>>2142414
>The apprentice laughs and bows her head. Her loose fitting robes torn from the sudden burst of arcane power from you. "Master," she says in a lustful tone, "you have done it. Now, none may stand against you. Kingdoms and empires will recognize your power and will either serve or fall to your immense power!"

>>2142414
>The apprentice laughs and bows her head. Her loose fitting robes torn from the sudden burst of arcane power from you. "Master," she says in a lustful tone, "you have done it. Now, none may stand against you. Kingdoms and empires will recognize your power and will either serve or fall to your immense power!"

>>2142414
>The room is filled with tortures tools and prisoners hanging from caves, their minds and souls stripped from them to power your ascension. Black gems lay inert in a circle around you, the souls once housed within them torn asunder.
No foolish cultists nor covetous apprentices shall know of the secrets to our greatest achievement. Our works and our secrets shall remain ours alone.

>>2142414
>>The apprentice laughs and bows her head. Her loose fitting robes torn from the sudden burst of arcane power from you. "Master," she says in a lustful tone, "you have done it. Now, none may stand against you. Kingdoms and empires will recognize your power and will either serve or fall to your immense power!"

>>2142414
>Your cultists stop their chanting and bow deeply to you. Those that gave their bodies and souls lay at your feet. Black swords, still slick with blood, protrude through their backs. Their faces frozen in maniacal smiles, knowing their deaths will make you a god.

>>2142414
>>The apprentice laughs and bows her head. Her loose fitting robes torn from the sudden burst of arcane power from you. "Master," she says in a lustful tone, "you have done it. Now, none may stand against you. Kingdoms and empires will recognize your power and will either serve or fall to your immense power!"

>>The apprentice laughs and bows her head. Her loose fitting robes torn from the sudden burst of arcane power from you. "Master," she says in a lustful tone, "you have done it. Now, none may stand against you. Kingdoms and empires will recognize your power and will either serve or fall to your immense power!"

>>2142428
>>2142433
>>2142448
She side steps as you float towards the black box a few feet ahead of you. You kneel down to feel the remnants of your souls, pulsing as though it was a heart. A part of you misses your humanity, but the thought is dashed from your mind as you begin to imagine what power now resides within you. You turn to look back upon your apprentice. She smiles and bows her head once again, placing her hands over her heart as she does so. You can feel a small surge of power within her. It seems she wishes to remind you that she is powerful as well, but not as powerful as you are.

"Master, I am yours to command. What do you wish of me?"

Your mind begins to race with plans and ideas of how to cement your power upon the world above?

>CHOOSE ONE.

>I feel as though a walk is in order. I wish to visit the graveyard to attend to my new army. (Raise the dead. Chance of being discovered HIGH)
>To the laboratory. There are experiments I wish to finally finish and release upon the mortals above. (Time to create things. Chance of being discovered VARIES.)
>Summon my minions to me. With such power amassed beneath the great city, other will surely investigate. (Choose what kind of minions you have. Chance of being discovered HIGH.)
>It is time to bring hellfire upon this city. To the channeling chamber. (A high number of spells are at your disposal. Chance of being discovered low.)

>>2142472

>It is time to bring hellfire upon this city. To the channeling chamber. (A high number of spells are at your disposal. Chance of being discovered low.)

QM, are you sure that this is right?

>>2142472
>To the laboratory. There are experiments I wish to finally finish and release upon the mortals above. (Time to create things. Chance of being discovered VARIES.)

>>2142472
>To the laboratory. There are experiments I wish to finally finish and release upon the mortals above. (Time to create things. Chance of being discovered VARIES.)
What worth is there in destruction for its own sake? An artist requires at least two colors to cover a canvas.

>>2142472
>To the laboratory. There are experiments I wish to finally finish and release upon the mortals above. (Time to create things. Chance of being discovered VARIES.)

>>2142494
I’m thinking a more intelligent rat. But not too smart, not yet. And we must remove ambition, leaving only a desire to serve its master.

>>2142489
>>2142494
>>2142500
Without another word, you apprentice silently follows you to your destination.
-----
Your laboratory is massive, it is still a wonder as to how you were able to construct such a masterpiece of scientific and magical genius. Magical stones hum with power and mindless automatons collect data on ongoing experiments. You apprentice waves her hand, causing the automatons to spin in place to face you. They bow deeply, chiming a sort of acknowledgement to your new form and strength before going about their work once again. You apprentice walks down the steps as automatons bring her scrolls and objects of scientific value.

"It would seems that some of your experiments are beginning to show signs of promise, master."

You glide towards her as she hands you a scroll filled with experiments. Some experiments were meant as a way of self sustainment while you were still mortal, while others were pet projects that were never meant to really help with your ascension. As you travel further down the scroll, you begin to see your larger experiments. Five pop out at you as something that you should complete. However, your resources are dwindling after spending most of them on ascending to lichdom. Only one experiment may be completed, the others will have to wait until your resources and supplies are replenished.

>CHOOSE ONE.

>Cloning vats: The ability to craft exact replicas of a being, down to the smallest pox mark. These replicas are of lower intelligence, but extremely loyal. (LOW Discovery.)
>The Void Prince: A being created of dark energy. Its essence is captured within magically woven wrappings and can create other void beings that can think for themselves, almost resembling a human. Will consider you as its father. However, its birth will make it known to those attuned to dark energy... (MEDIUM Discovery.)
>The Hunter: A volatile being that can adapt to any situation. It is feral, unpredictable, but sees those affiliated to you as its pack mates. This does not mean loyal. ( D6 roll, 1-3 LOW Discovery, 4-6 HIGH Discovery.)
>Child of the Mind: A child you have created that holds much untapped power, which is sealed away via magical wards. She is happy and plays within her small room with a few automatons that you have left as her caretakers. She believes that you are a good person, but her youth leaves her impressionable. She will use her what power she has mastered to fight for you, which is a good amount. Releasing her means releasing her magical wards. (HIGH Discovery)

>>2142517
>>Cloning vats: The ability to craft exact replicas of a being, down to the smallest pox mark. These replicas are of lower intelligence, but extremely loyal. (LOW Discovery.)
We should work on making their intelligence equal to their originals, in order to better infiltrate and be sleeper agents.

>>2142517
>Cloning vats
We cannot risk discovery until we have sufficient resources to ward off those shortsighted fools who do not see the worth of our works.

>>2142517
>>Child of the Mind: A child you have created that holds much untapped power, which is sealed away via magical wards. She is happy and plays within her small room with a few automatons that you have left as her caretakers. She believes that you are a good person, but her youth leaves her impressionable. She will use her what power she has mastered to fight for you, which is a good amount. Releasing her means releasing her magical wards. (HIGH Discovery)

The child's mind is ours to mold and it's potential great. With the proper tutelage we could have a proper, and powerful, commander of our soon to be legions.

>>2142527
Yeah, a powerful commander that will use up all of our remaining resources so it will take time to actually construct that army, all the while she’ll be radiating power like a magical lighthouse, a homing beacon for every adventuring party on the continent.

>>2142532
>She will use her what power she has mastered to fight for you, which is a good amount.

plus lichdom, magical assistant, and golems. I think we have defense pretty alright. We just need to build up an invasion force, but that force will need a competent and powerful field commander. Unless you want us sitting on the frontier in front of any would-be heroes? We're talking longterm investment with high potential gains.

>>2142532
>>2142536
What exactly is our motivation as a character? What are we building towards, now that we've achieved some degree of immortality? Greater and greater acts of arbitrary cruelty?

The answer is, of course, true immortality. None of this 'phylactery' nonsense.

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>>2142543
Obviously minor godhood, then becoming a major god, and then becoming the only god.

>>2142517

>>Child of the Mind: A child you have created that holds much untapped power, which is sealed away via magical wards. She is happy and plays within her small room with a few automatons that you have left as her caretakers. She believes that you are a good person, but her youth leaves her impressionable. She will use her what power she has mastered to fight for you, which is a good amount. Releasing her means releasing her magical wards. (HIGH Discovery)

>>2142517
>>>Cloning vats: The ability to craft exact replicas of a being, down to the smallest pox mark. These replicas are of lower intelligence, but extremely loyal. (LOW Discovery.)

>>2142517

>Cloning vats: The ability to craft exact replicas of a being, down to the smallest pox mark. These replicas are of lower intelligence, but extremely loyal. (LOW Discovery.)
Lets start small and build up iur resources

>>2142617
>>2142525
>>2142524
The automatons quickly set down what they are doing, anticipating your next command. They set off to finish the cloning vats, filling them with fluids and tubes.

The vat, as the name states, is for creating clones. However, unlike the cloning vats created via "normal" methods, these vats were created with more efficient methods. Using a powerful soul stone stored within each vat, these vats can grow any organic matter in a matter of hours. Armies can be raised in days and, with enough intelligence and training, spies can be made created to infiltrate anywhere, impersonating their progenitor with 100% accuracy. With only a small organic sample, a vat can create upwards to 100 clones from half a pound of flesh or half a pint of blood.

On paper, that is. Though you have set off to complete this project, you are not sure if your equations and engineering prowess can create such a technological marvel. You will need a test subject. you turn to your apprentice, who bows as you do so.

"I will require a sample of another being."

The apprentice smiles. She stands up straight and places her finger to her chin as she begins to think.

"I have not been to the surface world in almost a full year, Master. It will be a long while before I can come up with a person of influence or a truly mighty warrior."

She is right. Without knowing who is truly in power up above, attempting to use these clones to gain political influence or even gaining the people's favor through a champion will prove a challenge. However, you can always start an army now...

"Hmmmmm... Find me..."

>CHOOSE ONE

>On second thought, I believe I have the perfect test subject in front of me. Hold out your arm.
>A simple peasant, someone that can blend into the crowd easily. (LOW Discovery.)
>A wandering adventurer that we can lure down below. They will be perfect (D6 roll, 1-3 martial adventurer, 4-6 magical adventurer. LOW Discovery.)
>Find me a soldier who wandered off to abandon his or her duties. (MEDIUM Discovery.)
>A nobleman or noblewoman. Their minds can be broken to spill every detail of their life. If we're fast enough, we can train our clone to take their place... (D6 roll, 1-2 Failure HIGH Discovery, 3-6 Success LOW Discovery.)

>>2142517
>>Cloning vats: The ability to craft exact replicas of a being, down to the smallest pox mark. These replicas are of lower intelligence, but extremely loyal. (LOW Discovery.)

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2142649
>>A wandering adventurer that we can lure down below. They will be perfect (D6 roll, 1-3 martial adventurer, 4-6 magical adventurer. LOW Discovery.)
They are easy to miss since they come to town and leave randomly. Also if it works like we think it can we can have a basis for a small army or special forces maybe.

Kinda assuming that the adventures are probably better fit.

>>2142649
>>A wandering adventurer that we can lure down below. They will be perfect (D6 roll, 1-3 martial adventurer, 4-6 magical adventurer. LOW Discovery.)

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>>2142649

>100 clones from half a pound of flesh or half a pint of blood.
>Roughly 170 pound man from 2.3 grams of flesh or 0.08 oz of of blood.
>An adult human male has around 160 ounces of blood.

One adult human can, when completely drained of blood, create roughly 2000 clones!

This is broken as shit

Just grab 10 poor farmers, use their blood for troops, and assault the city above with 20,000 naked half-crazed men. Overwhelm them with numbers. And if they starve so be it. We seem to be able to create them from nothing.

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>>2142663
Support

>>2142690
>>2142663

Although 2000 naked MAGICAL clones is even better. Changing to this

>>2142649
>On second thought, I believe I have the perfect test subject in front of me. Hold out your arm.
Test it before we have any chance of detection.

>>2142690
I just want to point out we dont need to care if they starve since we can just clone cows and be fine. that or just turn them cannibal but that is something I would just suggest we avoid for now.

Also op. Do clones come back with any memories?

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>Mfw this thread

>>2142766

Oh hai Cursed

>>2142697
>>2142693
>>2142678
>>2142663
My bad, was grabbing some grub.
-------
"Find me an adventurer, we start with the strong, yet disliked of society."

The apprentice bows and quickly turns her back to you, running out the door laughing.

"The day of reckoning is coming!"

Her laughter echoes through the halls as you turn your efforts to creating the vats.
-------
"Are you sure the artifact is this way?"

Miza gripped her staff closer kept her familiar in her pocket. She wanted to back out of her deal now, but her party needed the money. An artifact in the underground would surely be worth hundreds of coins to the right people.

"I'm sure of it, miss mage! I heard a strange whisper the further down I goes!"

The apprentice hide her smile. She had a stroke of luck, a summoner of minuscule importance that knew many protection spells. A perfect subject to test upon and to protect The Master. A right then lead to a left before the apprentice began to speed up.

"I hear it! This way!"

The apprentice began to run through the hallways, making sure that she was far enough to make Miza chase her but close enough to not lose sight of the apprentice. Suddenly, the apprentice saw the doors that lead to the laboratory and rushed in. Miza stopped outside the doors to catch her breath.

"Alright, Sparkles, I'll be useful this time! No more being the weakest link! I am useful!"

Miza smiles as she strode into the laboratory.
-------
The young woman's expression changed from that of hope to that of pure fear. Her staff drops from her hands as she begins to tremble. She said she'd be useful and now she will be.

"Worry not, Miza! Master will make good use of your body."

The apprentice gleefully giggled as Miza attempted to force out words from her lips. You stride forwards, the vats behind you humming with power. Suddenly, the familiar bursts from Miza's pocket, taking the form of a wolf.

"You'll not harm my friend!"

One word escapes from your maw.

"Worm."

You wave your hand dismissively as the wolf howls in pain and is no more. Only Miza stands in front of you.

>Take her will from her, make her walk to the vats herself.
>Use your magic to throw her into the main vat.
>Simply draw some blood from her and have an automaton take the blood to the vat.
>Kill her and throw her body into a vat.

>>2142781

>Take her will from her, make her walk to the vats herself.

Let's not kill her, let's farm her

>>2142785
Agreed

>>2142785
Agreed. "Why buy milk when you have a cow" and all that jazz.

>>2142781
>>Take her will from her, make her walk to the vats herself.

>>2142781
>>Simply draw some blood from her and have an automaton take the blood to the vat.
Come on, have some STANDARDS when it comes to experiments.

>>2142800
wait, good point. If the vats fucks up the body we have no source of new blood! Changing to this.

>>2142781
>Simply draw some blood from her and have an automaton take the blood to the vat.
No reason to kill her yet, just make sure she's secured and can't cast any spells. Also it might be a good idea to go make sure any footprints are gone leading to the hideout. She says "ill be useful this time" which means she might have friends.

>>2142800

>A lich having standards

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, actually. Do you mean morals or in working?

>>2142805

You know, good idea to switch. BUT we gotta make sure she's as docile as a lamb via magical lobotomy

>>2142812
Having her walk herself to the vats doesn't mean she dies. Killing her is a separate option.

>>2142785
>>2142787
>>2142791
You can feel her will melt away as she slumps over. With a flick of your wrist, she stands up straight, tears streaming from her eyes. You look back towards the vats and point towards a large throne at the opposite end of the laboratory. She begins to walk towards it, each step a stomp of mindlessness and frantic defiance. You can hear her moans of misery and fear, you can feel her very soul shaking. She tries to force out words, pleading for her life and her friends will save her.

The throne itself is gilded in brass and onyx. The onyx itself casts a green and yellow haze around the throne, emulating the liquid inside each vat. On the back of the throne are syringes and knives that would hook onto the host to create as many clones as possible while keeping the host alive.

As Miza turns to sit upon the throne, she utters one more plea.

"Have mercy..."

To which you respond.

>No, force her in.
>You will live, just not pleasurably. Wipe her mind and make her sit.
>Perhaps before I turned, I would. But, you are the start to my new army. I will make your existence tolerable.
>When I find another way, perhaps.

>>2142827
>>Perhaps before I turned, I would. But, you are the start to my new army. I will make your existence tolerable.

People will worship out of fear yes, but true power comes from reverence. If we are to become the last remaining god we will need devout followers who will spread our name without our direct influence.

>captcha is gore warring

>>2142827
>Perhaps before I turned, I would. But, you are the start to my new army. I will make your existence tolerable.
A newly turned lich would probably still have lingering feelings (albeit twisted feelings) at this point, so I feel like this is an appropriate response. Her body might attempt to shutdown if the experiment is too much all at once.

>>2142827
>No, force her in.

>>2142827

>You will live, just not pleasurably. Wipe her mind and make her sit.

Just when I was suggesting magical lobtomy. Perfect!

>>2142827
>When I find another way, perhaps.

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>>2142837
"When I have enough supplies, I'll make use of your husk and soul."

>>2142823
Yes, standards, not morals. Morals are not here because we are a lich. But that doesn't mean you fuck up your equipment because you can't run a proper experiment. If we were that careless then we wouldn't have gotten to where we are.

>>2142852
Wiping a magic-user's mind when we want to clone magic-users with their spells intact. That doesn't sound like it's going to give us a desired result.

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>>2142837
>>2142860
>Possibly ruining the sample

>>2142852
Sending the mage's mental spellbook to the recycling bin.

>>2142888
We have her soul, and she has some natural magical ability that can be utilized.

>>2142827
>No, force her in.

>>2142893
No reason to do anything that would potentially ruin the girls body. Take it slow for the first one and we can toss them in when we have more knowledge and samples to use.

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>>2142893
>she has some natural magical ability that can be utilized

so why waste it on ONE vat of clones, when we can just draw blood from her for MANY vats of clones over time? Draw 350 milliliters of blood, make clones, let her recover, repeat until she dies of old age.

assuming she is of average build, dumping her in would net 2000 magical clones, assuming it didn't fuck up and ruin all the samples, draining her over time would gain.
Safely donate 350 ml every 3 months
350 ml = 11.8349 oz
11.8349 oz * 4 = 47.3396 oz
0.08 = 1 clone
47.3396 / 0.08 = 591.745 clones per year
Assuming she's in her mid twenties as most adventures are, she has about 50 years left in her, more if we keep her healthy.

591.745 *50 = 29,587.25 clones from her entire life that's an over 1000% increase in efficiency. It also keeps us from ruining potenial samples as well as letting us experiment on improvements to both the clones AND the cloning process without arousing suspicion by abducting ten times the amount of people we would be using.

>>2142927
>>2142947
Also it needs to be pointed out that this is our very first activation of the Vats.
Not even we, in-character, know if this is going to work as we think it will.
This is no time to be getting sloppy.

>>2142837
>>2142860
>>2142924
I'll make this the main choice. We can always come back and do something with her.
-----
Miza lets out one last cry before she sits upon her throne. The syringes begin to draw blood and tubes begin to pump her blood into the vats. She begins to dry heave as automatons restrain her with leather bindings, blindfolding her eyes and gagging her to ensure that she can make no noise. Her shivers and twitches begin to settle down as her head bobs up and down, her breathing slowing to the rhythm of the machines that suck out her blood. Suddenly the machines stop, causing Miza to spasm in unison. The apprentice touches Miza on her hand and nods.

"She still lives and it would seem that she has accepted her fate. Now to see the fruits of your labor, Master."

And so, you wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Soon, almost five hours have passed. You look inside each vat to view their progress. Inside each vat floats a perfect clone of Miza. However, something seems off. You use your magical vision to look even further and, it's like you feared.

Though each sample was uncontaminated, it would seem that the magic to accelerate the clone's growth has begun small mutations. After another hour passes, your hopes of a perfect machine are dashed as some clones begin to melt away. Reasons for this vary with each sample taken from the failures. One's cells could not stay together, while another simply melted away, the fluid inside the vat too acidic for it to live in apparently. Out of the twenty you created, half of your batch survived with cosmetic mutations.

One clone seems to have yellow and blue eyes. One seems to be younger, while another seems to be an entirely different race than elven.

Only one clone seems to be a genetic copy of the original. But, they have not taken their first steps out of their vats, who knows how they are physically or mentally.

>Let them out. An army is needed more than genetic copies.
>Failures, destroy all but the one. She will be trained.

>>2142993
>Failures, destroy all but the one. She will be trained.

We are nigh immortal. We have time to spare, a living source of clone samples, and no one to raise suspicions. We can make them perfect.

>>2142993
>Let them out and begin cataloging the mutations and investigate the growth acceleration magic for fixing it
We need an army, but we also need infiltrators. This batch should be kept as a reminder that we are still fallible, if not mortal.

>>2142993
>Failures, destroy all but the one. She will be trained
Could also study her to see how different she is and if you can clone from a clone

>>2142993
Let them all out and see what makes each one a snowflake or a failure.

>>2143015
Ima change mine to this, some might seem like failures but perhaps they all have something to offer. If not we can simply destroy them after.

>>2143015
I'll switch, if only because my cat had two different colored eyes and the little elven mage just sounds adorable in my head. I wanna let them know that all have a place as our servants.

>>2142780
Im Fucking everywhere chaos

>>2142993
>>Let them out. An army is needed more than genetic copies.
who knows if their magic changed too

>>2143028
>>2143021
>>2143015
The fluid from each vat begins to drain away, letting each clone fall gentle to the bottom. They begin to stand awkwardly up as automatons begin to bring in simple rags for them to wear. The vat doors begin to open as each clone stumbles out. They begin to look all around them, their eyes never focusing on one point for long. Then they all stare at you and stumble over to you. The elven one tries to hold back giggles while another with albino skin shuffles over, shivering and clattering her teeth. They stand next to each other as they are given the rags. Each one simply stares at their rags. The automatons begin to help the clones put the rags on as the apprentice begins to take notes on the physical appearance of each clone.

"Each clone seems to be drastically different from the others. These variations are strange indeed, I can only imagine the possibilities if we could only figure out how to..."

The apprentice begins to trail off as she looks through her notes. You look over at Miza and notice her perfect clone is looking at her too. She points at Miza and grumbles.

"Not me. Am me? Me not? Me me?"

You can barely understand her words, but it is clear she is confused about the original. You look over at the other clones and audibly sigh. Each one has their rags on a different way, but no the correct way. Some simply placed their rags over the head and called it good. Others used their rags as skirts. The elven and albino clones at least attempted to put theirs on the right way, but still tore through the front.

It would seem that each one understands that you are their creator and smile at you as you look at each one. But, at least you got their mental prowess down. The apprentice shows you another equation to, hopefully, control each variation when you begin to see something that pleases you. Each clone looks towards the albino clone and tries to put their rags on according to her's.

Which means that they are learning.

>Let's put them through their paces physically first. I think I made a gym.
>Let's make them a little smarter first. To the library to study.
>Let's see if they can cast spells first. To the practice room to test out spells.

>>2143115
>Let's see if they can cast spells first. To the practice room to test out spells.
Don't want them too smart, too quickly.

>>2143115
>Let's put them through their paces physically first. I think I made a gym.
Lets see how they walk before they run. Start off with some baby steps before they blow the hideout up with whatever magic they might possess.

>>2143115
>>Let's make them a little smarter first. To the library to study.

Strong tards and tards with fireballs sound like they might damage the lair and the equipment around them. They need to at least be intelligent as the common peasant, if not more subservient.

>>2143136
Second

>>2143115
>Let's put them through their paces physically first. I think I made a gym.

>>2143115

>>2143115
>>Let's make them a little smarter first. To the library to study.
It dropped the text for some reason.

>>2143115
>>Let's see if they can cast spells first. To the practice room to test out spells.
do dont need to read to burn someone alive.

>>2143234
>don't need to read

They can't dress themselves, and the closest one to mentally functionally can't speak in full sentences.

Do we really want these things lobbing fireballs around just yet?

>>2143240
Yes, if they get caught they can't point back to us all that well.
Plus they might not know how to surrender with words so they wont be taken alive.

>>2143136
>>2143151
>>2143234

I'm going to bed here in a little bit, so I'll post more in the morning.
-------
After leading them to the practice room, you quietly begin to raise up targets as the clones file into the room. The apprentice follows them in, taking notes on how they walk and interact with one another.

"Room not. Where?" Miza's perfect clone asks.

"A practice room." You reply, summoning forth a small flame in your hand. "Create a flame in your hand, like so." You are caught slightly off guard by the pale green flame you produce, nothing like the flames you created before. You think to yourself that even the elemental spells themselves will be changed. You turn your gaze from the flame to the clones and watch.

One clone, a clone with black and red hair quickly catches the concept of magic and summons forth a small flame in front of her. The others, especially the albino one, grunt as they wave their hands about. The black and red haired one begins to get frustrated at the others until one finally begins to grasp the understanding of magic. She giggles with excitement and tried to clap her hands before another clone catches her hand.

"Intriguing..." mumbles the apprentice, scribbling down some notes as the clones nod at each other. "Perhaps the knowledge from their progenitor makes them remember that certain things will harm them... Maybe it was simply instinct..."

Soon, the others begin to cast out a small flame from their hands. However, the albino one yells in anger. She has not figured out how to cast a simple flame spell.

Perhaps...

>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.
>It seems that she is a slow learner, but learn she must. Let her try and cast magic all she wants.
>Pathetic, hardly worth my time. Send her away and test her for magical potency before destroying her.

>>2143245
They might also reveal the hideout if one of them uses magic that is too strong and they aren't able to control it. We've only just turned into a lich, there's no guarantee we could safely stop one of them without revealing ourselves if they got out of control.

>>2143258
>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.
If she can't cast this, perhaps she doesn't have an aptitude for magic? She might be a more physical version of her original?

>>2143258
>>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.
Variety is the spice of life, maybe she can keep the A-Team (autismo-team) from burning down the lab with ice magic.

>>2143258
>>It seems that she is a slow learner, but learn she must. Let her try and cast magic all she wants.
The more dangerous the tests the better the results.
>>2143260
Lesser clones of a minor wizard are likely not going to have any real hidden power.

>>2143258
>>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.

>>2143258
>>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.

>>2143270
While pretty plausible, I would've still been safe.

>>2143272
>>2143287
This. Albino = purest white = Ice (obviously)

SHE WILL BE AWESOMEST ICE MAGE

>>2143514
Not to mention she was shivering constantly in the other room.

>>2143258
>>Show her an ice spell. A COMPLEX one.

Make her learn by surviving one.

>>2143258
>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.
she is white and cold

>>2143258
>Show her an ice spell. A simple one.
Then have our new fire mages 'help' her to practice. The original was knew many protection spells, after all. If she survives, then we teach her more.

I think this failure has two important lessons for us.

>We are immortal, not invincible or infallible.
We can make mistakes, and we should have a constant reminder of our fallibility.

>we still need to work on the Cloning Vats
There’s apparently a lot of variables, given the number of mutations and sub-par quality of clones, that we did not account for.
Not just in the accelerated growth magic, either. We don’t know how the progenitor’s mental state or spiritual condition can affect the quality of the clone or how much useful knowledge can be transferred.
We will need more subjects, to see the differences between one that has been forced and tortured compared to one that voluntarily enters and is well-treated.
Not to mention, is a progenitor with no magic easier to clone than one that has magic, and what level of ability degradation can we expect.

>>2143264
>>2143266
>>2143272
>>2143287
It seems silly at first, but the fact that the clone with red and black hair was able to quickly use a minor spell without much training stands. Perhaps their physical traits may have something to do with their magical aptitude.

"You, use this spell." you hold out your hands and produce a ball of ice. The ball resembles that of a spiked skull. It levitates above your hands and quickly darts to a practice dummy, punching through the dummy and leaving a gaping hole.

The albino shivers a little and then attempts to do the same. It is like you had thought, she was able to quickly manifest the spell without no training at all. However, her ice ball resembles that of a crying woman. She throws it at another target dummy, shattering upon impact.The dummy begins to freeze completely, before falling apart. The albino smiles and giggles, jumping around as she does so.

The apprentice laughs, seeing that the clones' physical appearance actually have an impact on their magical prowess.

"A silly notion, but something I will make a note of."

Now that you have learned that their physical appearances have something to do with their magical aptitude, it is time to teach them magic.

>Let's start simple. Something that can protect me and keep them alive. Protection spells and wards are what they should learn. (BASIC PROTECTION Spells, roll a D10 for number of clones who have learned warding spells.)
>Let's start simple. Something they can use to fight. Since they already learn basic elemental spells, let's see if they can cast Bolt spells. (BASIC ATTACK Spells, roll a D10 for number of clones who have learned attack spells.)
>Their "mother" seemed to have been a summoner of some sort. Perhaps their aptitude will be the same. (BASIC SUMMONING Spells, roll a D10 for number of clones who have learned to summon a familiar.)
>No, their progenitor would have known more advanced spells. I will teach them advanced spells (ADVANCED [PROTECTION/ATTACK/SUMMONING] Spells, roll a D20. 1-10 no spells are learned and time is wasted, 10-19 some of them are getting the hang of things, 20 means every single one has learned an advanced spell.)

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>2143942
>>Let's start simple. Something that can protect me and keep them alive. Protection spells and wards are what they should learn. (BASIC PROTECTION Spells, roll a D10 for number of clones who have learned warding spells.)

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>2143942
>No, their progenitor would have known more advanced spells. I will teach them advanced spells (ADVANCED [PROTECTION/ATTACK/SUMMONING] Spells, roll a D20. 1-10 no spells are learned and time is wasted, 10-19 some of them are getting the hang of things, 20 means every single one has learned an advanced spell.)

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>2143942
Let us start at the beginning. Protection spells will prove useful should their later studies go awry.

>>2143942
>>2143959
>Let's start simple. Something that can protect me and keep them alive. Protection spells and wards are what they should learn. (BASIC PROTECTION Spells, roll a D10 for number of clones who have learned warding spells.)

Forgot the text on that one

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>2143942
I assume we roll after voting like normal so people don't just vote for whatever is successful?

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>2143942
>Let's start simple. Something that can protect me and keep them alive. Protection spells and wards are what they should learn. (BASIC PROTECTION Spells, roll a D10 for number of clones who have learned warding spells.)
Starting off simply seems good enough.

>>2143949
>>2143959
>>2143982
>>2143990
I'll take rolls after the vote, but we have a pretty high number and I forgot to say that.
-------
It takes a while. A few days of training and practice, but many are able to firmly grasp the concept of protection spells. Their wards are acceptable as a first time ward and their shields are fairly decent.

Only one does not grasp protection spells. Not because she does not have the aptitude, but because she was busy looking at her hands. The red and black haired one was almost entranced by her flames, creating small figures and shapes.

When it was time to cast shield spells on herself, she simply set her self on fire and laughed. Her skin would never blister and her hair would never singe. Each day, she would find ways to scare her sisters. Setting herself ablaze, she would chase her sisters after each day of training. She would set fire to their rags or their food. Her sisters were terrified, but not the albino. She simply stood there, shivering like a child in the cold, taking whatever punishment the red and black haired clone would throw at her. But, you could see something growing within her. Though her skin resembled bone chilling winter, her eyes showed a fury that resembled that of fire.

The albino hated her red haired sister.
-------
After a few weeks, all except the red hair learned most every basic protection spell they could, with a few modifications based on their appearances. The albino's shields resembled a frost shield, while the elven one's wards resembled bark from a tree. Miza's perfect clone would cast spells that resembled a wolf of some sort.

The red and black haired one taught herself a fire warding spell that would harm her attackers, as well as protect her. She shows some skill in producing fire shields, but she was too busy scaring her sisters.

As you begin to think of other ways to improve their abilities, something catches your eye. The albino is moving towards the red haired clone. One clone, a white eyed clone, attempts to stop her. But, the albino slaps her hand away and walks faster to the red haired clone. They stare at each other and the red haired clone laughs.

Then they begin to speak.

"You bad sister. No hurt sisters." The albino murmurs to the red haired one. The red haired clone simply laughs and begins to set herself ablaze.

"Sisters weak. I am best."

A fight seems to be breaking out.

>Let them fight, we will see who is strongest.
>No, time to nip this in the bud. (Choose who to stop.)
>There will be no infighting while I am around. Both are to blame and will feel my wrath.

>>2144005
>>There will be no infighting while I am around. Both are to blame and will feel my wrath.

>>2144005
>No, time to nip this in the bud. (Choose who to stop.)
Stop the red-hair.
Just because she is stronger does not mean she can be allowed to Damage or injure her sisters.
That is tantamount to damaging OUR PROPERTY and she must be punished.

>>2144008
Except, the albino isn’t to blame? It’s always the red-haired one that’s scaring her sisters and burning their stuff.

File: 7194b60c42a96e272e.jpg (32 KB, 1280x1024)

32 KB JPG

>>2144005
Fire sister might have something going on with being on fire.

>No, time to nip this in the bud. (Choose who to stop.)
Stop the fire sister. Then make her hug Ice sister.

And maybe kiss.

>>2144005
>Give a private lesson to Red on the importance of leadership and sisterhood.

>>2144005
>No, time to nip this in the bud. (Choose who to stop.)
Use a show of force on the fire head to exert dominance and send the albino back to her sister. She's obviously the alpha of the sisters (at least the loud one) and she needs to know who the actual alpha is and respect your wishes.

>>2144005
>There will be no infighting while I am around. Both are to blame and will feel my wrath.

Their strength is our strength. The sisters are guilty of being weak, but the flame sister is guilty of not making them stronger but hurting them instead.

Force them to fight together against us, any who stand alone will fall alone. Any who are weak fail the rest.

>>2144010
If they weren't weaker that her it wouldn't be a problem. They should have worked together to take her down.

She can either be an outsider, or a leader. They can either be weak individuals, or a strong family.

>>2144047
We haven’t engendered any sense of family or cooperation.
We tacitly approves of the red-head’s actions by not stopping her and the first thing we do when one of them tries to stand up to it is punish them?
That’s a terrible message.

>>2144047
This

>>2144029
>>2144009
>>2144020

Before the first spell is thrown, you cast out your hand towards the red haired one. She gasps in pain as she is thrown from her feet, chains of ice holding her down.

"You presume that you are the alpha here. But, only the strongest can be your leader and you are not the strongest here."

The apprentice begins to write down something in her notes, but otherwise is silent. The red haired clone begins to cry as she tries to fight against the icy chains. The albino looks worried, but does nothing to help the red haired clone. She looks up at you, waiting for your next move.

"Remember who is truly strongest here." You growl to all. Suddenly, you let your chains break and walk away from the red haired sister. Her eyes dart from the albino sister to you, then begins to rock herself. It seems she will remember this. The albino sister says nothing as you face the rest of the group. The rest of her sisters stare as well, in fear and awe at your prowess.

"Thank you, Master." The albino one says.
-------

A few more weeks have passed, writing notes, training the clones on a few utility spells. Some have even begun to speak. However, your apprentice seems to be missing. She is usually very close to you, staying in your shadow or instructing the clones on fundamentals of magic.

You are in your chambers, thinking of when to make your presence known to the outside world. If you appear suddenly, you may get the upper hand. But you've no idea how closely knit the city folk are or how fast these pesky adventurers can rally together to fight you. You are but one lich with an apprentice and beginner level mages against who knows how many men and women up above.

Suddenly, the perfect clone bursts into your chambers, kneeling suddenly.

"Girl in lab! Make more girls!" She exclaims. She beckons you to go to your laboratory.
-------
"I've done it master. I've perfected your invention!" The apprentice says as she points towards the vats. Her arms are black from broken veins, her breathing is ragged and short. The Miza clones are staring at their progenitor on the floor, Miza gripping her knees to her chest and laughing quietly to herself.

"Hurts all over, I can still be useful. I miss Sparkles, but I was useful." Miza quietly says to herself.

"Mommy hurts?" The elven clone asks.

"Mommy?" Miza asks as she looks up.

>"You would go above my head, apprentice? Know your place." [Shock her]
>"Intriguing, let us see what the fruits of your labor have produced."
>"See to the girl. If you had enough foresight, you'd realize the risk of losing our most recent success and yourself. I will look upon your 'daughters' later.

>>2144097
>"intriguing, let us see what the fruits of your labour have produced."

>>2144097
>"You would go above my head, apprentice? Know your place." [Shock her]
>"Intriguing, let us see what the fruits of your labor have produced."
While im interested in what all she did, she needs to be reminded not to go behind our backs like that. If she'll do it once, she'll do it again.

>>2144097
>"You would go above my head, apprentice? Know your place." [Shock her]
>"See to the girl. If you had enough foresight, you'd realize the risk of losing our most recent success and yourself. I will look upon your 'daughters' later.
Initiative is good, but not going behind our back and potentially screwing everything up.

>>2144097
>"Intriguing, let us see what the fruits of your labor have produced."
"And hope for your sake that nothing was wasted in your ambitions."

>>2144097
>"You would go above my head, apprentice? Know your place." [Shock her]
>"See to the girl. If you had enough foresight, you'd realize the risk of losing our most recent success and yourself. I will look upon your 'daughters' later.

>>2144097
Sudden shift!

> Praise Miza for being useful. Imprint on the clones that usefulness = love. Isolate this batch of clones from the previous ones.

Depending on which batch is successful, make their conditions and treatment reflective of how well they do in comparison as opposed to actually achieving goals and such.

> Discipline the Apprentice privately for risking your resource without your approval or oversight.

> Reward Apprentice for success in front of the clones.

Become the gateway to reward and punishment. How abusers gain control 101.

>>2144165
Changing to this.

>>2144165
This

>>2144050
The fact that we had to step in at all was a failure on their part. We should expect more of them. They had the ability to resolve the problem on their own, instead they let the Albino take the risk. They didn't even support her.

Their weakness is as disappointing as the Fire ones disruptive nature. But at least she is actually strong.

Family means something different outside America too I forgot. "Me against my brother, me and my brother against my father, me and my family against the village, me and the village against the country, me and the country against the world"

>>2144165
This sounds pretty fun actually

>>2144165
In agreement with this for now.

>>2144172
They are failures and any failure on their part stems from our own failure to build the Cloning Vats properly.
Their loyalty is to us and us alone; that was specifically written into their construction as part of the Cloning Vats.
So your presumption that they should have shown any loyalty to each other or even grouped together against an obviously superior and stronger unit of ours is wrong from how they were designed to be.

>>2144050
To clarify, our interactions should always be to either reward, or punish. If we aren't punishing the other clones, that it's implied we're rewarding them. Like they did something right instead of fucking up.

A family is just another way of establishing a self policing hierarchy where the good of the group is more important than individual success. That way the group benefits from stronger members, while also standing poised to tear down or "tattle" on any that put themselves above and thereby outside the group preventing rebellion against us.

We are the one that stands above the group, not a sister but a father. Or a god. Beard in rhe sky as it were.

Allowing the fire sister to be shit was their failure as much as hers. Shift the blame because otherwise we'll have to intervene every goddamn time to solve problems to maintain our position. Fallability should always be placed on them, instead of trying to appear omnipotent.

By letting her hurt them, they failed us, we didn't fail them.

We didn't tacitly approve of the redheads actions, we expected them to be able to work it out.

But now where do we stand? We've pretty much told them that they just have to get more powerful than us, or gain the upper hand. That way lies betrayal down the road.

>>2144183
Nigga we're an evil fucking Lich. This isn't self-awareness hour. It doesn't matter who the fuck the fault lies with originally, what matters is reinforcing and redirecting the blame.

Last thing I want is our "guaranteed loyal" clones that we apparently already fuckedbup getting three laws of robotics style tricked into betraying us, being corrupted by magic or heroic dickings, or just warped over time into beings powerful enough to override their programming. We might as well have gone the golem route if that was what you were thinking. Gotta reinforce those feelings of inadequacy and fear vs desire. Daddy Issues destroy nations bro.

They should have grouped together against a common enemy if nothing else. It's called tactics.

>>2144197
They’re failures, and you expect them to have the sense to employ tactics?
When even the “perfect” clone can’t speak right?
That just makes you stupid for expecting a level of competence from obvious failures.

>>2144183
To make it simple: Loyalty to us doesn't mean only acting with our orders or only working with us. It means making us proud and serving us, gaining praise through success and avoiding punishment for failure.

This could have been their first lesson in what was expected. Don't cripple our clone slaves ability to think for themselves.

I'd rather have them commit suicide from shame for failing us, then suicide out of being too stupid to do simply simple as work together to rein in an excessive sister.

I gotta pass the fuck out now beause I've been awake way too long. But I want people to remember the D.E.N.N.I.S. system. It's some good evil shit.

>>2144202
> They’re failures, and you expect them to have the sense to employ tactics?

No bitch I expect them to fail. See >>2144165 where the clone groups are assessed based on relative performance. If you aren't rewarding them for success, then you're punishing them for failure - even if you have to create failure.

If they clean their room to their satisfaction, then you tell them they haven't done it as fast as they should have. Set impossible goals and punish them for failing it while giving a partial reward out of "kindness" to reflect the partial success. Reward them in front of the other sibling, always punish them alone for their relative failure so they feel competitive but not hostile to the other sibling.

You're thinking like a good guy.

The second part is thinking about what we teach them.What did they learn from our intervention? The strongest leads. What happens if one of them finds a way to be stronger than us? That way lies "for your own good" insubordination. Not to mention that we are expected to provide intervention now, instead of them being unsure and having to live in a constant state of fear that their own solutions aren't good enough and that if we have to intervene it's because they failed. They're going to be waiting for us to rescue them and shit now.

>>2144009
You were so close here. But just as bad as damaging our property, is our property letting itself be damaged. "Soldier you do not have permission to die!"

The albino shouldn't have been the only one to act alone.

The last thing we need as well is them fucking up our plans because they're playing bullshit games with each other for power within their group.

Oh yeah I forgot. That's why you also punish the whole group for one person's fuckup. Allowing that person to fuckup is all their fault. Let that pressure build until as a group they decide that one person is fucking up too much and needs to be "voted off the island" and have them be responsible for getting you to step in and eliminate them entirely.

Otherwise they'll just try to use someone as a scapegoat for all their mistakes if only one person is punished.

Which is only useful for breaking someone. They come prebroke. We just have to make sure we don't accidentally undo it.

The fuck am I writing a thesis here? Let's just bone-fuck the albino and the pyro in a cruel imitation of sex before they even really understand what it is, further confusing them with a reward that is unpleasant to experience while using magic to force them to orgasm from it at the end. Really mess their heads up.

I'm so tired I can't think anymore. Peace.

>>2144165
Oooo, that's pretty good.
>>2144170
>>2144171
You get the idea, everyone wants this.
-------
You float to Miza's side and place your skeletal hand upon her cheek.

"And you have proven useful. Rest now, my child, I will need you in the coming days to grow my army." You speak in a low, chilling tone. Miza looks up at you in surprise, she softly touches your hand and closes her eyes.

"Useful..." She whispers to herself.

The clones look at how happy Miza is. The perfect clone smiles and hugs Miza.

"As for you, my apprentice, you have done well, it seems. You will personally train these 'daughters' of yours to fight as well as you have. You will have direct control of them to do as you will with them. They are yours, as my reward for thinking ahead and making such a calculated risk."

The apprentice smiles and blushes. You can hear her hold back a giggle as she hides her redness with a slight bow.

"Mommy happy. We happy." The clone says. The others nod in agreement. They help Miza to her feet and lead her out of the laboratory.

"Mommy rests now. Tells us stories."

The doors close behind them as the automatons look to you for orders. Then, as if feeling what is next to come, disperse to different experiments and corners of the room. The apprentice smiles, expecting a praise of some sort. What she feels in her heart is coldness and pain. She falls to the group, gasping in pain, confused at her sudden punishment.

"You may be intelligent, but go above my head once again and risk the waste of such resources, and you will beg for the sweet release of death." You cause the chains within her heart to tighten before loosening your grip. She grips at her heart and takes deep breaths.

"Of course, Master. I will seek your approval before hand in the future. I apologize and I accept any and all consequences." She stands up and points towards three vats.

"Using the calculations I have taken and the notes from the Miza clones, I have come up with a formula that will allow us to have major control over which mutations we want within each vat. It wasn't your machines, my Master, which failed. It was my failure to predict that the differences between magic users and non magic users may have during the cloning process. With these revised formulas, you may now changed the way each clone may mutate during their growth." The apprentice explains. As she ends her explanation, three vats begin to open.

The first clone to exit is a muscular looking woman, a stark contrast to the apprentice you know. Her eyes show no trace of sentience and her mouth hangs open, each breath deep and long. The second is a more lithe version of your apprentice, her skin changes with her surroundings. Her eyes dart from side to side, her form hunched and limbs long. The final one looks like no mutations have occurred, but she smiles the same smile as her 'mother'.

"My goodness, it would seem that I am as perfect as my mother!" The clone exclaimed.

>>2144241
A warrior a spy and a direct clone.

>>2144230
Except why are we doing all of this indoctrination? Are we building an army or a small group of cultists?

This can’t be done without creating commissar clones to punish in our stead, at which point it would be much more efficient to properly alter the memory and personality transference magic to simply get what we want out of the vat instead of doing this haphazard post-decanting training.

>>2144241
She takes a few steps closer to the apprentice and kneels in front her, the clones behind follow suit.

"We are Mother's children and will follow her unto our deaths. For our lives are worth nothing in comparison of our dear Mother." The lead clone spoke.

The apprentice smiles and points towards you.

"While you do serve me, you will answer to him as well. His my lord and master and I expect you to serve him as you serve me." She explains, taking her place in front of the clones. She kneels down and raises her arms above her shoulders.

"May our lord find only success in his future!" she exclaims, pointing her head towards the sky.

You look over each clone and look towards the one who is the perfect copy of your apprentice. She emulates her mother immediately and smiles as well.

>Train them well, my apprentice. I expect great things.
>Focus on your perfect clone. Having another of you around will prove useful.
>I want the larger one to be trained and readied for combat. Having a strong warrior will prove useful.
>I want this chameleon cloaked one to be trained in the arts of stealth and illusions. I will require information on the outside world.

>>2144241
Hey OP could we get some info on What the city is like? As in is this just a city, or is this the capital or a wealthy merchant city?

>>2144253
>Train them well, my apprentice. I expect great things.
They are loyal to the apprentice first, us second?
We need to examine the Cloning Vats with a fine tooth comb and make sure that the loyalty magic hasn’t been tampered with.

>>2144253
>Stealth and illusions
Maybe take the perfect clone on Personally.

>>2144259
THIS.

>>2144253
>Train them well, my apprentice. I expect great things.

> Find their best skills and present them to me for evaluation when you think you have found them.

Shit our apprentice is in control of the vats, not us. Time to double check her work on the down low.

Make her doth initial grunt work with them, then find fault and take over the more "involved" advanced training.

>>2144248
> What are we building

Dependency. Everyone who interacts with us directly has to constantly strive for our approval and feel insecure about any success so that they not only fear but actually need our punishments to relieve the anxiety of dreadful anticipation.

It doesn't matter if they're close assassin's or cloneissars. Any really good army *cough*marines*cough* is cultish anyways.

The training itself is less important than creating expectations. That's just a matter of skill and brute forcing magical change of necessary. Power is useless if it isn't applied properly though.

>>2144265
Also this.

>>2144259
Just to be sure. Wouldn't want our apprentice to pull a fast one on us now would we?

>>2144272
It also gives us the excuse to kill them off if we do find suspicious meddling.

Also fuck doing grunt work. Why the he'll do we even have an apprentice if we have to do that shit.

This Mother shit is BS for sure though.

>>2144277
Now hold on there, if we find meddling we -might- be able to throw a counter-counter. If we stop it outright, and she's trying to raise an army behind our backs, it'll be more work for us if we kill her outright, since we'd have to train the girls and find a new apprentice. Let her keep working thinking we're in the blind and we can secretly start laying the traps for her in the future when she tries to spring hers on us. She does the work, we reap the rewards.

>>2144285
>t.tezeench
This.

>>2144285
I think we should feel out her intentions and see if we can make use of them. Like what does she really want from serving us.

>>2144285
That's why I said we put the responsibility in training them on her. If they die during "testing" then clearly either her training or base material wasn't up to snuff in the first place. That way there's no excuse about them being "freshly cloned" or anything. Plus we get an idea of what their capabilities are.

I feel we should be cloning with multiple donors as well to prevent this "Mother" shit from happening, and having us be the first person they encounter so they imprint on us.

>>2144285
Also it keeps her busy while we investigate the vats more thoroughly. After all, if it is on the level we don't want to wipe put hard work just because of paranoia.

>>2144259
>>2144264
>>2144265
"Your will be done, Master." The apprentice stands up and leads the her children out of the laboratory.

As the doors close, you float over to the vats and look upon each vat. A small rune is inscribed in each one. You apprentice seems to have modified her clones to look to her for guidance. But, it seems that she has left the magic that would make you the indisputable leader of all clones created. These clones she has made seems to be her personal guard. You think to yourself why three clones would make for a guard, then you see the other vats. She did not make only three clones, she made 15. Each vat still holds a clone, some perfect, others modified. You walk over to each vat and begin to notice other irregularities. Some are created purposefully to be fighters, a bulkier build than the one your apprentice holds. Some are exact replicas of her and some shiver in their vats.

It would seem that these clones are done, but she did not bother to wake them. Why would she do such a thing? If she was looking to betray you or create a power base for herself, why would she not keep these clones a secret? Are these clones an after thought?

Then you feel something attempting to break into your mind, to wipe your memory of such events, thoughts, and memories of the cloning vats. You quickly look over to the darkest corner in your laboratory to see two young girls.

"Y-You won't take us like you took our sisters..." One says, trailing off before holding the hand of another. The other girl seems off, her skin sucking in the darkness around her as she looks to you with innocent eyes. Both tremble as you begin to float towards them, dispelling every spell they attempt to manifest. Perhaps this is the reason as to why you apprentice forgot about the others.

A mind mage and a creature who consumes darkness. The darkness clone reaches out towards you, feeling the energy within you. "So much... Power... Are you... A god?"

>Abominations. They cannot be allowed to live, dispose of them.
>It would seem my apprentice has allowed herself to be tricked. Her failure is my success. I will take these clones as my own.
>A mind mage that can touch a Lich's mind cannot live, but the child of darkness can be of use to be, as can the others.
>This darkness child looks to me as a god, but holds the power to consume darkness. This could prove dangerous to me and cannot be allowed to live. The clones I will take on as my own.
>A small failure, but one my apprentice can deal with. Call upon my apprentice and show her the hidden fruits of labor.

>>2144306
>It would seem my apprentice has allowed herself to be tricked. Her failure is my success. I will take these clones as my own.

>>2144306
We need a put up defenses to deal with these two but I can see a lot of use for them.

>>2144306
>>It would seem my apprentice has allowed herself to be tricked. Her failure is my success. I will take these clones as my own.

>>2144306
>>A small failure, but one my apprentice can deal with. Call upon my apprentice and show her the hidden fruits of labor.

>>2144306
Also, we need to examine the vat the mind controller came from.
Her lack of loyalty to us appears to be a failure of the loyalty magic and a danger to the Cloning Vats project.

>>2144306
>It would seem my apprentice has allowed herself to be tricked. Her failure is my success. I will take these clones as my own.
We must mindbreak these 2 young ones before they become strong enough to resist. A young girl who's able to almost enter the mind of a Lich without him knowing? We should also enact some stronger protection magics on our self just in-case. Killing them would be such a waste, and the one that eats darkness is already imprinting godhood upon us, she'll be the easiest to control and break. The other will fall soon after she does since shes already emotionally and mentally attached to her so much.

>>2144320
>giving the apprentice we don't complete trust control of the two most powerful clones created yet

>>2144306
>you are useful one of mind, and you are clever one of dark. you have shown the desire to protect others and intiative to do so, I commend you. but you have attempted to shield my property from me, a god and you have made the mistake of hiding. so here Is what I will do, I will make you better and I will make you stronger, and then you can protect your sisters and you will serve me. and if you refuse........ then you will know a gods wrath before your mind is snapped

[in short and without the monologue:
praise them for their ambition
promise them power
imprint upon them they will serve you, with magic if needed like here>>2144327
and if they refuse, mind break and force them into mindless magic throwing thralls]

>>2144333
This.

>>2144306
>It would seem my apprentice has allowed herself to be tricked. Her failure is my success. I will take these clones as my own.

Unexpected kindness time! Clearly these two are special, and as such deserve special treatment and training.

We can set goals for them to fail later, sadly being disappointed in them after they showed so much initial promise. But they won't have to worry, we'll be there to protect and help them.

>>2144310
>>2144319
>>2144327
Luckily, it would seem that the mind of the two girls are extremely malleable. With a small thought, you are able to easily bend their minds to your will. The mind mage trembles as she grips her head and groans in pain before kneeling before you.

"We are yours to command, my master..." The two clones say, raising their arms above their shoulders, like your apprentice does in reverence to you.

"You will be under my command and no one else.Your lives are mine to command. Now, release your sisters and make your way to my chambers without alerting others to your presence." You command, pointing to the vats.

The two clones quickly move towards the vats and open them up. The clones inside swear their lives to you and are given rags. They leave the laboratory in secret.
-------
A few weeks pass as Miza's clones are trained in other magical abilities. The apprentice trains her three guards to serve as her hand maidens. The weeks are quiet, compared to the weeks before. However, you begin to sense a foreign being approaching your sanctum. It knows that you reside in these underground caverns, but you can feel no ill will towards you. In fact, you can feel its eagerness.

It seems that someone wishes to serve under you. You take a few of Miza's clones to meet with this being.

>It is a blacksmith of magical quality. Through a dark ritual, he has found it in his best interest to serve beneath you. His works are of high quality, but he is not very known outside the blacksmithing world. His sudden disappearance will not mean much to anyone (LOW Discovery.)
>It is a disgraced general who wishes to take revenge upon the benevolent 'King" above. Through the whispers of a demon, he has come below to seek out a being that is worthy of his servitude. His name is known through the land as "The Butcher" and "The Dealer in Death". He will not be missed by the more common folk, but some of his peers will want to keep tabs on him and a few of his missing men. [HIGH Discovery.]
>A fallen paladin who has taken to the necromantic arts. His "followers" are undead thralls he used to call his comrades. He is slightly well known, but not enough to cause concern. (MEDIUM Discovery.)

>>2144333
>>2144306
This is pretty good too. I don't know how much loyalty they have for their sisters though, as opposed to simply not wanting to share their fate.

Maybe instead point out that their sisters are doing well with you and are already growing in power. We can even show them if they like.

>>2144359
>It is a disgraced general who wishes to take revenge upon the benevolent 'King" above. Through the whispers of a demon, he has come below to seek out a being that is worthy of his servitude. His name is known through the land as "The Butcher" and "The Dealer in Death". He will not be missed by the more common folk, but some of his peers will want to keep tabs on him and a few of his missing men. [HIGH Discovery.]

>>2144359
>It is a blacksmith of magical quality. Through a dark ritual, he has found it in his best interest to serve beneath you. His works are of high quality, but he is not very known outside the blacksmithing world. His sudden disappearance will not mean much to anyone (LOW Discovery.)

Feed his obsession with his craft to warp him to a singular purpose.

>>2144359
>>It is a disgraced general who wishes to take revenge upon the benevolent 'King" above. Through the whispers of a demon, he has come below to seek out a being that is worthy of his servitude. His name is known through the land as "The Butcher" and "The Dealer in Death". He will not be missed by the more common folk, but some of his peers will want to keep tabs on him and a few of his missing men. [HIGH Discovery.]

>>2144359
the genral is useless as far as I can see, we are not ready for going public and don't have an army as he would know it. that plus high discovery = a no vote

the blacksmith is a safe bet and can outfit our clones with armour and weaponry, he is the safe bet

and the paladin is a proper heavy damage dealer and could be useful for info and infiltration of the outside world....... with that in mind, I'm going for the middling bet of the paladin

>>2144359
I would say the blacksmith since he's the lowest chance we have of being discovered before we're ready, but the general will have a good war sense, he could lead our armies as he did his past kings. It might also be a good chance to get some actual combat experience with our girls if someone comes too close to the hideout.

>>2144359
>It is a disgraced general

Could we maybe hire clones out to this guy instead and use him as a cats paw? Infiltrate his organization until we can reveal ourselves and bind him to our will after having made his forces dependent on us.

>>2144359
>It is a blacksmith of magical quality. Through a dark ritual, he has found it in his best interest to serve beneath you. His works are of high quality, but he is not very known outside the blacksmithing world. His sudden disappearance will not mean much to anyone (LOW Discovery.)
Time to see how far we can build up.

>>2144359
>>It is a disgraced general who wishes to take revenge upon the benevolent 'King" above. Through the whispers of a demon, he has come below to seek out a being that is worthy of his servitude. His name is known through the land as "The Butcher" and "The Dealer in Death". He will not be missed by the more common folk, but some of his peers will want to keep tabs on him and a few of his missing men. [HIGH Discovery.]

Why do people want the general? It doesn't even help us right now.

>>2144359
>>It is a blacksmith of magical quality. Through a dark ritual, he has found it in his best interest to serve beneath you. His works are of high quality, but he is not very known outside the blacksmithing world. His sudden disappearance will not mean much to anyone (LOW Discovery.)

>>2144382
Well, he would know how to train our girls for combat, and he would also know how the armies above fight and how their strongholds are kept. We might also be able to use him as a spy if we clone him and send him back to the city.

>>2144384
I don't think that last one he'll like at all, the earlier reasons won't really become revelant until we decide to attack, and we'd need magically equipment to outfit our clones with.

>>2144384
Paladin would be better for training.

You have a point with the spying in the city, but do we have any ability to utilize them right now? Plus the possibility of discovery. Also he's a disgraced general so our spy might not be very useful.

We run the risk of having to abandon our lab as well, or at least relocate so it isn't obvious.

>anti paladin 110 percent

>>2144359
It is a blacksmith of magical quality. Through a dark ritual, he has found it in his best interest to serve beneath you. His works are of high quality, but he is not very known outside the blacksmithing world. His sudden disappearance will not mean much to anyone (LOW Discovery.)

Pardon my noobery but is a fallen pali automatically a anti pali? Just a quick question because I'm a little rusty

>>2144388
>>2144387
I'm pretty stuck myself, I suppose i'll just go with the blacksmith for now, maybe we can equip ourselves with a helmet to keep charles from trying to enter our mind again.

>>2144393
He's (from what I gather) a top tier magically blacksmith. He's has to have something to help us.

>>2144393
Not to mention armor to hide our lich body.

That way when we deal with people they won't know what we are.

I wonder if we can duplicate the darkness absorbing clones power to suppress or block our aura instead and imbue the armor with that.

>>2144398
Combine that with some mass mind magic and BAM lich king

>>2144398
So kind of like what Ainz did in Overlord. I can dig that.

>>2144401
Hell we don't even know the limitations of magic items. We could potentially do even crazier stuff.

Shouldn't we also be thinking of reinforcing our hideout? Magical doors, pitfalls, something? We can obviously feel people coming, but that doesn't mean we can stop them if we get found out and an army of paladins drops in on us.

>>2144417
Well yes. That should be possible but we don't know the limits yet. I still think it's the best option.

>>2144359
>It is a blacksmith of magical quality. Through a dark ritual, he has found it in his best interest to serve beneath you. His works are of high quality, but he is not very known outside the blacksmithing world. His sudden disappearance will not mean much to anyone (LOW Discovery.)

>>2144393
>>2144383
>>2144379
>>2144377
>>2144375
>>2144373
The blacksmith is stocky, yet his hands are unblemished. He carries a cart filled with powerful tools for crafting and magical oils. His face is cleanly shaven, but his face holds many scars. He is hunched over, his back reshaped after many hours hunched over his works. Though you are cloaked in an invisibility spell, his stare pierces the veil.

"So, you are the lich the dark powers have created? You are the one who will showcase my greatest works?" The blacksmith asks. The Miza clones quickly form around you and put up protective wards. The blacksmith laughs and rumbles towards them.

"Hah! Weak wards will not protect you against my creations. With my armor, not even an arrow of dwarven steel will pierce your flesh."

"Man speak bad about us. No like bad man." The perfect clone says. The blacksmith laughs again and walks even closer, placing his hand against the perfect clone's ward. His glove glows a sickly green as the ward dissipates.

"What's your name, girl?" The man asks. The Miza clone stumbles for the words and then looks up at you.

"Nameless, aye? Much like many of my lesser works." The blacksmith grips the clone's hand and begins to examine her. He mumbles to himself and nods.

"I have my work cut out for me. I will serve underneath you, if you will have me. All I ask is that I am given free reign over my works and someone to wear my armor and wield my weapons. I can provide my own resources, unless I require more exotic ingredients. And, as a token of my good will towards you, allow me to create a set of armor with the resources at my disposal. For who shall I create this armor for?"

>Myself, I am your new lord and master and I require armaments to protect myself.
>These clones will be useful in protecting me and they are more numerous. Start with this one.
>My apprentice and her new 'daughters' will require good sets of armor and weapons. However, I ask that you create 21 various sets. My reasons are my own.

>>2144427
>Myself, I am your new lord and master and I require armaments to protect myself.

>>2144427
>Options 1 and 2
First come first served can be used as an excuse if the apprentice gets bitchy.

>>2144427
>These clones will be useful in protecting me and they are more numerous. Start with this one.
Shouldn't we get them used to wearing the armor before us? They'll be the ones sent out to fight before we do. Besides, i'm feeling like I might want a more exotic blend for my armor, instead of one with "resources at his disposal".

>>2144427
>various sets

we want a showcase of his skills, and while I agree a free artist makes good shit, he needs to be given this rather firmly. WE ARE THE MASTER

once he understands it, then we have some good shit made for ourselves.......maybe a chest piece that makes us look human for infiltrating dinner events.....?

>changing to option one

>>2144427
>>Myself, I am your new lord and master and I require armaments to protect myself.

a suit of armour of unparralelled quality

>>2144438
Making me change yet again

>>2144439
>maybe a chest piece that makes us look human for infiltrating dinner events.....?
That actually wouldn't be too bad. Make us look like a human and we can go to the city and see first hand what its like. Maybe sweet talk and a princess and get a romp going (kind of joking, but i mean who wouldn't want one, eh?)

>>2144441
>>2144435
>>2144433
The blacksmith looks you over and nods.

"I have the perfect design in mind and I have the very materials needed to build such a fine set of armor."

The blacksmith quickly unpacks his things and pulls out a black sheet of metal. Inside the metal sheet, you can hear screams.

"You may go about your business, I will seek you out when this set is done. I will require a room to work in, nothing too large, just enough for me to lay out my tools."

And with those words, he begins his work.
-------
You are watching the apprentice drill her clones using various spells when you feel a tug on your robs. It is the perfect clone.

"Master, what is name? Do we have name?"

The other clones look to you, waiting for an answer.

It is true that simply saying the appearance of what clone you are talking about can become tedious. Perhaps you should think of names...

>Let them choose what names to call themselves. This is above me.
>I'll give you numbers then, Number One.
>Fine, I'll name you all. (I'll make a google doc with apperances and names if need be.)

>>2144468
>I'll give you numbers then, Number One.

>>2144468
Fine, I'll name you all
Gotta get that father/god train rolling now.

>>2144468
>screams coming from the sheet
Oh boy, this'll be good
>I'll give you numbers then, Number One.
We could do the KND thing and just name them numbers to make it faster and easier and save the "real names" for our special girls we have training in secret. Also coming up with a picture of who is what and how many clones are where would make it simpler to see. Because as of now, we have 3 groups, the clones guarding us, the clones our apprentice has, and the clones that we have kept in secret.

>>2144468
"Well it should be up to your mother. Um... apprentice, what's your name again?"

>>2144468
>Fine, I'll name you all. (I'll make a google doc with apperances and names if need be.)

>>2144496
Don't deflect Everything to"mother" or the clones might start seeking her out preemptively, but that's just my opinion.

>>2144515
Then just ask for the apprentices name and name them ourselves.

I vote we name them Beefy, Sneaky and <apprentices's name> 2.

How about calling the one that protects us Aegis?

File: 1464925796147.jpg (117 KB, 800x537)

117 KB JPG

>>2144512
>>Fine, I'll name you all. (I'll make a google doc with apperances and names if need be.)

Gotta make them see us as a father or figure to be respected. The thing that creates you already deserves your respect, but the one who names you becomes a constant reminder whenever you are called.

>>2144482
>>2144512
>>2144556
Awesome, I got the google doc up and running.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uUm95U6zCfmdO_e7yQ64jTTPQiNF8x5Yt0sX5fQi5AM/edit?usp=sharing
Name as you go along.

Elven Clone
Red and Black Haired clone
Perfect Clone
Albino Clone
Milky Eyed Clone
Younger Clone
Black Eyed, Red Skin Clone
Dark Skinned Clone
White Haired Clone
Grey Skinned Clone

I'll need to get some stuff done before I can continue, I'll be back soon.

>>2144578
Got a twitter or tumblr or something that we could use to follow when you make new threads?

>>2144589
I'm in the process of making it now.

@LichQM

>>2144598
Thanks steve.

>>2144578
Anyone else having problems opening the doc?

>>2144686
its invite only, I believe

>>2144578
Perfect: Aegis
Albino: Iko
Red and Black hair: Adara
Elven: Ella
Don't know about the rest.

>>2144751
>Dark Skinned Clone
Maple, like the delicious dark nectar that fuels our breakfast.

>>2144578
>Milky-eyed
Liliandra

>Younger
Elisiette

>White hair
Eva

>Grey skin
Astrid

>>2144751
>>2144785
>>2144797
Yes.

Also I think we should eventually tell our apprentice about the clones we have in secret just not now since they are her failure.

>>2144996
Eventually, but not until we've become stronger

>>2145454
Why stronger? Why not "until we are certain the mind mage and darkness eater are under our control and not a problem?" The real problem was the mind mage was using mind magic on our apprentice and showing that this is the sort of thing that happens if she doesn't run shit by us first is to our advantage.

>>2145580
Never have all of your eggs in once basket. The only person in this world you can always trust is yourself, so its best to be prepared before you leap.

>>2144751
>>2144785
>>2144797
"Aegis? Like ward?" Aegis asks. The others look to you, taking in their names. Aegis feels Iko's hand on her should and turns to face her.

"Aegis. I am Iko." Iko smiles and pulls Aegis in for a hug. Suddenly, you hear heavy stomps behind you. You turn to see your blacksmith smirking, his face black with soot. He kneels in front of you and places his hammer beneath you.

"It is done, my lord. When you are ready, I will be waiting within my new abode." The blacksmith grunts out, gripping his hammer again and rising. He looks to Aegis and looks her over, noticing her glowing attitude.

"What's with you, girly? Praised by your master?" The blacksmith laughs and places him hammer on his tool belt.

"Master names us. I am Aegis. Did Master name you?" Aegis steps forward, looking to you to name him.

"No," the blacksmith turns around and begins to walk out, "my mother gave me my father's name before being beheaded as a traitor. Not even a second out of the womb and already deprived of a mother's touch. Dominic is my name, blacksmithing is my game." Dominic walks into hallways without another word.
-------
The souls of the dead still echo through the halls as you stride into Dominic's quarters. Your armor stands in the middle of the room, dark and foreboding.

Though made of extremely strong material, it looks as slim as elven armor, its black sheen only broken by the strands of green light that slowly float within. Every so often the face of a soul trapped within the armor appears in agony, as if attempting let the outside world know of its entrapment, before fading away again. The iron accents feel ice cold, freezing the air around the armor. Dominic brings up an iron sword and attempts to bring it down upon the armor. The sword shatters, as though made of glass, upon impact. He chuckles and touches the air around it.

"I call it Hell Frost, for no mortal weapon may pierce the thick soulsteel made to create it. Only the weapons crafted by the gods may pierce it. But, I have a feeling that you will soon be a god as well. May it serve you well." Dominic bows and steps out of the way as you float towards the armor.

Now that your armor is out of the way, perhaps it is time to gather intelligence upon the upper world.

>Send a clone or two out to gather intel. Have one of them pose as adventurers looking for glory.
>The apprentice's chameleon clone can easily slip in and out of places of interest un detected. Let her scout things out.
>The blacksmith can easily just walk up to the outside world and buy materials under the guise of making horse shoes. Have him gather as much intel as he can.

>>2145890
>>The apprentice's chameleon clone can easily slip in and out of places of interest un detected. Let her scout things out.

>I don't trust the competence of our own clones at the moment. Plus this thing turns nearly invisible.

>>2145890
>The apprentice's chameleon clone can easily slip in and out of places of interest un detected. Let her scout things out.

>>2145890
>The apprentice's chameleon clone can easily slip in and out of places of interest un detected. Let her scout things out.
Let's see how a field test plays out.

>>2145944
>>2145994
>>2146011
I'm going to bed after this.
-------
As you call for the chameleon clone, you find that she is no where to be found. Your apprentice says that she saw her go into your chambers. Why she didn't stop her or even think to ask why she did so, the apprentice's eyes go blank as she shakes it off.

"Master, is there something you require?" She asks.

The mind mage.

You walk into your chambers to hear playful barking and the smug look of the mind mage as the chameleon and another clone act like dogs. She notices you walk in and snaps her fingers. The clones on the floor snap to attention and bow to you.

"Master, is there something you require of me?" She asks, snapping her fingers. A clone feeds her a grape and stares blankly into the distance. She looks at you and frowns. "Do not worry, I am still yours to command. However, as a mage of the mind, I was able to regain control of my senses, albeit rather slowly. Your magic not only tore away my will, but my ability to form thoughts on my own. As for these lesser beings, except for Lia, their minds are easy to control."

The other girl, Lia, is sleep upon the lap of another clone. She is curled up in a fetal position, her thumb stuck in her mouth. The mind mage quickly sits up straight and looks at you.

"Please, we still are yours to command... Just don't hurt Lia..." She trembles at the thought of you recasting your spells.

>Do not make me regret giving you this new freedom. But you do not control my minions.
>I will allow you to take these minions as your own, but they will still ultimately serve me.
>I won't hurt you, just erase all magical power from you and claim you as my thralls.

>>2146149
>Do not make me regret giving you this new freedom. But you do not control my minions.

>>2146164
This. although we don't want to stipend her power. A mind mage is a VERY useful thing indeed. Get the local leader, or a high ranking clergyman under her influence, and thus under ours, could help smooth the transition into our rule.

>>2146149
>exercising power for the sake of power is wasteful, release your sisters from your control lest your sense of fun soon turns to pain of 2 very different kinds

I do think that because she has potential we should deny her most luxuries and advanced training, make her fight for every scrap of knowledge and reward her accordingly for each milestone. maybe if we place a subtle but weak pain/headache spell on lia then leave a book out that details the symptoms and curing spell, if she cures her then great rewards aplenty but if not raise the severity slightly until she figures it out or it would kill lia. whatever comes first but she shouldn't know we did it.

if it worked for the rule of 2 sith, I'm pretty sure it would work here. but we really need to curb the amount of free spirits about this place or there is going to be trouble.

>>2146149
>Do not make me regret giving you this new freedom. But you do not control my minions.

> Make HER punish Lia. She has to choose what she thinks is appropriate punishment, but if we think it's insufficient then we'll punish Lia twice as much for both Marla's failures. Does she have a nme already? If not I like Marla. That was an ex of mine that played head games all the time.

She chose to be responsible for Lia. This is what she gets. Tell her we aren't punishing her, we're rewarding her by giving her this responsibility! Also making her "cut her own switch". We can then undercut her by saying she punished her too much if she does punish Lia satisfactorily.

> Let's work to give you your very own minions instead!

Let's kidnap and clone some people for her to mind control. If she can transplant the originals memories then we can place assassin's and spies into society.

>>2146333
> it worked for the rule of 2 sith

We already have the Apprentice.

We need to start putting people in defined boxes and limiting their responsibilities so we can get them to compete against each other indirectly.

Make them too specialized to work without the others though.

>>2146149
>>2146336

To clarify, regardless of how much she punishes Lia, we will either claim it was too harsh and comfort Lia, or too weak and punish Lia ourselves.

Gotta remain the gateway of punishment and reward.

This way Lia also sees Marla as being "responsible" for us having to punish her if she's too kind, or us as stepping in and protecting her from Marla's excessive punishment.

We make Marla more dependent on and feeling a debt towards Lia for having failed her, while in turn making Lia dependent on us.

>>2146339
by rule of two I meant that they produced a line of warriors and infiltrators who could kill most of their equivalents. but I agree conflict breeds innovation

so apprentice as the top dog[bitch if you prefer]

the clones are below that but drop hints that favour results in luxuries such as chocolate, bigger beds, favours and so on.

maybe even a table for them all to eat, we put them in an ascending order of import, give a proper visualisation of where you want to go without being daunting

>>2146344
I disagree, I think we should let their bond grow stronger, it gives us a sturdier rope to pull on if need be

and as a final thought, where is our phylactery?

I think domonic should make a big room that closes on the outside but physically impossible to open from the outside, put our phylactery and a few tomes in there and we will never have any trouble when we die

>>2146349
Let the bond grow, but only in one direction of Marla towards Lia. Lia we should focus on growing towards us. We should give her special training and privileges to share in turn with Marla to do so. Lia can directly hurt us, so we need to have her always choose us instead of Marla.

Everything has to always come back to us. That's what evil is all about.

>>2146359
> Only one phylactry

The work just keeps piling up.

>>2146349
Also the rule of two repeatedly ducks the Sith over as inter-fighting between subordinates results in the overall plans failing due to sabotage.

It's a terrible way to run subordinates.

>>2146349
It's a good idea for the top commanders to prevent power from accumulating, but within each operational division you want unity. That way they don't step on each other's toes.

Maybe have something like the different WH40K assassin's. A seduction/infiltration group, a mass murder assassination group, a specialized anti-mage group etc.

That way they can't screw things up by jockeying for position internally.

>>2145890
Is there a way to limit or control their powers? That's the highest priority.

>>2146149
>I won't hurt you, continue going behind my back and using your power on MY minions i will just erase all magical power from you keeping your minds alive keep them in enough pain to never break but enough for you to exist in only pain and claim you as my thralls or i could use you as batteries or some new test subjects

>>2146389
I think this is the best way, imposing ourselves as gods to the clones and each "genral" with the exception of the smith as a head of a cult or branch of our army.

but if the smith can work his magic on items, we want amulets or rings that make the wearer........"unimportant" people know they are there, but they think they are meant to be there and not worth a second look in.

for soldiers we need to be careful because if one dies and theier body is looted then fuck us our enemy now has great-teir armour with an enchantment......... maybe it explodes if worn by anything other than our two ladies and their clones? tracking magic? remote detonation? the possibilities amuse me greatly.

>>2146164
>>2146201
>>2146336
"Yes, Master, of course." she snaps her fingers and the clones stop whatever action they were doing. Lia huddles in a corner as soon as she awake and looks at you. The same eyes she gave you in the laboratory.

"It's God... Mia, it's God." Lia whimpers out. Mia calmly gets out of bed and walks to Lia. She caresses her hair and shushes her quietly. She smiles and closes her eyes.

"He's letting us live, Lia, don't worry. Just be a good girl and we'll be fine." Mia whispers into her ear.

You turn to the chameleon and give out your commands, it is time to gather information.
-------
"Master, the spy has returned. And, it would seem, she has brought you a present." The apprentice says. Sure enough, the chameleon scampers into the main hall, dragging a man in full plate. His armor is blue and white while an insignia that shows a hammer smiting a dragon. It looks like the chameleon had killed this man in combat as she too sports a number of battle wounds. The sword of this warrior still embedded within her leg, the sword piercing through it.

"Mother, I find man. He come from outside." The chameleon raggedly speaks, she is not dying but she is losing a lot of blood. The apprentice calls for her perfect clone to carry the chameleon to the clone's barracks. Aegis walks over to the man and touches his armor.

"Bad man still alive," she looks up at you and cocks her head, "kill bad man?"

Aegis does bring up a certain point, albeit a poorly worded point. If this man is a renown adventurer or, dark powers forbid, a nobleman of some worth, then something must be done. But, if he is a nobleman, then perhaps his information on the inner workings of the upper world and maybe even the noble courts, assuming he isn't just a knight.

And for some reason, something inside you is screaming for you to kill him before he awake.

>No, even if he is a nobleman, his disappearance will raise questions. Have Mia quietly wipe his mind of the fight and send him back up.
>This is our best chance at gathering intelligence, wake him and place in a secure location.
>This is my instincts yelling at me to kill him. If he is something that may put a wrench in my plans, he cannot be allowed to live.

>>2146678
Built in corruption magic combined with remote detonation sounds fun.

>>2146680
>information

then

>kill him

no mistakes, potentially rip the memories from him? if not interrogate, use our infamous skill with bodies and SQUEEZE answers out of him

>>2146680
Does he have anything special about him? Or is he just an average mortal meatbag?

>>2146680
>This is our best chance at gathering intelligence, wake him and place in a secure location.

Clone him first and stage an accidental death.

> Kill him after interrogating him

>>2146702
He has fancy expensive armor and heraldry, and fucked up the Chameleon.

Whom we should heal and reward the Apprentice for making a useful servant.

>>2146680
Create a perfect loyal clone of him and kill the original.
The Apprentice’s perfect clone has her memories, so she worked out the kinks of the memory transference runes. Put them to use.

>>2146680
Looks like it's time for the mind mage.

The only weapon that can get through our armor is a weapon made by a god. I have a feeling this guy is connected to a god.

>>2146822
Perhaps a paladin?

>>2146829
Wouldn't doubt it. One of the few things I want avoid a fight with at this point is the church.

>>2146689
>>2146757
>>2146799
After a few minutes of readying a room and tying him to a chain with your chains, he begins to wake. At first he is slow to realize what sort of danger he is it. Then he begins to pray, before screaming in agony as your chains tighten around his chest. You step from the shadows, your hand outstretched as you rub your thumb against his heraldry. He spits in your direction and then screams.

"Abomination! When my order finds that I am gone, they will bathe this place with holy fire. Your monstrosity will be exterminated and all evidence that you existed underneath Grand Minova will be purged!" He screams as he attempts to fight his way out of the chains. Every time he attempts to pray, the chains tighten till he stops.

"You are of the world above and I require information. If you do not give me what I want, your soul will not go to your god, but to me instead. Now then..." You begin to growl at this point as the chains tighten again. "Start from the beginning."
-------
"That's... That's all I know... Please... Let me die..." The paladin's soul has been ripped out and put back in so many times, that it barely resembles its original form. The paladin's head sways side to side as he whimpers at every sound of a chain. This is a lot to take in, but one thing in particular stood out to you.

>The kingdom above is in the midst of a reform after the king died. The people dislike the princess and want a political hero to take over. If things keep escalating, there will soon be a rebellion on the kingdom's hands. She is narcissistic in nature, mirror adorn every corner in her chambers.
>A plague has ravaged the kingdom, killing many of the civilians. Roving bands of bandits and deserters from the king's army attack any and all that have food. The army itself is too weak to deal with every threat at once.
>A war has most recently ended in victory for the kingdom. However, its armies are ravaged and the capital was under siege for a long time. The local guard has relied on militia members to protect their city.

>>2146861
Wait are we suppose to choose one?

>>2146861
>A plague has ravaged the kingdom, killing many of the civilians. Roving bands of bandits and deserters from the king's army attack any and all that have food. The army itself is too weak to deal with every threat at once.
It will be easy to be the “evil, but reasonable” overlord if we bring the bandits and deserters to heel, restore law and order, and distribute rations to the hungry.

Do it well enough, and the citizenry will fight on our side against the churches by their own volition.

>>2146880
Supporting.

>>2146880
considering that most of the population doesn't like the princess,this plan is good

>>2146861
No option to make him a anti paladin?

>>2146927
That not how it works.

>>2146880
>>2146884
>>2146908
My bad, I should have had choose one for those options. I apologize.
I'll squeeze them all together.
-------

The paladin cringes as you circle around him in thought. With the plague and the weakness of the army, this kingdom is easy pickings. Perhaps, with careful planning, you could easily take over. Your train of thought is cut short when the paladin begins to whimper loudly, scratching at his legs. His soul is coming apart at the seams and he will not last long.

"Adama, please save me... I-" The paladin's prayer is cut as he shivers once before he is silent. His soul has been obliterated, his body an empty husk now. The door opens as you see Aegis and Iko walking in.

"Master, what now? Mommy say that place scary above." Aegis warns, looking over at the body of the paladin.

"Apprentice also say she ready for orders. Mommy also want to talk to you." Iko says, placing her hand on Aegis' shoulder. Aegis looks back and quickly smiles, placing her hand on Iko's. The both then look to you and bows before walking out, leaving you alone with the corpse.

>Let us see what Miza wants of us. Maybe she has some useful information for us, assuming her mind isn't broken.
>The apprentice probably has something important for us to see. Let me go to her first and discuss our next course of action.
>If I concentrate hard and long enough, perhaps his mind can be squeezed for any remaining information. The others can wait, I need more information.

>>2147054
>Apprentice

>>2147054
>Let us see what Miza wants of us. Maybe she has some useful information for us, assuming her mind isn't broken.

>>2146861
>>A plague has ravaged the kingdom, killing many of the civilians. Roving bands of bandits and deserters from the king's army attack any and all that have food. The army itself is too weak to deal with every threat at once.


+paladin becomes our deathknight

>>2147059

>>2147054
>Let us see what Miza wants of us. Maybe she has some useful information for us, assuming her mind isn't broken.
>>2147087
What paladin? The one whose soul we just destroyed?

>>2147087
Are we at the level of power that we could create some kind of substitute soul?

>>2147087
>>2147176
Let's just use him for parts, make some buff clones.