The Bee Dungeon

Hesfalle took her leave shortly after, letting Belissar know she was willing to answer any questions and help out once he got started with the Death room. Tarwantrad stuck around for some further discussions. First, she asked about the choice he had made, so he told her about dancers, berserkers, and assassins, much to her glee. Belissar then explained which choice he had made and why. When he finished, he frowned and crossed his arms, staring down at the ground.

“I wanted to ask you, do you think I made the right choice? I think assassins fit better and they don’t have to die, but berserkers were so powerful. I can’t help but feel I made a mistake skipping them…”

Tarwantrad gave him a sympathetic smile.

“The thing is, Belissar, no one can truly say. Each dungeon is unique, and the Hunger will always change its approach. What is right for one dungeon may be wrong for another, what is right for one purification may struggle with the next. If you want my opinion…it sounds like you carefully considered what would fit into your tower’s strengths. The assassins should serve you well, all you need do is make the most of them.”

Belissar let out a deep breath and then smiled.

“Thank you. It’s just…it’s hard making these choices sometimes. I was never supposed to be Tower keeper after all, so I never really feel like I know what I’m doing.”

Tarwantrad shrugged with a self-deprecating smile.

“I feel that way too even with all the training and preparation I had.”

She then locked eyes with him.

“But you, Belissar, have done more than many of us in a much shorter time while starting with far less. You should be proud of what you and your bees have accomplished, and you should trust in yourself and them.”

Belissar flushed and looked away. He definitely felt uncomfortable…but not unpleasantly so.

“…

Tarwantrad just quietly smiled at him until he gathered himself.

“If I could share a lesson the Circle imparted to me, do consider the dancers to be as powerful as the other choices next time. Supporting options like that often seem vague and less directly useful, but they are more powerful than most new dungeon masters realize.”

Belissar nodded.

“Ah, I was wondering about that. I was having trouble imagining how they were considered the same as assassins and berserkers…”

Tarwantrad giggled.

“Most of us do, at first. But consider that since dancers work by making other bees better, not only do they improve every bee you have, they will continue to improve every bee you will receive going forward.”

Belissar’s eyes widened. Tarwantrad giggled once more…before frowning.

“The other thing to consider is…the Hunger always adapts. Always. No one monster, no matter how powerful, can stop it alone. You were right to consider the choice in the context of the rest of your tower, because ultimately all of our rooms and features and monsters must work together to continue overcoming the Hunger. Supporting choices that make the rest stronger are especially useful in that regard.”

Belissar’s eyes began to quiver lightly.

“So…did I make a mistake after all?”

Tarwantrad immediately shook her head.

“No, nothing of the sort. Belissar, you are already considering how your bees work together with each other and the rest of the Tower, and I think assassins were a wonderful choice. I only tell you this so that you’ll have all the information you need to trust in yourself for future decisions as well.”

Belissar took a deep breath and forced himself to nod. The decision was made now, all he could do was make the best of it and try to do better next time. Tarwantrad did say he was doing a good job so far, so he tried to believe it. He thought that was more the bees’ efforts than his own, but at least he finally had someone to ask about this now.

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And, ultimately, he did believe the bees would do great things with the assassins, so he decided to trust in them to make the most of whatever options he gave them, as they always had.

Belissar rubbed the back of his head.

“Thanks, Tarwantrad. So, about the new room…it seems I need some rabbits?”

Tarwantrad gave him a smile.

“That’s no problem. I have more than enough…too many…”

Tarwantrad stared off into the distance. Belissar wasn’t sure he should interrupt her but did want to proceed with the conversation.

“Right…is there anything you would like for those?”

Tarwantrad shook herself and refocused on Belissar.

“No, that’s fine. As I said, I have as many rabbits as I could ever want. They have been more of a…necessary evil than a boon for a plant-based dungeon such as mine. I cannot bring myself to charge you for unleashing them upon you.”

Belissar raised an eyebrow.

“Are they really that bad?”

Tarwantrad shuddered.

“In my plant-based dungeon that had no natural predators for them when I started spawning them? Yes. Yes, they were.”

She shivered once more before locking eyes on Belissar with a grim expression.

“Once you spawn them, Belissar, make sure you hunt them aggressively, or your bees will suddenly find themselves without flowers.

Belissar gulped. He knew rabbits were a pest if they got into the fields or the gardens, but to hear that they could strip a magical Tower bare? Maybe rabbits were more dangerous than he thought.

“Still, you’re doing something for my Tower…how about a tray of honey? I also have a lot of those saved up.”

Tarwantrad made a bright smile.

“That sounds wonderful. Very well, I’ll accept your gratitude…so long as you promise me you will be careful with the rabbits. I would hate to have starved your hives…”

Belissar nodded.

“I will. The karnuq have lots of hunters, and if they start eating too many flowers, I’ll ask the bee army to deal with them.”

Tarwantrad took a deep breath.

“Ok, that should be enough. In that case, I will bring you some later this evening, after your daily purification?”

Belissar smiled.

“That would be great, thank you.”

Tarwantrad shivered once more.

“Don’t thank me until you’ve confirmed you can protect your flowers…”

Hesfalle had ended up jogging Belissar’s mind on something he had long forgotten. Her recommendation to implement a seasonal cycle when making a Death room reminded him that he could upgrade rooms, and features within them, using DP. He had only ever checked room upgrades for the Flower Meadow, so who knew what else he could do with all the rooms he had access to now? Additionally, he hadn’t upgraded any of the beehives besides changing the Bee Barrack’s material to stone; now that most of the hives had consolidated into either barracks or apartments it would be worth considering how he could assist their growth. On top of that, there were all the traps and resource nodes he hadn’t checked at all.

On the flip side, though, he had just gotten enough DP for another monster choice today, and very much wanted to acquire butcher bees or something similar if at all possible. Not only would they have an easier time acclimating to the Death room, they’d also give him an easy answer to Tarwantrad’s warnings regarding the rabbits, so he’d really prefer to have them before he got started on that. There was also no guarantee he actually would get butcher bees with any given choice, so he didn’t know how many it would take. So, he decided he would purchase another monster choice tonight, and asked Niobee to have the bees remind him about checking all the upgrades later on.

Belissar managed to acquire some soaring beeblossom honey from the First of the Fifth, and spend the rest of the day trying to replicate it. There wasn’t a full tray for him to consume, so it took him a bit to get it right based on that small sample. Eventually, though, he managed to reproduce the honey with his spells. He worked a bit on the wax, but he had never actually seen wax made by breeze or nomadic bees so didn’t know if he had gotten close or not. He had switched to working on making breeze spell-bees when time came for the daily purification.

A small fox shade appeared, but its small size proved fatal when confronted with a Pit Trap with a covering Sticky Honey Trap, after which Beero and a battlecaster squad rained lightning on it while it was trapped.

Tarwantrad returned with a brace of rabbit corpses, explaining that for his purposes it would be best to have a spawner so he could hunt them as aggressively as he liked…or needed. Belissar handed her a tray of mana honey and then absorbed the rabbits.

Sufficient samples gathered. Rabbit is now available!

Belissar tilted his head.

“Rabbit…not rabbit spawner?”

Tarwantrad nodded.

“Rabbits are a purely non-magical species and are not as naturally intelligent as most monsters or fair folk…oh, and humans and beastkin too. We find that dungeons treat them more like a resource than a monster. You should be able to find them as an option for relevant rooms.”

Belissar went ahead and focused on the Flower Meadow options.

Manage Fauna? Available Types:

- Rabbit (Mana Upkeep: 5)

Belissar rubbed his chin.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Huh. Is there some sort of basic resource animals then, or something?”

Tarwantrad nodded.

“Basic animal dens, which like the resource nodes will spawn the chosen fauna at regular intervals.”

She stared off into the distance.

“…it keeps spawns them regardless of whether the room has the ability to support additional numbers, in fact, whether you want it to or not. I…would recommend just enabling them in the room at first. Let the tower help you manage their numbers until you are certain you can handle them…”

Belissar decided that perhaps it might be best to let Tarwantrad join the victory celebration for now.