The Last Laugh

Ever since the first sapient beings walked upon the material plane, the gods have been with them. Of all the wide variety of beings in our world, each one has a patron deity or pantheon that has guided that. All but one, that is. Aeons ago, humans rose from the obscurity of tribalism and began to carve their destiny across the world with the aid of their own gods. The other races of the world feared the humans for their adaptability and expansionism. They were clever like Elves, industrious like Dwarves and bloodthirsty like Orcs. As the human empires spread, their conquest over the whole world seemed inevitable.

The deities of the other races would not allow the humans to succeed, and so, for the first time in history, they set their grudges aside and warred with the humans, slaying all of the human gods. Without their pantheon to guide them, the sovereignty of mankind crumbled, and the human race was driven back into the darkness. Human beings may very well have gone extinct, had they not been pitied by one god: Joviam the Unruly.

Joviam was a trickster deity who existed solely to sow discord and grief upon his fellow gods. He regarded them as "beings of infinite hubris" and made it his sacred duty to foil their plots at every opportunity. Although all the gods held deep-seated grudged among each other, there was none more despised than Joviam, who was loathed equally by all. Every time a god has made an attempt to wipe away the human threat for good, Joviam has thwarted them.

More than anything else, Joviam loved corrupting the worshipers of other gods. He loved nothing more than to seduce a maiden priestess, coaxing her out of her piety and into his bedroom. This was such a common recreation for him that he managed to woo thousands of women from each and every deity who held a temple on the mortal plane. Finally, the gods he had insulted could tolerate his pranks no longer, and sought his undoing. For the first time since the war against humanity, all the gods came together and plotted their revenge against Joviam. They knew they would not be able to kill him, for Joviam was a slippery devil that outwitted even the gods of death. Instead, they would have to do something more creative. They chose to pull a prank on the prankster god.

Through centuries of planning and setup, the gods put their grand prank into action until it was finally ready to fall into place. They barged into Joviam's realm and chained him with their magic. Through their combined powers, they changed the unruly one forever... and transformed him into a woman. All the other gods looked upon the gentle, feminine form their enemy had been turned into and roared with laughter. Joviam, always being one to appreciate a good prank, laughed as well. She laughed long and hard, louder than any of the others. Joviam laughed with such tremendous force and energy that her very being began to unravel itself.

The other gods could only look on in awe as the Joviam the Unruly became undone, and they found themselves basked within the power she unleashed as her body erupted. With her final prank, that would come to be called the Last Laugh, Joviam shared her new form with her fellow gods, turning them into women as well. With the transformation of the gods came the transformation of their followers. All across the universe, the living and unliving alike began to change. The males of all the races disappeared. All, that is, except for one. As humanity no longer had gods, they were left unchanged. Suddenly, the only males that existed in all of creation were human beings. The Last Laugh didn't just change the mortal races, either. The terrible monsters that lurked the darkest corners of the universe took on new forms, appearing as attractive humanoid women. Not only did the Laugh change their bodies, it changed their very natures. Where these monsters once sought carnage and bloodshed, they now desired affection and companionship.

Just like that, the laws of nature were turned on its head, and survival of every race now depended entirely on the humans. Outraged, the other gods sought to undo this calamity, but found themselves unable to leave Joviam's realm. The unruly one had used the last of her powers to cage them within her realm, making them helpless to lead their people while also giving them a good view of the universe as a whole for them to look down upon. As the gods looked on in horror at the world that had been taken from them, the last echo of Joviam's voice gave a departing tease.

"Enjoy the show!"