Ay-Khanoum

Ay-Khanoum, meaning "[City of the] Moon Maiden" in the Jinn's ancient language and also known as the City of Amphitheaters (or Amphitheater City), was an ancient city in Sumeru that was jointly ruled by Nabu Malikata and King Deshret.While it can be assumed that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was still friends with Nabu Malikata and King Deshret when Ay-Khanoum was established, there has been no direct reference to her presence in Ay-Khanoum lore. The two built the city for the Jinn.
==History==
===Legendary Origins===
According to legend, Nabu Malikata was a survivor of the Seelie race who was exiled to Teyvat after the war between the Heavenly Principles and the Second Who Came. She wandered the barren wastelands for 72 nights and her wounds bled into streams, which then nourished gardens that gave rise to the water lilies that spawned the Jinn. At the Jinn's behest, Nabu Malikata stayed in this garden, and Padisarahs bloomed wherever she went. This is presumably the location where she and King Deshret established Ay-Khanoum as a city for the Jinn.Viewpoint: Refugee Shelters (Aaru Village)
An alternate account of Ay-Khanoum's origins is given in The Shepherd and the Magic Bottle, which claims that King Deshret captured the Jinn in magic bottles both out of his curiosity and to enlist their help in his goal of conquering the world. He built Ay-Khanoum to commemorate them, and they in return built his mausoleum. While the reason given for why he built Ay-Khanoum largely corroborates other accounts, it completely excludes Nabu Malikata's existence and its rendition of how King Deshret gained the Jinn's loyalty is not supported by direct accounts from Liloupar, a Jinni who directly served Nabu Malikata and King Deshret, or lore from artifact sets.
===Later History===
A few generations after the fall of Gurabad, Ay-Khanoum was ruled by Garshāsp,Interactable: Vaguely-Readable Inscription, Mausoleum of King Deshret, East (Underground) who went on to unite several desert cities under his rule only to meet his end through unknown — but presumably violent — means.Interactable: Vaguely-Readable Inscription, Mausoleum of King Deshret, North (Underground) 
===Present Day===
Currently, Ay-Khanoum has been reduced to ruins and the towers built upon the sands may have long collapsed. The Altar of Mirages may be the location of Ay-Khanoum's remains, or it may be that the city was located in what is now the Orchard of Pairidaeza, where the divine nail that destroyed the city fell.
==Legacy==
While giving her self-introduction to Liloupar, Babel calls the Jinni the "eternal prisoner of Ay-Khanoum."
==Trivia==
===Etymology===
* , an name meaning "Lady Moon," was an ancient Hellenistic city located in northern Afghanistan and one of the two capitals of the .
** The in-universe meaning of "Ay-Khanoum" is "moon maiden," and the term is derived from the ancient Jinn language.
==Notes==
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
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==Navigation==
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