The Bee Dungeon

Juosiutik returned to the camp to find Chief Rohsuak waiting for her, as her mad dash had not gone unnoticed. The chief had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, flanked with hunters she was about to send out to ensure the girl’s safety. Juosiutik looked away sheepishly.

“Well, I trust you have a good reason for running off like that?”

Juosiutik flushed but couldn’t help but break out into a smile.

“Let me show you!”

Chief Rohsuak shook her head and dismissed the hunters. Juosiutik then led the chief over to her tent. Chief Rohsuak noticed the pot and walked over to it. Her eyes widened as she detected a familiar scent.

“Is this…?”

Juosiutik nodded.

“It is. I did it.”

Chief Rohsuak turned to her and gave the girl a warm smile. She walked up to Juosiutik and pulled her into a hug.

Juosiutik’s eyes moistened again but she shook her head and returned the embrace, then broke out and stepped back.

“Thanks, but that’s not all. I…rushed out because I wanted to offer the remade potion to the God of Bees and the Sacred Den Master who helped me figure it out and well…”

Juosiutik held out her hand and formed the honeycomb pattern once again.

“The God of Bees approved.”

Chief Rohsuak blinked a bit before making a wide grin.

“It seems further congratulations are in order, champion.”

Juosiutik’s face lit up.

That night, the karnuq held a grand celebration. For the first time since their sojourns began, one of their own had been blessed by the gods, worthy of becoming a champion capable of great deeds. Tyhgak was upset someone had beaten him to the punch. Juosiutik gloating to him did not help.

And in the midst of it all, one young karnuq woman hung at the edge of the celebrations. She was small, for a karnuq, about the same height as the Sacred Den Master. She slouched as she sat on a log at the edge of the camp, sitting alone as she sipped from her mug.

“Sacred Dens and champions, huh?”

Her eyes fell upon Juosiutik lifting a mug up into the air and cheering, the rest of the clan cheering and laughing as well. Her eyes narrowed and she slowly turned her head in the direction of the Sacred Den. She began to clench her mug tight…

Belissar triggered another minor+ purification that night, another pair of wolf-shades. The bees once again handled it without issue, and Belissar gained yet another fifteen mana. During the celebration, he took a sip of the potion Juosiutik gave him. He smiled.

The sweetness of honey blended nicely with the tang of berries, and the whole mixture filled him with the pleasant warm of mana. He felt his muscles relax and the tension leave his shoulders, even as a surge of energy raced through his chest. It was evening after a long day of work and yet he felt as if he had just awoken after a good night’s rest.

He felt so good that when he laid down that night to sleep, it refused to come over him. He stared at the ceiling for about half an hour before shrugging and getting up. With his Tower sight he could see in the dark as well as the day, so he took his newfound energy and began sawing more planks for the beehouse construction. He worked late into the night before finally feeling fatigued enough to rest.

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The next morning he awoke later than usual. He looked over at the potion pouch and nodded. He would use it carefully from now on.

Once he got up, he made his way over to the Tower entrance, intending to greet the karnuq gatherers. He arrived shortly after they did…and as he expected, he found Juosiutik standing completely still, her eyes fixed on the new mana flower patch next to her other herbs.

Juosiutik’s head slowly creaked up to look at him.

“Sacred Den Master, is this?”

Belissar nodded.

“The God of Bees has approved of you so I figured I’d lend a hand too. Feel free to take from this patch, just leave any others in the Tower for the bees, ok?”

Juosiutik nodded as rapidly as she could.

“Yes! Of course! Thank you so much, Sacred Den Master!”

Belissar chuckled and then spoke with Leijaliuk to exchange his portion of yesterday’s harvest for some goods. Today the karnuq brought some more dried wood, which they agreed upon as the default payment unless Belissar had any special requests. Dried wood meant more supplies for current and future beehive construction, and it would keep much better than extraneous food would, so Belissar figured that was the best thing to stockpile at present.

Belissar then returned to the beehouse and nodded at the soldier bee army following him.

“Shall we get to work then?”

He chuckled as he was greeted with hundreds of salutes, and then they all got to work. The beehouse was taking shape very quickly, even faster than before. Planks for the walls, roofs, and floors were much thinner and lighter than the beams for the frameworks, so the bees could lift them with ease, and there were hundreds of bees to do the job. They were limited only by the speed at which Belissar could saw appropriate planks…and thanks to last night’s little potion situation, they started the day with a stockpile already done.

In fact, they worked so quickly that the work was done by the end of the day. Belissar just stood, staring in silence for a while at the completed building before him. A long wooden cabin now stretched across the edge of the Flower Meadow. It’s right end was open, forming an entranceway for the door to the Orchard, with the Shrine of Bees and the Memorial just to the right of that. It’s left side then stretched out towards the Flower Meadow hives. The front was a solid wooden wall with a number of small windows just under the roof for the bees to come and go. The only ground level entrance was in the center of the back side, which Belissar closed off with a flap made of cloth. Inside, the structure was mostly open, though with lighter beams forming built-in frames that the bees could use to support their honeycomb. These frames were topped by a lighter roof with regular gaps, forming an area where soldiers could gather before flying out the windows on the front, as well as providing some cover for the frames from anything coming through those windows. Belissar had initially planned to further separate the interior with walls and additional cloth flaps…but to his surprise the queens indicated that wasn’t necessary.

And as Belissar put up the last cloth flap, the Shrine of Bees began to glow…followed by the entire beehouse. Soon the whole thing lit up with golden light and Belissar was forced to shield his eyes. Words appeared before his eyes.

New feature detected. New feature unlocked.

Bee Barracks now available!

Belissar’s eyes widened. He now felt the thrum of mana flowing through the wooden walls of the structure. He gently walked up and placed a hand on it.

Bee Barracks

Mana Upkeep: 10 (5 due to Blessing of Bees)

Current Occupants: None

Slight boost to monster bee growth rate, medium boost to combat monster bee growth rate, slight boost to coordination for bees housed within. Houses multiple colonies.

Belissar stepped back in a daze, and then began to grin. It seemed the Tower and the God of Bees liked his work. But, of course, even they were not the ultimate judges.

He turned to find the soldier bee army waiting behind him. Their queens had come out of their hives and now flew ahead of their army as well. Belissar smiled at them.

“Well, what do you think?”

A slight gust blew into Belissar’s face as the bees danced hundreds of “amazing, incredible!” aerial motions all at once. He chuckled and then stepped to the side.

“In that case, enjoy!”

The bees all saluted as one and then burst into motion. The soldiers flew back towards their hives as the queens gathered in a circle and began to dance to one another. Soon, swarms of workers were flying into the barracks, the queens directing them to specific frames which they immediately began filling with honeycomb. Belissar watched in awe as the mana of the barracks began to stir, speeding up the construction. In fact…if his eyes weren’t deceiving him, the wax structures were growing faster than the bees themselves could build them. He guessed that was why this thing costed mana. And it made sense. The beehives could make honey without any bees at all, so wax alone was a given.

Above all, the bees were flying more rapidly and dancing more excitedly than Belissar had seen in a while. That alone made him beyond proud of what they had built here. He turned to Niobee.

“I’m going to skip the purification for the night and let them get settled. Can you let them know if they ask about it?”

“Ok!”

Niobee flew off to join the other bees. Meanwhile, Belissar quietly excused himself and made his way back to the Apiary farmhouse, humming a tune as he walked.

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