The Bee Dungeon

Princess Finnakynne was busy burying her face in bumblebee fluff. But, for some odd reason, the bumblebee was buzzing its wings. She tried to ignore it, but the giant wings beating right by her ears were too loud to ignore.

“Ugh, what’s going on here, Bumbly?”

She popped her head out of the fuzz to find her fluffy pillow hovering by a giant flower. Smaller bumblebee workers flew up to her and began circling around her. They then flew over and landed on the flower, rolling around to coat themselves in pollen and sticking their tongues in to drink up the nectar. They then flew back to her and circled around her again. They repeated the loop several times. Finnakynne tilted her head.

“Are…are you trying to show me how you gather the pollen and nectar?”

The bumble soldier and workers all buzzed their wings and the workers began circling around her once again. Finnakynne sighed and shook her head.

“I know how to do it, girls! I’m just not!”

The bumblebee workers swayed in the air a bit…then resumed their circle-flower loops once again. Finnakynne shook her head.

“…do you not understand me, or is it that you’re just going to keep doing this until I do something?”

The bumblebees just kept up their loops. Finnakynne rolled her eyes.

“Alright, fine! Here!”

She reluctantly took off from her pillow, brushing her hand along the fluff one more time, then flew over to the flower. She waved her hand and a gust of wind swirled around her. The wind picked up pollen from the flower, forming a yellow whirlwind around her. Nectar flowed out of the flower through the air, forming into spheres that joined the pollen swirling around her. She held out her hands.

“See? I told you I already knew how to do it! Even baby pixies can do this much…”

The bumblebees all buzzed their wings and began flying around her as fast as they could. Finnakynne stood there blinking…and then slowly began to smile.

“You girls think this is impressive, huh? Well…I guess I can show you a bit of pixie magic, then.”

The bumblebees just kept buzzing and flying happy circles around her, causing the pixie princess to giggle.

Nenavann, Tarwantrad, and Tamosmed popped back into the Tower. Belissar met with them, Nenavann was apparently preparing to report to the Compact on the situation with the spiderkin and wanted to check in with Belissar one last time beforehand. Nenavann smiled as Belissar relayed his conversations with the karnuq on the issue of the spiderkin eggs, as well as the brood tenders’ evaluations of the eggs’ growth.

“Well done, Belissar. I’m glad you have been addressing the karnuq’s bad blood with the spiderkin ahead of time. It’s…well, as you’ve unfortunately experienced, bad blood between different peoples can be hard to overcome.”

Tarwantrad huffed and crossed her arms.

“Belissar’s doing a lot more than the Compact is about that.”

Nenavann sighed and shook his head.

“I must agree but do try to be diplomatic at the next meeting, Tarwantrad. Accusations, even true ones, will simply cause everyone to grow defensive. The Compact is leaning our way thanks to Queen Vanieskon, let us be patient lest we set ourselves back.”

Tarwantrad rolled her eyes but did not object. Instead, she turned to Belissar and frowned.

“Sorry, Belissar, but Tamosmed and I will have to join Nenavann for these reports. I need to keep an eye on my bees too, so I probably won’t be able to visit for a bit. I’ll ask Urubran to check on you, so let him know if you need anything from us.”

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Belissar nodded.

“Ok, I will.”

He then tilted his head.

“Did you need Princess Finnakynne to come with you? Is it ok that she’s just been staying here?”

Nenavann shook his head.

“Well, ideally we’d have all the witnesses present, but it’s not necessary…especially when that witness is the pixie princess. As for her stay here, there’s no issue. Queen Vanieskon hasn’t said anything about it. I’m almost concerned at how unconcerned she seems…but if she doesn’t question it, no one else has a right to. As long as she is not causing trouble for you, that is?”

Belissar shook his head.

“No, she hasn’t caused any trouble, so it’s fine.”

Both Tarwantrad and Tamosmed jumped at that. Tarwantrad furrowed her brow.

“That’s the most suspicious thing I’ve ever heard. Be careful, Belissar. She has to be planning something!”

Tamosmed crossed his arms and grunted.

“I can’t disagree.”

Nenavann made a helpless smile.

“Now, now, I admit it is strange for her to have remained quiet this long but…she did experience her first battle between people recently. Most people need some time to process that experience…though I’ll admit I didn’t expect her to be one of them. Let’s not assume she’s up to no good, in that regard, thank you for being patient with her, Belissar.”

Belissar wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“Ah, sure…if that’s it, could I ask you a question, Nenavann? As a Circle master?”

Nenavann smiled and nodded.

“Of course, I would be happy to assist however I can.”

Belissar smiled back.

“I was trying to think of new beehouse designs for swimming bees. Something that would let them live closer to the water, but that would keep their hive dry. I thought of beaver homes but I don’t really know how they’re built.”

Nenavann rubbed his chin and hummed to himself.

“Hm, forgive me if I’m stating the obvious, but have you ruled out boats and ships?”

Belissar froze and his eyes widened a bit.

“…boats? Ah! I hadn’t thought of that!”

Belissar then frowned. There was a reason he hadn’t thought of boats…he didn’t live near any rivers or lakes large enough to need them. Boats were something he had heard of, but had never encountered besides small handmade creations kids liked to play with. And the other kids never played with Belissar when he was young…

“…I don’t really know much about them, though, much less how to build one.”

Nenavann smiled at him.

“That is where I can assist. I will help you build a working design, that craft happens to be my specialty. Once I have some time, I can come and teach you the basics.”

Belissar blinked and then smiled.

“Ah, that would be great! What would you like in return?”

Nenavann shook his head.

“Consider it an additional apology for the Compact’s obstinance, as well as my thanks for taking care of the Heart of the Forest. If I were to make a request…I would like to see the Heart myself at that time, if you are comfortable showing its home to me.”

Belissar nodded.

“Sure, that’s fine.”

Nenavann inclined his head.

“You have my sincerest gratitude, Belissar.”

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The three took their leave soon afterwards. Belissar went and requested that his council gather early today, before the purification rather than afterwards. They agreed and met in the shortcut room as the army and karnuq hunters prepared for the purification. Juosiutik joined them this time as well. Belissar started right away once everyone was present.

“Thanks for meeting early everyone. I wanted to make the decision on the God of Fire’s perk choice before tonight’s celebration.”

He smiled at Juosiutik.

“Thanks to Juosiutik, we’ve confirmed that we can make herbal infusions for the bees, so the Chef’s Blaze perk should apply to them too. With that in mind, I was thinking we should take that one so that everyone can start growing stronger. What does everyone think?”

Since Belissar had already heard the bees’ opinions on these perks, he felt it was fine to let them know his own now. And as far as he was concerned, Chef’s Blaze seemed the best. Fast-Spreading Flames could be powerful, but only if it applied to the God of Fire’s blessings on Chief Rohsuak, the Third of the Sixth, and Metsaitti. Healing Hearth was great too, as more healing was always nice, but again he wasn’t sure if they could take full advantage of it along with the medicinal bees’ own healing. In contrast, Juosiutik and Niobee had answered his biggest question about Chef’s Blaze so he knew now that everyone in the Tower could benefit from it. Additionally…if Chef’s Blaze could help the Second and Third of the Sixth’s hives grow stronger, it would empower both the Tower’s flames and healing. In a way, it could potentially replace the other two perks as well.

The bees had no objection, immediately declaring “King best king!” and “Whatever King chooses!” once he had made his preference clear. In any case, since this was a Fire perk, Chief Rohsuak’s opinion was the one he valued most. He turned to her with expectation and she smiled back.

“A fine choice, in my opinion. Continuous growth for all of us would be greatly appreciated. My thanks, Tower Keeper.”

Belissar smiled and nodded. If Chief Rohsuak agreed, then he had no further reason to hesitate.

Chef’s Blaze selected.

He grinned.

“In that case, could I get your help preparing for the celebration tonight? I want to start making herbal infusions for all the bees along with the usual honey and food.”

A thunderous buzzing filled the air as all the nearby bees burst into a “King best king!” dance. The humans and karnuq present couldn’t help but chuckle while Chief Rohsuak saluted.

“It would be our pleasure, Tower Keeper.”