02-22-2018, 03:35 PM
It was a dark and moon-less, yet mild summer night over the lands of New World. The people rested in their beds, peacefully sleeping while the less savoury individuals crawled out of their hiding places to conduct whatever shady business they wanted and the nocturnal animals awakened to go about their ‘day’. Guardsmen on night duty stood on their posts, overseeing the safety of their towns and cities, and once in a while an adventurer or two went to do work that could only be done in the absence of the sun.
Yet the Great Tomb of Nazarick was as active as ever. Most of its heteromorph - or Grotesque as was the popular name given to all intelligent races that were neither human nor sub-human - inhabitants needed no rest, either thanks to their race or due to the enchanted rings that they wore, and they were eager to work whatever projects they were on. Save of course for Shalltear Bloodfallen, who was drowning her depression and sorrow in alcohol distilled from fermented blood, and a handful that had been given nothing to do. Many of them were active outside the Tomb, assisting in the efforts of building the warehouses and other projects under the supervision of the Floor Guardians.
Down in the second-deepest level of this tomb, the ninth floor, was the office of the great Supreme Being, Ainz Ooal Gown. It was an ornately decorated room with two doors, one leading to the - unused - private quarters and the other leading to the rest of the floor. The room was dominated by a large wooden desk with a polished darkwood surface. Had it not been for the detailed engravings of demonic and angelic creatures in battle that were carved onto its massive legs - or rather, both that and the lack of potted plants flanking the left and right sides of the desk - it would have looked like it came straight out of a rich CEO’s office.
Sitting on an equally ornate chair that more resembled a throne, padded with red velvet cushions, was an elder lich, a skeleton-type undead, dressed in an elaborate black academic gown adorned with golden and violet edges. Rings glimmered on nine of its ten fingers which it held before its skull and tiny red flames flickered in its empty sockets, the only hint that it was not in fact the skeleton of some long-deceased mage. An aura of immense power inspiring fear and respect in all who came close surrounded it, wavering about its frame that showed how tall it really was, even when sitting. The aura was, however, so passive that onlookers would quickly understand that it was not something the elder lich intended to do, to intimidate someone. It did not even realize that it had this effect - it was as natural as breathing would be to a living being. That elder lich was the very same Ainz Ooal Gown, and at that time he was listening to the weekly report.
Besides him, far closer than a normal subordinate would to their boss, stood Albedo, the Overseer of the Floor Guardians and de facto second highest-ranked individual in the Tomb, as all those who had ranked above her besides Lord Ainz had vanished long ago. As a part-succubus Grotesque she was incredibly beautiful with long black hair, pale skin and curves befitting a member of her race. If her supernatural beauty did not tip an onlooker off, her vertically slit pupils and golden irises would, as well as her thick demon horns and the black angel wings growing from her waist surely would. She was wearing a white dress that showed off just enough of her figure to not appear indecent, and her lips were curled into an ever-present smile aven as she spoke, reading items off a list she held in her hands.
“... so, while the warehouses are making great progress, because the manufacturing process of magic scrolls appears to work differently we will need more time for that.”
Ainz stared intently at his fingertips as if an answer was written there, while Albedo waited. “I would prefer to begin using magic scrolls as soon as possible”, he said. Though he had no lungs, no trachea, no vocal cords or even a tongue and his jaw didn’t move his words sounded through the room, loud and clear. He turned his head to the side to look at Albedo and asked: “Would it accelerate the process if we captured someone with the necessary knowledge?”
Albedo’s blush, which she had had all that time giving the report, intensified a bit and she bowed her head. Due to a series of events she was completely infatuated with Ainz, which she openly displayed at every occasion. Especially now that he was constantly out, exploring the world and gathering information, which reduced the time they could see each other to a few hours a week. Like a dam that built up and was vented every so often, these moments were when she showered him with her affection. “As always, Lord Ainz, your thinking is flawless. Shall I notify Sebas to look for a suitable target?”
“No”, said Ainz, “Sebas and Solution are already preoccupied with their own mission, it would not be good to split their attention with a secondary assignment. Narberal and I are going to investigate E-Rantel tomorrow and come up with candidates for the position. It won't attract attention if an adventurer asks around for utilities like magic scrolls. ‘Nabe’ is not capable of casting every magic spell there is, after all.”
Under the respective aliases Momon and Nabe, Ainz and Narberal Gamma were acting as adventurers in the Re-Estize Kingdom, with Momon being a knight and Nabe a mage. This permitted them to explore the world and gather information much more easily. After they had recently been promoted to adamantine-level, the highest that there was, they had also gained extended access to the adventurer’s guild resources and were privy to much confidential information. As powerful as Ainz might be in this world, he was very careful and methodical about his approach. The incident with Shalltear had shown him that there were many factors in this world that could still pose a danger to him and his subordinates of Nazarick. He was not going to make rash decisions and risk everything because of his impatience or pride.
Besides, it was not like his time was limited. He, like almost all inhabitants of Nazarick, was immortal. The ones who weren’t, like Aura and Mare, were incredibly long-lived. It would be hundreds of years before age became a matter, if they even aged that was. That was one of the many things Ainz intended to discover about this New World - what things had changed and which ones had remained the same ever since that day where he had mysteriously been transformed into what had once just been his avatar in an MMORPG and found himself stranded in an unknown world, New World as he called it, along with all the NPCs of the Guild he was the leader of - NPCs such as Albedo.
“Narberal will be in touch with you soon, regarding the matter of a scroll manufacturer”, he concluded.
“Very well”, said Albedo with a nod. “That concludes the weekly report from my end, Lord Ainz.”
“I see. In that case I should depart again. The night will be over soon, I should be back in the inn before that.” He pushed back the chair and stood. “I leave Nazarick in your capable hands, Albedo. Take care of everything while I’m gone.”
“Ohh, I will be sure to, Lord Ainz”, she replied with a happier blush and a wide smile. As his self-proclaimed wife she had taken it upon herself to care for his personal quarters, even though he’d never used them since his arrival. As an undead he had no use for a bed, requiring no sleep.
“Gate”, he said and opened a black portal to the inn he was staying at. For some reason it seemed darker around the edges today than it was normally, but Ainz paid it no mind. A spell of this tier was barely influencable with even high-tier magic, let alone with the ludicrously weak spells that the people of New World used. It likely was a side-effect of using it from within the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He wrapped himself into his suit of armor, covered his head with his helmet, conjured the twinswords onto his back and stepped through the portal. It was time to pretend he’d been sleeping and was now ready to embark on new adventures.
---
Darkness enveloped him. In a heartbeat Ainz knew that something was wrong. The Gate Spell should have brought him straight to his destination, into the darkened inn room. However as an undead, one of his skills was Dark Vision, so the room should have appeared to him bright as day.
Had Gate gone wrong? No, it had a 0% mishap chance, that was precisely why he used it. He could not imagine it having been countered in some manner, no caster could have come close enough to the tomb to inhibit the spell without setting off numerous alarms. Perhaps at its destination then? But if that was it, where was he now? That was what he needed to find out.
Just as he found that his limbs were completely stiff, a figure manifested from the darkness. A curious white, featureless humanoid whose only defining feature was the enormous grin plastered on his face. His. For some reason Ainz instinctively knew that this being who began to address him was a man, before the first words came from his mouth.
Ainz wanted to interrupt him, to ask questions, but he could not get a word out either. His body acted on its own though, raising its hands as if it held a large salad bowl. Into these outheld hands this being who had introduced himself as Omni just now placed a basketball-sized orb that glimmered in all colors of the rainbow.
So many questions left unanswered, but Ainz could not get a word in edgewise. He felt panic welling up inside him, but as usual the undead aura he had since he had turned undead suppressed it and calmed him again. In a strangely catatonic state he watched as the darkness cleared around him and he found himself facing complete white.
Just as quickly as his body had stiffened during that meeting with the one called Omni, so did it relax again and he was able to move his limbs again. His sense of balance and gravity was distorted after that strange trip, but he quickly realized that what the white in front of him was the ground. He was laying down.
“Ugh. What on Earth…” he murmured as he pushed himself to his knees and raised his head. A world he didn’t know… the Omniverse… this was weirdly familiar. It was the second time in about a month that he had been taken from his old world and thrown into a new one. The only difference was that this time had come with an introduction. And that he was somewhere he did not recognize at all.
Unlike when Yggdrasil had become reality there was no Great Tomb of Nazarick around this time. There was no NPC to greet him… no, that wasn’t right. There was someone standing there… a human man, by the looks of it. Slowly Ainz stood up, all without saying a word, and eyed him. It was not someone he recognized, either from Yggdrasil or from New World. He had a weird pirate theme going on with a hook for a hand, but the rest of his attire was too high-class for that. It seemed that he was paying him no mind at the moment, instead his attention was focused on a sandstone-colored water fountain.
Unsure of who this person was - perhaps one of the ‘others’ that Omni had mentioned? - Ainz brought a gloved hand to where his mouth was beneath the helmet and cleared his nonexistant throat. “Good day”, he spoke as indifferently as possible, to grab the stranger’s attention.
Yet the Great Tomb of Nazarick was as active as ever. Most of its heteromorph - or Grotesque as was the popular name given to all intelligent races that were neither human nor sub-human - inhabitants needed no rest, either thanks to their race or due to the enchanted rings that they wore, and they were eager to work whatever projects they were on. Save of course for Shalltear Bloodfallen, who was drowning her depression and sorrow in alcohol distilled from fermented blood, and a handful that had been given nothing to do. Many of them were active outside the Tomb, assisting in the efforts of building the warehouses and other projects under the supervision of the Floor Guardians.
Down in the second-deepest level of this tomb, the ninth floor, was the office of the great Supreme Being, Ainz Ooal Gown. It was an ornately decorated room with two doors, one leading to the - unused - private quarters and the other leading to the rest of the floor. The room was dominated by a large wooden desk with a polished darkwood surface. Had it not been for the detailed engravings of demonic and angelic creatures in battle that were carved onto its massive legs - or rather, both that and the lack of potted plants flanking the left and right sides of the desk - it would have looked like it came straight out of a rich CEO’s office.
Sitting on an equally ornate chair that more resembled a throne, padded with red velvet cushions, was an elder lich, a skeleton-type undead, dressed in an elaborate black academic gown adorned with golden and violet edges. Rings glimmered on nine of its ten fingers which it held before its skull and tiny red flames flickered in its empty sockets, the only hint that it was not in fact the skeleton of some long-deceased mage. An aura of immense power inspiring fear and respect in all who came close surrounded it, wavering about its frame that showed how tall it really was, even when sitting. The aura was, however, so passive that onlookers would quickly understand that it was not something the elder lich intended to do, to intimidate someone. It did not even realize that it had this effect - it was as natural as breathing would be to a living being. That elder lich was the very same Ainz Ooal Gown, and at that time he was listening to the weekly report.
Besides him, far closer than a normal subordinate would to their boss, stood Albedo, the Overseer of the Floor Guardians and de facto second highest-ranked individual in the Tomb, as all those who had ranked above her besides Lord Ainz had vanished long ago. As a part-succubus Grotesque she was incredibly beautiful with long black hair, pale skin and curves befitting a member of her race. If her supernatural beauty did not tip an onlooker off, her vertically slit pupils and golden irises would, as well as her thick demon horns and the black angel wings growing from her waist surely would. She was wearing a white dress that showed off just enough of her figure to not appear indecent, and her lips were curled into an ever-present smile aven as she spoke, reading items off a list she held in her hands.
“... so, while the warehouses are making great progress, because the manufacturing process of magic scrolls appears to work differently we will need more time for that.”
Ainz stared intently at his fingertips as if an answer was written there, while Albedo waited. “I would prefer to begin using magic scrolls as soon as possible”, he said. Though he had no lungs, no trachea, no vocal cords or even a tongue and his jaw didn’t move his words sounded through the room, loud and clear. He turned his head to the side to look at Albedo and asked: “Would it accelerate the process if we captured someone with the necessary knowledge?”
Albedo’s blush, which she had had all that time giving the report, intensified a bit and she bowed her head. Due to a series of events she was completely infatuated with Ainz, which she openly displayed at every occasion. Especially now that he was constantly out, exploring the world and gathering information, which reduced the time they could see each other to a few hours a week. Like a dam that built up and was vented every so often, these moments were when she showered him with her affection. “As always, Lord Ainz, your thinking is flawless. Shall I notify Sebas to look for a suitable target?”
“No”, said Ainz, “Sebas and Solution are already preoccupied with their own mission, it would not be good to split their attention with a secondary assignment. Narberal and I are going to investigate E-Rantel tomorrow and come up with candidates for the position. It won't attract attention if an adventurer asks around for utilities like magic scrolls. ‘Nabe’ is not capable of casting every magic spell there is, after all.”
Under the respective aliases Momon and Nabe, Ainz and Narberal Gamma were acting as adventurers in the Re-Estize Kingdom, with Momon being a knight and Nabe a mage. This permitted them to explore the world and gather information much more easily. After they had recently been promoted to adamantine-level, the highest that there was, they had also gained extended access to the adventurer’s guild resources and were privy to much confidential information. As powerful as Ainz might be in this world, he was very careful and methodical about his approach. The incident with Shalltear had shown him that there were many factors in this world that could still pose a danger to him and his subordinates of Nazarick. He was not going to make rash decisions and risk everything because of his impatience or pride.
Besides, it was not like his time was limited. He, like almost all inhabitants of Nazarick, was immortal. The ones who weren’t, like Aura and Mare, were incredibly long-lived. It would be hundreds of years before age became a matter, if they even aged that was. That was one of the many things Ainz intended to discover about this New World - what things had changed and which ones had remained the same ever since that day where he had mysteriously been transformed into what had once just been his avatar in an MMORPG and found himself stranded in an unknown world, New World as he called it, along with all the NPCs of the Guild he was the leader of - NPCs such as Albedo.
“Narberal will be in touch with you soon, regarding the matter of a scroll manufacturer”, he concluded.
“Very well”, said Albedo with a nod. “That concludes the weekly report from my end, Lord Ainz.”
“I see. In that case I should depart again. The night will be over soon, I should be back in the inn before that.” He pushed back the chair and stood. “I leave Nazarick in your capable hands, Albedo. Take care of everything while I’m gone.”
“Ohh, I will be sure to, Lord Ainz”, she replied with a happier blush and a wide smile. As his self-proclaimed wife she had taken it upon herself to care for his personal quarters, even though he’d never used them since his arrival. As an undead he had no use for a bed, requiring no sleep.
“Gate”, he said and opened a black portal to the inn he was staying at. For some reason it seemed darker around the edges today than it was normally, but Ainz paid it no mind. A spell of this tier was barely influencable with even high-tier magic, let alone with the ludicrously weak spells that the people of New World used. It likely was a side-effect of using it from within the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He wrapped himself into his suit of armor, covered his head with his helmet, conjured the twinswords onto his back and stepped through the portal. It was time to pretend he’d been sleeping and was now ready to embark on new adventures.
---
Darkness enveloped him. In a heartbeat Ainz knew that something was wrong. The Gate Spell should have brought him straight to his destination, into the darkened inn room. However as an undead, one of his skills was Dark Vision, so the room should have appeared to him bright as day.
Had Gate gone wrong? No, it had a 0% mishap chance, that was precisely why he used it. He could not imagine it having been countered in some manner, no caster could have come close enough to the tomb to inhibit the spell without setting off numerous alarms. Perhaps at its destination then? But if that was it, where was he now? That was what he needed to find out.
Just as he found that his limbs were completely stiff, a figure manifested from the darkness. A curious white, featureless humanoid whose only defining feature was the enormous grin plastered on his face. His. For some reason Ainz instinctively knew that this being who began to address him was a man, before the first words came from his mouth.
Quote:“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”
Ainz wanted to interrupt him, to ask questions, but he could not get a word out either. His body acted on its own though, raising its hands as if it held a large salad bowl. Into these outheld hands this being who had introduced himself as Omni just now placed a basketball-sized orb that glimmered in all colors of the rainbow.
Quote:“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most.
You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.
That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching… and waiting.”
So many questions left unanswered, but Ainz could not get a word in edgewise. He felt panic welling up inside him, but as usual the undead aura he had since he had turned undead suppressed it and calmed him again. In a strangely catatonic state he watched as the darkness cleared around him and he found himself facing complete white.
Just as quickly as his body had stiffened during that meeting with the one called Omni, so did it relax again and he was able to move his limbs again. His sense of balance and gravity was distorted after that strange trip, but he quickly realized that what the white in front of him was the ground. He was laying down.
“Ugh. What on Earth…” he murmured as he pushed himself to his knees and raised his head. A world he didn’t know… the Omniverse… this was weirdly familiar. It was the second time in about a month that he had been taken from his old world and thrown into a new one. The only difference was that this time had come with an introduction. And that he was somewhere he did not recognize at all.
Unlike when Yggdrasil had become reality there was no Great Tomb of Nazarick around this time. There was no NPC to greet him… no, that wasn’t right. There was someone standing there… a human man, by the looks of it. Slowly Ainz stood up, all without saying a word, and eyed him. It was not someone he recognized, either from Yggdrasil or from New World. He had a weird pirate theme going on with a hook for a hand, but the rest of his attire was too high-class for that. It seemed that he was paying him no mind at the moment, instead his attention was focused on a sandstone-colored water fountain.
Unsure of who this person was - perhaps one of the ‘others’ that Omni had mentioned? - Ainz brought a gloved hand to where his mouth was beneath the helmet and cleared his nonexistant throat. “Good day”, he spoke as indifferently as possible, to grab the stranger’s attention.