Belissar had his bees fly around the outskirts of the tribe’s camp, keeping an eye on them and learning whatever he could, but he did not have to wait long. The group spent the rest of the day making camp, but when Belissar’s scouts arrived the next morning, they found a group of the bear people preparing to move. A young man and a woman with a child were arguing with the old woman who had spoken to one of his bees.
“I’m against this. What will we do if something happens? If they decided to attack us?”
The old woman shook her head.
“They need to come so that the Sacred Den master does not attack. We cannot show up with nothing but warriors if we wish for peace.”
The young woman nodded.
“It’s alright, Isäppak, we’ll be fine.”
Another armed man, the one who had visited Belissar’s dungeon previously, placed his hand on the young man’s shoulder.
“And we’ll look after them. I swear no harm will come to your family.”
The young man hung his head and took a deep breath, and then nodded his head. The old woman smiled.
“You’re a good father, Isäppak. And that is what we must convey to the Sacred Den, if we wish for this to be our home.”
Belissar watched as the group gathered their things and then began moving towards his dungeon. He took a deep breath.
“Niobee.”
Niobee flew around in front of him.
“Yes, King?”
“Let the Flower Meadow queens know I’ll be heading to the gate. I’d like to bring their soldiers with me.”
“Yes!”
Niobee flew off immediately as Belissar rose to his feet. He grabbed his axe, then looked down at himself and grimaced. A worn tunic patched up by his less than stellar linen weave did not exactly present an imposing figure. But he didn’t have anything else, so there was no helping it.
Besides, the bees were the most important part of the dungeon, anyways. And Belissar figured they would be impressive enough on their own.
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Belissar stood just in front of the entrance to his dungeon, watching as the group made their way towards him through the eyes of his scouts. He did not have to wait long before they reached the edge of the clearing around the dungeon. Belissar nodded as they stepped out of the tree line.
“Ok, now.”
A heavy buzzing sound resounded through the clearing as hundreds of wings began to beat. An army of soldier bees rose from the ground and from among the flowers, filling the sky with buzzing and chitin. They flew just above Belissar, forming up into their squads as they hovered overhead.
The bear people stopped and tensed. About half of their number were armed and took up positions around the rest with their weapons raised. The other half, consisting of elderly and families with children, huddled together in the center.
The old woman stepped forward and said something to the man leading them. He motioned and then lowered his weapons. The others eyed him and the bees for a bit longer before they slowly lowered theirs. The old woman and the lead man then began walking slowly across the clearing. The others glanced at each other before slowly beginning to follow.
Belissar crossed his arms as they approached.
“Ok, that’s close enough. Why are you here?”
He resisted the urge to wince. That came out a bit harsher than he wanted...but he was trying to project confidence here. Even if every instinct in his body wanted to apologize and keep his head down.
Fortunately, the old woman took it in stride.
“Greetings, master of this Sacred Den. I am Chief Rohsuak, and these are my people. We have come to request your blessing to settle here.”
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Belissar raised an eyebrow.
“You want to live here?”
She nodded her head.
“We have been wandering for a long time, yours is the first unoccupied land with a Sacred Den we have found. Should you find it in your heart to accept, we would like to make our home here.”
Chief Rohsuak motioned and some people from the center stepped forward. They spread out a mat on the ground before Belissar. On it they laid all sorts of goods, from seeds and preserved foods to textiles and crafts to tools made of bone...and even metal.
“Of course, we shall offer you and your patron a portion of our labor, and our warriors will challenge themselves before your god if you wish.”
Belissar looked down at the stuff on the ground, then up at Chief Rohsuak, then to her people watching him.
Yep.
He had no idea what to say.
Tribute? Challenging themselves before his god? Belissar’s experience with negotiations was pretty much limited to acting grateful when the other villagers handed him trinkets and almost-rotten food in exchange for a barrel of fine mead. He had to catch himself from thanking the old woman by reflex. So, he had no experience with people asking him for permission to do something, much less offering stuff to him.
But...this was good, right? They weren’t trying to kill him, they weren’t trying to break in and steal his stuff, and they were offering him their own stuff just to live in the area. Seemed like a good deal to him. And, well, the only other example he had of dungeon-people relations were those Tower Lords he was trying not to think about, so if he thought it was good that was fine, right?
“Um, ok. That’s fine, I guess.”
Chief Rohsuak smiled.
“Thank you for your generosity.”
Then Belissar narrowed his eyes.
“Just one thing. Don’t hurt my bees.”
Chief Rohsuak nodded.
“Of course. We will treat all of your Den’s residents with the utmost respect.”
Belissar nodded and then turned to leave.
“Sacred Den master, will you accept our gift?”
Belissar stopped and then turned around, pointing at the stuff on the mat.
“Oh, that’s for me?”
Chief Rohsuak smiled and nodded.
“Yes, we brought it for you, after all.”
Belissar felt his cheeks grow warm.
“Oh. Um, right.”
He stepped forward and tried to scoop up the mat as quickly as he could, stepping back as he tried to hold it all in his arms.
“Well, if that’s everything?”
Chief Rohsuak nodded.
“Thank you for your time and generosity, Sacred Den master.”
“Right...let’s go.”
With that, Belissar beat a hasty retreat into the dungeon, the soldier bee army following after him.
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Belissar groaned once he got inside.
“Well, that was awkward...”
How was he supposed to know they were offering this stuff to him, and not just showing off their wares? No one had ever just...given things to him before! No one in the past had even acknowledged his presence if he didn’t show up with a jar of mead!
He groaned again as he adjusted the weight of the stuff in his arms. Well, at least he got a bunch of free stuff out of all of this. He turned to the soldier bees flying around him.
“Thanks for the good work, everyone. You can go back to training now. And, um, if those people arrive, I guess don’t attack them unless they attack you or try to steal your honey or anything like that?”
The air roared with the beating of bee wings as the soldier bees all performed an aerial salute dance and then flew back towards their hives. Belissar cracked a smile at the sight. It was still quite impressive to see the army of giant bees flying as one.
He then made his way back to the farmhouse and spread the mat across the table to check what he had received more closely. The food was mostly the same cave mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes the first man had brought, along with some sort of hardened cake that also appeared to have some meat in it. The seeds were mostly the same...but also included some above-ground species. Unfortunately, as with the pinecones it took more than just a few seeds to unlock any new plants.
But there was one plant that made Belissar’s eyes go wide. A flower that had been dried for preservation. One that may not have registered as a flower at first, given its brown petals and stem, but that had a very familiar shape.
Absorb Ground Mana Flower?
A Mana Flower that was brown instead of blue...and apparently had something to do with ground? Maybe the bear people had found it while underground? And if Belissar remembered correctly...the digger bee description had said something about Ground mana. So, if he unlocked this flower and the bees made honey from it...perhaps they would come up with another new bee type.
Ground Mana Flower absorbed.
Samples: 1/5
Well, he only had the one, but he would have to ask the bear people if they had any more. If he was willing to talk to them again, that was...
Beyond that, the bear people had given him some other useful things. The cloths meant he didn’t have to process as much flax to get the stockpile he wanted, a clay bowl would be useful if he made anything other than straight honeycomb. And then there were the tools. A set of butchery knives, mostly made of bone but including one made of metal. His own knife was getting dull at this point, so that was honestly a big help.
All in all, it was a big boon. And they had just...given it to him, freely?
Belissar couldn’t help but be confused for a while after. His mind might know that he was now a dungeon master with a powerful monster bee army, but his heart was still surprised by the completely different interactions he had with these people...