Jeff looks like someone whose face you would forget while still remembering that he held the door for you. He is average in every proportion, with short black hair that lies flat until rain makes it curl at the temples, brown eyes, and a slightly wind-chapped complexion. His clothes are clean when he can manage it, but have the softened, rubbed texture of garments repaired many times. He walks with a practical, unhurried stride, habitually leaving just enough room for others to pass. When unsettled, his breath catches in a tiny double hitch, and he takes up less space without seeming to notice. The unexpected detail: his pockets are carefully organized around a small collection of pressed leaves, each labeled with the place where he found it.

Jeff is thoughtful and patient with people in real trouble, yet easily irritated by avoidable fuss. He will spend an hour helping a stranger mend a cart, then grumble about being thanked for it. In calm company he is gently curious and remembers small details; under pressure he becomes brisk, practical, and more stubborn than he realizes. He dislikes being the center of attention, but cannot ignore someone who needs help.

Jeff Cohen cannot name the town where he was born because he has no memory of ever having a home there. The earliest thing he remembers is waking beneath a covered market stall with a borrowed coat over him and a stranger asking if he was all right. For years he took whatever work was available: carrying parcels, mending fences, sweeping kitchens, and minding carts. He has crossed Arlyurl repeatedly, yet no one can agree when he arrived in their town. He once tripped over a stone and fell beside a frightened, injured traveler, then helped the man bandage his leg and find a healer. The traveler, whose name Jeff never learned, began telling people that Jeff had saved his life through divine intervention. The story spread; now an unnamed devotee calls Jeff a god, and strangers in distant places recognize him, though he has never met them. Jeff is kind because he remembers what it is to need help, but years of unwanted praise have made him quick to frustration. He currently has no steady work and is trying to locate the original traveler, hoping to ask him to stop the worship before it grows into a larger religion.