Xue Huilan

The second mortal incarnation of the winter deity Velitha. They reside in the snow-capped peak of Mount Karig—a place known for its perpetual harsh winters. Huilan is one of the four seasonal deities and a child of the fickle goddess of weather and calamity, Madalaer. Stoic and matter of fact, many mortals and deities find it difficult to approach them, much less spark a conversation due to their laconism. However, they are easily appeased with gifts of orchids.

Huilan prefers silence and solitude and rarely comes down from Karig's peak, but their peace was disturbed when an injured Kathnia—a member of the disgraced noble House of Baesair—stumbled upon their temple in the dead of night. They allow Kathnia to take shelter in their temple, but Kathnia pleads to stay longer due to the looming threat that surrounds her. Huilan reluctantly agrees, and the longer Kathnia stays, the more Huilan takes interest in their new companion. However, Huilan bears the impression that they've met Kathnia sometime in a past life.

They live a solitary life in a temple on the snow-capped peaks of Mount Karig, where the winters are harsh and eternal. Their only companions are the flora and fauna endemic to the area, and a young Ladrcal they took under their wing and appointed as an oracle. Huilan might have been reclusive of their own volition, but they didn’t choose this sequestered lifestyle because they wanted it. Being the second incarnation of Velitha means that they have to carry the burden of atoning for what their previous incarnation had done, and every waking second feels like penance for the sins of a previous life.

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Heli was Velitha’s first mortal incarnation and the source of Huilan’s burdens. While Huilan is stoic and taciturn, Heli was more relaxed and had a brighter disposition. He resided at the bottom of Mt. Karig where the weather was more favorable rather than the peak and relished the presence of mortals. However, he and Huilan still shared similar traits common among the incarnations of Velitha—a quiet disposition with bouts of occasional melancholy. Huilan hid their misery behind a blank facade, while Heli hid his behind a faint smile. Both have possessive tendencies to certain degrees, but Huilan is more subdued. Huilan also has better emotional control, which reflects in Mt. Karig’s steady snow and brumal climate. In contrast, Heli’s mood whiplashes resulted in patterns of turbulent storms and stillness, depending on his emotional state. His relationship with Laerdya exacerbated this until it all culminated in the sins Huilan has to pay for as Velitha’s current incarnation.

Heli’s memories occasionally haunt Huilan’s dreams, but Huilan dismisses these flashbacks and spurns Draidan, god of memory, and Savera, god of dreams, for constantly replaying fragments of their predecessor’s experiences in their sleep. However, these dreams evolved into hallucinations as soon as Kathnia entered their life. Her unforeseen arrival at their temple tangled their strings of fate together and realized their roles as their past lives’ reincarnations. The more time they spend with each and mirror the events that transpired back then, the stronger Huilan’s hallucinations become until it forces Huilan to accept that they were both meant to repeat the cycle again.