Chikar Puyar (t͡ʃi.kaɾ pu.jaɾ)

"When your true self erupts through your skin, it hurts!"

— Izar Ibarzabal

Chikar Puyar is the volcano at the heart of the island of Shir, the highest of a chain that formed the island. It is also the body of the Kamuy the Shir Utari call Yayke Kamuy. When the Empire of Wamato briefly conquered Shir in 3962, Yayke Kamuy used an eruption of Chikar Puyar to destroy their fleet and drive the Empire away. During the earthquake that accompanied the eruption, an ancient city was uncovered on the lower slopes of the mountain. This city, which the Shir Utari have named Shipekotan, seems to have strange connections to The Dream, and those who have investigated claim that it holds a story deep within, and that this story is "waking up".

Notable Spirits

The Kamuy of Chikar Puyar is Yayke Kamuy, and they are god of violent and total transformation. To the Shir Utari, the eruption of the volcano is its true nature bursting forth from a deceptive exterior. When they cleared the Yanjin from Shir, Yayke Kamuy was scouring away that deceptive exterior to bring forth an inner truth - Shir is a land of the Shir Utari, not of the Yanjin. To Yayke Kamuy, the revelation of inner truth is a vital and important act and they will lend their power to those who seek to undergo this process.

Unlike most Utari practices around the Kamuy, asking Yayke Kamuy for help is not ritualized. Those who go to the mountain for this change do not choose to - they are driven to it by the truth inside, and the state of their being replaces all need for ritual. They come to the mountain from across the island and beyond, seeking to express their truth, and finding their way to Shir. More than one foreigner has followed rumors and legends to the island, and the Shir Utari direct them to the volcano to tell their story.

The seeker must climb the mountain alone, and speak their truth to themselves and the volcano. It does not matter what language they use, or the nature of their truth, only that they speak it aloud. Some describe the recitation as an eruption of its own - the words boil out of their heart like smoke and lava, burning away whatever seeks to constrain them. And when the seeker reaches the caldera, Yayke Kamuy will judge their story.

Not everyone who makes the climb and tells their tale will be transformed, but many are. The blessing of the volcano is to burn for your truth, as it blasts away your exterior and replaces it with something else, something that arose from within. The Shir Utari always know when someone has been granted Yayke Kamuy's aid, for their screams can be heard across the island. They descend covered in the ashes of their former self, naked and ecstatic from their time on the mountain. When they emerge from the wilderness, they are given food, shelter, and clothing by the Shir Utari, who regard them as blessed by their encounter. Some stay in the mountain for weeks afterward, learning to move within the truth of their new body, but few remain forever. They go forth into the world with bodies made from their souls, and most go on to live extraordinary lives.