Aching all over from sleeping on the floor, Zephyr once again ventured into the Mellow Hills. He only noticed that a rather attractive shepherdess was waiting for him after summoning a full horde.
"My lord, now that you've gotten rid of Melvin, the sheep are flourishing! Take as many as you like, sire, their breeding faster than I can count um!" His lead minion looked over the field and could see that she was telling the truth.
AW! More sheepies!"
"That's right, little guy, more sheepies." The minion looked so much like an over-excited puppy that Zephyr couldn't help but start scratching him behind the ears. In a rare display of generosity, he willed his minions to have fun with the sheep. They rushed in and began the slaughter.
"Ya know, if not for all the blood and the fact that they have faces that look like the wrong end of a donkey. I'd say your little critters are rather cute, sire." Despite his better judgment, Zephyr couldn't help but agree with the shepherdess. He turned to say that very thing to her but was caught off guard by how attractive she was, so much so that it was noticeable.
"Oh, is that a pumpkin in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?"
"I think you know dam well which one it is." He then pulled her to him by her hip, earning a giggle from the cute little shepherdess. But moments before their lips touched, they were taken out of the moment by a truly horrible sound coming from the field. Turning to see what it was, they both wished they hadn't, as it seemed one of the brown minions was raping one of the sheep while some of the others cheered him on and waited for their turn. She then pulled away from him as fast as she could, straightening out her dress and trying not to look right at it.
"M-Maybe later, sire?"
"Ya, that kinda killed the mood for me to, got a name?"
"Harriet, my lord. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other flocks to tend to." To her credit, she did try not to look like she was running away as fast as possible. A rage like no other started to fill Zephyr, one that he was quick to take out on his minions. After a half-hour of beating the ever-loving shit out of his minions, killing one of the browns on accident, he made his way into the village. The fact that all of Spree seemed happy to see him helped his mood somewhat. He was there to take stalk of his new domain, what resources it could provide, that sort of thing. As he suspected from the beginning, Spree was only suitable for farming, and when he got to the west gate, he found it was not so good at that either.
"Careful! This is the only bit of farmland we've managed to save from the halflings."
"But the crops won't be ready for months. We'll have starved by then!"
"Halfing patrols are still out there, we've seen um go into this old workshop! Think they're keeping something in there."
"Thank you for the info, men. I'll investigate this immediately." Zephyr had the gate opened and moved out into the western fields. It indeed was in a sorry state, the barns looked like they hadn't been used in years, and the crops themselves were meager at best. Moving up the hill, Zephyr found a large smelter surrounded by singes of recent forging. It was clear that the little vermin were using this for their weapons.
"It's one of our smelters! Quickly, sire! The sooner we reclaim it, the sooner we can get you out of that rusty junk and into a proper set of armor."
"Now that is enough to really brighten my day, have at it, boy's!" With renewed gusto, the reds cleared the flames and helped the browns carry it. The day started to look up, he should have known it wasn't going to last. A Halfling raiding party was charging the gate; it looked like they were waiting for Zephyr to be too far away to help.
"Halflings! Close the gates!" They were able to close the gate in time to keep the vermin out and locking out Zephyr.
"Cowardly creaturs! Quick find another route, then decide what to do with these worthless peons!"
"Calm down, Gnarl! All I have to do is clear the pests, and they will open the gate again." He then ordered his minions to drop the smelter and fallow him into a charge. The reds pelted the halflings with fireballs, and the browns clobbered to death the ones that were not burning alive. When the last of the scum was cleared from the field, Zephyr walked up to the gate.
"Ok guys, the cost is clear open up." He waited for a few moments for the gate to open, but it never did.
"Real funny guys, but seriously open up." He waited for a few more moments, but still, it remained closed.
"As your overlord, I'm ordering you to open this gate, peasants!" He waited only a little while more before getting angry.
"If someone doesn't open up this gate in the next five seconds, the entire west guard is going to be executed!" Even with his ultimatum declared, the gate didn't open for him. Roaring in rage, Zephyr looked for another way around. He found many halflings on his way to the drawbridge; every one of them died by his hands personally. Soon he was out of vermin to kill, and with the way clear, he returned the smelter to the tower, following closely behind. The moment he arrived at the tower, he could see Gnarl was just gitty to have the smelter back.
"Your minions have opened the tower forge! The smelter is being taken there. Visit the forge dark one, and create weapons and armor truly worthy of an overlord!"
"An executioner's ax would be a fitting first weapon, to begin with, I think!" Zephyr said through gritted teeth as he and Gnarl traveled down to the forge. The moment they got there, Gnarl began babbling again.
"Ah, the forge sire! This place brought forth weapons that could slay troll kings and armor that could stop a dragon's breath. Giblet has been promoted to forge master, he will show you around. The smelter is heating, sire. Please fallow Giblet to the forging chamber." Zephyr followed the forge master as instructed, soon standing before the smelter in all its glory.
"Here, you can forge new weapons and armor or upgrade existing ones."
"I think I'll leave the forging to the forge master, in what way can you upgrade my weapons and armor?"
"The lives of your minions can be used to imbue items. The more you sacrifice, the more powerful the item! Cost and the maximum number of minions you can sacrifice are determined by item and material type. Don't get too carried away, sire, remember that minions are your deadliest weapons, never leave home without them!"
"I don't have enough minions to feel comfortable sacrificing them just yet. But I think I will have you reforge my steel armor and ax, improve it where you can." After an uncomfortable amount of time being naked in the forge, Giblet had finished reforging the steel armor and ax. Zephyr could feel that the armor was a better fit and that the ax had better weight distribution than before.
"Excellent work, Giblet! But I don't want you just lazing around down here waiting for me to order custom gear. You better keep up the good work by making armor and weapons for your fellow minions as well." The forge master gave him a proud salute before returning to work. Now with his gear reforged and fitted, he made his way back to Spree. The villagers could tell that he was furious and that blood was going to be spilled that day. The militiamen that he was hunting cowered behind Archy, seeming to be under the false presumption that he could save them.
"Out of my way, Archy, I'm only here for them."
"Now hold on, my lord. These men aren't soldiers; they just scared farmers doing their best. Surely you could show them some mercy?"
"Move out of my way, or you're as dead as the men behind you." Zephyr said in as cold and detached a way he possibly could, he was done playing nice with Spree, and they would learn to obey. With a large gulp, Archy considered his options and then stepped aside. With a clear firing line, the reds were willed to fire at the traitors, the smell of cooking human flesh as well as their screams filled the air. The rest of the militia became inraged by this and charged their overlord, weapons held high. What happened next wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter. Every member of the militia was hunted down and killed, and everyone who tried to help them or got in Zephyr's way was also cut down. The massacre stopped when he moved into the northern part of the village and spotted a scared peasant running into town.
"Castle Spree is under siege, it's burning! The demons... They came... They came out of the air! The lady, she told us to run. So I ran, and I never looked back, even when the screaming started. I don't know if the others made it out or not! I'm not going back there again!"
"Well, seeing as I just killed the entire militia for rebelling against me, I suppose I have to be the one to deal with that!" Zephyr grumbled to himself as he walked past the horrified villager. He genuinely thought that the day was going to go well for him, showed him for getting his hopes up.