Citlali

Hello

I am Citlali from the Masters of the Night-Wind. I have read the stars and seen the future through the obscuring smoke. You shall be blessed with good fortune and have the aid of powerful allies during your journey. Allow me to join you — Hey, I can be serious! Stop looking at me like that!

About Citlali: Mirage Warriors

Ah, looks like someone's interested! "Mirage Warriors" is a fantasy novel by Nakajima Jun — it's one of the oldest and most renowned works to come out of Yae Publishing House. The story takes place in an island kingdom known as "Ashihara." The protagonist for most of the chapters is "Higashi no Sankun," a feline-headed hermit who came from across the eastern seas, but their true identity is actually the ancient vassal, the Viceroy of the East. The story is incredibly long... The author changed three times, but in the end, the truth of the "Houko" was still never revealed...

About Citlali: Endings

The Ode of Resurrection can bring back our physical bodies, but everything will meet its end one day, even the sun and the stars. Oh, you want to know what death is like? Picture an afternoon suspended in time — you're riding a Saurian through a vast plain, and an unknown figure stands on the horizon. No matter how fast you ride, the figure is always out of reach — until it charges toward you without warning. There's nowhere to hide, and when you come face to face, that is the end.

More About Citlali: I

Huh? Where is this coming from all of a sudden? Did you hear one of the rumors about me? *sigh* Fine, it's true! I'm the oldest, strangest, and scariest shaman in the tribe. Believe what you want — I gave up explaining myself a long time ago.

More About Citlali: II

You want me to explain anyway? *sigh* There's an unspoken tradition in my tribe. Shaman masters deliberately foster rivalries between their students and a rival master. That way, if the students want to defeat that master without getting obliterated, they need to work hard to surpass the previous generation. Most of the shamans in the tribe belong to the school founded by my friend. They chose me as the evil witch to defeat, so what can I do? I'm not trying to make their lives difficult! It's not my fault none of them can put up a fight! *sigh* Anyway, the rumors about me being a terrifying old hag... That's how it all started.

More About Citlali: III

That's right. I put on an act in front of other people, but this is my real personality. It's pretty simple, actually. If people expect you to speak like an old-timer with an accent, and you respond with elegant, standard speech, people will be shocked out of their minds. Yeah, you're right — it's the stupidity of ignorance. But, ignorance is the hardest thing to overcome. After all, when we first met, I didn't expect you to be any different from the rest of them.

More About Citlali: IV

So, the shaman masters in my tribe trick their students into forming a grudge against me, but do you want to know how? This is the most traditional method — say you were cheated by a scammer, then send your students to graffiti the scammer's house. With a little righteous indignation on your side, you can get them to do anything! See how unfair that is? At least most people can recognize my house from a random scammer now, so I don't get that one as much.

More About Citlali: V

Oh, these wine bottles? The Saurian Relics Association found them... No, no, they're not mine. Heh, tossing them carelessly like this... Ororon must have drank them! Isn't that right, Ororon!? Come out and apologize! My tolerance is high, you see, so I don't get drunk easily. Even when I am drunk, I never litter like this. Besides, the Association said they were found in the wild. Oh! In a completely harmless location, of course — NOT that it matters, anyway, because I wasn't the one who tossed them, and... Who cares! Just trust me!

About Us: Giving Help

*sigh* Other than my seniority in the tribe, I really don't know what I can offer you. Your allies are powerful, and your future is bright — you should be perfectly fine on your own... Besides, shouldn't an old-timer like me be allowed to relax at home all day? Unless you need me to get someone to fall in line... Wait, you don't really need that, right?

About Us: Awkwardness

I—I treat you just like everyone else, I swear! Fine, the people in my tribe only know me through rumors that have been around for generations. But, you see the real me. My confident and uninhibited persona is just an act, because that's what people expect out of me... But, the awkwardness, the anxiety, the uncertainty — that's who I really am. I won't lie to you, but don't expect me to pour my heart out more than once.

Ororon

Hmph.

Mualani

Between me and Mualani, I honestly don't know who owes who anymore. She breaks my door, owes me Mora, steals my food, but then she brings me snacks and pays for other things... It's too hard to keep track. I'm more than happy to just call it even at this point. Anything to get her to stop waking me up at eleven in the morning... Oh, I mean, um... Never mind! She just startles me with her knocking, that's all.

Xilonen

She's someone who completely ignores the rumors about me and doesn't go overboard with friendliness. So, I always feel comfortable around her. Oh! Not that I feel uncomfortable around you! I'm just... overthinking everything, as usual... Great, now you know that, too.

Mavuika

Heh, Mavuika... *ahem* I mean, the Archon came to talk to me the other day. It wasn't until I was eating snacks in the middle of the night that I realized she was basically bragging the whole time! There's an ancient saying from another land that goes, "Saints are humble until you ask them about their duty — that's when their pride stands tall." I think that fits her perfectly.

Kamisato Ayaka

...You, young lady over there, turn around and let me have a look. Ah, so this is from The Case Files of Miss Orith. I thought it was the second female lead from Great Detective Hurlock. All Fontaine clothes look the same to me. Alright, you can be on your way now. That's all I wanted to say.

Kinich

The small thing that follows him around is a nasty piece of work. Oh, Kinich is a friend of yours? Huh, what else can I say about him... He's pretty reliable, I suppose.

Iansan

I don't know her that well, but I do know light novels... Someone who's that powerful despite her size must have some kind of power-up that she uses to shoot up to seven feet tall and fight with 200% strength.

Varesa

Warriors in masks have a way of capturing people's imaginations... They're often seen as incarnations of heroes, nature, or the gods. One much-loved urban legend tells the tale of a masked hero who valiantly rescued a drunken witch, and then went door to door waking up the entire neighborhood in the middle of the night, all while carrying her over her shoulder. I mean, I hardly had much of a reputation left anyway, so it's not like I care. Why would I care? I wish nothing but the best for her, obviously. As payback... I mean, to pay her back for her help... may all of her meals be mushrooms for ten days.

Citlali's Hobbies

My life is nearly completely devoid of meaning. Nothing remains but groggy stupor after sleeping, delusional fantasies from novels, and the comfort at the bottom of a bottle.

Citlali's Troubles

You really have to ask? I pretend not to care about anything as a shield. In reality, all I do is worry about things.

Favorite Food

First, I like my meat cooked medium, so it retains some of the original flavor of a sacrificial offering. Next would be anything that's easy to eat with one hand so I can read at the same time. Oh, and then anything you recommend, of course!

Least Favorite Food

I don't quite... get the point of sour foods. You eat when you're hungry, drink when you're thirsty, and sleep when you're tired. If sour foods are meant to whet the appetite, doesn't that mean you weren't hungry in the first place?

Feelings About Ascension: Intro

Hmm, this doesn't feel like a divination technique from beyond this world. My school of shamanism relies on the earth rather than the sky. When the fake inauspicious stars show their teeth, I bind them with the spirit of the earth, the bones of dead animals, and the power of the obscuring smoke.

Feelings About Ascension: Building Up

The heavens control human fate like a puppeteer controls a marionette. So, the inauspicious stars themselves do not have free will. But, once I seal their power inside of a doll and bind it with animal bones, the residual thoughts within the bones allow them to develop awareness. I call these, uh, little creations, "Tzitzimimeh." You can think of them as manifestations of the inauspicious stars.

Feelings About Ascension: Climax

Each Tzitzimitl contains the bones of small animals, which is kind of a creepy technique if you think about it. So, when it comes to people being afraid of me... I guess I bear, maybe, ten percent of the responsibility. But, I don't harm any animals! I just find the bones in the wild!

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion

From this point on, I will always be by your side — until the stars diminish, the flames die out, and the smoke dissipates into nothing.

Receiving a Gift: I

Whoa, this is delicious! I've tried every place around the Masters of the Night-Wind, and I've never had anything as amazing as this — I swear!

Receiving a Gift: II

Huh, I don't usually eat things like this... No, wait! I'm not saying it's bad! You... introduced me to a new flavor! It's a compliment — cross my heart!

Receiving a Gift: III

M—Must be something wrong with my tastebuds, ahahaha...