A selod-huur has no form of its own, and few have seen one outside of a victim's body. One can tell when someone or something is possessed by a selod-huur by their eyes, however. The eyes of a possessed body will slowly rotate clockwise, as if their doing so would aid them in finding whoever had rejected the gift of Mhat-huur. This movement is subtle enough to go unnoticed by most— but the few who pay close attention to the eyes of a selod-huur's host may be able to notice their presence.
Those with enough insight, however, can easily spot a selod-huur— as they will be able to observe a strange purple smoke emerging from the ears of a vessel which creates an arc above their pate, like a undulating halo.
When a sinner is found— or thought to be found— and becomes possessed by the selod-hurr, the visual effect on their body is much more apparent. The purple smoke emanating from their ears will glow, and travel from their ears to their eyes, creating arcs along the sides of their head. Alongside this, the veins along the outside of their body will violently pulse and bulge outward— as if threatening to tear free.
Growth
Selod-huur come from the infinite flesh of Mhat-huur themselves, having formed inside great boils upon the god's body that eventually popped— giving birth to the formless creatures. Once born, the selod-huur immediately traverse to the
mortal plane to carry out their inquisitions. Once their punishments have been carried out, they return to Mhat-huur's body— and are assimilated back into their form.
Habits
Mhat-huur grants gifts of flesh to mortals deemed worthy of them. These gifts range from the sudden growth of strange purple boils, purple scars, or purple discolorations, to new purple extremities, purple hairs, or even half-formed purple faces upon one's body. Few know of Mhat-huur's existence, and even fewer understand what, exactly, makes one worthy of such gifts. As a result, many "reject" them— not knowing they were gifts, and see them merely as unwanted mutilations or growths upon their bodies.
This "rejection" includes actions such as amputation, draining, coating the affected areas with skin-tone colored pigments, covering the gifts with specially made or chosen clothing, or even turning to
alchemy or
eldritch magic to rid oneself of them.
Once this "sin" has been carried out, a selod-huur is born— and sent to the mortal plane to find the sinner. A selod-huur cannot know the exact identity of the sinner they were sent to find, only the general vicinity in which they had rejected Mhat-hurr's gift. Most possess the first unfortunate soul they see— in order to blend in with the local area, and more easily begin their search for their mark. This has the added benefit of granting them the same level of trust their host might have earned within the local community. After a host has been chosen, the selod-hurr will not leave their body until it has found the sinner— or is convinced that their prey has left the area entirely.
A selod-hurr has access to the mind and memories of its vessel, but only hazily— allowing it to understand the society their host lives within, some social norms, names of a few locals and nearby locations, but memories will be vague and devoid of detail. Most importantly, if the selod-hurr was lucky enough to have already possessed their target— they will not be aware of this fact until discovering more information.
Using their new body, the selod-hurr will systematically begin to interrogate the local populace— asking about strange purple scars or growths anyone might have recently experienced, or seen on someone else. When suspects are determined, they will interrogate them and investigate the areas they frequent for signs of their sin. Once the selod-hurr believes it has gathered enough information to identify their target, they will track them down, and dole out an appropriate punishment. As they must rely on the information gathered in this manner, it is possible for a selod-hurr to incorrectly decide that they have found their mark— and punish an innocent.
Once a selod-hurr has left its initial host in order to punish the sinner, the first victim will remember nothing of their possession.
Punishment
Once their target been found, the selod-hurr will possess them— provided they still remain in the general vicinity— and carry out what it believes to be a fitting punishment. Punishments vary based on the believed severity of the sin, ranging from minor injury, scarring, or isolation, to mutilation, forced rituals for Mhat-hurr, and even death.
If their host were to be killed before the punishment could be completed— the selod-huur would be cast out, and forced to return to Mhat-huur. Of course, their victim would be dead, however.
A Purple Veil
Regardless of the outcome, when a selod-huur has carried out the sinner's punishment, it will leave their body. Upon doing so, the purple smoke in front of their eyes will solidify into a soft, near translucent purple veil that can be plucked free.
This veil is highly valuable for use in eldritch rituals, and as an ingredient in some alchemical potions. Some occultists and alchemists may even go so far as to seek out those who have been granted Mhat-huur's gifts— and convince them to commit the sin of rejecting them.
Deluded Detective
As they cannot be certain of their marks, selod-huur can be easily mislead— and even punish innocents. Their marks— or those defending them— may even be able to convince a selod-huur to leave, or target someone else entirely.
All one must do is present a convincing argument, and perhaps even conjure evidence to incriminate someone else entirely. In more desperate scenarios where the sinner has already been found and possessed, others may negotiate with the selod-huur to lower the severity of their punishment.
The article does a good job of fleshing out (no pun intended) the concept of the selod-huur and making it feel like a fully realized being. One criticism is that the article does not provide any context for the existence or motivations of Mhat-huur, which might be helpful in understanding the selod-huur's role in the larger world. Though I suppose that would come later once it's article is published. :-)
Hey, thank you! As for your critique, yeah, that was something intended to be covered more in Mhat-huur's article. It's funny that you mention that since I just posted that one tonight!