The next morning, Belissar set out to set up a Fairy Grove. First, he considered where to place it. The empty rooms were currently on the second floor, which at the moment only held the Orchard since he had moved the karnuq and Apiary floors up a step each, but he could always rearrange the rooms as necessary. There was an argument for placing the Fairy Grove ahead of the battle meadow so that an invading shade would have to face its unpredictable effects before reaching the bee army. On the other hand, a major reason Belissar chose the Fairy Grove was the promise of new flowers and new bees, in which case it would be better to keep it closer to the Apiary and the bees working there.
Hypothetically, he could always set up two Fairy Groves, as he had the room slots open. However, the Fairy Grove was the most expensive room he had by far, even more so than the Lava Field. He was not comfortable spending that much mana to set up two when he still didn’t know exactly what they did.
And since he didn’t know exactly what they did, he decided not to overthink it. He went ahead and placed a Fairy Grove off to the side of the Orchard for now. He’d think about moving it elsewhere once they had figured out how it actually fit into his Tower. He also didn’t bother adjusting anything about the room, since he knew he didn’t know enough to know what, if anything, he should change.
He turned to Niobee.
“I’m placing the new room by the Orchard. I’m, um, still not sure about where it’s going to go in the end but…there’s a chance we’ll use it to defend and we still aren’t sure what will happen with it. So…maybe we shouldn’t set up any hives there for a bit, until we know how the room works.”
Belissar then jumped a bit and waved his hands around.
“Ah, the bees are welcome to visit and forage though! They should, in fact!”
Niobee took it in stride with a salute dance.
“Ok! Will tell queens!”
As Niobee began to dance and flare her mana, Belissar finalized placing the room. From the Tower sight, it looked just like a forest, but with some circles in the ground here and there formed of darker grass. It…didn’t seem like all that much from there.
So, Belissar decided to go check it out in-person. He walked to the Orchard, where a new path had opened in the tree wall along one of the sides. A number of worker bees from the Orchard hives buzzed around the door, turning to him as he approached. Niobee flew over and danced with them.
“King, Fourth of the Seventh’s workers want to scout new room! Can?”
Belissar slowly nodded.
“Sure. Just…be careful. We aren’t sure what this room does yet.”
The worker bees saluted and then hovered by Belissar. They followed along as he stepped into the room. At first glance, it appeared to be a forest like any other. Mostly broadleaf trees, close enough to form a canopy but spaced out enough that it wasn’t difficult to walk. The canopy itself covered most of the sky but was sparse enough that light shone down all through the forest, keeping it relatively illuminated. A light breeze blew through on occasion, rustling the leaves above. There were bushes and such though that occasionally barred Belissar’s way, causing him to twist and turn as he moved towards the closest fairy ring.
All in all it seemed like a peaceful and pleasant place, not at all like he’d expect given the warnings. The only thing of note to Belissar was that the mana here was denser and was flowing more actively than in other rooms. Belissar furrowed his brow as he walked. Honestly, with all the stories of fairy circles and the sheer mana cost of the room, he was expecting a bit more than a peaceful forest. Maybe one of the circles themselves might have a more dramatic effect?
“King?”
At least until Niobee danced in front of his face. Belissar tilted his head.
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“Yes?”
She flew a bit unsteadily.
“Where going? Not going to see circle?”
Belissar was about to respond when he paused, and then started glancing around. His eyes widened slightly. Before he knew it, he was deeper into the forest, surrounded by trees on all sides. The entrance to the Orchard was nowhere in sight. Furthermore, the inconsistent amount of bushes had made him naturally follow a winding path, such that he couldn’t be sure he had headed in a straight direction. And indeed, when he checked with his Tower sight, he found that he had now turned away from the closest fairy circle and was now headed deeper into the room.
The mana then began to twist and surge. The breeze picked up a bit and the rustling of the leaves grew louder. For a moment, Belissar thought he heard something more than leaves, especially as the wood began to creak and groan. The shimmering light filtering through the canopy above caused lights to flicker and shadows to dance at the edges of his vision, though when he turned his head to look, he found nothing.
He gulped. It felt as if something, or someone, was there. And this despite the fact that Belissar could use his Tower senses to get a full and complete picture of his surroundings that confirmed that there was nothing else in the room besides his bees and himself. He rubbed his chin.
“I think…there’s something more to this room after all. Um, let the workers know to be careful. It might be easy to get lost in here.”
“Ok, will.”
Well, the bees were flying above the bushes so they wouldn’t have gotten turned around by those at least, but Belissar didn’t want to take any chances. He’d have to keep an eye on this room to make sure the bees didn’t get lost.
After finding his bearings and taking a deep breath to gather himself, Belissar once again set off towards the closest fairy circle, using his Tower sight to stay on course. Eventually, they arrived. Right in between three trees, obscured by bushes on all sides, was a ring of darkened grass about as wide as Belissar was tall. An easy thing to miss if he hadn’t been specifically looking for it.
At least, physically speaking. But in terms of mana…Belissar’s eyes widened at the sight before him. The flows of mana through the forest all coalesced at this point, forming a twisting and chaotic whirlpool within the circle. Mana generally appeared to Belissar as a colored light. The most common mana in the air was a light blue, the mana near the flowers took on a green tone. The Ground mana flower made it brown, while the Lava Field and Fire mana flowers were filled with red. Belissar’s own mana matched that of his bees: a bright and orderly yellow.
The mana in the circle was a shimmering rainbow, different patches and streams of the mana within it all constantly changing colors independently of one another, creating a dazzingly display of light and motion to Belissar’s eyes. Occasionally, a stream of the mana would shoot out from the mass, either flowing back into one of the larger rivers of mana in the forest, or into something in the surroundings. Most often the ground, but sometimes the bushes and the trees as well.
“Well, I guess that’s where all the mana went…”
Belissar turned to see how his bees were responding. The workers were hovering and buzzing around the circle, though remaining at a distance from it.
“What do you all think?”
One of the workers flew over to Niobee and danced a bit.
“Says dangerous, but lots of mana. Wants to see if flowers nearby.”
Belissar nodded, and then paused and rubbed his chin, for he had a thought.
“Niobee, could you ask a gardener to come here?”
“Ok!”
He was about to start placing mana flowers and the like, but then thought he should ask a gardener. Not only could the gardeners tell him which of the flowers might like it here best, they could also help spread the flowers themselves. Which might actually be a better option given the purpose of this room. Belissar had not chosen the room to fill it with mana flowers, but to see if flowers raised here might develop differently. On that count…maybe it would be better to plant seeds and let them grow the normal way instead of relying on the resource nodes that magically grew the plants in an instant?
A while later, Niobee guided one the gardeners to the circle. Belissar turned to her.
“Could you check this place out and tell me which flowers you think would like it here?”
The gardener saluted as quickly as she could and then took off. She flew around the circle. She landed on the grass, she dug a bit into the dirt, she flew through the air several times. She even flew into the circle at one point, her antennae twitching every which way.
After a bit, she came before Belissar and began dancing her results.
“Any!”
Belissar tilted his head.
“Any? All the flowers would like it here?”
The gardener paused, her dance slowing down a bit.
“Area strange…but good. Lots of mana, lots of types. Flowers will drink and grow.”
Belissar slowly nodded.
“In that case, could you help me plant some flowers in this room?”
At that, the gardener took up speed once again, saluting as quickly as she could.
“Can!”
Belissar began to smile. He had made rooms on his own. He had made rooms for the bees. But now, with the gardeners help, he’d make a room with the bees. So, despite all the questions he still had about this room, he had a feeling it could end up as the best one yet…