Descension to give guidance to his people for a prosperous year and dictate trade, which is the region's focus.

Profile[]

Introduction[]

The currencies that flow through this land are my flesh and blood.
For thus did I become the guarantor of the people's hard work, wisdom, and future.
This is the trust I have placed in them. Betray it, and you taint my blood.

—Morax, Prithiva Topaz Gemstone

Rex Lapis is the God of Contracts, Commerce, and the Warrior God — among many other names. He was the Geo Archon and is the oldest of "The Seven," and possibly being one of the oldest, if not the oldest, gods at over six thousand years old. He is shrouded in a plethora of legends; both true and exaggerated, often depicting him as an all-conquering, powerful deity.

In addition to forming the geography of the region he governs, Rex Lapis defended Liyue in great battles such as the Archon War, which was waged in the area that is now Guili Plains against other gods. In one battle, he successfully defeated an ancient god known as Osial, using massive stone lances to imprison the sea god, which is now known as the Guyun Stone Forest. In another, he sealed the Mountain Dragon Azhdaha under a tree in Nantianmen following the dragon's rebellion. Other beings Rex Lapis has fought and slain include the Chi that lived in Qingce Village and the god that was Xiao's former master.

Morax is also the source and namesake of Teyvat's currency, Mora. Morax's Gnosis was used to mint Mora at the Golden House before he retired from his position as Archon and ceded his Gnosis to the Tsaritsa.

Currently, Rex Lapis resides in Liyue Harbor as Zhongli and works as a consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

Appearance[]

During formal events such as the Rite of Descension, Rex Lapis takes the form of a half-dragon, half-lin creature.^[7] However, based on other depictions of him, he typically takes a human-like form.

Statues of The Seven in Liyue depict him as an adult man wearing a hood and robes wrapped around his legs, holding a cube. In Yakshas: The Guardian Adepti, his back is shown, donning a white robe with a hood and wearing long, wide pants. His hands are depicted orange, with vein-like markings traveling up his arm. He has long, dark brown hair tied back into a long ponytail, with the rest being style in wind-swept fashion. His hair fades into a bright amber at the ends of his rattail.

The Rex Incognito series claims he changes forms frequently depending on the situation (having appeared in the form of different men and women throughout history) but always has bright amber eyes in any form he takes. This is assumedly the trait that follows him throughout all of his forms, however Zhongli hints that Rex Lapis has a "true appearance."^[8]

Story[]

History[]

How he came to be is currently unknown, however he descended to Teyvat more than 6000 years ago.^[9] After he descended, he lowered the tides and raised Mt. Tianheng.^[10]Before the Archon War, Morax was already known as the Lord of Geo. He was close with Guizhong, the God of Dust, and they formed a settlement for their people in Guili Plains, which was named after them.^[11] He was also on good terms with Marchosius and Madame Ping. However, after the Archon War broke out, Guizhong perished in a battle that laid waste to Guili Plains and Dihua Marsh. Afterwards, Morax moved their people south of Mt. Tianheng, to the place that is now Liyue Harbor.

To protect his new city, Morax formed a contract with the adepti to defend the harbor as he continued waging war against his many enemies. Baqiu,^[12] Chi, Osial, and Xiao's former master were defeated by his hand, while Havria, too gentle for this brutal period, was slain by her own people. The survivors of Sal Terrae were spread throughout Liyue, many of them coming to Liyue Harbor. At some point, he befriended a massive dragon and gave it sight, who became a lifelong friend, but the dragon eventually deteriorated from "erosion" and he was forced to seal his old friend away underneath Nantianmen.^[13]

After defeating the other gods, he sealed them underground, where their physical bodies decomposed and became one with the earth. Their souls, however, were immortal; their desire for revenge and lust for life seeped into the earth, resulting in miasmas, plagues, monster attacks, and other such calamities. To quell these disturbances, Morax summoned the Yakshas to aid him in battle, endlessly subduing the ancient gods.^[14][15]

As the Archon War came to a close 2,000 years ago, Morax emerged as one of the seven victors. The Seven would dine together in Liyue. Morax also met Baal's kagemusha, Beelzebul, during one of these meetings. Two millennia later, only Morax and Barbatos remained as the original Archons amongst The Seven. The other five died and were eventually replaced.

Morax's level of involvement in the cataclysm 500 years ago is currently unknown, but he is aware of how greatly it affected the Tsaritsa.^[16] An unknown party later made a contract with him in which he would not disclose the truth of the incident to anyone who might ask.^[17]

In the more recent past, a xiezhi adeptus that had campaigned with Morax for many years approached the archon to discuss his plans to marry a mortal woman beforehand. Morax was not only fine with it, but also contributed to the couple's wedding gift. The couple would later have a daughter, Yanfei.^[18] The xiezhi would eventually gift his daughter with a steelyard balance, said to be a treasure once given to him by Morax himself and could be used to measure the value of all things.^[19]

Present Day[]

In the Archon Quest Rite of Descension in Chapter I: Act I - Of the Land Amidst Monoliths, Rex Lapis is purportedly assassinated during the titular Rite, and his vessel — known as the Exuvia — was taken away to the Golden House by the Liyue Qixing.

In the Archon Quest Chapter I: Act III - A New Star Approaches, it turns out that he took on the form of Zhongli and instigated most of the events of the chapter with the aid of the Tsaritsa and her envoy, Signora. This was designed to be a test to see if Liyue was ready to move on without his protection, as he intended to retire from his position as the Geo Archon. Having not to have to use his Gnosis to personally intervene had things gone wrong, he handed it over for delivery to the Tsaritsa as part of his contract with her, which he called "the contract to end all contracts."

At some point prior to the Rite of Parting — but after handing his Gnosis over — Morax used an ancient adepti art to inform the Liyue Qixing through Ningguang that he was still alive, but had chosen to step down as the Geo Archon, thus dissuading suspicion placed upon the Traveler for his "murder," and to later confirm this to his fellow adepti (although Madame Ping realized this beforehand).^[20] He left the matter of the official explanation of his death up to the Qixing.^[21]

Character Mentions[]

Character Stories

Character Voice-Overs

Trivia[]

• In the demonology grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon, "Morax" is one of the twelve Presidents of Hell and the 21st demon, ruling over thirty (or thirty-two according to other authors) legions of demons. He teaches astronomy and other liberal sciences and gives good and wise familiars that know all herbs and precious stones' virtues. He is depicted both as a man with the head of a bull and a bull with the head of a man.
• There are mysterious markings on his statue that have not yet been translated, although they do bear some resemblance to somewhat-eroded modern Liyue writing.
• In the last part of the quest Three Poignant Perfumes, it was shown that he likes the smell of Fate's Yearning Perfume, the one which was preferred by mature women.

• Zhongli was heavily foreshadowed to be Morax before it was confirmed with the release of A New Star Approaches in Version 1.1:
  • Zhongli is extremely knowledgeable about money, government, and Liyue's traditions and history. He even remembers customs and traditions that have been watered down, forgotten, and lost to time — as if he was there himself.
  • When he asks the Traveler and Paimon to retrieve the Cleansing Bell from Madame Ping for the Rite of Parting, Zhongli uncharacteristically refuses to join them. Madame Ping says that an "old friend" gave her the Bell and that, since they have come to borrow it, this friend must have "decided to take matters into their own hands." She also makes it no secret that she is an adeptus — which means Zhongli must be much older than his apparent age would suggest.^[22]
  • After retrieving the Cleansing Bell, the Traveler has the option to ask Zhongli either if he knows Madame Ping, or if he is an adeptus. He confirms the former and fails to answer the latter.^[22]
  • Zhongli is shown throughout the story to have several similarities to Venti, the Anemo Archon Barbatos:
    • Zhongli states that a friend from Mondstadt would always bring him a few bottles of Dandelion Wine when they visited.^[23] Dandelion Wine is Venti's favorite drink.
    • Zhongli's appearance is similar to that of the Statues of The Seven in Liyue, much like how Mondstadt's Statues resemble Venti. The symbol on his jacket also matches the symbol on Rex Lapis' statues. Although the Geo Archon wears a hood on his statues which covers most of his hairstyle, it's apparent that Zhongli and the Archon share the same bangs.
    • Zhongli's hair fades from black to amber, similar to how Venti's hair turns to blue-green at the ends of his braids. This was a stronger point during Version 1.0 when most of the characters who had ombres in their hair were known or theorized to be more than ordinary humans or had subtler ombres that were not as noticeable as those of Venti and Zhongli. With the release of more clearly human characters with ombres in their hair as well as the Raiden Shogun with a much subtler ombre, this point is no longer a strong point for deducing Archon identities going forward, though they may still follow the pattern.
    • In the Version 1.1 trailer,^[24] it is apparent that the tip of his ponytail glows when using his skills, a feature that Venti also has.
  • The Rex Incognito book series implies that Rex Lapis has amber eyes no matter what shape he takes, a feature that Zhongli also has.
    • Later on in the Fleeting Colors in Flight event, Zhongli remarks that "there was not quite so much ostentatious shapeshifting as the book would have you believe."^[25]
  • Zhongli calls Rex Lapis' "corpse" an "Exuvia." The word "exuvia" refers to the outer skin molted by some creatures as a new exoskeleton grows in.^[26]
    • During the Rite of Descension, Ivanovich states that "he heard" the Exuvia which Rex Lapis "appears as" during formal events, is a "celestial cross between two of Liyue's celestial creatures" (which the Chinese version specifies to be a dragon and qilin). This suggests that the Exuvia is only one of potentially several forms Rex Lapis can appear in.
      • This information was one of the many circulating Liyue during the Rite that can be either true or false since the information was something Ivanovich "only heard about," and as during the Rite, Zhongli was also stated to be the God of the Stove, which was proven wrong during the Moonlight Merriment event. It is also revealed in dialogue from Zhongli's Story Quest Historia Antiqua Chapter: Act I - Sal Flore that even famous Liyue archaeologists had inaccurate information about Rex Lapis, and the whole quest itself revolved around further inaccurate information about Rex Lapis.
  • Zhongli shares his Chinese Voice Actor with Dvalin.
  • Zhongli shares the same Chinese Voice Actor as Welt Yang and Siegfried Kaslana from the Honkai series.
  • The World Quest Treasure Lost, Treasure Found and the book Stone Tablet Compilations: Vol. I both state that the Guili Plains (归离原 Guīlí-yuán) are named after the God of Dust (归终 Guīzhōng) and the Geo Archon himself. Neither Morax nor Rex Lapis fit into this name, but Zhongli (钟离 Zhōnglí) would.
  • Several stories claim that the Geo Archon uses polearms, such as in Teyvat Travel Guide - Liyue and Diary of Roald the Adventurer: Guyun Stone Forest, which is also Zhongli's weapon of choice.
• Rex Lapis is mentioned in the descriptions of the following 5 Furnishings:
  • "Dainty Fists"
  • A Dragon's Wondrous Sight
  • Adeptus Gate
  • Main Entrance: Gateway to the Clouds
  • Bronze Curio: Ancient Golden Visage

Etymology[]

• His Chinese title, 岩王帝君 Yánwáng Dìjūn, "Imperial Sovereign Yánwáng; Stonelord Sovereign; Rex Lapis" includes the honorific title 帝君 dìjūn, "sovereign," typically added to the names of Daoist deities.^[27] His Chinese honorific title, 岩王爷 Yánwáng-yé, "King Rock" may be derived from the King Yan (Chinese: 阎王爷 Yánwángyé, "Grandfatherly King Yan").
  • "Rex Lapis" is thus thematically tied to the Chinese theme of the Liyue region and its Adepti (who are Taoist immortals), contrasting the Ars Goetia theme of his name "Morax."
• Two of Morax's titles, "God of Wealth and Prosperity" and "God of War," are ascribed to Kubera and Vaiśravaṇa, two names for the deity who leads the yakshas in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist mythology.
• Morax's quote "Ones who break their contracts shall suffer the Wrath of the Rock" (Chinese: 食言者当受食岩之罚 "Those who break their promises shall be punished by being swallowed by rocks") also doubles as a pun in the original Chinese text — 食言 shíyán, "break their promises" is a hom*ophone of 食岩 shí yán, "swallowed by rocks."

Gallery[]

Genius Invokation TCG[]

Other Languages[]

Change History[]

References[]