Oungan

Oungan

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

The Oungan is an old and withered man, almost skin and bones. In his ears are gauges made of stone.

Identifying Characteristics

He bore a tattoo on his chest, a strange, tribal-esque black marking with various dots and dashes. The circle comprised two raindrop shapes, the black on the bottom and the top untouched to reveal his bare skin. On the waxing and waning parts of the drops were a twin pair of thin fins facing their respective colors. Or maybe they resembled more like the crests of waves. A black theropod footprint sat at the tip of the hollow aspect while the bottom portion was inked entirely except for a human handprint, pointing opposite the theropod print. A black, thin circle outlined the symbol while a ring of animal footprints followed the circumference. Various bird, mammal, amphibian, and reptile tracks made up the ring.
Circling it in a spiral are strange wisps resembling masks from his homeland.

Special abilities

He can talk to dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. The Oungan is also a natural practitioner of magic, able to conjure lightning from his fingertips or use healing magic.
Most prominent is his ability to see the future. Using magic, he can very briefly peer through the timelines and select an event to make certain if those that seek his services want it. However, that comes with all the conditions and strings attached as well.

Apparel & Accessories

He carries an asson and pack of medicinal herbs to help heal the injured or to place magical wards.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

He was born to a small tribe in Eastern Gondwanaland and knew hardship from a young age. As a boy, he was constantly plagued by vivid nightmares, lucid dreams, and loud whispers from people that weren't there. The village was perplexed by his suffering, unsure of whether he was possessed by a demon or sick with some illness. No one close to the village knew magic, and the doctors could not cure him. So he was ultimately forced to endure it all his own.
As he grew accustomed, he slowly began to make sense of what he saw and heard. Not the whispers of ghosts or demons but glimpses into the future, of what would or could be. He trained himself to filter them out and soon silenced them completely, able to see and hear the future only when he chose to.
His clairvoyance made him quite notable around the village, and people asked him to predict things left and right. And they came to pass, both good and ill. But word carries far and he soon drew the attention of unfavorable types and vagabonds.
His tribe was sacked, and he was taken as salvage. Rival tribes, warring kingdoms, and colonists would either trade or steal him for their own personal use, which fostered a deep resentment for everyone and everything at being used like some tool. But his magical prowess grew stronger the more he was forced to use and made an incredible game-changing discovery about his clairvoyance: not only could he see the future, he had the ability to influence its direction. He could peer through time and select a certain thread he wanted and pluck it, setting it in stone. The moment he said it aloud to those who asked, it would come to pass, no matter what. Failures, bittersweet and shortlived victories, defeats, betrayals. He would ensure they all came to pass in order to watch their downfalls, one by one from one hand to other.
The Bone Wars and humanity's defeat at the hand of the Saurians marked the end of it.
The human nations that didn't surrender had been destroyed, the survivors scattering across the planet to either rebuild or just to get by. The newfound freedom was such a strange feeling. But his heavy usage of magic came at a price.  Peering into the future cost a lot of energy, but selectively changing it cost much more and took a massive toll on his body. It had left him permanently blind. Unable to see, with nowhere to go, and newfound freedom, he did the only thing he could do: wander. He drifted from village to town with no real direction, left alone and regarded as nothing more than just a blind, old man. Which suited him just fine.
He soon took to the sea, island hopping as a passenger on various boats to leave his homeland behind, only carrying the memories with him.
With nothing but time and freedom, he experimented further with his magical abilities. He learned healing magic and to utilize the elements as weapons, even developing a sixth sense that allowed him to see shapes, people, and faces. But nothing could restore the ability to see color or read text. During his travels, he encountered a man who - like him - was also blind. The man was an inventor and had created an entirely new language made entirely of small bumps on a parchment, called "braille." He taught him how to read and write in it before they parted ways, and he took to documenting his tribe's entire history onto paper.  His travels eventually landed him on a large, tropical island that he made home.
There, he lived a humble life on the fringes of town where it was quiet. A few trepid locals ventured out from town to seek his aid, as one of their own had been afflicted with something no doctor could cure. His magic soothed and healed the ailing one, and he was quickly regarded with reverence, earning him the title of oungan. Becoming more involved in the community showed him the path of vodou, a spiritual following with ties to his homeland.  It gave him a new purpose and opened a new chapter to his life. Satisfied, he embraced the title and adopted it as his name, with who he used to be now left behind as a memory. Only one person had ever been given the privilege of knowing his real name and his past.
Things started off well enough for him. He used his magic to help others, tell fortunes, and learned to commune with lwa spirits and the restless souls of the dead. The Oungan had even practiced a sort of blood magic to see the deceased's last memories before their death, helping solve several murders. The peace among the people didn't last, as a small gang had begun to grow in power on that part of the island. They were mercenaries strongarming the populace for control of the town and its resources for their own devices. Their leader frequently attempted to convince the Oungan to bless his men and call for the lwa's aid, his methods ranging from jovial jesting to veiled threats. But he was denied each time.
The mercenaries eventually struck a coup to storm the town and take it over by force. The Oungan defended the town alongside the locals with his magic, eventually meeting the bandit leader in combat. Despite him imploring them to leave, the bandit leader refused and threatened his closest friend's life.
Big mistake.
As he swung his club, the Oungan stopped him in place, taking hold of him by the head. He struck him dead with a single bolt of lightning from the heavens, the clap of thunder utterly deafening. The fires were extinguished by the rains, and both local and mercenary stared in both shock and fear. They subsequently abandoned the town and their mission to take it over, with the Oungan leaving to live out in the jungle on the farthest fringes for the peace he missed.
He built himself a small temple in the jungle to the best of his ability. It wasn't much, but it was a safe place to pay respects to spirits as well as to safely document and house the history of the island, its people, the lwa, vodou lore, and his own lost tribe. A few came to see him for either aid or to have their fortune read, but only his closest friend stayed in regular contact with him.
He became a proverbial cryptid of the island after many years, the tales of his magic becoming legend or fable. Many were either afraid and cautious or just saw an old man.
And he didn't mind that at all. It was a quiet and easy life, something that would hopefully continue..

Morality & Philosophy

The Oungan considers it his duty to guide those that are lost or in need of aid, as those were things he was denied all his life. Of course, he is not a fool and not one to do things for free. Being blind and frail, he is in need of aid like anyone else.

Mysterious priest and soothsayer.

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Age

1000+

Gender

Male

Eyes

Faded (Blind)

Hair

Bald

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Black

Height

5'5"

Known Languages

Common