Mo'Jaal

The Longest Journey

"A deep, scarring itch as from the filthy bowels of the Mo-Jaal."

―Captain Horatio Nebevay about his nose sensitivity

Grotesque deity worshipped by the people of the isle of Ge'en, who teaches that to sign one's signature is to sign-away a piece of one's soul: inviting bad luck.

Tornquist has a jibe at organized religion, particularly New Age religion through Captain Horatio Nebevay, the laconic captain of the White Dragon. While a more serious stab is had at New Age religions in the form of the Church of Voltec / Vanguard, and organized religion is defended in the person of Father Raul representing the Catholic Church; the religion of the Mo-Jaal is the player’s first and most humourous contact with religion in the Two Worlds.

Our encounters with Captain Nebevay are, to begin with, peppered with references (curses, mostly) to a curious “Mo-Jaal” figure. The vagaries of this strange belief system begin to be illuminated when April requests Nebevay’s signature on her delivery-slip. The latter refuses at first, claiming that

"A signature has untold powers, it's part of your soul. I can't sign away my soul... I'm from Ge'en, and we're a spiritual people. Our souls are in balance with our bodies, and the great Mo-Jaal has taught us not to endanger this balance... Signing my name, giving a piece of myself in that manner, breeds corruption and imbalance within."

―Horatio Nebevay

This belief may not seem too satirical thus far; until, that is, the point that Nebevay finishes the above excuse with “And it pisses the Mo-Jaal off no end.”

April proceeds to seek a loophole in Nebevay’s beliefs. He wants none of it, at first: “You can't trick the great Mo-Jaal. The Mo-Jaal's untrickable.” Immediately afterwards, however, he provide the loophole himself. “There's always music… it distracts the Mo-Jaal.” April proceeds to questions the theological implications of this:

"But doesn't that mean the Mo-Jaal is always distracted? I mean, there's always music somewhere in the world."
"The Mo-Jaal has an eye and a ear for every acolyte, and straying from the path can bring great wrath upon us."
"Granted, I know very little of the Mo-Jaal. But seriously, maybe you should look into alternative religions?"
"Blasphemy! Besides, I only have to visit the temple once every two years, and the membership fees are quite reasonable."

―April Ryan & Horatio Nebevay

Tornquist is once more having a jibe at the New Age religions of our own world, in which the institution is often more interested in your money than in your faith. Nebevay’s previous use of the word “spiritual” is particularly telling in this case.

As regards Nebevay’s charge of blasphemy, he seems far more guilty of it himself than anything April has to say. The majority of Nebevay’s ‘sailor language’ is directed towards the hideous and cruel prophet Jaal. He is described as having a “stunted left arm” and a “pus-filled left eye”. While this may be nothing more than the innocent description of the Mo-Jaal’s person (no matter how unfortunate) Nebevay leaves us with no doubt of his blasphemous intentions when he curses the god in no uncertain terms with: “Jaal be damned”, “Jaal's bowels”, "Damn his immortal soul to the darkest pits of Chaos" and the particularly incriminating “Mo-Jaal be cursed”; before he is stymied into admitting “I've run out of curses”. He does, however, have a soft spot for the evidently hideous Jaal, with such entreaties as “With Jaal's blessing”, and the particularly tender “Sweet Jaal”.

Another figure of the religion, sometimes brought up by Nebevay is Jaal's assassin, with a three-bladed poisoned sword, invoking to be struck by him if he breaks his promise.

April, fed up with Nebevay’s excuses, tries to make the argument more personal. Like Pontius Pilate, however, Nebevay wants to wash his hands of the situation:

"And that's why you choose to make my life difficult?"
"Hey, blame organized religion."

―April Ryan & Horatio Nebevay

When finally April is able to overcome Nebevay’s superstition, she elicits a confession from Nebevay when he admits that “It's not as if I ever put much faith in the teachings of the drunken prophet Jaal myself...”

Dreamfall

"By the Mo-Jaal's--! I mean, by the grace of the Six - blessed be their names - if you'll leave me be, I'll give you the bloody spices!"

―Ary Kinryn

In Dreamfall, worship of the Mo'Jaal has been suppressed along with other non-Azadi religions. It appears to linger under the surface, however, because when Zoë speaks with the merchant Ary Kinryn he begins to swear by some deformed appendage of the Mo'Jaal before correcting himself with the grace of The Six.

Similarly, when he refers at another point to plural "gods", he corrects himself with "I mean, 'goddess'. There's only one, blessed be her name, etcetera." This may indicate that for the people of Ge'en worship of the Mo'Jaal is in fact henotheistic rather than monotheistic.

Trivia

Mojal is an actual East Indian girl's name which means "beautiful".