u/Jesyka_

Next patch, we get dialogue from the Moon Sisters explaining why they took on human forms. It seems they did so in order to visit humans "on the surface." There also seems to be an attempt to address why the Moon Sisters allowed the Heavenly Principles to overthrow the dragons and reshape Teyvat. [a poor attempt imo 💀]

• Canon: "Ah, Aria. It seems you've already chosen a "human" form for yourself as well."
• Aria: "That said, I didn't expect that you would proactively create such a form for those lovely little beings."
• Canon: "It is only natural, Aria. Those fragile lives trust me and call out to me, so I shall respond to their voices. We were born to preserve the world. If the beings known as "humans" are willing to settle it, listening to their pleas also fulfills the mission our King bestowed upon us...
• Aria: "Yes. After all, he did say that all life across the sea of stars are allies. They fight alongside us against the darkness. But I wasn't talking about that. I mean, I didn't expect you, the "Frost Moon," to have such a sentimental side. It's very cute."
• Sonnet: "Sisters, now that we've shaped bodies for ourselves, shouldn't the first thing we do be sneaking out to have some fun with the people on the surface? Otherwise, we'll have made them for nothing! Hurry, before anyone discovers us—"
• Aria: "Why, I remember that when they first started building their civilization on the surface, you even said, "That outsider is bad news, and naturally, its creations are the same." You wouldn't even spare them a glance."
• Sonnet: "I still think you two shouldn't have let that outsider in, but the people on the surface..."

We also get some Istaroth sus crumbs

• Canon: "That Descender's servant said they had matters to discuss with me about this world's gravitational potential and metric tensor {laws of time}. [Istaroth] perhaps it's just my imagination, but I have a certain... feeling about how she views that Descender... I won't jump to conclusions, Aria. But I'll keep an eye out."

One of the locations on the moon is the Golden Hall; I came across this text and think maybe it will be in this area somewhere.

• I am Euthyphro, hailing from Arcadia, the eternal holy city.
• O Mother of the silver shuttle, the ever-blessed goddess Prusmene, by thy grace, I take up this meager quill to chronicle the night's final splendor.
• I beseech thee: grant me once more the hallowed gift of inspiration; preserve thy devout believer, lest my soul descend beneath the silver tree, to be sullied by the dust.
• O wise and radiant queen, bringer of the light! I beseech thee: deliver thus thy devout believer; That my mortal frame may find eternal rest within thy holy embrace.
• O wondrous Prusmene — ancient mother of the night and daughter who brings the light, mistress of the Golden Hall! Countless times hast thou guided my vessel, permitting me to usher unsullied souls unto the lunar palace above the clouds.
• Thou grantest mortals slumber within thy pale embrace; thou grantest them dreams that are theirs, and theirs alone. Yet this is to be the final night — the final rest. For there sits the eternal throne in the heavens, the Primordial One, O world-shaking lord!
• It forgeth the bones of the earth. It biddeth all dreams return to the earth, and all dreamless things to return to the earth. It seeketh to shroud the dreams of man with its own dream, that we, the mortals of this fleeting world, shall abide an age without beginning or end, passing through a life of tranquil, dreamless rest.
• O wise and radiant queen, bringer of the light, deliver me from the hands of my dread master! For thee, I have ushered the unsullied souls. For thee, I have steered the great and silver-shimmering vessel.
• I beseech thee: deliver thus thy devout believer, that my mortal frame may find eternal rest within thy holy embrace!

As you all probably know, next patch we are going to the moon. I have been digging through the text map over the past few days and want to share with you all what I have found 😄

These are some of the important NPC's.

• Ungien - a researcher in the field of life sciences. Pupil of Ibni-Belum
• Maagees- Ungeins wife, an expert in life sciences, a professor. Also known as Researcher Maagees-Geti 
• Lusalim- Ungien and Maagees' student.
• Ibni-Belum- the first Moongazer [I think this might be our glorious king Nibelung]
• Ninnin/Eggie->! Lusalim's daughter. !<

I tried to piece together the story as best I could. The information in bullet points is text from the text map.

TL;DR at the bottom.

I think Ibni-Belum might be Nibelung, it relies on the spelling in CN text. CN text uses 尼伯龙 for Nibelung [if I am not mistaken] and Ibni-Belum in CN is spelled 伊比尼伯龙. Adding a dash before the name Nibelung in CN gives you 伊比-尼伯龙, which then translates to Ibi-Nibelung; this could of course just be a coincidence and I am not a CN native but wanted to mention it. [Edit: it seems this is just a coincidence for now 🥀]

• "It starts with a dragon pioneer named Ibni-Belum {the first Moongazer}. The lunar vessel we traveled in was his creation. He was the one who led dragon researchers to the moon. After the pioneer landed he began to explore the moon and circumlunar zone. Then, one day while in the circumlunar zone, he received a mysterious signal from deep space. The researchers couldn't decipher the signal's meaning. But the pioneer believed it was a message sent back by their [glorious] king who had journeyed out into the sea of stars, and that [glorious] king's name was Nibelung."
• The pioneer Ibni-Belum once proclaimed to the researchers who had set foot on the moon: "The sky of stars above our heads was born not of the King's dreams. It hath ever been there, mysterious and silent, awaiting the day its children would look up in curiosity..."
• "My pupil, Ungien, is a rebellious, obdurate mule who respects neither teacher nor king. Were his talent not sufficient to overshadow his flaws, I'd have booted him off the moon by now." Design and Engineering Resource Support: Ibni-Belum.
• Phase II retrofitting of the orbital positioning facility in Nephilheim —constructed by Moongazer Ibni-Belum, hereafter referred to as "Engraving" — is complete. [...]...The original "Engraving" has been reinforced. Countermeasure testing against (...) and (...) weapon systems has concluded. For detailed records, refer to the appendix. Despite its original design intent, the facility is capable of serving as an emergency bunker...Supreme glory everlasting to the Creator!🙌🙌🙌

Ungien, a life scientist, believed that among the stars live many mysterious creatures not yet discovered. He believed that a deep-space signal received by the dragons was not a message their [glorious] king had sent back, but rather it came from some mysterious creature from beyond the stars. To that end, he built a capture station in the space above Ungien's Circle on the moon.

He chose to pilot a spaceship named Moongazer "Because he wanted to overturn Ibni-Belum's theory." He returned with Black Stellar Energy which he began to fuse with. After Ungien fused with the "Black Stellar Entity," his body also began secreting the same substance across its surface. Maagees named it "Blackbody Matter."

• Ungien's wife, Maagees, was the first to enter the spaceship, but she only found a round, black, spiky creature inside..."
• "The black, iridescent filament-like ejecta found on the outer hull of the "Moongazer" possessed a unique "reflective" property. This likely explained why the spaceship remained concealed..."
• "The ship's log showed that the creature emitting the signal didn't attack Ungien. Instead, he was the one who chose to fuse with it..."
• "Maagees ran a series of tests and thus discovered that her lover was fusing with some unknown creature."

Ungien passed on a message to the dragons. After delivering the message, Ungien began to die. But Maagees, used an experimental technique on him. Ungien's consciousness was completely lost during this process.

• "Day 37: The Eye of Ibni-Belum team has decoded the vibration frequency. To our surprise, it was a message in our language. Roughly translated, it reads: "I'm glad this message reached you." Ungie... Is that really you? What are you trying to tell us???"
• "But then she showed me the entirety of the message brought by the Black Stellar Entity. It was only then that I finally understood what she had been reaching for."
• "Day 98: Phase I experiments confirm that pure energy increases blackbody matter activity, and in particular, the Archaeolune Energy contained in biological organisms produces a stronger response. Ungie, maybe this is why you ended up like this. That thing you found, it thirsts for our bodies."
• "Professor Maagees has successfully operated on Containment Object-1 using an emerging, unproven biotechnology. She has managed to turn it into something completely new — a living being that is the total fusion of Archaeolune Energy and blackbody matter. That little onyx creature grows larger with every passing day. Maybe one day it will be even larger than the sky itself. But we all know that no matter what it becomes, it will never be the Professor Ungien we knew..."

Maagees requested that her student [Lusalim] use the same technique on her, ultimately being converted into a new lifeform. Just as with Ungien, her consciousness was not preserved.

• "Today, I shall bid farewell to Professor Maagees. In accordance with her wishes, I shall perform that operation of creation on her later today, just as she once did when she created Ungie. This is something I have to do myself, for it is what Professor Maagees wants. The experience I gain from the operation will be vital to the upcoming Project Moongazer, particularly to the work of creating life itself. This is also in line with King Xiuhcoatl's wise counsel. For so long, I believed her insistence on sending that message was simply grief turned into obsession, the fixation of a human being who had lost the one she loved." [I'm not sure why the word human is here 🤨]

these two entities might be Ungien and Maages

Maagees and Lusalim worked on Project Lunar Veil to make a veil that could obscure the moon. Lusalim eventually gave the research for veil building to the usurper. [BOOO 🍅🍅🍅]

• "Still, Professor Maagees agreed, so we proceeded with it. When she asked me for a project name, I suggested "Project Lunar Veil" — a veil that could obscure the moon."
• "Lusalim successfully experimented with a miniature Lunar Veil by applying it to Ungien's Circle..."
• "Records Regarding "Project Lunar Veil: Phase I" Phase I was a success. We created a miniature Lunar Veil to shroud the biosphere, but it only made me more anxious."
• "And that final step is — life, information, and memory must be given a way to be inherited and to circulate. The power of the moon's origin, granted to us by the Moon Goddess, is enough to make this possible. I will not see the project completed, for I have sinned against dragonkind. I capitulated to that terrifying sovereign who was not of this world, and surrendered the precious results of our research. I do not intend to escape judgment."
• "That is why I now entrust Project Moongazer, now only one step away from completion, to you. And that final step is — life, information, and memory must be given a way to be inherited and to circulate. The power of the moon's origin, granted to us by the Moon Goddess, is enough to make this possible."

This is what I found so far related to "Blackbody Matter" research. My takeaway is that the veil is made of Blackbody Matter mixed with some sort of life. The mini veil made by Lusalim worked when applied to Ungien's Circle which is a realm of life.

• "I must therefore devise a safeguard, and the key lies in the properties of the Blackbody Matter..."
• Day 1: The surface of Containment Object-1 is glossy black. Its morphology remains indeterminate and exhibits irregular wave-like fluctuations. Tests produced no response to auditory, visual, or physical stimuli. No food or water intake was observed today.
• 30: Containment Object-1 vibrated at a high frequency when shown starfield footage with visible celestial bodies for around ten seconds. The corresponding frequency band has been entered into the spectrometer.
• Day 98: Phase I experiments confirm that pure energy increases blackbody matter activity, and in particular, the Archaeolune Energy contained in biological organisms produces a stronger response... Ungie, maybe this is why you ended up like this. That thing you found, it thirsts for our bodies...
• "Experiments have revealed that Blackbody Matter can mutually stimulate with Archaeolune Energy, and can also fuse with plants and animals. In some fused specimens, coloration shifts from blue to black."
• "The ecological research team has cultivated thousands of Moonshade Trees. From among them, Professor Maagees's team selected compatible specimens with a high compatibility for integration with the "Blackbody Matter."
• "A Moonshade Tree, shaped through selective gene tuning, spreads its branches wide. The blackbody matter it emits can form a vast screen, shielding this place from prying eyes and hostile observation."
•  "It is truly astonishing. When we were testing the "Curtain-Form Blackbody Containment," Ninnin could barely even speak.

I am still going through text map so if I find anything else I will just edit and add what I found here. Even through all of this I still cannot judge the timeline for all of this. I think it is before HP arrived but Lusalim gave HP the blueprints for a veil; yet Lusalim does not refer to HP as "usuper" and called them a '"terrifying sovereign." Not sure what to make of it, maybe it was during the war before HP won 🤷‍♀️

TL;DR

• A dragon went into space and came across black matter and fused with it.
• Experiments lead to the discovery that Blackbody Matter has the ability to fuse with plants, animals, and led to the development of engineered Moonshade Trees. Coloration shifts from blue to black.
• “Project Lunar Veil” was started and the matter was formed into a giant “curtain” or “veil." Dragons figured out how to create an artificial sky/veil using blackbody matter and living organisms.
• Lusalim eventually handed the veil over to HP which is considered a betrayal.
• Teyvats firmament is likely a fusion of blackbody matter, memory, life, and biological networks.
• Phanes likely reshaped Irminsul to power the veil thanks to the dragons research.
• Ibni-Belum might be Nibelung, the first moongazer.

Edit: most of the quest is out now. Correcting and adding info.

- "You fail to stop the self-destruct sequence, and as the countdown ends, the base is engulfed in roaring flames. The good news is you manage to escape the explosion unscathed with Paimon in tow. But alas, the mysterious black kuuhenki, the spaceship bound for the moon, and the tale behind them all vanish from your journey forever."

- Mysterious Kuuhenk-"Columbina... rescued me... on the moon...When I woke up... I was very weak... I forgot... many things...She took me to... a place of healing...It was called... Silvermoon Hall..."

- Black Egg: "Knotted Moonlight Vines... They grow in places where the ancient moon's power has been thrown into turmoil... perhaps that's why..."

Areas

- Ungien's Circle: many species of creatures live there; it is a home for living beings.

- MoonGazer Tower: The researchers could not enter deep space so they built this tower after receiving a message from deep space.

- Moonheart: Endless energy is drawn from the Moonheart, fueling the ancient dragon's ascent to the heavens.

- Eye of Ibni-Belum: A lunar surface monitoring station, capable of monitoring the entire lunar surface. The Eye was originally a deep-space signal transceiver station built to recapture the signal recieved from deep space. Many years went by, the pioneer passed away, but the signal never appeared again. His students gave up years later and turned to more practical pursuits. They renovated the Eye into a lunar surface monitoring station to make it easier for them to conduct more practical lunar research.

- Ab-Irimu Storage Array [No. 59]- This array is primarily used to regulate the operation of the Engraving and to store various research resources.