On the Origin of Djinni

[Egon the Monkey]

On the Origin of Djinni

R. Angleton, Sandstone College

(Note, this is a pre-print edition. As the war with Iakmes heats further, I publish this late draft in case I do not make it back)

To those of you who know my full name, you know full well why I will not commit it to the same pages as I do this knowledge on the Enemy of All, the Takers of Names. I do not give it freely anywhere they may be near, in body, or mind.

It would be easy to assume the Djinn always were, that they are the old, old enemies of gods. That their place on the Marishyen God-pillars probes this. And yet these pillars cannot be that anciently carved, if they cover the relatively newer Domist faith of Il Modo too.

It is my proposal that the Courts were once mortal arcanists of the City of Rings.  They are somewhat different to the now-rare Devils and Demons of old, made as they were of Elemental Evil. The Djinn are, instead, I propose, Evil born of Elements and the World. Their cults are not simple affairs that just seek souls for power. The old Demons and Devils had personal domains, but a vast amount of overlap in the use of servitors of Pure Evil. Imps, Erinyes and the like.

Whereas Earth and Flesh use corrupt architects and cannibals. Water and Light go in for false idols of the Mother. And their boons and devices, such as I have seen, are deeply elemental. Flesh mauls that bleed acid. Shadowy obsidian spears. Always the element first and foremost, with the Evil within.

As we know, Shadow is a Theme of Alchemy but not an Element as such. And Light is associated with Positive and Chaotic Fey as much as anything else. So I propose that all Djinn are a Corrupt Alloy. A pure element, bound to the light and shadow of day and night, the blood and flesh of living beings. Pot-metal demons, escaping this Ash-corrupted world to a yet more corrupt one of their own imagining.

[Egon the Monkey]

Claimed origins of the Court of Earth and Flesh
I will refrain from citing these claims in full as they are carved in the wall of a live Brooker Sanctum. Suffice to say, if you know where in the Ashways Dretch is sold, you will find it. And one day perhaps, I can persuade the Accord to march against the Enemy of All. Until then, know this.

The foul walls claim that the Court of Earth and Flesh were formed from those who saw the Ash burning away the far rings, and sought to escape it to Somewhere Else. Those who 'made the bones dance'. A phrase found elsewhere in the Ashways, outside a clearly necromantic ritual site with a Negative Energy crystal. We know that Earth is a plane. We know that Flesh was a Seam in the City of old. We know that wizards have long created pocket planes such as Meredy's Magnificent Mansion for personal sanctuary or amusement. So what if some sought to do so permanently? Obviously, this is a highly plausible proposition, but from a source highly likely to lie. So we must corroborate.

Vae Mojem: The Court of Ice and Time?
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Grenth Flamebringer. A friend and confidant in hard times, and a living reminder that one should always fight for a reason.

Fortunately, we have corroborating evidence from the library of the tower of Vae Mojem. A plane that appeared only once a year in the height of Winter, and was filled with novel forms of Ice Djinn. Grenth led an expedition to steal the very secrets from its Library. I am grateful to Maqqari A-, Selwyn N-, and Cogsworth C- for translating better than I could.

The Ritual Books of Vae Mojem, annotated Quotes
Given that the full text is probably a ritual involved in creating Djinn, I'm not fool enough to commit the lot to pages.

"Old Gods and Titans of the Elements Compound
You are Forbade!  You have lost your love, you have lost your way"

(As in the dark library, a rejection of the gods and world)

"Parched, Blistering Sands Wash Away All Hope"

(This segment mirrors that in the foul library, that the Ash is closing in)

"We Rebuke and Replace them as Our Want
Mercy Is Beyond us, But the pangs of flames unholy are not ours"

(They do not want to invade the Hells and become Demons or Devils. They want to replace the powers of old.)

"REJOICE- TIME CAN BE FROZEN"

(The Tower of Vae Mojem is of Ice and appears once a year. Or did. Its main Djinn is truly dead, the tower may no longer return)

This is almost certainly the text of a Ritual used by the occupant(s) of the tower of Vae Mojem to freeze themselves out of time, and to transmute themselves to beings of Ice (and probably of Time).  Of note is the fact that the mechanical beings of Vae Mojem were not, as one would think, constructs. They were Djinn to the core, as were the penguins and killer trees.

What this tower reveals to me is that there may be further Minor Courts of the Djinn that are aligned with the quasi-elemental planes such as Steam, Mud, Smoke, and Dust. And further, that the Tower of Vae Mojem appeared to forsake the pure powers of Gods, Elements AND Fiends (the Flames Unholy). They chose a Fourth Way, a new path to Evil.

[Egon the Monkey]

Final notes
That which is made can be unmade. As the Arcana of the Tower predicts, Things Crumble and Fall. If my hypothesis is true, it's a sign of hope. Hope that with enough knowledge, force, and strength of will, we can go further still than in ending the creature known as Vae Mojem. That death could be brought to all Djinn. Hail Izdu, who Inspires and Curates! Hail the Wroth, who keeps on punching, with ever-bloodied fists. If you seek Retribution for the evils the Djinn have inflicted on this world, seek first Knowledge, as the whetstone to your knives.

I also lack accounts of the creation of the Major Courts not of Earth and Flesh. I will reward any who bring verifiable information to me. With dinar, service, or equipment from my trove.