Belissar considered it for all of about five seconds before shrugging. He couldn’t think of any particular reason why he shouldn’t pick another room feature choice, and he still wanted to see an uncommon or rarer option if at all possible. So, he went ahead and purchased yet another room feature choice.
Please select a room feature:
- Thorned Roses (Rarity: Common, Type: Nature, Trap)
- Snare Trap (Rarity: Common, Type: Trap)
- Mud Pit (Rarity: Common, Type: Ground, Water, Trap)
Belissar’s face fell as he read through the options. Once again, all commons. He was starting to wonder if he was exceptionally unlucky today…or if he had been exceptionally lucky until now. He really hoped it was the former and not the latter…
But well, he had a choice to make, so he read them out.
Thorned Roses
- Type: Nature, Trap
- Mana Upkeep: 2
- Description: Roses whose stems and thorns have been reinforced with mana. Surprisingly tough and painful to get through. May take the shape of bushes or climbers if placed near compatible features.
They didn’t seem all that impressive. The thorns looked painful enough if someone stepped into a bush of them, but would a shade just walk right into a thorny bush? Well, he guessed if all else failed, they were a type of flower so maybe the bees would like them. Belissar guessed it would depend on the other two choices…
Snare Trap
- Type: Trap
- Mana Upkeep: 1
- Description: A rope loop tied to a tree under tension. If a target steps within the loop, will snap and pull their leg up into the air. It is recommended to add bait.
Well, it was a trap. A very simple trap Belissar or the karnuq could probably build themselves if they had suitable trees around. A trap that, like the grasping vines early, was just another way to immobilize an enemy, something that the Pit Traps and Sticky Honey Traps could already do.
Belissar was pretty certain he wasn’t going to bother with this one, which left one more.
Mud Pit
- Type: Ground, Water, Trap
- Mana Upkeep: 3
- Description: Turns a section of ground into mud. Target will sink into it.
…as a trap, this one was perhaps the least impressive. A bunch of mud, huh? Well, Belissar did have to wade through the muck on occasion so he knew it wasn’t a pleasant experience, and the Mud Pit did look larger than a Pit Trap so maybe it would be helpful for slowly shades down? And if he ever got plants that preferred wet, swampy ground, maybe the Mud Pits would work if he didn’t have a full-on room?
Maybe.
Belissar sighed lightly and turned to his bees and Chief Rohsuak. The bees slowly danced.
“Flowers?”
Chief Rohsuak simply shook her head, indicating she had no particular opinion here. Belissar sighed.
“Well, might as well.”
Thorned Roses selected.
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More flowers would never hurt, if nothing else.
Belissar then stared at the DP shop for a bit. He had little over a thousand DP left, enough for just one final room feature choice.
Maybe it would be best to wait. A lot of the expansion purification choices guaranteed uncommon or better options, right? So, if he specifically wanted an uncommon room feature, maybe it would best to wait for the next expansion purification. Then he could save up his DP for another monster choice. If this happened with the monster choices, at least he’d end up with a new type of bee, right?
Or…he could buy another choice right now. Yes, the common options were, well, common. But, he didn’t recall seeing a choice of only commons before, much less two in a row! So, surely the next choice would include something else, right? Surely he wouldn’t get nine common choices in a row, right?
Belissar made his choice.
Please select a room feature:
Belissar held his breath.
- Lotus Flowers (Rarity: Common, Type: Nature, Resource)
He took a deep breath. There were still two more.
- Beeswax Candles (Rarity: Common, Type: Bee, Fire, Decoration)
Really, a repeat option? Just what were the chances of that? Surely less than getting at least one uncommon option out of nine!
“Come on…”
Belissar held his breath as he checked the third and final choice.
- Arrow Trap (Rarity: Common, Type: Trap)
Belissar groaned. How?! How had he gotten not a single option other than common in three full choices?!
“King! What wrong?”
Belissar took a deep breath as he was Niobee fly in front of him, clearly worried at his response.
“It’s…nothing. I was just hoping for…well, I don’t know, but I guess slightly rarer options than we got.”
Niobee hovered for a moment before dancing slowly.
“Sorry…”
Belissar shook his head and reached out so that she could land on his hand, then brushed her back.
“It’s fine, it’s not your fault. Besides, everything we can get is helpful, right?”
Niobee began dancing again.
“Yes! Everything King makes is great! King is best king!”
Belissar chuckled as the rest of the bees followed Niobee’s dance. Well, that was right, wasn’t it? Even if it wasn’t what he wanted, he was getting three new options tonight for his Tower. The majority of his Tower was built on common features, after all, so perhaps a few more would be helpful as well.
He still wasn’t going to look at the DP shop for a while, though.
In any case, it was time to choose…and this time, the choice was easy.
Lotus Flowers selected.
Lotus Flowers
- Type: Nature, Water, Resource
- Mana Upkeep: 3
- Description: An aquatic flower plant cultivated for food.
It was a flower, and it was edible. That meant it was helpful for both the bees and the karnuq, and that was enough for Belissar. He was a bit worried about the aquatic part but figured they might work in the Ponds? Well, if not, at least he would have something if he ever got a water room of some sort.
With that, the celebration and meeting came to a close, and Belissar decided to turn in for the night before addressing the new options. Disappointingly common choices aside, it was still a day of great gains for his Tower.
He, uh, just wasn’t going to buy any new room feature choices from the DP shop for a while. Maybe the karnuq expedition would find some more mana flowers or something?
----------------------------------------
Belissar awoke the next day smacking his head with a groan, for he realized he had once again been dumb.
If he wanted new stuff…then why hadn’t he asked the karnuq if they had more plants? And minerals now, too! He would have to check with them on that today.
Besides that, it might be time for a new expansion soon. Belissar had waited for the new options, but he didn’t really expect any of them to dramatically change his Tower’s defenses. Most of all…he didn’t expect thorned roses or lotus flowers to result in new bee types, so there wasn’t much left to wait on, unless he wanted to wait for the bumblebees to grow. But that could take a while.
He definitely wasn’t being motivated by his failure to get an uncommon or better room feature last night.
He had a lot on his mind…and a lot he was forgetting. He should try to write some of it down…if only he had something to write on and with.
“King ok? Thinking about something?”
Belissar shook his head and smiled at Niobee.
“Nothing too troubling, just there’s a lot going on in the Tower now. I’m wondering how I can keep track of it all.”
Niobee immediately started dancing.
“Bees help!”
Belissar was about to chuckle and thank but politely decline her. His bees were amazing, but he didn’t think they knew how to write. But then, he had a thought.
The First of the Fifth had remembered the bumblebee queens when he had not. Maybe the bees couldn’t write for him or make something for him to write on…but they could remember things, and remember things that he forgot. So…why didn’t he ask them to help him remember? Because there were a lot of bees, so if he asked a different bee to remember each thing…than wouldn’t each bee only need to remember one thing for in order for the Tower as a whole to remember them all? And then, if he had each bee remind him of their one thing at the purification celebration, wouldn’t he never forget anything?
He turned to Niobee and grinned.
“Thanks Niobee, that gives me an idea. I think the bees can help me remember things, could you gather some?”
“Ok!”
Belissar tried to think of all the different things he wanted to remember as Niobee flew out the window. Soon, bees began flying in one by one. Belissar told each bee one of the things on his mind and asked them to remind him at the post-victory celebration meeting, then sent them on their way.
Once again, everything became easier when he worked with the bees.