OttoKallen

OttoKallen is the het ship between Kallen and Otto from the Honkai fandom.

Canon
ELAN PALATINUS

1465 the 13 years old Otto meets Kallen for the first time. His invention, a small airplane, flew over a wall. There it was found by Kallen and brought him back. Kallen praised his invention, which made Otto very happy. Because he was very ill and fragile, he was of little value to his family. Kallen was the person who first recognized him and his efforts. They became very good friends.

1466 the children were attacked by Honkai beasts. Kallen's father, Francis Kaslana, protected them with his life and died from burns of his weapon Shamash. It was then the first time Otto realized that if Kallen were to follow her father's path and become a Valkyrie of Schicksal, she would die the same way. This fear even haunted him into adulthood. After the death of Kallen's father, Otto sneaked into the Apocalpyse Reliquary to decipher the family relic. He was hoping to find a way to revive him. Also known as the Void Archieves, the Relict offers Otto to revive Francis in exchange for his life. When he brings Void Archieves to Kallen and explains the situation to her, she is anything but pleased. Instead of smiling again as he had hoped, she slaps him on the cheek. She explains to him that her father died to protect them both and that Kaslanas may die but they never yield. She won't let anyone die for her and especially not Otto. She then bursts into tears and Otto cries while apologising to her. They hug and grieve together.

1470 Kallen is already a Valkyrie of Schicksal. Her Kaslana oath is put to the test for the first time as her opponents are not Honkai beasts but humans. She decides to fight her opponent, the immortal warrier, but loses, because she lacks the necessary motivation. It is Otto who runs across the battlefield and stands protectively in front of Kallen. But her opponent let her live. Schicksal loses the war against Shenzou and Otto carry Kallen all the way back to the Schicksal Headquarter.

DORMITORY

1475 the Schicksal army was finally forced to retreat at the Kipchak Steppes in Central Asia. On their way back to Geneva, Kallen and Otto found a orphan, witch was struggeling for her survival. Kallen brought the girl to Europe and named her Vera. Even though Vera could never become a valkyrie, Otto took very good care of her. He taught her to read and write. He also ordered her a Valkyrie, which taught her how to fight anyway. Vera therefore regarded Otto as a kind of god and named herself "Octavius" after his favorite historical figure Octavia. 1543 she died peacefully in her sleep.

ELAN PALANTINUS

1470 a plague ruled the country, claiming thousands of victims. Otto tested a cure on the sick, which resulted in their death. As he spoke of "I must find a cure or she will leave me." and as he find the cure, saying: "I found it! She´ll never leave me now!" you can speculate that Kallen was meant and that she was also ill, mainly because he cried afterwards. He says also that he can make Kallen maybe happy with it.

Schicksals thirst for power had not paid off. Instead of being able to expand his claims to power, only the losses remained. To cover this, the church increased extra taxes in form of "Indulgences" to absolve their sins. As a result, people in west Europe became impoverished and began to hate Schicksal.

1476 Kallen and Otto take a little walk in western Europe, when Kallen bumps into a boy. The little boy loses his apples in the collision. Kallen immediately apologizes and wants to help him pick them up. But when he sees the brooch of fate on Kallen's robe, he runs away in panic and asks not to arrest him. In the background you can hear people whispering, complaining that Kallen took the apples from the boy. She then decides to look for the boy, but collapses briefly due to her wounds and is overthrown by Otto. Kallen wonders why people fear the church so much. Otto explains to her that fate punishes all those who did not take part in the war with fines in the form of indulgences. She wonders if these Indulgances aren't unjust before Otto invites her to dinner. After eating, the two become aware of a conversation between a woman and a priest. The woman asks him for more time to pay for the indulgences. But the priest demands her daughter Sasha as a tribute. Kallen intervenes and scolds the man. He tells her that he has to collect the money, because she lost the battle. Before the dispute can escalate, Otto intervenes. The priest then gives the woman three more days to pay the money and disappears. When Kallen gets upset that the man can just walk away at ease, Otto then tells her that vigilante justice is useless and that if someone hits her on the right cheek, she should also turn the left. then he tries to distract her by taking her to a show. On stage is a speaker who goes by the name of Shakespear and wears a mask. In a very poetic way, she denounces the Church. The show is interrupted by two guards who want to arrest her for slander. Kallen takes the dropped mask and a beach towel to disguise himself. Disguised, she grabs the speaker and takes her to safety from the guards. As thanks, Shakespear gives her the mask. Kallen, who no longer wanted to tolerate this injustice, and Otto hatched a plan to steal the priest's money and give it back to the townspeople. Otto provides her with outfits and the necessary equipment. They leave a letter for the priest announcing their break-in. But the priest was less concerned about the money than about the basement, which he immediately had sealed. The following night, with the help of Otto, Kallen, who had disguised himself as a young woman, managed to break into the priest's house. When she has packed the gold, however, she is asked by the priest and re-identified as Kallen. But she escapes through the window with the bag of money and gives the people their money back.

After Kallen has distributed the money to the residents after a secount night, she becomes aware of figures who are about to kidnap Sasha. Kallen wants to stop them. In their flight they lead her to the priest's house. Her path leads her into the basement, where she meets said priest, whom she captures and forces to open the door. She sees four girls attached to crosses and standing around a black box. In front of the black box is another cross that Sasha is hanging on. When Kallen demands the girls' release, the priest lies to her and tells her that they are meant to find a cure for the growing plague. When Kallen exposes the lie and tells him that for the cure are only needed some herbs and the girls aren't necessary for this, he tells her the truth. She learns that her friend Otto lied and instead using herbs for the first cure, sacrificed thousands of patients to create it. The priest also tells her that they want to use the cube as a weapon against their enemies in the east to take revenge for the lost war. Then three Valkyries enter the room. One of them is Eleanor Schariac, who was the first person who could heal Otto with his cure. Eleanor lunged at Kallen and wants to kill her, but is slowed down by Otto, witch was within the room and grabbed her spear to stop her from attacking. As a result, he injured his hand, which began to bleed. The spear's poison caused him to faint. Eventually, Kallen was taken away by two of the Valkyries and put in prison. Waking up after a nightmare about Kallen's death, his first route was to prison, where he briefly bumped into his father. When he left him alone with Kallen, he opened the door and entered the prison to talk to her. He tried to explain to her that if the cube could be used against the honkai and the sacrifice was necessary, it would secure the future of humanity. But Kallen, who had sworn to protect humanity, rejected this view. A conflict ensued which resulted from Otto's fear of seeing Kallen die and ended with Kallen slapping him across the face. Otto promises that he will make sure that she and the girl Sasha are released, but also says that he cannot stop the experiments. A little later the girl is brought to her and Kallen takes her home. In doing so, she realizes that Otto lied about the tests and that power reveals the true nature of humans. She then decides to follow her oath and act against Schicksal.

In the great cathedral, Otto, his father Nikolas (the Overseer) and the priest have gathered to watch Eleanor taking a crystal out of the box. Overseer Nikolas is happy that he can soon reveal the contents of the black box, but he gets Kallen's cross thrown at his feet, which he interprets as a betrayal by the Kaslana family. Kallen appears on the cross and declares that she will prevent him from unleashing the contents of the box on humanity. Eleanor's is then attacked while the Overseer flees with the priest. She was already corrupted by the box, saying that god speak to her and ingested the crystal to subsequently became a Honkai Beast. A fight ensues between Kallen and the beast, in which Kallen manages to temporarily weaken and hold Eleanor in check with her chains. She explains to Otto that he was wrong and that this box is of no use to anyone. Otto then replies that his father would continue to believe that the box would help humanity. But Kallen contradicts him again and says that the box must have spoken to Eleanor and that it could only have been the Honkai's voice. Their conversation is interrupted by Eleanor, who breaks free and wants to attack Kallen. To protect Kallen, he shoots Eleanor with Shamash. Kallen then ends the fight with her "Oath of Judah". The creature from the box is now free and pounces on Kellen to possess them. But with her Kaslana oath and her pure heart, she is able to banish the creature from her body and send it back into the box. Her last words to Otto were: "It has corruptet too many people here. More will fall victim to it´s traps if it stays. I must seal it away. It must be sealed in a place as far from here as possible. I... I have to go..."

1477 Otto attempts to create a new generation of Valkyrie while seemingly searching for Kallen. Void Archieves offers him knowledge with which he can achieve his goal. A messenger brings him a letter which is written by Kallen. She writes that she now resides in the Far Eastern Islands where she met a terrible foe created by the black box. There is someone she wants to save in Yae village, so Otto orders a few loyal priests to send her the Oath of Judah. he also writes her a personal letter, but then never sends it.

In the video "Honkai Chronicles - Otto Apocalypse" released by Mihoyo, it is said that in this letter he wanted to tell her about his feelings for her.

INGAME

After Kallan was able to reseal the demon from the box, she was found badly wounded by Schicksal Valkyrie and taken back to headquarters. There she is put back in prison. Meanwhile, the overseer has a conversation with Otto that will decide Kallen's future.

''"It's a golden opportunity." Said an old man's weary voice. "The aftermath of Schicksal's failed eastward conquest hasn't dissipated, yet the youngest Kaslana incurred a scandal. For thousands of years, The Three Houses have never been in such an awkward position. The League of Castile will not just let it slide." "Taking down House Kaslana is just the first step. The nobles are going to have a field day. Their purpose is to destroy the system where the Three Houses take power, which must not happen." The old man paused for a moment, casting a meaningful gaze at his youngest son. "Kallen Kaslana must die." Otto Apocalypse felt the whole world was spinning, though it was an answer he already knew. The girl whom he had always loved was sentenced to death. He went to any length to try to save her, and was rejected when reluctantly turning to his distanced father, which was his last resort. "Kallen Kaslana must die." Every word pounded his heart into deeper despair. He pondered over those words, unaware of what his father continued to say. "I'm old." Said Nikolas Apocalypse, the most powerful man in Europe. "And part of growing old is becoming senile. I can make horrible mistakes without realizing. The failure of the conquest should have been my wake-up call, but I didn't take a step back. Which gave the League of Castile too much leverage. I take full responsibility for the impeachment of the Three Houses." "After Kallen Kaslana's execution, I will retire, which would be what the League of Castile wants, but unexpected. Thus the question — who could succeed me as Schicksal Overseer?" "The perfect successor already died. My Ferdinand... if he was still alive, the failure of the conquest wouldn't have incurred such disastrous consequences. Fabian? My second son, tough on the outside, cowardly on the inside. He is more like a Kaslana. As for you, Otto..." Otto was awakened from contemplation the moment he heard his name. He looked up, and was surprised to see a rare fond look on his father's face. "You think I've been neglecting you because I dislike you? That is not true, my son. You are the most complicated one of all my children— You're smart like your mother Sabrina and astute like me, and you even have your grandfather Frank's malevolence. They say you are soft and weak, but I know you're not. You have proven your worth at the time of the plague." "But I'll be blunt — you are inadequate for the position of Schicksal Overseer." Otto remained silent. He remembered Nikolas once promised at a family conference to let him be the successor. But he waited patiently. "So I have decided," Nikolas Apocalypse confirmed, "to give my seat to Marseille, Ferdinand's eldest child." "That boy is only 16 years old, but is surprisingly sophisticated and relentless. Your mother and I will retire, as well as Fabian and Risa. It will make the League of Castile lower their guard and believe we've chosen to hand over power. And when they finally realize Marseille is not a puppet young prince but a ferocious tiger, there'll be nothing they can do." "Your mother and I both think this is the best solution. But an unforeseen incident occurred. This incident is the exact reason why you're standing here." Nikolas took a step forward. The stately, authoritative bearing of the Overseer froze the air in the hall. "Kaslana," his voice took an even more serious tone, "is now the greatest hidden peril to Schicksal, and the Three Houses. Times have changed— the House of Kaslana is no longer our faithful ally. If Francis were still alive, he would never let his precious little girl suffer like that, and the League of Castile would be more well-behaved. Sadly there is no if... Francis is dead. And the capable ones among his children have all been taken away by the plague and the conquest. "Luka, the present head of the House, is a useless sick dog compared to his elder brother. If left unattended, the House of Kaslana will become Schicksal's Achilles' Heel." (I see.) Otto Apocalypse finally understood— The truth was, he was not important, and neither was Kallen. The only thing that mattered was their betrothal, which could put Kaslana in the palm of Apocalypse. (Wily old fox...) The Overseer continued with an aggressive smile, "Otto, my boy... I'm offering you a reward that is priceless to you — Kallen Kaslana's life." "And what I want you to do in return is also what you've always longed for — marrying Kallen Kaslana. I don't care how you do it, but it must happen. And in exchange, I will manage to save Kallen, make you the head of the House, and deal with Luka for you. A fair deal." The strange thing was, after all those years, the dream of his life was finally about to come true — he could marry the girl whom he had always been pining for. But he didn't feel joy. Because he knew it was not what Kallen Kaslana wanted.''

And Otto was to be right, as it turns out later in the conversation with Kallen.

''"Just fulfill our betrothal, please... You know me. I won’t let you die." In the darkness, he could hear Kallen Kaslana’s breath, but she felt so distant at the same time. "Schicksal doesn’t care about you or me, or our relationship. If we get married, I’ll become a hostage held by the Overseer to control my family, am I right?" "...Yes." Otto didn’t lie to Kallen, because it was the truth. "But it doesn’t matter. This marriage is fake, and it can always stay fake, as long as it can keep you alive... which is what really matters. Kallen..." Kallen’s indifferent voice came from the other side of the bars. "But what’s the point of living, when l have to lie to myself and be comfortable being used as a pawn? It doesn’t sound more dignified than death itself." "..." He already knew her answer, and he could even anticipate her every word. But he could not accept it. Never! He had done so many things that she wouldn’t agree to, just for one of her childhood wishes, what’s one more? And this time it’d be for a more noble cause — to save her life! But he didn’t do anything. He clutched the icy steel bars, as if he was trying to crush them. "Tell the Overseer that Kallen rejected his request, and it was her own decision. She will never subscribe to what Schicksal has done, and she despises its unscrupulous rotting core underneath its shiny, magnificent shell. Kallen Kaslana would rather die. This is her defiance, though it’ll just be defiance..." Otto Apocalypse seemed to be paralyzed with despair. "I understand... Kallen. I really do..." A fierce yet soundless rainstorm fell in his heart. "But I can’t let you die. No matter what it takes — and I don’t care if you’ll agree to it — I will never let you die." The dark dungeon then fell into a long silence. All of a sudden, Kallen broke into a soft laugh in the darkness — "Thank you, my gifted inventor..." "!" The sound of heartbreak was unexpectedly quiet. He waited patiently. He thought she had more to say to him. Because he had so much to say to her. But the silence lasted even longer than the last one. Words seemed to have become meaningless between them. "Did you bring some wine? I feel like a glass. Just one." Crimson liquid trickled into the glass. Kallen gently swirled the wine, looking surprised: "Is this the bottle of wine I gave you?" "Yes." "Lovely." Kallen Kaslana drank the glass of wine in one gulp. She didn’t say a word, and the glass only contained mist, which soon cleared. "Maybe in another world..." Otto didn’t hear the rest. He already left.''

Kallen wrote a letter before she was sentenced, but it never reached him. In the box with the letter were Otto's invention, a pistol (apparently Kallen's weapon) and two roses. She wrote following:

''This is a farewell letter from Kallen Kaslana to Otto Apocalypse. "Thansk for your visit and the wine you brought me." "But sorry. I can´t accept the choice you offered me." "I tried, Otto, I tried many ways to turn thins around and bring justice back." "But Otto, we´re just too naive too weak..." "We wre played by the old men like chess pieces everthing we did failed to make even the slightest difference." "Otto, do you remember our first rogue action?" "We were so happy and content, as if we had the solution to all the problems in the world." "That was the most joyful time I´ve ever spend in my life" "But shortly after that, we hit a wall." "A wall build with bricks of desire and the adhesive of power. It erected rom hell and split the world." "Eventually we had to part our ways before the wall." "I left my world behind but I never found a new continent through which everything could be changed." "in the distant east, by the hands of twisted fate..." "Just like you, I did something terribly wrong." "You killed your own sister Eleanor, and I... I killed her." "Otto, I know you´ve always looked up to me as your hero." "But I´m just another flawed soul with shortsightness and confusion." "Iam not as great as you´ve imaged... I´m just a fool who refuses to act against my heart." "In your eyes, I´m stupd and stubborn, but even in the face of death, I can never betry my first motivation." "As long as my heart beats, my body and my mind cannot be turned into a chess piece deprived of emotions and feelings." "In some way, you can say I´m a selfish person." "Even though, I still ask you for forgiveness." "Since I´m hellbend on staying true to myself, there´s only one way before me." "I know this will break your heart." "But Otto, if the hero Kallen in your heart is still alive..." "She´d tell you why she´d rather die than become a pawn in the political game." "So... farewell, my gifted inventor." "Maybe in the end, I can indeed be a hero forever in your heart."''

On the day of the execution, the desperate Otto released honkai beasts to take Kallen with him in the chaos and flee with her. However, this resulted in Kallen attempting to protect the people who were being attacked by the Honkai beasts, losing her life in the process. Otto did not want to accept her death and decided to implement the "promised" and revive Kallen.

Otto is also the founder of "Otto Entertainment", a game company. He is the inventor of the Kallen Fantasy and HOMU series of games. Kallen Fantasy III, on the other hand, never came out and dealt with the following story:

''Cecilia: Eh, isn´t this Kallen Fantasy lll? This is an RPG with 3 Characters: Kallen the Valkyrie, her boyfriend Otto, and their pet HOMU. The aim is to defeat the Dark Fox of the East and ensure that Kallen marries Otto in the End.'' - Source: Babylons Prisoner Chapter Vi

Only the Valkyries use it for training. When Cecilia manages to surpass Otto's score and appear at the top of the hit list, he blocked her account. The "Dark Vixen" means Sakura. This was also confirmed when Mihoyo released a chronicle named Kallen Fantasy VII that doesn't have the same backstory, but features Sakura as the enemy. But there is also Kallen Fantasy Online which is only available on chinese servers and seems to replicate the original game. It is unclear to what extent putting Sakura into the game as an enemy now stems from Otto's jealousy.

SECOND ERRUPTION

Otto hopes to get the answer on how to bring a person back to life from the Herrscher of Death. This opportunity arises for him after 500 years, when an abnormality occurs in the Babylon laboratory, in the Babylon tower in Siberia, about which he is informed. When the Anti Antropia arrives in Babylon Tower, he already seems to suspect that Sirin would become a Herrscher. His plan is to make her fully awake, which is why he wants to get World Yang out of the way, when he nearly killed Sirin. In the course of the fight between Sirin and Schicksal, which cost countless lives, Otto manages to manipulate Sirin with the help of Fu Hua so that she can give him the answer to his question. However, Sirin fails in her revival as her mother has no soul. To clarify the answer "What is a soul", Sirin takes Otto to God. He asks him how he can revive Kallen. In response, he stabs himself.

In Chapter 17: Immortal Dreams, Siegfried Kaslana recalls the time he met Cecilia. When he was reunited with his lover, Kallen appears in Otto's ulterior motives, who believes in his good heart and thanks him for allowing the two to be together.

In Chapter 33: Obsession he said to Sirin when she wanted to retrieve the dead body of the fake Herrscher of Death and he eliminated the plasma hands with Shamash: "I am coming for you, Herrscher, no matter where you going. I am a little obsessed about my reunion with Kallen. No one shall get in the way of my obsession... Not even god. "

SECOND KEY

Otto's team is inspecting the Second Divine Key. There, Fire Moth member Su created a bubble universe, called the Seed of Sumeru, into which Durandal aka Bianka is now drawn. Realizing that he cannot defeat Bianka in battle, Su draws her into a bubble universe created from his memories. Realizing that he cannot defeat Bianka in battle, Su draws her into a bubble universe created from his memories. Bianka takes on the role of Su and Otto the role of Dr. Piers, Sus Doctor. During her time in the bubble universe, Otto assists in her efforts to find an antidote to the Honkai plague, which is transmitted by Honkai and forces the afflicted into eternal sleep. This plague was apparently triggered by a Herrscher who can create dream worlds. Otto is also torn into a dream world in which he sees his wife Kallen. The two of them sit outside at a table and drink some drinks. Otto, realizing he is in a dream world, asks his bodyguard Paul for his gun to shoot Kallen with. As a result, he wakes up bathed in sweat from what appears to be a nightmare, which wakes up Kallen, who is sleeping next to him, and their daughter (who looks like Theresa). To calm down, Otto goes into the kitchen with Kallen, where she pours him some milk. This time, too, he does not fall for the dream world and tells the fake Kallen that his wife and child died of Honkai disease because he could not find the cure in time. He only survived because Dr. Mei amputated his infected arm. The wrong Kallen tried to wrap him up and hugged him from behind. Otto then turned around and stabbed her stomach with a kitchen knife. When she asked why he didn't want to stay in her dream world, he replied that it would be treason to indulge in this false world. This allowed him to wake up again.

THUS SPOKE APOCALYPSE

"Thus spoke Apocalypse" is a video released by Mihoyo showing Otto's last move to "revive" Kallen. When he lost to the Valkyries of Schicksal, he was able to break free of imaginary control for a moment. He filled "The Wedge of the Earth" with the power of the false god to create infinite possibilities for Kallen. Along the way, he must face Honkai personifications of himself, which transform into a Honkai beast as the battle progresses. His last words again reflect his personality and the reason for his actions.

''When you truly want to change the world, you will discover how pitiable your own strength is. The Holy Maid gave her all to the people, and was repaid with merciless shackles und nooses. The world is at chaos. It´s neither fair nor sensible. It wrongs heroes and breeds scum. It is rife with ugliness without a trace of beauty. The malice of the world shal be sundered- by the villain.''

In the end, he can finally find his peace as his soul slowly dissolves into the universe. On the other hand, we are shown how Kallen survived the attack of the Honkai monster and how Otto finally managed to create a new timeline in which Kallen actually lives.

GUN GIRLS Z

Gun Girls Z also known as Houkai Gakuen 2, is the prequel to Honkai Impact 3rd. In the Reborn storyline, When Kallen goes back to Europe, she is depressed about Sakura's death but Otto manages to convince her to become his blade to start the Schicksal Civil War. In Era:Zero, a timeline before Retrospective, Kallen is shown with Otto and Theresa. It is implied that Otto and Kallen are together in this timeline. However, the DLC was later cancelled, never elaborating more on their relationship.

HONKAI STAR RAIL

Honkai Star Rail is a sequel to Honkai Impact and also seemingly covers a different timeline. A young man who looks a lot like Otto and calls himself Loucha travels the world. He carries a coffin with him. It is thought that Kallen is in the coffin due to the fact that in the Seven Swords Visual Novel, Otto carries Kallen in a coffin.

Quotes
"Hey, Master Inventor... Do you want to join me on a quest? Let's go save the world and make it a better place."

- Kallen

"My dear Kallen..."

- Otto

"The strange thing was, after all those years, the dream of his life was finally about to come true — he could marry the girl whom he had always been pining for. But he didn't feel joy. Because he knew it was not what Kallen Kaslana wanted."

"Otto… Do you still dream of making a flying machine?"

- Kallen

"I am coming for you, Herrscher, no matter where you going. I am a little obsessed about my reunion with Kallen. No one shall get in the way of my obsession... Not even god."

- Otto

"To save the one and only her, I can only create new possibilities in the past. The other future will belong to her…"

- Otto

Fanon
OttoKallen is popular mostly in the Eastern fandom. The ship is beloved for it following the childhood friends to lovers trope and having one of the most tragic stories. Otto's dedication to Kallen is also one of the major reasons it is shipped. The ship is mainly rivaled by SakuKallen and OttoWelt shippers.

The ship has a lot of discourse and criticism surrounding it due to many disliking Otto, since he is one of the main antagonist, and Kallen widely being percieved as a lesbian, and her canon relationship with Yae Sakura.

Many like to see it as a sibling dynamic or close friends who grew apart. Some also see it as Otto being a devotee to Kallen due to Kallen being shown as a symbol like Christ, and Otto as one of her fallen angel. This also comes from when Otto turned into a 'false god' during his final battle with Kiana Kaslana and Durandal.

It currently has 14 works on AO3.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * In the official description of “Elan Palatinus” is "Year of our Lord 1470, Schicksal rallied the princes of Europe and unleashed a Crusade to conquer the Far East, only to be defeated by an immortal warrior. Kallen Kaslana, a powerful Valkyrie warrior, must make a choice between love and her oath". Since Yae Sakura is mentioned only towards the end of the manga, the sentence "to make a choice between love and her oath" is about Otto.
 * In the box with the letter to Otto, Kallen Kaslana left two roses, which according to Chinese traditions are considered a sign of apology between lovers.
 * In “Thus Spoke Apocalypse” before little Otto and Kallen were shown sleeping by the tree, there were two bright stars, Altair and Vega. Old Chinese legend tells of the forbidden love story between the goddess Zhinü (symbolized by the star Vega) and the cowherd Niulang (symbolized by the star Altair).