So, my thought is that my mind control power affects less individuals of greater power, in a gradient fashion. For example, if Bastian told X person to jump...
The Overlord/Dark Gods/Beings of equivalent power: No effect whatsoever. His words might as well be any other person's.
Black Lieutenants/Uber Heroes: They would have the subconscious thought "Jump". A moment's urge, easily repressed.
Lesser villains/Strong Heroes: They would be filled with a sudden compulsion to jump. They could fight command, but only with great effort (It would certainly be distracting!).
Normal People: They would jump without even thinking. Some might be aware of the mind control, some might do in mindlessly as if sleepwalking, but either way they would jump.
@Pundii I imagine Ukdur will have a burning hatred for Bastian, something along the lines of "You were so weak you lost against a rebel mob, and then you ran away and hid like a coward while I rotted in chains".
Bastian Wenderuthweiler, Emperor and King of Kings
Bastian, after having butchered his mother and declared himself King.
Race: Human ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gifts Bastian has not achieved the rank of Black Lieutenant by being weak. In addition to his natural cunning, he has three great gifts, which he has taken full advantage of with ruthless efficiency.
Firstly, he is perhaps one of the finest swordsman this world has known, certainly among the greatest still alive. With a blade in one hand and a shield in the other, few can match him.
Secondly, in addition to the immunity to disease and aging granted to him by his dark lord, Bastian possesses an uncanny regenerative capability. He can survive wounds that would be considered fatal for most men, and given enough years, can even grow back fingers, or even limbs.
Finally, and greatest among all, he has the power to dominate the minds of others. Through the power granted to him by the dark things beyond the realms of men, his voice compels others to obey his commands. This ability does have limits, however: for it to work, the subject must hear him. Additionally, those blessed with unnatural fortitude, or magical protection, can resist his directives. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Flaws
Just as he has three strengths, so too does Bastian have two great weaknesses:
For all his cunning, he is consumed by his own pride and arrogance. He brooks no insult or provocation, and his view of others as inferior beings makes him prone to underestimate his enemies, much to his own misfortune. Often, he acts as if he were a petulant child, sacrificing logical goals to satisfy his own ego. His ambition also leads him to often overreach.
Furthermore, Bastian is in the end but a man, and bleeds like any other. Given a sufficiently severe wound- a blow to the heart, for example, or the removal of his head- he would die in short order. This, in contrast with the more invulnerable followers of the Overlord, sets him out as particularly vulnerable.
The great King of Kings was born to the Queen of Edrath, the youngest in a brood of innumerable princes. These were before the days of the Overlord, when good first reigned unchallenged. During his childhood, his kingdom suffered a great many wounds: eternally preyed upon by its neighbors, its castles picked off one by one, it was ravaged by the Dread Wind, a great plague which spread from kingdom to kingdom, killing untold thousands. Though he saw so many die of the horrible pestilence, including three of his siblings, he was remarkably unmoved. All that concerned him, that thought which nagged him day and night, was that he was so far in the line of succession as to have no hope at all of being crowned himself. Resentment grew in him, and he became such a pest for his family that he was eventually exiled from the kingdom entirely.
As he rode away from his home, disgraced and humiliated, he happened upon a cloaked traveler on the road. When asked to share his story, Bastian flew into a rage, and cursed his family, his kingdom, and finally, his gods. The traveler smiled, and offered a compact with the wayward prince. He offered power, power to take what was his by right... in exchange for his eternal soul.
"What are you, some agent of the Overlord?" Bastian asked hesitantly. Word had spread that a dark lord by that title had begun subjugating distant lands under his dark rule, and that the kingdoms were rallying to resist.
"There are powers greater yet, foolish boy," the traveler cackled. "This offer comes to you from dark gods without names, whose existence you cannot even comprehend... but the offer is earnest nonetheless."
When the rogue prince returned to his castle, he stormed the throne room flanked by legions of guards who had sworn utter loyalty to the crown, barging into a session of court completely without warning. He struck down his own mother, the Queen, and turned to the horrified lords, compelling their allegiance... and they obeyed.
Not long thereafter, he made a pact with the Overlord, submitting to his domination in exchange for immortality, and a place above all other men. For black centuries, he established himself as a tyrant, his rule only a pretense for his own satisfaction. He was also the first of the Black Lieutenants to fall, after a widespread rebellion erupted in his lands led by the blessed warrior Kadon. When Bastian met the rebels in battle, he was, humiliatingly, bested in a duel with Kadon, and chained like a common criminal.
It was only through cunning and luck that he escaped, gravely wounded. He had earned the ire of two dark masters then- the Dark Gods, who he had cheated through his achievement of immortality, and the Overlord, who did not forgive him his defeat. Thus, Bastian fled in the wilds, watching as his former master was overthrown, slowly but surely.
And hidden he remained, until that black voice echoed in his head once again...
"Oh, you think I'M a monster, do you? A 'psychopath', you say? Friend, let me tell you a little secret: I'm just one of among several. And believe me when I say that they are each crueler, depraved, and boorish than your humble host... Not that you have a choice in believing me, the way I phrased it, do you? Hm. I should be more careful with these kinds of sayings. But I digress."
"Oh, where to start... How about that brute, Ukdur 'Hellhammer'? Really, do you need to know anything more about him than his name? I mean, what kind of peace-loving monk is called Hellhammer? Of course he's an Orc, and of course he's a brute. The beast has no appreciation for the finer things in life, besides killings things. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like snuffing the life of an enemy as much as the next man, but what he does is just butchery for the sake of butchery. A walking animal... That's just it, really. You might as well ask me what I think of my hunting dogs."
"But the others! There's Serikul, that vixen of a spider queen. Quite the freak show. Still, there is a certain beauty to her, I'll give her that. I wonder if we're even anatomically compatible? She never did answer me when I asked her that, aside from melting a few of my servants... Don't give me that look, like you weren't thinking the same thing! Honestly, people are such prudes, 'You can't do that, that's depraved', as if I care what their norms are. Anyway, she always gives me a look of pure venom- probably just a metaphor, but I can't be sure she wasn't actually shooting venom at me- whenever she sees me, the kind of glare that could (and has!) kill a man. I know that deep down she’s madly passionate about me, though. Not that I can blame her."
“And then there’s Uaziezuhr. A priest, if you can believe it! Well, sort of. When you’re a priest to the Dark Gods, you’re somewhat more active than a monk. Don’t even get me started on his choice of profession. I made a deal with those gods myself, and let me tell you, that’s not a bunch I would want to work with on a regular basis. Too much blood, death, and insanity, not enough sex and revelry. But aside from his queer worship, I find the man quite pleasant to be around. His powers are certainly quite the show, and unlike the other thugs I call peers, he isn’t some unlettered peasant. He’s of royal blood, same as me, and it shows. My verdict? I’d dine with the man, but when it comes time to give thanks to the gods for the meal, I would slip away with due expedience.”
"Skraal is also worth a mention, I suppose. A freakish lizardman. Not much to him, really; his single most distinguishable feature- aside from being a goddamn walking lizard!- is that he's old. I mean, I'm old too, but this guy... thing... whatever, he saw the primal jungles of the world when it was first born. No secret there, he can barely shut up about it. He struts around with a wiser-than-thou attitude than makes me want to wear his skin like a cloak. Still, as long as he keeps his jaw firmly locked, he's tolerable enough, I suppose."
"Next would be Phastum, the Lich. A great spellcaster, to be sure. He can raise armies of dead, inspire terror in foes... but without a doubt his most formidable power is his ability to cure insomnia. Death, decay, the world of the living will fall, blah blah blah, it's all so tearfully dull. Our oh-so-mighty master doesn't keep him around for pleasant company, that's for sure. And that's when he does deign to recognize your existence- I swear, that floating corpse is even more arrogant than me."
"Calemvir. A dragon. He's actually quite fun to be around. Oh, sure, the beast's full of itself, but I'm hardly the one to criticize that, am I? The thing is, Calemvir might be the only one of us (besides yours truly) who respects the value of gold. Seriously, all the others, if they found a beautifully crafted gold-silver icon, they'd just snort and toss it into the nearest river, the savages. But Calemvir, ah, he's a true purveyor of all things shiny, and I can respect that. He's also the only other Lieutenant who truly appreciates the joy of ruling others, keeping them crushed beneath your iron heel. So, yes, he IS an overgrown lizard, but an overgrown lizard I'm quite fond of."
Nightwing95
