When thinking of Ixalan, one of the first legends that comes to mind is the dinosaur-loving warrior-poet Huatli. A fierce warrior in battle, she is also aided by the dinosaurs of her nation, which she can summon with her melodic voice. She can communicate with her dinosaur companions through something called “scent memories,” and she also has the innate ability to rally her allies to battle with her unique orator skills.
Aligned initially with green and red mana, Huatli lost her connection to red mana after severing her association with her nation due to their prejudice. Now, Huatli is aligned with green and white mana, showcasing her connection to the earth and her belief in keeping order. While still an incredible warrior, she has forsaken the unrelenting religious zeal that used to connect her to red mana.
Huatli’s Upbringing
During her early life, Huatli excelled at combat and poetry, two traits that propelled her to the upper classes of the Sun Empire. Due to her excellence and becoming the youngest candidate for warrior-poet in generations, she was stationed next to the city of Atzocan on the Sun Coast. She battled pirates and vampires there, defending her people from their incursions.
During one such battle, she came face to face with the minotaur planeswalker, Angrath. During their struggle, Huatli’s planeswalker spark ignited, sending her to another plane before returning to Ixalan. Recognizing her as a planeswalker, Angrath offered to help her escape the plane, but she refused.
The Path to the Immortal Sun
Believing that her planeswalk was a vision of the golden city of Orazca, Huatli was tasked by the emperor to locate the city for the Sun Empire. On her journey to Orazca, she teamed up with the Merfolk Tishana and her old nemesis Angrath, who were also looking for the Golden City.
Upon reaching the Golden City, they discovered they were not the only ones vying for the Immortal Sun. The vampires Vona and Mavren Fein and the siren-pirate Malcolm had also journeyed to the city, and they all wanted the power of the Immortal Sun for themselves.
A great battle ensued between all the treasure hunters, ending with all of them running to touch the Immortal Sun first. Tishana, Huatli, Angrath, and Vona touched the Sun simultaneously, causing an immense amount of energy to flow through them. However, before any of them could act, the Immortal Sun was pulled through a planar portal and stolen by the planeswalker Tezzeret.
With her ability to planeswalk no longer prevented by the Immortal Sun, Huatli planeswalked back to her home. The Emperor proclaimed that Huatli would be pronounced a warrior-poet; however, when Huatli begged for peace between the nations of Ixalan, the Emperor refused. Disgusted by his prejudice, Huatli said farewell to her family and planeswalked away from Ixalan.
The War of the Spark and the Phyrexian Invasion
Huatli’s planeswalk brought her first to Ghirapur on the plane of Kaladesh, where she met the planeswalker Saheeli. The two shared their stories and quickly became friends, eventually planeswalking to Ravnica together. There, they began a relationship together.
However, Ravnica was not a safe place for planeswalkers. Lured to the plane by the Interplanar Beacon, Huatli and Saheeli were trapped by the Immortal Sun and were thrust into the War of the Spark. During the war, she killed many Eternals and saved many Ravnican civilians from becoming casualties.
After Chandra disabled the Immortal Sun, Huatli was one of the few planeswalkers to stay on Ravnica and continue fighting until Bolas had been defeated. When the war ended, Huatli traveled to Theros to pay respects to Gideon, singing a poem for him at his funeral.
Later, when the Phyrexians unleashed their Invasion of the Multiverse, Huatli returned to Ixalan to help defend her plane. With assistance from the Vampires of the plane and the Elder Dinosaurs, Huatli protected Orazca and the rest of Ixalan from the Phyrexians.
At the end of the Invasion, Huatli lost her planeswalker spark during the Great Pruning, stripping her of her ability to travel between the blind eternities. Tragically, Saheeli also lost her spark, causing the two to be separated.
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Miraculously, Saheeli traveled to Ixalan using an Omenpath that opened between the two planes. When a hidden entrance was discovered in Orazca leading to the center of the plane, Huatli and Saheeli traveled with a band of Sun Empire warriors as well as the planeswalker Quintorius Kand to discover what lay within.
Underneath the plane's surface, Huatli discovered the Oltecs, an ancient group of humans living within the core of Ixalan. They also learn that five gods live within the heart of the plane and that the vampires of the Queen’s Bay Company, who also discovered the plane’s core, were turned into vampire demons by the bat god, Aclazotz.
During the fight that ensued, Huatli’s cousin Inti was killed by the vampire Clavileño. In her fury, Huatli killed the leader of the Vampires, Vito Quijano de Pasamonte, with his own spear. Returning to her home, Huatli once again learns that her leader intends to wage war upon the other nations, and Huatli is disgusted by her people’s bloodlust. Huatli’s new mission: prevent further war on her home plane.
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