“Upon this world a doom ephemeral
Weaves its wicked web eternal
Darkness baiting o’er every way
Never will Beaubinte see light of day
Lest valour true strike high and bright
And drive the Mage of Shadows out the night—”
“Quiet, you insolent cur!”
Helseymour hacked as the rope around his neck tightened and the chains around his arms and legs rattled. One of the troupe of cloaked Warforged bearing the Red Serpent on their chests turned to him and growled at him, kicking him in the back. The message was clear: shut up and keep walking.
The torchlit stone hallway ended in a cold, steel door. The troupe’s leader, a dark elf in purple armor, stepped forward to the door and hissed an incantation. It swung open, revealing the thronging chamber room.
High above the party in separate boxes sat the four members of the Committee, draped in silken red cloaks.
“Who brings this cretin before us?” echoed the rasping, dark voice of the Committee Headmaster.
“Stelas Steford,” said the dark elf. “Of Ul-Sindryn.”
“Ul-Sindryn,” said the Headmaster with a nod. “Newbridge or Westgate?”
“Neither,” Stelas said. “Smallchapel.”
“Ah. You know, my nephew studied Conjuring in Smallchapel. ’Tis a fine district, if not a little expensive.”
“Yes, ’tis fine indeed,” Stelas agreed.
“Of course—” the Headmaster continued, “—I would’ve preferred he went to school in Seven Forges… which is in Akchamish, you know, right by the Surtadan border…”
“I know where Akchamish is, Headmaster,” Stelas said. The troupe of Warforged turned to him, shocked by the rudeness of his tone.
“Indeed, as you must,” said the Headmaster. “Now. Who is this human that you’ve brought before us?”
“Helseymour Halthriksen, of Luroypani.”
“Reasons for seizure?”
“Inappropriate usage of invisibility spells. That is, he was using them to steal.”
“And?” said a nearby Warforged, elbowing Stelas in the back.
“And, erm, and to sneak into the women’s changing rooms at the citadel in the Upper Ward.”
“Ah,” said the Headmaster. “Is he… powerful?”
“Very,” Stelas said. “His mana levels, when full, have been rumored to reach well over ninety.”
The Headmaster nodded.“The Overlord will be pleased.”
“Headmaster—” said another member of the Council, “—will the subject’s ill moral fibre not affect the Overlord’s constitution? Is absorbing this foul human well aligned with our goals?”
“A fair point,” the Headmaster said. “However, we can easily strip this vessel of his malfeasant tenedencies in the Cauldron.”
Stelas exhaled in relief.
“All that said,” the Headmaster continued, “It will also incur a slight reduction in the finder’s fee. I’m sure you will understand.”
“Yes,” Stelas said.
“Excellent. The Council may now adjourn this meeting,” said the Headmaster. He raised his palm, spreading his three fingers out wide. The Headmaster hissed guttural noises in an ancient language, casting spit through the air.
The suspended Council boxes shot higher into the air, melting into the stone of the ceiling. With a grinding and a creaking the floor of the room trembled and crackled and shaped into a staircase, leading down into endless darkness.
A lady Yuan-Ti in dangling black robes sauntered up from the steps and addressed Stelas.
“Your work here is done. You will recieve your pay on exiting the Forum.”
“You mean I won’t get to meet the Overlord?” Stelas said.
“The Overlord meets his subjects on a need to know basis,” said the Yuan-Ti. “And you do not need to know.”
“Fair enough.” Stelas turned around to leave.
“One more thing,” the Yuan-Ti said, pulling Stelas close by the scruff of his neck. “Watch your attitude. The Overlord and his Council demand respect. Do not let your power go to your head. Arrogance can be very… dangerous.”
Stelas shuddered, as she’d slightly licked his ear whilst saying this. Then, he shuffled out the room. A nearby Warforged slammed the door shut quickly behind him.
“Now—” the Yuan-Ti said, looking at Helseymour with hunger, “—let us take you to the Cauldron.”
Helseymour quivered as the Yuan-Ti grasped his lead and yanked him forward, leading him down the dark, musty staircase. She pulled him so forcefully that for a moment Helseymour’s groin brushed against the Yuan-Ti’s soft-yet-scaly rump, separated in that moment only by her sheer, satin cloak and his own rough, burlap trousers. He felt extremely uncomfortable.
As they walked further down the staircase, Helseymour noticed a faint bubbling, and a dark green glow. Soon enough, Helseymour was standing before a large, black cauldron. There was a winding stone ramp leading up to its rim.
“Don’t worry,” the Yuan-Ti said to him with a chuckle. “It will only hurt for a moment.”
Helseymour swallowed air as the Yuan-Ti pulled him forward, walking him up the ramp.
Yes… I must feed… growled an ethereal voice that shook the room like a quake.
“Soon enough, dear Overlord,” the Yuan-Ti said with a serpentine smile.
“Please,” Helseymour begged as she pulled him to the stony edge, overlooking a bubbling pool of green goo. “Please don’t do this to me!”
Feed me…
“I’m sorry, but I must do what the Overlord commands,” said the Yuan-Ti as she sidestepped and pushed Helseymour forward.
Yes… feed me, Helseymour…
“AAAAAGH!” he screamed, falling forward into the searing agony.
----------------------------------------
Far away, in a tall, dark tower, the Overlord relaxed in his throne, feeling the familiar tingle of power feeding send tingles up the back of his neck.
[Processing Attributes…]
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[Processing Attributes…]
[Attributes Processed.]
[+95 total mana]
[+18 total hp]
[+5 total wis]
[+3 total stm]
[+1 total dx]
[New Spell Acquired - Transmute to Stone]
[New Spell Acquired - Greater Shroud of Invisiblity]
[New Spell Acquired - Mental Wash]
He smiled a wicked, toothy grin as his vision filled with the system’s notices. It was not every day that the Overlord learned three new spells. What a rush.
Someone knocked on the door.
The Overlord snapped out of his joyful trance and lowered his shrouded black cowl over his face.
“Come on in, then,” he said.
The oak door swung open, revealing a stumpy imp in a red tuxedo.
“Hello, Babqex,” the Overlord said with a sigh.
“My liege,” the imp said, exhaling haughtily. “The Saintserian envoy has come again, asking for aid. What shall we say to them?”
“What do I care what’s happening on the other side of the pond?” The Overlord slammed his fist on the arm of the throne and stood up.
[Vigorous Rage Activated]
Coils of purple electricity snaked around his arms and legs as his fury grew. The ground shook.
[Stamina 98%]
“Tell them to get out of my hair!” The Overlord commanded.
[Stamina 94%]
“Y-yes, right away, m-my liege!” squealed Babqex, who promptly scurried down the hall and out the doorway.
[Vigorous Rage Deactivated]
“Oh, gods,” the Overlord sighed and plopped back in his throne, raising a palm to the throbbing vein on his forehead. “What a waste of breath.”
[Stamina 100%]
“Darling,” said a sultry voice, “I wish you wouldn’t strain yourself over something so…inconsequential…”
The Overlord looked to the entrance to the Left Wing, watching as a half-elf in a draping, black gown walked towards him.
“Hello there, Maviel.” The Overlord allowed a small smile to crack across his face.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?” she started pouting, a strong sliver of red across her bright, plaster-white skin, “You need to take my wishes seriously, you know.”
“Oh, do I?” The Overlord chuckled.
“Come on.” She leaned towards him, meeting his vision with her piercing, purple irises. “Why don’t you lift up that hood for me, darling?”
“Not right now,” the Overlord said with a cough. He tried to push Maviel away, but once his cold, calloused hand touched her soft, warm hip, it was impossible.
“Not right now?” she parroted him with a smirk.
“No. Not right now.” The Overlord shook his head and sighed, standing up and walking towards a wide window. He stared out at the starry yet melancholy nighttime. “I’m going to have to do something about Chandia.”
“Oh, this again…” Maviel huffed, slowly retreating with an eyeroll.
The Overlord stewed, standing in place, hoping that if he scowled out at the world long enough something would happen that could help him pick up the pieces of his empire and make it into something truly terrible. Something worthy of being feared.
[New Player Joining]
“What in the…” The Overlord gasped at the green text appearing before his vision. It disappeared, and then typed across his sight again.
[New Player Joining]
It stayed this time, but now it was flashing between bright and dim, bright and dim. And then, the countdown typed across the Overlord’s vision.
[New Player Joining in 23:59:57]
“By the gods,” the Overlord hacked, choaking on heartburn. “What does it mean? What could it mean?”
[New Player Joining in 23:59:36]
“Maviel! Maviel, are you there?” The Overlord turned around, but as his velour cape settled, he saw that she had already left the room.
[New Player Joining in 23:58:45]
“Confound it!” The Overlord focused intently as icons popped up in his mind’s eye. He felt an itchy tingling behind his eyes as he cycled through his many available spells.
[Spell Cast: Greater Divine Insight]
[Mana -27%]
[Temporary Buffs:]
[+50 wis]
[+30 int]
“Oh, nevermind the buffs!” the Overlord spat. “I want to speak to Tylos!”
[Temporary Buffs Cancelled]
[-50 wis]
[-30 int]
[Summoning Confidant]
In a bright pink puff of smoke, a partially translucent Satyr appeared.
“Yea, baby, get over here with that paddle! I’ve been a bad, baaaad little goat boy!”
“Tylos!” said the Overlord, spraying saliva through the air.
“What, what do you want?!” asked the Satyr, immediately jumping when he noticed the Overlord glaring at him. “Oh, gods! Dhiurthu! Sorry you had to hear that, buddy, I just—”
“What the fuck did you just call me?” asked the Overlord.
“Sorry, sorry, ‘Overlord.’ I forget, you know, since when we first met, you weren’t anywhere near an Overlor—”
“If you do not cease your babbling this instant, I will send a battalion to Devgatsya, find your measley little village—if it can even be called one—and burn it to the ground!” said the Overlord.
“I’m sorry, Dhiurthu, gods, I’m so—Overlord. Overlord. I’m so, so sorry, Overlord.” Tylos said. He was trembling.
“Apology accepted," said the Overlord.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 80s]
“Now, Tylos, listen to me, and listen to me quick, because I’m running out of time and I’m not feeling patient. I don’t want to have to sit and wait for my mana to recharge, or burn a potion, just because you can’t stop running your mouth. Understood?” asked the Overlord.
“Yes, your Overlord-ness, sir," said Tylos.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 69s]
“I have a question. I’ve got a notice from the system that’s been burning itself into my vision, a notice I've never seen before," said the Overlord.
“What, is it an ad for an ED spell?” Tylos snickered.
The Overlord did not respond.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 52s]
“Er. Sorry. Overlord. What um, if I might ask, is the notice, exactly?” asked Tylos.
“It says ‘New Player Joining.’ And then a countdown timer," said the Overlord.
“Holy shit," said Tylos.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 44s]
“Is that all you’ve got for me, Tylos?” The Overlord gnashed his teeth, feeling gristle from an earlier feast pop out from between one of his molars.
“I—I’m sorry, it’s just—wow. It’s going to change everything. It really is," said Tylos.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 36s]
“Well, what the hell does it mean, then, if it’s so impactful?!” asked the Overlord.
“It means somebody else is coming," said Tylos.
“Someone else?! Like who?” The Overlord could feel the ground tremble under foot once again.
[Vigorous Rage Activated]
[Stamina 98%]
“Tell me more! More, Tylos, more!!” The Overlord stamped on the ground, hearing a crack echo through the tower as a stone in the nearby wall split in two, firing speckled shards at Tylos’ translucent body.
[Stamina 92%]
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 23s]
“S-someone as powerful as you," said Tylos.
The Overlord paused.
[Vigorous Rage Deactivated]
And then, the Overlord laughed.
He laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
[Stamina 100%]
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me," said the Overlord.
Tylos did not respond.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 18s]
The Overlord stepped forward, less relaxed now.
“Tell me you’re fucking kidding me, Tylos,” commanded the Overlord.
“I’m dead serious," said Tylos.
[Summoned Confidant will expire in 12s]
The Overlord’s eyelid twitched.
And then, Tylos began to chant.
“Lest valour true strike high and bright
And drive the Mage of Shadows—”
“Don’t you dare recite that fucking thing at me!!” screamed the Overlord, tossing off one of his emerald bracelets and hitting a nearby ceramic statue of himself, which toppled to the floor and shattered.
[Spell Cancelled]
[Confidant Unsummoned]
The Overlord took deep breaths as his mana recharged.
[Mana 89%]
[Mana 93%]
[Mana 97%]
[Mana 100%]
He looked back at the countdown at the top of his vision.
[New Player Joining in 23:48:26]
“Gods protect me,” sighed the Overlord, “I’ve come too far to lose now.”