Three Moon Sisters
Known as Aria, Sonnet, and Canon, the three moon sisters used to change places with each other in the sky three times a month — until their silver carriage was “overturned” and the “Hall of Stars” was destroyed. Legends say the sisters turned on & killed each other during a catastrophe, and two of their corpses crumbled away, leaving one corpse remaining in the sky.
We saw a glimpse of one of these shattered moons behind the veil of the false sky during the Natlan archon quest, and in Skirk’s animated short. There is also what looks to be a moon shard sitting in a hole in Natlan.
In Simulanka, Andersdottir wrote three of the Hexenzirkel members into the story as the Goddess of Creation (Alice), the Goddess of Prophecy (Andersdottir), and the Goddess of Fate (Barbeloth). It’s possible this trio was meant to represent the three moon sisters.
I recommend checking out the wiki (linked above) and Song of the Welkin Moon for more info.
Crimson moon
The Crimson Moon seems to be everywhere, and I’m not 100% sure what it is! Song of the Welkin Moon kinda implies that the Iridescent Moon fell into the ocean and became the Crimson Moon. We also know that one of the dynasties of Khaenri’ah was the Crimson Moon dynasty, and Arlecchino is a descendant of them.
The book Perinheri alludes to the Crimson Moon dynasty, and says “The crimson moon, hanging high in the pitch-dark night sky, suddenly turned around, revealing itself to be a titanic, horrified eye.” This also kinda links the crimson moon to Ronova, the Shade of Death, who appeared to us as a group of red eyes in the sky.
Archons
All the archons have some kind of connection to the moon, although some are more obvious than others.
Venti
This one is probably mostly in my head, but I’ll do some digging to see if I can support it better. Anemo is the element I associate the most with Seelies, because they’re kinda like wind wisps. And Seelies are very much associated with the moon.
A little more solid: Moonlit Bamboo Forest, while it does take place in Liyue, is about Istaroth. And the quest Time and Wind takes you to an island that has a moon-dial (not a sun-dial!) on it.
Zhongli
It’s much more obvious to connect Zhongli to the sun than the moon, especially because of the sun chariot that crashed into what is now The Chasm. But there is a lot of moon-related stuff in Liyue! I’m just going to list some of it here for now because I’m lazy.
- Moonlit Bamboo Forest
- Moon Carver
- Moon in One’s Cup
- Moonchase Festival
- Moonjade Descent
- Moonfinger
- Moon-Eclipsing Chamber
Not to mention Guizhong, who has a very Seelie-like design (imo).
Ei
The most exciting one — Ei has a lot of weird moon connections:
- One of the moons is called the “Eternal Moon,” and eternity is kinda her whole thing
- The Inazuma vision holder has three circles on it that remind me of the three moons
- Her Plane of Euthymia has a giant crimson moon
- Her skill summons an eye that reminds me of Ronova + some of Arlecchino’s design
- It’s also called “Baleful Omen,” while all Arlecchino’s stuff mentions the “Balemoon”
Nahida
The moon represents illusions and lies, as we were told in the Sumeru Archon Quest. Nahida also called herself the moon.
Kimiya: Okay, one moment… Hmm… It’s the Moon.
Paimon: Paimon wants to take a look too… Is it…? It looks more like a pie that Paimon bit into.
Kimiya: Hmm… Generally speaking, the Moon signifies… It means… Wait a moment…
Paimon: Is he really looking it up in a book…
Kimiya: Oh, I remember now. It means illusions and lies.
Dunyarzad: Illusions and lies…? That sounds rather ominous…
Kimiya: Yes, but this book says that if you trust your intuition and overcome your fears, the sun will surely rise.
Paimon: He’s not even trying to hide his book anymore.
Dunyarzad: …Naturally, fate will only ever show you the beginning of a journey. It is up to you to forge your own ending. Hehe, thank you so much. I’ll keep that in mind. [^1]
Paimon: If we’re lab rats, then what are you? Nahida, you’ve never told us anything about yourself…
Nahida: Hmm… I guess I’m the Moon.
Paimon: The Moon? Wasn’t that the result of our divination? [^2]
Furina
I don’t actually think Furina or Focalors have any obvious moon connections (unless I’m just forgetting them), but hydro is one of the elements that feels the closest to the moon, because of the way the moon controls tides.
Mavuika
In the Natlan Archon Quest, we saw Mavuika tear open the false sky for a second and reveal one of the shattered moons. So while the Pyro Archon is very much associated with the sun, this part of the story has been setting us up for a lot of moon lore.
Extra stuff
- The crafting bench has three moons on it
- This is also reflected in Albedo’s eyes, which makes sense since he was made by an alchemist and practices alchemy himself
- Candace’s splash art has a big arc of water behind her that sure looks a lot like a moon
- Childe’s TCG card has a moon on it