Havria

Havria was the God of Salt who lived in the region of Liyue before and during the Archon War. She is known for her gentleness but also for her relative weakness, two qualities that ultimately led to her demise - not at the hands of other gods, but of her own people.^[1][2]

Her last piece of land, and the place where she met her doom, is a sealed domain in Sal Terrae, Liyue.

Profile[]

Introduction[]

Havria was a goddess known as the God of Salt who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the many gods of Liyue. Her extraordinarily gentle nature saw her quickly ousted in the hubris of the Archon War, before being ruthlessly murdered by one of her own followers.^[1]

Although not a particularly powerful god, Havria had two artifacts: a salt chalice that magically refilled itself with salt, and a ruler that could turn the surrounding area into salt to be harvested.^[2]

Story[]

History[]

Havria was born some time before the start of the Archon War. When Zhongli throws her relics into the waters at Guyun Stone Forest, he calls it a "homecoming,"^[3] which suggests she originated from the area.

When the Archon War broke out, she refused to partake in it due to her kind nature and relatively weak powers. As a result, she and her people fled between different parts of Liyue to escape the war, making countless concessions to other gods and eventually settling in a tiny plot of land in what is now known as Sal Terrae. It is said that Liyue's Flower Ball custom may have originated from Havria giving out bunches of flowers to her people as either a blessing or a simple gesture of comfort.^[4]

The city stood for several centuries until Sal Terrae's first and last king slew her as a gesture to show that her kindness could not help them survive the Archon War's brutality. In that instant, the city fell and turned to salt. Many rumors and myths about her death emerged from that; some say that her body can still be found in its death throes, while the king lived to the end of his days in solitude, or committed suicide out of guilt.

In reality, Havria's body dissipated and turned into a salt flower (the sal flore) — but her powers, which spread uncontrollably in the surrounding area, transformed all of her adherents who could not escape into salt.^[2] The king's body can be found, in the same position he was in when he stabbed her.

Zhongli, Morax's current vessel, states that Havria's fate served as a lesson for him during the Archon War.

Legacy[]

Those of her people who managed to escape salinification were scattered across Liyue. Many traveled to Liyue Harbor, under the control of Morax, and some of those people eventually became the Yinyuan Hall of the Eight Trades, specializing in the salt industry. Descendants of the survivors, fearing that Havria placed a curse on them, returned to Sal Terrae to break the sword used to kill her and place it on a pedestal, along with two of her relics under the belief that she would forgive them for their sins. They resealed the area after the deed was done.^[2]

Over thousands of years, Yinyuan Hall's rendition of Havria's death grew distorted; they began to believe she was a powerful goddess who was murdered by Morax out of jealousy.^[5] However, other surviving tales about Havria continue to tell her true story.^[1]

During Historia Antiqua Chapter, Act 1: Sal Flore, Wanyan of Yinyuan Hall recruits Zhongli and the Traveler's help in an "archaeological expedition," which is actually an attempt to find proof that Morax murdered Havria. At the end of Havria's domain, they find a single flower of salt — all that is left of her — and all her adherents who were salinized upon her death, including the king who murdered her.

Trivia[]

• In the non-canon Teyvat Food Notes, the entry for Adeptus' Temptation remarks that Havria's powers have enhanced the flavor of the sea salt from Guyun Stone Forest.^[6]

Etymology[]

• Following the theme of gods in Genshin Impact being named after demons in the Ars Goetia, Havria could possibly be a corruption of Havres, another name of the 64th demon, Flauros.

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