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Deviant's Masquerade: The Huntsman's Quest (A YA Hero's Failed Attempt At Retirement)
2024 Patreon Quest Demo 1 of 3 (Simon Lorde, The Overlord)

2024 Patreon Quest Demo 1 of 3 (Simon Lorde, The Overlord)

imon Lorde, The Overlord (An Isekai Overlord Quest)

-Synopsis: The Overlord is an infamous figure who has risen and fallen numerous times throughout history, conquering kingdoms, kidnapping princesses and unleashing an army of monsters.

Simon Lorde is an archeology professor who wants nothing to do with any of that, he's content being a teacher, the only princess he's interested in is his wife, and the only monsters he unleashes are on D&D night.

Unfortunately, he's now woken up in world simultaneous very familiar and very foreign with no idea how he got here, a magic gauntlet on his arm that won't come off, and half a dozen bickering overlords talking inside of his head.

-Tags: [Voices In Your Head], [Kingdom Building], [Multiple Fantasy Kingdoms]

Simon Lorde, The Overlorde

Prologue: An Innocent Mistake

--- Simon Lorde ---

In his hands was a metal gauntlet with a large gem embedded in the back, the artifact far more intricately detailed than something of its age had any right to be, the metal having survived millenia without any form of rust, wear, or tear upon its surface.

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!” Annabelle, a brown haired woman with glasses, egged him on with a grin from where she sat beside him.

“I doubt it’ll be that fun.” He argued despite the slight smile on his face, something that he was rarely without while in his wife’s presence.

“Look, you're handing it over to the university in a week, and we’ve got a D&D game tomorrow night. You’ve got to wear the King’s Hand, it’ll make the whole thing so much more epic!” Annabelle explained for what had to be the third time.

“Aren’t we a little old for dress up games?” He asked.

His wife gave him a look.

“That’s not what I meant!” He told her, his laughter quickly joined by her own.

After a moment he shook his head. “But seriously, wearing a thousand -possibly two thousand- year old gauntlet to our D&D group would be massively irresponsible.”

“Or, hear me out, massively awesome!” Annabelle refuted, as she shook his arm. “I mean, can’t you just see yourself wearing the King’s Hand while being the Dungeon Master?! And, and aren’t we doing that boss fight with the evil king, you can take our game to the next level with this.”

He adjusted his glasses, as he looked at the gauntlet picturing it in his head. (It would be kind of cool…)

“Come on~ Be my dungeon master and I’ll be your dungeon mistress~” Annabelle teased him.

“Oh, you are a terrible influence…” He moaned, feeling a bit of heat come to his cheeks even after all these wonderful years of marriage.

He gave the gauntlet another glance while biting his lip. “We don’t even know if it’ll fit. I mean, I can’t damage this thing and as big as this thing is, if I put it on it might go flying during all those theatrics you love.”

“We love.” His beautiful wife corrected. “We both know you were doing those long before you met me.”

“I got worse about it because of you.” He reminded the love of his life.

“True.” Annabelle conceded as she looked at the glove herself, before taking it from his hands. “How about this? We’ll put the King’s Hand on you now, and if it doesn’t fit I’ll quit bugging you, but if it fits then you’ll wear it to our D&D game.”

“I don’t know…” He frowned.

“And if the King’s Hand doesn’t fit you, well…” Annabelle leaned in with one of her grins. “I’m sure my queen’s hand will~”

He closed his eyes, trying to resist the vile temptress in front of him before, “Oh… fine. I’ll try the stupid glove on.”

“Yes!” Annabelle cheered before kissing him over and over again. “Love you. Love you. Love you!!!”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he lined his hand up with the gauntlet, before Annabelle pulled it down over his hand.

“Well, how does it fit?” Annabelle asked excitedly.

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a tighter fit than I was expecting.” He admitted, trying to move his hand and feeling the gauntlet sort of fighting him to do so. “Also, it really does not want to move.”

“Huh… but the fingers were all flopping about a minute ago?” Annabelle frowned. “Maybe your fingers take up too much space inside of it, I mean, wasn't there that whole thing about the average human being bigger now than a thousand years ago?”

“No, that’s not it… I can feel the glove starting to give…” He told her as he put a bit more force into his movement. “Just… needs… a little more… force!”

He made a fist with the King’s Hand and-

[System]: Reset Complete.

[System]: Welcome back, Overlorde.

What does Simon find when he wakes up?

[Magician]- A pair of twins cautiously watching him. (Wait, why are they armed?)

[Caretaker]-A grinning… creature with fangs and a tail. (Why are they calling me boss?)

[Scientist]-An eccentric young woman cackling about her ‘Success’. (Why is there lightning?)

[Rogue]-An angry looking trio dressed up for a renaissance faire. (Why are they glaring at me?)

[Warrior]-A mad beast with tears running down its face. (Need to move!)

Winning Vote

[]-A grinning… creature with fangs and a tail. (Why are they calling me boss?)

---

A/N: Aka the one who will not ease you into this.

---

Chapter 1: The Overlord’s Reawakening

--- Simon Lorde ---

[System]: Reset Complete.

[System]: Welcome back, Overlorde.

His eyes drearily parted, taking in the empty void that surrounded him even if his mind couldn’t quite understand where he found himself. But despite the emptiness of the void, some small instinctive part of him knew that in this vast abyss of nothingness…

He was not alone.

“Fresh meat is waking up.” A gruff voice noted as a red outline briefly highlighted someone in the darkness, their body covered in both weapons and armor forged from the blackest of steels.

(The Warrior…) The clashing of metal on metal told him, and even if that Title just barely scratched the surface of who this was he knew without a doubt that it fit him completely and utterly as thousands of blades struck true.

“So the new one awakes at last!” Another older voice laughed, a light blue outline to the form of a hunched figure in a heavy leather robe clinging to a large walking stick, numerous white bandages visible beneath the robes.

(The Magician…) Raw power thrummed, one thousand arcane secrets begging to be discovered once more.

“Good, the experiment can continue once more.” An almost metallic voice rasped, as green highlighted another figure with a walking stick, albeit one clearly much younger despite a purple gas mask and long coat obscuring them.

(The Scientist…) Electricity cackled as a thousand impossibilities were made possible by metal, imagination, and will.

“Must you describe it so coldly? This is more a legacy for the future than anything.” A kind voice pointed out, yellow highlighting an unassuming figure who looked more like a kind farmer than anything else with the way his eyes glowed a warm orange.

(The Caretaker…) The warm mumbling of newborns assured him from a thousand sources taking their first breath.

“One I doubt the world remembers fondly.” A fifth raspier voice mocked, a smile to their voice as the cloaked figure’s thin frame was outlined in gray and a flash of flickering gold revealed a coin dancing across his knuckles.

(The Rogue…) A knife whispered in the dark as a thousand shadows danced around it in the coin’s light.

As these five continued to bicker amongst themselves a sixth figure stepped out from the void, one whose face was simultaneously so familiar he felt like he’d known this scarred man for all his years and yet just foreign enough that he couldn’t recognize them.

(The Survivor…) A thousand dying voices wailed even as the man continued to walk, death itself not even slowing him.

When the scarred man stepped forward the other figures went silent with a sort of awed reverence that he knew was rare for them. “The cycle continues once more… Don’t forget…”

As one the six spoke, their words echoing through his mind, so much so that he said the words with them.

“The Great Evil Must Survive!”

“Ah-ha! The Boss haz returned!”

He jolted finding himself somewhere new and his head too fuzzy to remember how he got here or where he just was. (I… I was… I was just home with Anna… Annabelle… wasn’t I?)

Before he could figure that out, a number of hands pulled on him forcing him to his feet, their owners darting away before he could get a clear look at any of them.

He blinked, some of the fuzz clearing as he realized he was in a large stone hall of some kind and that there was someone staring at him with an excited grin.

A second blink had him realizing that someone had green skin and very pointy teeth.

He closed his eyes before shaking his head, and seeing that yes the person in front of him did have green skin, pointy teeth, and a long tail swishing through the air behind them.

(She’s also a woman and you’re staring.) A warm voice whispered with a touch of amusement.

“Um, sorry… I think… I think I’ve had too much to drink…” He confessed to the woman, because regardless of any hallucinations or similar he did at least try to be a gentleman.

The woman took on a thoughtful look. “Huh, yah, ah zuppoz it would be like a hangover wouldn’t it?”

Despite his many travels -and an odd feeling of familiarity with it- he couldn’t quite place the woman’s accent. (Wait, that’s not important…)

“I’m sorry but… who are you?” He asked, his head pounding a bit as he tried to remember anything that could help him with the current situation.

“Ah, yah, I forgot to introduce myzelf!” The woman gasped in an exaggerated way as she bopped her own forehead before giving him a smile full of (very pointy) teeth and offering him her clawed hand. “The name iz Jaqueline Bandersnatch!”

“Um, Simon, Simon Lorde.” He nodded, taking her hand and promptly noticing just how tight of a grip the woman had in spite of clearly not trying.

“Pleazure to meetcha Boss!” The woman -Jaqueline- grinned like this was the best day of her life.

“Uh, Boss?” He repeated questioningly as he rubbed the pain out of his hand.

Even if Jaqueline didn’t quite lose her grin, she did give him a confused look as if she wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“Why are you calling me boss?” He clarified.

“Because you are the Boss!” The woman laughed as if that explained everything.

“Okay… why am I the Boss?” He tried instead.

Jaqueline gave him another confused look before bopping her head again and giving him an understanding nod. “Ah, yah, yah, I get it. You’z the Boss because you’z the Overlord!”

“Um, overlord?” He blinked.

“Yah, you know conquer the lands, zteal the princezzez, fight the ztupid heroez.” Jaqueline elaborated as she waved a hand through the air.

He narrowed his eyes in confusion, before continuing with, “And making dungeons, raising monsters, casting spells, and so on?”

“And zo on.” Jaqueline nodded.

He ran a hand down his face. “And why am I the… the ‘Overlord’?”

“Because you’z got the Overlord’z hand.” Jaqueline smiled before gesturing to his left hand where he wore the metal gauntlet that was the King’s Hand.

(How didn’t I notice that? I mean I was just…) A pulse of pain interrupted that thought as he remembered putting the gauntlet because of Annabelle’s nudging. “Right, I put the gauntlet on and…” His mind was still fuzzy about what happened next, cutting straight to waking up a few moments prior.

Staring at the metal hand that he just knew was responsible for his current predicament, he tried to pull it off before finding the gauntlet forced his hand into a fist every time he tried, keeping it all firmly locked in place.

“You must’ve zcrambled you’z brainz harder than I thought.” Jaqueline told him as she scratched her head with another confused look.

He bit back his more frustrated response to that, before giving the woman another once over. His mind once more dismissed her… additional features as if he’d seen them a hundred times before. The same way he had when working with a new colleague with an unusual feature or missing limb, he noted it, classed it as unimportant in the grand scheme of things and then promptly moved on.

A part of him knew that her being a different species wasn’t such a small detail, especially given how often he’d fantasized about such things as a fantasy loving teenager. But he felt that fumbling first contact because he let his inner nerd make a fool of himself would not help him in this situation. (I just have to roll with all of this…)

Instead he focused on her clothing, taking note of how her clothes seemed to almost resemble a blue and red colonial uniform. Something that seemed to serve more for appearances sake than for practicality. (Though I guess it does go nicely with her hair and skin.)

“Ah, ah, Boss are you how do they zay, ‘checking me out’.” Jaqueline blushed, looking not at all displeased in the slightest.

His eyes jumped to the woman’s forehead. “I am a happily married man!”

“That’z not a dealbreaker~” Jaqueline smiled, stepping closer.

He actually frowned at that, feeling fairly insulted rather than flattered. “I am not going to cheat on Annabelle.”

“Who zaid anythin’ about cheating?” The woman in front of him smiled with a mouth full of fangs. “She can join whenever she wants, in fact I can show you both all sortz of fun things~”

This statement was highlighted by her waving her tail in front of his nose.

He grabbed Jaqueline’s shoulders and gently pushed her back several steps. “Please stay at least this distance from me at all times.”

“Ah, boo…” Jaqueline pouted before letting out a sigh. “Well, can’t blame a Jaegerjacque from trying.”

“Jaegerjacque?” He repeated questioningly.

“The Overlord’z ever faithful minions.” Jaqueline bowed, before looking up as her yellow eyes flashed, the pupils disappearing as a dozen more eyes appeared hiding in the shadows. “Every last one of us.”

“And… how many of you are there?” He found himself asking as he eyed the numerous eyes hiding in the shadows, not feeling an ounce of fear in himself as if he instinctively knew these people meant him no harm in spite of their claws and fangs. (Still should know how many I’m dealing with…)

“Not as many as I wished.” Jaqueline grimaced as she stood, a few of the eyes disappearing and others revealing themselves to be fireflies of some sort. “We’re all faithful, yah, but it’z been a hundred years zince the previous Overlord’z Era ended, and given how one of our orderz iz to live free and happy we’re kind of everywherez and nowherez right now.”

“I see…” He nodded sympathetically, because he didn’t really know what else to do.

“Zpeaking of, we had to move da throne because those stupid heroez kicked us out of our old place… again…” Jaqueline sighed before shaking her head and motioning him to follow as she started towards some stairs. “Ztill, while we lost our old city, and a few… dozen otherz we’ve built while you were out -because them fookin’ heroez won’t leave uz alone! Forcin’ us to keep movin’ and bein’ attacked by monsters or chased by pitchforkz and torchies all because we tryin’ to find a new home!”

He decided it was best not to say anything because while part of him felt bad that these ‘Jaegerjacques’ had to keep moving, the fact that it was ‘heroes’ that were making them move and that the ‘Overlord’ was usually the bad guy had him wondering if he should feel bad for them. (For all I know they’re killing and pillaging half the countryside…)

Still as Jaqueline continued to rant about even more troubles her people had gone through while remaining loyal to the Overlord, he couldn’t keep himself from feeling some sympathy for their various plights.

“But like the sayin’ goez, evil alwayz findz a way!” Jaqueline laughed as they came to a large set of wooden doors that the woman kicked open. “Zo what to do ya think Boss?”

He couldn’t help but swallow as he stepped past the doors, his eyes taking in the scenery around him and forcing himself to admit that, that (I’m a lot further from home than I thought…)

Choose Your Starting Biome (Hint: Each of these has currently hidden pros and cons, such as which Kingdom will be your neighbor.)

(Note: Picking the Jaegerjacques means you have no scouting time before your base is set, but that you get them -an elite general purpose unit- as your starting minion as well as some low level infrastructure.)

[]- Plains

[]- Forest

[]- Swamps

[]- Mountains

[]- Dessert

[]- Ocean

[]- Ruins

---

A/N: Okay, there was a tie between Ruins and Swamp… I can make that work.

---

Chapter 2: Jaegerjaque’s Tour

--- Simon Lorde ---

In front of him was what appeared to be a marshland of sorts, dark swampy waters and scraggly black trees all around their vines hanging low as they grew over structures of stone and metal that looked centuries old.

The space he and Jaqueline stood on was a small patch of dirt, and one of only a handful of islands he could see floating between the water and trees. Though on the other islands he could make out a few more structures that hadn’t been consumed by the water.

“I know, I know, it don’t look like much but ya gotta trust me when I zay we’ve done a lot with what we’ve got.” Jaqueline assured him. “Admittedly, we’ve taken over the ruinz to do a lot of that, but we’ve ztill done a lot.”

Rather than expressing his doubts, he instead told her, “I’m sure you have.”

The jaegerjaque waved a finger in his face, clearly having caught his disbelief. “Look, look, I’ll give ya a tour and you’ll zee how much we’ve done. Now come on, come on.”

Using what was more of leaping stride than what could be called a walk, Jaqueline made her way to a small wooden raft off to the side. “Now first off, while we don’t really need them, we made a bunch of these raftz here for ya and any other minionz ya recruit to get around.”

“That’s… kind of you.” He smiled, even if he didn’t really feel it. (It, it might be best to just roll with things until I get a moment alone.)

“Ah, lezz kindnezz and more efficien-z.” Jaqueline admitted, using a large stick to keep the raft in place as he tried to keep balance on the ship. “We’ve been doin’ thiz long enough to know what any Overlord needz to get the job done without needing a zmack to get movin’. Though zpeaking of needing a zmack…”

The Jaegerjaque inhaled deeply before suddenly screaming, “The Overlord’z here for an inzpection, get your lazy arzez movin’ before ya make me look bad!”

From inside of the stone building they just exited a number of creatures looking similar to Jaqueline -save their skin colors and clothing- leapt out from the doorway and into the trees before making their way to the various other islands and structures.

“Zorry about that boss, the boyz all wanted to zee you when we realized you were waking up.” Jaqueline apologized. “After all, it’z not every day that you zee the return of the Overlord.”

“I understand.” He lied, albeit sympathetically.

“Anywayz, back to the tour.” Jaqueline used her stick to get the raft moving before using it to point back at the building they’d come out of, one that almost looked like a cathedral of some kind. “We zet the throne up in the basement of that building because it’z big enough to work for both houzin’ and a gatherin’ point. Alzo, the acoustics. Them be important we ya’re giving a big zpeech and zome zuch. ”

“They are.” He nodded, remembering the few lectures he’d given at the college, and the one time he’d done so with broken speakers.

“Aye.” Jaqueline nodded back, before moving the raft a bit further and pointing towards what from a modern perspective looked like a half collapsed and half submerged parking structure of some kind. “We’re turning that into a farm of zortz, each level will have different thingz, and with zome netz we’ve built a fish farm at the bottom with some cropz on the top level.”

“I see. The multi-floored structure is a way of maximizing the small amount of land here.” He realized. “What a marvel that must’ve been in the past.”

“Eh, you would know better than me.” Jaqueline shrugged, before pushing their raft towards another half-submerged building with several holes in the wall where he saw a number of Jaegerjaques coming and going from with their arms full.

Their raft entered the building through one of the larger holes at water level and he found the inside of the building to have several floors, each with a massive hole in the middle that he was having trouble deciding whether it was due to the wear and tear of time or the Jaegerjaques themselves given how they were simply leaping and climbing through the holes.

Not that that stopped several from stopping in what they were doing to stare at him with excited looks and grins full of fangs as some seemed to vibrate in place just from seeing him. (They… really are happy to see me for some reason…)

“Hold on.” Jaqueline told him just a moment before grabbing him and leaping off the raft.

“W-what are you doing?!” He cried as they soared through the air, before Jaqueline caught the edge of the lowest hole and flipped them over it.

“Ah, zorry boss.” Jaqueline apologized as she set him down. “We haven’t really built ladderz zince we don’t really need ‘em, but we can get on that once you’ve got more minionz than uz.”

“R-right, I suppose that makes sense.” He smiled shakily as he tried to calm his pounding heart. “You… you’re an agile lot aren’t you.”

“Ha! Juzt the way the Caretaker built uz!” The jaegerjaque preened proudly. “Juzt like we built all of thiz!”

Adjusting his glasses took a look around the building and found what looked like a makeshift cross of a smithery, the heat and smoke both being dissipated by all of the holes in such a way that there was no visible smoke from the outside.

“We’ve turned this building into a crafting diztrict, all the holez give us ventilation for the smoke and make it eazy for uz to come and go.” Jaqueline explained before picking him up and leaping to the next floor. “We’re uzing the different floorz here to set up a different crafting type on each, that way no one be ztepping on anyone else’z shoez.”

“I suppose that’s one way of keeping the wood from catching fire.” He blinked, a little surprised by how quickly he was getting used to being carried around. (I guess this is sort of like riding a rollercoaster.)

“Aye, though that doesn’t always stop the boyz from catching fire.” Jaqueline admitted before they both watched a burning Jaegerjaque dive through the hole in the floor and into the water down below.

“Is, is he going to be okay?” He frowned while cautiously leaning to look through the hole.

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“Ah, what’s the zaying? Ya can’t kill a good Jaegerjaque unless ya cut their heads off and even then ya gotta make sure they ain’t making faces when ya ain’t looking!” Jaqueline laughed at that (rather disturbing imagery…)

Yet again swallowing down his most immediate response, he instead voiced a question that was weighing on him since the start of this tour. “So… while all of this is very impressive.” He assured the fanged woman who could throw him across the room. “What exactly is it you want from me?”

“Well, I’d like that night with ya and your wife, but since ya zaid no to that… I juzt want ya to be the Boss that ya are!” Jaqueline smiled at him.

“And… what does that entail exactly?” He asked, because while his immediate desire was to get home, he got the distinct feeling that wasn’t happening until he settled things with… this lot. (I hope Annabelle doesn’t worry too much… Or murder anyone while trying to find me…)

“Didn’t we go over thiz?” Jaqueline frowned. “Zteal the princezzez, conquer the landz, unite the monzta kin, and prezerve the great evil!”

“Right… and how am I supposed to do all of those things?” (That I have zero intention of actually doing.)

“With da Overlord’z Hand of course!” Jaqueline answered in a way that said she thought he was playing the fool for some reason. (Though the fact that I don’t really know what’s going on kind of says I am the fool here…)

Instead of admitting to that though, he looked down at the metal gauntlet still stuck to his hand. “And how am I supposed to use the… Overlord’s Hand?”

“To do Overlord thingz!” Jaqueline told him, beginning to sound like she was getting frustrated despite the friendly smile on her face.

“I understand that, but I mean how do I use the Overlord’s Hand?” He elaborated, believing that (when in an unknown magical place the best thing to do is listen to the possibly magical creature.)

“That… is actually a very good queztion.” The Jaegerjaque confessed, seeming to think about it for a moment before shrugging. “Zince I’m not the Overlord, I don’t know how to uze the Hand, but it’z Overlord Magic, zo juzt follow the Overlord’z Golden Rule.”

“The Overlord’s Golden Rule?” He repeated skeptically.

“Ah, well it’z not an official rule, but everyone eventually figurez out that if the Overlord Willz it, it happenz.” Jaqueline explained while looking a little sheepish. “Juzt decide what ya want and will it zo.”

(Just decide what I want and will it so…) He frowned, figuring this was going to be one of those things that he’d just have to figure out for himself.

Upon examining the gauntlet once more he found his gaze locking onto the large gem embedded into the back, the gem sparkling far more than it had prior to his appearance here, and as he gazed into its depths, instinct told him what he had to do.

What color is the Overlord’s Gem? (Freebie Overlord Perk. Have to complete a Big objective for these but they are literal game changers.)

Hint: This color scheme is common in my other stories.

[]- Red.

[]- Blue.

[]- Green.

[]- Black.

What does the Overlord will for? (Freebie Overlord Ability. Have to train to get these, they’re useful but won’t change how you play.)

[]- A weapon in hand.

[]- Power unleashed.

[]- Controlled force.

[]- Domination.

Chosen Starting Biome: Swamp Ruins

-Pros:

--Ruins can be converted into structures, gaining bonuses based on the ruin used.

--Lands natural defenses will make most people reluctant to search the area.

--Native creatures -possible minions- of the swamp will be hardier than most.

-Cons:

--Limited Building space, but you can fix this in time.

--Harshness of the Swamp biome will limit some minion options.

--Ruins will attract adventurers if they find out about them.

-Neutral:

--Swamp biome reduces mobility of all units lacking a special Mobility.

Starting Buildings

Throne Room (Ruin Bonus: Underground. Above building must be conquered for non-stealth enemies to enter.)

-The Throne Room and your personal chambers.

Barracks/Living Space (Ruin Bonus: Acoustics. Gain an additional D6 when giving speeches.)

-A living space for your minions, will house all humanoid Minions so long as Population is [Small] or less.

Farm Tower (Ruin Bonus: Can build up to 5 ‘Farms’ on one plot.)

-Produces different types of food to feed the population. (Surplus will be converted to Gold via trade. (When we set that up.))

-Current Farm Production

--Basic Field (+1 Vegetation Food)

--Fish Farm (+1 Meat Food)

Starting Minion

(Basic) Jaegerjaques

-Worker Tags: Humanoid, Base Builders

-Combat Tags: Scrapper, Infiltrators, Scouts

-Social Tags: Friendly, Blood Knights, Loyal, Fearless

-Special Abilities:

--Agile: Mobility. These units can climb and leap distances that allow them to work around a number of terrain obstacles. Walls actually help them rather than hindering.

--Healing Factor: As long as they aren’t killed, this unit can heal from any injury with time.

--Adaptable: This unit can survive in any biome without suffering a physical penalty, and is immune to all but the most extreme environmental hazards.

---

A/N: Okay, we had two voters -I think- so I’m going to pick one from each option, and hopefully pick one from each person.

-Blue

-Domination

---

Chapter 3: The Dominant Problems

--- Simon Lorde ---

The blue gem glowed as he raised his hand in front of him and followed the instinct running through the back of his mind, instructing him on what to do as if it was an old habit ingrained over centuries.

Power that was somehow both hot and cold surged through him, flooding him with an unbreaking conviction as he focused on the world in front of him, not even thinking about what he was doing, he willed the world itself to, “Bend the knee.”

All around him every Jaegerjaque stopped what they were doing and dropped to a single knee as they kneeled, their eyes all overcome with a glowing blue that overwrote everything else.

Seeing this and feeling the intoxicating power that flooded through him, he just knew that with this gauntlet on his hand, he could make the gods themselves bend to his will. A thought that brought a mad grin to his face as he thought about- (What am I doing?!)

Cold clarity flooded him as the gauntlet lost power, leaving him surrounded by the Jaegerjaques all on their knees and all with a fading glow to their eyes. Horror washed over him as he stared down at the seemingly inconspicuous gauntlet on his hand, realizing what he’d just done and just how far he could’ve taken that addictive power. The atrocities he could have committed while under its influence.

(I need to get this thing off of me…) He swallowed, gripping the glove and finding that it once more refused to let go of his hand.

“Aw, why’d ya ztop…” Jaqueline whined from where she sat on her knees, a look on her face.

He froze. “W-what?”

“You were doing zo good~” The (woman) purred, her look somehow becoming even more than it already was.

“Uh, I- what?” He found himself repeating, unable to do much else as Jaqueline slowly stretched herself out.

“Mm~ I haven’t been dominated like that in a while.” The Jaegerjaque told him with a satisfied grin. “Didn’t know how bad I waz needing that.”

“What is happening?” He whispered to himself, feeling his sanity begin to fray as he realized that all the Jaegerjaques were in a similar state of lazed relaxation as Jaqueline. A state that was a little too similar to a state of relaxation he’d seen Annabelle in.

“Ya used the Overlord’z Hand to Dominate uz.” Jaqueline answered, apparently seeing no reason to stand back up. “Me and da boyz be needing that in a bad way with az rough az the lazt few yearz have been.”

“I… am deeply uncomfortable with everything you just said. Aren’t you mad that I just… I just mind controlled you!” There really was no other way to say it.

Jaqueline gave him a confused look. “Ya didn’t mind control uz, ya Dominated uz like a propa Overlord.”

“What’s the difference?” He scoffed, sure that there was none.

“Mind Control iz when ya go in and twizt zomeone’z thoughtz around, make ‘em into zomethin’ they’re not. Domination iz where ya link ya mind with zomeone and make clear who da boss iz. The perzon iz still the perzon, they juzt zee thingz your way.” Jaqueline explained. “It’z not like ya can make zomeone be zomeone other than who they are.”

“That just… that just sounds like mind control with extra steps.” He told her, while wondering if denial was a side effect of this Domination thing.

“Nah, nah. Domination iz way zimpler than mind control.” The Jaegerjaque assured him. “All ya doing iz making yourzelf the boss. No one iz going to do anything for ya, they ain’t willing to do for another boss. Hell, zome people are even immune to it, but they got to be really loyal to their current boss to do that.” Jaqueline gave him a fanged grin. “Like we are to you!”

“That’s…” He inhaled before exhaling. “This is very clearly a Dark Side power.”

“Ya mean the fun zide?” Jaqueline blinked with a tilt of her head.

“What I mean is that, I’m not going to be doing this… Domination thing again.” As much as he may’ve fantasized about magic over the years, he was not going to use magic that overwrote someone’s will. (That’s how you turn yourself into a monster.)

Jaqueline shot up suddenly looking alarmed. “Okay, okay, now let’z not be hazty here. Domination iz one of the bezt toolz of the overlord trade, you can’t juzt cut uz off- I mean, you can’t juzt not uze it!”

“Why not?” He frowned. “I get that you want me to be this overlord thing, but I’m not going to remove people’s free will-”

“Of courze not, which iz why… you’ll only uze it on wild thingz and willing minionz.” Jaqueline smiled with a hint of desperation. “Thingz that either lack zapience or want you to dominate them. That way there’z no moral quandary to worry about.”

“That… that sounds like a very slippery slope.” He admitted, remembering just how intoxicating that power had been.

“Perhapz, but there are zome truly dangerouz beaztiez out there.” Jaqueline warned him, before her eyes went wide. “Ah, yez, that’ll prove why ya need to uze every zword on the rack!”

Before he could react, Jaqueline had once more grabbed him before leaping through the hole in the floor and with a few clawed grapples against the crumbling ceiling and walls had landed them on the raft they’d been using previously.

After taking a moment to try and catch his balance, only to fall on his ass, he turned a glare to the Jaegerjaque as she began to once more maneuver them through the swampy waters. “Where are we going now?”

“I told you there are dangerouz beaztiez out there. There’z a couple that are a bit clozer to camp than we like, but we were going to leave them be zo long az they did the zame for uz.” Jaqueline explained without breaking from her rowing.

“What kind of beasts?” He asked, because while he had dealt with a few dangerous animals during his expeditions for the university he wasn’t sure he could handle something that a creature like Jaqueline would consider dangerous. (Hopefully it’s just a few alligators or something…)

“All kindz of beaztiez made by the Magician, the Scientist, and the Caretaker.” Jaqueline answered, causing him to grip his head as he felt something wriggling around inside of his thoughts.

“I… I know those… those titles?” He frowned, not sure how he knew them or what they represented beyond a few vague mental outlines.

“Of courze you do, ya the Overlord!” Jaqueline laughed, not noticing his discomfort at this little aside as she continued to elaborate that, “Their beaztiez roam all over the world, zome doing their job and zome having forgotten it az the zenturiez dragged on or their jobz quit needing doing.”

“What kind of jobs?” He wondered, his mind conjuring up the kind of magical constructs or scientific abominations he’d use as enemies in various tabletop games.

“Like dealing with thoze ztupid fookin’ heroez!” Jaqueline growled before putting on a chipper smile. “Or working to be the bezt minionz eva like uz Jaegerjaquez!”

“So you were created to be minions.” He realized, eyeing the woman in front of him and wondering if she even realized what it meant that her race was designed to be servants, slaves even.

(No.) (Wait…) “You’re meant to be the Overlord’s minions but you said earlier the Jaegerjaques were spread out because you were ordered to live free and be happy.” He remembered.

“Aye.” Jaqueline nodded. “Ever Jaegerjaque followz the overlord because we choose to, not because he ordered uz to.”

He considered that for a moment, before pointing out that, “Earlier you said you wanted me to use Domination on you and the other Jaegerjaques. The way you were all acting… How do you know you’re not conditioned to be controlled by his power? An addiction built into your species to keep you loyal.”

“Nah, it’z not like that.” Jaqueline assured him with a distasteful frown, before crouching down and letting the currents carry them. “Domination connectz uz to you, and it’z… Ya got a god ya believe in?”

“I… don’t know.” He admitted, the topic having always been odd for him given how he was raised alongside how much of the world he’d seen that wasn’t limited to the churchyard.

“Well, ya rather they have a plan or no plan at all?” Jaqueline tried.

“I don’t know…” He answered once more, because there were pros and cons to both paths.

“Well, I zay it don’t matter if there’z a plan zo long az ya know ya god iz on ya zide, that he’ll try to do right by ya whether he got the power or not.” Jaqueline confessed, not quite meeting his eyes. “When ya Dominate uz, ya connect to uz, we zee your will, and know zuccezz or failure you’ve got our back. That’z… comforting.”

“Huh…” He wasn’t sure what he could say to that, the entire thing sounding far more… intimate than he’d been expecting. Especially since, (I barely know them and for all I know they kidnapped me here… Yet, she’s so confident after that I’m on their side…)

They both sat there in silence as the raft continued to carry them through the swamp, each with their own thoughts on the matter drifting through their minds. Eventually he was drawn from the depths of these thoughts as Jaqueline once more stood up.

“We’re here.”

He looked around and only saw more of the ruins and swamplands that they’d been surrounded by for their entire trip here, though something did tell him there were more Jaegerjaques lurking about nearby. “I don’t see anything.”

Jaqueline pointed to a large island floating in the middle of the water. “One of the beaztiez is over there.”

“On the island? Is that its nesting grounds?” He frowned, wondering why a creature on that island would worry the Jaegerjaques. (We’re a bit far from where they’ve set up their camp, surely even if it makes the waters more dangerous it can’t be a threat to them. Not when they don’t really get in the water.)

“No, that’z not itz neztin’ ground.” Jaqueline chuckled before putting two fingers in her mouth and whistling.

A handful of Jaegerjaques stood up on the edge of a nearby ruin rooftop and made several gestures.

Jaqueline made a couple of gestures herself before pointing towards him and then the island as she gave a decisive nod.

The other Jaegerjaques disappeared for a moment before coming back while carrying what from a distance looked like it could be the carcass of a bear given how many of them were needed to carry it before throwing it a decent distance into the water.

(Ah, they’re baiting it out.) He realized, his eyes locking onto the island as he waited for the creature to come out of hiding.

Only instead of a creature moving on the island, the island began to move. (Oh…)

From the water a massive set of jaws opened wide, revealing the brown scaly flesh of the creature, before slamming shut and devouring the bear carcass in a single bite with plenty of room to spare.

“What. Is. That?” He asked, unable to take his eyes off of the swamp monster even as it went back to pretending it was an unassuming island.

“Ship Eaterz. They’re a guardian of the swampz, they mostly harmlezz but they eat anything that get near them.” Jaqueline told him, before continuing to explain that, “They’re not very dangerouz while fed but should we get more minionz running around here, we’ll need to do zomething about them zinc they eat any ship that getz near them. We got zome scoutz watching thiz one because if it getz hungry it’ll ztart moving around more and with our base being the closest…”

“It’ll come after you if you don’t keep it fed.” He grimaced.

“Aye, which keepz a few too many hunterz wrapped up with thiz mezz.” Jaqueline nodded. “Zince we knew ya were coming zoon, we didn’t want to kill it in caze you wanted to do zomething with it.”

He looked at the Jaegerjaque wondering if she was crazy. “What can I do with… that thing?”

“Dominate it for one.” Jaqueline suggested with a shrug. “You can zend it away and make it zomeone elze’z problem, or we can keep it around to zcare off any one getting too close for comfort.”

“Why Dominate it if we’re planning to keep it around?” He couldn’t help but frown. “I mean can’t we just keep feeding it like this.”

“Yeah.” Jaqueline nodded. “But if ya Dominate it we can keep it clozer to base and we could even build zomething on it’z back. Make it a mobile building of zortz.”

“That’s either insane or ingenious…” He had to admit, easily able to picture a small mobile fortress on the Ship Eater’s back.

“Well it iz an overlord classic.” Jaqueline grinned, before giving the beast a considering look. “Though doing that’ll eat up a lot of food, no more than now, but ztill… Hmm, there’z another option too but it might be a bit rizky until ya get a better handle on thingz.”

He glanced at the Jaegerjaque. “What are you thinking?”

“If you use Domination to rally da boyz, we could kill the beaztie.” Jaqueline answered. “Normally I’m againzt killin’ any beazt we ain’t eating, but Ship Eaterz have all zortz of goodiez in them from the shipz they ate. Metalz and zuch that are hard to find in the swamplandz.”

“Do you think you can kill it?” He asked, having seen what kind of monster was pretending to be an island.

“Of courze!” Jaqueline scoffed, before proudly puffing up. “And even if we can’t, we can alwayz heal and try again later.”

“Then why would it be risky to go after it?” He frowned.

Jaqueline rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah, well, if we make the beaztie angry and don’t kill it quick, it’ll let out a call for other ship eaterz to come this way. They’ll zcatter again when they find nothing but given how cloze our base iz…”

“They might head that way themselves.” He grimaced, picturing the waters around the Jaegerjaques’ home swarming with these monsters.

“Aye.” Jaqueline nodded with a grimace of her own. “One ship eater iz manageable right now. Half a dozen though iz a whole other story.”

How should Simon and the Jaegerjaques handle this problem?

[]-Leave the beast for another day. (Can pick any of these later, or send it somewhere specific.)

[]-Dominate the beast to send it away.

[]-Dominate the beast to work with it.

[]-Dominate the Jaegerjaques to kill the beast.

---

Scene Consequences

New Overlord Skill: Dominate

-Simon can Dominate the will of any creature with both a Lower Martial and Magical level than him. Each Combat Turn you keep a unit Dominated will cost MP equal to its Minion Rank. This ability does not affect units with the [Loyal] or [Strong Will] traits.

Hidden Jaegerjaque Trait Revealed

-Love Being A Minion: These units can be Dominated by their chosen boss. Doing so will restore Morale and grant their boss’s relevant Skill Level to their own checks of that type.

Overlord’s Gem: Anima Blue

-Unit Bonus: Simon’s MP will fully restore with any Rest AP. Additionally, if Simon runs out of MP he can use Sanity in its place.

-Settlement Bonus: ???

---

Chapter 4: A Big Friend And A Big Party

--- Simon Lorde ---

He stood there thinking the matter over and (really wishing they weren’t putting this on me…) but at the same time he could tell by the expectant look Jaqueline was giving him that neither she nor any of the Jaegerjaques were going to make this decision for him.

Eventually his eyes fell upon the Ship Eater pretending to be an island, the creature relatively peaceful in spite of being a massive omnivore. An almost (majestic) entity that reminded him of the elephants and whales he’d seen on some of his travels. Massive creatures that were at peace with nature, right up until some human came along and harmed them.

And while he’d never been overtly involved in their preservation, he found that, (I don’t want to hurt it if I don’t have to…)

Which is why he finally decided that, “If one ship eater is manageable then… let’s keep him around.”

“Ah, youz going to Dominate him?” Jaqueline asked with no small amount of glee.

He glanced at the gauntlet on his hand, before giving the female Jaegerjaque a conflicted look. “Do… do I have to? Isn’t there a way to… domesticate it so it won’t attack you? I mean, I know this isn’t the usual kind of animal to domesticate but… this is a world of magic…” (There has to be another way.)

Jaqueline let out a huff of amusement before giving him a nod and a grin. “Aye, there’s this spell from a few hundred years back used for domesticating particularly mean beasties to be more friendly.”

“Really?” He smiled with no small amount of relief. “What is it? Can you, can you teach me it?”

“Well, I don’t have to. After all, you already know it.” Jaqueline assured him with her hands on her hips.

(I already…) “You’re talking about the Domination spell…” He realized in annoyance.

“Ja.” Jaqueline laughed with no shame. “Long before we Jaegerjaques came into the picture, that spell was made to keep people from the beastiez of the night. After a few improvements, it even made the beastiez view people az part of their pack. A few more and they started following orderz. A few more and well, even the zmarter beastiez figured out who da boss waz.”

He couldn’t help but grimace at that little history lesson as looked between Jaqueline and the Ship Eater. (That’s not what I wanted to hear…)

“Now don’t look zo down, if ya really don’t want to use Dominate on the beastie or uz then we could juzt leave it here.” Jaqueline assured him. “Of course, that’z juzt kicking the can down da road.”

“It is…” He sighed, running his ungloved hand through his hair before holding the gloved one up in the air.

Eventually he let the hand fall to his side. “Fine, I’ll Dominate the Ship Eater.”

“Wonderful!” Jaqueline cackled, before beginning to maneuver their raft around. “In that case we need to get closer to the beastie.”

“Wait, what? Why?!” He stumbled, under the sudden raft movements having to fight to keep from falling into the water.

“Dominate iz kind of tricky about da range.” Jaqueline explained, as she sailed their small ship closer to the Ship Eater. “While it can ztretch pretty far once active, the further ya are from the target the harder it iz to Dominate them.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” He admitted, “But that doesn’t explain why we’re sailing towards its head instead of its flank!”

“Because the beastie will rezpect ya more if ya look it in the eye when ya show it who'z boss!” The mad woman explained, curving the raft in such a way that it stopped with them staring the Ship Eater dead on from the front.

From this angle it didn’t take him long to find a pair of beady black eyes staring out from the beast pretending to be an island, each surrounded by foliage that would keep them hidden if one didn’t know that it was alive.

Unfortunately, he did know that he was staring at an omnivorous island, thus allowing him to see the exact moment that the Ship Eater realized that there was a rather small ship floating in front of it. Something that made it all the easier to see how the water surged as the ambush predator made its way towards them.

“We, we need to move before it eats us!” He told Jaqueline.

“Nah, ya can take him easy, boss.” The Jaegerjaque disagreed with a confident smile. “Ya just got to show this beastie what for, and he’ll be followin’ ya orderz in no time.”

“How?!” He yelled back as he felt none of that misplaced confidence as the Ship Eater began to open its mouth.

“We already covered dis, all ya gotz to do iz Dominate it.” Jaqueline reminded him, without a single twitch to her mad grin.

“Shit!” He cursed as the moving water began to shake the raft, forcing his eyes back onto the beast about to eat them.

With no other recourse he raised the Overlord’s Hand towards the beast and closed his eyes as he gave into the hundred instinct before feeling the cold-hot power of the gauntlet begin to flood through him, reminding him that he was the one in power here (not some upstart little salamander!)

Grasping this power tight, he opened his eyes and with a conviction that would make a god flinch ordered the massive monster before him to “Obey!”

The world around him shook as the power within him rushed forward, leaving him to gasp at the sudden loss of power.

Despite all of this the Ship Eater continued to rush forward with its maw opened wide.

Realizing that in spite of the power in the gauntlet, and Jaqueline’s confidence, he’d still failed, he closed his eyes in preparation to become this beast’s latest meal. (I’m sorry Annabelle…)

After a moment with no sudden impact, he wondered if the Ship Eater had eaten them whole in a way that would’ve given Jonah flashbacks of the whale, only to realize something was gently nudging against his gloved hand. (W-what?)

Cautiously, he slowly peeked through his eyelids before fully opening them as he found the Ship Eater gently nudging against his hand in spite of their massive size difference.

“Zee, look at him, he’z little more than a mazzive puppy now!” Jaqueline laughed from beside him, having apparently waited until he was actually looking at the results of, of (my magic…)

“He, he is… isn’t he?” He huffed with no small amount of awe as he continued to pet the Ship Eater’s snout.

“Yep, and now that he’z all docile like we don’t have to worry about him eating any of da boyz back home.” Jaqueline nodded, walking over and giving the Ship Eater a couple pats of her own. “Zpeaking of… Boyz we’z bouncin’!”

He couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden yell from beside him, something that the Ship Eater luckily didn’t care about in the slightest as it continued to nudge itself against his hand. Something that became harder as Jaqueline picked him up and climbed them both onto the Ship Eater’s head.

The living island made a rumbling sound that had both of them shaking from the sheer force of it.

“Now, now big guy. We’z gotz to get movin’ but you’re coming with uz.” Jaqueline assured the beast as she rubbed its head, before turning back to Simon. “You’ve got to point him in the direction we’re goin’.”

“Oh, um…” He looked around trying to remember which way they came from after all of that… excitement.

“That way.” Jaqueline helpfully pointed.

“Ah, thank you.” He nodded before pointing towards the Jaegerjaques’ base.

Not needing any other direction the Ship Eater began slowly turning the way he was pointing without any more words.

While they moved he found that from all around them the Jaegerjaques that had been watching them came out of hiding, and moved closer. Some of them even going so far as to jump onto the Ship Eater completely trusting that they’d pacified the giant beast. “Aren’t, aren’t they scared the Ship Eater is going to get them?”

“Maybe if they were ztupid and the beastie wazn’t Dominated, but they know it’z zafe for now.” Jaqueline shrugged, before letting out a dark chuckle as she began to once more move the raft. “And if any of dem are ztupid enough to mezz with him after the Domination wearz off then they dezerve to zpend a week or two getting digezted.”

“Would, wouldn’t that kill them?” He frowned with some concern.

“Nope.” Jaqueline smiled with nothing but fangs.

He wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse.

Deciding that he didn’t really want to dwell on that at the moment, he instead asked, “So, um, what now?”

“Now we go back to baze and celebrate the Overlord’z latezt victory!” Jaqueline answered, raising her voice into a cheer that was matched by the rest of the Jaegerjaques hitching a ride with the Ship Eater.

“That’s… not really what I meant…” (And I think you know that…)

“Ah, ya mean what are we doin’ with da Ship Eater?” Jaqueline nodded, without actually meeting his eyes. “Hmm, well like we waz talking about earlier there are a few optionz there. The mozt obvious would be to build zomething on his back zo that we have a building we can move around the swamp.”

“...” He held his tongue, getting the feeling that Jaqueline was purposely avoiding what he wanted to talk about.

In the face of his silence Jaqueline glanced his way and winced upon seeing his frown. The female Jaegerjaque bit her lip for a moment before subtly moving her head towards the rest of her kind and shaking her head as she tried to pass a message to him.

He glanced towards all of the Jaegerjaques that he couldn’t actually name, before giving her a nod and mouthing the word ‘Today.’ to which Jaqueline nodded back with a relieved look.

Figuring that it was best to… play along for now, he instead asked Jaqueline, “What kind of things do you think we should build? I mean more building space is useful with how limited it is out here, but that means we have to be mindful of what we put there.”

“Right, well, right now we don’t have a whole lot we can build, but everything we could build would be really uzeful right now.” Jaqueline assured him. “The easiest would be a zupply tranzport to help da boyz move building zuppliez around da swamp, which given how we have to carry everything right now would pretty much double our gathering of wood, ztone, and similar.”

“Which would be a massive boon if you’re planning on turning this place into a proper home.” He agreed, figuring that in a place with more water than land a ship was -from a civilization stand point- about as valuable as roads in the ancient world. (And until they get a shipyard this big guy might be the closest they have for a while.)

“Ja, but alternatively we could zet up a… zort of hunting and fishing ship on his back.” Jaqueline offered. “Given the zituation we’d barely be breaking even on the food that bringz in but, given how keepin’ him around iz already eating a hefty chunk of our food zupply…”

“It’ll at least mean he’s pulling his weight to stick around as it were.” He nodded in understanding, aware that his desire to not kill the Ship Eater was going to maintain the sink in their food supply they might’ve been hoping he’d get rid of.

“When we’re more eztablished we could zet up zomething more efficient but right now it’z what we’ve got to work with.” Jaqueline admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. “Similarly, we could build another farm on his back. The mozz and dirt Ship Eaterz gather iz zurprizingly good for farming, nothing fantastic but enough that we could have farm we could move if… thingz go badly.”

“Badly how?” He frowned.

“Fookin’ heroez wrecking our home…” Jaqueline grumbled.

“If… you’re in danger of being attacked… wouldn’t a sort of mobile fortress be an idea?” He wondered, remembering his earlier idea for the Ship Eater.

“Yeah, but… We don’t have the zuppliez for a proper fortrezz, and if we did that’z the kind of thing that once we built we wouldn’t be able to take down. The big guy would be ztuck with that for life.” Jaqueline explained while patting the Ship Eater.

“Oh, that’s…”

“Not that bad for them if we build it light.” Jaqueline admitted. “Zome of the older onez actually have a more zteady food zupply because stupid fookin’ heroez think the fort has treasure baiting them for the Ship Eater’z next meal.”

“Ah.” (That… is a survival strategy.)

“But like I zaid, we don’t have the zuppliez for that. At best we could build a zmall watchtower, and we could remove that easy.” Jaqueline shrugged. “Though of course we could build nothing, and zave the zpace for when we really need it.”

“Which could be a waste, especially if we can tear it down and build something else.” He pointed out.

“Perhapz,” Jaqueline nodded before climbing back to her feet. “But that’z zomething, we can zettle after the celebration.”

“Celebration?” He blinked, before realizing they were nearing the old cathedral-like structure the Jaegerjaques had built their home around. Something that was mostly pointed out by how many Jaegerjaques were standing around and staring at them.

Before he could realize what was happening Jaqueline had already grabbed him by his wrist, pulled him to his feet, and raised his gloved hand into the air. “Boyz and Galz Ya Overlord Returnz Victoriouz!!!”

All around them the Jaegerjaques erupted into cheers as they all came out of the woodwork to inspect the Ship Eater that was preening under all of the attention.

Cheers that he hadn’t heard in… ever. (There weren’t even this many cheers when I married Annabelle…)

An arm wrapped around his shoulders, drawing his attention back to Jaqueline. “Come on, boss. Now ain’t the time for that mopey stuff, now’z the Time To Party!!!”

The cheers renewed once more.

“Someone get out the booze!”

That just made them louder.

New Minion Acquired

Ship Eater

-Worker Tags: None

-Combat Tags: Transport, Bruiser, Infiltrator

-Social Tags: Lazy, Puppy-Like

-Special Abilities:

--Living Island: This unit is essentially a living island and can be used as a Construction space. Anything built here can be transferred to any location that this unit can move to.

---(Note: If a building progresses too far down its upgrade tree it will become a permanent attachment.)

--Ambush Predator: Unless scouted this unit begins Combat [Hidden]. This unit deals double damage when attacking from Stealth.

--Massive: This unit has higher HP and Attack than other units of its Rank, but rises in population caps faster. (I.E. 1 Ship Eater is the same Pop Level as 2 Dozen Jaegerjaques.)

Construction Tutorial

-From time to time we’ll be given the option to expand or upgrade our base, in order to do this we’ll need to meet certain requirements be they producing certain materials or having certain worker types.

-Worker Tags are non-negotiable, and you must meet the minimum requirements in order to build something. That said, Production can fall short at the price of extending how many Turns it will take to build something.

-Should we exceed the Production and Worker requirements of a project, then we’ll be able to assign the excess to a second completable project. (Just as if with lower Production levels.)

What should the Jaegerjaques start building?

Current Productions In Use: 2/2 Meat, 2/2 Vegetation, 0/1 Wood, 0/1 Stone

Current Workers In Use: 0/1 Humanoid, 0/1 Base Builder

[]-Supply transport. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid)

[]-Food transport. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid)

[]-A defensive post. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid, 1 Base Builder.)

[]-Mobile Farm. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid, 1 Base Builder)

[]-Leave it be for now. (Can choose later when you have more options.)