Realized re-reading page some things not responded to...
Nekira Sudacne wrote:I can even see the nightlord publically "devouring" a minion as the end result of a "You have failed me for the last time" display to show the others the error of their ways. but hounds are not completely mindless automations. They are more like very intelligent, well, hounds, and like any dog, if you beat them enough, they will eventually turn on you.
Dogs injured by abusive masters can remain hurt and nurse a grudge for a long time. With Hounds able to regenerate in an hour, I wonder if they think the same way. A daily feeding from Nightlords/Princes, if done to all hounds in equal amounts (not singling out one for more) could be culturally par for the course, a 'tuck in before stasis' they grow to expect.
Nightlords can feed in small amounts and I'm not clear on whether or not the process is even painful. It might just sap a bit of vitality, which could be no different than someone putting a dog sled team through a run to tire them out before sleep. Or getting a hound to share some of the quail it brings in its mouth.
Nekira Sudacne wrote:there is plenty of inter-nightlord rivalry, and most would jump at the chance to grow their army by sheltering disaffection troops.
True, but only if one is doing it so much more than the others to the point of them feeling singled out. One could question how much pain hounds feel and how complexly they view people. They're not psychic like dogs and horses are
Nekira Sudacne wrote:In my mind, nightlords are still fundamentally humans who have been corrupted by godlike power from an evil and corrupting source. This hasn't made them strictly lazy, no, but they are hardly immune to normal psycological stresses.
I thought they were all sorceres who find a unique form of transformation. Do we know that the Dark is directly involved in all Squires/Princes/Princesses/Lords/Ladies ? Or just Moloch/Mocker/?Foulseed?
Nekira Sudacne wrote:They're not lazy villians, but nor are they machines who view eating as some kind of unpleasant drain on their day.
Depends, feeding on a hound might not be as enjoyable as feeding on a human, less emotion or something? Depends on whether or not a Nightlord wants to be an efficient eater or an indulgent one. People who eat tasty food versus bland healthy food for example.
Nekira Sudacne wrote:At the end of the day, nightlords are horrible, terrible people
Are they? If they avoided killing people and kept their food sources healthy (a Wampyre who uses Healing Psionics to restore the HP of those he drinks blood from is comparable) I'm not sure why they'd have to be evil at all.
Nekira Sudacne wrote:like most people, sitting, eating, and being pampered by a hoard of slavish servants is very appealing to their egos and most importantly, their stress levels. Eating is a biological function, sitting down for a meal, with conversation and other people, is a psycological evolution for both bonding with others, and for coping with the days stress.
True, though they do become increasingly alien beings and I wonder how much the mind can change away from such habits.
Nekira Sudacne wrote:Moloch definatly the workaholic and efficent type. Which is part of why he has stayed top dog for so long. At the same time it's mentioned that this ruthless efficency unnerves even the other nightlords, which indicates at least a simple majority do think his laser-like focus is an abnormality, which indicates they do not share it.
I'm not sure if we should conclude that the abnormality perceived by the majority of nightlords is laser-like focus. Maybe other Nightlords are less ruthless? (probably most don't want to destroy the world like he was, and will be comparatively merciful, if still evil) or less dedicated (more rec time). They might be equally efficient or competent, but spend less time (and make more compassionate choices) leading to less destructive output.
Nekira Sudacne wrote:Lillith is the other end of the spectrum, somehow enjoys leasure and luxury a little too much, and only gets away with it because people often understimate how much work she ACTUALLY gets done.
It's not so much that she 'gets away with it' because Nightlords aren't exactly punished for indulging themselves or wasting time so long as they fulfill whatever duties Moloch expects of them. With Lilith, I figure she works hard and plays hard. She might spend a lot of time on recreation, but that probably means that she is efficient at her job, too. If her recreation interfered with her duties, Moloch would probably punish her.
As it is, she has time to do all her duties, have fun, AND plot with demons on the side, so she must be efficient and competent.
Nekira Sudacne wrote:the only time lillith is REALLY relaxing is when she's completely alone. the general rule should be if she's talking, she's working, no matter what it seems like they're talking about. If nothing else, she's trying to make a new friend, or maintaining her cover.
I'd say it depends on the challenge. Initially when making friends, sure. But once she has someone under her thumb, I think it's possible she may be able to relax in their presence.
Sir_Spirit wrote:they ordered their own worshippers to be sacrificed, and that it withered away because if that. It's also made quite clear that they were used to overthrow the original ruler of their realm. Forgot his name, but they just used the cult to gain power.
Yeah I think the previous ruler was named either Dyvag or Dyval, something about only surviving as a name.
Previous to them I prefer to think it was simply known as "Hell" like PRPG stated. That and they used to be "Devils" prior to being "Deevils".
That part always confused me, how come Devils changed to Deevils but Demons wasn't changed to Deemons?
Sir_Spirit wrote:when a rival of hades/dyval invaded the nightlands the Nightlords did a ritual to destroy them.
Not sure if they were a rival. I recall it saying something about them being on a size/scale of hades or dyval though.
I was under the impression that Dyval ended up being bigger than Hades though, due to being a bunch of stacked dimensions. Perhaps those individual dimension-continents are smaller than Hades as a whole though, since Hades mirrors the entire Palladium world?
I'm not clear on who these guys are and if they have the same mystic defenses as Hades/Dyval, but part of it was that they left a rift open longe enough for some massive ritual to be conducted. Surely that mistake would be learned from.