Origin Stories

**Jojovein lore has many characters, and each has a unique story to tell. Below, you will find various origin stories of Jojovein characters.**

**(Note: all entries are taken from the in-game Jojovein compendium. Also, some details require context from server gameplay.)**

## Pillar Men Origin Story

About 14 billion years ago, our universe was born! One of the earliest molecules generated became the foundation of life itself. It turned into a primordial vat of cells known as Founding Cells. Millions of deviations of this cell emerged gradually, forming various forms of organic life. Every single deviation of this cell has a peculiar connection to it, feeding the cell its genetic data. One day, a new species was born directly out of the Founding Cells, a race of Angels! With the data of every single organism stemming from it, Angels could take the form of any organism. Any being that came across an angel would be awestruck, revering them as divine beings. Favored by the gods for their perfect beauty and grace, Angels each received a divine power. Wind Mode, Fire Mode, Light Mode- powers such as these were known as blessings. However, granting them these blessings was a huge mistake. Angels were so beloved and praised that they began to develop a collective complex! Angels believed themselves to be gods, and staged a rebellion against them, lead by the powerful Lucifer, blessed by the god of light! Frightened by the overwhelming power of the angels, the gods sought help from mortals who developed a peculiar ability which was used to deactivate the genetic code of the Angels! With the special abilities to Founding Cells sealed, the remaining angels were exiled to Earth, and at the time it was a barren hellscape. At some point, they obtained power from the Dream Moon and became vampiric. As their upgraded bodies were disintegrated by the sun, the civilization lived underground. While none of the original angels remained, they did leave behind stories of their origins which were engraved onto their city's walls. Now known as the Pillar Men, the peaceful civilization adapted to change and grew complacent. One of them by the name of Kars was particularly dissatisfied with this complacency. Born on Earth, Kars was a brilliant prodigy who studied the Pillar Man brain, and developed a tool to tap into more of the species' latent powers, beginning with their divine blessings! With this new power, Kars was stronger, faster, and able to turn to harden in the sunlight rather than die immediately. However, the Pillar Men began to fear Kars, realizing that his increased hunger for blood could end all life on Earth. He must be killed! Kars replied, "Fools, who among you would not want to conquer the sun? Do you not want to dominate all that is as our ancestors once did? Do you not want to be free of all fear? If not, then begone!" And so, Kars slaughtered most of his race, including his own family. Together with his companion Esidisi, and children who did not know of his actions, Kars fled in search of a way to re-awaken the Founding Cells.

## The Story of J'zahar

Long ago, J'zahar, the bastard offspring of Hastur, was born as a Great Old One.  Having a desire for power, and not wanting exile to the stars, J'zahar reached out beyond time and space to achieve his freedom. The results were similar powers to that of Yog-Sothoth, and the punishment of eternally guarding his imprisoned fellow deities. J'zahar kept tabs on the world of the living, watching them from afar through the lens of his gatekeeper staff.  He developed his own library of stories he recorded from observation.  Perhaps this was a habit he inherited from Hastur. The lives of mortals were full of passion, happiness, love, hatred, war, and many other things.  However, they all ended with death. It brought J'zahar great sadness to witness this cycle over and over again.  'Why should things be born in this universe only to meet a brutal end?' Nevertheless, J’zahar idolized mortals so much that he took one to become his bride, and she bore a child with him named N’otl.  Of course, as J’zahar expected, his lover would only last a short amount of years, but N’otl persisted, continuing to play family with him. J’zahar pleaded with the other gods to make the mortals live forever.  However, they adamantly denied this possibility, predicting that it would lead only to further chaos and bring destruction upon the universe itself. They saw the universe’s current balance as perfection. Nyarlathotep, however, approached J’zahar after the fact, hoping to incite chaos. "J’zahar, your idea is a fine one. You know, you don’t have to listen to them. You are a god yourself, after all!  Nobody can tell you how to act." With time, J'zahar grew more and more furious at the other gods for growing complacent after shaping such a terrible universe.  He began to develop a plan. Absorbed in his work, J’zahar neglected N’otl, and told him to try and build a city of mortals in Omothol, which would become paradise. N’otl obeyed his father and brought many mortals to their realm, building countless houses of ethaxium, the very material souls are made of, abundantly drifting into Omothol as the residue of living souls that ascended into the afterlife. Millions of years passed, and the population of mortals steadily rose. Luckily for J’zahar, the gods stopped monitoring his activities at the palace. This is because he was doing such a stellar job at guarding the Stairway to Heaven, which separated the imprisoned gods from reality.  J’zahar’s ultimate solution was to filter in divine essence from the imprisoned gods, and make everyone in his paradise live forever! J’zahar began the process, observing his son N’otl through the staff of the gatekeeper, expecting to see mortals joyously entering the world of the gods. However, he made one fatal error: the essence that drifted through the gate was full of anger and hatred, a desire for revenge. N’otl’s watched on with horror as the essence corrupted the hundreds of mortals in paradise. They transformed into terrible shadow creatures, and began to tear apart the land. Consumed with grief, J’zahar stopped the filtered energy from entering, and then committed suicide. The death of a god whose domain was gravity caused the land itself to break apart and drift into the sky, and many of the corrupted shadows fell beneath, forming a realm where the immortal souls of evil gods could seek reincarnation. Before N’otl could feel the full weight of what was happening, J’zahar’s father, Hastur, entered the realm to contain the anomaly. Hastur felt responsible for his son’s actions, and would soon mourn his loss. N’otl was brought to the realm of the living, to live on planet Hastur until everything was settled.  N’otl was lost and confused, but everything changed when he met Hasuta. "Hello, I am Hasuta! And you are? Here, we have names that mirror our fathers. From now on, let’s call you J’zaki! Why the long face? Bad things happen, but we do our best to move forward! You don’t have any family left? Hey, I know, from now on, we can be brothers!" And so, J’zaki and Hasuta formed a powerful bond of brotherhood!  Eventually, Hasuta and J’zaki were instructed to work at the Great Library, where they would learn many new things together. Hastur began to take notice at how diligent and dedicated J’zaki was at work. "N’otl- no, J’zaki- how would you like to assume the role of your father? I know that place holds bad memories for you, but you are the only one qualified to reside there. Truly, your father was remarkable, and you take after him in every way possible." "I would be honored, Lord Hastur." "Good. Take this, it is the Staff of the Gatekeeper. It belonged to your father, but it is now yours. You may enter and exit Omothol at will, so long as you make sure the Stairway to Heaven remains sealed, at any cost." "My thanks. From now on, I will become J’zahar." J’zaki wondered what led to his father’s madness. Eventually, he stumbled upon secret notes hidden in the pocket dimension within the staff of the gatekeeper. This contained the thoughts of the real J’zahar, the feelings of nihilism and the desire to free mortals from suffering. J’zaki was astonished. He recounted the death of his family, the corruption of his society, and many many deaths he saw firsthand through the staff. While he kept it a secret from his brother, J’zahar’s feelings resonated with J’zaki, and he would begin to think of his own strategies to solve this issue. With terrible memories burnt into his brain, he declared to himself, "My father’s intentions were right, but his conclusion was wrong. To save the mortals from suffering, the world of the living must be erased."

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