Hi guys I am Inotia King a youtuber, redditor and gamer who likes theorizing about the story. I actually cobbled together a list of some of my more important theories with respect to the game Genshin Impact and Star Rail that I have been basing all of my newer theories on. I'll be putting more of those up on Hive along with new stuff but if you're impatient I also archived all my theories here. I hope some of you guys are game theorists too. Let's try to figure out these great games together!
In the first act of the chronicle we're introduced to a pink-haired shaman called Huitzilin who lived 200 years ago. Huitzilin is one part of an interesting story in Aztec mythology. The story is actually a part of Dia de los Muertos in modern day Mexico and that works really well with the Masters of the Night-Wind wouldn't you say? Huitzilin is Nahuatl for hummingbird. The story goes that he was a warrior who died in battle leaving behind his lover Xochitl. Xochitl was so distraught over his death that the sun god Tonatiuh took pity on her and changed her into the cempasuchil flower or flor de muerto (flower of death) an essential part of the holiday. Cempasuchil attracts hummingbirds and they represent his soul.
In Natlan we don't have a Tonatiuh that can do that. Tonatiuh is just Ochkan's airship. However we do have a Yohualtecuhtin and she just happens to watch over the land of the dead in Natlan and be under the employ of a being with control over death. Additionally while it wasn't confirmed how old Citlali is, she does specifically bring up "people" who are 200 years old before changing her example to 1000 year olds once we question her on it. It's very likely she is 200 and that lines up perfectly with Huitzilin.
However I think miHoYo might turn this story on its head with Citlali's Chronicle. Why is Citlali's age shrouded in mystery? Sure it's a fun joke just like Faruzan before her but with Faruzan there's no mystery. She was just caught up in a trap a hundred years ago where time didn't move and it took her a hundred years to free herself. Citlali doesn't have that backstory. It is possible the story could be as simple as she used to be called Xochitl and changed her name because she failed to save her lover Huitzilin from her fate thus becoming the jaded drunk we know her to be. You could even explain her obsession with light novels as a comedic way of portraying her sadness, living vicariously through the romantic tales in fiction.
But then there's the other side of it. "Granny Itztli" is an outcast. This nickname is whispered like a warning to misbehaving children, you know like the Baba Yaga a real world granny who frightens children. What if Citlali is some kind of "shadow" of Huitzilin, something that was left after her death during whatever happened 200 years ago? We know Huitzilin was appointed by Elder Tlapo and she had mastery over unique colored paints used for divination by chosen ones in the Masters of the Night-Wind. Not even their chief has this ability. Naturally Citlali will but why? We didn't get enough of a story in the first two acts to be able to piece that together but if anything it could relate to the only other paint related thing we come across in the quest, the paintings depicting Kuntur's pursuit of Rumi. If you complete them all you get a folktale to add to your bookshelf and it tells the rest of the story. Rumi eventually turned into stone in order to evade capture by Kuntur but he ended up flying through a freezing storm which froze the rock solid.
To know where this might go we have to first look at Citlali's Constellation: Patina Anavatlaca. The second word there is fake Latin. However if you look at the Japanese version アナワトル it is supposed to mean anahuatl which is a circular pendant worn on the chest most commonly by Tezcatlipoca. It is related to leadership and also sacrifice and rebirth. These themes are related to the Archon Quest itself and most specifically Mavuika who we still need to save during that final act. But who figured out we even needed to do anything? Citlali. The anahuatl also relates to Mavuika's comment about Citlali, that she believed Citlali could have become chief. But please keep the sacrifice and rebirth part in mind and let's move on.
Side Note: Patina is an actual word in Latin and means the shine that comes off of copper and bronze when it's been polished. It's a convoluted way of saying mirror which is the term used in Chinese. This part also relates more to Mavuika and the Archon Quest so we don't have to go into it here.
So why did I need the Japanese for anahuatl? Well because in Chinese there is no anahuatl. Instead we get the words 石心 or stone heart. (And no "stone heart" is not the Chinese for anahuatl. As far as I can tell there is no word for anahuatl in Chinese and I couldn't even find a transliteration.) However a stone heart does mean something if we look at Kuntur's story doesn't it? Rumi turned to stone. And then what happened? The stone was frozen solid. Citlali is a Cryo allogene. Now that's not to say because Rumi became a frozen rock that Citlali was somehow born from said rock and got her Vision because of the frostbite or something. The Tale of Kuntur is a folktale meaning many details could be allegorical. What if the conflict between Kuntur and Rumi was simply that both were outcasted and Kuntur used his defeat of Rumi to become a hero while Rumi was thrown under the bus? And just like how the details might not entirely be true, what if Rumi was Huitzilin? After her death, Citlali was somehow created from her sacrifice, a reborn Huitzilin who now had a hardened heart due to these circumstances. A being born from death would definitely qualify as a Baba Yaga in my book.
Of course the power of rebirth doesn't just come out of nowhere and we don't hear anything about being part of the Pilgrimage or Night Warden Wars so if she was a reborn Huitzilin it likely came about for other reasons. What if that also means Citlali shares some of Yohualtecuhtin's power? Someone like that would definitely be considered a genius in a tribe focused on the Night Kingdom. (actually we see that Citlali will do something to the Traveler's Ancient Name during the quest so this could also be that power)
Now don't feel too bad for Rumi/Huitzilin. I mean she was called a wicked sorcerer right? People are also afraid of Citlali and she regularly threatens people with bodily or existential harm. (like threatening to turn a dumb spirit-duffer into a statue; hey look it's the Rumi turning into stone thing again) It could be that Huitzilin was corrupted by the Abyss that was infecting the Night Kingdom and had to be put down by Kuntur. Citlali is what was left but still carries some of the malevolent tendencies, though in a mostly superficial way.
Is there any reason to believe she still has some dark Abyssal traits? Absolutely! Her name means star in Nahuatl and while that sounds cute in English, in Aztec religion the stars are evil. Collectively called the Tzitzimimeh they are the gods of night that hunt Huitzilopochtli in order to stop him being the sun and sustaining life. Tezcatlipoca set up the tradition of human sacrifices to nourish Huitzilopochtli to continue resisting the stars. And as the livestream revealed, Tzitzimitl is what her two pillows that she uses in battle are called. In fact both of them are very specific gods of night. The black one that she's hugging in her splash art is Itzpapa which is short for Itzpapalotl, the Obsidian Butterfly. (but it's suggested this could be how the Aztecs described bats which would be what our Iktomisaurs are based on) She is the queen of the Tzitzimimeh and ruler of the birthplace of humanity. (now you know why I suspect Citlali has some of Yohualtecuhtin's power) The other pillow is Citlalin which is short for Citlalinicue and is even higher on the pecking order. She is the Aztec creator goddess and one half of the duality that makes up the Aztec Thirteenth Layer of Heaven aka Ometeotl which I had previously linked to Hoyoverse's creator gods the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta. Of course I don't believe these guys are actually gods or anything in terms of Citlali's pillows but miHoYo wouldn't have arbitrarily made all these connections. (The Tzitzimimeh play a crucial role in the New Fire Ceremony which will essentially be the story we play out in Act V.)
Anyway that's my prediction for what we'll see in Citlali's Tribal Chronicle. She's a remnant of Huitzilin the legendary shaman who specialized in the tribe's unique divination paints. Somehow she became corrupted by the Abyss and was hunted down by a fellow tribesman and outcast, Kuntur who would go on to become a hero for his success. However Huitzilin's death would result in the birth of Citlali who would embody her predecessor's treatment by the tribe, namely a feared outcast with incredible powers. Likely this will be addressed and resolved by the end of the chronicle though so it should be light-hearted.