The Four Lords of the Citadel are a group of characters created by Eventua. They've gone through a lot of revisions and versions, as has most of his stuff, and the setting they're part of has also changed a lot in that time. Originally without a consistent back story or proper purpose and plot line, their origins and nature have been properly decided, and they're planned for something quite big. Currently, a novel told from their perspective is underway, and general feedback is looking pretty good!
This page will mostly just look at general, hopefully non-spoilery tropes. There are no spoiler warnings because this really covers more basic/surface stuff, though certain setting concepts (silhouettes, the Enneagram etc.) will be spoiled with impunity.
Of note:
The characters do appear in published works - aside from appearances in various roleplays and forum games here on the site, various chapters and short vignettes/stories have been written about them and uploaded to Eventua's deviantART, located here: [1]
That said, those are currently unfinished - rather, a new novel, effectively an Origins Episode, is currently in the works. None of that has been uploaded, however.
For the Enneagram, its minions, and the work as a whole
- Back from the Dead: What with being clones of the recently deceased and all.
- Badass Family: The Four Lords are essentially all adopted siblings, and as silhouettes, they're all bad-ass. This same basic rule applies to all teams of silhouettes.
- Cyborg: All silhouettes are essentially the remains of human bodies, reconstructed and augmented by the Enneagram.
- Empathic Tool: Each carries an item/tool/weapon that has some relevance to themselves or their personality. In actuality, these are merely computer programs constructed to connect with them.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Mystidia is Melancholic, Iram is Choleric, Gaudium is Sanguine and Timora is Phlegmatic.
- Freudian Trio: The Enneagram is made of something called 'Id', a mindless, instinctive bio-mechanical material that absorbs physical matter before taking on a similar form: including that of machines or living organisms. 'Super Ego' refers to the over-arching, incomprehensible intellect of the Enneagram. And the 'Ego'? Well, the Ego has choice, and so when the Id becomes human...
- Genius Loci: The Enneagram comprehends and interacts with humans in the form of a massive, shifting fortress of white light and steel called 'The Citadel'. As a result, it can merge or split walls and doors and floors in all sorts of ways. Which also results in...
- Gratuitous Latin: All of their names are in Latin, as silhouettes.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Silhouettes - half human, half Id.
- Meaningful Rename: All individuals receive one on becoming a silhouette.
- Mon: The lesser silhouettes, which serve the Citadel (and by extension, the Lords).
- Red Shirt Army: The lesser silhouettes, though they partially avert this in that they're actually really, really effective against most mundane foes. The problem lies with the sheer number of threats they face, and when it comes to dealing with humans and human silhouettes.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Mystidia & Gaudium are almost complete opposites. Same thing for Iram & Timora.
Mystidia, First Lord of Order
Leader of the Four Lords as well as The Smart Girl, Mystidia is the Melancholic one, and is a pessimistic, introverted individual with a penchant for literature and puzzles. She dislikes conflict and violence, preferring to solve problems through talking about it and rationality. Do not assume she is weak, however - far from it. A proficient business woman and the inheritor of a vast fortune before she 'died' and awoke to become a silhouette, she knows her way around a contract. A capable leader when it comes to objectives, she is skilled at coordinating the abilities of others - she's just not quite so great when it comes to everything else.
Tropes that apply to her:
- Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Let's just say that her female 'role models' growing up were either non-existent or not exactly very interesting or pleasant people. As a result, her main role-model was her very masculine and cold-hearted father...
Iram, Second Lord of Progress
Second-in-command, Iram is the Choleric one. A thug, he's got some serious anger management issues and is kind of loud. Violent and strong-willed, he regularly treads the ground of being a villain and is almost constantly butting heads with Mystidia because of it, but more often then not he's just arrogant and bored. The Enneagram gave him tremendous 'physical' power, but he's still getting used to this whole teamwork business.
All that said, he has his good points: he's intensely loyal and honest, almost to a fault, and on the rare occasion when he makes a promise, he WILL keep it, guaranteed. He's also decisive and quick thinking, and a lot smarter than he looks. It's just a question of finding some sort of positive expression for all that anger...
Tropes that apply to him:
- All Chinese People Know Kung-Fu: Averted. While he's a melee fighter, he's much more about power over skill and hasn't had any formal training. In fact, the one time he takes on an actual martial artist, he gets thoroughly crushed.
- Badass Normal: By far the most badass of them pre-silhouette, and the one who possesses the least 'fancy' abilities.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Don't hurt his family. Seriously, just don't.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Well, he wears a jacket, but a shirt is rarely seen.
Gaudium, Third Lord of Fun
The Big Guy of the group with the widest variety of Elemental Powers, Gaudium is the Sanguine one, and is a laid-back, happy go lucky kind of fellow with an... 'interesting' view of the world. He's quite charming and means well, but he talks A LOT and isn't particularly bright. An, ahem, 'airhead', if you will.
Of note, he's also the only one of the group whose life has been fairly comfortable from the very beginning - the others all have a Dark and Troubled Past of some description - whereas he's never had many troubles. As a result, he can sometimes come across as uncaring or hedonistic at the expense of others.
Tropes that apply to him:
- Confusion Fu: A trait he shares with Mystidia, though his focuses on confusing movements rather than techniques.
- Instrument of Murder: His 'weapon' is a complicated 12 string-guitar.
- Teleporters and Transporters: Or as he puts it:"I'mma clap my hands and WOOSH, away I go!"
Timora, Fourth Lord of Peace
The one who helps prevent the others from killing each other. Timora possesses cripplingly low self-esteem and is terrible in social situations - unlike Mystidia, who simply tolerates them, Timora finds herself unable to cope with them very well at all: she suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder. And unfortunately, her society during life was not very welcoming to such a condition.
Ultimately, she has great potential and is the most 'heroic' of the group, but her various weaknesses make this... difficult. Also goes a bit weird around ice-cream.
Tropes that apply to her:
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's friendly, soft spoken, nonconfrontational and a bit of a wimp. And if you try to hurt her family, she'll crush you.
- Magic Wand: Her 'weapon'.
- The Medic: Unique in that she can repair corrupted data, making her effective at curing 'injuries'.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Her power is actually far beyond that of the other three, but she lacks the willpower or skill to use it fully.
- Sassy Black Woman: No. That said, she can be rather snarky in the privacy of her mind.
- Verbal Tic: He-her st-st-stutter...!
