Belissar was walking over to talk with Chief Rohsuak when a message passed before his eyes.
New mission received!
Mission prerequisites not fulfilled. Mission details will be unlocked once prerequisites fulfilled.
Prerequisites remaining:
- Complete mission: Spawn or evolve one Flower attribute monster with the help of bees.
- Complete mission: Earn the blessing of a new secondary patron.
Belissar tilted his head at that. A mission…but that wouldn’t show up until he completed another mission? He shrugged, there wasn’t much he could do if he didn’t actually know what the mission was.
“Got it, I’ll try to fulfill that as soon as I can.”
The only thing he knew was that if the God of Bees asked him to do something, he’d do his best to make it happen. Once he knew what it was he was supposed to do, that was.
Since he did not at present, he resumed his prior task and walked over to Chief Rohsuak, who immediately began bowing her head.
“You have my deepest gratitude for your assistance, Tower Keeper Belissar. Had it not been for you, we would have lost Metsaitti due to my misjudgment. Thank you for saving his life.”
Belissar figured he should probably say something.
“Um, you’re welcome? But, um, Metsaitti’s important to me too, so of course I wanted to help. We, um, didn’t interfere too much with the ritual, did we?”
Chief Rohsuak sighed.
“For the God of Fire, yes, you did. But apparently the God of Bees stepped in to make up the difference and combined their blessings, so it worked out in this case. And even if you had caused the ritual to fail…that would have been preferable to losing Metsaitti. You made the right call, Tower Keeper. It was I who failed.”
Chief Rohsuak frowned deeply.
“I should have known Metsaitti was not as suited for fire as I was. I suppose I allowed my reliance on him as our best hunter to cloud my judgement as a disciple of Fire.”
She then shook her head and smiled.
“But thanks to you, it worked out. And I do look forward to seeing what the blessing of the flame stinger can do.”
Belissar nodded. He was curious as well. But above that, he was also worried. He furrowed his brow.
“So, um, what about the others?”
Chief Rohsuak sighed again.
“We’re rethinking things with Paloiku. I think a lot of hunters wanted to embrace fire not for the love of the flames or devotion to the God of Fire, but out of respect for me. I will ensure that the next hunter to brave the fire is truly prepared to do so.”
Belissar could only slowly nod.
“What about the others? I gave you a poisonous tray, you know?!”
Chief Rohsuak smiled lightly and shook her head.
“You don’t need to worry about the other three trays, Tower Keeper. None of them are planning as dramatic a process as Metsaitti…or rather, I won’t let Noigakkuq attempt such a thing regardless of if she wants to or not. In any case, Noigakkuq already has a full blessing from the God of Bees, so she will use the honey only to further develop her abilities. For Tyhgak and Laaniasiu, we don’t know any specific trials for the God of Bees, so the plan is to have them gradually consume the honey for the sake of boosting their mana.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Belissar was about to nod when he paused. He didn’t know much about trials of the gods and was about to say as much…but then he realized there was someone who might. Two someones, even.
“What about asking Velebee? Maybe the God of Bees could tell you herself? And, um, I’m not sure about this one but the augur did swear to help us. I guess we could ask him if he knows anything about the Tower Guard?”
Chief Rohsuak’s eyes widened.
“Ah. That’s…I must apologize again, Tower Keeper. It seems I am too used to acting on my own. Asking the oracle is the first thing we should have done. As for the augur, as you call him…as he is sworn to your Tower it should be fine to ask him what he knows. I’d caution against taking anything at face value, as he appears to have much different ideas on how a Tower should run than yourself and every gods’ trial preferences are different from what I understand, but we could use the general example to inform further efforts.”
----------------------------------------
Belissar and Chief Rohsuak made their way to Velebee’s hive. After a happy greeting from the queen, Chief Rohsuak stepped forward, carrying a jug of the aphid honeydew from the sigmaka and placing it before the hive.
“Honored Oracle of Bees, I hope you find this to your liking. If you are willing, I wish to ask a question of the God of Bees you represent.”
Velebee told one of her workers to check the jug…though she hardly needed to. Her workers had already smelt the sweet scent coming from the jug and were starting to investigate on their own. Velebee then replied with an unsteady dance.
“Ok?”
Chief Rohsuak nodded and bowed her head.
“God of Bees, patron of our home. We wish to know how we may honor you, how we may embody you in our own flesh, and how we may spread your influence. If you have any guidance on the trials and challenges we must face, we would be most honored to hear from you.”
Velebee’s eyes began to glow and then she started to dance quickly.
“Queen of All Bees says work!”
Chief Rohsuak looked up and blinked.
“Work?”
Velebee danced the confirmation.
“Yes! Work for hive!”
Chief Rohsuak rubbed her chin, then her eyes began to widen.
“Ah…Juosiutik got her blessing when she finished processing her potion. Noigakkuq got hers by gathering and offering flowers. Muuraqi got his by building beehouses, correct?”
Belissar nodded.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
She cracked a small smile.
“I see. It seems the God of Bees prefers a more practical devotion to grand rituals. Very well, we will simply do our best to be useful.”
----------------------------------------
Belissar and Chief Rohsuak then made their way over to the prisoners. He found Hirkolos and Sehfitis tending to the wyverns. Hirkolos was teaching the karnuq how to care for the creatures while Sehfitis was translating. Sehfitis turned and bowed his head as Belissar approached.
“Tower Keeper, how may I assist you?”
Belissar nodded at Hirkolos too before replying.
“We wanted to know more about the Tower Guard. How they train and how they get their blessings.”
Sehfitis rubbed his chin.
“Ah, I see. I must warn you I am not a Tower Lord nor a Tower Guard, so I can only speak broadly on that matter. Each Tower Lord is different in any case, not to mention the differences in their patrons. In a general sense, however, it goes something like this. When a man is selected as a potential Tower Guard, he undergoes strict training to prepare for the challenges ahead. Physical fitness and combat drills are a must, of course, but he additionally must train his mind and spirit too. He must learn devotion to the gods and the Conclave’s mission.”
Belissar turned to Hirkolos.
“Is that right?”
Hirkolos frowned but nodded.
“Yes, that’s about what I went through. I was still just a recruit, though, so I never got any further than that before we were sent off.”
Sehfitis nodded.
“That was intentional. This young man was selected not for an existing Tower Lord’s guard, but to form the core of a new Tower Guard. It is traditional that a potential Tower Lord is accompanied by recruits, supervised by a single Tower Guard from their sponsoring Tower Lord, so that their Tower Guard may grow alongside them.”
But Belissar froze. Because as his mind processed what the two men told him, he caught onto a very important implication.
“Wait…you all…weren’t Tower Guards?”
Both of them shook their heads. Hirkolos spoke up.
“Only the captain was a true Tower Guard. The rest of us were just recruits.”
Belissar’s head spun.
“So…all the Tower Guards…are like the captain?”
Sehfitis rubbed his chin.
“Hm, the captain was a bit above average, but yes, broadly speaking.”
Belissar began to tremble.
“A-And…how many Tower Guards are there?”
Sehfitis tilted his head.
“Overall, or for a single Tower Lord? Well, overall, I could not say, and, again, each Tower Lord is different. I do believe, though, that the Lord of Starami Tower, the one who sent us, maintains a standing army of about ten thousand Tower Guards. Well, he is a well-accomplished lord who’s been at it for a couple of centuries…”
But Belissar was no longer listening as he stumbled back. Ten…thousand? Ten thousand warriors on par with the captain that outfought Metsaitti and brought down multiple soldier bees with a single swing? He hadn’t exactly counted them, but he was pretty sure he didn’t have even close to that many soldier bees, while none of the other karnuq hunters matched Metsaitti in skill.
And that was just one Tower Lord. There was an entire Conclave of them. He slowly turned his head to Chief Rohsuak, who was frowning as well.
“Um, we may need to pick up the pace.”
Chief Rohsuak nodded grimly.
“I agree.”