The Bee Dungeon

Tyghak was hunched over and retching once more as the last stink bug fell. It was weird. He had been exposed to more of the stink clouds than he cared to count and yet, each one still smelled as bad as the first. His nose absolutely refused to get used to it even a little.

But as he was hunched over and gagging, he caught sight of something. Once he had gathered himself enough to move again, he walked over and crouched down, trying to ignore the smell of the rot cap all around him.

There was a small patch of black flowers with the faintest hint of purple at the edge of their petals, barely illuminated by the light crystal tied to the front of his clothes. They were short, shorter than the rot caps around them, which made them especially hard to spot as they blended with the shadows around them. If he hadn’t been hunched over, he never would have caught it.

He didn’t remember exactly what they were, but he did remember Juosiutik mentioning them, so he figured they were valuable. He nodded to himself and crouched down. He had hoped to hunt something a bit more substantial to offer to the Sacred Den Master, but stink bugs weren’t great for…well, anything. Besides, bees liked flowers, so maybe the Sacred Den Master would prefer this?

Tyghak gathered a bunch of the flowers, wrapped them up and stowed them, and then returned to the group. Metsaitti, with his face wrapped in a cloth doused in some sort of liquid, crossed his arms. His other companions were already there, the spearwoman nodding to Metsaitti.

“That’s the last of them…at least, it better be.”

Metsaitti shrugged.

“There’s never a last stink bug.”

They all groaned at that. Metsaitti turned to Noiggakuq.

Noiggakuq grimaced and held her nose.

“Only one thing.”

Metsaitti hummed and rubbed his chin.

“In that case, we turn back for now. A rot cap field like this will keep most things from coming this way…and is a sign there’s been significant death. We should be fine leaving anything further than this alone…and will need to be extra careful if we go that way.”

Tyghak and his companions gulped at that while the veteran hunters murmured their agreement. With that, Metsaitti turned around.

“In that case, let’s get out of this field.”

Tyghak agreed wholeheartedly with that decision. The group turned around just before the end of the field, where the tunnel continued on into darkness.

And unknown to the group, two eyes opened in the darkness, watching their movements. They then slunk away, unnoticed by any the karnuq…

Upon return to their base camp, Tyghak asked Metsaitti if he could return to the Sacred Den. Metsaitti agreed and so off the young hunter went. His steps began to slow as he drew closer.

What, exactly, should he say to the Sacred Den Master?

But well, Tyghak was many things but a thinker was not one of them, so he pressed on even though he didn’t know what to say. He stepped inside and took a deep breath.

“Um, Sacred Den Master? If you can hear me…would you mind meeting with me? I have something for you…and an apology to make.”

He flared his mana a bit as he spoke. Metsaitti said he would be able to speak to the Sacred Den Master that way. Tyghak wasn’t sure how that was supposed to work but Sacred Dens seemed to work however they wanted to in general, so that was nothing new. At first, he wasn’t sure it had worked but then…he heard it.

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“Ok, I will meet you there.”

A voice sounded out directly in his mind…or maybe through his mana? He wasn’t sensitive enough to mana to tell. It was a little freaky, but he was the one who started the conversation, so he put aside and waited. RäɴǑΒĚȿ

A short while later, the Sacred Den Master came walking over, accompanied by the big bees as always. The Sacred Den Master frowned and crossed his arms as he approach. Tyghak began to sweat as his heart beat picked up…but he guessed the Sacred Den Master had a reason to dislike him. That was why he was here, after all.

“Yes, you had something to show me?”

Tyghak nodded and pulled out the bundle. He slowly unwrapped it to show the flowers inside.

“I hoped to hunt something a little bigger, but I found these and figured you might like them. And, um, I wanted to apologize. I…didn’t think much of you at first and I was aggressive towards your bees. But you are brave and strong and have been kind to us all. You didn’t deserve how I treated you.”

The Sacred Den Master took a step back, tilting his head with his eyes wide open. He opened and closed his mouth a few times without saying anything. Tyghak wasn’t sure what to make of that. He was about to try and say something when the Sacred Den Master caught sight of one of the bees and his eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath before looking right at Tyghak.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”

The Sacred Den Master turned his gaze to the bees and Tyghak followed him. His eyes widened a bit. Ah, that was right. The bees could talk now, apparently. So, wouldn’t it make sense to apologize to them, too?”

Tyghak lowered his head towards the bee.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have wanted to steal your flowers.”

The bee flew over to him and extended her abdomen. Tyghak gasped as he felt a sharp pain on his arm. The bee pricked him with the tip of her extra large stinger, but did not fully sting him. She then flew back and started to dance in the air.

“Is ok now. Don’t do again, and don’t hurt King, ok?”

Tyghak nodded as quickly as he could.

“Yes, I won’t even think of that anymore!”

The bee paused, and then danced slowly.

“Anymore?”

Tyghak froze and began to sweat.

“That’s…I mean…I won’t think of doing something like that ever!”

And honestly, he wouldn’t. He hadn’t been aware of how intelligent they were beforehand. Not that it would have made it right if they were just normal bees, but at the very least he knew now that they could understand his apology.

And then, to his surprise, the Sacred Den Master began to chuckle.

“That’s enough, I think he got the message, Niobee.”

The bee, Niobee, apparently, buzzed her wings but slowly fell back. The Sacred Den Master then turned to him.

“Um, apology…accepted? As long as you don’t hurt the bees. And, um, thanks for the flowers.”

Tyghak exhaled a sigh of relief and then nodded.

“Of course, Sacred Den Master. I’ll try to find something bigger on the next hunt.”

The Sacred Den Master smiled and shook his head.

“This is plenty.”

With that, Tyghak took his leave. But just as he was about to step out of the Tower, the Shrine of Bees began to glow. Tyghak gasped as yellow light surrounded him and he was filled mana. It wasn’t a full blessing, but it did expand his reserves and strengthen his body slightly. He turned to the Shrine of Bees and bowed.

“Thank you. I’ll bring him back something good next time.”

The Shrine’s glow flashed bright and then vanished.

Belissar crossed his arms and hummed. He…didn’t really know what to think. No one had ever apologized to him before!

“I’m sorry, Belissar…”

He pushed aside the memories of his parents and Mrs. Imkomos on their death beds. That was…a different situation altogether.

Come to think of it, Juosiutik also apologized to him after the flame radish incident, but that had been an accident. This was the first time someone had apologized to him for something they had done intentionally.

Which…was strange. In Belissar’s experience, no one who had ever treated him poorly had ever apologized for said behavior. So, Belissar had no idea how to react. Nor did he know if he should believe the karnuq. He had never considered a person like that changing their behaviour.

It was confusing.

But then he glanced down at the flowers in his hand and back up at Niobee. He took a deep breath. The karnuq had apologized to the bees, and Niobee was going to keep him in line. And he had done something nice for both Belissar and the bees. So…maybe he wasn’t all bad?

Only time would tell.

In the meantime, though, Belissar was not going to refuse the free flowers.

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Sufficient samples gathered. Underworld Phlox now available

Current Applications: Flower Meadow* (*=Near compatible features only)

While Belissar still had plenty of things to spend mana on, these flowers only cost three mana per node. Besides, he still wasn’t confident copper, iron, or silver ores would have any use for the bees, while he knew that a flower would. So, he went ahead and tried to make one.

Curiously, he could only make them in the first floor Flower Meadow. And when he tried to make one there, he found the transparent image was red. He frowned.

He tried moving it around various placed but it continued to stay red. It wouldn’t go in a Pit Trap, on a tree, or in the Pond. He was beginning to groan when, finally, it turned normal.

Belissar blinked a bit. It seemed he could only place these flowers near the Memorial. He wondered why that was but couldn’t think of a reason, so just went ahead and made a node there without further questioning.

He was curious as to what a Memorial-only flower would be…

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