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Evil Rising
Slow patting, the slow patting of feet walking along the polished floor of The Dark Tower; those small feet belonged to the grey minion Gnarl. He was walking toward the throne room of the Overlord to deliver the latest battle reports he was carrying in his hands. Out off all the overlords Gnarl has served under, the one who he was about to meet again was the most bizarre he had ever known, and probably the most terrifying. After the death of the pervious overlord, the minions scorched the land searching for a new overlord to take the mantel of evil; for the overlord had no children of his own to claim the title. After a countless search they came upon a young man living in the town of Nordberg. He was tall, pale, and skinny; but under the thin physic laid a dark presence of unnatural evil. Gnarl had never found evil so potent in one being before, in a human no less. The minions were drawn to the man like a moth to a flame imminently. Naturally Gnarl proposed, (rather forced), the offer of Overlord to the man, to which he accepted with uncanny grace.
After his arrival, instead of commanding minions to ravage the land and bring the whole of the world under his evil heel; he chose to recluse into the towers library and study the dark magic's of old overlords. Which surprised many, except the spawning master Mortis, he was never surprised. The strange act had caused extreme boredom amongst the minions especially forge master Giblet, who had no armor to craft. The overlord however remained in the library to study; he rarely left the library, only to consume on milk and hogsmeat. As expected this worried Gnarl, for the tower became silent and both him and the minions craved carnage. Until after eight months of unrelenting boredom, the overlord emerged from the library with a plan to set in motion. He began to experiment with the spawning pit; he gave certain minions more intelligence, able to create battle strategies and command other minions. The intelligent minions were called Blood Captains, created to lead battalions of minions in the overlord's place. Then the overlord sent them on raids across the land searching for dark artifacts. This puzzled Gnarl for even he was not informed by the overlord on why they were searching for simple artifacts when there was good killing to be done.
Then after another six months the overlord had gathered all the artifacts he needed for whatever he intended. Then another period of reclusiveness descended on the tower. The overlord locked himself in his private quarters and never came out. Strange chanting, sounds, and screams were herd from the room, and a reeking smell crept from the room, it smelled like the decayed flesh of the dead intensified with pain and sorrow. Even the Greens gagged whenever the passed by the room. All the minions were at a loss as to what the overlord was doing. Only Gnarl assumed that it was dark rituals, but for purposes he had no idea what for. Then finally one day, the overlord returned from the chamber, just not as a human.
What had become of the overlord was a ghastly sight even for Gnarl. The overlord had transformed into a tall, dark being that radiated evil and darkness. Its legs were almost that of a griffin, with knee joints pointing in opposite directions. It gave him a slender-like look, like he would always land on his feet. His body was a wide black chest and glowing red ribs were seen through the dark skin. The arms were long and bony, with claw like hands reaching his knees. But the head was a different story; it was long and tall with an elongated, alien-like skull. The eyes were pure bright red, with no hint of a soul in them. But covering the entire body was a coat of shadow-like smoke; it almost seemed as if it seeped from the pours of the monster's body. It gave the overlord a look of fear, the kind of fear that tells someone they are going to be killed and this creature will then consume their soul afterwards. Somehow through the use of dark magic the overlord had become a Shade.
Shades were powerful creatures of darkness once thought to be extinct. They lived in the shadows and seamed to be able to manipulate them to their purposes. They roamed the world for thousands of years, until a band of unlikely heroes destroyed almost their entire race and sent them to the Netherworld. The minions were frightened of the overlord's new appearance, even Gnarl, for he had not seen a Shade in over 1,000,000 years. But instead of attacking, the overlord spoke down to them in deep demonic voice; he told them that the only ones, who should be afraid, were enemies of the overlord's power. With that they cheered and began mobilizing, army's were spawned and the war chants began to fill the tower. The overlord was crafted armor specific to his new body. A special device about the armor was crafted to contain the shadow smoke that reeked from the overlord's skin. A specific button on the chest plate allowed the smoke to seep through the armor whenever the overlord wished to reside in darkness. The helmet was shaped for his head with metals infused with evil magic, the rune carvings on grew bright red as he put it on. Instead of the traditional overlord's amulet to be placed on a gantlet, it was placed in the center of the overlord's chest plate. The second the chest plate was put on, the amulet glowed with a ruby red flare. The rest of the armor was crafted to meet his body's needs.
When he emerged, the armor on him was imposing, yet agile so he could move around faster in battles. He spoke to his minions personally, telling them that he had been "reborn" and his new title was, Dominion. And he shall be referred as such from there on. When Dominion first sat on his throne Gnarl informed him of recent events. Although he had control over most of the major continents and a couple of islands, to the eastern, unclaimed continents, a new power was formed. The Imperium of Light, an alliance of many races formed to protect the innocent and bring justice to the guilty. Their main goal was to invade the western territories of the overlord and defeat him. Gnarl hastily advised that they must be destroyed to ensure that evil reign's supreme.
In only three weeks after Dominion had assumed his new form, The Imperium declared "holy war" on the Overlord and invaded his territory. They captured the surrounding islands and soon began launching troops to invade the coastline. Dominion imminently ordered legions of minions to defend the coast and sent ships to recapture the islands. Although the coast was guarded well, only two islands were recaptured by Dominions forces. Thus began a deadly tug of war between the two powers over the coast, the islands, and the sea. The area was given the nickname "Dead Sea". But that was all in the past, now Gnarl had reached the door of the overlord's throne room, and he prepared for the usual events that occur whenever he delivered battle reports.
As he entered guards dressed in armor saluted him as he passed, he simply ignored it for this was the response both he and the overlord received from them. Dominion was sitting in his throne as usual, eyes closed and darkness seeping from his daunting figure. You could barley make out any figure in all the blackness if it went for the red amulet in the center of his chest, illuminating his evil. Gnarl walked up right beside him and sat down on a chair behind a desk specifically built for these meetings. As he laid the reports on the desk, he picked up a pair of glasses and put them over his sharp nose. Although immortal, Gnarl had succumbed to one of the downsides of old age, eyesight problems. However these glasses had been most useful in prolonging the eventual blindness he would receive in quadrillion years or so. He ignited a lamp with the flick of his hand and began.
"Good evening my lord, how go's being lord of darkness and all that?" Dominion did not respond, Gnarl sighed and continued. It was not unusual for an overlord to not talk to him; in fact he did most of the talking for the entire empire! At least talking that was beyond the simple shouting of one word or an incoherent yell which only the minions could do. The only ones he could talk to were Mortis, but he isn't very talkative. Giblet, but he was too mischievous to hang around with, and Quaver the jester only sang poems. At least the Blood Captains could talk about conquests and battles, but other then that Gnarl was alone. Such is the price of evil he always says, although he always wondered why the overlords didn't talk much. It must be that they are always thinking of such important things that they can't speak over the amount of intense thinking. Or they could just be mutes, but those were just guesses.
"New reports from the Dead Sea, the Imperium forces have retaken the port city of Birth Harbor. Our spies tell us that they are confident that they will keep it until reinforcements arrive. I have already taken the liberty of sending seven battalions to the city. It is imperative that we crush their hopes and send fear into their superior's hearts." He stated. Dominion simply groaned in an uncaring manner. Gnarl continued on his reports. Simple trade booms, a squashed protest against the corrupted laws in Nordberg, more gold found in the slave mines, and new magic's discovered by Minion Sorcerers, (Blood Captains that became skilled in magic). After the report was done Gnarl left the desk and began walking toward the door. He turned around and said, "Good evening, my lord." Gnarl began to turn around when he herd a deep voice echo from the throne, it sent chills down his twisted spine.
"You are not dismissed, Gnarl."
Gnarl slowly turned around in shock at the overlord's statement. The overlord opened his intense red eyes upon a frightened servant. Dominion hadn't spoken since he first became a Shade, Gnarl had forgotten how frightening that voice of his was.
"My-my lord?" he stammered.
"Do not make me repeat myself, Gnarl. Come to my side." Dominion said slowly, rolling the words from his forsaken lips with explicit detail on each one. Gnarl slowly treaded toward the overlord's side with great hesitation.
"Tell me Gnarl, what time is it?" He coldly said.
"About an hour to midnight, my lord." Gnarl responded.
"Gnarl, inform Mortis that I want him to begin working on new projects of mine. He is to meet me here tomorrow."
"Yes, my lord."
"And I want more legions to be sent to the port town, tell the blood captains to toy with the Imperium forces until midnight."
"Of course, my lord."
"I sense your worried attitude on the war with the Imperium. Do not fear; for when midnight strikes I will rise from the darkness, as a great phoenix rises from the ashes. And then my master plan will begin, and you will have the chaos for which you have craved for. Now be gone." Dominion commanded. A wicked smile spread across the withered face of Gnarl as he left the throne room. Even as he was walking down the Tower he could feel a shift in the tone around. Evil was stirring again and the minions were sensing too. As he walked by a group of brows patrolling they looked at him and started to laugh evilly, Gnarl smiled even more. Quaver began to string up a tune.
"Ah the boredom of bore will forever be gone, for the overlord's power will rise again, and the Imperium will soon be done. And chaos will flow throughout the land, for the overlord has shaken destiny's cold hand." He sang.
Gnarl was rejoicing in the new surge of confidence. Finally something was going to be done; something big was going to happen. The wheels were in motion and they seemed to be increasing in speed. Finally evil will rise again, for evil always finds a way.