Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/tv-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.
Chapter 01
Wind blew through a small valley, with thick mists surrounding the lone hill at the middle of it, the broken ruins of an old tower the only thing truly standing out from the landscape. Dark clouds covered the skies above, the hilly terrain cloaked in mist and the cool dampness in the air giving a chill to any that might have roamed through the grounds.
Within the ruined tower a lone figure lay on the cold stone floor within what may have once been a throne room. The young man seemed just out of his twenties, with short black hair and a fair skin. His black jeans and a dark t-shirt seemed unfit for his surroundings, his bare feet dirty, and his eyes still shut with an arm under his head as a pillow.
Nick yawned faintly while the coolness in the air forced him to wake up, stretching out on the floor before realizing something was different this morning. He was not laying on his bed, but in a place that seemed more suited for a movie scene of some sort. The raised platform had a stone throne resting on it. The pillars along the sides of the room rising high towards the roof, the balconies that they supported overlooking the main walkway through the room before the throne, and the lowered pool at the other end before a balcony overlooking the valley itself.
There were large chunks of stone missing from the walls, the roof, the ground itself torn up and a head-sized chunk of the throne missing at the top. Stains on the ground showed the place had been a mess for a while already, and the stairs down seemed partially blocked by rubble, and the two staircases upwards seemed to be completely blocked off by debris that had fallen down them. So in order to get a better view of his surroundings, Nick chose to make his way to the open-air balcony at the end of the room, walking around the round pool set just before the balcony, to gaze out at the misty valley itself.
"This is surreal." He shook his head and felt the chill rise up along his spine. He was definitely awake, the wind blowing through his hair and pressing the black t-shirt tighter to his chest. The fiery pentagram with flames rising from it that was marked on his shirt seemed ironically suiting the surroundings, this was a bit too eerie, seeming perfectly suited for a horror story or something similar. Yet he wasn't hearing any angry snarling or approaching footsteps or rattling chains.
Indeed it seemed like the only thing he heard was the wind. There were no other sounds there for him to notice, leading him to suspect he was alone, for now at least. While it was relieving on one hand, it was also a little concerning on another. He was hardly dressed to deal with the cool weather, and even if he was, he had not really been a scout and thus know how to forage for food. Frankly, the thought his chances of finding something edible that didn't poison him were along the same lines as a snowball's chance in hell.
As he was wondering about things and thinking about where he might find some people, there was a strange glow behind him in the pool. Turning around to look back at the waters, he saw the once murky waters had changed slightly, showing a clear, illuminated image of a grassy hill with a town in the distance beyond the hill, but partially in view.
"Well, that's handy. I just have to find a way to get there, and something to defend myself with." The place looked rural and resembled something straight out of a fantasy story, and he had a feeling he should arm himself to give the image he wasn't someone to intimidate. His shirt might make him seem a bit sinister but he had little else he could change into either.
As he was thinking about these things, the waters became murky again, instead showing one of the partially blocked staircases down, then shifting to show a large forge-chamber, as well as an armory with many broken down shelves but a handful of stuff remained behind. Perhaps he could make use of it. The portal seemed to react to what he needed, and show it to him. It was certainly useful, but he was not entirely sure what to think of it just yet.
Moving to clear the way down by moving some of the rubble out of the way, and trying to move between the mess, Nick made his way down that staircase. There was less light to guide his way further down, but a few larger cracks in the wall and a broken old window ahead in the distance gave him a beacon to head towards despite the bit of distance to cover in a thicker blanket of darkness.
He stumbled a couple of times in that hallway, before he reached that window, having a view of the misty grounds beneath. The light of the window and the cracks illuminated a doorway leading down a few steps to the armory, as well as the old forge. There were torches mounted on the walls there giving the room some light, but he wondered how the torches there could be lit when none of the others seemed to give light.
Stepping closer, he found the torches themselves to be made of steel, thick rods with gold-shaded tips giving out flames that lit the room up, so he considered it briefly and figured they were simply enchanted. The pool seemed to have magic in it, and so did these torches. Pity they were securely mounted on the walls or he would have made use of them to explore more. Perhaps that was why the other places were so dark though, if the torches weren't so well secured and still carried a similar enchantment, they might have been worth stealing.
Turning his attention to the trashed armory, Nick looked around for something usable. A single, old steel mace was left laying around, dented and somewhat dirty with what may have been dried blood, it was hardly an imposing weapon to carry but better than nothing he thought to himself. There was also a wooden mannequin carrying on it a suit of armor, a set of steel plates and metal links joining them together, with a padding of leather and cloth beneath to secure it close to a body without chaffing constantly. It seemed a little big for him, and seemed made for a stronger man. There was a helmet resting atop the mannequin's head with a pair of horns to it, and a pair of slits for the eyes.
Nick thought about it a moment feeling somewhat wary of putting on something like that, but given the dangers this place might bring with it, a suit of armor and a weapon to go with it might just be what it took to keep himself alive. So, he began to open the armor's straps to loosen it, in order to don it and then tighten it on his form as well as he could. The helmet and the heavy mace would finish the look.
Stepping back out of the armory and looking around, Nick wondered about heading downstairs to the darkness to try and find a way to get out of the tower and explore the surroundings, but he figured he should first give a new look at the pool of water upstairs, and see if he could get directions to the small town from the waters somehow. With his luck, he'd only get completely lost if he set out on his own. This decided, he made his way back to the staircase to begin ascending back to the 'throne room', despite the rubble he was now trying to cross through in a heavy suit of metal armor, finding his progress a lot slower at first.
Yet as he stepped into the throne-room and before the pool, he was greeted by a shimmer in the waters, and a look of the hills and the town beyond them. He gazed upon them and thought about wanting to find the easiest way there, only to see his own mirror image, but on the move, stepping into the waters and vanishing. It was odd, and he hesitated a bit about following these instructions, but he followed them nonetheless, and as the image of the hillside and the town returned, he stepped to the shining waters.
Hills near the Town
The step into the waters had made him feel warm through his whole form, the armor feel lighter on his body, his grasp on the mace starting to feel more natural, and the feeling of being refreshed running through him. Looking around, he saw a set of five black pillars rising towards the sky, twice as tall as him, and shaped like claws rising from the ground, around a stone circle with eldritch runes carved upon its surface, a bit higher than the ground around it. He felt a power flowing through him as he still stood on the stone, but stepping off of it that rush ended.
He felt a lot better than he had when still waking up, and strong enough to move in the armor without a problem now, but he was no longer being refreshed and warmed constantly as he had been while standing on the stone. Nonetheless, he had things to do and answers could wait for a short while. The pool with its visions and teleportation, the armory with its still illuminated torches, the armor's lightness after he reached his destination, and the way it seemed to fit him better once he finished the step through, all of it was a complex tangle of improbable events that had taken place in a short while. Trying to think on all of it would just give him a headache, so he just went along with it.
As he looked around he saw a pair of paths leading down from the hilltop, one of them towards a nearby stream with fresh water running fast through a fairly deep riverbed, and another leading to a grassy field with several sheep bleating and going about there. They seemed to be watched over by an old ram that was eyeing him warily even as he surveyed his surroundings.
The bleating was the only real noise going on nearby, and there were no signs of the town visible from where he was standing. Frankly, the noise was starting to get a little irritating. Stepping along towards the stream to look around, Nick could see the remains of an old wooden bridge nearby, the wooden supports still showing from the stream, but the bridge itself was gone, just a bit of its ends remaining on both shores, the middle section completely gone, leaving that route blocked, at least for now.
Following the stream higher brought him to a stony cliff-side where the water was pouring out of a large hole in the wall near the top of the cliff, and moving downstream he could see a few larger boulders along the riverside come to block the easy path at least. Yet he could see stone bridge further off to the distance. it just meant having to go past the annoying sheep.
Shrugging his shoulders and returning to the clearing with the stone pillars, Nick headed downhill where the sheep were roaming, only to hear the snort of the ram as it glared at him, and then charge. Obviously it didn't like him, and Nick could tell it wasn't going to listen to reason, or even allow him to step back. So he swung the mace at its head as it closed in, and watched in surprise as the power of the blow knocked the sheep off its feet and slamming to the side with its skull caved in. Casting a look at the mace and then the ram's bloody skull, the young man felt a little strange.
It wasn't like he regretted killing the dumb animal. It was more like he felt its death empowered him slightly. The other sheep were now bleating in panic, and the sheer noise was hurting his ears. Damn annoying beasts. He raised the mace again, moving from a fleeing sheep to another, clubbing them to the death with the steel mace, only finishing the short rampage when the whole herd was dead. Granted, there hadn't been more than roughly twenty sheep there, but he wasn't usually that violent, in fact, he had never really been a violent person. Sure he defended himself, but this was just plain cruel behavior. Yet he hadn't cared, in that moment the fact had been they were annoying, and that sealed their fate.
Casting a look at his armor, he saw some blood splatters on it but more obvious thing for him to notice was that the left arm's gauntlet had a small gemstone embedded in it between his wrist and elbow, and it was shining with a bit of light to it now feeling charged up somehow. Yet he felt more power in the air somewhere beyond. Continuing along past the butchered sheep, Nick made his way across a small path between smaller hills, returning to another section of the stream soon enough, finding an older stone bridge there that had obviously seen some use in the past but was mostly left alone. The only markings on the dirt around it was the hoofmarks from the sheep it seemed.
Moving across the bridge and looking around, Nick could see a bit of smoke in the distance, a taller, familiar hill a bit ahead. He had seen it in the waters before, knowing that the town would not be too far past it anymore, but he still had some territory to cover by walking. A large field of wheat was growing nearby, along the side of the hill, and he could see a farmstead not too far away. Perhaps the farmer there let their sheeps grace across the river? It seemed unlikely as he hadn't seen any footsteps from actual people near the bridge, but the building looked to be in a better shape and he doubted it was abandoned at least.
As Nick approached, he could see a raised, crude pedestal holding a large crystal orb above them, shining onto the crops around it on the fields, the orb being wider than his chest in its diameter. It seemed to be radiating magic of some sort, and the fields seemed far richer the plants a lot taller and healthier near it. Yet he felt affronted it was being used this way, and he just knew it was meant for a far greater purpose.
Walking towards the farmstead and the orb, he saw the door open and a man wearing thick animal skins and carrying a pitchfork, staring at him angrily. "You! You aren't taking my magic thingamajing, that thing is my thingy! You won't take my thingy, no sir no, Bob's found it and Bob's keeping it, now you take your shiny metal butt back where you came from and turn around or I'll stab you! I swear I will, the pumpkins already know and you'll be next!"
The man was insane, that much was clear, but Nick growled in anger feeling this bastard was getting in the way and trying to keep him from taking what was rightfully his. He stepped closer, and saw the farmer take a step back in turn, before the crazed man drew a breath and let out a high-pitched, girly scream while charging ahead. As far as war-cries went, this was a pitiful one. Swinging the mace twice, Nick shattered the pitchfork with the first blow, leaving the man holding the sharp wooden stick in his hands still, the return blow the other way smacking the man's jaw with sufficient force to send teeth flying and slam the man around to the ground.
While Bob was spitting his teeth out and trying to get back up on his knees and to his feet, Nick raised the mace above his head and swung it down with vengeance. Blood splattering around him didn't disturb him at all, despite the fact he knew he would have been screaming at something like this in the past. He simply accepted it as a necessity, the man was crazy and didn't have any real reason to him. Bob got in his way and paid for it with his life, the poor farmer was a fool and that cost him his life. Simple facts.
Gazing at the orb and wondering how on earth he was going to get it back to the tower, he was surprised to see it shine when he came closer, and when he was close enough to touch it with his gauntleted hand a shine emerged from its surface, showing a somewhat feminine, if pale face floating in smoke within its surface it seemed.
"Greetings, Overlord, it is a great relief to see that Evil has found a way to return. I am Myst, the spirit of the Tower Heart, and your humble guide. I could sense that someone had found their way into the tower with promise, and hoped you would find me to let me return to my rightful place. I helped guide you by the visions in the water, but my powers over a distance like this are limited, so I could only bring you to the portal closest to myself. I ask you to return to the portal, I am able to have my form float after you as long as you do not get too far away. You will need minions to do your bidding in the future though."
Nick blinked while listening to the feminine voice speaking to him. He hadn't said a word when Bob accused him, and he hadn't said a word when he saw the face appear in the large orb. Part of him was still unsure what to think about things, and another acted as was natural to him right now. Moving ahead and recovering the tower heart, as well as getting rid of the annoying sheep had been a natural part of things.
"Come then, I have a lot of questions for you but we should take care of that in a safer place." He looked at the Tower Heart, seeing it begin to float and follow after him, a little slow but moving by its own power at least. He turned to return home, waiting for the orb at a few points as they progressed at a lazy pace, but given the orb was levitating itself by magic it was probably the most he could ask for. Nonetheless, it took an exceedingly long, boring while for them to reach the black stone pillars and the platform. The moment the orb reached the platform it slowly touched down and vanished. Following it on the platform, Nick had a vision of the tower in his mind's eye, and stepping ahead he found himself vanishing.
His surroundings were replaced by a thin fog for a second that dissipated quickly, one of his feet still in the waters of the pool another on the steps to the throne room. Moving ahead a few more steps to the floor's level, Nick turned around to look at the now shining waters, feeling the magic within the pool grow stronger by several orders of magnitude.
Merely stepping close to the water let him feel the amount of power radiating from the pool now, and it was invigorating. He had a feeling if he had to fight someone in this throne room he would be impossible to kill as long as the heart could keep pouring more rejuvenating powers into him, but as the power radiated through him he also felt himself move like the armor was natural part of him, light as a feather on his form, and sitting perfectly on his figure.
He was taller, his eyesight was sharper, and his body felt solid, strong and fit with the powers coursing through him. His mind was altered to a degree, he no longer reacted with horror to the thought of slaughter around him, as long as he saw the necessity for it at least. He didn't feel any sadistic urges towards any living creatures though, nor a need to plot world domination and laugh sinisterily. He had a feeling that becoming an Overlord turned him a touch more to the 'grey' side than the true 'dark side', but he wasn't going to be any champion of light with the powers he had received.
"So. I have questions, and I hope you have some answers. First off, where is this place, second, why me? Continuing from there I want you to tell me about this tower, its in ruins but I feel its important for some reason, and lastly, I want to know what you meant about those minions."
It was quite a list of questions to start with, but the mask-like feminine face appeared floating above the waters now, a ghostly presence speaking with a gentle feminine voice while answering him in a relaxed fashion, subservient and perfectly willing to please it seemed.
"You are in the Valley of the Mists, on the continent of Aethos, in the world of Domincal. You are perhaps not aware of it, but there are people who can walk between worlds. One of your ancestors was one, a distant relative to the Overlord in these lands who passed away a long time ago. When the new Overlord was needed, the call went out but few here have the power and the disposition to take up the mantle, so the power sought further, and found one with innate power. It found you. So it brought you here to take up the mantle, or refuse it."
It seemed like she waited for him to answer now if he wanted to back out of things. He merely waited, arms crossed the mace hanging off a link on his belt, his expression steely behind the helmet he wore while gazing at the floating mask. Its expression changed slightly, to a smile, as the feminine voice continued to speak after a moment had passed.
"The tower is part of your inheritance, a place of power where the lands themselves feed raw mana to the Tower Heart, allowing you to control magics vastly superior to the inner magic of some poor spellcasters trying to make a name for themselves in these lands. The place is in ruins because when your predecessor was killed, a long time ago, the heroes that did so looted the place and tried to prevent another Overlord from rising to take the dead one's place. Their efforts worked, to a certain degree, but it has affected the world in several ways as well."
Taking a deep breath it seemed, the mask seemed almost reluctant to get on with the last topic on the list of questions he had presented. The minions. He was curious to learn about them, but at the same time a little wary because the word seemed to carry a certain feel to it. Something which made him wonder why he felt a light chill down his spine thinking on it.
"The minions are traditionally the Overlord's servants, his warriors and assassins, his weapons and tools. They are loyal, willing to die for their master, and spawned from the life-force taken from other creatures. You have gathered some already, by slaying the lesser creatures, the sheep, and storing their life energy within the gauntlet by passing close enough to draw it from their recently slain figures. The minions can likewise grasp this life energy and bring it back to you, as well as they can find and bring you gold in some circumstances. They are always ready to loot and pillage at your command."
That didn't sound that bad. They seemed like helpful creatures living to please him. He figured some people would throw a fit on the idea of someone making other creatures serve him or her like that, blindly devoted, but if he was giving them life and they found happiness in his service, he wasn't going to throw that away.
"Unfortunately, the former minions are gone, destroyed by the heroes along with their minion hives, the eldritch creations spawning them into this world when life force was provided. It means a new one will have to be created, but it will take some time to fashion them. The simplest one used to be the 'Brown Minion' hive, which provided the old Overlord with his warriors and laborers. They're strong and tough sort, but not very bright."
Thinking on the words seriously and nodding his head slightly, Nick considered what he had heard. The minions would be useful, but he needed to gather life source to create some in his service. It seemed a lot of the things that had once served the earlier Overlords were now gone, but if new ones could be fashioned it would perhaps allow him to make things more suitable for his tastes.
"Do I need to go out and hunt for something to help create a hive then?" His question was met with a puzzled look by the mask, which then shook slightly sideways as if shaking its head, the feminine voice speaking gently in reply.
"Nothing but a little time and magic here, as I said the first hive is the easiest one to create, as it will be a relatively simple one. The warriors and laborers are supposed to help make things easier for the Overlord, and the more complex varieties can be brought forth when the sufficient materials have been recovered somewhere. For now, I'd ask you to focus on your gauntlet, and thinking of the life-force in it moving to the waters to help fuel the creation. It will consume a fair amount of the life-force, but should allow you to have your first minions as well. In the meanwhile, are there any particular wishes you might have about them? The earlier Overlords didn't much care, preferring the simple 'scary and mean' look to them, with big expressive ears as well as yellow eyes burning with malice and evil glee, as well as teeth to rip flesh apart if otherwise unarmed."
That was a good question. He admit he thought that such minions might inspire some fear, despite the fact the image he saw wasn't that tall the figure showing in the waters looking more comical in a fashion than truly scary, but yet he wasn't sure if he should alter it. At one hand, it would probably be 'traditional' to stick with the old looks, but on another, if he could shape the minions any way he saw fit, he might alter them to suit his tastes.
"What limits are there for their shape though?" His question was brief, and received a brief reply in turn. "They are going to be shorter than you, and the life-force affects their coloration, it has to do with the fact they're created by mana and life-force rather than truly born into this world."
Nodding his head slightly, Nick made up his mind. He had an idea he'd try out then, if it did not work out as he had planned, then he'd just live with the results he got, but he wanted to change things around a little way even if the limitations didn't let him go as far as he had thought he might go, if things had been different.
"Then make them as tall as you can within those limitations, give them a strong build as they are warriors and laborers as you said, but draw on the image in my mind for inspiration to how to shape them." He focused his thoughts on a short, originally green skinned figure which he altered on his mind to take up a beige skin colour, with short but sharp-tipped 'dagger ears', as well as short black hair atop their heads. The figures humanoid, with a bit of muscle to their limbs obviously, but also taking a feminine build of a few bits of curve to their figure. The term 'goblin' entered his mind, but he just called them his minions.
"It is acceptable. I shall begin creating the hive with the life force and mana as soon as you release the power into the pool, and you should have your first minions by the coming down. The tower may be ransacked and ruined, but now that the tower heart is here there should be a guiding light to show you a way to a room that in a better shape, not untouched but suitable for resting in until we can begin to restore this place."
Nick nod his head, and then focused, the life-force pouring out of the gauntlet like a bit of water flowing upwards, forming a glowing yellow ball that then floated over to the waters and dropped into them, the shining intensifying and then shifting, with floating arcane sigils seeming to appear in the air, twisting and turning, text and lines altering in real time, seeming to be adjusting for the purposes of whatever was coming. Other lines began to glow in the air, power humming and thrumming as the process was started. The land quaked lightly, the immense power of the creation process holding Nick in place for a moment, just staring.
It was curious to witness for a while, but its novelty began to fade soon enough and he felt tired already. So making his way to the now partially lit corridors blocked in parts by the rubble, he found his way to the room he had been told about, and moved to lay down on a rough bed with the old mattress torn but serviceable for now, as he had been told. The armor and helmet set aside before he got to bed, but the club laid down to rest against the bed's side, in arm's reach as he lay down to sleep.
One day of changes was coming to an end, but there would be many others to face soon enough.
End of Chapter
A/N: Starting a story is the hardest part sometimes. Once it sets in motion it is easier to carry on and keep creating more content, but the beginning may stump a person from time to time, a struggle to find the right way to step into the middle of things. I took a few different tries and ideas with this, but settled on the approach I took because it felt like it worked for me.
I am drawing inspiration from gothicjedi666 and several others who have written fine stories with Overlord and other games/books/animes/tv-shows, but I hope to create a story that I would enjoy reading again later, and that others might enjoy as well.
This will begin as a mainly Overlord story, but I am considering the potential for cross-over events later on, but those shouldn't play any large role for the first 10-20 chapters at least. Its a long term possibility, not something I plan to indulge on from the very beginning.
Lastly, on the brown minions, or 'goblins' he is creating? I was thinking along the lines of World of Warcraft's goblins, only a bit more beige shaded in their skin, and feminine in their build though still strong. I considered between keeping the traditional sort of minions or having the character do such an alteration, but given he asked about and there was a choice, I went with it.