The Bee Dungeon

Belissar was just wrapping up the last of the upgrades when Tarwantrad popped into his dungeon.

“Hi Belissar, would you mind if Nenavann came to visit? He’d like to discuss the things you told me last night.”

Since Belissar was elsewhere in the Tower, he had one of the bees watching the nexus door reply for him, letting her know he agreed. Tarwantrad left, then a short while later returned along with Nenavann. Belissar made his way over and greeted them.

“Thank you for meeting with me, Tower Keeper Belissar.”

Belissar nodded in reply…and then noticed there was no where to sit. The only seats in the Tower were in his farmhouse, the karnuq settlement, and a few by the battle meadow Shrine that the karnuq had set up for celebrations. Belissar asked the karnuq if they could help and in just a few minutes they arrived with a simple wooden table and some basic stools. Nenavann smiled and took a seat after Belissar.

“Thank you. First of all, I’d like to report on the negotiations with the Compact.”

Nenavann let out a sigh.

“Well, if there was much to report. I apologize again, Tower Keeper Belissar, but my colleagues in the Compact have insisted on a wait and see approach for the time being.”

Tarwantrad let out an exasperated sigh. Belissar just tilted his head.

Nenavann shook his head.

“For the meantime. The given reason is that they are gathering more evidence as to your character. The truth, though, is that those of us who have lived for over a millennium are resistant to change and tend to mistake passivity for patience. They are simply stalling until they are forced to accept the situation.”

He then made a wry smile.

“Well, I suppose I was guilty of those flaws as well until I saw your tower in person. I do believe that they will come around with time.”

Nenavann frowned.

“However, from what Tarwantrad tells me, time may not be on your side on account of the human Tower Lords?”

Belissar grimaced.

“Probably not. We should have a couple months at least, maybe more, but they are coming.”

Nenavann crossed his arms.

“A short time indeed from our perspective. And, to confirm, Tarwantrad reported your words correctly when she said a single human Tower Lord possesses an army of ten thousand blessed champions? Do you know anything about the average strength of one of those?”

Belissar confirmed the numbers and relayed as much information as he had about the Tower Guards’ capabilities. Nenavann hummed.

“The situation is certainly grim, but from what you have said there should still be a chance, especially considering your rate of growth. Could you confirm how often you’re performing purifications and the rate at which remnants appear before challengers?”

Belissar did so and Nenavann rubbed his chin for a while. Eventually, he nodded with a smile.

“I will not lie, the battle ahead will be as difficult as you fear. But I do believe there is hope if you and your defenders continue to supply yourself. Rest assured, the Circle will lend you their aid as well.”

Nenavann then narrowed his eyes and placed his hand over his heart.

“I myself will do all that is within my power to ensure your survival. I swear this to you on my name, on my patron's name, on Erynmor’s memory, on the seas that have been forgotten and on the forests that have been lost, on every fair thing that remains in this world. I shall not let your tower fall.”

Tarwantrad nodded along.

“You will have my aid as well, Belissar. By both our patron gods, I will see you endure.”

Belissar’s heart began to pound as the two elves looked him in the eye with resolute gazes. His vision began to blur, and he wiped his face. So, there was a chance after all…and he wouldn’t have to face this threat alone.

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“…thank you, both of you.”

Both of them smiled at him while he gathered himself. He steeled his expression and met Nenavann’s gaze.

“What do we need to do?”

Nenavann rubbed his chin.

“For now, continue to grow your tower as you have been. We will make recommendations as we can but your methods already suit your circumstances. I would recommend setting up temple areas or even rooms for the gods that have blessed your tower, it should help sworn defenders and challengers align themselves with your patrons. You may need the Rest Zone feature, though, given the rate at which remnants spawn here. Next…would you be willing to share more of your tower with me? I can make more specific recommendations based on what I see. If you managed to make any water rooms, I can also help you set them up.”

Belissar’s eyes widened a bit.

“Oh, that’s right! I recently got one, a bog!”

Nenavann’s eyes lit up.

“Excellent, that’s a start. Would you mind showing it to me?”

Belissar nodded and Nenavann stood up. Belissar led them through the shortcut room. Nenavann approved of the setup, and praised the bees when he saw them using the room to exchange information. Belissar’s opinion of the elf improved dramatically from that.

And then, they arrived. Nenavann smiled as Belissar pointed out the vaporous hemlock.

“Well done, this should be an excellent addition to your defense against the Tower Lords. Most human armies hate marching through wetlands in my experience, and that’s before considering the poisonous mist. Have any of your bees moved in?”

Belissar nodded.

“The swimming bees, the toxic bees, and the slime bees.”

Nenavann’s eyebrows lifted.

“Oh, swimming bees? I would love to see those. Slime bees are curious as well.”

Belissar pointed over the the beehouses he set up. The swimming and toxic bees were flying in and out as normal. The slime bee golem was just returning to the beehouse. It reached a hand for the entrance and a hole opened up in its palm, allowing honey slime to flow right into the beehouse.

Nenavann tilted his head.

“Is that a golem?”

Belissar nodded.

“Yes, the slime queen just made it.”

Nenavann stiffened.

“Tower Keeper Belissar. Did you just say that a slime…made a golem?”

Belissar blinked.

“…yes? Well, a slime bee queen.”

Nenavann took a deep breath.

“Did you command the slime bee to do so? As in, give detailed step by step instructions on the golem’s creation?”

Belissar shook his head.

“No, she built it on her own. I didn’t realize how good she would be at it.”

Nenavann slowly turned around to face him and began to grin.

“We can use this. Belissar, do we have your permission to inform other members of the Circle and later the Compact on the slime bees and the golems? I believe if we do, we can bring the Compact to your side far more quickly.”

Belissar tilted his head.

“I…guess I’m ok with that but…”

Nenavann nodded.

“To elaborate, you have achieved one of the great dreams of the black elves, one that has become a byword among them for impossible fantasies. You have raised an intelligent slime capable of crafting all by itself. And crafting golems, no less, a creation of no small complexity. Long have the black elves dreamed of using slimes to mass produce their crafts, but could never get them to work without such a degree of micromanagement as to render the effort pointless. If you have a slime-like monster that can produce golems unsupervised...many a black elf would trade you anything to learn how you did it.”

Belissar blinked a few times.

“Wow…uh…”

Nenavann smiled.

“Well, I can see that you don’t really have the context to understand the magnitude of your feat. Just know that one of the major founding peoples of the Compact will consider this an accomplishment of accomplishments, and that we can use it to gain their support for you. The ability to mass produce golems alone would make them desperate to do business with you, which means they will push the Compact to open direct relations. Additionally…”

He glanced at Tarwantrad.

“There is a black elf master among the Circle as well who will be most interested in this development.”

Tarwantrad grinned and nodded.

“I guess I know whose boon we’re getting next.”

Belissar glanced between the two excited elves. He was still trying to keep up with the conversation but couldn’t help a small smile.

“I guess this is a good thing?”

Both elves vigorously nodded in reply.

After calming down from the apparently remarkable achievement, Nenavann gave Belissar some advice regarding the Bog itself. He recommended Pit Traps for the room as the wet and muddy terrain already made it difficult to tell where the solid ground was. He also mentioned that he and Tarwantrad both would be able to provide some carnivorous monster plants that were well-suited to the environment.

Additionally, Nenavann had some recommendations on different room types Belissar could develop. Apparently, flooding a Dirt Tunnels and then connecting that to a Bog might change it to a Fen…as well as providing Flooded Tunnels that were themselves a major obstacle to all non-aquatic invaders. Belissar was very much confused when Nenavann tried to explain the difference between bogs and fens until he eventually simplified it to “bog with more nutrients in the water and soil.” It would apparently be more conducive to aquatic life and less-specialized plants.

After Belissar shared Hesfalle’s recommendations, Nenavann also mentioned that Bogs had good synergy with Death, so Belissar could also try and gather excess corpses in a bog. Apparently, human armies especially hated marching through Death bogs. Belissar shivered a bit at the look on Nenavann’s face when he mentioned that.

All in all, Belissar had gained advice regarding existing rooms, proposals for developing new rooms, and a promise of new features and monsters to populate them. But more than that, he now had two fey dungeon masters’ promise of support against the Tower Lords with the possibility of much more if the slime queen making golems was as impressive as they claimed. And, above all, he had the reassurance from a dungeon master over a thousand years old that it was possible that he would survive the Tower Lord’s attacks.

That news had Belissar so relieved he collapsed to the ground for a bit once the elves had departed. The Tower Lords would not take his bees after all.

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