Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord I, II and any other mentioned games or trademarks. This is purely a work of non-profit fanfiction done for the enjoyment of myself and my readers.
The Hall of His Grandfather
Prologue
Once upon a time there was a glorious little empire where everyone was happy. Those that weren't happy were killed. Then one day, from the snowy, sleepy village of Nordberg the Overlord came! He scrapped that snowy little village off his boot heel! He crushed the elves of Everlight! He ground that glorious little empire into the ground and had the ashes poured down the outhouse!
Soon all the lands were under the yoke of the Overlord's cruel domination. Peasants died like flies as they slaved away for the glory of the Dark One. From the frozen coast of Nordberg to sunny shores of Everlight you could hear the land weep in despair. Domination, slavery, and tyranny ruled the day.
Ahhh… Good times.
The Overlord ruled over his lands with an iron fist, and he and his three mistresses lived together in err… harmony. But such dark times were not to last. From the sunny hills of Empire City there rose a rebellion. The Order of Radiance (bleh) had been biding its time, and when the moment came they struck out at the Overlord driving his minion forces from the land and even assaulting the Netherworld itself.
The Overlord…
*THUNK*
Gnarl glanced up at the crossbow bolt protruding from the wall space about his head, then turned his attention back to the furious battle raging in the throne room of the Netherworld Tower.
Well… That part is still being written.
xXxXx
Men and women in shining golden armour poured from glowing portals and clashed with the hordes of minions charging up to meet them. The battle was fierce with the minions charging over piles over their own dead in their hurry to kill for their master, and the warriors of the Radiant Order fighting desperately to keep the upper hand.
Alexandrous Helios, head of the Order of Radiance, raised his shield just in time to block a fireball flying at his head. With one swing of his mace he smashed into a nearby brown, sending the minion flying across the throne room. The backswing caught a green trying to backstab him, knocking the minion right out of the air. Another swipe sent a whole wave flying through the air, yet more and more minions poured out of secret tunnels in the alcoves.
Helios closed his eyes and drew deep inside himself. He reached deep into his heart and found the radiant golden light of his faith. Suddenly his body lit up like a lantern for a brief second, then a searing burst of golden light exploded from him. The light burned away the minions surrounding him, leaving nothing but ash floating in the air. For one brief moment, Helios could see the Overlord standing in front of his throne on the other side of the room. Without a second thought he charged forward, his mace swinging wildly in all directions as the minions attempted to stop him from reaching their master.
He stopped so fast his armoured boots threw up sparks; before him stood the Overlord in all his dark glory. The man was a monster in more ways than one. He was over seven feet tall and was covered head to toe in black armour. Malevolent golden eyes glared out of the shadows of his crowned helmet, and a gigantic flaming sword was clenched in his hand. Lighting arced from his outstretched hand, striking two Order acolytes who kneeled before him.
Slowly they rose to their feet and turned towards Helios. Their eyes were blank, devoid of any recognition. Helios felt a chill work down his spine. He had seen that look too many times in the eyes of those who had suffered the misfortune of having the Overlord pay personal attention to them. The same people who numbly hauled the bodies of their loved ones out of the depths of the Overlord's gold mines. The people who worked themselves to exhaustion day after day until they barely had the energy to crawl into a corner and die quietly. The poor souls who despaired of their endless toil, yet no longer possessed the ability to disobey.
The acolytes drew their swords, and charged him. Helios snapped out of his shock just in time to block a wild stab at his head. The other acolyte tried to take advantage of the opening but he wasn't fast enough. Helios's mace cracked open his skull.
"Peace be upon you," Helios whispered under his breath. He spun around in time to block another strike from the remaining acolyte. This one was far more skilled than his partner, and he furiously traded blows with Helios, striking at the man he once looked up to as leader.
"Praise the Overlord!" the Acolyte yelled tonelessly. He raised his sword to strike.
Helios never gave him the chance to finish. His mace smashed into the acolyte's knees, sending the young man crashing to the ground. In one smooth motion he followed up with a blow to the head. "Peace be upon you," he whispered again, and then the Overlord was upon him.
The Overlord's first blow was strong enough to send Helios skidding back. The second was enough to dent his shield, breaking his arm in the process. The third nearly missed him, but Helios was sure it would have been enough to cut him in half. The fourth strike was blocked, but the sheer power behind the blow was enough to send Helios's mace flying out of his hand and across the throne room, where it was quickly snatched up by a passing green and tossed out of Helios's reach. The fifth blow never came, instead a bust of lightning knocked him off his feat. A massive armoured boot slammed down on his chest, knocking the breath out of him. The Overlord said nothing as he raised his sword to deliver the killing blow.
"So this is how it ends," Helios thought. "All this time, all the hardship and tears. All for us to fail at the last stretch of the road." He saw the sword fall in slow motion. His life flashed before his eyes. He saw his mother's blank face as she emotionlessly pushed the dead body of their father aside so that she could continue working the bellows at the smelter that refined the gold for the Overlord's treasury. He saw the lines of starved slaves being led to the fields where the food was grown for the Overlord's table. He saw piles of corpses waiting to be burned at the flaming tar pits of Nordberg, which even now showed no signs of going out. "No." The thought came to his mind with all the force of a hammer blow. "This is not the end." The light of his faith rose in his chest without being commanded, and a great sense of purpose filled his mind. "This is not the end!"
The light burst from his body in a great shower of radiance that lit up the entire throne room, and sent the Overlord crashing to the ground. Alexandrous Helios rose to his feet, a glowing halo encircling him and a sword of pure golden light clenched in his hand. "Your reign ends here Overlord. No longer will you dominate this land."
The Overlord said nothing, but his glowing eyes narrowed. With one move he pushed himself to his feat and charged at Helios. Helios raised his sword to meet the attack, but this time he pushed aside the Overlord's flaming blade with ease. Strike after strike was effortlessly parried. Then he saw his opening. With a single fluid motion Helios brought his sword around and drove it through the Overlord's heart, piercing the armour like it was paper.
The Overlord's glowing eyes went wide, and he staged backwards, his hand clutching the wound. His chest heaved as he starred at his blood stained hand like he couldn't believe he had been wounded. Blood trickled down the black armour and began pooling on the floor. The giant man swayed drunkenly as the blood loss hit him, then for one brief moment his eye's locked with Helios. In that brief moment those eyes narrowed to slits in a look made of equal parts pure hate and fatal realization. He raised his hand and made a gesture.
The floor suddenly opened up beneath them and both Alexandrous Helios and the Overlord plunged to their doom in the fiery abyss of the Netherworld.
At that moment, the minions' morale broke. They would do anything for their Overlord: kill, pillage, even throw themselves to their death without a moment's hesitation. But with no Overlord to lead them, all their suicidal courage evaporated. With a great scream of panic, the massive horde of minions turned tail and fled.
Crassis Helios, brother of Alexandrous Helios and second in command of the Order, watched numbly as his brother vanished through the hole in the floor and the Overlord's minions scattered into the depths of the Netherworld. The surviving members of the Order of Radiance looked on with a sort of exhausted confusion, unsure if they should be celebrating their victory or mourning their leader. That was when Crassis saw it: his brother's mace. It was sitting off to the side of the throne room where the green had tossed it. He walked over, knelt down and picked up the discarded weapon. It was heavy in his hands, but he swung it over his shoulder anyway. "We're not done yet!" he bellowed. "The Overlord may be dead, but his supporters still live! Find that advisor of his: Gnarl! Find his mistresses! Make sure they are all dead! We can't have another Overlord rising to threaten all we've worked for!"
The surviving member quickly saluted their new leader and set to work on their grim task. The rise of the Order of Radiance had begun.
xXxXx
In a tiny hamlet on the edge of the wastelands, a farmer's five year old daughter woke up screaming. Her panicked parents woke in alarm, and were at her bedside in a flash.
"Ziva, what's wrong!" Her mother cried, as she grabbed her daughter's shoulders as if trying to shake her awake.
Ziva's eyes were wide open in shock, and her mouth moved soundlessly as her scream tapered off. She drew in a gasping breath and then spoke in a ghostly voice that seemed to come from somewhere beyond her.
Vessperion sits in his hall in the depths of the Infernal Abyss
He is lord over all that infernal realm
His throne is carved from one that is forgotten
His table is set with the finest of foods
His goblets are filled with the finest of wine
It is all born from the suffering of his enemies
The seat at his side lies empty
The guest has not yet arrived
It is reserved for the Lady of Roses
His first and only
"I'll get the cleric!" Ziva's father yelled, pausing only to shove on his boots before vanishing into the night. The mother nodded frantically, hugging her daughter to her chest. Ziva's eyes however stared straight ahead, and she continued speaking without acknowledgement of anything going on around her.
His son is seated at his right
Sayron, Witch Child of Nordberg
Overseer of the mines and fields where the damned toil eternally
Even in death his enemies will never be free of him
His mistresses sit at his side
Juno, Lady of the Empire
The doom of men the world over
Fay, Queen of the Elves
Fallen to darkness along with her kingdom
The last seat lies cold however
The guest has not yet arrived
It is reserved for the Women of Nordberg
Friend of the Witch Boy
First and foremost in his eyes
"Ziva!" her mother pleaded. "Please! What's wrong?" But the girl merely let out a horse gasp and continued to speak.
Hail Vessperion!
Slayer of the Seven
Master of the Damned
Overlord over all the Infernal Abyss
Long may the Overlords feast in his hall!
Hail Sayron!
Destroyer of the Devourer
Demon King of all Nordberg
Overlord and Overseer of those who shall never again know rest
Long will his enemies suffer
Ziva took one more gasping breath, and spoke the final verse.
The Cycle spins unhindered!
The next place has been set!
The Gnarled One will have his beginning!
A new Overlord arrives!
All that was heard in the small farmhouse was Ziva's horse breaths, then she blinked as if suddenly freed some sort of spell. Slowly her head turned to look at her frightened mother.
"M-mom?" she choked out. The ghostly tone was gone from her voice, replaced instead with that of a normal, frightened five year old. "W-what…?" and then she promptly vomited onto the dirt floor.
xXxXx
It was raining as two women in thick traveling cloaks made their way down rarely used muddy road that ran to Empire City. The elder, her red hair streaked with grey, walked ahead her head held high and her back straight. The younger didn't walk with the same regal dignity as her companion. But she was healthy and strong, her red hair was vibrant and she carried herself proudly, despite the fact she was clearly in the last stages of pregnancy. While the richly made clothes the two women wore would undoubtedly attract attention, no one would have been able to recognize them as former Mistress Rose, and Mistress Kelda.
"He's dead isn't he?" Kelda whispered, her hands ghosting over her swollen belly.
"Most likely," Rose answered curtly. "Considering the forces the Order sent against him, I'd say it's almost certain."
"You knew didn't you?" Kelda hissed back. "You knew the Order was going to attack the Netherworld."
"I did," the elder woman admitted after a pause.
"Why didn't you stop them then?" Kelda nearly shrieked back. "He's your son! You should have done something!"
"And what could I have done?" Rose answered calmly. "There are many forces wanting to bring down an Overlord, if not the Order of Radiance, than someone else would have risen instead."
Kelda's shoulders shook with a barely contained mixture of rage and grief. "Why did you take me with you, why not him?"
"Because he would never have gone with me," Rose answered simply. "Overlords, they're all the same; all evil, riches and power. What makes you think that my son of all people would have backed down when someone threatened to take everything he believes is rightfully his?"
Kelda took a deep breath and slowly nodded in grudging acceptance. The two women walked in silence for a while, watching the rain pour down around them.
"You know, I always knew he'd end up this way," Rose said suddenly. "No Overlord has ever lived long enough to die a natural death. They've all been exploded, decapitated, disintegrated, immolated, or had some other nasty thing done to them. One was even eaten by a giant weasel."
Kelda said nothing however, just stared straight at the road ahead.
"He was a lot like his father, come to think of it," Rose continued. "Always looking for the next big thing to fight and kill. Would you believe the man charged head first into a portal to the Infernal Abyss without a second though? Probably got himself eaten by some eldritch horror."
"Rose…" Kelda stopped suddenly, her eyes widening in alarm.
"Death and destruction everywhere he went! Couldn't leave well enough alone, always had to go making everything disorganized!"
"ROSE!" Kelda shrieked. "It's happening!"
Rose froze, her eye's darting to Kelda's swollen belly in realization. She quickly scanned the surrounding landscape. But the only shelter she could see in the rain was a small stable off to the side of the road. "Quick!" she said, placing her hand on Kelda's back to hurry the younger woman along. "We need to get inside before things progress further."
Kelda just nodded, her breath coming rapidly, as she allowed Rose to guide her to the shelter of the stables.
They barely made it in time. With a great heave, Rose pushed open the wooden door and Kelda barely had enough time to stagger inside and collapse on a pile of hay.
"You'll be okay," Rose soothed. "Of all the times and places for the child to be born…"
Thunder suddenly rumbled through the sky, and the rain fell down even harder.
xXxXx
It was sometime before midnight when the rain stopped, and the farmer ventured from his house to investigate the screams and cries coming from his stables.
Carefully, a wood axe clutched in his hand, he pushed open the door. The light from his lantern illuminated the small wooden building. A young woman was sprawled out on a pile of hay, exhausted and clutching a sleeping, new born baby wrapped in a spare cloak. An older woman stood to the side, watching the whole thing. As the door creaked open, she glanced his way.
"It was an emergency," was all she said in explanation.
The farmer, who had been expecting to find thieves, bandits, or the Overlord himself ransacking his stable, merely nodded. "No problem, just make sure you clear out by tomorrow." He carefully shut the door, and headed back to the farmhouse, very much relieved.
Kelda watched with a detached sort of acknowledgement as the stable door closed again. She shifted slightly, getting into a more comfortable position on the straw. The movement was enough to wake the child, with a slight crying hiccup he opened his eyes to look at his mother. Two glowing yellow eyes stared into Kelda's own green ones. She smiled and absently stroked the patch of red hair at the top of his head.
"Go back to sleep Braldur," she whispered.
xXxXx
Author's Note: So a late night replaying of Overlord II inspired me to begin this sequel of sorts.
Truth be told I have no idea if I'll ever finish this story. Regardless however I, like any writer worth their salt, would dearly love to hear feedback and critiques of both my writing and ideas.
Is everything clear? Do the events I have started in this chapter make sense? Is it something you'd continue reading if I kept writing. Was there anything about the ideas that you didn't like? Did I make any embarrassing grammatical mistakes that slipped through editing?