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[Dexexe1234]

-~-To the OOC Thread-~-

The dreaded Fortress of Shorladiir is flying through the void, destinied for the world of Desari. These dark, powerful towers have recently gained new owners, the four new Lords of Hatred. They are now resting on their laurels in the only tower still standing after their violent takeover. Clearing this place of monsters was a hard ordeal, but they made it happen.

One has to wonder why a Chaos Magi, a Toxic Industrialist, a Judgement Elemental and a Demon Temptress have teamed up to accomplish anything, instead of fighting each other for the powers they all held. Well, it started with the Fortress of Shorladiir.



The four of them individually quested for the towers, having heard of them from various sources. Each came from a different direction in the universe, but all of them met before the towers, drawn to each other as they were the only living things in the blackened ash wasteland the towers rested in. At least, thats what they thought before the monsters poured out of the fortress. Quickly they decided to set aside their differences and take on the monsters together.



Their partnership was written in the blood of their enemies, and they claimed the towers together. As they entered the final standing tower to claim the reward, they came to the throne room, where the Chains of Shorladiir keeps the towers' secrets. They claimed their reward by sealing a contract with the chains, making them the new Lords of Hatred. Soon afterwards, the towers understood why they came to claim it, and launched itself from the world, into the dark blue void.

Now as it travels, The chains had written something across them in a pure white flame:

"We must have a High Lord, to rule as singular leader."

The Lords looked at each other with doubt. It seemed that to have the full control of the towers and their magnificent powers, one of them needed to rule as high lord or lady.

They settled around the table they had pilfered some rooms from the throne room. Let the discussion begin!

Spoiler: Starting the RP instructions (click to show/hide)

You might ask yourself "wait, what?" But yeah! You guys have to discuss who gets to be High Lord! This doesn't mean that you have less control over the Fortress, it just means the one who gets to own the main tower! It is also a great chance to roleplay your character, letting us get to know you through action! GIT TA ROLEPLAYIN'

[SeriousConcentrate]

Isis reclined back in her chair, placing the heel of her left foot on the table delicately and crossing her right leg over in a very lady-like manner. "Well, the choice is obvious, is it not? Shouldn't the face of our union be a face that can launch a thousand ships? Let's be honest, dears; I'm the only one possibly qualified for this role. Mage Hellbinder is far too chaotic to provide stable leadership, and no offense to you, our scientifically-inclined friend, but I don't think a bunch of bandages would make a good recruitment poster."

She slid her eyes over to Orcas. "And you wouldn't care for such an office yourself, would you, dear? No no no no no, no. You would much rather be the head of the armies we will amass, I am quite sure. Really, we're all so perfectly suited for a role and the office of High Lord is mine. Under me, Seerus would have all the test subjects he likes, to create his concoctions and gadgets to further our cause; Derm would get first pickings of all the magical trinkets we amass, to grow his power and strengthen the rest of us by proxy; and you, Orcas, would be our general, planning wars against those dreadful sinners we both prey upon, bringing the full might of our weapons and armies to smite them."

Isis shivered delightfully, thinking of all the pretty fires they would make razing the land, and all the treasures they would gather back to these towers. Gold and jewels of every kind, the most exquisitely designed clothes of the rarest materials, the legions of slaves to wait on her hand and foot, do her bidding at the slightest command. Kings and queens alike would bow before her throne and kiss her boots to show their allegiance... and maybe she'd even spare them 1% of their kingdoms for it. Her wings unfolded slightly, trembling. "Unless... one of you think you would be better suited for such a position?"

[Burkhart]

A cackling laugh chased hot on the heels of the words of the succubus. The ownwer of the laugh, taking a congratulatory whiff from one of his chemical vials, was the burned chemist. His one good eye fixated on the demon almost mockingly.

"I'm quite certain we're not using charm to attract minions."

He hacked and coughed, then spit onto the stone, which promptly started to hiss softly and slightly melt.

"Agh. Sorry. Had a piece of sand in my throat from earlier. Anyway, even if we were, there's no reason why your lingerie-modeling skills qualify you for a leadership role. If I were made leader, I'd basically let all of you do whatever the hell you want, as long as we stay out of each-other's way and work together when the time calls for it. I'd only use my role to settle any disputes that will arise, and believe me, they will. As for my qualifications, I run a very, VERY profitable corporation to fund my work, and I believe someone like you may even be using my products right now. Hehehehe. In any case, management and leadership are second nature to me. Besides, that massive tower has so many rooms and so many potential laboratories.... To think of all the surgery I could perform there... Kehahaha..."

He glanced around the room to each of his recent associates. That Chaos Sorcerer's arm moves in such a curious way, Seerus thought to himself. And is that other one a giant tumor?

"Excuse me... you, yes you. May I please dissect your arm?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Isis quirked an eyebrow and immediately pounced on the attempt to discredit Seerus for her own gain. "Do you really want him in charge, Derm? To give him the authority to make that an order and not a request?" She shifted in her seat, switching the order her legs were crossed in. "Concerning space issues, any tower should prove quite enough for one's labs and experiments and so on." She leaned her cheek on her hand, resting her elbow on the armrest.

"And finally, as for how we'll recruit on minions... please tell me you're not going to trot out the old Machiavellian standard, 'it's better to be feared than loved', are you? Because I can tell you that to be desired is far, far better than being feared. A scared thief will put his knife in your back the second he has an opportunity... but the thief who wants you, ah, he'll do whatever you say, whenever you say it. You just have to... coax him along."

She grinned lazily. "And personally, I feel it is better to start from the top than the bottom. You'll more likely recruit royalty to your cause with a bit of charm, where all you'll get with fear is the bottom of the barrel ruffians barely fit to be galley slaves. Or to be flayed upon your tables for that matter, Seerus."

[Burkhart]

His cackle escalated to a full-blown hysterical laugh.

"Who said anything about RECRUITMENT? I can BUILD better soldiers than any that you can find just laying around. One of my favorite monsters had the strength of eight men... actually, now that I think about it, I think it WAS eight men at one point... Eh, it was an early creation."

Seerus shook his head, to bat away the slight daydream and return to the subject.

"In any case, when I have minions, I prefer that they follow me because they simply do not have a choice in the matter, rather than rely on such piddling things as "emotions." Plus, another benefit of using an army of corpses is that you gain recruits from every victory, and even some losses. They're so recyclable! GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

[Dermonster]

Derm watched this back and forth, amused.

: I exploded the last king I saw. Does that count for anything? Succession rights, perhaps?

His grin grew beyond what one might find possible on a regular face.

: "Would I not make an excellent leader? I plan things nobody would dare plan, and they work! I am the unexpected edge of the battlefield! If anyone disobeys me they get a snake to the face. Possibly a snake thats made of broken glass. Or has fifty jaws. Can never tell with summo- Chaos magic." Derm corrects himself midword.

He rubs his face with a tentacle in a faux thoughtful manner. "Of course I would actually have to make plans and wheres the fun in that? I ruin plans! Right, that's settled. I don't give a shit who's high lord and I'm going to mostly ignore you anyway."

With that, he folded his arms and turned to his compatriot.

: "Oh, and Seerus? If you want an arm to dissect so badly, I could surely give you one. Just hold still for a minuite. I will say, I do want to see how one preforms a self autopsy."

[freeformschooler]

Orcas walked up in front of the others, casting a hard glance at Isis.

Isis reclined back in her chair, placing the heel of her left foot on the table delicately and crossing her right leg over in a very lady-like manner. "Well, the choice is obvious, is it not? Shouldn't the face of our union be a face that can launch a thousand ships? Let's be honest, dears; I'm the only one possibly qualified for this role. Mage Hellbinder is far too chaotic to provide stable leadership, and no offense to you, our scientifically-inclined friend, but I don't think a bunch of bandages would make a good recruitment poster."

: "STOP. No need for bicker and bribe."

Orcas surveyed the throne, carefully considering the title of "high lord." Were they not on this planet to rule, cause fear and extract resources? That was the goal of a Dark Lord, after all. He dropped his faded gauntlet from his helmet and let it hang beside him once again.

: "Isis makes a point. The face of our new organization should instill fear. It should be a charismatic, powerful, unhinged face. And, above all, a memorable face."

Orcas raised his blade quickly and pointed it toward Seerus.

His cackle escalated to a full-blown hysterical laugh.

"Who said anything about RECRUITMENT? I can BUILD better soldiers than any that you can find just laying around. One of my favorite monsters had the strength of eight men... actually, now that I think about it, I think it WAS eight men at one point... Eh, it was an early creation."

: "You may do that, in fact,  without such a grand position. Your skills are valuable without a new title, and just looking at you... it does not instill fear in my soul."

Orcas next pointed at Derm.

: I exploded the last king I saw. Does that count for anything? Succession rights, perhaps?

: "You and I will fight together on the field of battle. If you were not so unhinged and chaotic, I would nominate you for the position. However, I believe 'tactics' are not to your liking."

Orcas then finally pointed back toward Isis. He lowered himself to one knee, his cape curling around his armor.

: "I nominate her. A demonic queen for our land, planning the next flame we will set. Her pure evil grin will be the face of the four Dark Lords, and I will be her general."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Isis returned his bow with one of her own.

"Thank you for your support, dear Orcas. I believe that settles the matter quite nicely, does it not? Seerus is voting for himself, Derm is abstaining, and you and I both believe I should lead... which does appear to give me the majority."

She stood and dusted off her skirt, her wings fluttering slightly with restrained happiness, clearly thrilled to have the title of 'High Lady' of the Lords of Hatred. And it's so uncommon, too. All too often you hear about the Dark Lord of this keep or that country... So rarely is it a Dark Lady, and I think any so-called 'heroes' who come for me will be quite thrown off at finding a woman on this throne, she thought as she approached the throne, perhaps putting a little more swagger in her step than she normally did.

Oh, and what heroes they may send! Master swordsmen, devout clerics, the cleverest of thieves, scholars of such wisdom and learning that they might even match Hellbinder spell for spell... And one by one they'll become my playthings, to use as I will and to be given to my allies, to be sent back from where they came as our champions, for the glory of the Lords of Hatred... she thought as she stopped before the seat. She took a moment to kneel and gaze upon it before looking up to the chains.

"O Chains of Shorladiir, the decision has been made. It is I who will sit upon this throne and lead us into a new dark age of agony and despair for our mortal subjects. So it shall be."

Isis felt that that was enough ceremony and stood, turned, and made herself quite comfortable on the throne, reclining against one of the armrests and throwing a leg lazily over the other one to dangle.

"Strangely... this feels good, feels like home to me."

[Burkhart]

: "Oh, and Seerus? If you want an arm to dissect so badly, I could surely give you one. Just hold still for a minuite. I will say, I do want to see how one preforms a self autopsy."

"Self autopsy? Pffft. I've done that. Multiple times, now. If you want I could show you the modifications I made to my kidneys... Oh. Wait... Was that supposed to be a threat? GAHAHAHA. I like you. You're fun."

The bandaged man's grin grew wider as he looked across the table at the demoness and the suit of armor that addressed him.

"The problem is, demon woman, that you do not see our positions as being equal. We are the FOUR lords of hatred. Not the Lord of Hatred and his or her generals. As I said before, I believe that we will do best if we are all allowed to do as we please with no interference from one another. I have neither the time, nor the patience to be ordering you all around constantly, and I really don't think that any of us would follow orders all that much, anyway. That's why what I proposed was to take the role of being the dealbreaker among us, rather than being your ruler. Each of us have conflicting personalities, and hate to take orders from anyone but ourselves, so that's what I believe each of us should do. As I believe I said before, I would only use the power of position to settle any disputes you cannot settle on your own, or to prevent us from going to war with each other. Each of us would get our own territory, and each of us rules that territory as we see fit."

Seerus cracked his neck loudly, and his head sat at an odd angle until he forced it back with a loud pop.

"Don't hold too high of an opinion of yourself, demoness. When I look at you, I see someone whose narcissism cannot allow them to see others in that same standing that she views herself. You only wish to have the role to feed your ego, while others among us are more qualified."

The yellow eye of Seerus darted to fix on Orcas.

"As for you, Orcas, I believe you said your name was? I believe even you would make a better leader than our demonic compatriot. Surely you know what happens to armies when their leader holds too high of an opinion of themselves? Underestimating the competition is a VERY fatal flaw... As for my appearance, my leadership comes from neither charm nor fear. It comes from, as you yourself said to the chaos wizard, "tactics." You'd be surprised how many minions you can get when you offer them guaranteed victory."

A sly grin crept across Seerus's face as he looked at his three new allies.

"In any case, I believe the position should be given to someone who sees the four of us as equals, rather than underlings. That means not you, Isis."

[Dermonster]

: So was that a yes to the arm or...?

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I am well aware we are the four Lords of Hatred. And my... impressions of what role you three are best suited for has little to do with equality. Or will you speak falsely and tell me that, whether it is I or Orcas or Derm or you leading, you wouldn't spend all your time in your labs with your creations and your experiments? That is why I feel you would not make a good leader. I am sure all four of us would prefer as little interference in our individual plans as possible, but someone has to guide us as a group. Your argument is that you will only come out of your lair when one of us has a disagreement with another. That is not leadership. It is laziness."

She let her dangling leg sway lazily.

"And don't speak to me of treating us as equals when clearly you look down upon me. You, too, believe yourself to be the best of the four of us. The only person I trust to speak objectively is Orcas, as he is a spirit of Judgement and so states his opinion after considering everything - even beyond his own personal desires. You are correct in that I think very highly of myself. How could I not?"

She gestured at herself as if that would prove her point.

"But I can promise that I will lead us, not hide away and avoid responsibility. I'll not make any major decisions without consulting the other Lords first, but someone has to watch over our base, make general plans, and plot our next move. I can and will do this. Can you promise you'll look any further than the tip of your scalpel?"

[freeformschooler]

"As for you, Orcas, I believe you said your name was? I believe even you would make a better leader than our demonic compatriot. Surely you know what happens to armies when their leader holds too high of an opinion of themselves? Underestimating the competition is a VERY fatal flaw... As for my appearance, my leadership comes from neither charm nor fear. It comes from, as you yourself said to the chaos wizard, "tactics." You'd be surprised how many minions you can get when you offer them guaranteed victory."

: "Mmm."

Orcas surveyed his compatriots. It looked like Isis was ready to take the throne for herself. If what Seerus could See in her was true, would she abandon the spirit of the group for the sake of her ego? Perhaps a more in-depth test is needed.

: "I have an alternate solution."

Orcas gripped his broadsword firmly and scraped it across the throne room's floor. A SKREEEEEEEECH could be heard with every stroke of his enormous carving tool. Momentarily, he stood back and let everyone view the drawing.

"But I can promise that I will lead us, not hide away and avoid responsibility. I'll not make any major decisions without consulting the other Lords first, but someone has to watch over our base, make general plans, and plot our next move. I can and will do this. Can you promise you'll look any further than the tip of your scalpel?"

: "As it stands, we are merely making brief judgements based on our first impessions. We know nothing of each others' leadership and tactical skills. Let me propose a scenario for you and Seerus."

Orcas pointed the two of them to the detailed carving.

: "This is Artimeus Srum, the leader of the most feared military force in the galaxy, the Artisan Armada. One month from now, after we have built up what we consider "sufficient" forces - OF YOUR CHOOSING - Artimeus and an enormous amount of Srus surprise us by descending upon this peaceful world, intending to take the resources we set out to claim. I must ask: as the High Lord of us four, how would you, Isis and Seerus, combat this threat offensively and defensively?"

[Dermonster]

: "I throw the moon at 'im!"

Derm pauses. "Do we have a moon here?" he asks, uncertainly.

An idea occures. He grins. "Okay, wait, wait, got it. New plan, I'll make a giant moon out of corpses. And dirt here and there to fill some cracks. Then, I'll infuse some summoning magi- fuuuck my life, chaos magic into it, and then have a giant eldritch death moon eat his face."

This was the best idea ever.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Isis considered the scenario.

"If I have played my role correctly and had a chance to contact him before the battle, he wouldn't be attacking us in the first place. But assuming he did, then my forces would consist of an army of thralls - most likely trained by either you or the most skilled warriors I have recruited - the creations of Seerus, and whatever monsters Derm had summoned."

"First I would - assuming we have transports of our own to reach his Armada - send the creations and the monsters in to board one of his ships, with Seerus along to oversee them. They would take over the ship and use it to attack the flagship of the Armada. At the same time, I would ask you and Derm to come with me and the thralls to board the flagship and assault Artimeus directly once Seerus has caused a diversion. If all goes to plan, we can subdue Artimeus quickly and I can convert him - and therefore his entire fleet - to our cause."

She pushed her hair back.

"As for defenses, by that time 'sufficient' forces would hopefully include some form of planetary defense, and I would leave the rest of the thralls to man it - after making sure, of course, that they are trained in how to operate it and that they are aware of what ships we'll be in and thus avoid shooting at them."

[Burkhart]

: "I throw the moon at 'im!"

Derm pauses. "Do we have a moon here?" he asks, uncertainly.

An idea occures. He grins. "Okay, wait, wait, got it. New plan, I'll make a giant moon out of corpses. And dirt here and there to fill some cracks. Then, I'll infuse some summoning magi- fuuuck my life, chaos magic into it, and then have a giant eldritch death moon eat his face."

Seerus quietly stared at Derm. After a short pause, he spoke.

"...Iiiiinteresting... Ok, if you can indeed do that, I would love to watch and take notes, but that has nothing to do with the current question."

Shifting his gaze to the accurate, if crude drawing on the floor, Seerus sneered.

"As for the Betrayer of Daros, I'm certain that you know what you ask, Orcas, so I will give you a quite blunt answer. The situation you have described is unwinnable. If Artimeus has seen fit to already mobilize his military forces, that means that we have already failed and his forces had already infiltrated us long, long ago. If we were to attempt to raise an army against him, it would turn out that half our army would be infected by his wonderfully complex crystals, and the army would turn on itself as soon as it was mobilized, leaving the Armada to mop up any survivors, infected or not. I would see to it that he never sees this place as worth the trouble of taking over in the first place. Perhaps we could conveniently lure a group of do-gooders capable of fighting the Armada into the path between the two of us... In any case, we would want to avoid an invasion in the first place. We may be powerful, but none of us have the strength of multiple gods, and that's what it would take to drive off the Armada, let alone slay it. Artimeus cannot be subdued or recruited, only driven away or destroyed, and his resources far exceed our own."