"Speech"

'Thinking'

"Spell"

Since none of his former teammates had accepted his request to join him during the final moments of the game that they had all enjoyed together, and having little desire to invite players from other guilds to share in his loneliness, not that he expected them to accept his offer since his guild enjoyed a level of notoriety that was only surpassed by the similarly evil guild of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Canadian born player had decided to spend the last minutes of YGGDRASIL by lounging in his guild's throne room and watching his NPCs show off their impressive abilities by dueling each other.

While the rules of the game had ensured that players couldn't inflict harm on fellow guild members or teammates, the rules governing the combat characteristics of the customized NPCs werent quite as limited, for while a player could receive damage from an allied NPC, this was only possible if that NPC had fallen under the control of another player, or if the NPC had been ordered to attack so a player could gain combat experience. However, thanks to a mistake in the game's original programming, which had never been fixed due to player's liking the idea, an NPC was fully capable of inflicting damage on an allied NPC, and had been a cheaper, if time consuming process of raising an NPC's level to the maximum amount.

Given that he was a member of a guild that required one to have a paying job before gaining membership, and the fact that he was single which meant that the librarian could devote a good portion of his salary towards upgrading his game experience, David Wilson had never seen the need to use that option, though at times he had done so to either test the abilities of his creations, or, as had become a common occurrence during the Shadowed Lord's drop in membership, to provide entertainment for its remaining members.

However, as the countdown approached zero, the armored doppelganger felt none of the usual contentment he usually experienced whenever he got to witness the deadly performance of his wraith's combat abilities, for it had been replaced with a growing sense of loss that left the last guild leader with a depressed mind set.

"You know, I have no idea what I'm gonna do with myself once this game shuts down. I suppose I could try to get into another game but what would be the point? I'd have to start from the bottom again, and I couldn't devote much time to it like I did when YGGDRASIL first came out. And even if I manage to reclaim the position I once had, it wouldnt be the same, since not only has nobody been able to match the quality of this game, but whose to say they won't pull the plug once enough people become disastified with the experience".

Slouching in the bone sculptured throne that had been the symbol of his authority for the past two years, the armored doppelganger angled his body so that his yellow colored eyes could fully take in the dark majesty of his predecessor's more powerful creations. Unlike the Canuck librarian, who had spent his customization points creating a team of wraiths that could enhance their already impressive stats when working together, the Lady Zannah, a British player whose racial class had been that of an angelic vampire, had instead created a small, but extremely powerful squad of NPCs that had been designed to closely resemble the firey demon of the first live action Tolkein film.

While she had been initially disappointed when she discovered that she only had enough points to create 5 Balrogs at maximum power, the middle aged art teacher had quickly moved passed that as she focused her artistic talents on creating her virtual offspring into a force that was not only unstoppable, but also terrifying to witness. Though his wraiths were gifted with the passive ability to inspire low level despair in their opponents, though this could be amplified if they where in a group or used actively as a weapon, in terms of personal appearance they were not overly terrifying with their black tattered cloaks and armor, but such was not the case with the previous guild leader's creations. Standing at about 3 meters tall, with wings of shadowy smoke, and an armored body covered in dark flames, the balrogs were certainly a territfying sight to be hold, especially on the battlefield, for with the exception of their leader, Zannah had focused their attributes of physical combat and defense, making each of them in essence a one man army.

However unlike her successor, who was the only member of the Shadowed Lords who programmed his NPCs to only follow his commands, Zannah had surrended authority of her creations to the command of the guild's leader. And throughout the 7 years in which Utunmo stood, the balrogs had been used as both the body guards of the current guild leader, and as the shock troops for whenever the guild decided to attack another dungeon.

Softly smiling as memories of his guild's past exploits filled his mind, and knowing that the game was about to end within the next minute, the Librarian closed his eyes, intent to have his last memories of the game being the dark majesty of the throne room, filled with the sounds of clashing metal, and the crackling sounds of his guards flame. And with 10 seconds to go before he was forced to return to his lonely existence in the real world, he couldn't help but softly sing a song that he felt was appropriate for the occasion.

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone

Let others follow it if they Can.

Feeling slightly bitter at the fact that his avatar's singing voice was greatly superior to the one he possed in real life, something that had always amused his fellow guild members since he was the only male Shadowed Lord who had designed his character with a bard class, which he had always pointed out was one of the types of magic in the world of Tolkein, even with some of the evil characters, the man known as David Wilson opened up his eyes to a confusing sight.

Instead of waking up in his slightly cluttered basement apartment, the puzzed librarian found himself still to be sitting in the nethermost hall of his guild's dungeon, with the familiar, but somehow different, sounds of the combative NPCs filling the air.

"Huh that's odd. Did they decide to extend the deadline? Or was their a problem with the servers"?

Puzzled by this unlooked for development, the confused player raised his hand to try and access GM help screen, only to discover that no matter what he did, it wouldn't come up. Doing his best to calm down, the slightly panicking player leaned back into his chair, and was immediately met with a sensation that should have been impossible.

Despite the high level of sophistication that went into the programming that made YGGDRASIL the top DMMORPG on the market, the game had never been able to simulate the sensations of taste and smell, and had only allowed the player a limited sense of touch, but was precisely those sensations that were currently making themselves known to the remaining Shadowed Lord that alerted him that something had changed. From his throne, the armored doppelganger was able to smell the near overwhelming stench of decay, blood, and thanks to the balrogs, sulfur, but oddly enough while he was able to identify these sensations, they didn't seem to have a negative effect on him, which was strange since he was sure that if he smelt this in the real world, he would be unable to keep anything down. Another odd occurrence was that while he could easily identify between the freezing temperatures of the throne room, and the scorching heat of his body guards, his body didn't feel like it was about to become a frozen statue, nor did it feel like he was on the edge of turning into a melted candle.

Deciding to figure out this puzzle at a more convinent time, though he suspected that the reason he felt that was because of his character's attributes, the black haired guild leader turned his attention towards the still fighting wraiths with an expression that barely contained the nervoussess he felt at what he was about to do.

'Ok David, relax. I designed them so they would be the only one to command them, so even if theirs an issue with the game, they should still be loyal to me. But what if their settings where changed like the rest of the game? The fact that I can smell the throne room, and feel the temperature like I did in real life means that the rules of the game might no longer apply. However theirs only one way to make sure, and if it doesn't work...well at least my last memory of the game will be my own creations turning on me".

Gathering his courage, and doing his best to get into the character of a malevolent overlord before addressing the still fighting wraiths, the Canadian player took a brief breath before speaking in a voice that was at the same time both regal and menacing.

"ANGMAR! Cease what your doing and come here. I have a task for you and your brethren, and I would prefer not to make a fool of myself by shouting it to you".

Even though he suspected the wraith to heed his word, the remaining Shadowed Lord could not help the feeling of sheer astonished that coursed through his body as the most powerful of his creations immediately hurried to obey his request. For while it was possible to give verbal commands in YGGDRASIL, they tended to be very specific, relying on single words of command in order for them to comply with a player's request. But the current experience with the helmet wearing wraith was far too advanced for anything the game mechanics would have allowed, for not only did robe wearing NPC follow the instructions, but it also quickly dropped to a kneeling position and spoke in a voice that was both cold and sinister, yet oddly subservient.

"Yesss my lord. What isss your bidding"?

Doing his best to keep an impassive expression on his face, a task made somewhat more difficult by the fact that he wanted to breakdown into a fit of hysterical laughter of a fan obsessed nerd, the molten eyed doppelganger managed to keep his voice steady as he instructed his kneeling servant what was to be done.

"I want all are forces mobilized to repel any attack that might be made on our lands. Also, I want you to send our scouts to survey the lands surrounding the front gate and have them back with a detailed report by the end of 2 hours. And since I don't want to draw the eye of any potential adversary, DO NOT use the dragons or warg riders for this task, instead use our avian flocks to discover what their is to discover. Should draw less notice that way".

Fighting the urge to smile like the fan boy he was as the armored wraith bowed it's head in acknowledgement of his orders, the former librarian dismissed his most powerful creation with a wave of his hand before turning his narrowed gazed towards the silently watching group weaker wraiths.

"As for the rest of you, you are to assist in Angmar's task in reading our forces for battle. Once that's done, inform each of the Supreme Generals that I will being holding a meeting in the throne room in precisely 2 hours. Depending on what our spies discover, it is likely that this discussion will have a great impact on the future of Utunmo, so it is essential that they come fully prepared. Have I made myself clear"?

Judging by the slightly creepy way in which their hoods seemed to move in unison, the former librarian guessed that they had understood his order, and as they filed out of the room to obey his commands, a sudden though occurred to blooming dark lord. What if the other NPCs decided to rebel against him? While he was confident in the loyalty of his creations, and to a lesser extent his balrog body guards, the settings of his guild mates NPCs were only vaguely known to him.

Judging that he had insufficient time to check the guild's records, and believing that the only thing that would keep them in line was the knowledge that he alone possessed the power to claim the right to wear the iron crown, the player known as Morbus waited for the last of his wraith's to leave the throne room before beginning the necessary steps to ensure that not only could he maintain his position as Utunmo's ruler, but also that he could use all the abilities that he had amassed during his time in YGGDRASIL.

Standing up with an agile grace that would have been impossible in the real world, the armored doppelganger turned towards his demonic bodyguards with a look of impassiveness that somehow managed to conceal the nervousness he felt at addressing such terrifying creatures directly. But since their was no way in hell he was going to wander the corridors of his fortress alone, and hoping that their loyalty programming was still intact despite the weird situation he found himself in, Morbus judged that he had little choice in what he was about to do.

"You two. You are to accompany me to the treasure vault, and on the way, you are to ensure that no one approaches me without my leave. Understood"?

Relieved when both of the burning demons responded to his order with a single nod of their armored heads, the slightly more confident overlord turned his back on his terrifying escort, and exited the throne room into the dimly lit passages of his under ground fortress.

Despite the slight anxiety he felt at leaving the relative safety of the throne room in favor of walking through the darkened corridors of his dungeon, the remaining Shadowed Lord could not help but feel a sense of awe as he strode through the eerily silent halls of his guild's headquarters.

Despite starting out its existence as an abandoned mine beneath an arctic mountain range, after being claimed by the 5 original members of the Shadowed Lords, the decaying subterranean tunnels had been transformed into something that could be labeled proudly as an evil fortress. The icy corridors of frozen obsidian were more than large enough to allow 2 balrogs to walk side by side without causing them to bump into one another or scrape their heads on the ceiling, though it would have been difficult, if not impossible for some of the larger servants of Utunmo to use. The intricate maze of corridors, which had been infused with an aura of despair that effectively prevented all but the most resilient players from finding the courage to move forward, ran for miles under the frozen mountain range, leading to the typical features one would expect in a dungeon ruled by evil players.

On the levels closest to the main entrance, a great iron gate that had been built into a particularly imposing mountain, the Shadowed Lords had built multitudes of barracks to house their dungeon's vast array of spawned NPCs which, thanks to the customization efforts of the guild's first leader Lord Bauglir, resembled the bloody thirsty mutants that had made up the bulk of the evil armies of Tolkien's works. But for the members of the evil guild this wasn't enough, since one of the key characteristics of being an evil organization was not only the type of servants under their control, but the numbers at their command.

While most guilds tended to use waste their customization points in an attempt to create small armies of NPCs that were at maximum level, the Shadowed Lords, and to a somewhat lesser extent the notorious guild of Ainz Ooal Gown, had taken a different approach. While the subterranean guild did possess NPCs that could fight even the most powerful players on even terms, these tended tended to be small in number since only the founding members of the guild, which Morbus happened to be a part of, were allowed to focus their customization points on creating high powered NPCs, while the rest of the Shadowed Lords where only allowed to create a set number of low to mid leveled characters before using their remaining points to expand the spawn limit of the dungeon.

From what the Canadian player could recall, his fellow founders had created a total of 7 customized NPCs that were at the maximum level, with more than 15 lv 80 NPCs in a support role. The other 23 members of the Shadowed lords, those who had joined after Utunmo had been established, had their customization points go towards increasing the combative power of the guild. This resulted in the creation of around 14 mid level NPCs who would serve as ranking officers in the vast army of lowed leveled spawns that served as the rank and file of the power hungry guild.

But it wasn't the upper halls that the armored doppelganger was interested in, for it was in the lower levels of the underground fortress that the most powerful resources of the Shadowed Lords where kept, and it was before the closed golden doors of the treasury that the former librarian now found himself.

Knowing that the key to obtaining access to the vault depended not only being able to correctly answer one of the random riddles that the door could ask, but also the ability to discover which riddle he was being asked, the molten eyed overlord stepped away from his balrog escorts and repeated the phrase that would make the door reveal the question he had to ask to gain entry.

"Ash nazg durbatulûk. Ash nazg gimbatul. Ash nazg thrakatulûk. Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

Doing his best to suppress the feelings embarrassment that stemmed from using such an iconic phrase for the simple task of keeping a door locked, though he couldn't but feel a tad bit excited as his voice changed to a more sinister tone as he spoke the enchantment, Morbus read out loud the riddle that had for some reason been cut from the prequel trilogy.

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt. Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills. And empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after. Ends life, kills laughter".

Scoffing at the simplicity of the riddle, though to be fair only an avid fan of Tolkien's works would be able to answer it, the new overlord quickly provided the answer in an unwavering voice.

"Darkness".

Taking a step back so he wouldn't be hit by the massive doors as they opened, Morbus turned his attention to his silent demonic body guards, who had remained unmoved from their position ever since they arrived at their current location.

"You two are to remain here until I come back out. No one else is to enter here, but if its an emergency, you are to inform me immediately. Understood"?

Receiving a single nod of acceptance from the pair of balrogs, the increasingly more confident overlord entered the golden lit room that housed not only the wealth of Utunmo, but also the powerful array of armaments that had accumulated over the course of the guild's history. Walking past the literal mountains of gold that littered the cavernous room with only the barest of glances, Morbus soon found himself standing before the object of his desire, and quickly moved to obtain the tools that would help him determine whether the abilities he accumulated in YGGDRASIL were still accessible to him.

However before he could extend his hand to claim his prize, the sound of falling gold loudly echoed off the walls of the treasury, soon followed by a thunderous reminder that the password locked door was not the only thing standing between those who wanted the wealth of Utunmo for themselves.

"Greetings my lord Morbus. What brings you to my humble domain"?

Forcing his face to adopt the same emotionless expression he had when conveying his orders to the wraiths, the last Shadowed Lord slowly turned his body to stare into the serpentine eyes of the most powerful NPC in Utumno.

Annnnnd I think this is where I'll leave it.

You have no idea how long it took me to make this chapter, 1st edition got to the point where he was testing his powers, then reread what I had come up with and was like "Uhhh I can do better than this". And I believe I did lol.

Apologies for the cliff hanger, that's not really a cliff hanger lol. Bit decided to upload the chapter now, otherwise I have no clue when I'll be finished with it lol. As for who the mysterious NPC is..just going to say...the most obvious guess...is not the right one :P However if you've read the Silmarillion, that might help you, since the list of powerful individual bad guys is sorta small lol.

And to respond to PervySageChucks comment...Hostis Humanis Generis was the story I was thinking of lol

I realize that almost ALL of the fanfics have started with the whole "Game becomes real life sequence", but it is a necessary part since it helps to outline the nature of the guild and character.

So far I'm pleased with how my guild has turned out. I.e. an Evil Guild with Only the strongest will rule, a large amount of cannon fodder (i.e. orcs and goblins), and small numbers of powerful NPCs that act as high ranked commanders, with weaker subordinates. I know Nazarick has a similar concept, but the series (the anime anyway) tends to focus on Ainz doing what he's doing to find his friends, while his dungeon is geared towards ultimate defense (even if the inhabitants are strong enough to take the field). My current idea for the OC is that he goes full evil overlord, using his power to conqueror the world for his own.

Will post in next chapter the OC's character summary chart..detailing what his racial/job lvls are, along with specifc skills that are granted to him because of this.

Haven't quite worked out the relationship between Utunmo and Nazarick, but judging from the comments of the floor guardians and battle maids, they view other players as unfierior to the supreme beings, but still powerful.

Next chapter will see the introduction of some NPCs that were modeled after Star Wars characters, but with the medieval fantasy aspects to keep it orginal. And saying this right now...Jar Jar Binks is going to be a character in this story. BUT its going to be in a capacity that everyone can enjoy (i.e. guinea pig and violent stress reliever.) so don't worry.

Anyways Hope you enjoyed this chapter..Please Review, and their is still time for you to VOTE ON MY PROFILE what type of NPC you believe should be created.

Til next time :)