Ch1: Overlord in Mundus
500 years after World of Gown
Ainz Ooal Gown was at his prime. His strongest self as he reigned over the world with his supreme power. In these times, he already managed to transform all the seven divine orbs of the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] into world items that granted him unimaginable power, leading to him becoming even more powerful.
He was an absolute monster of a being. Before, he was nothing more than an Overlord, but now he was so much more. A being that could do things his past self couldn't imagine. But Ainz Ooal Gown never stopped, never thought to have reached his peak. He always tried to seek more power for himself and his children.
"This has to work!" Currently, he inhabited his plane of existence, which he came to call the Void. It was a plane that was formed from darkness itself. Occupying much negative energy that if a human would enter, he would disintegrate into nothingness. Currently, he made it so that the Void appeared like the throne room in Nazarick, yet with no walls, only the endless planes of the dimension to see. It was his own realm, and as a [Deity], it was his right. Inside, he was trying to create another exact copy of the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown], but the experiment seemed to begin failing. The world cracked around Ainz as if the fabric of reality itself began breaking around him. He felt that something was going to happen, something terrible. "I shouldn't have done this in the first place!" He tried everything in his power to stop the incursion, but it was too late. His plane couldn't handle the energy any longer and shot it into the astral plane, hoping to send it away and gain stability once more. But with it, Ainz Ooal Gown was sent away, removing himself from the position he was in before.
"What is going oooooon!" He said while flying in some bizarre reality. It was changing at all times, warping into many colors and forms. Suddenly he felt a power strike him away from the staff. "No, you won't!" He said, trying to grasp the staff with all his power. But it felt like the world was pulling him away from the weapon. "I won't let go!" Just then, the staff broke the seven divine jewels, each holding the power of a world flowing in all directions. Ainz could only watch with despair as his most incredible creation was destroyed in seconds. Only the golden staff remained in his hand, without any power to hold on. An empty husk of its former glory. "It can't be… No! No! Damnit!" His emotional suppressor activated over and over, but he was quick to deactivate it to let his rage finally escape. He was no more a simple Overlord by this time but a being of pure negative energy. At least he hoped to remain like this. He felt his last world item to still be here, remaining at his side. "At least that is still there." Still, he swirled around in what seemed to be an endless circle around space and time. But soon, too soon for him to see, he landed in a soft white substance.
"What?" He asked himself, standing up with haste. And as he looked around him, he saw a completely different region. None he could remember from the new world. He looked around him to see he was somewhere on a mountain, and with his advanced vision, he could see through the thick clouds and find an ocean in the vast distance. "This isn't anything from what I know. Meaning, I landed in a completely different place, dammit! What will the Guardians do? What will my children do? They must have felt my disappearance. I just hope they are looking for me already. Maybe I can just hop back real quick." He opened a gate with a snap of his fingers, but as he wanted to enter, it was as if he was walking against a wall. "Nothing. Seems I can't go home that easily." He said, sighing and lowering his head to the ground. He turned to see the remains of his once proud staff, only remaining the golden heads of the seven serpents. He lost all the orbs to his unluck. "Dammit!" He said, cursing the ground as he stomped on the snow. Even as the emotion suppressor kicked in, he ignored it and continued his rampage.
"[Perfect Unknownable]" Before he could do a thing, he cast the spell as he felt something approaching. He was quick to use it, as seconds later, a pack of wolves neared his location. "Huh, just wolves." He looked at them, but he couldn't find anything special about these animals. "Just wolves, then." He quickly relaxed again, returning to the topic at hand. "I should look for someplace to orient myself first. Wait, what was that?" Suddenly a loud roar could be heard in the skies, and soon Ainz saw what made that terrible noise. "A dragon? Did he sense me through [Perfect Unknownable]?" But that wasn't the case. Instead of attacking him, the dragon seemed to fly by. "A coincidence, then." He looked to where the dragon was headed, only to see it begin descending. "What is it doing?" He activated [Greater Fly], a better version of [Fly], which had a greater duration and faster traveling speed. There he saw a battle of legends, a warrior fighting a dragon like it was a fairy tale. "Mmh, she is pretty strong too." He saw the female clad in armor cast spells at the dragon and attack once it landed with her two shortswords. From where he was looking, the fight seemed to be pretty even, maybe even in the dragon's favor. But suddenly, the girl shouted, and a weird wave of energy went over the dragon. "I never saw an ability like that before." He quickly appraised the dragon, seeing its stats, race, and HP.
"A Frost Dragon, level 45 at that. Mmh. And the girl?" He went on to check the girl's stats. Seeing that she was on par with the dragon made him believe she wouldn't have anything against divination attempts. "Her mana and hp match a level 50, maybe more. She may be even higher than that because she is a mix between warrior and mage." He continued to watch the fight with curiosity. Making him think. "Maybe this person could help me get out of here? Ah, yes, the good old times when I hid my face behind a mask. Since I no longer have access to [Race Changer], I need to resort to these methods." He felt that 3 out of the seven orbs already cut the connection with him, not allowing him to possess their powers any longer. "I still have my levels over 100, but that's all there is. Every other ability is lost. I just hope none other claims it. If, then I lose all my levels and return to 100. That would be, not good." He thought. He needed to find the seven orbs at all costs. The destruction they could bring over this world could be diabolical.
"Die, you overgrown lizard!" The woman shouted at the dragon as she carved her swords into the dragon's wings. Hurt, the dragon decided to kick the girl away, flying back into the sky and deciding to rain its frost breath from above. But the woman was swift to handle the situation as she dodged the attack with exact precision, even surprising Ainz with such speed. Then, putting her two short words away, flames appeared in her hand as she hurled fireballs at the Frost Dragon. It seemed hurt, emitting a sound a dragon would only make if in agony. The dragon landed once more, this time right on the girl, grabbing her with its claws and holding her on the ground. The dragon knew what he was doing, holding the girl's mouth for her not to shout anymore. It wasn't as stupid as it looked.
But that was not for long. Suddenly, the dragon was hit by what the girl guessed to be a fireball, yet it had such power that the dragon was stuck against a rock wall. Surprised, the girl looked from where the spell came, only to see a man stand in the distance, clothed in unimaginable expensive purple robes, with two great shoulder pads, each possessing a red orb. And at last, where she expected to see a face was a smiling red mask looking back at her with those sapphire blue eyes. Just then, the dragon was back on his feet. The girl was quick to follow.
"We need to charge it together!" She said. Seeing that the man nodded, she pulled out her two shortswords and went on an attack. The man seemingly aided her with his own arsenal. She could see spells passing her and hitting the dragon, each dealing massive damage to it. And just when the dragon was paralyzed for a second, she used the chance to pierce its skull with the two of her swords, killing it with it.
"That was exausting." She said, first checking her gear to see if anything was damaged. She wore a simple iron-plated armor. For her, it was all that she needed at the moment.
Shortly after, the dragon emitted a strange energy, made visible by many colors. Then, it seemed to enter the girl as if she was sucking the soul out of it.
"Now THAT is interesting." Ainz thought while looking at the phenomenon. He never expected to see such a thing.
Just then, the dragon's skin seemed to disappear as the girl finally went on to turn to the unknown helper. Ainz could see this girl stand about 1.70, rather tall for a female. Her hair was blonde but not too long, just reaching the end of her neck. Her eyes were blue as water, and her face was indeed one of the better sculptured he had seen, pale as it was. Still, some muscles were visible under all that armor of hers, making Ainz believe she was a warrior by heart. Her fighting style was certainly no joke. The woman knew what she was doing. He could see it in her eyes that she was a strong-willed individual. "Just like Gazef."
"Hello there, stranger. I must say I can not thank you enough for your help." She went on. Her hand stretched out to greet the man. As was tradition in these lands. The man seemed to know the gesture but hesitated at first.
"Well, it is not usual to encounter a dragon. I must say you have quite the courage to face one." He said, his deep and authoritative voice making itself finally hearable. He went on to accept the handshake, all the way to the forearm. He knew warriors would do this kind of thing. But he wasn't bulging when she went full in.
"Well, it is my job, so to say. I am Adra Rogrsdotter, Dragonborn. A pleasure to meet you." She said, but Ainz quite didn't believe what she said. He knew of dragons, dragonlords, and dragonoids, but a Dragonborn was something new to him. But he remembered he hadn't told his name, returning the gesture.
"Ainz Ooal Gown, the pleasure is all mine. I must say, I have never heard of a Dragonborn before. Please, forgive my ignorance." He said, surprising the young woman.
"You do not know of the Dragonborn? I know that all in Skyrim know about the Dragonborn and that whole Tamriel heard of the stories, but I seem to have thought wrong." She said, Ainz listening closely.
"Skyrim? Tamriel? Some kind of regions? Doesn't really ring a bell in my mind." He thought hard, but he had never heard of such regions before. Not even in Yggdrasil.
"So, Mr. Gown. How have you found yourself to be here? I mean, this is a pretty deserted area. Almost nobody comes up here." She asked, the Overlord hastily thinking about what to say.
"Well, first, you can call me Ainz. My name is rather long, so I spare you the courtesy." He replied.
"Well, then you may call me Adra as well." She said.
"Then, Adra, to answer your question. Let's say I had a teleportation accident. And I suddenly found myself on this mountain. I saw a dragon flying by and decided to help once I saw you fighting the beast. And now I stand here." He answered, rather honest at that.
"Teleportation, a rather rare form of magic. I cannot say that I have used it once, so I am no expert. So from where do you come from then? Cyrodil? High Rock?" She said, but the man shook his head.
"These regions are unknown to me. If I could look at a map, I could say more." He stated.
"Say no less," Adra said, taking out a scroll from her bag and unwrapping it to show a completely unknown continent to Ainz. As he came closer, Adra was slowly seeing how much bigger Ainz was than her. A giant of a mage, she thought.
"This is nothing I ever saw before. Mmh, This is Cyrodil she was talking about, and that is High Rock. Meaning we are in Skyrim right now. Now I am here again, in a new world full of new adventurers. Should I lie now? No, I could get caught in an instant. Rather tell the truth, to some extent."
"Well, to be true, nothing here seems to be known to me. I have never seen such a landmass before." He said, the girl only looking with an expression that screamed confusion.
"What? Surely you jest! You must have lived under a rock for not knowing about Tamriel."
"Not exactly under a rock, but it seems I find myself in unknown lands. If you allow it, I would like to follow you to the next town or village, maybe find there some clues on what to do next." He said, and the girl didn't seem to have anything against it.
"Sure, but first, I need to do something. Then we can go to Winterhold. It is a village nearby."
"Then lead the way." He said, inviting the Dragonborn to walk first.
"It's not a long way. We will reach the statue in about 15 minutes. Just keep out for wolves, and you'll be safe." She marched forward, Ainz following closely. The wind was strong, even whistling while gliding over the snow-filled landscape. On their way, Adra was curious to ask something.
"So, Ainz, from what I can guess, you're a mage, right?" She said, breaking the silence between the two.
"Indeed I am. I have seen you know some magic spells as well. Noticing that you use both swords and spells seems that you went for a mixture between the two."
"True, this way, I can fight in most scenarios, but I am not as strong as a full-fledged warrior or a powerful sorcerer," Adra said, finding the interaction with Ainz quite pleasant. He knew his stuff quite well.
"And then these shouts you used. I am to believe these are some kind of ability you possess?" He asked. Adra looked at him with a confused look but remembered that Ainz knew little of Skyrim and its stories.
"It is called the Voice. Dragons use it, and mortals can as well. It is quite different for a human to learn the Voice, and to master it is only for the Greybeards. But as a Dragonborn, I can learn it quickly and use it to its full potential." She replied. Ainz found this most interesting. He knew dragons could shout, but it seemed to be a completely different power in this world.
"I see. Then being Dragonborn enables you to learn it quicker. And I guess being Dragonborn has something to do with dragons?"
"Aye. I see I forgot to tell you what a Dragonborn is. Well, it is mostly a human with the soul of a dragon, to my knowledge at least." She explained.
"Interesting." He said, already falling into thoughts. "Some kind of reincarnation? I didn't know dragons could do that, but this is a completely different world. The more I know, the better."
Soon they arrived before the great statue, and Ainz could only wonder how the people of these lands managed to build such a grandiose statue of this kind and in such a place at that. It portrayed a sort of deity, a woman to be precise, which held a half moon in one hand and the sun in the other, showing the balance between the two and the cycle they repeat every day.
"How intriguing. This statue, never have I seen a deity like this before." He followed the Dragonborn up the stairs, finding a person at the top of the platform. There she was, a woman wearing priest robes standing at the top as if she didn't feel the cold at all. As she turned around, he could see the grey skin and the dark eyes she possessed. "What kind of race is this? A demon of sorts or some kind of corrupted dark elf?" He could only guess, as he thought to ask would be a sign of silliness.
"Welcome, Champion of Azura." The woman said. Seeing the man behind her, she greeted him as well. "To you as well, stranger."
"Hello there, Aranea. I brought the Star." Ainz saw Adra remove a strange artifact from her bag. It was indeed a star, a sort of artifact Ainz guessed Adra had to find and bring it here. A fetch quest.
"Azura's Star! I knew the Lady of Twilight had sent you for a reason. Hand it over to me. I will ask Azura to restore the Star to its original purity." With that said, the Dragonborn passed the artifact Ainz was eyeing to the priestess.
"Here, take it."
The priestess inspected the Star carefully, finding it to be no false copy. "I will commune with Azura." She said, then stopped talking all of a sudden as she touched the altar.
"I guess she is talking to this entity portrayed here. Mmh, so there are gods already present in this world, not just some false deities." He thought. And maybe he could even gain something out of this.
"Azura, Mother of Roses. Goddess of Dusk and Dawn. Your chosen champion has returned your Star to you." She spoke, suddenly turning to the Dragonborn. "She wishes to speak to you herself. Please, place your hands on the altar, and you will hear her voice."
"Fine." Adra did as the priestess told her. And for Ainz, it was weird, seeing the woman just stand there and gaze up at the statue.
Suddenly, the girl collapsed, falling to the ground out of the blue. But Ainz was quick to create a pillow under her, dulling her fall.
"A good magic trick, sorcerer. Do not worry. She will be fine if she passes the trial. But Azura wishes to meet with you as well." The priestess said. Ainz looked around to see if she meant someone different.
"Me? Surely you jest. I have never heard of her, nor am I one of her devoted people." He replied.
"She was quite clear to me. Please, to you as well. Touch the altar, and you may commune with Azura." She said again. Ainz hesitated at first, as he didn't know if she could do that to him what she did to the Dragonborn.
"Mmh, I have a feeling this is going to be more interesting than expected." He stepped forward, slowly reaching for the altar as if it was miles away for his hands to reach. Then, suddenly a voice appeared around him, or better to say in his mind.
"So you came." A feminine voice says out of nowhere. Her voice is soft yet fearsome.
"Are you Azura?" He asked, just to be sure.
"You are right. I am Azura, Lady of Dusk and Dawn, and you are?" She requested, surprisingly invested in getting to know the stranger. Ainz was curious why this was so.
"I am Ainz Ooal Gown." He answers, his tone filled with authority as he had experience well over 500 years of how to say it.
"Ainz Ooal Gown. I must say, I have never heard of you. But you are an interesting being, I must say." She says, curious. "You don't seem mortal. To be true, I cannot sense a thing from you as if you are an abyss itself." She says, making the Overlord go overdrive for a second.
"So she has a way of interacting with the world. Seeing that she tried to invade my being but to my luck, she wasn't strong enough to bypass a World Item or just my immunities."
"And there is another thing. A hindrance, if I must say." She says, getting Ainz out of his trance.
"What do you mean?" He asks, worried.
"You are not from Mundus, are you? That is clear to me. And you don't seem to know that beings not from Mundus cannot form completely on Mundus." She explains, but Ainz is trying to understand what Mundus is.
"What is Mundus exactly?" He asks, getting the Daedric prince off guard.
"Mundus, the mortal plane of reality." She replied, thinking the Overlord would catch on.
"I have never heard of it." Now the goddess was invested in this. Who was this Ainz Ooal Gown, really?
"Most interesting. Does Oblivion say anything to you?" She asks, but the Overlord only shakes his head.
"No, it does not."
"Mmh, do you know Tamriel?"
Again, Ainz shook his head. "Only because the Dragonborn told me."
"It can't be. Do you know about the Aurbis or the Daedric Princes? Do not jest with me this time!" But again, the being shook its head.
"I have never heard of any of such things. This is the truth." He said, openly truthful to the Daedric prince.
"You are not from this place at all." She says, getting the Overlord's attention.
"How do you know?"
"Mundus cannot hold a being that is not from Mundus originally. And I sense even these rules befall upon you."
"Would you care to explain?" He asks.
"Can't you feel it? Your being must be fading away slowly. It is because you don't belong in the mortal planes. Just as the Daedric Princes. That is why I propose an agreement between us." The Overlord only heard one thing, a deal. Probably one which could help him out of his case. As he himself didn't know what to do. "I will help you, and you will assist my champion in this world."
"Now that she said it. I can see that my mana isn't regenerating any longer. My passive regeneration seems just as strong as the force that tries to suck me out of this realm. Probably the same with my health."
Curious about the nature of the deal, Ainz naturally asked Azura what it contained. "And how can you assist me in this situation?"
"You see, there are the Aedra and the Daedra. The Aedra are responsible for creating this world, but we are not. Meaning our power here is limited. But we can be our full selves in our realms, the planes of Oblivion. You are a Daedra as well. You are a stranger to these planes. That is what Daedra means; not our ancestors." Slowly the Overlord understood the principle. Aedra were the gods who created the mortal planes, and Daedra weren't. It was that simple. And because he was not their ancestor, he would be counted as a daedra. "And as a Daedric Prince, I have my own realm at my disposal, which I can freely change to my will. Normally other daedra cannot enter the realm of another Daedra, but if I invite you, you can. Simply, if you are in my realm, you do not suffer the consequences of being on Mundus."
"Now it makes sense. If I am in her realm, I will not start to disappear into dust. There I could regenerate my mana! Perfect! But I do not like the thought of being trapped in another god's realm." He thought. This could be a trap to all he knew.
"Well, then, I believe this is the point where I agree. But would you be so kind as to explain to me who your champion is?" He asked kindly and got an equal kind response.
"She is the Dragonborn, the girl with who you arrived." She clarified, but Ainz still had many questions. "You will assist her with dealing with Alduin, a powerful dragon having the prophecy to eat up the world. But the Dragonborn will stop him with your assistance." She says. Ainz could only nod. It was an agreeable deal, even if he didn't know who Alduin was.
"Mmh, I find these terms to be agreeable. But is there a way without me having to enter your realm every time I need to regenerate?" He asked. He didn't want to travel back and forth every time.
"There is." With that said, suddenly before Ainz, a small object appeared bearing the resemblance of a ring. It was pretty simple. Silver colored with a blue sapphire in the middle. "With this ring, you may be in contact with my realm whenever you need to. Just as long as you provide it with white souls." She explained, Ainz carefully examining the artifact, not finding any backfiring effects on it.
"White souls?" He asked, curious about that sort of thing.
"Yes, white souls are used for enchantments; in this case, it is used to keep the ring's power in order. The Dragonborn can explain it to you later, as she will soon cleanse the Star of the filth that occupied it." Azura said.
"Fine. But there is another thing, if I may ask?"
"Ask, and I will see if I can answer." She said, awaiting the question.
"As I fell into this world. Seven other objects came as well, powerful ones at that. Maybe someone like you would know something about that?" He asked, capturing the god in awkward silence.
"So these artifacts were yours. I have felt them coming outside of the Aetherius, landing all over Mundus and Oblivion. And I must say, your powerful artifacts have caused chaos on Tamriel the moment they arrived."
"That is to be expected. I have to find them. maybe you could help me in that manner?" Ainz asked as kindly as he could.
"You will help the Dragonborn, and the Dragonborn will help you with your quest for your belongings. I have already made a pact with you, Ainz Ooal Gown." She said, the Overlord already having expected such an answer.
"I see, well. Then well met, Lady of Dusk and Dawn." Ainz said, telling the Daedric prince goodbye.
"Farewell." She replied, and Ainz quickly felt that the line had ended and that Adra had woken up from her sudden dream.
"Woah, I'm back. Did something happen while I was away?" Adra asked, but Ainz shook his head in response. Mmh, let's see." She looked at the Star, seeing it freed of its corruption and back to its former glory.
"I see you did something to the star." He said, the priestess stepping forth to see it herself.
"While you were in the Star, Azura gave me a vision. Her last, she said. I have never been without Azura's foresight since escaping Morrowind. I don't know what to do. If you need me, I'd be honored to accompany you, Guardian of the Star. It would give me a purpose." Aranea said. Seeing that she was so devoted all the time, Ainz could only guess how it must feel to lose that guidance suddenly.
"Thank you, Aranea," Adra responded, putting the Star back into her bag. Readying herself to depart.
"Twilight watch over you, guardian." The priestess said to the two.
While walking down the stairs, Ainz decided to ask about the Star. "So, what can the Star do now? I heard you cleansed it, so what changed?"
"Well, the Star can hold a white soul once at a time. But unlike a soul gem, it won't break when enchanting an item or charging one. Meaning I can kill a wolf, take the soul with the Star and enchant an item, repeating the process all over again." She said as if it was nothing, but Ainz could see the potential behind that.
"Soul gems? Enchanting? This just got me interested even more! Meaning, just killing an animal can allow me to enchant something." He was still curious about something.
"About white souls, are there any other types of souls?"
Adra looked at him, truly confused. "Aren't you a mage?" She asked.
"Uhm, yes. Why so?"
"Then you should know that there are also black souls, the souls of humans and alike. But that is strictly forbidden and can only be done with a black soul gem. I am surprised a mage like you doesn't know about such a simple thing." Now Ainz felt stupid asking such a question. He tried to get him out of the situation somehow.
"No, please, forgive me. Rather I should have asked why you call them white souls. I merely called them by a different name, so I was confused about what you referred to. Now I know that you call the souls of animals white and of humanoids black. I simply referred to them differently."
"Mmh, you should have said so. Any mage knows of enchantment. So now, shall we go to the next village?" Adra asked, waiting for Ainz's answer.
"After you, Dragonborn."
A new story once more! I can't stop thinking of new ideas; maybe I should focus on the stories at hand. But still, I'm just going to throw this out of here.
IMPORTANT: This story takes place in the universe of my other story: World of Gown
This here is set 500 years in the future, and if you read World of Gown, you will understand what I am writing about in the first paragraphs.
In that universe, Ainz Ooal Gown has reached a power far exceeding level 100. But I don't want to spoil World of Gown, as it isn't finished, nor what powers he got or how strong he really is. If you want, read World of Gown, and you will understand what I am talking about.
And at last, the Dragonborn! This time it's a SHE to change things up. Her name is Adra. She's a mix between warrior and mage and is currently in the early-mid game. And she is a North, if you haven't already guessed. She is about level 50, but as fast as Dragonborns grow, she can reach level 100 fast. And if you don't know what the terms I used are, I'll explain:
Mundus: The plane of existence where Nirn, the planet where Tamriel is located, exists and is called the mortal plane.
Oblivion: That is just what isn't Mundus, where the Daedra reside.
Aetherius: The heavenly plane of ES.
Aurbis: The known universe to the ES inhabitants.
And why is Ainz getting sucked out of existence? Well, it is a known fact that Daedra cannot simply enter Mundus, meaning for Ainz to suddenly appear there his power will slowly vanish. That is why Azura will help him in this case, granting him access to her realm through the ring she gifted Ainz.