Johan
- For other uses, see Johan (disambiguation).
| Johan | |
|---|---|
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The Tyrant of Tirras The Emperor of the Northern Reaches | |
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| Information | |
| Colors |
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| Species | Human Shapeshifter |
| Job | Wizard |
| Birth, Life & Death | |
| Birthplace | Jamuraa, Dominaria |
| Lifetime | War with Phyrexia |
| Born | c. 2800 AR, several centuries old by 3334 AR |
| Death | 3336 AR |
| Sources | |
| Legend of Jedit Ojanen (non-canon), Johan, Jedit, Hazezon | |
Johan, Tyrant of Tirras and Emperor of the Northern Realms, was a powerful but evil mage and shapeshifter who tried to conquer the Jamuraan western continent. While both ruthless and cruel, he saw himself as benevolent toward his people, having managed to unite the barbarian tribes of the northern mountains with his Tirrans in reclaiming more southern land for prosperity. He fashioned himself as being the only one capable and deserving of leading the Jamuraan people and saw his destiny as uniting all of Jamuraa under his rule.
Description
Johan, emperor of Tirras and the Northern Realms, was tall, with fire-ruddy skin and so many tattoos he was striped like a tiger. He wore a purple robe of some exotic lizard skin that swept the floor and gaped at his breast, riddled with tattoos, as were the backs of his hands. Most disturbing to the prisoners was where the purple robe bunched around Johan's neck and his head. Twin horns curled downward from his brow, and another horn jutted from the man's chin. That small horn and a black V between his brows made him look like some ancient dinosaur reared on two legs. His black eyes glistened like nothing human.[1]
A mage of the mountains, Johan was a master of Red mana in all its destructive forms. He was also known for his illusions and his potent protective spells, which left him almost invulnerable and allowed him to fight his battles next to his men on the front lines. Obsessed with the occult and arcane knowledge, he possessed a vast collection of magical artifacts and countless spellbooks, all allowing him to perform feats unequaled by other mages. Arguably the most powerful mortal wizard of his time (at least on Jamuraa), his only rival might have been Hazezon Tamar, who bested him twice.
History
Johan's War
Johan had always planned to conquer all of Jamuraa with all his accumulated power. His first step was becoming Tyrant of Tirras, and proclaiming himself "Emperor of the Northern Realm". Tirras was enslaved by mountains; the only way for the Tirrans to survive was to send raiding parties along the River Toloron. The only way for Johan's empire to prosper was to extend along that river. To that end, he warred with all the city-states south of Tirras, most notably Bryce. His first attempt saw him stalled at Palmyra by an army led by Hazezon Tamar and Jaeger Ojanen (father of Jedit): his army ended up dispersing due to a magical sandstorm conjured by Hazezon. He confronted Jaeger during this battle, and while a sand wurm killed his enemy, he ended up convinced the tiger man was responsible for his defeat.
Riding a fire drake east alone through the desert, Johan barely made it to the oasis of Efrava. There, disguised as a normal human, he met Jedit Ojanen, whom he manipulated with a magical charm. While the tribe saw him as a menace (he was the first human to set foot in the oasis, and the Efravans thought humans to be mere legends before meeting him), he used his mental control of Jedit to have him plead to be his guardian. The elders reluctantly agreed, and accompanied by Hestia, the trio explored the oasis from border to border. Johan formed mana bonds with the land and took cartography of it in preparation for its future conquest. Once his treachery was discovered, Johan killed a couple of Efravan guards to escape to the desert, west this time, with Jedit in his pursuit.
Johan journeyed west to the Great Wall and beyond, to Shauku's fortress. The vampire lured him with the promise of information on the tiger man's origins, but it turned out to be a plot to enslave him in her service. While Johan escaped, he decided that his conquest of Jamuraa would start with the enslavement of the cat warrior tribes of the Sukurvian Desert: united under his banner he thought, they would make an unstoppable army; additionally their oasis was located in the desert making the junction between the western and eastern continent, making it an ideal base of operation to launch his conquest of all of Jamuraa.
Johan returned to Tirras, where he amassed his forces once more, this time focusing the war effort on building skyships capable of traversing the Sukurvian desert without risking losing his army to the sand wurms. He managed to capture the Robaran Mercenaries who were spying on him, imprisoning Hazezon Tamar and Adira Strongheart in a room without a door or window. Unbeknownst to him, Hazezon had learned to shift (to teleport) and was, therefore, able to escape. While the spies couldn't stop his plans, they warned the city-states, who started to build their fleet of flying skyships under Hazezon's supervision.
The final battle of what would be called Johan's War was fought in the oasis of Efrava in the Sukurvian desert, where both his human enemies and the tribes of cat warriors united against him. Aboard his flagship, the Icewind, Johan used his magical superiority to turn the tide of battle in his favor, incapacitating Hazezon by turning his spell against him. The surviving Robaran Mercenaries boarded his ship and tried to confront him head-on. Protected and strengthened by his magic, he killed Adira Strongheart by ripping her heart out of her chest with his bare hands. Out of desperation, Jedit Ojanen charged the tyrant and fell overboard with him. The sixty-foot drop into the desert nearly killed the tiger man, but Johan, while disoriented, was unharmed thanks to his protective spells. It is then, with victory within his grasp, that Johan died the same way Jaeger Ojanen had: eaten by a sand wurm.[2]
With the news of the Emperor's death spreading, his generals turned on each other in hopes of seizing power for themselves. Disorganized and overwhelmed, the invading fleet fled northeast to disappear into the mountain. So quick was their retreat that most ground troops were left behind in the jungles of Efrava: they would surrender over the following days in exchange for their supplies (who would feed the cat warriors for months). Hazezon Tamar would take pity on them and escort them back to their homeland of Tirras.
Legacy
The death of Johan ushered in an era of peace and prosperity in Jamuraa, having united the surviving people in a spirit of collaboration: the Robaran Mercenaries expanded and explored several islands in the name of their fallen leader Adira, ending up creating colonies of whom they became the governors. Hazezon Tamar served as governor of Bryce for another decade, then disappeared at the head of a fleet of skyships he had to build. His flagship, Adira's Kite, is said to have sailed and explored the ocean up to the far ends of the Domains, dispensing magic and gold to the innocent and punishing tyrants with an army of his trademark Sand Warriors. Finally, the tiger tribes multiplied, Jedit finding himself at the head of a true dynasty of children and grandchildren. Under his farseeing leadership, all the tiger tribes were reunited and moved back to the Scarwood, where they rebuilt The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale and founded a mighty empire that took its place among the peoples of Dominaria.
Gallery
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Johan on the cover of the Johan novel -
Johan on the back cover of the Jedit novel -
Johan and Jedit fighting over the sands of Sukurvia on the back cover of Hazezon novel
Story appearances
In-game references
- Represented in:
References
- ↑ Clayton Emery (2001) - Johan (novel), Wizards of the Coast
- ↑ Jay Annelli (January 4, 2024). "Eaten by a sandwurm". Twitter.