Strictly Vorthos – Jhoira of the Ghitu

Howdy folks! It’s Joe again and we’re back with another Vorthos article! Last time we took a brief look at the history of Dominaria, but now we’re gonna look at some of the characters that we’re seeing from the new Dominaria storyline.

This week we’re gonna talk about none other than Jhoira of the Ghitu, otherwise known as the new Captain of the Weatherlight (as well as… the first Captain of the Weatherlight)!

Jhoira is an artificer from the Ghitu tribe on the continent of Shiv. Because of her heritage, she is adept in the skills surrounding artifacts.

The Tolarian Academy

Jhoira came to the Tolarian Academy as one of the original students when Urza started the school. She was slightly older than Teferi, a young mage who would constantly prove to be a nuisance to her as he was constantly seeking a romance with her.

Jhoira would later befriend the silver golem that Urza had created for his experiments, giving him the Thran name ‘Karn’, which stood for ‘Mighty.’

Jhoira’s time on the island, in addition to her dislike of Teferi, made her long for her home and for a strong man (unlike Teferi) like the men of the Ghitu tribe she came from. When Jhoira found a man crashed on the beach in a ship, she hid his presence from the rest of the school and build a secret place for the two. She fell in love with the man named Kerrick, her friend Karn being the only other soul that knew he existed.

Unbeknownst to Jhoira, Kerrick was a Phyrexian sleeper agent. He had arrived on Tolaria with the intent to invade and destroy Urza’s science projects. Karn himself discovered this during one of his trips to the past, but was unable to prevent the attack by Kerrick when he returned. Jhoira perished in her room, killed by a Phyrexian Negator.

Karn immediately traveled back through time to save his friend. Although he was successful in preventing Jhoira’s death, the time machine overloaded and malfunctioned. It exploded and exposed the island to extreme temporal energies. Urza and those closest to him were able to escape, but Jhoira remained stranded on the island.

Aftermath of Destruction

Jhoira lived alone on the island of Tolaria for ten years before she would be found again by Urza and Barrin. During this time she used her knowledge of artifice to rig up machines to collect water from areas that had been affected by the temporal energies of the island. Drinking the water from these areas slowed Jhoira’s aging to a standstill, to the point where she now appears to only age days over the course of centuries.

Jhoira’s survival on the island was crucial to the new Academy. By using her knowledge of the island and the different slow and fast time zones of it, she was able to help navigate its dangers. After falling into a coma for ten years, she was also crucial in helping to save Teferi, who had been caught in a slow time bubble, by developing the method in which different time zones could be entered and exited.

Fighting the Phyrexians

Jhoira was instrumental in assisting Urza with his plans for resisting the Phyrexian Invasion. She not only took command of the Weatherlight at the very beginning (as well as being crucial in the original construction of the Skyship), but also assisted in overseeing the Thran Mana Rig in her home of Shiv alongside a more mature Teferi.

At some point, Jhoira began to see as well what Teferi had seen: that Urza’s war was going to destroy their world. She helped with Teferi’s plan to phase their homes of Shiv and Zhalfir out of existence. Jhoira officially left the time stream.

Time Spiral and the Mending

Jhoira would return later with Teferi to Dominaria, intent on restoring the continents of Shiv and Zhalfir to the timeline. Although Jhoira did not totally trust Teferi’s intentions, she went along with the plan. Jhoira during this time would come to befriend Venser of Urborg and Radha of Keld, in addition to meeting the infamous Jodah, Archmage Eternal.

Jhoira assisted Teferi after he lost his spark while sealing the Shivan rift. After the Mending Jhoira disappeared into obscurity and legend.

The Here and Now

Sixty years after the Mending, Jhoira returned to prominence as she managed to locate the remains of the Weatherlight off the coast of Urborg. After salvaging the ship, she left it to be repaired using a new weatherseed that she received from the nature spirit Molimo. She is currently assembling the Weatherlight’s new crew.

Wrapping Up

That’s all the time we have this week for another look into the lore of Dominaria! I’m going to continue this character series by delving a little deeper into the lore of Jodah, Archmage Eternal!

Until next time!