The Bee Dungeon

Belissar eventually managed to get the two elves back to the karnuq floor, at least until they arrived at the karnuq’s beehouses.

“Ah, that’s Velebee’s hive. She’s the Oracle of Bees.”

Tarwantrad came to a halt. Belissar turned around and saw her blinking repeatedly.

“Belissar, you have the Oracle of Bees in your tower?”

Belissar nodded. Tarwantrad took a deep breath.

“I would love to speak with her sometime.”

Belissar nodded again.

“Sure, I’ll call her over. The bees will be joining the banquet in any case.”

Tarwantrad made a warm smile at that, while Urubran chuckled.

Tarwantrad was in heaven. The God of Bees had thanked her personally for helping out Belissar. She had gotten to see bees of varieties she had never even imagined. Now she was surrounded everywhere by happy bees, flying between seemingly endless trays of honeycomb laid out for them. Some were even landing on the flowers she had on her person. She had a full plate of food in her hand. It was relatively simple fair, but generously seasoned with several varieties of rich mana honey. A meal no member of the Compact would have declined.

Urubran was walking over. He had spent most of the banquet in animated discussions with the karnuq chief and her warriors but had noticed her growing fatigued from the day and so wrapped it up. He took a seat next to her, after Belissar had stepped away for the moment, leaving the two elves to themselves. Save for all the bees around them, but Tarwantrad didn’t truly mind if they overheard. She may not have wanted to have the next conversation in front of Belissar’s face, but didn’t mind if it got back to him. So, she gave Urubran a nod, though she kept her eyes on one of the big, fluffy bumblebee soldiers who, despite the name, was currently acting as a playground for children. How she wanted nothing more than to rush over and fluff the big bee as they did.

Unfortunately, though, she wanted to speak with Urubran right away.

“So, what do you think?”

Urubran took another bite of his Fire honey roasted meat, letting out a contented sigh filled with smoke before answering.

“I think this is some of the best seasoned food I’ve ever had.”

Tarwantrad rolled her eyes.

“The levels of spice you prefer are classified as a poisoning.”

Urubran shrugged.

“Only for the weak.”

He took another bite before answering the real question.

“And that means we’ll have to work hard to protect it. Belissar was no trained dungeon master, that much is clear. From the way he carries himself to the arrangement of his rooms, it is obvious he has had little training in either the martial or mystical arts. I would say the bees are running the show rather than him.”

Tarwantrad frowned but did not object, so Urubran continued.

“That’s not a bad thing, though. A monster-led dungeon can work as well as any other. Belissar has clearly focused his efforts on maximizing his bees’ potential as best he knows how and at that he has done splendidly. It does mean, though, that you will have to take that into account when recommending boons or trades. He needs options that his bees can work with, rather than to diversify his dungeon. Though, having the karnuq sworn as his defenders does give a little more leeway. They could make use of things that a pure dungeon master might not.”

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Tarwantrad gripped her mug hard.

“I don’t want this dungeon to fall, Urubran. How often do you see a dungeon master that invites his monsters to a celebration like this, even among the fair?”

Urubran nodded.

“We won’t. If nothing else, the very fate of the Compact depends on it. I think, though, that’s not the only thing you’re worried about?”

Tarwantrad took a deep breath as she glanced up at the bees flying about.

“…I don’t want him to have to change, though I fear that he may need to. I love how much he cares for his bees, but he goes as far as to prevent nature from taking its course, and only begrudgingly allows his defenders to fulfill their purpose. Can he truly defend his dungeon and retain that mindset? Is it even possible?”

Urubran shrugged.

“I can't say. But I will say this: he has survived out here, with no Compact or Circle to support him, so he’s clearly doing something right. And those karnuq…they are not a soft people from what little they’ve told me so far. And yet, Belissar has earned their trust, to the point that they would bind their fate to his.”

She slowly turned to look at him and he gave her as reassuring a nod as he could.

“It is true, that there is a lot Belissar doesn’t seem to know. It is true that his compassion for his own defenders may stray into excessive. But as I said, this doesn’t mean his dungeon is bad. Only that it is different from those that we know. He may need to grow, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to try and uproot the current foundation of his dungeon either.”

Urubran gave her a smirk.

“After all, the way that we, the Circle, or even the Compact does things is not necessarily the right or only way. You, the girl who has saved the Compact by breaking one of its strictest rules, should probably know that by now.”

Tarwantrad flushed and looked away.

“They never said we couldn’t open a nexus door inside a dungeon!”

Urubran just chuckled.

After the banquet, Belissar and Chief Rohsuak escorted the pair back to the nexus door. Tarwantrad gave him a bright smile.

“Thank you so much for showing us around, Belissar. Your tower is truly amazing. I must show you around mine in turn.”

Belissar found himself returning her smile.

“I’d like that, and the bees would too. I can’t imagine what sort of flowers you must have.”

Her smile grew at that and she gave a nod to Niobee as well.

“I hope they will be to both your likings.”

She then adopted a more serious expression, though still kept a smile.

“In any case, I will speak with the rest of the Circle and return with the boons as soon as I am able. Urubran and Nenavann should have theirs ready quickly, but it might take a bit more time for me to speak with the others.”

She glanced at Urubran and he just smiled.

“Oh, I’m sure I can think of something you’ll enjoy, Tower Keeper Belissar. Let me know when you’re ready to trade more of that Fire honey, too.”

Belissar gave him a nod before turning back to Tarwantrad.

“Sounds good, you’re welcome anytime, Tarwantrad.”

She beamed at that. The two elves waved at him one last time before stepping back through the nexus door. Belissar took a deep breath, letting it out with a smile.

“King ok?”

He smiled up at Niobee and brushed her back.

“Yes. That was…it actually felt good, showing them around. I…don’t really know how I feel, but it feels good.”

Niobee danced about.

“If King feels good, then good!”

Chief Rohsuak chuckled.

“Friendship can be a wonderful thing, Tower Keeper.”

Belissar froze and blinked repeatedly. Friendship? Is…that was this was? The only friend he had ever had before was Niobee.

But having Tarwantrad and Urubran as his friends…didn’t sound so bad.

He slowly nodded.

“It seems so.”

He smiled at that thought, humming as he walked back for the night. It was only halfway back through the Tower when he paused. He realized…he had ended up showing the two elves the entire Tower, hadn’t he? He had somehow forgotten that he was supposed to keep the Lava Field under wraps at least.

He rubbed his chin as he considered…was that a problem? He trusted Tarwantrad and she trusted Urubran, so he didn’t think she’d use it against him or anything. On the other hand, though, she had thought the Compact would be grateful to him and it turned out that they weren’t, so at the very least Tarwantrad didn’t know everything about her own people. So, should he have really revealed everything about his Tower to her?

He found he had a hard time imagining Tarwantrad doing anything bad with that knowledge, but it still might be good to have something no one in the Compact knew about. And since he had gone and shown Tarwantrad everything he had so far, the only solution was to do as he needed to anyways, and keep growing his Tower and his bees. The stronger they all were, the less they’d have to worry about the Compact…or the Tower Lords, for that matter. Hopefully, Tarwantrad herself would help them do just that.

But even with those concerns, Belissar found himself looking forward to Tarwantrad’s next visit, as well as one day to see what her own tower looked like. What sort of flowers would a tower blessed by the God of Flowers hold? What sort of bees could evolve from the nectar of those flowers? Belissar couldn’t help but hope that one day, he’d be able to find out.

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