Jahara Wou

Jahara Wou is a resident of the Tsujian city of Jawari who has taken the unusual step of showing his devotion to the gods by inviting one of them to possess his body—specifically, a god named Wo Zakala who has purview over growth and trade. By his own account, he was inspired to do this by the example of Vazzix Blost, a Godtamer noble who a thousand years ago likewise gave his body to gods in defiance of the Godtamer government and philosophy. Wou's case is somewhat different from Blost's, however, in that the latter became the only fleshy vessel for gods suppressed by the Godtamers, while apparently only a portion of Wo Zakala inhabits Wou's form. Furthermore, while Blost seems to have been entirely taken over by the gods he gave himself to, Wou apparently shares his body on, if not an entirely equal basis, at least not an entirely one-sided one. The being that now calls himself Jahara Wou is not completely under the control of the mortal man who once went by that name, but it's not completely under the control of Wo Zakala either; the human part of Jahara Wou is still in there and does still have some measure of control, even if the god does occasionally come to the forefront.

Like many of the gods worshipped in Jawari, Wo Zakala is usually shown in a markedly nonhuman form. The general depiction of Wo Zakala shows a great, laterally flattened creature crawling on multiple legs, with an abundance of eyes and tentacles. Jahara Wou himself has been physically changed by his possession by his god, not to completely take on the god's form but certainly to reflect some aspects of it. Before his possession, Wou was at worst physically unremarkable, and could even be described as handsome. He was a Waran man of slightly less than average height, with piercing eyes, sharp cheekbones, and deep dimples when he smiled. Now, his left arm has been replaced by a branching tentacle, he has multiple additional eyes on his face besides the two he had as an ordinary human, and part of what was his hair is now ever-waving tendrils. Furthermore, some of his skin, especially around these human features, has taken on strange colors, golds, purples, and light greens. He usually wears a loose gold-cloth robe that covers his body except for his head and hands (or hand and tentacle), but the lumps and motion of the robe suggest that his torso has also been changed in ways at least as dramatic as the visible parts. These physical alternations make him appear monstrous to those who don't know their origin, but within Tsuji, and especially within the city of Jawari, he is well known and his strange appearance is at least tolerated—which definitely is not to say that it doesn't still make many people uneasy. Apparently also as a side effect of Wo Zakari's possession, Jakara Wou gives off a strong, sweet and spicy scent, somewhat like a combination of cloves and aniseed; the aroma is not unpleasant, but is definitely not something that should be coming from a human.

Wou's possession by a part of his god has given him considerable powers, though the exact extent of these powers is unknown by any but Wou himself. He has shown the ability to turn things into gold, to change the shapes of objects and creatures, and to easily teleport things large distances and even to other planes. Of course, these powers come at the cost of giving up some of his own agency to the god; while the human part of Jahara Wou may have some access to them, they are primarily used at the whim of Wo Zakari.

Jahara Wou now lives in a sprawling manor on the outskirts of the city of Jawari. While it is often assumed that he was able to afford that manor through money given to him as a religious offering, or perhaps that his wealth was simply miraculously created, the truth is less exotic: Wo Zakala is, after all, a god of trade, and most of his current wealth was generated simply by making good trade deals, albeit usually through agents with trade partners who didn't know exactly who or what they were dealing with. While certainly opulent, Wou's manor does not perhaps match most humans' idea of a comfortable residence; it is designed at least as much to the alien tastes of Wo Zakari as to the human tastes of the original Jahara Wou, and has many odd features within such as pools of colored slime, indoor gardens of weird flora, and rooms where there is a constant song that sounds random and tuneless to human ears.

Before his giving himself to Wo Zakala, Jahara Wou served two terms on the local divine council of Jawala, and one on the artists council. Since his possession, however, he has not sought any official government position. Nonetheless, being in part the physical embodiment of a god, he is certainly influential, and has the ear of many council members. He also often requests to be permitted to make an address to a council meeting or some other gathering, and, again since he is in part the physical embodiment of a god, these requests are almost always granted.

But despite his influence Wou spends relatively little time meddling in politics. Rather, there are three main activities to which he seems to devote most of his time. One is art, painting and sculpture in particular. Even before his possession by Wo Zakala, Jahara Wou dabbled in the visual arts, and was talented enough to sell some of his works and have them on display. This continues to be the case, but now the subjects of his paintings and sculptures are less straightforward. He depicts odd landscapes and creatures and weird forms, which some believe have some deep symbolic meaning and others propose are actual literal depictions of things found on other worlds the gods are familiar with, or from the divine planes where the gods reside. Many study these artistic works hoping to gain some divine inspiration from them, or learn something more about the numinous; others simply enjoy them for their very strangeness and their aesthetic qualities.

Second, Jahara Wou has taken to teaching; students come to his manor to learn new magics and philosophies from him. He is very picky about who he takes on as a student, although his criteria are opaque; he turns away many who approach him requesting his tutelage, but on the other hand he has been known to invite people to join his students who had not previously shown any inclination of doing so. No one has turned down such an invitation; this seems to be less because they fear the consequences of doing so than simply because he chooses his students carefully and invites only those who he knows will be interested. Wou's students consider it a great honor to learn from an embodied god, but they do not share most of what they learn with outsiders. His pupils have a reputation for quirky and odd behavior, the more so the longer they remain under his tutelage, perhaps because their learning from the inhuman Wo Zakala exposes them to alien thought patterns human minds cannot entirely deal with without changing, or perhaps as a side effect of the magical techniques they learn from him.

Third, Wou sets aside some time to answer questions about the gods and their desires, though his answers are often enigmatic. Those who visit him at his manor with the genuine intent of asking him a question of real import are well received and have their questions answered. Those who use the question as a pretext just for sightseeing at his strange manor or for some other motive will find a much chillier reception. Wou also will usually accept requests to come to a gathering in Jawari to give a lecture or hold a question and answer session, and from time to time chooses to travel around the city and come into random bars or temples just to meet and talk with people.

Jahara Wou seldom leaves Jawara, and almost never leaves the nation of Tsuji—at least, not to travel to other parts of Jhembaz, though it is entirely possible he spends some time traveling other planes. He does, however, correspond with scholars and artists from all over the world, and receives frequent visitors he built relationships with through this correspondence. Among others, he is a close friend of most if not all of the Blostian godlings, of many members of the Guild of the Uncanny, and of the lord of Ojecha.