The ending of Genshin Impact's Windblume's Breath event strayed away from a celebration of the holiday and instead focused on the Hexenzirkel, a group of powerful witches on Teyvat. Although briefly mentioned before in other quests in Genshin Impact, the Hexenzirkel was a mysterious coven of witches that has yet to make a physical appearance in the game, and players are anticipating them to have an interesting role in future story quests.
The ending cutscene of Windblume's Breath had Alice the notorious world-traveling witch telling the story of the Hexenzirkel to the Traveler and company. She explained how they would meet together for tea parties to vent out their troubles and catch up with each other. Interestingly, the witches challenged the Anemo Archon in the past, but he convinced them to "make music, not war, and resolve [their] conflicts through song." Since then, witches stood by their pledge "never to fight amongst themselves," but things change over time, and it's possible the witches could break their pledge and fight among themselves in the future.
The Current Information on the Hexenzirkel Witches
From the Story Teaser: "The Mages Tea Party" and through Alice's dialogue throughout Windblume's Breath, it's revealed that there were originally eight witches included in the Hexenzirkel artwork, yet only six identities have been confirmed by Alice. The group has disbanded, with some witches deceased or their statuses unknown to the others. The known witches from the Hexenzirkel are Alice, Barbeloth, Rhinedottir, Nicole, I. Ivanovna N., and Andersdotter, with the latter two deceased. Each mage is/was extremely talented in their field of research and magic, although some had more of an impact on the world than others.
It's currently unknown which members were of the founding group and there's little to no information about their successors, but the witches did have students under their tutelage, including some beloved playable characters. Klee, the explosive-loving child and Knight of Favonious, is the daughter of Alice, a famous adventurer and author of the Teyvat Travel Guide. Mona the astrologer is the student of Barbeloth, a master hydromancer and astrologer, while Albedo, the chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, is the creation and "son" of Rhinedottir (a.k.a. "Gold"), a Khaenri'an alchemist linked to the cataclysm and other events in Teyvat.
The Motivations of a War or Conflict Between the Witches
Since the Hexenzirkel is presumably disbanded, there's no reason for the remaining mages to uphold their pledge, and there's a possibility they might conflict with each other for reasons unknown. There's still a lot of missing information about the mages and their motivations, but they shouldn't be assumed to be saviors or heroes. Alice, despite being a fun and friendly person, has committed controversial acts during her long lifetime as a result of her impulsiveness and near-omnipotent power and knowledge. There isn't much information on Nicole and Barbeloth, but it can be assumed they're not wholly evil, as Nicole's known as the "guide who will never get lost" and Barbeloth, Alice's rival, is Mona's teacher, and Mona's doesn't seem evil whatsoever - although Mona isn't exactly on good terms with her master.
Rhinedottir is most likely to be the mage who incites a war or conflict with the others, as she's not from Teyvat and has committed problematic acts. She's been connected to the cataclysm, the disaster in Khaenri'ah that led to certain events and tragedies in Teyvat. Even though she created Albedo, a humble and talented alchemist, she's also responsible for creating creatures that endanger the nations of Teyvat, such as the Riftwolves and the fallen dragon Durin. Rhinedottir's current status is unknown in the game, but players should suspect she's committing something dangerous waiting to be revealed, and it might take some of the Hexenzirkel's witches to help stop her. Power and curiosity has always been a motivation for conflict, and it wouldn't be surprising to see one of the mages commit acts that offend or endanger the others in future Genshin Impact stories.
Genshin Impact is now available on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.
