If you’ve spent any time wandering through the Girdle of the Sands in Sumeru, you know the feeling. The sky turns a weird, sickly shade of purple. The music shifts from breezy desert tunes to something haunting. Suddenly, you’re not just picking flowers or fighting fungi; you’re tangled in a massive, multi-hour world quest called Khvarena of Good and Evil.
It’s big. Like, really big.
Most players stumble into it while looking for Dendroculus, only to realize they’ve signed up for a deep-lore masterclass that basically rewrites what we know about the Cataclysm. Honestly, it’s a lot to take in. You meet Sorush, this tiny, floating Pari who has a massive ego and an even bigger destiny. You’re tasked with cleaning up "Abyssal filth" that’s been festering for five hundred years. It’s not just a side quest. It’s the emotional and mechanical backbone of the entire 3.6 desert expansion.
What People Get Wrong About Sorush and the Pari
Everyone loves to complain about "escort" or "companion" mechanics in RPGs. We’ve all been scarred by slow-moving NPCs. But Sorush is different. You aren't just following her; you become her.
The Khvarena of Good and Evil questline introduces the "Uptala Lotus" and "Nirodha Fruit" mechanics that require you to switch to Sorush to interact with the world. A lot of players find this clunky at first. They try to play it like a standard combat crawl. That's a mistake. You’ve got to treat Sorush as your secondary character lens. She can see things you can’t. She can move platforms. She can literally bloom flowers out of thin air to create pathing.
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The Pari themselves are weirdly complex beings. They aren't just desert spirits. They are born from the "Simurgh," a divine creature that drank from the Amrita—the diluted blood of the deceased Hydro Archon, Egeria. When you’re doing this quest, you aren't just "saving the desert." You are literally interacting with the remains of a god to stop a leak from the Abyss.
The Tunigi Hollow and That Massive "Gray Crystal" Problem
If you look at the map of the Gavireh Lajavard region, there’s a giant hole in the middle. That’s the Tunigi Hollow. It’s ugly. It’s full of these jagged, gray crystals that look like they’re choking the earth.
During the Khvarena of Good and Evil quest, you find out these crystals are basically frozen time and filth. They are "Gray Remnants." To break them, you need Khvarena—the holy light of the Pari. This is where the quest gets mechanically dense. You’ll spend hours finding "Great Songs of Khvarena" to awaken the various Pari powers.
It’s easy to get lost here. The underground ruins—the workshops of the Order of Skeptics—are a maze. You’re looking for power circuits, moving heavy gears, and trying to figure out why a group of scholars lived in a hole in the ground for generations. Nasejuna, the NPC who guides you through the early bits, is a great example of HoYoverse’s "grey area" writing. You want to trust him because he knows the tech, but his obsession with the "Abyssal Power" is a massive red flag.
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The deeper you go, the more you realize the Khvarena of Good and Evil isn't about "good" vs "evil" in a Sunday school sense. It’s about entropy versus preservation. The Khvarena is a finite resource. Using it to seal the Abyss cost the lives of the original Pari and the "Brave" people of the desert. It’s heavy stuff.
Why the Lore Here Actually Matters for the Main Story
Don’t skip the dialogue. I know, it’s tempting when a Pari starts talking in flowery verse. But this quest contains the most explicit details we have about the "Dahri"—the people of Khaenri'ah.
We find out they weren't just monsters. They were engineers. They built the massive foundries you explore during the "As the Khvarena’s Light Shows" sub-quest. They were trying to use the power of the Amrita to fuel their machines, but also to hold back the very darkness they helped unleash. Seeing the rusted husks of Ruin Guards next to the glowing green pools of the Vourukasha Oasis is a visual gut-punch. It shows the collision of nature and forbidden technology.
Tips for Surviving the Longest Hikes
Let’s talk practical. This quest is a marathon.
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- Don't Rush the Underground: The map layers are your best friend. If the icon looks like it’s in a wall, it’s probably 50 meters below you in a tunnel you haven't found yet.
- Level Your Sorush: You don't "level" her with XP, but you unlock her abilities by progressing the story. If you see a puzzle you can't solve (like the red barrier or the purple fog), stop. You probably haven't reached the specific quest milestone to unlock that skill.
- The Great Songs: There are several "Great Songs of Khvarena" you need to collect. They look like floating green music notes. Keep a mental map of where you saw them, because you’ll be backtracking through these ruins quite a bit.
- Combat Prep: You’ll face a lot of Rifthounds and Abyss Mages. Bring a healer. The corrosion effect in the Tunigi Hollow sections can eat your HP while you’re busy trying to solve a puzzle with Sorush.
The finale of the quest, the "Abhijnapala" ceremony, is one of the most visually stunning moments in the game. You’re at the top of the Harvisptokm (the giant tree), defending it from waves of enemies while the sky literally clears up. It’s satisfying. It feels like you actually changed the world map, which is something Genshin doesn't always do well.
The Actionable Path Forward
If you haven't finished Khvarena of Good and Evil, or you're stuck in the middle of the "Asipattravana Itihasa" section, here is exactly what you need to do to get through it efficiently and enjoy it.
- Prioritize the "Nirodha Fruit": When you get control of Sorush, practice using the "E" skill (or elemental skill button) to drop fruits on the purple ooze. It’s the primary way you clear paths. If you don't master this early, the later combat-puzzles will be a nightmare.
- Check Your Inventory for "Korybantes": There is a section involving drums. It's the "Awakening's Real Sound" part. You have to find five drums scattered across the desert. Follow the prompts precisely—the drum scores are based on the "dots" (empty, half-full, full) which translate to "Normal Attack," "Plunging Attack," and "Do Nothing."
- Clear the "Sign of Coming Hopes" Immediately: Once the quest is done, you unlock the ability to fly Sorush much higher and collect the remaining Plumes of Purifying Light. These are traded into the Amrita Pool for 600+ Primogems.
- Read the "Lost Notes": In the underground foundries, there are readable items that explain the fate of the "Schwanenritter"—the knights of Khaenri'ah. It bridges the gap between the desert lore and the stuff we learned in the Chasm.
Ultimately, this quest is about the cost of heroism. The Pari aren't just cute mascots; they are fragments of a sacrifice. When you finally stand at the edge of the Vourukasha Oasis after the sky turns from purple back to blue, the silence is earned. Take a second to look at the Harvisptokm. You didn't just clear a quest log; you settled a five-hundred-year-old debt. Now, go turn in those Plumes of Purifying Light to the Amrita Pool and get those rewards—you've definitely earned them.