Headcount, Headhunt [OPEN TO SF]

Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:58 pm

IOTA ASTHAVON

Iota was asleep, face down on the large table in the meeting room. However, she was allowed to sleep because she was the first to show up.

Alright, cool, but why was she here? Despite Mana using the group poorly leading to the loss of the war and a great amount of territory, despite the fact that Algos was probably one of the biggest liabilities for the entire race, despite the fact that Algos had promised herself to be the so-called savior of the demons, Shadowfall still existed, and they had to keep existing if the race was to strive. As far as public perception went, the demons were the bad guys. Hell, Iota hates demons, they are the bad guys. But still, they are a people and people need a leader, they need something to look up to. Seein as how the Queen was generally known to be a physical embodiment of chaos and madness, it is legitimately a fucking miracle that they have survived as long as they did as far as Iota was concerned. Perhaps she was reveling in the chaos somewhere while the rest of them ran around like demons with their heads cut off. In the panic, however, Iota was able to slip in and land herself a pretty position with shit loads of influence and was obliged to do almost nothing. Pfft, she was in charge of the torture of prisoners, though there are no prisoners because there's basically nobody enforcing laws or rules. It's not to say that crime was rampant everywhere, but when the police force is boiled down to a handful of people it simply becomes a matter of when.

So with her newfound position, Iota called a meeting. All hands on deck, optional. Though it was "optional", there was a likely chance that those who didn't show up were going get axed. She specifically made a note to not invite the Queen and the number one problem child, though if they showed up then whatever. The subject was left open, but Iota already had a plan in the works. They were going to need reform to stay strong so that once she overthrows them there'll still be some structure for her to take over. There was no point in trying to kill Mana now if it was just going to leave her with a shitty realm full of shitty people that didn't know how to conduct themselves or distinguish their right from their left. Thus, her plans for realm-wide domination were put on hold until shit was stabilized.

Fast forward to now, where there were roughly 5 minutes before the meeting was planned. If people showed up, she wouldn't have known, as stated previously, she's been asleep for the past 20 minutes. It was asking a lot of her to expect demons to be punctual, but there's always a few good apples in the batch of millions of bad ones.

END POST | THE STRONGEST AVANT

Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:43 am

Headcount, Headhunt [OPEN TO SF] 6EdIfMt

ENTER THE MEGALOMANIAC

Artist: My Hero Academia - Song: Overhaul

Oh, right, Shadow Fall was a thing.

...oh, right, he was a member, too.

'God...fucking damn it.'

The first ten minutes were mostly spent contemplating if he should even attend. He hardly did anything for Shadow Fall and hardly cared about it anymore -- not that he cared too much about the fate of the organization overall. All he had ever been was just some random Knight in Shadow Fall's ranks, never anyone of note, aside from just being "that one human" for a few years. He didn't really have a reputation in the place, so it wasn't like anyone would care if he jumped ship.

But, maybe the last thing he'd do for the failing shithole could be positive...for once. Leaving with grace and dignity and all that typical crap. Groaning as got himself dressed and ready for the occasion, changing into his Shifter Form and styling his formerly snowy hair, sliding on his cap, jacket, gloves, and the rest of his gloves and belongings he carried, he waved a hand to create a cobalt vortex that would put him right outside the meeting room.

With hardly as much as a sound, Vanyel opened the door, letting it shut behind him as he made his way to one of the chairs, pulling it out and sitting down, propping his arm up on the table and resting his cheek and head against his palm as he waited for not only if anyone else were to arrive, but also for the sleeping pipsqueak to wake up so the boring shit could start. According to the invitation sent out, he had been just a minute or two early, so, practically on time.

Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:57 am

IOTA ASTHAVON

Slowly, the Avant stirred. Her nap was enjoyable but now was the time for work. Iota looked up and around the room to find one person who had shown up, Vaynel, a member who has been here longer than her. To be fair, everyone has been here longer than her, but it seemed like nobody cared. A sigh would escape her lips as she would snap to get the attention of another demon in the room, one she had assigned to transcribe the meeting. Having documents was very important as it lets the information live on for longer than the brief moment it happened. It lets those in the future look back and gain insight from those before them.

Swiftly, Iota shot out of her chair and snapped her head to a clock, taking note of the time. "It is 2:25 pm and the meeting has started."

"Thank you all for coming today," Her eyes were fixated on Vaynel. "As today marks a very important day for not Shadowfall, but demon-kind as a whole."

"As you probably know, we lost a war. A pretty big war. There are many things that could be attributed to this happening but I think that there were a few problems that I would want to address here with you. The first would be the lack of cohesion and a lack of morale. The war was a defensive one simply for territory that, if we're being frank, none of us were truly behind. Not only did we have low numbers, but the numbers that we had also didn't even know what they were fighting for. Next, a lack of leadership, namely Mana. It should be known that our Queen is an independent being and often acts on her own, which in this case has proven to be her downfall. With her having the highest rank in our organization, our government, and our power ranking, this makes her a great asset and our biggest threat. With Mana on our side, we have a fighting chance. When Mana chooses to take matters into her own hands, we are lost. Lastly, the wildcard, Algos. Having been coddled by her mother, to be blunt, she makes us look bad. Algos is basically a walking stereotype that gives our enemies a person to point at and go, "See? I told you these demons were insert-whatever-you-want." This will not only make our future rough but make any plans of operations incredibly difficult while she is able to run amok and do as she pleases. As an added bonus, our numbers are something that should be noted as a major problem. This meeting being the biggest example as there are, at the time of saying this, only two people of note in this room."

"That being said, now that we have addressed these problems, here are my proposed solutions. On the matter of the individuals mentioned, I propose a decentralization of our powers. As it stands, most of the influence and control lies solely in Mana and the royal family, and being a royal myself I can tell you how incompetent they can be. So much in fact that they would miss this meeting. For this to happen, we have to abolish the link between the royal family and our military. While we are at it, I recommend that this new group will be in charge of the government and politics of the realm in which it would apply, making it an easy opportunity for any and all to join and achieve a rank with hard work instead of raw strength and royal position. To do this, we would also have to restructure everything."

"Due to our current structure, we have 9 circles. These 9 circles often overlap in duty, leaving some with members and others without, while other circles are simply obsolete. Instead of having a set amount of circles with set duties, I propose a chapter system, where the leader of said chapter decides the role and requirements of their respective chapter. Much like the captain of a squad, this would lead to a stronger bond between superiors as they and their underlings would all strive to a common goal and interest, as opposed to being assigned to someone to work under. There would obviously have to be a sort limit on the number of chapters along with what each chapter may accomplish, though if there would be overlap then these new groups would be sections underneath a chapter assuming they have an overall common goal. An example would be a chapter focused on faith, with a subsection that specializes in inquisition. Obviously, some chapters would have more members and sections than others, but that would be a good problem to have. This would lead to there not being a need for a singular leader like we have now, rather a council of each chapter leader to discuss matters important to demon-kind. In cases in which there is an even number of chapters, the most populated section will provide a vote to break and potential ties."

"On matters of membership, as we will now be the government, I propose a mandatory military sentence for those who live in a designated area in which is under our control. We have one of the largest groups of people in the world yet we do not use them. If we are to learn from the mistakes of our predecessors, then we will have to use our people. Those who want to live on the grounds of this group are required to serve at least 3 years of service, with 1 year being part of the reserves. This will highly bolster our numbers while giving the backing force to assert pressure over our enemies. Together they may be strong, but we will be stronger. They are few, we are billions."

"Finally, because we lack morale, I propose that we control the media in the areas that we can. As we've seen, it's hard to fight a war that nobody cares about. So, we make them care. We'll lie if we have to. In the best case scenario, people start fighting of their own will. Worst case we don't do anything and they then actually end up hating us and fighting against us. A war on two fronts would be awful."

"To make sure that this goes smoothly without any pushback from the powers that be, we band together. Right now we are at our weakest state, and they know this. With no army, they lost the war. If we take the little they have left and give them an ultimatum, it's either they accept or they lose us and risk a civil war. If we go to a war of that scale, surely our enemies will capitalize on it."

With a smirk, she sat back down and awaited input from Vaynel. Personally, it was a pretty decent plan. Sure it had its flaws, but it was better than the nothing they had right now.

END POST | THE STRONGEST AVANT

Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:29 am

ENTER THE DEMONS POST

Artist: N/A - Song: N/A

A powerful gust of black mist flowed into the room. With the arrival of this new power, a sense of death and decay echoed throughout the room. The pitter-patter of feet soon followed against the cool floor as the dripping sounds of blood falling to the ground soon followed. As the woman that came out of this vortex of demonic magic was The Princess of Demon World herself. It looked as if she had come straight out of the battlefield and into a meeting; so the burns, blood, and scratches eased as her own energy sought to restore her pristine and lively looks by mending away into nothingness to restore her youthful glow.

"Apologies for my tardiness. I had to take care of a few rebels."

Now taking her seat at the center of the meeting, the woman kept tabs on the meeting through the surveillance systems which were implanted throughout the bases of Shadow Fall. To assume that a gathering like this couldn't be observed by someone so infused into their network of communications was naive at best, suicidal at worse. So, she had gotten the gist of everything which this fellow Asthavon had uttered out.

"I've heard everything in this meeting up until this point. So it's far too late to concern yourself with hiding anything you've spoken of from me. I'm aware of your ideas for reformation."

With an exhale of breath, the woman's tired scarlet eyes set their sights straight to Iota. When doing so, a glass of blood-wine emerged in her right hand as she took a long, sincere sip before coming to speak further.

"I'll keep a note of my behavior when conducting myself as a Princess of this world. I've gotten far too drunk on my power and can see the ways in which my attitudes can be seen as troublesome."

Sure, Algos could think of a million different ways to skewer her, but at this point in time, they were both on the same side of trying to stabilize things. Therefore, each of them needed to come together at this time to mend together the wounds of their organization's tattered body after the war.

"With that said, I'll skewer you myself here and now if you touch the royal family's attachment to our faction. It would be suicidal at the moment to go it alone and I doubt either of us is in a position to cull each other until our numbers dwindle further."

There was no hint of aggression in her tone of voice as the woman remained calm. It was a simple fact of reality in her mind because as Princess it was her duty to ensure the wellbeing of their family and this world was taken care of. So, she looked further into this matter.

"However, the restructuring of our current faction system certainly can do wonders. So I'll be taking that idea and allowing more decisions to be made so that we all can come to a progression of our kind."

A pause was taken before the woman glanced over at Vanyel with a soft smile on her face.

"Excluding the disconnection of the royal family from Shadow Fall, this plan does have my support and I would not mind launching my own efforts to re-correct my image if it will help. While I may be a greedy demoness, my own foul black heart still has the seeds of Neoveta's love for this land and does not want to see our people be in such ruin as their hearts are now."

Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:20 am

ENTER THE MEGALOMANIAC

Artist: My Hero Academia - Song: Overhaul's Theme

With the only other person in the room waking up not long after he had come in, Vanyel did a bit of stretching to relax himself as she spoke, getting the little meeting started. The beginning chunk of what she was saying wasn't something he cared too heavily about -- it seemed like a good idea on paper, and it wasn't like it would generally affect him much. He was just some random grunt, but, if it worked out, he didn't really have a problem with letting the leaders restructuring the circles into something that could be a bit more...unique, at least.

But, the mention of severing the connection between them and the Royal Family immediately made his face turn into a frown. Wasn't really because he was connected to people in the Royal Family, but just because of how fucking stupid the idea was. Here she was, offering ideas for improving Shadow Fall, and one of her suggestions was that. After suffering such a colossal defeat in the war, she wanted to sever connections with one of the only things that were keeping the failing shithole they called an organization from literally being on fire.

But, he wasn't that much of an ass to interrupt someone when they were talking, so, he just left his scowl be the only thing of note at the moment, leaning back slightly in his chair -- only to groan as he felt the presence of a familiar entity coming to and entering the room. His hand unconsciously drifted into his coat pocket, quietly pulling out a knife and keeping a thumb on the switchblade's button as he watched Algos saunter into the room.

She smiled in his direction, and he returned the look with a neutral, almost uninterested glare as he idly toyed with the knife in his hand by spinning it in circles with his thumb, letting Algos speak her piece. As she finished, he turned back to Iota, propping his head back onto his hand again.

"Gotta agree with her, pint-size. If you think that severing the royal family is a good idea right now, you're a fuckin' idiot and settin' yourself up for failure. They're the only reason this failure isn't literally on fire. I don't give a shit about much of the Royal Family, but cutting them off right now is the worst possible move you can make."

Vanyel paused, glancing over at Algos with an irritated glare, before turning his attention back to Iota once more.

"Another thing -- forcin' people into this shit, no. It's not just an asinine solution, but it's not gonna end well. No matter where Shadow Fall plants their ass down and try and make joinin' mandatory, and no matter how small or large the spot is, there's gonna be rebels. Plus, with how weak Shadow Fall is, if you tried that right now, you'd get overrun in a day, and that's bein' generous. This place might be stupid massive, but there are still a lot of people who won't want anythin' to do with you, and you'll make it even less so if you make joinin' mandatory in order to just fuckin' live in the general area."

Lifting the knife from his side, he pointed the sheathed weapon at Iota.

"It's not gonna boost morale, it's just gonna make everyone hate you and Shadow Fall more."

Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:16 am

IOTA ASTHAVON

On one hand, Iota was glad she got some form of feedback. On the other hand, she was annoyed that she got feedback. However, that was partially her fault as she could recognize it. There was most likely a communication error along the way, leading to the problems brought forth. Perhaps she should clarify.

"First off, as much as I would like to keep the Royal family I do not make this decision lightly. They're my family too, you know. However, the royal family has some of the most noteworthy and troublesome people for our enemies, both on Earth and in our own realm, making them public enemy number one. We could name some of the most notable members right now: Algos, Calypso, Mana, Mom-er Inami, Silvia, Nami wherever the hell she is. And that's the problem. If we want to move forward with any notation of trying to coexist with those on Earth we have to show them that we changed, and if we are still tied to the noble family it will show that we're just the same old car with a new coat of paint. I can tell you right now if we were to go to peace talks with say the Gotei at this very moment, and we even drop the name Asthavon, everything will be off the table. Because, as much good, as they do for us, they have led to a lot of our problems today."

"Oh, and sidenote Algos, if you want people to begin to trust you and your capabilities to function reliably in the future, I'd recommend you don't threaten them during a peaceful discussion that you yourself intruded on. Especially when they have been speaking objectively on matters which most definitely happened. We were all there to watch the shitshow, no matter which way you feel about it. So skewer at your own peril." If they were watching closely, they would notice Iota's eyes turn blue as her sclera began to cloud. She was on the defensive, preparing for combat if it came to it.

"This will not be a dethroning of the royal family, as they can still tend to their royal duties in a full capacity as they are currently, they just won't be allowed to double-dip into their duties and the military when the military, and the people they protect, can fully govern themselves. That's not to say they still won't be able to join, hell they can make their own chapter for all I care, the point is that was distance ourselves from them to a degree in which we are given breathing room. Shadowfall failed because it relied on its leaders, the royal family, to lead and they did not come through."

"Next, as much as you dislike the mandatory service, do keep in mind that people live here basically rent-free and it will be 3 years out of their lifetime, which can go for as long as thousands of years. Of course, this will need some calculation for it to last long term, but in the beginning, we will have a surge of members to protect us from any immediate threats. Also, this would solve the rebel problem. Just give them a chapter in which they can conduct their business and voice their opinions, it won't matter in the end. Even if we just have 3 chapters, in the beginning, they will be outnumbered and almost none of their votes would go through. Though it is not a good idea to just ignore a vocal minority, which is why I strongly advise you to go with this plan to quell the number of riots and revolts."

"Please note that the longer we sit here and argue over the finer point, the more our people get slaughtered on Earth. If you can look past your own self-bias, you would agree with me here. The royal family is meant to protect the people, no? Then you wouldn't sit here and prolong this discussion, seeing as how you both care so much about them."

"Final note, we need a new name. Part of this restructuring is also to rebrand. Not only is the Shadow part of Shadowfall basically gone now, but when you say Shadowfall in these parts it's generally met with a negative response. I'm not generally good with naming things so here are my suggestions, though this can be decided at a later date as well. I have so far come up with: Naraka Yuga (or Hell Generation), Ashen Body, D-Generation for either demon or docile, and the Synod. In reality, this is just a rebranding for outside appearance, though it should try to focus on neutral-sounding names while getting our purpose out there."

END POST | THE STRONGEST AVANT

Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:53 pm

ENTER THE DEMONS POST

Artist: N/A - Song: N/A

The Royal Princess observed in quiet before she decided to give a response to all that had transpired. In a calm voice, she uttered these words:

"Regardless of who is in charge, most external realms will view us with scorn. It doesn't matter if there is an Asthavon in charge or not. I refuse to drop their connection to this because we will always be in one way or another related to matters of demonic activity."

Algos would shake her head in disagreement and continue stating her reasons for this objection.

"While you are new to the family and this faction, let's not forget the fact mother, myself, and others in the Asthavon was one of the only people actively fighting for our glory when the chips were down. Our people are not excited for a defeat, but even they can see there was an effort and are willing to follow us to the depths of hell if need be. So it's a matter of using their influence, weaving a new narrative, and getting them to follow those they look up to."

There was then a foul chuckle that escaped her lips as the woman's eyes darken when progressing this tedious encounter.

"As if you think I have a desire to be behind my mother's rule? You are sadly mistaken on that front."

And that's all Algos would say on that subject. There was quite a clear ozone of contempt brimming behind those words, but now wasn't the time for that in the mind of the demoness. As those memories of her nearly being slaughtered by her mother burned in her mind, The Princess snarled quietly to herself before carrying on with the exchange.

"Objective? You speak as if your words are absolute fact. Events have occurred, but your perception of them isn't absolute. In fact, perhaps even mine isn't and I'm willing to admit that. It's the collaboration of our information and interactions which makes truth as we both have our own biases and that's the point of a meeting, dear."

The sounds of a hard chuckle echoed throughout the woman as the nerve of this Asthavon to believe her words were solely correct made Algos who between the two of them were more arrogant. Still, they needed to put their hellish minds together and think of something to pull their people out of this rut, eh? But, even as that may be, she needed to be reminded that she was acting out of line and her point of view of this world was quite -- wrong.

"Planning to transform our own organization without our consent or even bothering to reach out to myself or my mother? You are lucky you are dealing with me and not my mother. By all accounts, that could be seen as treasonous and if you weren't with our family I'm sure you'd be locked up or tortured as you know the rule of our demons. It's kill or be killed."

And that was the reality of it. Iota could try to preach these ideals of having restraint, but when has that ever mattered in the world of savages and monsters? They only respect one thing and that's the ability to have resources, strength, power, or any other means of political clout to keep them from acting their foulest intents. To act human in this realm was a good way to get yourself slaughtered if you were trying to control the masses.

"To believe they didn't lead throughout the centuries of growth we've had and even in the midst of world war four shows your ignorance, Iota. Even the greatest leaders eventually hit a wall, face defeat, and enter into stagnation before they learn from their mistakes and grow even larger than before."

Throughout the dimly lit room would the sounds of The Princess's bone-chilling breath echo. Algos needed to clear her throat, take another sip of her blood wine and let the stream of intoxicating fluids hit her veins. As her body relaxed, the woman smiled and carried on.

"Why not shorten it to one year and steal a chapter out of K-World and give them some kind of wish or reward for their suffering? People will loathe being forced to serve if they are not rewarded, so dangling a flashy toy with their service can induce good feelings associated with Shadow Fall. And, if they serve longer, I'm sure we have more than enough resources to continue assisting those who serve to change their life and grant them more resources or power they desire to fuel their sinful desires. After all: we only care about power in demon world. So you have to offer something of value to ensure loyalty."

In a single motion, Algos gave a wink of her eye given at Vanyel and Iota before The Princess moved forward with her words.

"Swiftly making decisions because of outside pressures is a great way to have a plan that fails. However, I will start the reformation process and alert those of these impending changes. If nothing else, we can adjust as we go along if speed is that important to you."

A cold chuckle escaped the woman's lips as she started dialing in buttons into a holographic screen that was connected to The Demi-Network of Shadow Fall. With this, she could begin sorting out orders, re-arranging men, informing Shadow Fall operatives of the alterations, and letting her mother know what was occurring so that she was filled in the loop.

When that matter was settled away, Algos stared with the utmost of intent at Iota when she suggested the name change. It took a few moments, but that had a prompt response from the Queen.

"The Ember Heart Order. Ember Heart for short. The details of the name can be worked, but if we are coming back from the ashes of defeat, does it not make sense to use some sort of fire-play in our great people's organization?"

Delight as ever, the woman nodded her head forward and marked this meeting as completed. There were going to be adjustments to their plans and ideas, but if nothing else, having this plan was indeed better than nothing. So, she'd wink her eye and mention something else.

"Oh, right, The Queen will like your presence in private about why she wasn't invited to this meeting. You can arrange a time that is convenient for you."

While giving a twirl of her right finger, the demoness continuted:

"I'm pretty sure we can remotely communicanate all of this, right? There is no point in having our communication systems if we don't use them. So if anything from this meeting needs adjustment, learn to work remotely such as the humans have and stop trying to plot things in secret. You may lose your head next time."

Headcount, Headhunt [OPEN TO SF]

Headcount, Headhunt [OPEN TO SF]

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