Мастер Исандер
Verse and Dimensions: Stories
Djinni
Djinni are metaphysical spirits who are employed as servants to higher entities that enslave them. Djinni exist solely to serve their masters, and live and die for this purpose. They are so powerful, that some Djinni are even employed as servants by the likes of Creator himself.
Life Cycle
Djinni begin their "lives" as non-corporeal spiritual entities of varying origins. They could be naturally-occurring elemental spirits that have always existed in such a state, or they could be the passed on souls or "ghosts" of once-living entities who died. There are many other possibilities as well, but no matter the origin of the spirit, every spirit has the potential to become a Djinn.
The precursors to Djinni are created when spirits are exposed to Koto flames and absorb large amounts of it, being infused with the magic to the point that it even somewhat comprises their anatomy to an extent. Often this naturally occurs when spirits happen to wander into a flare of Koto fire, though the same result can be achieved in a controlled environment where the Koto exposure is manually induced through artificial means. Upon merging with the Koto, the Koto-spirits often become rabid and proceed embark on a rampage, with nearly all reasonable thought processes being arrested.
The only way to effectively subdue and subjugate a Koto-spirit, is by knowing and speaking its true name. Their name is the one static link to their true identity, and so it is the only binding force that can tame them. When an entity of equal or greater power speaks the Koto-Spirit's name, it will physically bind them into the servitude of that being. Additionally, the spirit's essence can be bound to an object to fortify the bond of servitude, but this is not always done. Still, however, there still exists a difference between a Koto-Spirit and a Djinn by this point. The process unofficially dubbed by some as “Djinn-ification” occurs when the Koto-Spirit's mind is completely wiped, erasing all prior memories pf their former lives. Then, the spirit's master "reprograms" them to serve whatever specific purpose they want, essentially making the spirit a completely different entity – a Djinn.
The Djinni have unwavering loyalty to their masters – primarily because that was how they were conditioned in their creation. The degree of loyalty can vary, depending on how much dominion an individual master would want to hold on them. Djinni make good on their deals through the use of Koto magic, which is employed to create binding agreements, to ensure that Djinni always do as they are commanded. It has often been observed that freed Djinni, or any without a master for that matter, are typically more prone to give in to their more deviant tendencies, and they usually more or less become devious trickster spirits. These types of Djinni usually take advantage of vulnerable beings and scam them, and sometimes even kill beings as parts if their schemes. And so stray Djinni are a very risky sort to deal with if one hopes for a beneficial relationship with them.
Powers
Djinni, who are beings energized with Koto, possess a great level of command over it. Essentially, they can utilize Koto to its fullest potential.
Many Djinni have also been known to possess shapeshifting capabilities. The most popular form for a Djinni to take when shapeshifting is that of a bipedal reptilian creature. It seems that on a broad scale, most mortal species in the Omniverse have reptilian features, and so this is the easiest form to take. However, Djinni can also take the form of pretty much any other being as long as they are able to first see the creature in person. There is a limit to this though, such as Djinni being unable to replicate the forms of much larger beings then they due to the risk of stretching themselves too far.
Not many methods are known in regards to killing Djinni. If a Djinn happens to be bound to an object at the time, then destroying that object will destroy the Djinn as well. Besides that, there don't seem to be any other inherent weaknesses. This by no means makes Djinni unkillable, but it is much harder if they lack a phylactery.
Additional Notes
Kotoblade has amassed an army of Djinni on a mass scale by enslaving Kalyubi Demons and Koto-Spirits in the Kalyubi Dimension, Djinn-ifying them with his Koto magic. Djinni who were already in the dimension, such as those living in/on The Republic of Hsrak, have also been absorbed into Kotoblade's servitude through the use of Koto. With this army of loyal servants backed behind him, Kotoblade stands tall as the virtual ruler of this dimension.
The Djinn was a former servant of Creator, before going rogue and defecting. After a period spent tricking the inhabitants of The Omniverse, The Djinn was finally imprisoned by the Supergod Council in his attempt to escape The Barrel, and was banished to the Kalyubi Dimension. Eventually, The Djinn met another prisoner named Satoru, and the two would go on to merge together and become Kotoblade.
The Djinn
History
Early Existence
The Djinn began his existence as a servant of Creator, residing in his Godverse. The Djinn was one of many beings who comprised the race known as the Djinni. The group of Djinni that The Djinn was a part of were created by Creator to serve him, and carry out orders from within his Godverse. These primarily included simple tasks, like surveying the Omniverse creating lower-level verses for him.
"The Djinn", for all intents and purposes, shall be simply called just that, as knowing the true name of a Djinn gives a being power over it.
As previously stated, The Djinn dutifully carried out his orders, always with a smile and a "Yes Master". All Djinni genuinely wished to serve Creator, such was the purpose for their creation. And although they were created as servants of Creator, they all willingly served him – or so they thought. What the Djinni did not realize was that they only wanted to serve Creator because Creator programmed it into them. While they still had freedom of choice, one thing predefined from their births was the blind dependency and love for their maker.
Eventually, the truth would finally be revealed to The Djinn. He was dispatched by Creator to carry out a certain task for him, which mainly consisted of transporting materials. The Djinn was rarely able to exit the godverse and enter The Omniverse, so he was excited by this opportunity. However, in his journey, The Djinn encountered a group of beings who seemed familiar to him. That wouldn't have made sense however, since he never met them before. Still, fuzzy fragments of memories of these beings existed in his mind, coming to The Djinn as if muck was being stirred up to the surface of the water. The Djinn tried to dismiss this as deja-vu, but then one of the beings called out The Djinn's name – his true name. Before he knew it, The Djinn was starting to be pulled into the servitude of this being who himself had no idea what was happening. Creator learned of this just in pseudotime and sent a team of djinni to sever the bind and save the Djinn, before taking him back to the Godverse.
The Djinn was left shaken by this experience. A random group of entities he encountered happened to know his true name, and he even had what could be memories of them. And yet he never met them before. Creator himself assured the Djinn that it was "just a coincidence", but it was then that The Djinn knew something was very off. Still, The Djinn tried to ignore it and resume existence as normal. But then he started receiving more memories. Fragmented images of a completely different environment, inhabited by multiple other Creators and Destroyers. But as far as he knew, The Barrel was all that ever was and could be. The Djinn's colleagues told him that Creator was "the only one, True God", and all other supposed "gods" were false and below him. This was the breaking point for The Djinn. He finally decided that he had had enough. He needed to break free and experience existence for himself, so that he could discover the full truth.
Defection
As The Djinn continued processing his recent epiphany, he became increasingly embittered. He was an immensely powerful being, one who answered directly to what many perceived to be God Himself. And yet that in itself was the dilemma; despite his great power, he was still in the servitude of another, a being who in all likelihood forced him into labor against his will.
The Djinn recalled hearing similar stories whispered of other Djinni who suddenly began "remembering" things that seemingly never happened, and attempted to use Koto to escape their servitude, but all these "renegade" Djinni were "corrected" by Creator for having these "wrong" thoughts, essentially being brainwashed. It was disturbing for the Djinn to think of, horrifying him to imagine his brethren being mentally enslaved and becoming virtually different beings in personality. After knowing what he now knew, The Djinn wasn't as skeptical about these "stories" as he was before. In a way, The Djinn envied mortals, who had free will or at least the illusion of it. He mused that ignorance truly was bliss. The Djinn longed to break from his bonds, and do what he pleased with his power. Then, eventually, a plan began to form. While he outwardly continued to appear to be content with his station in life and his duties, in reality that was far from the truth. Despite how carefully The Djinn had seemed to conduct himself as he quietly planned, Creator saw through his facade. The Djinn himself knew it was a matter of metatime before he would be "corrected". However, an unexpected chance of salvation soon presented itself. When The Cohort's Collapse occurred, the magnitude of the event was great enough that it also effected The Barrel. Creator's godverse had also been slightly ruptured, creating an avenue for the Djinn to escape. The Djinn, knowing Creator was too busy or distracted to be able to stop him, eagerly took his chance and fled from the godverse, entering The Omniverse.
An omniversal conflict known as The Alom Wars had subsequently been sparked. The Djinn took advantage of the chaos and distraction to lie low, remaining undetected. He further took advantage of the war by profiteering from it, hoarding whatever Alom he found and pawning it off to mortals by forming deals with Koto. By the war's end, he was sure Creator himself likely had forgotten about him or even just didn't care anymore. Now, finally released from servitude, The Djinn was free to do what he pleased. And he had very big plans for The Omniverse…
Blood and Gold
The Djinn went on to con his way to power. He fooled mortals and gods alike, swindling them into his sway with Koto magic and taking their powers and possessions for himself. For a metaphysical being, The Djinn was surprisingly materialistic. He prided himself in the vast array of "goodies" he had hoarded in his exploits. One of The Djinn's trademark "calling cards", was a Sword-shaped construct of Koto – one could call it a kotoblade – that he formed as a weapon to both defend himself and annihilate his enemies.
The Djinn's weapons of choice
He of course did have his run-ins with some entities, such as Angels who attempted to zealously hunt down The Djinn out of a self-proclaimed "duty" to enact Creator's "will". But The Djinn was able to successfully evade and kill all those who tried to go after him. The Djinn felt invincible, and believed that nothing could stop him from eventually overthrowing the gods who ruled The Omniverse. But then, he met his match.
While "making his rounds" through The Omniverse, The Djinn encountered a being who had been around the block just as much as him, maybe even more. The way he carried himself, his cocky expression and the extravagant display of his cards, it all spoke volumes of his experience. This being introduced himself to The Djinn as "The Dealer", and challenged him to a game. Something spoke to The Djinn's memories of his former life. He thought he could recall fractions of memories in which his past self was playing in a game with The Dealer. The Djinn had lost, but if that memory really was real, than The Djinn did not intend to lose this again in this lifetime. The Djinn narrowed his eyes at the being and accepted the challenge, intending to humiliate him in the game.
As The Djinn was playing, he could tell something was off about his opponent. The Dealer smiled warmly at him, making pleasantries and acting friendly…too friendly. The Djinn could almost immediately tell it was a façade, being employed in an attempt to lower his guard. The Djinn knew these tactics all too well – he himself frequently employed them. The Djinn kept his guard raised, employing his greatest obscuring abilities in an attempt to throw The Dealer off his game. But despite this, The Dealer surprisingly emerged victorious. The Djinn could feel his eye twitch. He had been beaten. By a being who by all appearances seemed mortal, no less. He could not let this stand. Still, despite his internal rage and humiliation, the Djinn slowly rose onto his feet, and he smiled. He extended his hand for a handshake, as an apparent show of good sportsmanship. The Dealer took the Djinn's hand and shook it. As the Djinn attempted to use this handshake to bind The Dealer into a contract, The Dealer suddenly said, "It was a good game, [name]" with a sinister grin. The Djinn stopped dead in his tracks. The Dealer knew his name, most likely by reading his mind. Or maybe he somehow knew his name from the last time they played in the Djinn's past life. The Djinn watched as one of The Dealer's cards began hovering, trembling with power. The Djinn suddenly felt a connection formed between him and the card, as he remembered seeing this card the last time he lost to The Dealer in a game. He was barely able to release a single yelp before being sucked into the card, trapped within it.
The Dealer's Card in which The Djinn is imprisoned
Over pseudotime, The Dealer made great use of his newly-gained Djinni powers, easily winning many games with them and the powerful abilities they gave him. All the while, The Djinn remained in his card, patiently waiting. Little did The Dealer know, the Djinn was still able to enact his plan with the handshake, and The Dealer was unknowingly bound by Koto magic to a deal. This deal being, that while The Dealer was still able to trap the Djinn within a card and draw his powers from the card, The Dealer would be increasingly weakened by it over pseudotime, being drained of his power with every use of the card.
And so eventually in the middle of one of his games, The Dealer's newest opponent had quite the shock when he saw him spontaneously combust into a crescendo of blue flames, shrieking as he disintegrated into ashes. The Dealer's opponent searched through The Dealer's ashen remains, to find a metallic card with blue symbols on it. He examined the card more closely, dusting some of the ashes off it. In doing so, The Djinn emerged from the card, looming above the being who freed him. The Djinn thanked him, and offered to grant a wish as a show of his "gratitude".
The Djinn's "master" thought long and hard about what he wanted, before making a wish that threw The Djinn for a loop. The being wished to exit The Barrel. The Djinn was not even sure if it was within his power to do such a thing. But then, he thought back to his memories of existing outside the Omniverse, and realized that if he could have pulled it off in his former life, then it would be worth a try. However he knew that whatever powers he may have had in his previous life which would have allowed him to accomplish this were now long gone, and all he had to rely on were his current abilities. The Djinn entered a meditative trance, as he sensed Koto in a place beyond the final barrier of The Barrel. Deeply concentrated, The Djinn formed a connection to this koto as he attempted to interact with it, and use it as an avenue through which to teleport himself and his master into Beyond. This endeavor was ultimately successful, but the Djinn's master began to experience existence-crushing agony upon entering this metaspace, while The Djinn still remained perfectly intact. The Djinn's master desperately seemed to call out for help, to which The Djinn snidely remarked that the being "had never wished for protection after entering Beyond", as he was erased. The Djinn, meanwhile, remained alive; and more importantly, once again free.
But this would not last, as The Supergod Council nearly instantly arrived upon The Djinn's escape, having been alerted to it. Upon seeing these large orbs of colored lights, The Djinn had flashbacks. He recognized some of them, having previously seen them when they were much "younger" in his previous life. Then, he put it all together. Like a flood, all the memories came back to the Djinn. Once, he was The Omniversal Traveler. But now that life was long over, and The Djinn was merely a husk, a shadow of that being. He had originally died following his attempted expedition through Trancendentem, and just as with his first death, he was brought back into The Omniverse, but somehow became a Koto-spirit in the process. And after being Djinn-ified by Creator, The Djinn now stood in place of the Traveler. However, The Djinn did not have the opportunity to do much with this knowledge, as he had been cornered by The Supergods. But rather than just kill him, they instead chose to consign him to The Kalyubi Dimension. The Djinn was then trapped in the card once again, and banished into the prison.
The Djinn spent much metatime in solitude within the Kalyubi Dimension, with only his own thoughts to keep him company. But even from within the card, The Djinn could feel his powers gathered together and concentrated over time, which greatly invigorated him and supercharged his abilities. But all this power meant next to nothing with The Djinn trapped and unable to use it. Still, pure power seemed to emanate from the card, disrupting and interfering with anything that came within a certain radius of it. This frightened many of the prisoners inhabiting the dimension, who perceived the cause of this paranormal activity to have come from a "poltergeist", not knowing that it was in fact the Card from which the anomalies manifested.
The Djinn began to become hopeless the longer he remained trapped in the card. But then salvation would once again come from an unexpected source: a being named Satoru.
Satoru was an older prisoner of the Kalyubi Dimension, having been imprisoned there before The Djinn. For a very long time, Satoru had been tormented by many of the entities that resided here, and he was in hiding when he found the Djinn's card. Satoru could sense a sense an energy of malice and greed radiating from the card. He was extremely nervous to touch this card, but he mustered all of his courage to pick it up, and after dusting it off, The Djinn was once again free. The eternity of solitary confinement had deteriorated The Djinn's mental stability, as had his physical appearance. Satoru was frightened by The Djinn at first, originally mistaking him to have been a native "Kalyubi demon" who inhabited this realm. But The Djinn still possessed enough of a shred of sanity to communicate with this other prisoner. He thanked Satoru, and presented to him the offer to grant a single wish. It did not take long for Satoru to decide what it was that he most wanted, and so he asked for only one simple thing: to have the power to dominate and subjugate his enemies. The Djinn figured he could potentially amass a great level of influence over this entire realm and its occupants with his power and legacy, and so he decided to impart his knowledge of Koto to the Satoru, teaching him all that he knew about the art. Satoru soon achieved a great mastery over Koto, and as he promised he went on to exterminate and enslave many if his enemies with it. The art of koto began catching on, and many other prisoners and Kalyubi Demons began coming to The Djinn with pleas for him to teach them in Koto as well. He accepted nearly all of these requests, circulating Koto all throughout the Kalyubi Dimension until nearly every being in it was attuned to it. As The Djinn was responsible for most of these beings' usage of Koto, he was benefited the most by it due to the terms of the "contracts" created in the koto rituals.
However, Satoru soon began to become more power-hungry and disruptive. While The Djinn was not necessarily intimidated, he did find himself concerned. If Satoru went too far, chances were that he would try to soon double-cross and kill him if he perceived the Djinn to be a threat. All the while, The Djinn began plotting to kill Satoru once the perfect opportunity arose. Simultaneously, Satoru anticipated that The Djinn would become intimidated by his rapid progress and try to take him out, and so he too began plotting to kill The Djinn.
When the two finally confronted each-other, they engaged in a vicious battle, both opponents utilizing every possible technique that could be performed with Koto. The Djinn then cast a koto spell in an attempt to possess Satoru's body and effectively force Satoru's "soul" to leave it. However, Satoru had happened to cast almost the exact same spell as well, with the intent to possess The Djinn instead. This caused an extremely unstable infinite possession loop. Satoru became possessed by The Djinn, who was then possessed by Satoru, who was possessed by The Djinn, who was possessed by Satoru…
…Ad Infinitum, until they possessed each-other to such a tangled and muddled extent that neither being had greater control over the other. This presented a unique dilemma. As it now stood, they were both too evenly matched for one to overpower the other. And the only way for either them to evolve into a more powerful being was through companionship, as uncomfortable as the concept may have seemed to them. But The Djinn and Satoru realized that they both shared common goals; both were once mortals who surpassed The Omniverse and traveled beyond their limits, both longed to escape from imprisonment and find true freedom, both felt suppressed and exploited, and above all both felt a burning desire for revenge against those who wronged them – The Supergod Council. A mutually beneficial relationship would help both beings achieve their goals much more easily and efficiently.
And so, the two devised a mutually binding deal with their Koto magic, and through this deal, they evolved together into a higher, purer synthesis of both beings, becoming a singular entity unto himself. This new being was an extremely powerful user of Koto magic with the combined memories and personalities of both The Djinn and Satoru. This being went on to wreak havoc upon The Kalyubi Dimension. One of the traits which he had inherited from The Djinn was the use of a sword made out of Koto. This became the being's own calling card as well, with many fleeing as they shouted in fear that "The koto-blade" had come for them. He liked this name so much that it grew on him, to the point that he officially adopted it as his name. And from that point on, he would be forevermore known as "Kotoblade".
In his previous life, The Djinn had once desired to achieve Creator-level power in his travels. And now, he has gotten even more than that.