Bay 12 Games Forum

"E-eh?"
"W-what do you mean b-by "pyrotechnics display", huh?"

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"Uh, what are you even talking about? You've been staring at me since this morning and I don't even know why."

"I'm a goddess. Goddesses don't need to be patient!"
"But....if that's the gate....then I suppose I'll allow myself to deal with this indignity a little longer."

---

A tall, imposing figure in armor, his distinctive helmet topped with protrusions resembling a bat's ears, gazes out over the darkened, craggy terrain of Ultima, the umber spires of the Ultima Fortress looming behind him, red banners bearing the Demon Lord's symbol, two hands outstretched below the chin of a beagle, flapping in the harsh winds of the island along with his black cape. He groans.
"....the others. The others still aren't here. This is ridiculous."
A clanking noise, the noise of a large figure walking in armor, can be heard behind him. The smaller man in armor sighs, turning to face the newcomer, peering up at their imposing form, a horned helmet peering down at him with beady, red eyes. The newcomer must have been at least twice their height, a gigantic hulk in metal, but both figures exuded a different sort of air; the smaller figure was dead serious, with a genuine threat to him, whereas the larger figure was far more lax, possessing the bearing of a particularly lazy cat rather than the Demon General they truly were. Especially with the human-sized crystal tablet within their hands, two of their fingers easily covering the whole thing.
"General Belphegor."
"General Mammon."
".....you're late, Belphegor. And showing up like this....we've spoken about this multiple times."
"I'm here, aren't I? I should have a medal."
"Not the point-"
The discussion between the two armored figures was suddenly cut off by them being joined by three more figures, a sleek, black-haired woman in a slick, jet-black, revealing dress, a broad-chested, exuberant blonde man in armor, and a serious-looking, red-headed man, stalking behind the newcomers.
"Well, hellooooo ladies. Looks like you're getting the party started without me, huh?"
"Shut up, Lucifer. You've been showboating since we left Midgardia. We could have done without you flirting with that succubus."
"Aww, poor grumpy bear. Maybe if you lightened up a little and quit doing your best impression of a constipated grandfather, maybe you might be a little fun to be around?"
"I am General Satan of the Demon Lord's forces and I will not be insulted-"   
"Oh, would you two give it a rest? Seriously, I don't know how you two put up with each other if you're at each other's throats so much."
"I don't envy you at all, Asmodeus. Honestly, how you put up with those two-"
Mammon smashed his fist on the parapet, garnering the attention of the entire group, the balcony falling to silence as he drew himself to his full height.
"Enough. This incompetence is the reason we have spent so long in a deadlock against the Ten Kingdoms! Behave yourselves; I expect more out of those who call themselves generals of the Demon Lord, especially considering the subject of this meeting."
"Whatever you say, dad. You dragged our butts all the way from Midgardia just to talk?"
"Petulant child-!"
"Mammon, my dear. Please, calm down."
Mammon, as well as the rest of the assembled Demon Generals, looked towards the entrance into the castle to see a pale-skinned, black-haired woman in a simple dress with golden trim. A gentle half-smile floated on her lips, aimed at only one person in particular. Mammon seemed to shrink, his eyes staring at the woman who was approaching.
"Leviathan....my darling. I.....sorry."
"Nothing to apologise for, my dear."
"I can never stop those shivers up my spine when I see that woman....her and Mammon, a match made in heaven."
"That's because you've never seen a man really in love with this wife. The only kind of girl who'd marry you has more looks than brains."
"T-that's rich, coming from you!"

"Ladies and gentlemen. If you will?"

The Generals all gazed towards the reason they had all been assembled.

A man in dark, refined clothing strolled forwards, eyes concealed by a half-mask, half-black, half-white, carefully groomed platinum-blonde hair poking out over the top. He adjusts his collar gently. The Generals, even Mammon and Leviathan, knelt, hand on heart; save for Belphegor, with one hand still playing on the crystal tablet they had brought in.
"Lord Mephistopheles. I apologise for the indiscretions of my comrades-"
"No need to apologise, sir Mammon. We are all friends here. All of you, stand up. I've drafted up the plans, in accordance with Mammon and Leviathan's recommendations."

The entire group stood up, listening intently. Lucifer rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath.
_{"Of course Mammon drew up the plans. Someone's always got to be the favorite."}
Mephistopheles breathed in deeply, preparing to go through his plan.
"This plan may well tip the balance in our favor at long last, ladies and gentlemen....wait a moment. Where is General Beelzebub?"
"The fat bastard's still in Blobbonia, presumably."
".....that's fine. Plans can always be changed. I will get in contact with him personally. In any case....this plan may change the very balance of our eternal war on the Ten Kingdoms."
"For years, our approach has always been to remain in the shadows, to conduct the war from behind the safety of the Great Barrier. However, all of us have talents that may well be of use to the war effort. Lucifer, you're good with people. Satan, you're a keen fighter, ruthless. Asmodeus, your charms and connections with the succubi and the dream brothels are invaluable. Belphegor, you've got the monetary links. Beelzebub....well, Beelzebub has their....unique talents. Leviathan, you have some leverage in Kaisei, and Mammon, you're our best tactician. It's time to use those talents outside of Ultima. Essentially, your missions are either to destabilise the kingdom's governments or prevent adventurers from continuing to pass through.

Belphegor, you will go to Begnin. I'm sure the test sites there have plenty of underpaid employees; you sort that out. Lucifer, you handle Bastapa; your personality is uniquely suited to cosying up to the madmen who run amok there, and we just need one egotistical maniac to throw their voting system into chaos. Satan, we need you in Wybernia; the wyvern corps of the kingdom are relatively tough, but I'm sure you can find a way to deal with them. Asmodeus, you're going to Midgardia, which is essentially home territory for you, given your line of expertise. Beelzebub will stay in Blobbonia, and I will deliver his mission to him personally. Leviathan will handle Kaisei, use her contacts there, and Mammon will attempt to collapse the defense line in Penultia, to give us a foothold on the mainland.

If all goes well.....the kingdoms will collapse within a matter of weeks, if not months. Meanwhile, I will stay here, doing the will of our greater hellish master, preparing our vanguard to break the weakened line of defenses at Penultia and we will regroup there. Any questions?"
"Ah, yeah. That's it? No bigger plan, no coordination? Leading from the front's pretty dangerous for a general. You know that kinda thing's just in books, right?"
"I'm trusting you to use your judgement, sir Lucifer. You all have armies of your own; stay out of the spotlight, use your men to protect yourselves and try not to get in trouble. This is an incredibly risky venture, I understand, but...."
"The tide has stayed too long in favor of the Kingdoms. We must change our tack or else we risk an eternal stalemate from which we cannot break. You have your orders. We ride out in the morning."
".....if that is all, I'd like to call an end to the meeting to....get this down in writing. Our greater master will need to be informed...in their own way, of course.

Well, off you all go, then. You have kingdoms to topple. In the name of the Demon Lord, be underway."

It's time to pick Affinities, ladies and gentlemen.

Prologue:
Jarvis:

6, 5

Dark or Thunder?

Keith:

5,4

Dark or Light?

Asuna:

9, 3

Heaven or Anima?

Keilee:

7, 8

Ice or Water?

Vlad:

3, 4

Anima or Light?

Chapter 1:
Shoes:

4, 9

Light or Heaven?

Gnome Jenkins:

8, 10

Water or Earth?

42-1:

7, 3

Ice or Anima?

Yliss:

7, 6

Ice or Thunder?

Marcia:

4, 1

Light or Fire?

Chapter 2:
Selene:

9,5

Heaven or Dark?

Lilian:

1, 6

Fire or Thunder?

Approving the Keyleth/Theo support.

Okay, ladies and gents. The final decisions have been made. Without further ado:

Prologue:
1. Asuna (Powder Miner)
2. Keith (SeriousConcentrate)
3. Keilee (kj1225)
4. Vlad (Taricus)
5. Jarvis (Praefectus Screptum)

First Chapter:
6. Gnome Jenkins (BMM42)
7. 42-1 (Sirus)
8. Yliss (SirAston)
9. Marcia (Empiricist)
10. Shoes (KingMurdoc)

Second Chapter (opened because it was too difficult to make final decisions):
11. Lillian (Raindrop Valkyrie)
12. Selene (Twinwolf)

The game will begin on May the 11th, next Saturday. Thank you all for applying, even if you didn't get in; I genuinely had a blast just looking through and reading most of your submissions.

Alright, ladies and gents, it's time for the second audit of the sheets. I'll give you brief feedback here to tell you if your sheet's good to go or not and will primarily be focusing on PSes and backstories. If you want to follow up, please PM me here or on Discord. I won't be looking at sheets that I've already approved unless they've undergone massive changes since the last audit or I've been specifically requested to look at the sheets in question again. I will also review sheets unless explicitly told that the poster in question has retracted interest in the game.

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As mentioned before, you're good after having fixed your stuff. Nothing too glaring.

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Still as barebones as before.

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No changes made, so this is also very barebones. Please fix this; there is almost nothing to work on here either for you or prospective support partners.

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The pointers for changes have still not been taken into consideration. Please reread the first audit's pointers or contact me if you need help changing it, or contact any of the other players for some help if you do not feel comfortable asking myself directly.

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Bio's good. You get points for going with an interesting personality for a vampire in the setting. This should be funny, considering the level of incompetents poor Dacian's got to deal with.

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Same as above.

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Still gotta see some backstory here, man. Even a little bit. I know the general gist, but it'd be nice to have something real concrete to play around with.

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You're sorted now.

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See the first audit.

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You've done an admirable job of changing Ted to be less blatantly a meme and played with the Revivian archetype pretty nicely. You're good to go.

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See the first audit.

This will be the last time I will be giving pointers on what improvements need to be made specifically before the final selection on Saturday, May 4. As I said before, if you want more detailed feedback, please PM me here or on Discord.