What the Overlords Dream of

The Overlord stared dumbly at the newcomer. His head was already hurting from questions and memories, and now here was another person who was clearly unhappy about his presence. But Gnarl didn't seem surprised by this. — What can we do? You were gone for too long, and the Tower needed a new master. If you had shown up earlier, this wouldn't have happened. — The Elder chuckled again. He was perfectly aware that the heir of the second Overlord was studying at a special academy and couldn't have arrived in time. If one could see a face through a helmet, it would surely have been red with anger. It had been so long since he had heard such caustic remarks from Gnarl. — Oh, you!... I don't have the strength for you. You knew perfectly well I was at the academy. Couldn't you have waited a bit with my worthless father's death until I arrived?! — Then his attention abruptly switched to the man who had just received the title of Overlord today. — And what brings you here? The man himself didn't know what to answer. Thoughts in his head were swarming like a cloud of flies, and he couldn't latch onto a single one. He made some unintelligible sound in reply, and as if to spite him, a ringing started in his ears. Fortunately, Gnarl intervened and redirected the loud man's attention to himself. — Ahem... since you're here, you will go retrieve the Heart of the Tower together. As I already said, there's still a little energy left here. It will be enough to deliver you to where the Heart was last seen. When you are ready, Overlords, step into the Gates. I will await you on the other side. With these words, Gnarl was the first to step into the portal and dissolved into the streams of energy. Next, the newcomer followed him, and then he did. The sensation of teleportation was ticklish, and soon they were on the ground. But the teleportation added further dizziness, which clearly didn't help his already stressed-out body. After a while, he finally managed to focus his gaze and examine the surroundings. They appeared on grass, and behind them stood four stone pillars with carvings, connected by a stone arch on top. A path also led forward, flanked by a flimsy wooden fence. The carvings on the pillars depicted faces of creatures vaguely resembling minion muzzles and other symbols. Seeing that both had appeared, Gnarl began his lament. — The Hinterlands... all beauty, peace, and idyll. Disgusting, right? You'll just have to endure it, Masters! The Gates are an ancient magical passage between these lands and the Tower. Through them, you can summon your servants. For now, you only command the Browns. To command other minion clans, you must first find them. Perhaps we can find the stolen parts of the Tower in this... beautiful, blooming abomination... This information was useful for the Overlord, as he knew practically nothing. However, the summoned minions seemed to recognize the second one, as they actively swirled around him. But only his hemisphere was active, so they could only obey him. Gnarl led them further, and a few sheep appeared ahead, which the Elder joyfully commented on. — These fluffy creatures have no brains at all, but you can still take their life force! Remember, the more life force - the more servants you can summon through the Gates. After these words, the minions joyfully went to carry out the Overlord's silent command, and soon all the sheep were killed, and the life forces, in the form of yellow clumps of light, were transferred to him. Further ahead, urns appeared, which were also commented on. — These urns might contain something interesting! Minions love breaking things! Although, they love killing even more! Phee-hee-hee-hee... The second of the Overlords now watched this in silence, saying nothing and not helping in any way. The minions, with joyful clamor, smashed the urns and immediately donned something resembling armor, accompanying it with exclamations like "It's all mine!". Returning to Gnarl, he informed them that the road was blocked by a fallen column, but if they ordered the minions, they would gladly move it, clearing the path. Which is what happened. But they had only taken a couple of steps when, around the bend, a strange man appeared surrounded by pumpkins, tied up like a scarecrow and dressed similarly. Upon seeing our travelers, he immediately began to jerk about frantically and chatter loudly. — Ooooh, the halflings took my farm from me. Tied me up in the scorching sun to scare off crows. And now the pumpkins have turned against poor Bob too. They want revenge on me for all the pies I made from them... For the jelly and... uh... ice cream! I hear them whispering at night! But I won't give my farm to the halflings. No way! They're even worse than the pumpkins! Please, help poor Bob get his farm back! The farmer stepped aside, letting the minions go ahead, who immediately rushed to smash the pumpkins, obeying the Overlord's silent command. Meanwhile, Gnarl was discussing something with the second Overlord. The atmosphere between them was quite tense, but the conversation was quiet, and because of Bob's shouts, it was impossible to understand what was being said. — They're screaming! The pumpkins are screaming! They're scared to death! Grab them, catch them! Your servants aren't related to pumpkins in any way, right? Even the birds are laughing at me. They're in cahoots with the pumpkins, I know! Having destroyed all the pumpkins, the minions rushed into the barn where a halfling was hiding. Chasing him around there, incidentally destroying most of it, the minions drove the creature out. The Overlord finished him off immediately. — That's how it's done, give them hell! Oh, you better not dawdle, masters. The path from my house leads to the village of Revel. I bet there are whole hordes of those plump little devils there, so keep your wits about you. I think I'll stay here. I'll restore the farm, grow zucchinis. Zucchinis don't talk... Yes, everything will be fine. Ho-ho! — It seems nothing can help poor Bob anymore, as he's slowly going mad. He didn't even notice how this whole strange procession moved forward and was no longer listening to him. And ahead, once again, the Browns had rummaged somewhere and found something else to put on themselves. Gnarl, having already finished his strange conversation with the second, returned to the first, explaining. — The entourage independently finds all useful items they come across... and sometimes useless ones... No, don't be alarmed - your armor and weapons were forged in the Tower, specially made to order! For your Overlord... or rather, your Overlords, we wouldn't dare give stolen goods, no-no-no... Having walked a bit further, they discovered raised gates, which indeed belonged to the settlement, and also three halflings who were asleep. Dealing with them didn't require much effort. Besides life force, clouds of black fog emanated from them, lingering and swirling over the dead bodies. Gnarl also didn't miss the chance to explain. — See the little clouds rising over the dead hobbit-folk? That's the energy of Evil that lives in every evil creature. In time, you will learn much about it... Further ahead, a gathering of pumpkins appeared, in the middle of which was a sphere emitting a soft blue glow, reminiscent of the sky on warm July mornings when there's not a cloud. Gnarl exclaimed with satisfaction. — The Heart of the Tower! These vile hobbit-folk must have been using it to grow pumpkins. Fools, they have no idea of the true power hidden within! We must smash the pumpkins and return the Tower's Heart to it! Obeying the silent command, the minions destroyed the pumpkins and picked up the sphere. At this time, the Overlord went to the right, where he broke, or rather, collapsed a large fragment of the wall, which perfectly collapsed right across the river, becoming a sort of bridge. In the background, Gnarl was encouraging the entourage and also scolding them for shirking from carrying the special object. — Lichen, why are you slacking? Giblets, I can see you're pretending, holding it with one claw! Guban, put your back into it, you pathetic festering wineskin! — After such scolding, the minions finally carried the Heart to the portal slab and placed it there, where it dissolved, transferring it to the Tower. The minions returned to the Hatch through their portal, and the two Overlords and Gnarl stepped onto the same slab where the Heart had been.