The 99: Origins

Issue Details

Synopsis

The gemstones of light or Noor stones are mystical jewels that were soaked in an alchemical substance to store inside them the knowledge of the greatest of Baghdad's libraries prior to its destruction by Hulagu Khan in 1258. Saved from the destruction of the city and taken to Andalusia, they would be hidden for centuries inside a Fortress of Knowledge near Granada, until the Christian conquest of southern Spain convinced the gem's guardians to dismantle the Fortress and flee. However, one guardian called Rughal opposed the move. Rughal had discovered earlier in his life that sunlight filtered through the Noor stones allowed people to perform great feats of superhuman power, but his proposals to exploit this power had drawn the censure of his peers and with the end of the Fortress coming close, Rughal decided to do one last experiment and tried to absorb inside his own body all the power and knowledge of the Noor stones. He failed and was destroyed, along with the Fortress itself. However, the Noor stones themselves survived the tragic events and the remaining guardians took them before disappearing out of history. In the present day, Doctor Ramzi Razem seeks to obtain funding for his lifelong quest for the Noor Stones but is mocked for his belief in mysticism until a superhumanly strong man appears in Saudi Arabia. Upon meeting with him, Ramzi learns that Nawal Al-Bilali carried one of the Noor stones when he stepped on a landmine while fleeing with his sisters from assassins. The explosion caused the stone to fragment and the shards ended inside Nawal's body, granting him out of control superhuman strength. With this information, Ramzi decides to take Nawal with him to Paris and use surgery to remove most of the gem fragments, which returns the young man's strength to levels he can control and convinces him to join Ramzi's organization as Jabbar the Powerful. Shortly afterward, a revived Rughal learns of these developments and it is revealed that he is the CEO of Mamluk International, a Hong-Kong based business consortium which includes Nahomtech Industries, Ramzi's main corporate sponsor.