The Bee Dungeon

Hesfalle promised to join Belissar’s council later to discuss the Death room feature, then remained to watch as the Second Third of the First evolved her hive. Belissar, meanwhile, left along with Tarwantrad. The green elf spoke up as they walked away.

“Belissar, speaking of exchanging bees, we both still have more bees that the other doesn’t, you know?”

Belissar’s eyes lit up.

“Ah! That’s right, you said you had mason and orchid bees, right?”

Tarwantrad giggled.

“Among others. Meanwhile, you have bumblebees and butcher bees and bloodsucking bees. I do have carpenter bees, but yours are monsters and mine are not.”

Belissar nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m ready to trade whenever you are!”

Tarwantrad grinned.

“Perfect! I actually was thinking of something else than an official trade, though. Now that you’re not restricted to a single room in my dungeon, what do you say to letting your bees explore? Then they can settle down if they find a room that fits them, I’d even be happy if they don’t move in but visit to forage! I’ll send you over some of my bees as well and see if they’d like to settle?”

Belissar returned her grin.

“That sounds great, I’ll let the hive of hives know right away.”

Belissar and Tarwantrad both bounced and laughed, talking excitedly about their bees and what rooms they might like.

But then, both of them paused at once. They glanced at each other and tilted their heads.

A non-patron god, the God of Light, would like to offer you a quest. Accept?

“Tarwantrad, did you just get a mission offer too?”

Tarwantrad nodded.

“From the God of Light, it seems.”

Belissar rubbed his chin.

“Huh, me too.”

“Hive-Builder Belissar! Queen of All Bees says should accept Queen of All Light’s quest.”

Belissar smiled and replied aloud for Tarwantrad’s benefit.

“Thanks Velebee, and thank the God of Bees for me. I’ll accept the quest right away, then.”

Belissar did so…and stiffened as he read the details. Tarwantrad gaped at the air, likely reading her own quest.

“…what sort of quest is this? Why would a god ever ask this?”

Belissar had the utmost respect for the God of Light, the savior of humanity who had sided with him over the Conclave itself, but even he could not help but agree with that sentiment. The quest in question was…confusing, to say the least.

Mission received: Expose the nexus door connection to the God of Flowers’ dungeon to the corruption. A special purification is now available for the purpose of this mission.

Belissar and Tarwantrad both glanced at each other with wide eyes.

“You got the same mission? To corrupt the nexus door?”

Tarwantrad slowly nodded, a dark look on her face.

“…what do we do?”

“Absolutely not.”

The pair decided, as it were, to consult with Wardmaster Varilold. They found her in an office within the newly build wardens’ headquarters in the nexus door room…and she reacted predictably when she heard the news. She crossed her arms and frowned at them both.

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“I am aghast you even asked this. You both know how utterly vital this connection is for us. To intentionally destroy it…I have no words. I cannot fathom why a god would request this, but you too should know better than to entertain it.”

Belissar frowned.

“But…the God of Light wouldn’t ask this without a good reason, right? She helped us against the Conclave, so she doesn’t want to harm us, right?”

Wardmaster Varilold narrowed her eyes.

“The will of the gods is often inscrutable. Their priorities differ from those of us on the material plane. She may have a reason and it may be good to her, but that does not mean it will be good for us. It is often left to us to deal with the fallout of the gods’ schemes and to take care of our own. She may be willing to sacrifice the land of the fair for her goals, but I am not. And neither should either of you be.”

Tarwantrad crossed her arms.

“It worked out with opening the nexus door, though? And we have oracles, maybe we can ask them for an explanation?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Wardmaster Varilold’s office suddenly lit up as a fourth voice joined the conversation. Belissar’s eyes trembled as he slowly turned to face the voice. There, shining bright as the sun, was a woman made of pure light, standing within the office. The woman inclined her head towards him.

“Greetings, Tower Keeper Belissar, Dungeon Master Tarwantrad, and Wardmaster Varilold. I am the God of Light. Tower Keeper Belissar, I have received permission from the God of Bees but not from you. Would you permit me to form incarnations within your Tower?”

Belissar was busy gaping but scrambled to nod as quickly as he could once he processed her question.

“O-Of course!”

The God of Light smiled at him, brightening the world for a moment before she turned to Wardmaster Varilold.

“Thank you. Now then, I do not expect you all to agree to this without an explanation. That a nexus door was able to connect two dungeons without being corrupted was unexpected. I had feared direction connections between dungeons were too risky, but thus far the corruption has not managed to spread between Tarwantrad and Belissar’s dungeons, so I am now reconsidering if the benefits outweigh the risks. However, the connection between them is currently haphazard and fragile, as I’m sure you well know. I would like to strengthen it, but we must put it to the test first. We must know what will happen to both the connection and the dungeons in the worst case scenario.”

Wardmaster Varilold was not able to reply right away, but after a moment she narrowed her eyes.

“A stress test? I can understand that reasoning and a stronger connection would be preferable…but what happens if the test fails? Not only will that threaten two dungeons, it will cut off the current connection for good. If you decide, then, that such connections are too risky after all, it will be us who suffer. We will not be able to reestablish the connection once broken, our alliance will be split in two and the land of the fair will begin to wither once more.”

Belissar’s eyes quivered as Wardmaster Varilold talked back to the God of Light herself, but the god in question did not seem upset. Rather, she placed her hand over her heart.

“I will not let that come to pass. I swear on light itself that should this test fail, I will personally restore the nexus door. Should the test succeed, I will replace it with something better.”

Wardmaster Varilold crossed her arms and hummed to herself. She gazed into the bright lights representing the God of Light’s eyes and the light stared back into her. She slowly inhaled.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but the God of Light was never one for guile. With such reassurances…a stronger connection is desirable and a stress test would be informative for our defenses. I, too, would like to know what would happen in the worst case scenario. So…very well.”

She turned and gave Belissar and Tarwantrad a stern look.

“But not yet. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this right. You two will NOT attempt this until our preparations are complete, understand?”

Both Belissar and Tarwantrad obediently nodded. Wardmaster Varilold sighed once more.

“Then, we have a lot of work to do. I can’t believe I’m going to have to start over with the wards after this…”

The God of Light gave her a reassuring smile.

“Take heart, Defender of All that is Fair. Should we succeed, the dungeons and the power of the gods will protect the connection moving forward. You will not be alone in your defense.”

Wardmaster Varilold replied with a silent nod. The God of Light then turned to face Belissar. She gave him a smile that made him feel as if he was in a warm embrace.

“Tower Keeper Belissar, I must thank you. Your Tower is lighting a way forward, in more ways than one. I am most glad you took up a Tower.”

Belissar’s eyes moistened, his chest so full of warmth it felt like it would burst.

“T-Thank you.”

That was all he could eke out. After all, the God of Light herself was thanking him! The God of Light’s smile deepened for a moment.

And then she was gone, and the room felt dark despite the light of the sun coming through the windows. Wardmaster Varilold stared at the empty space the god had just occupied.

“A direct incarnation. Such a thing has not happened since the days of our flight from the Hunger…and rarely even before that…”

The wardmaster shook her head.

“Get going, you two, I have a lot of work to do now. Strengthen your defenses as best you can in the meantime, I will send for you once I am prepared. Tower Keeper Belissar, the signatories may need to meet on this, so we may call for you earlier.”

Belissar gave a quiet nod, then he and Tarwantrad left. Belissar would spend much of the rest of the day in a daze, wandering around lost in thought.

Eventually, he would by chance wander into the memorial flower meadow and up to the Memorial itself. He stared up at the names until he found Mrs. Imkomos. He smiled.

“Well, Mrs. Imkomos…at the very least, I can say the God of Light is pleased with me. I hope you’re happy up there too.”

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