Old and wise, Kielo carries herself with a distinct sense of dignity: though elusive and not the one to purposefully intimidate others, she’s more than aware of her own worth and the destructive strength she has on her serpent lower body. While Kielo no longer concerns herself with humans and their lives, she harbors no ill will towards those who treat her with respect and leave her unbothered. In her youth she held more interest towards the land dwellers and would often quietly follow the humans that struct her fancy, but nowadays she’s more than content with the occasional waterfolk, spirits and the animals that venture close to the river. 

Because of her introversion and general dislike for socializing with humans, it’s easy to mistake Kielo as someone with little in the way of social skills. However, Kielo actually makes for a good and attentive conversationalist if she just wants to be — it’s just that most of the time she doesn’t want to. Even for a vetehi she is particularly independent and has been since her childhood, preferring the wonders of nature over everything else. 

While Kielo is arguably a very pacifist vetehi when it comes to the reputation of her species, she is by no means above killing humans: with her vengeful nature and terrifyingly good memory, if she is angered she won’t hesitate to bare her teeth and use her massive serpent body to strangle whoever has angered her. Eating humans is not a need for her nor even an urge, but she holds no moral reservations towards killing them — with the exception of children, who Kielo simply doesn’t want to hurt regardless of their species. 

HAIR: Salmon color, long & always loosely braided 
EYES: Blue, half open 
EYELASHES: White, long and voluminous  
NOSE: Small, straight with a round tip
LIPS: Thin, light 
HORNS: Orange antlers (UR)
HANDS: Webbed (C) 
BACK SPIKES: Reaches tail tip (R)
PADDLES: Spiky (C)
TAIL: Hair with no paddles (C) 
GEMS: Gray rocks (C)
BODY TYPE: Mesomorph
CONSTITUTION: Refined, intimidating 
OTHER: Unnaturally white skin, white neck spikes, frosty texture on scales & gems on hair 

As an arctic vetehi, her scales have something akin to frost covering them and glittering in light. They do not melt during summer. She has decorated her scales with a few rather common but round rocks found from the sea.

Summary: Born in the cold waters of Bothnian Bay, Kielo grew up with her twin brother and would eventually swim up to the Torne river with him. But when her brother got tired of the mundane life there Kielo remained, content with the peace and quiet. She would sometimes mingle with humans, but after a heartbreak she would distance herself more and more, until becoming the solitary vetehi she now is.

Childhood 

Kielo was born in the Bothnian Bay, the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea. Growing up she only had her parents and her twin brother Lumi as the only vetehi she knew, and most of her childhood she spent almost exclusively tackling along with her adventurous brother. There were some waterfolk she met in her childhood, but many of them were elusive enough that they didn’t offer much in the way of friendship. Life was peaceful for the most part, but they were often forced to change their location due to the influence of humans: the sea was not awfully deep, and especially with the First World War it was frequently used for travel. 

After Kielo and Lumi were old enough to survive on their own (but by no means fully mature yet), they left their home waters and eventually found themselves in the Torne river. The siblings would associate with some humans there, often exchanging stories about life on sea and land. Kielo was always more distrustful of humans compared to her brother, preferring to listen rather than actively participate in these conversations. 

During the second world war the siblings stayed out of the war’s way and habited areas with relative peace. However, Lumi would eventually grow bored of the monotonous life in the distant waters and decided to venture out into the world. Kielo didn’t want to leave though, and so the siblings parted ways. 

Solitary life

Kielo was still rather young when she was left alone and still held a curiosity towards humans: while still nowhere near as assertive and forward as her brother, she would occasionally involve herself with humans she personally seemed trustworthy. She would sometimes help them or share her wisdom, receiving food or jewels in exchange. 

Her life would come to change when she saved a young man from drowning: he had been fishing at night when a sudden storm had knocked his boat over. Kielo knew the man as one of the locals; a very respectful young man who loved the rivers and had sometimes left some fish for Kielo if his bounty had been large. 

After saving him the two would become close friends, until Kielo would develop romantic feelings towards him. However, she knew a human and a vetehi couldn’t live together or have offspring, and for the first time in her life she felt jealousy towards humans and their weak and short bodies. Unable to deal with her heartbreak, Kielo left the area without saying anything and wandered around for years. When she finally returned to the area again generations had passed since and the man was no longer alive. 

Kielo then met the granddaughter of the man she had once loved, her features reminding her of him so clearly she knew who the girl was before she could even introduce herself. Out of sentimentality and guilt for leaving the man without a word, Kielo gave the girl advice and taught her the secrets of what she knew of waters and fishing, and of the waterfolk that still lived in the area. After the girl reached adulthood, Kielo decided it was her time to leave and she bid her proper farewells.  

Currently

Kielo prefers to inhabit the Torne river area between Tornio and Pello, although she occasionally travels even higher up north for a lower chance of encountering humans. When the winter arrives and the river freezes, Kielo usually travels down south — sometimes all the way back to the Baltic Sea during the coldest years. Life is generally uneventful and peaceful for her, and aside from the constant migrating there isn’t much else going on in Kielo’s life. Her brother visits her once every few years, but otherwise she tends to be on her own. 

• Fluent in Finnish and Swedish, in particular of the dialects spoken in the areas she inhabits. She also understands North Sami, though is nowhere near fluent as the language isn’t spoken widely in her main locations.
  
  
• Like most vetehi, Kielo also has a beautiful singing voice meant to attract and allure humans. However, she mostly sings for her own pleasure and makes sure there are no humans in her vicinity when she does so — she doesn’t want to come in contact with any.
  
  
• She’s illiterate, though can recognize the visual look of words that mean some sort of harm for her (such as “harbor” or general “danger”).
  
  
• Can move on land, albeit very slowly. Her scales will dry fast and cause pain, her body not meant for a life outside of water.
  
  
• Typical for a vetehi, Kielo has a good and fast memory. She also learns things quicker than an average human does.
  
  
• Mainly uses her large serpent body to restrain and strangle her victims, but she does have sharp teeth she can use to bite them.
   
• Consuming vetehi flesh can turn a human into a vetehi. Kielo’s own flesh is no exception to that, but for understandable reasons she’s not going to let anyone take a bite out of her willingly. 

• Her name means “lily of the valley” in Finnish
  
  
• Enjoys decorating herself with various trinkets. She used to hoard jewels and shiny things she found or was given, but nowadays travels so often that building a hoard is a waste of time for her.
  
  
• Has not met her parents since she moved out as a teenager and doesn’t know their current whereabouts.
  
  
• She’s the only character whose setting takes place in the real world and whose locations are real and exist in our world.